Snowblind IC Inbox

[termineur]

"Uh, hi there. I'm probably out stomping through snow right now, so...leave a message?"

[Text, audio and video formats available. Feel free to contact him for any reason.]

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[bywolves]

Alive. [ Royce confirms. Just barely. If Sylar looks closely, he'll see blood all over Royce, on the fabric of the cloak that he is. The cloak monster curls up in a heap on the floor in a corner. hat's the only word he can manage. ]

[termineur]

[ Blood was not part of Royce's anomaly form, but even then it takes Sylar a long moment before he realizes it's anything but normal. Whatever remains of him starts putting together pieces, but he doesn't quite make it all the way. ]

I'm glad, for that.

Did you wake up hurt? You're not dying again.

[bywolves]

Not dying. [ Royce repeats. ] I'm not hurt. Not I'm.

[ He's starting to get the hang of making sentences out of what he has available to him, it's just that the tenses or specific words don't always work. ]

[termineur]

[ There's a pause, but he thinks he understands. ]

Your anomaly. You had one too.

I killed mine. Didn't even hesitate.

[ A low, mournful noise emanates from him, sounding more like a fog horn than anything else. He'll keep from trying to sigh in the future. ]

I was lucky. She said so. But I didn't change back.

[bywolves]

Had one too. [ His voice dulls. ] Killed.

She was - she. [ He doesn't have the word wife so he can't tell Sylar who she was or why it hurts him so badly to think about it. ] I hesitate.

Dying didn't change back. Her, I. [ He's sorry, Sylar, he knows this is frustrating to try and translate. ]

[termineur]

[ It's okay, Royce. Having something to puzzle out is making him feel more like himself than anything else could the past couple of days. ]

Her. Not your daughter? [ God, he hopes not. Who else could it be? ] Family? Friend? Wife? Sister?

Mine was a victim. I already hurt her. Before.

[bywolves]

[ The thought of it being his daughter wrenches something in him that he didn't know was possible. The fact that it was Gwen broke something in him, but if it'd been his daughter he's not sure he could've brought himself to do it. Royce wheezes in a pained breath. ]

Wife. [ His mind gets fuzzy as his emotions spike. ] Killed her. Before. Didn't. Didn't want killed, before. Victim.

[ It wasn't directly his fault, the first time, but he blames himself. ]

[termineur]

[ Without a face or even inflection, it's hard to give an impression of sympathy. So he actually has to say it. ]

Sorry. Royce, sorry. You didn't want to kill her. Not this time either. I'm sure.

They weren't them. They were broken.

[bywolves]

Not this time. [ He's relieved that Sylar got it. The cloak trembles where it's balled up in the corner, and there's the sound of knives being dragged along a wood floor. ]

Broken. They, I. [ This is said much more softly. And then, a normal volume: ] Weren't them. Killed them. Didn't want to.

[termineur]

Yeah. I know. [ It's all he can say about it, really. ]

If we're stuck like this. I'll find you. Where are you now?

[ And after another pause: ] Do you need words?

[bywolves]

Yeah. Need words. [ Thank Maribor Sylar picked up on it. He knows where he is, he just can't form the directions as speech. ] Where are you now words.

[termineur]

Okay. Places.

[ The list is odd, especially in the monotone way it's said. But it's easier for Sylar to talk this way, too, so he's hardly going to complain. ]

Entrance. Downtown. Residential Area. Chapel. Police station. Hospital. South. East. North. West. Pharmacy. School. Andromeda's house. Hsiaoke Pass. Gate. Tunnel. Ice Caves. Grocery store. Town hall.

[ The words slow to a stop. Hopefully that was enough to answer the question- he's having a tough time remembering any other landmarks. ]

[bywolves]

[ He puts it together slowly. It's enough - not exactly, but general. ] I was west school. Southwest of school. North, tunnels. Residential.

[termineur]

[ West of the school? He really hasn't been there, so it takes a moment before he remembers what exactly is over there. ]

Funeral home. I'm heading west. Southeast of the chapel.

[ And now that that's sorted, he's casting about for more to talk about. He doesn't want to be alone in this. His figure looms over the tablet until it's entirely black. ]

I'll tell you more words.

[bywolves]

[ It's okay, Royce doesn't want to be alone either, especially after everything that has happened. He's curled up in a corner of a furnitureless house with his tablet, he doesn't have anything else to do. ]

Broken. [ Royce mumbles. ] I'm heading south too. Friend. [ As in, Alfie is down there and he needs his buddy. ] Friend downtown. [ But... ] Find I. Tunnels you, I.

[termineur]

Yeah. I'm heading there anyway. We'll get you back. To Alfie.

[ That being said, he can tell some missing words already. ]

Me. Mine. Fixed. We'll be fixed. I'll find a solution. Somehow. And. More. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.

[ As he speaks, the tablet rises off the ground. He's floating over the snow, and the tablet seems to be floating along after him. ]

House. Building. Snow. Cold. Warm. Pain. Slice. Anomaly. Monster. Real. Fake. Red. Blue. Green. Yellow. Brown. Black. White. Purple. Orange. Audio. Text. Tablet. Turn. On. Off. Voice.

[bywolves]

[ So many words. Royce makes a humming sort of sound, pleased. He knows he won't be able to keep them, because he lost everything that Karkat and Alfie gave him before, but being able to pick from a variety makes him feel a little more in control.

His monster brain is fuzzy, but he'll take the little good things. ]

Alfie fixed. [ Royce says, his cloak form rippling. ] Wake up anomaly. Worried stuck like this. Worried I not words. Alfie kill.

Didn't fixed. [ But Alfie tried. A beat, and quietly: ] Words do not stuck.

[termineur]

The words don't stick?

[ Well, damn. He didn't catch all of what Royce is trying to get across, but he's going to try. ]

Alfie killed you. To try and save you. But you woke up that way. It didn't fix it.

And your words left. Death price? I'll give you words. Whenever you want.

[bywolves]

Words don't stick. [ Yeah. As for the rest of it, Sylar's got about the gist of it. He hums in agreement. And appreciation. He's glad for the words - he wishes he could request them. ] That.

[ The cloak digs its knife fingers into the floor, almost kneading at it. Frustrated, almost upset: ] Dying didn't stick.

[termineur]

No. It didn't.

It's a system error. The nanites. [ It's hard to remember that, but he's been doing his best to keep it in his head. ] Everyone has to get better. At once. Or not at all. Dying doesn't help. Sorry.

[ And that was a lot of talking in this form. He pauses for way too long before he speaks again. ]

What words do you want? I'll branch off from you. Temporary is fine. I can give them again.