video;

[hotspurred]

[Henry stands with the sea stretching out behind him, wearing a frown on his face. His tone of voice is sharp and his words are direct.]

Guardsmen, report in. Tell me what pieces of this splintered city surround you and who is with you on your island.

[He keeps it short. The sooner they work out who is where, the better, and this
is the quickest means of finding out.]

Comments

[audio]

[glacius]

Of course. It goes without saying that I will be keeping a close eye on those latter structures that I specifically named. [And the park, too. He may or may not have a vested interest in all of the various spots for personal reasons.] However, you can call me to where you need me. Traversing these waters is not a barrier for me like it is for most.

... Even though my position is probably the most flexible, I would prefer to remain close to my dwelling as often as possible. If you reassign me, make sure it is under appropriate circumstance. [He's not going to say why—his partner's waning health is no one's business but their own—but he trusts that Nick's judgment in these scenarios, and that the synth will respect his wishes without probing.]

[audio]

[synthedick]

All right.

[Nick can take a hint. He knows Glacius errs on the side of privacy, and does what he can to respect that. That tap tap tapping sound is his pencil hitting the page.]

You mind being on lifeguard duty? We can cover the land, but we oughtta have someone watching the waters for the time being. We don't know what's here with us just yet.

[And he has no illusions about what people will do when desperate to reach their loved ones, given the usual behavior in Hadriel.]

[audio]

[glacius]

[Life... guard..? It is not a term that the alien is familiar with, given that his people are adept swimmers and natural water-breathers, and that most of the water on his home planet is frozen.] Is that not what I already am? Do we not all, by definition, guard the lives of the people trapped with us?

[audio]

[synthedick]

[Glacius gets an amiable chuckled out of Nick.] Lifeguards are something we have back home, folks whose job it is to make sure people who are out swimming don't find themselves in too deep. [Literally.] I'm guessing you don't have very many of those where you come from. Would be real handy to have right now though.

[audio]

[glacius]

No, I cannot say that we do. You are asking me to watch the coastlines? ... I suppose I could do that. The seas are not exactly peaceful.

[audio]

[synthedick]

Yeah. And I doubt you'll be the only one testing the waters. You might be the only one capable of handling them, though... and whatever may be living in them.

[audio]

[glacius]

[It is always refreshing when someone believes in his capability; Glacius lifts his head up, quietly pleased.] An appropriate assessment. I did see some large organisms while traveling between islands, and not all of them looked completely innocuous. I can help protect people from them, but... will they even recognize me as one of these "life guards"? You know how people can be here; I doubt many will trust me to look out for them, but would prefer to be left to their own business.

[Even if that is often foolish, in the alien's eyes. He supposes he can just deal with threats behind the scenes as he usually does, but just waiting on the shore for humans to get themselves into trouble does not sound like an enjoyable time at all.]

[audio]

[synthedick]

They might not trust you on sight, but if something in the water looks at them like a meal, they won't have much of a choice.

[Nick knows a lot about garnering distrust on looks alone, but when people need help, the important part is that they get it.]

But let's just hope it doesn't come to that. Just keep your eyes peeled for anyone trying to brave the waters and lend a hand where you can for now. And when the Door opens again, if you could hang around the Colosseum, that'd be a big help. We're working on a way to ferry folks from one place to another, but for now, we'll be shorthanded over there.

[In good news, the Colosseum is on the same island as the Clinic, and Nick knows Glacius has some ties with them, so that'll be two places covered.]