third ink ribbon ☢ video + action

[bowgunner]

[ after a moment, claire sits down in front of the journal's eye. she leaves a steaming mug sitting at her elbow, and has her hair tied back in a manner that can only ever be described as professional. although it cannot quite be seen on-screen, it's apparent from the bob of a pen cap that she must have some manner of notepad on the desk before her. and she's already taking notes.

after a moment: ] Good morning, Luceti. I have only been here for four months, but in this short time one thing has become chillingly obvious. Many of us come from places -- Earths, usually -- ravaged by plague-like diseases. Viruses and infections and all manner of scientific progress gone awry. For a lot of us, it seems these symptoms target the recently-dead or soon-to-be-dead. I've always hated the z-word, but I suppose there's no avoiding it today: quite a few of us have zombie problems.

And -- as I understand it -- this world is no different. At least two of the enclosures have suffered under viral outbreaks. A vaccine was manufactured, right? Are the people involved still around? I want to speak to them. And to anyone else facing this threat here or at home. It's not much, but swapping notes might be the least we can do.

[ she will stay at her post to discuss any necessary topics for a good chunk of the day before setting aside her career in the early evening. although she still doesn't let her hair down, it's in a more relaxed bun when she steps into good spirits. her journal is left at home and her cream-coloured blazer has been traded in for a reddish-pink vest layered over a black longsleeve. she's here for a beer or two and to mingle, eager enough to approach strangers and ask them about their day. ]

Comments

[Video]

[mountain_sage]

[Oh, Saleh remembers all too well the draft with the viral outbreak. Watching his own friends become mindless shamblers and attacking without thoughts or feelings is something he would rather not experience again. Though the "z-word" is unfamiliar to him.]

These..."zombies" you speak of...are they like corpses returned to life?

[Video]

[bowgunner]

...They are. At least, the ones I'm familiar with are caused by a particular viral agent.

[Video]

[mountain_sage]

A viral agent? That's...interesting.

We have...similar things in my world...rotting corpses returned to life, though we call them revenants, among other foul beasts. They are brought to life by a torrent of dark power.

[Video]

[bowgunner]

Revenants would be an apt name. Kinder, I think, than zombie.

[Video]

[voiceinthedark]

I can talk. I'm not a scientist or anything, but I know stuff.

And you get to a certain point and you might as well call a spade a spade right? They tried coming up with all sorts of fancy names back home, but eventually we just kind of decided that zombies was as good a word as any.

[Video]

[bowgunner]

Except we're not discussing gardening tools, Mister Yao. We're discussing people. Victims. And sure -- I won't begrudge a bullet in their brains once they've changed, but they deserve better than a crass b-movie label.

[Video]

[voiceinthedark]

...are you related to Janine? Although even she calls them zombies. And it sucks but... they're dead. They outnumber us by tens, maybe even hundreds to one. And we don't even have enough bullets for that.

So I think the name is kind of the least of our worries.

[Video]

[bowgunner]

Just because it's the least...it doesn't mean it doesn't deserve some worry. Not that it matters; to each their own. I'm not here to preach. Just to learn.

[scootch]

[Oh god, cue the panic.]

There was an infection here?

[bowgunner]

[ oh crap.

claire wishes she knew more; could be more helpful. but for now: ] Not in this enclosure, as far as I'm aware. And they did manufacture a cure.

[scootch]

...Seriously? So fast? How is that even possible?

[bowgunner]

I...I don't know. But look around us -- how is any of this possible? We have wings on our backs. I think the normal rules have been thrown out the window.

[snikting]

I was there. Managed to get infected by one of those damn buzzards. Not much to say, though. Got better.

[bowgunner]

Logan...[ a soft pause. as if she understands that she needs to tread a little lighter with him. leftover guilt, she supposes, from the initial difficulty of their meeting. mutations. ] Would you mind if I asked about the extent to which the infection spread, in you, before you...got better?

[snikting]

[It's annoying that she seems to be treating him... gently. Yeesh.]

Completely. Fact is, I'd be dead if weren't the fact I was me.

[bowgunner]

Ah. Right. Your...uniqueness.

[ a beat. ] How long did the virus take to fully work itself through your system?

[Voice]

[daisy023]

[One memory she wanted to forget.

While she had documented the incident in her private logs and wrote about the cure herself so this wouldn't happen again, this was something worse than what happened back at Harvest. This was a nightmare she had to deal with for a long time, and hope it would not spread either in any enclosure.

Or in her world.]

Ma'am. This is Chief Petty Officer Daisy SPARTAN-023. I was present during the draft of Vaskoth, and I volunteered to be among the task force that remained in it for the cure. My role was small, but I will aid you in what I can.

[Voice]

[bowgunner]

[ so formal! she doesn't mind. claire has often had to interact with military outfits during assignments with terrasave -- and her brother has always been a dearth of military familiarity.

so she wants to clarify one thing first: ] Miss Daisy -- or should I gun for the whole mouthful and say Chief Petty Officer every time?

Either way, every piece of knowledge will be appreciated.

[Voice]

[daisy023]

Either works.

[Not that she expected many by now to refer to her rank, but the little ties that remained for the UNSC, she felt, had to be kept in some manner.]

During the draft of Vaskoth, we heard warnings that there was fighting inside that was gradually increasing... but the threat being, not the cultists. But the patients. Me and a bunch of others moved there to see what was happening as it was being evacuated.

... We found the infected of the hospital. No genetic anomalies. No mutations. Rapid decay. Slow mental processing... violent nature.

[luckynumberthree]

[Hey! It's that girl he met outside the bar when he woke up here rambling about zombies.

Simon's attention is easily caught, since most people he's encountered here just dismissed that as crazy talk.]

Isn't there some saying about quacking like a duck that applies here?

I see Sam's already answered for our world up above, but if there's more questions, I can answer what I know. I'm usually one of the ones out playing tag with them.

[bowgunner]

Except ducks aren't movie monsters with all the attendant trappings of fantasy attached to them. I suppose it depends rather a lot on your perspective; most of my work involves coordinating with those left alive at an outbreak point. You rarely ever ingratiate yourselves with the locals by calling their lost loved ones zombies.

[ ... ] All the same, I'd like to know more about how you take your infected down?

[luckynumberthree]

[Simon looks amused by this assessment.] Maybe zombies are more polite where you're from. Or the infection wasn't as widespread. Where I'm from, pretty much everywhere was an outbreak point and those left alive just had their lost loved ones try to eat them. A good many of them had to kill them themselves. Although you do hear the occasional horror story of someone keeping someone gone grey locked up somewhere in hopes that something could be done about them, but that... never turned out well for anyone involved.

As for taking them down... all the usual ways, really. We try to stay away from guns unless its an emergency - the sound just brings down more on us and ammo's a limited supply. Blunt force trauma usually does the trick, which is the fall back for a lot of people. The head needs to be destroyed. It's the only thing that keeps them from getting back up again. Anything handy does the trick, from a cricket bat to a shovel to a good stout walking stick. Course, if you stumble into a herd... well, sometimes the best chance of survival is just getting the hell out. It's why Runners are so important to our bases.

[ video ]

[allbloodyhail]

[ we'll just say this is icly late to save my ego. ]

Zombies, huh? [ spike didn't actually like thinking about that particular brand of undead. he was grateful they were few and far between, even in hell. ] Poor sods.

[ video ]

[bowgunner]

...Poor, indeed. They didn't ask to be mutated any more than their subsequent victims ask to be attacked. Unless, of course, the sods you're referring to are instead those of us still coping with the states of our worlds.

[ video ]

[allbloodyhail]

D) All of the above.