reefnet | day 005; SH442K; voice

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day 005; SH442K; voice

Heeey scumbags!

[ As usual, the scratchy voice coming out of the comms is just too loud for comfort, and will probably prompt anyone listening to turn their volume down. As usual, he sounds a little too cheerful for their dire circumstances. ]

Anyone else getting shot at? Kidnapped? C'mon, I'm about to die from boredom here.

If this was really some kinda simulated Battle Royale you'd think the death matches would have started by now, right?

But noooooo, it's just some fuckers sneakin' around and dronebombing the place.

Terrible vacation, really. Good fuckin' thing I didn't pay for it or I'd want my money back, yeah?

[ ... ]

Hey.

If you're still listening, congratulations, you might not be a fun-hating twat, so you get to hear my actual message.

Found another airplane, or part of airplane, in the mountain range. This really huge-ass fuselage, got "PacAir" printed on the side.

There might be some luggage in the compartments or salvageable electronics behind the boards, but the whole thing hanging in this really fucked up way and nothing on the inside looks sturdy enough to climb. Maybe if anyone's got some rope, someone could descend from above and check it out that way. Maybe enough people would be able to flip it, but I dunno if it's worth that kinda effort.

And there's also -- check this out -- a volcano. Doesn't look like it's been active for a while, there's a mineral water lake in the middle now, but it's weirdly warm. Don't know shit about that so I can't tell you if it could be heated from the sun or if it's coming from below, but hey, that's something to consider. 'Nd animals have been making their way here, so it's not poisonous. Probably. Smells kinda like sulfur though.

Volcanoes are usually in the middle of islands, right? Might not be the case here, but I'd say it's... in the southern part of the mountains? Can't be sure without a map, but there's more further north.

Guess that's it for now. Ya eggheads might be able to make something from this, right?

Oh but I wasn't fucking kiddin' about this place being boring, so if you've got any fun stories ya wanna share, I'm all ears. Only so much jungle noises one can take instead of a normal conversation, yeah? I'm a people person, you know. Honest.

Anyway! Headed toward some sus shit next, wish me luck.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jeez, you're slow.

[Hey look, here's your favorite person popping in to interrupt.]

There's a pretty obvious answer for what might've happened to the passengers!

Uh-huh.

[ Feel free to share with the class before he hangs up, Bolognese Boy. ]

There are mystery people on this island shooting people with arrows, right? And a whole plane's worth of people missing without a trace...? Doesn't it logically track that the people with the arrows are our missing passengers?

[Duh.]

Ooor I guess the arrow people could have kidnapped and eaten all the passengers or something, but these things have gotta be related somehow! Oh, and of course that's all assuming those mystery people aren't just some of us secretly hunting the others down and blaming it on someone off-network.

Edited 2023-06-10 10:29 (UTC)

Dunno how many passengers usually survive a plane breaking in midair and smashing into solid rock, but my bet would not be on "most of them".

Mmmaybe it's all set dressing? Like, whoever stuck us here just put the plane there to explain the locals for the show backstory and didn't really worry about the details?

[That makes more sense to him than any kind of supernatural bullshit, anyway. He's not into the weird superpowers/multiverse/whatever nonsense like some people here. Being gaslit into believing some batshit worldbuilding is, unfortunately, more par for the course in his experience.]

Didn't look like it. [ He's more inclined to believe some supernatural bullshit, considering it was a thing back home, but ghost ships were still a stretch back there. ] Though I guess whoever has enough funds to pull off something like this might as well have an actual plane or few to sacrifice just laying around.

Hate to break it to you, kid, but this ain't the kind of thing you can put together "without thinking about the details." This is nothing but details. If somebody went through all the time to put something like this together - and has the resources to do it - they're not just throwing a plane out in the jungle and calling it a day. They've got reasons for why they're doing things the way they do.

Remember, Detective Stick Up His Ass said the plane he found looked like it was in the water for a long time.

Edited 2023-06-11 13:59 (UTC)

[He taps the broadcast button a few time, creating a crackling mess of noise for a few monents.]

Huh?! Sorry, I couldn't quite hear that! You're sticking what up the detective's ass?!

[ Lalo's demeanor changes on a dime.

Usually, it's easy to dismiss most of what Kokichi says. He's just a kid. Hard to get that upset over what a 16-year-old kid says.

But this is different; this might start innocuous, but it has the power to get out of hand. Lalo has seen how games of telephone can get out of hand on the island, how one thing can become stated as fact based on only one person's word...

Time to set the record straight, in the most literal way, right now. When Lalo speaks, his voice is still cheery, but it's full of menace and warning. It's not a threat, it's a promise.

Kokichi and he have spent time together; bonded together; Kokichi might still have his panties in a knot because Lalo didn't jump to go rescue him after he got his dumb ass kidnapped, but Lalo still thinks their time together warrants doing Kokichi the kindness of letting him know what he's just triggered. He's just a kid, Lalo tries to tell himself. He doesn't know anything. He can't know anything.

