solnet | EMERGENCY BROADCAST (text)

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EMERGENCY BROADCAST (text)

(All active cellphones sound an alarm briefly during the delivery of this message.)

To: All Users
From: sans.
Subject: (SUBJECT HERE)
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URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT: The following is an automated message.

Nature of Emergency: cagey queen left us hanging

PRESS 1 if outside the vicinity of: home If it is safe to do so, follow the prompts to take and send an image of your surroundings to the administrator.

Users in the vicinity of: home are requested to congregate in the: mess hall immediately for: probably a good idea to come save us

Additional Notes:

* sup.
* not much, not much, just hangin' with about 3 new and old friends in this cage dangling precariously above the water.
* can't say i like the conditions either, but the cold and damp doesn't get under my skin. i think i see other cages, tho and, uh, i can't say much for them yet.
* six other occupied cages, with about three in each. hey, it's like those math problems you used to get in school.
* startin' to get a real sinking feeling so if there's anybody out there who ain't locked up, it'd mean a lot to me and over 20 other people if you bailed us out.
* see ya. sans.

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Okay, press 1 and... What the heck, Sans, these prompts aren't simple at all! So wait, she needs to open that and do that, okay, but wait what was the first instruction again? And on your left in Cage 5, witness the wild Tohsaka accidentally backout of the prompts altogether.

By the time she's done cursing out her phone and threatening to toss it into the ocean, Steven's already smoothly responded and sent a picture of their cage. So. She'll skip that part and settle for providing something useful.]

That thing Zuko's talking about is a real piece of work. It's not a ricochet, precisely. More like a geas and a bounded field rolled into one. I'm loathe to praise the royal pain, but this is sophisticated stuff. Absolutely don't try to break out by force.

* yeah? welp, gotta hand it to the capital b herself, she really covered her bases.
* i'll keep that in mind.
* thanks a ton, pal.
* hows your puzzle comin'?

Pass it on for me, where you can. I don't know how many people will see this.

[Don't make her admit she's not actually good enough with these phones on the fly to do it herself, though she will try her best regardless. But that's the only comment for a few moments, until (possibly with help) she manages to get a picture of the ceiling in Cage 5: namely the picture of Papyrus burnt into it, with parts of the word jumble visible in the edges of the photo.]

If you were in this cage instead, it would have been finished yesterday. I bet you'd get a kick out of it, at least.

[Zuko's got photography experience, she could totally help with that.

But also because she didn't get it right away she feels the need to add:]

It's a really bad picture of your brother.

* the heck? papyrus?

* considerate of her to leave a hint.
* yeah, i can give it a look. that stuff's for babybones.
* but do me a favor and see if you can spread the word about how breakin' out won't work, yeah?

Take your time with it. It's not the biggest worry at the moment.

[Everyone's still working out what's happened. Where, what, who, why. The puzzles are a priority, but take a deep breath. Get the facts first; orient themselves. Even then, if helping anybody, she'd prefer they chip in to help Sanji. Since from the sound of it, his situation seems to be the more dire.

Then again, he has Papyrus helping him. Chalk it up to being bonded with Sans for a week, but Rin has some faith she might not have before, that the patron hint of Cage 5's puzzle will do Sanji as well as a monster possibly can. So she tries not to worry about that for now. Just takes a deep breath and sighs, after thanking Zuko for the help with the pic.]

I'll try, but no promises. I don't know half as many people as you do.

[Best she can do is just... Go off the ones who respond here, she supposes and hope for the best they'll tell everyone else.]

[Some time later, probably a couple of hours, Rin texts Sans again. The genuinely good work the three of them have managed to pull off with their puzzle doesn't feel like as much of a victory as it should, after a few battles where wrong guesses summoned a Shadow right into their cage.

Haha, their lovely abodes don't seem quite so roomy and spacious when you throw a Shadow Portal into their dead centers, with nowhere to get away.

Each time, they've successfully managed to beat back the Shadows, but after several battles like that — especially once they hit a word that's left them really and truly stuck — they might not be cold thanks to Zuko's firebending and Rin's magic, but they're tired.

If this were the Holy Grail War, now's about the point she would tell Shirou they need to go back to base to rest and recharge. He'd make dinner and they'd talk strategy before getting a few hours of shuteye if they'd could squeeze it.

No such luck here. The best she can do is sit on the wet wood, curled up against one side of the cage with her back turned to the rain to keep her phone dry.]

We only have three words left. Can you help?

[He offered earlier, but she knew Sans was keeping in touch with a lot of other people, including others in their cages with their puzzles. She hopes by now things have calmed down enough that this will be a good time to take him up on the offer.]

[ After a while, the messages have slowed down a little, half because Sans was running on fumes to begin with, and half because they're getting interrupted by stress fraying people's nerves and shadows attacking when they really need to focus on the puzzles.

