RE419S | audio/text sent to everyone but DI481O | Night 23

[aluminumandash]

[ Hours—several—after Q&A with the anonymous callsign's come to an end, Rust breaks his walkie silence for the first time since the storm. He sounds raspy-voiced but keyed up, intent. His drawl's more clipped than usual, but he doesn't rush. ]

Bout a week ago, the man who's been calling himself Officer Ben De Guzman pulled a gun on me, knocked me out when I fought back. He then cuffed me, took my shit, and up till today had me leading him around that fucking cabin to the Northeast. Ah, this included forcing me to help put together a bloody arrow, leave it out for the guy living there like some kind of a fucking love note.

His callsign's DI481O. [ He repeats it for good measure. ] Mid-forties, Mexican, six feet. Muscular build. He's got a mustache, a grey streak in his hair. He dies, he'll come back in jeans, a button-down workshirt, red bandana. He'll have sustained a gunshot wound to his left leg and he'll be limping. His gun'll have four rounds, but I don't think I gotta tell anyone how easy it is to pick up new weaponry around here.

Most of what he said on here was bullshit. As you mighta gathered.

His name's Eduardo Salamanca. He's cartel, top of the fucking food chain. Drug manufacture and distribution, wide-scale killing on his say-so. This is a powerful man used to getting his way. He's also— [ The merest pause, a huff of breath. ] obsessive. Vengeful. Prone to fixate on people he sees as having wronged him or diminished his status. Capable, too. Not a hunter, but he can survive alright on his own.

[ Another, longer pause. When he comes back some of the weariness from the past week bleeds into his voice. ] I'm gonna type all this up for you. Ah, anyone who can write it down, please do. Tell anyone you know who might not be on the walkie.

Um, I took a print of his boot—I'll see if I can't get that out there. Anyone who's talked to him recently, I'd like to hear from you. You think he might come after you, I'd like to hear about that too. I've also got some questions.

Whos hurt/how bad?
Anyone familiar with Salamanca's name?
Anyone turn up something from his world during the storm?


[ OOC: True to his word, Rust will painstakingly type up a text version of this, which will take him a good twenty minutes.

He will ALSO be monitoring Lalo's walkie for a conveniently unspecified period of time, so if you want your char to look shady, now's your chance! Reply here with a message for Lalo and Rust will intercept it. (Or ignore this if your char is too smart for such ploys!) ]

Comments

HE412T | text

[timaeus]

[Dirk comes back twenty minutes later after the text version is added, maybe because he feels a little bad for contributing to the stupidity.]

I've got a notebook and writing implements.
I'm copying it right now.

TEXT

[somethingintangible]

If you want to do English, i can do a Spanish version. If he's in a cartel, the people in his world might speak mostly Spanish.

[aluminumandash]

Thats good thinking.

[somethingintangible]

[ omg yay grownup validation!!! ]

Thanks.

[aluminumandash]

[ Y'all are getting notebooks???

Anyway, he's pleasantly surprised at the offer—not that he doesn't think Dirk can take notes, there's just no glamor in it. ] Thanks.

Be real careful who you talk to about the pacairs. We dont wanna lead him right to them.

[timaeus]

[Glamor is far from being a concern here.]

Wasn't planning on it.
Assuming he's the Hunter they talked about, though, they might have more info to share.
And they were pretty open to bartering.

private

[aluminumandash]

Dont want them in the middle of anything but Ive been wondering how long hes been around.

They tell stories about him?

private

[timaeus]

If he is in fact the Hunter, then yes, apparently.
Didn't hang around long enough to hear any, though.
But I'd take any stories they tell with a grain of salt.
It's doubtlessly gone through a heavy filter of mythologizing, and beyond that, it's always wise to keep in mind the biases of the storyteller.
There's no such thing as a truly objective narrator.

1/2

[aluminumandash]

youre telling me people say things that aint true

2/2

[aluminumandash]

so whats their bias?

[timaeus]

"True" and "unbiased" don't mean the same thing.
From what they said, they don't seem particularly fond of the guy.
But they also called him a demigod and suggested their "Great Whale" allows him to remain despite the threat he poses to them.
What do you make of that?

[aluminumandash]

Truth exists outside bias. [ Rust takes the time to type out, with one maniac pretty much right next to him and another surely on the way. ] People warp it just by being people.

They say why the Great Whale would do such a thing?

Interesting that they distinguish between gods and demigods. Makes you wonder what kinda power theyre supposed to have, where its supposed to be coming from.

[timaeus]

Cause and effect may be a lil reversed there.
The way I took it is that he's a demigod *because* The Great Whale hasn't gotten rid of him.
As in, in their worldview wherein their god has made this place a paradise for them, the only explanation for a bad thing remaining is that the bad thing in question is itself somewhat godlike, if to a lesser degree.
Doesn't necessarily mean the guy does or doesn't have any special power.
But given how pious and devout the Pacairs are with their plane wreck shrine and all that, it does make me wonder how they'd take it if someone threatened a "demigod", even one they don't like.