His heart is pounding, though. ]

Hey, kid. Be nice. I'm serious. I'm not a [ Mexican slur for gay men redacted; Kokichi can probably guess what it is from context ]. Don't you ever say shit like that to me again, or you won't like what happens. Got it?

[ Into the walkie, he's smiling, but it's a forced and angry smile. His voice has a quality to it that Kokichi has probably never heard before.

In the back of his mind, Lalo has to swat away the voice saying he knows he knows he knows he knows HE KNOWS like the world's shittiest mosquito, to remind himself that nobody knows anything. And he's going to keep it that way. ]

Edited 2023-06-11 15:24 (UTC)

[ okay, now that's some grade A entertainment. he knew you had it in him, Ben!! ]

Y'know, when you're trying to shut up the kid famous for talking shit outta his ass this hard, it kinda gets more suspicious.

I'm not susp -

[ Lalo's voice sounds oddly thick. He can count on one hand the number of times he's ever reacted to anything out of blind panic. In his entire life, it had been three. Three times. That was it.

He hears the word "suspicious", and it's number four. ]

Listen to me. I am not gay. [ He remembers his fake backstory and immediately claws at that. He snorts, trying to seem indifferent, like he doesn't care, like he's pointing out the obvious. He manages to sound a lot like someone who cares very much. ] I'm married. Remember? Remember my wife?

[ His heart is pounding. He's trying to be calm because so far, he likes Squalo, who thought was an idiot initially but as now come to see as one of the more sensible people on the island, if unnecessarily touchy and high-strung.

Speaking of unnecessarily touchy, Lalo is Exhibit A right now. ]

[ Poor dude, honestly. Squalo should probably feel bad for him, but he doesn't. ]

Not really. You mention her before? [ He sounds vaguely bored, before the usual cheerfulness makes it back into his voice. ] But hey, I believe you, yeah? I'm not a [ casually throws a matching Italian slur back at him because hey, might as well speak the guy's language! ] either, but that doesn't mean you can't make exceptions if someone's hot enough.

[ Is he making fun of Lalo? Does he actually believe this? Who knows :) ]

Yes! Fuck, man. I mentioned 'er. I said I had two step-kids. Weren't you listening? Maybe we should scavenge you some new ears, eh?

[ Lalo doesn't know how to process any of this. He knows, back home, he could silence any of them with a look. No one would dare say any of this to him - ever -

What Squalo says makes Lalo turn bright red. He's about to be calmed down by Squalo's reassurances and use of a slur (Lalo doesn't speak Italian, but he can figure out what Squalo was saying from context). And then it happens.

Despite what he told Martin, part of him fills tainted even by the idea of "exceptions", even by the idea of "one time", even by - ]

I don't "make exceptions", shit-for-brains. Got that? [ So much for calm. ]

Edited 2023-06-11 18:54 (UTC)

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sharktrash - 2023-06-11 19:07 (UTC) - Expand

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salamanca - 2023-06-12 02:20 (UTC) - Expand

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sharktrash - 2023-06-15 00:27 (UTC) - Expand

[Martin is disappointed in you, as well, Squalo. But he's more willing to let the slur slide when the other man seems to be mocking Ben more than anything.]

[not here]

sharktrash - 2023-06-11 19:40 (UTC) - Expand

[Martin's... really not liking where this conversation is going. He's past the point of tolerating that sort of thing in his life. It... had helped having Jon be so confident and direct about it with giant unholy flesh monsters who could crush them into a pulp.]

And some of us are that. Maybe don't talk like it's an insult.

[ Lalo sighs and puts the radio down. He scrubs his visibly shaking hands over his face. He is not going to have this conversation in public, with everybody listening, especially not to someone who's five feet away.

He has enough social awareness to know he should apologize, despite feeling no guilt for what he says. Martin's life his business - he can live it however he wants. No skin off Lalo's ass.

But suggesting Lalo should be okay with it, should embrace what he considers his only real defect as an otherwise perfect human being... every instinct in him screams against that, in a language that's more primal than anything he knows in English or Spanish.

Eventually he pulls his hands away from his face and just looks over at Martin, aiming for breezy and inconsiderate in the fact of Martin's justified irritation. He stands up, exhausted but trying to mask it, giving a shrug he hopes reads as indifferent. ]

Fuck, man. Let's hear it. Say what you're gonna say.

[Martin's own expression is closed when he flicks a glance up at Lalo. He looks away again, simply staring ahead.]

I already have. Don't use gay or whatever word you just used like it's an insult. That's it.

Fine.

[ Lalo surveys Martin again, following Martin's gaze into nothingness. Does he know...? No, he doesn't seem to. Too busy being offended on his own behalf to worry about probing into Lalo's motives. At least that's what it seems like. Thank fuck. He feels a small tingle of relief at the realization that Martin, at least, is probably just angry, not trying to decipher or interpret Lalo's statements beyond the obvious.