Sans has just sat heavily down with his bones leaning against the cage's bars when his phone buzzes.

He almost ignores it. ]

* sure, miss cactus.
* gimme a look at whatcha got

[She can see him half okay from here, you know. If he'd ignored her, she would have known.

And probably not have done anything about it. Maybe tell Zuko and Steven he looks busy, and will get back to them later.

Her optimism isn't fading. Everyone is working so hard, and until they're literally underwater, Rin will hold onto the idea that they can get out of this okay. Even a slim change is still a chance. But she's also a realist, and denying the facts that it seems far more likely they're going to die tomorrow would just be stupid. This isn't a cartoon, where now would be a great time for a speech to keep their spirits up or believe in the impossible. And even if it were, she really doesn't have the energy.

She pretends to ignore Sans must have much less than that.

Thanks to today, she's getting a little bit more competent with this how to send photos business. Given the space of a minute, this one gets sent to him.]

* let's start from the bottom.
* does it snow where you come from?
* cuz it sure does where pap and i live.
* c'mon, miss cactus, you got snowdin, you can figure the last one out.

[To be fair, she'd thought "snowdin" was "windows" first, missing the fact it would need an extra W for that. Eventually after they'd picked off the easier ones and connected all of the words seemed to be connected to Papyrus (even if some didn't make sense, like tiles? hedge?) she'd remembered from Sans's memory where he and his brother lived.

Very promptly, she forgot it was a snowy place. Hence why that might have become a feature in the town name. When her phone buzzes and she reads Sans text, she pinches the bridge of her nose, cheeks flushing.]

Snowman. I could kick myself right now. We kept trying to make something out of womanss.

[As she types, she says the word out loud. PING! Sure enough, the letters in the final word rearrange themselves to spell "snowman".]

[ There we go. He doesn't really mean to, uh, rub it in. But he figures if she knew Snowdin, she must be pretty close to his brother. ]

* this next one's pretty tricky.
* my brother ain't often sad.
* so... humans have a saying for when someone's sad, right? boo hoo?
* papyrus LOVES to laugh, so his is like 'nyeheheh'.

* try saying that in a sad way.

I can't help but notice you're saving the best for last. That's not a complaint. We've failed on that one three times alone. We're not in a rush to try again.

[But okay, the other one is like Papyrus's laugh? Steven was the one that got that one right, eyes lit up and everything. Based on Sans's hint, Rin can guess how that word might come out, but she has a feeling Steven will work it out much better. There's a delay here, as she works it out with both him and Zuko; if Sans happens to be looking at Cage 5 at all, he'll see it when she scoots over to better confer with them. She tosses one more text at him while they hash it out.]

Actually it is a complaint, and when we get out of here I'm going to write it up formally. I'll be classy about it. Fountain pen and parchment, the whole works. Then I'll douse it in habaneros, and make the Queen EAT IT.

* better make sure to call me when you try it.
* i could give you valuable coaching on the proper pronunciation.

[ Still angling for cheap laughs at a time like this? Hell yeah. ]

* gimme some time to go over that last one.
* and shake off thes eshad

[ OK SO THEY'RE GOING TO BE FIGHTING FOR A FEW MINUTES ]

[Laughing, she's about to tell him they'd take him up on that (Steven may or may not have put Papyrus on speakerphone with help with the laugh before) when, before she can finish her reply, the last bit comes in.

People really need to stop scaring her half to death with ominous text messages today, there's only so many times she can feel her breath catch in her throat. It's happened so many times today already that this time, with this one, Rin doesn't feel her heart race. Doesn't sweat, doesn't grit her teeth.

Almost doesn't even look over her shoulder, until she remembers that unlike Sanji and unlike Tim, she actually can see Sans's cage. Right next to her own, it's one of the few close enough where, so long as the Shadows aren't in his cage, she could maybe help. Her phone clatters to the deck as Rin climbs to her feet — calls out Zuko's name, so she might follow — and takes even strides to one end of the cage where she can stick a fist out between the bars, her other hand locked firmly on her elbow to steady her aim.

It's not much help at all; she can't risk hitting the people inside, so the best Rin can do as both cages sway is pick off the Shadows that are further outside it, clinging to the bars and trying to get in. Aiming her Gandr shots more carefully than normal, she tries to do just that.

With all of the obstacles in the way, a single Shadow is probably all she's able to help with in the end, minus a few lucky shots that hit without taking the target down permanently, but one Shade is better than nothing, right?

It's too early to give up now; they have to help each other if they can.]

[ At least there seems to be some people in that cage who can fight, but the action is difficult to observe, not the least because the shadows trying to get in, or the people inside being generally loath to stay still and get themselves hurt. Rin's cover fire, however, shaves minutes off the skirmish, picking off shadows trying to clamber over the cage exterior and sending them tumbling into the water below.

