[001] [Audio, English]

[ptsdmobile]

[The phone... whateveritis in his palm when he regains consciousness is more advanced than the typical high-tech toys he's seen. It's ten minutes before he a) realizes it's a network-accessible handheld and b) gets savvy enough with it that he can put up a transmission.]

... What happened?

[He's got the shakes

Comments

[Audio]

[graparu]

[Her voice is a little softer than usual.]

Hey... are you okay?

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

[Shiiiiit did he black out and do stuff and forget everything where is he where IS he...

A reply already. A start.]

I dunno how I got here. I'm on a ... a ship?

[Audio]

[graparu]

Yeah, you are.

[Grapple's just gonna keep that soft tone happening. The poor guys sounds freaked.]

This is gonna sound kinda crazy, but you're on a cruise ship called the MS Elegante.

[How weird it is to be the one giving the insane explanation.]

You were uh... brought here by the Captain or something like that. I'm still chasing answers myself.

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

[Freaked? Oh yes. Panicking? Affirmative. Not the most articulate on his best day, Patrick is fighting just to stay coherent. He's petrified.]

H-huh.

[His brain moves sluggishly to make sense of it. Naturally, it's a fail.]

I don't have enough money to go on a cruise.

[Audio]

[graparu]

[Scared as he is, that last line brings a tiny smile to her face. Why so scared and adorable big guy?]

No choice. No charge. There's no currency on board, either. Everything is free.

[Grapple pauses.]

What's your name?

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

[Somehow, talking over the phone (kind of) is easier than a face-to-face conversation would be. Patrick won't have to worry about where to look and what to do with his hands if he's hunched over on this fancy bed.]

Uhh, Patrick. [Slave ship? Why else would somebody want him around except to work?]

... you?

[Audio]

[graparu]

I'm Grapple. It's nice to meet you, Patrick.

[Wish it were under less strange circumstances.]

Basically, there's a whole bunch of us here. You uh... don't remember how you got here do you? It's okay if you don't. I'm not sure how I got here either.

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

[His stress level takes a dive when she admits to not remembering. Patrick was hyperfocusing on his memory gap and had been straining to think past it.]

Nice to... yeah, I uh, don't remember either.

[He takes one of those quick breaths that people do before asking a hard question, but thinks better of mentioning being relieved in case she asks why. His fibbing sucks butt.]

So you said nobody has money?

[Audio]

[graparu]

[Well, it was worth a shot. She wasn't really expecting him to remember but it would have been nice.]

No cash, no weapons... No answers really. We all just kinda... woke up here. The last I remember I was on a highway outside Berlin dodging a truck and then here I was.

[They better not have scrapped her bike. Grapple will kill.]

There's a bar, a buffet, a few restaurants. None of them take payment and most of them are run by other passengers.

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

[Wait.

Free hooch?

Technically not a bright side. More of a thing to keep in mind when he needs to kill time and his mind.]

Wow.

... wait, you had a near-death experience before you got here?

[Audio]

[graparu]

I wouldn't say near-death but... enough for it to hurt? My gear took most of the shock so aside from a little graze and a bit of bruising, I'm alright.

[She brightens a bit.]

Don't worry about me. I'm a toughie.

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

Glad you're okay.

[He tugs fitfully at his collar.]

I passed out and came to in this room. Guess it was kind of dumb to think your accident and that could be related.

[Audio]

[graparu]

Not at all.

One of the first people I spoke too mentioned running from an explosion. I thought it was linked but others have said they weren't in any trouble at all.

[Pause.]

How come you passed out? You're not hurt are you?

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

Not hurt. Uh, had a lot to drink.

[Hello, Alcoholics Anonymous? Yes, this is Patrick.]

And it's good that not everybody was in trouble. Better than... yeah.

[Audio]

[graparu]

...O-oh.

Well. How's your head then? No hangover?

[Audio]

[ptsdmobile]

[He has hangovers every day of the week. Patrick is so used to them that he's accepted the pounding ache as a permanent fixture and rarely acknowledges it anymore.]

Not so bad. I didn't get hit by a truck.

[Ha ha. Ha. Well, it's pathetic, but he tried to make a funny.]