Good. Whatever. He doesn't have time for this. He's gotta go talk to the kid. The kid knows; the kid's onto him. Fuck.

There aren't words to describe the level of humiliation Lalo is experiencing right now. How the fuck do they think it's okay, any of them, to say this shit to him? He should be able to make them all regret it immediately. And he can't. If he were home, he'd know how to handle this. He'd make them pay for their disrespect. But he's not home, and he can't do what he normally would.

His throat is suddenly dry, but his eyes almost water like he's going to cry. Almost. He starts to turn on his heel, then at the last second, he whirls back around, hands in the air. Agitated. ]

Hey, just so you know - I didn't start this shit! Tell the kid to watch who's he talking to! [ Deep breath. He's reacting emotionally. Reacting emotionally never ends well for anyone, at least not in his world. It won't end well for him now.

He keeps doing it anyway. ]

It was one time! You're not gay after one time! Everyone knows that! I'm not gay, and even if I was [ he starts to say "a [f-slur]" and stops himself ] gay - I still wouldn't fuck a cop! Bet you wouldn't either, so maybe shut the fuck up if you're gonna get on your high horse. Okay, man?

[ He realizes what he's said and, without another word, turns on his heel and leaves the building immediately. He doesn't go far, instead choosing to lean against the building and close his eyes, clenching his fists and sighing to himself, before he starts yelling and kicking the side of the structure. His burst of rage doesn't last long though, instead dissolving into wordless frustration.

Fuck. He's fucked, in more ways than one. Slowly, he leans down the side of the structure, unsure for the first time since he's arrived on the island of what to do next. ]

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lonelynotforsaken - 2023-06-11 21:12 (UTC) - Expand

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salamanca - 2023-06-12 02:15 (UTC) - Expand

[Oof, he tripped into a sore spot, huh? It'd be kinda sad if Ben wasn't proving himself to be more and more questionable with every interaction. It leaves Kokichi in an odd position, armed with a weapon of extremely variable damage depending on how other people feel about certain shit – one he isn't particularly inclined to used, but he's not particularly inclined to be comforting and sensitive about it either.

Sitting at the side of the jail, a little ways away from the others, Kokichi eyes the radio thoughtfully and he quickly mulls over what to do with this.]

Hm? Not a what? Sowwy, I don't speak Spanish.

[It's a lie. He's not quite fluent, but he definitely knows what that shit meant.]

Edited 2023-06-11 16:35 (UTC)

[ Lalo doesn't need comforting or sensitive. Really, he would reject any attempt to comfort him, or spare his feelings, immediately.

All he needs from Kokichi is Kokichi's assurance that he will say nothing to anyone. Whether Kokichi is kind about giving that assurance or not doesn't matter to Lalo. He just needs it.

Lalo sighs heavily, hands shaking, and looks away from Kokichi, outside towards the door. Then back at Kokichi, gaze fixed and pointed. His voice is oddly hollow and emotionless, instead of angry and threatening the way it had been seconds before. ]

Outside. Right now.

[ It's the voice he uses with his underlings. It's not even a command, just a statement of what will happen - 'we are going outside now'. Lalo turns without waiting to see if Kokichi will follow him. He knows Kokichi will, if only because he can't imagine the brat would pass up the chance to taunt him some more when they're alone. ]

Edited 2023-06-11 18:08 (UTC)

[Kokichi glances up from his walkie-talkie at the sudden in-person address, a smile plastered on even before he's lifted his head. Goddamn, he really set something off, huh? And he didn't even intend to for once. Well, at least not to this extent. He'd expected a Kaito-esque reaction at most – a bit of impotent anger and shouting, maybe getting chased around in an attempt to deck him. Not this rollercoaster of rage and panic.

It is what it is, though. Kokichi hums as if thinking about it before grinning brightly.]

Okie-dokie!

[His cheer is all too dissonant with the mood here. Good.

Hopping to his feet (with a bit of wincing as he puts weight on his injured ankle), he goes as far as the entrance but halts there, casually leaning against the open doorframe with his hands in his pockets. "Outside" enough, but still within sight and earshot of the others just in case. He's curious and a risk-taker, but he's not stupid. He doesn't know what this guy's deal is, but he does know "Ben" has been lying about shit and demonstrated one hell of a temper. Kokichi wouldn't voluntarily be alone with him any more than he would have with Maki. Hell, there aren't even any rules to whatever this situation is that might deter people from going for kills that'd be too obvious. Ironic, how the rules of the killing game had made it harder to commit murder, in some ways.]

What's up? This isn't a booty call, is it? Because you're wayyyy too old for me.

[Probably not helping matters, but when he finds a way to push people's buttons he's gotta button mash.

But while he's the picture of irreverent flippancy, in his pocket Kokichi grips the arrowhead he'd picked up a while ago. Just in case. He's not a murderer, but he's not such a pacifist that he won't defend himself if needed.]