etraya | un: plushiewarrior | VIDEO (in which alex sends a really powerful radio signal into the night)

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un: plushiewarrior | VIDEO (in which alex sends a really powerful radio signal into the night)

( The wind's too loud to hear anything at first, catching the earpiece at exactly the wrong angle. Then Alex waves, smiling with that glassy eyed look that significantly tipsy people can end up wearing. It's dark behind her, but anyone very, very familiar with the skyscraper rooftops in Nova City will recognize she's on one of them. )

Hiii! Oh, it is... so not as cold up here as I expected!

( She laughs a little, throwing her hands up into the air and stumbling forward to likewise toss her arms around part of a metal structure, possibly a radio tower. Alex rests her head on it, her laughter trailing off as she smiles, a little bittersweet. )

I wanted to send a message. A big one! A big... message. So I thought, what if you had a lot... I mean a lot of power behind a radio signal? Won't that do something? We just want to be heard...

( Her eyes close, and it doesn't seem like she's doing anything. Then the tower starts to hum, lighting up with a soft sort of glow under her hands. Anyone tuned into its frequency will hear a humming too, almost like static feedback, that starts to sound more like a heartbeat. Hers. Then a clearer message with that beating in the background: Echo. Come in, Echo.

Then it really starts to glow, until the whole radio tower is a beacon of light. There is no way for the tower to handle that much energy for long. Alex's brow furrows as she's swallowed by the light, the overpowered radio signal shooting up a moment later, all the light abruptly going out as it fizzles upward, a misleading manifestation of what went without being visible to most eyes. Alex is left clinging to a partially melted structure, pushing herself away to stand, swaying. )

... Did that... oh. I don't... feel so good...

( Which is when she goes boneless, dropping out of frame to hit the rooftop in a muffled thud, close to passing out. Luckily her earpiece is still recording! ... About four feet higher than her current head level. Enjoy your scene of a warped radio tower and the otherwise unremarkable rooftop, Etraya. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

…do you need help getting down? [Well that was a lot. He’ll process all of that in a minute.]

...

...

...

... 'mmm down.

On the way.

[There is a rustle then something vast darkens the sky in colors of the depths of the sea. His feathers seem to reflect a starlit sea.

He arrives swiftly and his glowing eye narrows as he extends his front paw, palm up for Setsu to step off of onto the roof of the radio tower.

Possibly the hand is in the video or one glowing eye.]

Thank you—

[ Setsu doesn't know what they or Alex would do without Kaeya's dragon form or his willingness to help here—definitely not already at the rooftop, overlooking the melting remains of the tower. For now, they simply give a quick thanks before rushing off of his paw in a few quick, careful steps, unmindful of whatever video might be broadcasting at the moment. ]

Alex!

[ Kneeling beside her, Setsu curls an arm around her shoulders to gently ease her back up. ]

Come on... Can you get up?

( They'll have found her curled up on her side, just shy of fetal position. Her eyes opened when she heard voices, but it's not really until Setsu is helping her sit up that she gasps and sucks in a deeper breath. Which is better for her, really: Gorgug helped her sober up some by asking point blank if she was dying.

It's a horrible question. )

Just... give me a sec.

( Her heart isn't hurting as bad as it had been, but she's spent too much energy at once. The second core isn't stable in the first place, and lacking the stability of the first core, has her breathing in a wheeze.

She might try to stand. She will not, at present, be able to manage it. One hand presses against her chest as she breathes in sharp through her teeth. Augh. )

... Sorry. I need another minute.

[He watches for a moment and then dives down, shifting from vast beast to a tall man with sharply pointed ears and dragon horns. His long tail swishes as he walks past the camera and kneels down on the other side of Alex.

Deep blue threads of water swirl around his fingers. His hair is left unbound across his shoulders.] Take your time. If you need some help recovering, I can do something about that.

[ Wheezing? From smoke inhalation or a preexisting condition? She didn't sound like this earlier... Setsu's concern grows deeper, so they force their voice calmer. ]

... Mm, take your time. If you don't feel steady enough to walk afterwards, we're here.

