hadriel | 001 ❗ video

[ It's not as if Miller's pleased that half of Hadriel's captives have apparently been buried alive, but this also grants him an opportunity he'd been craving. It places him back into a position that he's come to miss and yearn for since his arrival here. He can't fight the monsters who come with the newcomers, he can't convince the gods to send them home when they don't even know how the process works, but he can organize people. And this situation, with Hope's set of coordinates? This is his bread and butter.

The broadcast comes from a desk in the main living area of Kaz's apartment. He's propped his phone and adjusted it so that it shows him from the shoulders up. A number of people here already know about his disabilities, but anyone who doesn't should stay that way for now. They might see his missing limbs and his need for a crutch as a weakness, which will make them less likely to listen to him. ]

Fear's really done a number on us this time, hasn't he?

[ He shakes his head, dismayed but not defeated. He assumes it's Fear, anyway. Who else would be behind this? Sitting with his back straight and his beret set in place, Miller takes on the air of command. ]

This we can do something about, though, unlike the blizzard. Anyone who's above ground and willing to help dig someone up, report in. I'll assign you a set of coordinates. Then, report back with whether or not you were successful in digging someone up -- and if so, who it was.

[ That's all simple enough, but Kaz can guess that both those who've been buried and those who haven't are in a panic, and a good leader needs to address something like that. ]

I'm sure that many of you have friends who are in need of your help. [ His brow knits, a quiet show of empathy. ] But right now, we need to focus on getting each and every person dug up, so even if you end up rescuing a stranger, just keep in mind that I'll have probably sent someone else to free your loved one. The important thing is that we make sure each plot is covered so that no one is overlooked.

[ Someone just made a helpful announcement about how awful it would be to suffocate in one of those coffins, after all. ]

For those who are curious, my name is Kazuhira Miller, and I have experience with organizing an army. Getting a few people dug up should be a cakewalk if everyone keeps their calm -- and if enough people want to help.

[ Maybe he's guilting people a little with that last point. It might have to do with the fact that he's self-conscious that he can't contribute to any of the physical requirements of this particular crisis. Then again, that had been the case with taking down Cipher too, and they'd still pulled it off. ]

And if anyone who's trapped is watching this... hang in there. We're on our way.

[ With a firm nod, he ends the feed. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No, I'm quite certain of that. I was murdered by a friend of mine, a girl named Shiro. She is ... quite troubled. [As someone with a split personality tends to be.] But very strong. She's able to weaponize her blood, and she attacked me. We fought, and she tore into my abdomen with her bare hands.

[Beyond recites this all very calmly, like reading off details of a report. Unseen, though, he shivers at the memory of Shiro's hand going straight through him to his insides, the blood covering both of them. No question in his mind - he was dead. There was no surviving that attack.]

That's the last thing I remember before I woke up here, at the coliseum.

Edited 2016-01-18 04:13 (UTC)

[ Weaponized blood? It probably says a lot about Miller that he's heard stranger things. It's not as if Quiet's skill set had been all that different. And who knows what other tricks she'd had hidden up her sleeve?

It's a gruesome story. Kaz knows firsthand what it looks like when someone's disemboweled. He's seen men with their intestines spilling out of their belly, and he knows that isn't something you survive unless there's immediate medical attention.

So he isn't going to argue the point any further. After an extended silence, he finally responds with a question. ]

After all that, you'd still call her a friend?

Yes.

[No hesitation at all in his answer. Death didn't change Beyond's feelings about Shiro and the bond they'd created together over shared pudding and hushed words.]

In her way, she thought she was helping me. I told her once that I wanted to die.

[If you ever wanna die for real, Shiro will help you! Cause we're friends, right? Beyond hears her voice ringing in his ears, as clear as if she were sitting next to him still in the port.]

[ And here Kaz thought he was the one with skewed world views. Apparently this stranger and his friend gave him a run for his money. ]

Well, if you can feel at peace with it, I guess that's better than the alternative.

[ That's the life that Kaz has been living. He wasn't killed, but it had been a close thing, and he'd lost plenty all the same. His entire reason for living, wiped off the map just like that.

It's not something he can just forgive and forget, that's for damn sure. ]

It's not about being at peace with it - it's about being realistic. She's a child, and - well, I'm no psychiatrist, but she suffers from a dissociative identity. A split personality, in common parlance. Such a state of being is caused by something deeply traumatic, usually a repeated occurrence. It was the second personality that killed me, not Shiro.

[Aceman - that's what she'd called herself. A shiver creeps up the back of Beyond's neck.]

I can hardly fault her for that. As I said, she's deeply troubled.

[ This story only gets wilder and wilder. Split personalities, huh? And here Kaz had thought that was the sort of thing that really only existed in fiction. (What Paz did, that doesn't count. It had been deliberate.) There's no reason for this guy to lie about it, though.

It sounds like he should have kept his distance from the girl to begin with, but there's no real point in lecturing him. ]

Even so, if the same thing had happened to me... I'd probably be pretty bitter about it. I guess all I can say is that I hope she doesn't show up here.

[ They don't need some traumatized kid running around trying to attack people. ]

Well ... we can agree on that, at least.

[Even if he did hold any resentment toward Shiro over what happened, he wouldn't wish this place on her.]

I'd like to take a set of coordinates.

I was wondering if you were ever gonna ask.

[ Miller's suspicion had been that this stranger enjoyed sending people into a hysteria, but then didn't want to do anything personally to fix the problem.

Sure, he isn't out in the field, but that's because he isn't physically able.

After a brief pause, he gives out a set of coordinates. Right now, beggars can't be choosers. ]

I'm not very good at this sort of thing.

[Throwing people into mindless hysteria isn't Beyond's brand of chaos; even at his worst, the destruction he wrought was tightly contained and served a very specific purpose.]

But I'll do my best.

To be fair, I don't think most people here have much experience with digging up graves.

[ It's not exactly a commonly learned skill. Digging them, maybe, to bury bodies, but going the other way around generally wasn't done. ]

Just do what you can. [ And stop freaking people out. ]

I will. And I'll let you know my progress.

001 ❗ video

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