[Backdated to August 3rd](Lupnet broadcast )

[thermalwind]

Hey, we have a situation over at the memorial on Umui. We have people trapped under it. Bring something to cover your face with and anything to help you dig.

...if you haven’t been to Umui best you stay away. [His mind is on the Stage One Alert. He has to camp on this island now.]

Who else has talked to Arum 25? We should pool what they said together and see if we have any further clues.

Comments

[thermalwind]

Let's focus on what needs to be done first. We can kick ourselves over that missed detail later.

Arum 25 said 'Stage One detected'. Since I was here when they said it I'm camping out on the island. Just in case I have it.

[counterblows]

Do you feel sick? Do you know if anyone does? Stage One is the first sign, according to all the people who died here.

[Just gonna. test those waters here.]

[thermalwind]

[There's a pause. He doesn't want to admit to shit but-]

I...haven't been sleeping well, but that's because my best friend is missing. Spent a lot of time looking for him.

Arum told me that the pathogens were detected. I couldn't get anything about where it was located or what their standard procedures were. Someone or something removed that from their memories. Or it could have been the passage of time.

[counterblows]

It doesn't bode well that they're the only one still working. Do we have any idea why?

[He hasn't talked to them any. He's been...preoccupied.]

[thermalwind]

No idea yet. I was asking about the sickness and what we're to expect if we get it.

[counterblows]

And what's that?

[Sickness. Perfect. Physical threats are easy - they're something one can contest, that one can fight and shoot full of holes if they need to. But something that goes deeper than that...]

[It's like chemical warfare gone wrong.]

[thermalwind]

You're not going to like this. [He coughs once, and takes a deep breath. Okay.]

Stage one there's an itching feeling caused by the flowers growing inside your body. You get fevers, dizziness, hurling, nausea, they said something about numbness to nerves and joints. Breathing starts getting restricted, tremors...I have it written down here somewhere.

Hold on.

[A pause.]

fatigue, difficulty sleeping, vertigo, weakness, tremors, and extreme thirst. Stage two is even worse than that.

[counterblows]

[There's a brief pause to collect. He's in full armor. Full, self-regulating, heat-regulating armor. It's very possible he's already started to endure the symptoms, but simply isn't aware of it, muffled as it is by layers of military-grade kevlar and titanium nanocomposite bodysuit. And with no combat-ready H.U.D. working to detail exactly what's gone wrong...]

And we're already infected. Aren't we.

[It isn't a question.]

[thermalwind]

[Silence. Facing death is what Blades do. But this is the first time he is his team’s leader by choice not by force. He wants to keep them safe. They need his experience of this world to survive. His voice is quieter, an attempt to soften the blow they both know already hit.]

I got assigned Eria-87 as my ‘handler’. So yeah, I think we’re already sick. But we have something the people of this world didn’t. We haven’t given up.

There’s got to be some clues about this and what we can do to stop it. We just have to find them.

[counterblows]

We have a lot of ground to cover.

[And they're already sick, which is going to affect efficiency pretty heavily and - god damn it.]

I have no idea what kind of projected progression we're looking at, either. Looks like some of these people held out for months. And others...not so much.

[thermalwind]

We need to start looking for more labs. No matter what progression we have...we can worry about that when it slows us down. [So far nothing has been dangerous. But he would be stupid if he suggested they split up when they all are sick and they have no idea of progression time.]

We should buddy up. All of us. We can keep going for longer if we help each other out.

[counterblows]

If there was any hostile life here, it's dead now.

[Any life at all is dead. Which is great news for traveling unimpeded, at least.]

You said your friend was missing. Have you still got people you can travel with?

[thermalwind]

Lance. And a few others. Possibly more if more of th- [He hesitates then just says it.] my team show up. Right now I’m working on digging these people out.

What about you?

[counterblows]

I've got some people watching my back.

[He has C.T. watching his back - and he's watching hers. It's more than either of them could have ever done for each other under Freelancer. It's the very fucking least he can do now.]

I'm - [He almost says oscar mike, and then doesn't.] ...on my way to the objective now.

[thermalwind]

...if you see someone with black and white armor similar to Lance’s and they’re human. That’s Shiro. Please tell him to call me or park at the mana pool.

[He can’t hide the faint pain in his voice. He has lost him too many times to mask it well.]

Anyway, I’ll be here when you arrive. Once we get done here...you might want to go talk to Arum. [So you can know what plant you’ll be fighting against.]

[counterblows]

I'll think about it.

[Shiro. He thinks he's heard that name before, but it's hard to tell when or where. Maybe in passing?]

And I'll keep an eye out for him - radio you if I see him. ["Radio" is a fancy way to say "I'll call you on your fucking rock" but it's the same general principle.]

[thermalwind]

Thank you. ...Signing off. [He can't trust himself to speak further. Shiro being missing is a raw wound.]