[There's a backlog, which she may or may not have listened to at all.
- Shaw, say again, status. - Sameen Shaw, this is Jedao. You asked me to check you when you're spiralling. I'm fucking checking. Acknowledge. - If I have to come search for you, that means either bringing Eiffel with me or leaving him alone. He can barely stand up right now but you know that won't stop him from doing something stupid. - He's really worried about you. - For fuck's sake.
When she re-initiates contact, though, he proceeds as if she hadn't left him on read for hours.]
Incorrect. Eiffel is in my bedroom, sleeping. He's sick as a dog and very mad at me for not helping you sooner, but hes not dead or tolling.
[Jedao turns on the camera to show Eiffel, sleeping fitfully. He looks pale and clammy, face scrunched unhappily, wheezing faintly. He wriggles, restless, and turns over in the scrunched green sheets.]
She won't go. She won't-- she doesn't understand that I'm not safe. And I can't do this forever, they're going to activate the chip again soon, nobody would take it out.
[A brief pause.]
I think the simulation is still ongoing because they're planning to make me kill her. Or Will.
[She says it without hesitation. She could be made of literal knives, and Root would still reach for her, unbothered by the potential risk to her own body.]
Jedao lets himself into Zero, and sits in front of her cell. He wants to crawl inside one of the cages. He wants to peel the layers of vicious scorching hostility away from his skin, wants to collapse and cry and sleep. He sits cross-legged and rests his hands on his thighs.
"Hello, Shaw. You once asked me to check you when you might lose touch with reality. Do you remember that conversation?
She blinks at him dully from her position on the floor next to the bed. Her hands are cuffed together with a set of complicated-looking padded restraints, which are in turn cuffed to the bedframe; she has enough freedom of movement to move up and down off the bed, but that's about it.
"I'm always kinda out of touch with reality here, but it's. Worse. Right now. I felt the chip in my head."
He nods. It's good that she's aware; he doesn't discount how serious it is anyway.
"Numerous people are experiencing hallucinations. It's not just you, but the scariest things you're certain of today are almost certainly false. However, the situation is this. Do you also remember when I told you I could always tell if inmates were carrying concealed weapons?"
"If you come out of the cell, I can. But you might be subject to more influence, if you do that. Do you want to try it now, or do you want to wait and just make sure I'm hear to check you over when you are ready to go?"
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audio; 10/17, morning
Secure.
They won't take out the chip.
Re: audio; 10/17, morning
- Shaw, say again, status.
- Sameen Shaw, this is Jedao. You asked me to check you when you're spiralling. I'm fucking checking. Acknowledge.
- If I have to come search for you, that means either bringing Eiffel with me or leaving him alone. He can barely stand up right now but you know that won't stop him from doing something stupid.
- He's really worried about you.
- For fuck's sake.
When she re-initiates contact, though, he proceeds as if she hadn't left him on read for hours.]
What do you need? Tell me your location.
audio; 10/17, morning
[Her voice is slow, and a little slurred; she is currently on some very good drugs.]
Jedao. I think I killed Eiffel and Neal and that's why they're deathtolling. I need Root to leave so I won't kill her, too.
Re: audio; 10/17, morning
[Jedao turns on the camera to show Eiffel, sleeping fitfully. He looks pale and clammy, face scrunched unhappily, wheezing faintly. He wriggles, restless, and turns over in the scrunched green sheets.]
Is she with you now?
audio; 10/17, morning
[A brief pause.]
I think the simulation is still ongoing because they're planning to make me kill her. Or Will.
Re: audio; 10/17, morning
Does she not understand, or does she not care?
audio; 10/17, morning
[She says it without hesitation. She could be made of literal knives, and Root would still reach for her, unbothered by the potential risk to her own body.]
Re: audio; 10/17, morning
Guess there's no talking her out of it.
audio; 10/17, morning
>action
"Hello, Shaw. You once asked me to check you when you might lose touch with reality. Do you remember that conversation?
>action
She blinks at him dully from her position on the floor next to the bed. Her hands are cuffed together with a set of complicated-looking padded restraints, which are in turn cuffed to the bedframe; she has enough freedom of movement to move up and down off the bed, but that's about it.
"I'm always kinda out of touch with reality here, but it's. Worse. Right now. I felt the chip in my head."
Re: >action
"Numerous people are experiencing hallucinations. It's not just you, but the scariest things you're certain of today are almost certainly false. However, the situation is this. Do you also remember when I told you I could always tell if inmates were carrying concealed weapons?"
>action
"Can you use that to look into my head to find the chip?"
Re: >action
>action
Her eyes drift shut.
"I'm being a less-than-optimal warden to my inmate. I'm harming my wife emotionally."
She is so tired.
Re: >action
Jedao didn't even take his gun away, since he seemed capable of being responsible with it.
You can rest, he doesn't say, and he hates her a little, but he hopes she hears it, too.