[ They look up at Kaeya, then back down at Alex. ]

In the meantime, I really think you should let Kaeya help.

( Alex is fairly sure she's seeing things at first, brow furrowing. She has the weirdest sense of dejavu, as if she's seen horns jutting from someone else's head, a tail that flows from the back down toward the ground, but the impression fades almost as it comes. Of course she hasn't. She's just lightheaded and making herself breathe evenly through the breakthrough pain. )

Is it... energy based? I don't know if that's wise.

( Her brow furrows, her weight fully on Setsu. Explaining feels difficult when her vision is swimming, dark and red at the edges. Her brief sentences are between steady breaths, slightly less wheezy than before. )

The hospital...? There should be a shot there. Medical supplies for Protocore Syndrome.

[The threads vanish. She knows what she needs. He rolls his shoulders once and walks back to the edge of the tower.] Alright.

That's a quick flight. [Most things are for a dragon. He hops off the edge, and the massive dragon is suddenly once more beating at the air with his feathered wings. He sets his massive hand down on the top of the tower, giving them the platform as close as he dares without scooping them up himself.]

Better to go with what you know works.

[ Setsu holds her steady. ]

Protocore Syndrome. Understood.

[ They repeat the term just to commit it to memory. As Kaeya walks away, Setsu already has an idea of what he's doing before they even hear or feel the rush of air from his wings, and they hook an arm under Alex's legs and scoop her up into their arms as they stand. Setsu has no idea what Protocore Syndrome is, so the best they can do right now is try not to jostle her too much as they climb up Kaeya's offered hand and ensure nothing is compressing her chest as they carry her. ]

We have you. [ A little reassurance as they sit down, placing their full trust in Kaeya. ] You'll be okay.

[ They hadn't put much stock into the hospital thus far, but it was their best bet right now. ]

( Before Setsu picks her up, Alex does try to rally again, tensing and wheezing and almost this time making it to seated. She may even get to that point just by hanging around, but Setsu wisely doesn't give Alex the option. Instead, she finds herself lifted and widening her eyes a touch, a soft: )

Woah.

( Slipping out with her next breath. Clumsily enough, she gets an arm around their neck, letting her head fall against her shoulder after. Is this actually helpful? Alex doesn't know. )

Sorry. ( Inhale slow, exhale slow. Breathing exercises as her eyes close again. She trusts Setsu, and if the very pretty dragon (?) person that is definitely not a Wanderer is Setsu's friend, she trusts them too. ) For troubling you both.

Oh, consider it you owe me a drink some time. [He laughs, it sounds like the crashing of the waves. He tucks his hand close to his chest. His passengers are precious.

It still feels so jarring to be this size and connected so deeply to the sea. He flies away from the ruined radio tower and heads for the hospital. With the way he has tucked his hand they are shielded from the worst of the wind.

In no time at all he is descending to set them down before the hospital. Once they are safely on the ground he shifts, flowing down and moving to help Setsu with Alex.

How fluid his body is when he decides to be dragon and not human is hard to deal with sometimes. He doesn’t let himself think about it.] Besides. A little excitement never hurts so long as you live through it.

[ It's dark, and less cold than it could be when his hand closes around them and holds them close. It's likely only because of his size and proximity that they can hear him joke like that.

Anything Setsu has to say, to Kaeya or to Alex, would probably be drowned out by the whistling of the wind. They hug Alex closer, and tilt their head to the side to gently tap Kaeya as a silent thanks.

And once they land, they quickly hop off to give Kaeya some space and Alex some fresh air. To Alex, they gently add: ]

You understand, right?

[ That means she can't be doing things like this...and that's about as far as Setsu can go in reprimanding her right now, carrying her through the doors to the hospital as Kaeya opens them. At any time of day or night, a hospital should be staffed, though right now, there's only a single bot milling around the lobby. ]

Excuse me—Protocore Syndrome, where are the supplies to treat it?