When all's done Sans's reply is still delayed, on account of those within the cage taking a moment to regroup and check in with each other. Only then does the skeleton -- he's been without his hoodie, having handed it off to Pidge early on in this fiasco -- sag against the bars and get back to his phone.

At least this time he calls. ]

Thanks for the backup, but, uhh, shouldn't you be saving that for yourself?

...Not that I'm ungrateful, I hate the workout.

[Rin isn't the only one to help. Zuko joins the other girl at her call, but cautiously. Rin understands the rebound spell better than she does, if she thinks it's safe to attack outside of the cages, then it must be.

Still, Zuko's first burst of flame is experimental, weak and short-reaching, just to be sure. Okay. It's fine. She takes aim at the few shadows still outside Sans' cage, helping Rin pick them off, until she can't make out any more.

She squints through the rain. The figures in the other cage seem to be standing down. Nothing else to fight. She helped, this time, a little.

Rin's discarded phone sounds again, and Zuko picks it up to answer, stepping close to Rin so she can hear it clearly.]

Don't be stupid. We're helping each other.

It's not like you're sitting around doing nothing.

[Did he forget the part where he's helping them solve their puzzle?]

[Ultra specific spells like that always have loopholes to exploit. Or maybe the Queen actually does have a sense of fairplay? Who knows anymore, really. Wrapping her arms around her middle, Rin meets Zuko halfway and tilts her ear closer to the cell.]

Well, he is sitting.

[Her voice is light from humor, even for how tired she is. But hey come on Zuko, they're not doing nothing either. Rin still thinks it's impressive they managed to solve as much of the puzzle as they did before needing to ask for help. She doesn't say anything about that, or the rest of what Zuko said, however. Largely because:

Don't be stupid. We're helping each other.

Yes, that summed up her thoughts succinctly.]

Heh heh heh heh, c'mon. Gimme a break. These shadows are tryin' hard enough to, anyway.

[ Whoops.

Reel it back in with that gallows humor, Sans. Zuko's the type to take it literally, Rin's--Rin's the type to see it for what it is, and she ain't like Wade, who gets it, who understands the anesthetic properties of a joke, even the dark ones. (Sometimes, especially.)

And they've all got bigger things to worry about. ]

Anyway, don't blame ya for havin' trouble with that other one.

Y'know what a boondoggle is?

[ Honestly, he isn't even sure that'll translate right. ]

Hold your phone up to the puzzle if you gotta.

[Zuko wastes a moment trying to figure out just what kind of joke that's supposed to be before she lets it go. It's not important.]

Boondoggle?

[No, the word doesn't translate, but Zuko repeating it phonetically seems to work just fine. She looks up as the characters rearrange themselves to form what she's pretty sure is still nonsense, but whatever.]

That did it.

[Is that the last one?]

[It's his coping mechanism, and she can understand it for that at least. It's not the worst one she's heard, and from other people. It gets easier not to cringe at these things.]

Boondoggle?

[As Zuko offers that up as their guess, Rin utters the word like a foreign object that feels strange in her mouth, bewildered. Her speech probably comes out a little muffled, talking on the other side of Zuko.]

What? Did you guys grow up in 1940's New— [Glancing up at the ceiling, she suddenly cuts herself off.] Wait, wait. It's doing something new.

[That word was indeed the last one. The finished puzzle remains for a few seconds, glowing softly before seemingly erasing itself. In its place, letter by letter, something new is carved. Sans, of course, isn't privy to that. He just gets the short, bated silence on the phone as the word is spelled out.

When it's complete, Rin reaches to take her phone back from Zuko, so she can properly speak into the phone. Her voice comes in more clearly now.]

Altar room. [She breathes out a sigh, a little relieved, a little... Okay. She puts a grin in her voice.] Thank you, Sans. I think you just got us our key location.

Go us.

[ Sans's drawled 'cheer' doesn't even deserve that description. It's not sarcasm, he just knows they're not outta the woods just yet. ]

...Huh. So those puzzles don't open the cages?

[ Key locations. ]

Ok. Yeah. Leave it to the Queen to send us on a wild goose chase. Can you relay that to the rescue teams?

I gotta handle a thing over here.

[The altar room. The altar room is enormous. Unless they get lucky, which she doesn't count on, it's going to take the rescue team time to find a key in there. They need to get on it fast.

Zuko leans a little closer to Rin to make sure Sans can hear her.]

Yeah. We'll take care of it.

I'll take that to mean my explosions aren't going to be of any help with this.

[He is not pleased by this entire situation in the slightest.]

[Rin blinks at the name attached to the message she receives. Oh hey, there's someone she hasn't seen in a while.

Definitely not. If the rebound works from that side of the cages too, you'd only succeed in blasting yourself against the rocks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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[Text] HAHAHA POOR RIN /WHEEZES

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