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[wendigoner]

[ She really should have just done voice - or text - but Hannah isn't exactly in her right mind today. There's a wildness in her eyes and in her tone that is more than obvious, her entire bearing just... bordering on panic. ]

Has anyone seen Beth? My sister - I can't find her.

[ It's not that it's unusual to find one of the twins out of their room before the other, but it is strange to have Beth... seem totally gone, not responding to calls or messages, having left no note of explanation... ]

She isn't here, she isn't - answering, and - God, if anything happens to her...!

[ "My little sister is dead. The fall killed her..." The first pieces of what Matt had found and showed to Hannah claw at her brain, unrelenting. ]

I've gotta go out there and find her. I won't leave her.

[ No one found them when they fell, apparently, but that doesn't mean she'll give up. Not on Beth. Not for anything. ]

Comments

[wendigoner]

She... [ Hannah trails off, looking around, almost helpless. ] ... We had a route we like to jog around. And - She started helping out at the clinic.

[ Two places. Better than none. ]

Maybe we can head there first, take the jogging path back...

[glacius]

[Another blow to the clinic--Glacius flinches, sympathy painted across his face as he looks back to Hannah.] Very well. I must say that I stop by the clinic frequently, and have not seen her there, but... sometimes it is hard for me to muster up the strength to stop by. Perhaps I simply missed her--and if it brings you close to double check, then let us head there.

[The ice alien steps down from the front door, making sure Hannah is following as he starts in that direction. He's debating in his mind if he should explain his involvement with the clinic and why it's been harder for him to stop by, lately; on the one hand, having someone who can empathize might help, but on the other, the young woman doesn't seem ready to face the loss yet. Perhaps he should hold off.]

[wendigoner]

[ Hannah nods quietly and follows when he moves. She won't be at the clinic just as she won't be anywhere, because the Door - or whatever is actually in charge - has taken her. Why her and not me? Why not both of us? But those are questions she doesn't think she'll ever have answers to, and they're painful enough on their own. ]

Um - Sorry... You said the clinic's painful for you to visit? [ She brings up, perhaps belatedly. ] Do... you mind if I ask why?

[glacius]

[Glacius flinches, the question digging that painful barb of loss deeper into his soul, filling him simultaneously with a stabbing pain and sinking feeling. At least Hannah has settled the internal debate that had kicked up in his mind; the alien casts an uncertain look at her, but responds.] You may ask... I would not have mentioned it if I was not... willing to explain myself.

[The uncertainty ebbs, replaced with beaten, sorrowful weariness as the alien sighs mightily.] To put it simply, you are not the only one who has lost someone recently. One of my closest friends in this cave worked there, before she... disappeared. She saw to the troubles of my mind and to the injuries of my body; we spent a lot of time in that building together. Now... even though I continue to visit in an attempt to safeguard it in her honor... it will always be a monument to that staggering loss.

[wendigoner]

... I'm really sorry. [ Hannah says after a pause. She shouldn't be surprised - the explanation seems obvious, now - though she does feel regret at having stirred up those painful feelings in the ice alien. Especially after he's done so much to help her out. ] I think I heard someone from the clinic was gone, but I, um... I don't know everyone here.

[ It must have been a very close friend, based on how he describes her. Again, Hannah feels a mingles stab of pain for both of their shared losses. ]

Maybe she'll come back. That's always possible, right?

[glacius]

Thank you. [Glacius responds, sounding exhausted but genuine. He's been hearing this a lot lately, sometimes from outsiders looking in, other times from people who have suffered the loss similarly; one would think he'd grow numb to it all, but he hasn't yet. The loss still hurts; it still pains him that this sweet young woman has to be in the latter camp.

That she's still thinking of him and trying to reassure him despite her own suffering says a lot about her own goodness, so the alien doesn't turn aside her suggestion like he normally might.] Yes. A slim possibility, but... a possibility nonetheless. My hearts will sing with joy if it ever does happen, and yet... I can't help but wonder if it is better that she does not return. She deserves better than this cave and its depraved overseers.

[wendigoner]

Some people have it worse back where they came from, though. [ Hannah offers, thinking, of course, of some of the fates that await herself and Beth and maybe some of the others, too. ] This place is hard, but... um, it could always be worse.

[ She doesn't know what waits for Glacius back in his own home, though, or his friend. She doesn't ask. ]

At least we all have each other...

[glacius]

So I have heard. [Glacius honestly can't imagine it, though he hasn't really gone digging into the painful particulars of the past lives of those who have suggested such a thing. He strives to be respectful of other people's spaces, and becides, he can't imagine anyone would be particularly eager to talk about such things. His reluctance to talk about his time in Ultratech's clutches is proof enough of that.] But just because things could be worse does not mean you should settle for the cruel treatment that we suffer here. It is like I told Emily: if the Door can pull us all from different worlds, then there is a possibility that we could return to a place different from where we came from. If you came from such a bad place, and then had to endure this one, would the chance to start over on your own turns not be worth it?

[It's something he's thought a lot about, but Hannah's sentiment gets him to relent briefly.] Yes. That is... a good point. The humans here are much kinder than the ones in my universe; for that, and for the friendship that you all have shown me, I am deeply grateful.

[wendigoner]

I... guess so? [ It's a lot to imagine, something a bit beyond the bounds of her imagining. ] If I could go back home, but it was... different than how things went before, then... yeah, I'd definitely rather be there.

[ Still, she'd met some people - like Glacius - that she'd never have run into otherwise (she assumes). There're some good things about Hadriel. ]

I hope Beth went to a place like that. [ Hannah finishes quietly, wringing her hands. ] She deserves it.