[ And hopefully the bot knows and Alex doesn't need to attempt to direct them. (Or worse: Setsu and Kaeya have to just search for them.) ]

( Alex has closed her eyes since they left the rooftop, the pull of seeing what was happening fading into the odd comfort of being carried (by two vastly different persons at the same time). She forces them open once the sense of gravity returns in predictable ways, slitting them at least halfway and numbly nodding her head.

The pain's settling into a throb, not as dangerous as when she'd been fighting with Zayne against the man running the Fountain of Atai project. She can't exactly tell either of them that — too much context, and she's focused on breathing evenly to pull enough air into her lungs.

The companion bot Setsu approaches turns to them attentively, wearing a stethoscope as a belt around its narrow waist. The diaphragm of the stethoscope is attached over where a human would have their heart located, slightly off to the right of the chest. )

Cardiology.

( She states, clarification as she tenses in Setsu's arms, bearing with the pain. Note to herself, as already implied or stated by Setsu: do not do this. She hadn't realized how much she was pouring in, and it's not like it's all her power — but that second, unstable core in her heart had been upset.

The bot lights up and leads the way to the elevators, guiding them to the cardiology 'wing' and subsequently the locked medical cabinet where the shot — and it is a substantial looking injection — sits in a carrying case. Alex isn't quite tracking events clearly by then, breathing in and out as steadily as she can manage, which is not as steadily as she thinks. If she's asked, she'll flop one arm out as an indication for where it should go... and murmur about veins. )

[The word is unfamiliar but, she knows what she needs. And the bot’s attire gives him a clue. He clears the way for the little troupe. At 6’6 as a dragon he is hard to miss. He waits until the last door closes to say,] Stay awake, you’re the only one that knows what you need.

[He snorts as he glances at the bot.] Other than them, I mean.

[Another bot with a little hat drifts out and the pair go about the usual medical procedures. Kaeya sits in a nearby chair, tail curling around the bottom.] Exactly what did you do on the tower?

[Questions can keep one awake. Or at least conscious enough to be worked on.]

[ Once the bots start taking over, Setsu gingerly lays Alex down on the bed before quickly stepping out of the way to allow them to work. They watch the bots connect Alex to monitors to observe her vitals—heart rate, blood pressure, oxygen level—and set up a tray for the injection.

None of the information displayed means anything to Setsu, but they don't need to be able to read Alex's vitals to be worried about her condition. With nothing else to do to help, they can only stand there stiffly beside Kaeya with their arms folded in front of them, ready to act at any time regardless.

Kaeya's question, however, pulls Setsu's focus back, too. They glance between him and Alex, questioning if Alex can even string together the words to explain herself right now, but— What was she doing that put her in this condition? ]

( If the pain wasn't ramping up again, Alex would have told someone, the bots? Just to jab her, treat it like an epipen, not like an infusion, but she just doesn't have it in her to do more than concentrate fully on breathing. Not passing out either.

She briefly glances toward Kaeya with his question, but it's not until the bots set the injection down and look like they're about to set up a saline line for her that Alex rolls herself toward the tray, grabs the injection, and holds it over her own arm. Let it never be said Alex hesitates when it comes to injecting herself. She knows her own veins after years of hospital visits, just usually not from this particular angle.

Apologies to gathered bot and person audience, but Alex grunts a little in the spike of pain that moving and jabbing herself provides, depressing the full injection faster than perhaps necessary. It's too hard to regulate right now, and she's fully getting the painful sense of how stupid her extremes had been, versus if she'd done, say, a less drunk approach.

Black is threatening at the edges of her vision again as she flops back against the raised bed, but she fights it off through sheer willpower. Kaeya had asked a question. She needs to answer it. Doesn't she? Her heart rate is evening out, no longer beating erratically if still too fast, but even that is starting to slow down. )

Gah. I sent out a signal using the radio tower. I would have used a satellite, but I didn't see one when I was driving the islands...

