EMERGENCY BROADCAST (text)

[justribbing]

(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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Comments

[heritrix]

[UHHH. That sounds less than okay? Feeling very confused, Rin's about to type and ask him what's wrong, or to let her know how the guesses go when she faintly hears the sounds of battle carried on the wind.

She has a really bad feeling in her gut, ahaha.

Unfortunately she can't see their cage from here. The best she can do is wait for the fighting to stop, straining her ears to make sure it's not just being drowned out by thunder and the heavy pelt of rain. When it feels safe to do so, she shoots off another text.]

You're not dead, are you?

[postictal]

wrong anSWER MEANS SHADOW JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS

[This...this is exactly what he and everyone else in his cage needs! So one of them's got a knife, at least, but jesus christ this is why no one should ever put their life in his hands. And if he'd waited two goddamn seconds maybe he wouldn't be having this problem! Wouldn't have brought this calamity down on undeserved shoulders!

Wow! Tim hates this!]

[heritrix]

[...if she weren't so incompetent with technology, maybe she would have been able to get him the answers faster.

No, it's his fault for not waiting. If he asked her for help, he should've waited patiently instead of blazing ahead. But as much as she wants to stick with that, already typing it to him in fact, Rin can only backspace and delete those words. She can't just absolve herself. She's had months and months to better learn this system but hasn't on principle. If she weren't so stubborn...]

Let's get the word out, then.
At least everyone will benefit from our mistake.
It works out in the end.

["Our". In the end, she rationalizes, it was a little bit of both of them.]

Are you hurt?

[postictal]

fine
we're fine

[Are they? Well, that's still a work in progress. They'll get there. Soon as that thing's gone, they'll get the rest of the pokemon sorted and they'll get the cage open. It'll be fine.]

one of us has a knife
i dont remember his name
but hes got a knife

[heritrix]

That's it?
No magic users, or other weapons?

[postictal]

weve got someone with a murderous split personality if that counts

[And before she can chime in:]

and no i actually wasnt talking about me

[heritrix]

[So that's what that was? She'll have to ask him if he was joking or not after they're done here.]

I'm disappointed, Tim. Five of you, and that's the best your lot has to show?
That's a joke, by the way.
The Queen Bee must really have it out for your group.

[postictal]

yeah can we not crack jokes about peoples superpowered evil sides or whatever
because apparently the other guy's other guy hates drowning and is likely to kill us all dead once we hit water
so you know thats fantastic

[heritrix]

If he's that dangerous and no help, you should just knock him out.
Or trick him into doing it himself.

[Superpowered and all, huh.]

Or just solve the puzzle and see if that calms him down.
AZ raises pokemon, so his intel should be accurate.

[postictal]

im not knocking him out
jesus christ

[WHAT DO YOU TAKE HIM FOR.

Actually, you know what? Yeah, he's got a pretty good idea of what she must take him for now. Thanks, other him. He loves this. HE LOVES THIS.]

ok thanks

[heritrix]

It's your choice, but don't say I didn't tell you so if he lets loose.

[That's just common sense to her!! Not like that's what she was going for with Masked!Tim before it got away, but oh well. She doesn't want to see Tim or anyone get hurt, but she also doesn't know him well enough to care that much and press the issue.]

Good luck.
And let me know how the puzzle goes.

[She told AZ she'd pass it on, if things worked out okay. And after that, she's going to see what's going on with those care packages. Maybe someone can bring Tim's cage something more to defend themselves with.]

1/3

[postictal]

[Once the Shadow is taken care of, it doesn't take long for Tim to rattle off the list of carving names and be rewarded with a subsequent glow as all six of them illuminate, revealing the location of their escape key.]

puzzle says escape key is in the pokemon daycare
hurryYYYYYYH;

[Hmm. Something seems to have gone wrong here?]

[postictal]

111111;111k111111111

[Witness now the panicked spray of fingertips over buttons as a cage spontaneously hoists itself up, seemingly of its own accord, hovers for a moment, and then jars painfully back down with enough force to send several sheets of freezing cold water fountaining up and over its occupants.

Yeah, so that sucks.

You know what also sucks?

Figuring out that your cage is lowering itself into the ocean with an increased pace as a result of that little stunt that Tim doubts any of them had anything to do with.]

[postictal]

[SO ANYWAY...]

sinking sinking faster somethign happened get the key get the keyy hurry

[heritrix]

111111;111k111111111
sinking sinking faster somethign happened get the key get the keyy hurry
Send failed. Try again?

[Should he click that "try again" button, however, the last two messages from Tim's phone will bounce back every time. Huh? That's strange. It seems that this user is unavailable.]