VL121R | Text | Night 20

[meadqueen]

Zam is gone. I do not know what happened - she was here last night, but no one has seen her since. Some of her items remain here, but her call sign has disappeared.

Comments

[salamanca]

[ It's cool! Lalo is used to dealing with people in crisis! Usually it's because he himself caused the crisis, but hey.

He has all the time in the world. ]

I know this is alarming. Shit, I'd be losing my shit too.

Would you like to switch to voice or is text easier for you?

[meadqueen]

Text, please.

[She was just nearly struck by lightning, her voice is shaking too much for audio]

She can't have died. She was getting better.

TO994M; text

[cactusy]

Where were you when it happened?

[meadqueen]

There is a group of us waiting out the storm in one of the longhouses at the airfield.

Most of us were asleep, but aside from Kokichi they sleep near one another.

[cactusy]

wandered off into the storm, maybe

[meadqueen]

Without her shoes?

[cactusy]

you said she was getting better. was she sick? feverish?

[meadqueen]

No. Her arm was amputated before she arrived here, but the wound was clean. She was getting stronger.

[cactusy]

then we shouldn't rule out foul play as a possibility.

[meadqueen]

I don't know. There are five other people sleeping out there. No signs of a struggle. Why not kill all of us?

I tried to look for her out there but any tracks are long gone.

[cactusy]

we don't have a solid idea of who our enemies are or what their motives are, do we?

[salamanca]

What the fuck are you doing?

[ Come on, lady. He's not even a real cop and he knows this isn't helpful. ]

[cactusy]

i'm not trying to upset her, but it's a possibility, especially if she was sick or not thinking straight.

[salamanca]

Don't you think we should get all the information about what happened first before we start scaring people with "possibilities?"

[ It's lucky Randvi has a good head on her shoulders and is unlikely to fall apart — perhaps something Shaw was counting on as well — but on someone else, a comment like that could have rendered them hopelessly panicky and useless for getting Lalo info here. ]

[cactusy]

she could be in danger and she could need help. the fact that something bad might have happened to her is a sign that everyone else who was with her could be in danger too, and needs to be extra alert. this isn't a time to prioritize trying to soothe people and make them feel safe. they're not safe.

VL1 seems like they're handling this just fine, by the way.

[salamanca]

Speculation, without real information to back it up, is not helpful. If you want to help someone who's in danger, you need to find out why they're in danger first. That means we get all the facts, narrow down what actually could've happened. We don't know who's in danger because we don't have enough information to know who's in danger.

I mean, doesn't sound to me like this person wandered out into the storm on her own. Does it to you?

Si! She's a trooper. What about you? Still hanging in there?

[salamanca]

[ They can stick to text, then. ]

Tell me exactly what happened.

[meadqueen]

[There’s a long pause as she tries to pull herself together]

Last night, the people staying with us gathered in the main area of the longhouse to sleep. I was in my own room, adjacent.

In the morning, Zam was gone but her shoes were still there. They were so annoying, she loved them. The bedding was undisturbed and no one else noticed her leave. I tried to contact her and her callsign is gone. I went outside and searched for an hour.

[salamanca]

[ He just waits. ]

Thank you, Randvi. That's very helpful.

The good news is that we can rule out wandering off into the storm. She wouldn't leave her shoes behind, in that case, and I'm sure someone would have noticed her leaving. If nothing else, the bedding wouldn't be undisturbed if she'd left on her own.

You said Kokichi is by himself?

[meadqueen]

Yes, he remains nearby as we see him during the day, but he sleeps on his own elsewhere.

[She has her suspicions since she's the one who found the office in the other longhouse but she's not about to put it out there if someone is picking them off]

He’s afraid of me, I think.

[salamanca]

He won't like it, but as soon as it's safe, I'd have somebody pull him in during the night and make him sleep with you. Until then, I'd set up times to have him text you. Or text somebody he likes better than you.

[ This aside brought to you by: Cohle will be even more insane if he feels like the kid isn't being considered. ]

I'd like to ask you a few more questions, if I may. How are you feeling now?

[meadqueen]

Martin and Jet travelled here with him, I'll talk to them.

[She takes another breath. She's still shaking a bit from the adrenaline]

I’m all right.

[salamanca]

Do you know how to find your pulse, Randvi?

[meadqueen]

Yes, but I'm not injured.

[salamanca]

I know that. Stick with me. Find your pulse at your neck. Close your eyes. Focus on just your pulse, nothing else, until it's steady.