( She exhales, making herself... tense to stay away. Even if the pain is much reduced by merit of the therapy that would, for most people, either only slow down their dying or help contribute to them becoming something else instead. )

Ugh. I used way too much power resonating with that tower. ( She finally glances between them, brow furrowed, but less from pain than earlier. ) Was it really melted?

Oh extremely. A Pyro Genshin couldn’t have done it better. [He knows the exact one he could think of to do it. Complete with casual treating himself harshly. He leans forward, studying her for a moment.

Workoholic or adventurer. Or both.] Are you going to be alright? You can take your time answering.

[Archons he hopes so. She was very pale when they brought her in.]

[ Setsu jumps a little seeing Alex inject herself. At first, they don't even know if she's capable of knowing what she's doing in her current state, but the entire process happens so quickly that, by the time Setsu snaps out of their shock, it's already done.

And she's talking again. ]

Just for that?

[ The words slip out automatically in response: A mix of disbelief and disappointment. There is so much they want to say to her at the moment, but now really isn't the time for it.

First, they want Alex to take her time recovering from whatever "resonating" does to her body. With how rapidly she declined, even if she answers that she's fine now, Setsu doesn't know if they'll be able to believe her. Nevertheless, they look back at her with concern and wait for her answer. ]

( For a moment, tired as she is, Alex looks struck. More by what Setsu's saying, but she turns wide eyes toward her friend, feeling suddenly very small. Just for that? Alex's voice and demeanour is subdued, having no ready answer for Kaeya. Just the smallness, and Setsu, and those three words. )

We're stuck here. Echo doesn't talk to us, Aurora can't talk to Echo for us, we have to get past here. Outside this bubble. And I don't know how else to do that except scream as loud as I can and hope someone, somewhere, hears me when I'm saying we're all here.

( Her voice gets progressively quieter, Alex drawing her legs up so she can wrap one arm around them. The other one's connected to too many wires. Her heart rate is dropping down into more normal ranges, still slightly elevated, but it beats steadily, no skips, no murmurs. That is what the injection did, along with cutting through the haze of the pain. Now it's just the aches that come after, and the slide off adrenaline and into the dark.

Alex feels her eyes burn, and she furrows her brow, blinking as furiously as she can manage. It's not all that fast. Evol exhaustion on top of what her protocores do when acting less stable means she's got very little energy left to burn, and her crashout is looming high and dark behind her eyes. Not quite ashamed of it, but definitely not happy with herself, Alex lets her head drop down onto her legs, voice muffled and small. She doesn't have the energy not to cry right now. She also doesn't have the energy to do more than feel the hot, wet trails it leaves coursing down her cheeks, coming under her chin and falling down onto her chest under the weight of their own gravity. )

I miss home. I miss my friends. I miss work. I miss knowing I'm helping make sure no one else goes through what I did. But I'm here, and so is everyone else, and Echo won't even talk with us. How are we supposed to work anything out if it won't talk with us?

[The man behind the forest of masks he calls a smile waits until quiet descends. Everything she’s saying ricochets around inside his heart. He shares those feelings. His voice is quiet and tired as a bit of the real Kaeya of clan Alberich slips out.] We can’t. And that’s the problem.

If someone doesn’t talk to us we can’t do anything to see if we’re being told the truth or not. It feels like running to someone else’s tune and for what?

It isn’t fair. [He gets up and quietly requests a box of tissues and some water from a bit. He pulls his chair closer to her bed. With him comes the sense of the sea. He dims it down to a low background as if they were not far from the sea shore.] But we have to be smart about how we rattle the bars. Stabbing ourselves with them isn’t going to return us to where we belong. And to the lives we were taken from.

When I get close to magic burn, I usually need to eat and rehydrate. Are you similar?

[ Setsu takes in a sharp, quiet breath, and they feel their chest begin to squeeze.

They're not sure if they've ever heard Kaeya sound quite like this. Or seen Alex be so hurt...

It hurts, to listen to her reveal her feelings like this. They get it. They get Alex's motives here, and they get what Kaeya is saying, too. They really, really get it. They just need a few moments, hanging back at the side, to let their heart relax a little.

