hadriel | 2.8/ video/ i'd be glad to meet me if i were you

( Hey, Hadriel! You know that lovely rare sight of Kate, actually using video instead of text? You're being treated to it again today, hair a paler shade of pink than before (she needs to dye it, but it can be stretched out for a while longer, she thinks) and eyes?

Well. They're completely white, no irises or pupils to be seen, and giving off an eerie glow against her skin. But that's the point of it, she needs a statement to be made. (Though, honestly, there’s enough statement in the background of the Colosseum, crumbling and ancient as ever, in the frame.

Kate, dramatic? Say it ain’t so.) )

So.

( Still sticking with those eyes, Kitkat? Okay, then. )

We need to talk about the Door.

( A pause. )

...Least, what's most likely the Door.

( Meanwhile, Alphys is very slightly off-camera, on virtue of the fact that she’s four feet tall and therefore too short to be caught in most video focused on someone’s face. But she stands on her tiptoes, waving her hand to get it to tilt down a bit. )

So, uh, we may have been-- well, uh, I’ve b-been looking into it. It absolutely matches Door signatures of the energy we’ve, uhm, captured when it brings in new arrivals. It’s unstable, and not consistent, but… yeah.

( She looks down, tapping her claws together nervously. )

It is telling the truth. Or s-seems to be.

( Maybe Kate should sit down the next time they do this. But nevertheless, her eyes finally fade and she looks less than pleased with the fact that they can only say so much. )

Behaviour means we haven’t got a proper reading on it. ( Her lips purse and tug to one side. She wants to get her hands on it, but it already causes her headaches when she stares at it from above ground. What the hell kind of experience would looking at it directly be? ) Not in the time we’ve had.

( SIGH )

Null’s not bullshitting us, far as we can tell. ( It would be so much easier if it was, really. The thought of it being somewhere in this city makes Kate antsy. Who knows how long they have before its communicators go back online and it drags the rest of its species here like some horrifying, metallic beacon? ) So.

We need to organise.

( Before 50 different people end up with the idea of doing their own thing, really.

But fuck if she didn’t have other plans for this. Ones which gave them more time, which didn’t ask them to post to the network in plain sight of the gods. )

It can’t really, uh, search right now, but I might b-be able to help a little?

( She reaches off-camera and pulls out a small device, with what looks like a camera lens on the back. )

I made this a while ago, but it tracks magical signatures. I’ve been able to confirm that the Door has, uh, a unique s-signature that doesn’t match god magic. It can’t track long distances, just scan what’s in front of it, but, uhm. If anyone thinks they found a piece, I can confirm it.

( ooc: replies will, of course, come from both kate and alphys, but holler if you want someone specific! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Lets me see powers.

( Admittedly, it was more for effect here. They're also a really great flashlight. )

Analyse it first. Then... ( The trail off is punctuated by a shrug he can't see. Honestly, there's no way of knowing. But leaving those pieces down there would just be losing a chance to get closer to having The Door work properly. ) Guess we have to find out.

[ A pause.]

Okay.

[ Another pause, as he thinks over the rest of her response.]

Even assface sadnessclown says the magic fuckers prime crew don't know how to work this shit out. Which is probably a lie. These metal scraps are probably lying too.

Probably.

( She isn't discounting the possibility, but she can't dwell on it. This is a chance far beyond any they've had in all the time Kate's been in the city. )

Sick of having no answers, though.

( So fuck it. They're gonna find their own. Maybe the gods will stop underestimating them then. )

[ He does actually pause for a few more seconds, if only to respect the fact that he shares the same feeling. He's sick and tired or having no answers, another small pebble of shit that makes the pile that he's been rooting through in his mind for so many months.

But he still doesn't trust them. His life made him in a way where he's bound to have a nasty bias against anyone in power, and the fact that these guys are magical does not really help the fact.]

Y' dunno if this'll give you any. [ His tone is less harsh for a second. He recognizes the hypocrisy in his arguments, his crew would be bound to call him out for it. But he can still use it with other people.]

These fucks got nothing to gain if they lose us.

No. ( They don't. ) 'S better than sitting and waiting.

( Kate had to train herself to wait, to be patient, and she hates it even when she needs to. Waiting here, hoping that the answers will fall out of the sky, grates at her too much to even consider. )

Sometimes a gamble's all you get.

[ He'd related, except on the training part. He's definitely not done that.

He grunts quietly. He knows what she means, and it irritates him slightly to feel like she has a point. If you couldn't tell so far, he's a bit of a Negative Nancy here.]

Just hope it don't blow up on everyone's faces.

You 'n' me both.

( That is something which has already happened to her here with regards to the Door. She doesn't want to feel responsible for a second mistake. )

[ He grunts quietly, seemingly done with his obvious warnings. And as soon as he goes quiet, he that very specific wave of exhaustion threatens to creep in.

Maybe in an attempt to keep it away, or maybe because he's actually spoken to her a couple of times and she's proven to be useful and generous, he speaks up again.]

Any plan B if shit goes south?

( Generous? She'd sooner say practical. No good in having people in this city end up in worse shape, if it can be avoided with supplies they've plenty of. )

... So far? No.

( No one ever said she was particularly comforting, though. )

Hm.

[ An opening for one of his judgy grunts, but he keeps it on the downlow. As much of a hypocrite he can be, it's extra hard to find any options or leeway here.]

You really sure about the whole thing?

Sure we don't have other options.

( Which is as good as being sure, yes. )

[Often the only one, over here.

He hums.]

Not doing what they're saying, I guess.

[ But then you're right back in inaction.

The words bubble in his throat before he can stop them.]

Stay safe.

Ah-

( That was sudden enough to catch her off guard. )

Take more than that to kill me.

( KATE NO )

Heh. [ There's a faint smirk to him that might come through in his voice, quiet as it might be.]

See ya, then, space pirate.

[ And he shuts off the call.]

2.8/ video/ i'd be glad to meet me if i were you

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