Voice | username: No

[sullenstallion]

Maybe this is a bad time?

[When Dylas starts the audio feed, he’s already not sure if he wants to do this. What a follows is a long sigh before he actually begins speaking in earnest.]

Hey. I know everyone’s sick. It’s pretty bad. I’m sure you all know some of the symptoms, but maybe you guys have been feeling something else, too? Something happened to me last month. Er, has been...happening.

[There’s a long, uncomfortable pause. He doesn’t know what he’s doing.]

I mean, maybe your body is changing. Doing things it couldn’t before. Maybe...being more sensitive. Maybe you’re noticing something different about yourself that you didn’t before? Something that doesn’t line up with the symptoms? If that happens, you should talk to the Orbiters. [Another pause. Ugh. He hates doing this, seriously.] They can apparently change our bodies without asking. They, uh. Can give us things that weren’t there before.

[He’s clearly not wanting to go into any details. Or maybe it’s not clear. He’s just this deep, masculine voice who sounds sort of confused about how to address large groups.]

So if you start feeling weird outside of the sickness or weren’t sick before, it might be that your body is going through new changes.

[Another long pause.]

It’s not puberty. I’ve already done that.

Comments

voice / username REDLIONRIGHTHAND

[emblazes]

[While he doesn't recognize the username, he recognizes the voice. He'd remember anyone who ditched him in the middle of a good deed and proceeded to pants him at next sight.]

You mean like hearing things louder than they should be?

[Son of a..........]

[sullenstallion]

Yeah! How'd you know? Who is this?

[He doesn't recognize Keith's username. Or his voice. He has enhanced hearing, not enhanced ability to remember things. He sounds genuinely surprised that someone has guessed one of his not-puberty powers.]

1/2

[emblazes]

[........]

[emblazes]

Did the Orbiters really help you?

[Was there a condition? A contract? He'll step out from behind the curtain in a second. There's no real benefit to being anonymous -- 'anonymous' at the moment. He's just being odd. It's normal to wanna be incognito while discussing things that aren't uh, normal. Like late-stage puberty mitigated by fake Gods.]

voice!

[vacuum]

Yeah? You sure about that? Could be an alien-puberty.

[ he's ... joking. ]

[sullenstallion]

I'm not an alien, dammit! And I'm way too old for that! Maybe you're going through alien puberty, because that sounded stupid.

[Technically, they're all aliens??? Also, Dylas sounds like an angry kid. No, you're going through puberty.]

[vacuum]

... That doesn't make any sense. [ He can't believe he just got 'no u'ed. ]

So what're these changes about anyway?

voice | un: catalyst

[badgerlock]

What kind of changes?

[sullenstallion]

The first time it happened, my senses got stronger. I didn't know it was coming, so it was a pain in the ass. People are so loud...so, so loud.

[badgerlock]

Oh.

Then no.

[But yes, people are loud. So, so loud.]

And nothing prompted it? You didn't by chance eat something different?

voice; un: mai

[maipokerface]

... Change our bodies?

[Her tone is somewhere between confusion and incredulous.]

[sullenstallion]

...Yeah. I was surprised, too. I wasn't even going to check with them at forst, but they confirmed it when I did.

[He's assuming she believes him? Why would he lie about this. He's uncomfortable even being on the phone this long. Phones are weird.]

[maipokerface]

[Oh she believes him. Why even lie about this? It's just...]

Is this something they only do to people who are awake?

voice | username: xXx_trueblue_xXx

[competing]

Hold up — why would they do that??

[sullenstallion]

[What a stupid username? Why are there so many X's? Why is this blue person also yelling at him about the pants incident. 'No' is a much better username.]

Why do you want to know?

[Wait. Wait, he made this post to be helpful.]

Uh. They said it was to reward me. Like, they were thankful to me.

voice; un: carida

[jeronimo]

That's a lot of maybes and roundabout phrases. Want to try elaborating on that?

What do you mean they can change us?

[Alarm bells are going off all over the place for Cassian. His words are clipped but neutral.]

[sullenstallion]

I'm not great at talking to people. That's what I mean.

[His voice is oddly apologetic? It's a rare tone from Dylas.]

I'm saying that...if someone here feels something strange or new in their body, it could also be the Orbiters saying thank you by altering their body somehow. Is that clearer?

voice; un: dragonslayer

[uwe]

[ he really doesn't know how to use a device properly, but even so... ]

Ah, hello again. Dylas correct?

[ it sounds like him anyway. siegfried himself is rather sick, though it's been slower to affect him. all the same, listening to dylas's explanation was strangely fascinating. or maybe it was fascinating because he's kind of delirious? either way. ]

I hadn't realized the Orbiters could do something like that. Does this mean your body has changed somehow?

[ ...hm, that's more or less all he has to say, but he's not sure how to finish this, so... ]

Sincerely, Siegfried.

[sullenstallion]

[Dylas bristles at the sight of that username. Even the sick, familiar voice that accompanies it isn't enough to calm him down. In any other situation, he'd be glad to hear from Siegfried.

But 'Dragon Slayer' means 'Dragon Murderer' and he's not happy to see that attached here for personal reasons.]

What the hell does that name mean? Change it.

voice; un: flowerknight

[triplerose]

Beg your pardon?

[ The confusion - and disbelief - is evident in his voice. Of course, they helped him get rid of a particularly nasty scar, but to change a body ... ]

[sullenstallion]

Excuse...me?

[Dylas is confused, too, because he knows deep in his horsey heart that he's the worst person to do a PSA.]

What part is confusing you? The Orbiters changed my body. Without permission.

audio | un: mad-dog

[hannya]

Without askin', huh?

[A long sigh.]

That's just beautiful.

video;

[sullenstallion]

[Just to switch things up here, Dylas accidentally clicks over to video after a lot of people have responded. Congrats, you're speaking to a scarred horseman with golden eyes.]

Yeah. It's beautiful. [He appreciates how bitter this man sounds.] Do you have any questions, too? My senses are stronger than they used to be. That was going to be your next question, right?

voice / username: pholia

[baguablade]

To what extent have they started changing bodies?

[ His voice is carefully neutral, but not without a note of concern. ]

[sullenstallion]

I don't know. I'd be surprised if I was the only one. I've heard some people aren't as strong here as they were back home, too. So it's hard to say.