(animal noises) ............... 3!

[countermeasures]

shitpost to come once you know who our new buddy is......

Comments

w6, saturday JAN DON'T LOOK AT THIS GO AWAY

[aitou]

[Well at some point he will just. Come to the office I guess. And text the others.]

we should talk

[He figures they'll all understand what they need to talk about, so. He will just be here waiting for a while, very upset about everything that happened today.]

[countermeasures]

[jiuqing, when she shows up, is still injured. she figures the animal crew would not be texting if it wasn't important?

but her eyes are red with tears and her hand is shaking as she holds onto her phone tightly.]

There's... there's something you all need to see.

[ktiseos]

....what-

[excuse him he's coughing into his sleeve, then shoving the flowers in his pocket.]

What is it, then.

[countermeasures]

This...

[she holds her phone out to them so they can see the text it's open to.]

It showed up on my phone as I was about to use one of the pods...

[it's dated to just a few minutes after curfew!

from: @ usernotfound
to: @ doctorsu

im sorry for breaking my promise
wish i could have kept it to the end
your trust is important to me since you gave it to me, of all people
i need to go but
i hope i get to see you tomorrow, jiu-chan
and i hope you're alive
feels selfish to keep asking for you to hang in there but
please do, okay?
see you soon]

...it won't let me reply to it...

[ktiseos]

'User not found'... then was this from-?

[he doesn't know itsuki well enough to say whether it sounds like him but he really doubts this would be estinien either so,,]

[countermeasures]

From Itsuki...

[ktiseos]

...there is yet time. I've no suspects in mind, myself, but-- we ought to locate them.

[countermeasures]

...how are we supposed to save them without...?

[pura]

[...

She closes her eyes, clutching her phone to her chest.]

He sent me one, too. What a horribly frustrating man.

[countermeasures]

...he should have protected himself, instead of...!

[she doubles over, coughing]

[pura]

Instead of...?

[A flicker of an expression crosses her face when she watches her double over, but... It's gone just as quickly.]

Jiuqing, you... [...] You should sit down and take it easy for a while.

[aitou]

[Oh--well, he won't hug her because injuries, but he does come stand nearby in support.]

What is it?

[countermeasures]

[she holds her phone out]

[aitou]

[...

He turns away, coughing heavily.

But, eventually--]

...He must've sent it just before he died. That's... what happened with Buzen.

[countermeasures]

He... he had the time to send me this... but he didn't use the gumball that could have protected him...?

[she's like



having a coughing fit]

[aitou]

It might've been the first thing he did, before he left the room. [Or something. He doesn't know. But that's such a mood, god.] ...I have no idea why he didn't use it, though. Maybe he thought the transformation would be enough.

keeps this under the antijan toplevel

[ktiseos]

[after they're done vibing in scarlet:]

He was balanced. If it was him, he was not refracting.

Here is a question, however: is Vin certain she saw a three color gumball being hidden or merely one that was not a solid color or otherwise normal? Clarte's was hidden and was in the latter category, after all, and she did not give the full context of the vision.

If it is a three-color gumball: someone else had the capacity to regain this ability, and we do not know it. If it is not: it was amber.

[pura]

The abilities you buy with the whale don't necessarily have to be the ones you already had, by the way.
But I can ask Vin about her dream again to learn if there was something she omitted.

[ktiseos]

Frankly, if that is the case, then we will only have any solid hope if we should discover this gum after the fact to see its colors.

[pura]

It is the case... Normally, I don't have any abilities of my own.
But I was able to purchase one anyway.

[ktiseos]

We may only hope, then, that they cannot repeat gumball abilities.

I asked Vax if she had told him, by the by, and he says that what he knows of it is... she felt tired and had a chewed tricolor gumball with her. She felt they were determined to hide it, afraid it would be found, and was surrounded by scarlet.

I wonder if that first detail may help-- was anyone particularly exhausted?

[i was gone fuck if i know]

[countermeasures]

[jiuqing is vibing in a pod rn so she can't contribute to this discussion, alas]

[pura]

...
Someone who was particularly exhausted?
I'll get back to you on that question.

[aitou]

[He's such an uncomfortable combination of disappointed and relieved, god.]

amber?
oh because that was the
mind control gumball color right

[ktiseos]

Precisely, yes.

If someone simply obtained the ability as a copy of the amber gumball, however, there will truly be no telling.