⚘ [ fringe event #7] || return (backdated to the afternoon of the 11th)

[entangles]

[ Before the video even switches on, there's a musical introduction that blares through the speakers of her device.  As the song comes to a dramatic end, Olivia finally flashes onto the screen.

She appears this time, not in the bowels of some mad scientist's lab or midst the foggy depths of some intermediary dimension, but in her apartment, wrapped up in an over-sized Northwestern sweatshirt. The device is set at a distance where you can see her in a chair and the plain, white wall behind her. Dark rings line the bottom of her eyes and a smattering of tiny cuts mark the skin above her cheek. ]

I apologize if my disappearance caused any inconveniences.

[ She fidgets, folding her hands together.  The quiet moment is suddenly interrupted by a fast-paced, action track. Unwittingly, she's been hearing the soundtrack to her own series all day.  ]

And this music just.... really needs to stop.



[ p r i v a t e to Yusuf ]

I hope you didn't get into any trouble on my account.

[ / p r i v a t e]

Comments

[saidrepent]

[Raymond almost considers not responding. Almost.]

How was your trip?

[entangles]

[ Oh, Ray. You know you're at least curious. ]

Well, the in-flight movie stunk.

[saidrepent]

[Oh, he is. But he's not about to admit it.]

You get what you pay for.

[entangles]

And in the end, it was worth the cost.

[saidrepent]

[Hm.]

Was it really?

[entangles]

Yes.

[vicodincrutch]

How does it feel to be rescued by a child?

[entangles]

If you're asking if I'm embarrassed:

No.

[saidrepent]

[He sighs. Might as well bite the bullet.]

What exactly did you do?

[entangles]

I ended up in another part of the City. A hidden part.

[saidrepent]

A hidden part of the City. [Huh.]

What, like the Underground?

[entangles]

No.

You've seen a film negative before?

[saidrepent]

Sure. [He hasn't, but he knows the idea.] And?

[entangles]

Think of the city in terms of a photograph. The negative was where I went.

[saidrepent]

[That's not entirely what he was expecting to hear, and his surprise actually shows on his face. Somewhat.]

You'd think they'd include something about that in the welcome manual.

[entangles]

[ The statue moves? ]

Now, that'd be making things easy, Raymond.

[saidrepent]

Either that or it's not something they necessarily want people to go looking for.

[entangles]

Or a place anyone necessarily would want to go. There's something dark about that place. Intangible.

[saidrepent]

I would imagine so, if you describe it like a negative... [Even so.]

Is there some reason you wanted to go there?

[entangles]

I wanted to leave.

[saidrepent]

[Oh.

There's a bit of a pause before he responds this time.]

You're probably lucky nothing worse happened to you.

[entangles]

Lucky would have been me leaving the city.

But I'll take what I can get.

[saidrepent]

I'm not sure if it's possible to be that lucky here. [A pause.] At least not intentionally.