(one) night | teneka & video.

[raketen]

[ Alfons is a bit wide-eyed; he's maskless and the poor lighting casts almost comically dramatic shadows. The picture shakes with his hands, but he still seems resolute. ]

I'm supposed to be dead. I have to be dead. No one lives through something like that. No one--

[ His palm presses against his chest-- the shirt's still blotched with blood,

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teneka; video

[contemns]

[ He is staring, almost as if trying to make sense of what Alfons is saying. ]

You seem to be more alive than most of the dead I have seen.

Or is that normal for you?

teneka & video.

[raketen]

I mean that I'm dead where I come from. -- I don't think I'm dead now. Physically speaking... or perhaps mentally speaking, if indeed this is a dream. Unless everyone else is dead, too?

[ He looks a bit surprised at the thought. ]

teneka & video.

[contemns]

If you died, you should still be dead.

[ This "voice" sounds incredibly matter-of-fact. ]

As far as I know, everyone here is alive.

teneka & video.

[raketen]

Hmm. One would think so... But I'm still here, right?

[ Or -- ]

I can't be a ghost.

[ ... Right? ]

teneka & video.

[contemns]

So we can hope. I would prefer not to be part of some human's afterlife.

teneka & video.

[raketen]

You're not human? [ -- That came out a bit impolitely! ] I'm sorry, I mean-- [ ... He's not even sure how to ask that. ]

teneka & video.

[contemns]

[ He frowns a bit; he is more used to humans being immediately aware of this. ]

Why are you apologizing? I thought it would be obvious.

teneka & video.

[raketen]

[ ... Huh! He's a little bit fascinated now. ]

I apologize-- I've never met anyone who isn't human. Where are you from, if I may ask?

teneka & video.

[contemns]

[ More than anything, he's a bit surprised that a human is actually apologizing to him. ]

The town is called Thornwood.

[ He's not sure about which location to refer to, since it seems no one even knows of his country here. ]

teneka & video.

[raketen]

I haven't heard of it, I'm sorry. In what country?

teneka & video.

[contemns]

[ He'd expected that, almost. ]

Asteir. Do you know of it?