It's great that Kaeya is taking the lead in looking after Alex, because the bots, without any direction at this point, busy themselves with retrieving a box of tissues from a nearby cupboard and leaving the room to bring in some water.

Setsu takes in another, measured breath with their hand curled in a loose fist at their chest. Alex and Kaeya are their friends, and they both have lives to return to—Setsu wants to protect that hope for them.

That's the thought they choose to hold onto to steady themself as they finally step to Alex's bedside, more withdrawn than before, and their voice softer. ]

I'm sorry. That was too harsh... I shouldn't have said that. You just wanted to try everything you could to change the situation, right? I understand that...

...But what Kaeya said is true, too. Hurting yourself in the process of trying everything is still hurting yourself. Next time, don't try to do it all alone. Okay?

( Alex keeps her face buried in her legs, listening to the people around her move, to the click of the bots feet on the tile floor. She wants to close her eyes, knowing when she does the dark eating at their edges will engulf her. Will need to soon enough anyway, because how she heals is always with sleep and food and frustration at a limit she only recently learned can kill her — but can't keep her dead.

The scent and sensation of the sea when Kaeya moves his chair over to the bedside has her unconsciously tilting her body a touch his direction: she misses the sea, the shoreline that Linkon City shares with it, the white beaches and the rocky stretches and the endless familiarity of fifteen years of living within their reach.

Both what Kaeya and Setsu say is right. Alex knows that, even as her tired mind goes, I didn't mean to in a whine she won't voice, because intention is not the same as resulting effect. Her voice is still small, answering: )

Okay. ( And ) It's the same. For me. Drink water, eat something. I'll sleep too, if the adrenaline drops.

( If? It already has. She's pushed through the crashing before when it's been a matter of saving lives and pursuing the one responsible for killing patients with promises of immortalized hope. People who had protocore syndrome. Ones who were turning. People who never had a real chance, because the failure rate is so astoundingly high, and it was all being covered up, and...

And nothing. She knows why her thoughts are wandering, so Alex does what she can to rein them back in while she can still pull her focus. )

I just... I want us to be heard. Aurora can't fix that.

( Small as her voice is, on that note, she sounds sad. Unutterably sad over something that feels like a incontestable truth. And because she had not been thoughtful enough, had not planned at all, had not believed it would shake out like this, that she'd worry Setsu, or even Kaeya who doesn't know her from a frog on a log, she feels... guilty. Guilty and deeply regretful. (Gorgug, Dwayne, Julie...) )

I'm sorry.

[He gets up and snags another chair. He sets it in respectful distance from the bed and that sense of the sea dails up a bit. He saw that it helped. But his voice remains calm and soothing. He knows how to charm anyone but this is about helping.] I know. We’ll work on that.

[He signals to a bot and asks for some cheese and fruit to go with the water.] You’re right that she can’t help us with that. I think she’s bound by Rules. But we’ll talk about that in a bit. Let’s take care of you first.

[He thanks a bot as they bring in water and what looks like a charcuterie board on a small mobile table. He flicks down the lock the wheels with his foot.] We can plan later. They brought you well. Not what I asked for exactly but close enough. Will this work?

[ Setsu finally sits down. The sense of the sea that accompanies Kaeya is something Setsu associates only with Kaeya, but in that way, it is nice. A familiar sensation, here in this hospital room, where Alex is still curled into a ball and looks so small...

Now really isn't the time to discuss anything. By all accounts, the situation thus far has been so unchanging that, unless Alex's move just now had a dramatic and immediate effect on something other than her own body, they have all the time in the world to plan and allow Alex to recover. Setsu wonders if Alex had considered that there would be a personal aftermath to her actions...

But Setsu themself doesn't need to say anything. Kaeya has the situation handled easily, as always, though Setsu is still ready if needed. In case there is an immediate effect they don't yet know of.

The only thought Setsu chooses to voice: ] You don't need to say sorry. I'm happy you're okay...

Un: frost - voice

off screen but audible

Voice - > action tag order Kaeya - Setsu - Alex

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