57.) Audio

[havea_heart]

[At 17, Herz had just survived his last growth spurt. He was just settling into his new, deeper voice, which was still prone to crack on occasion. He had some baby fat to work off, limbs he wasn't entirely sure even tried to listen to him, and a clean face. No scars.

It's honestly a hard face to look at, 'least for him. He remembers the boat just

Comments

[Audio]

[gneeisnotanoise]

[Hanna is not so much avoiding craziness as he hasn't quite stumbled upon it all yet. He's been listening to transmissions here and there, occasionally running into kids in the hall, unsure if they were normal passengers or new ones. Did it matter? This was hilarious to watch. He would help where he could, of course, but for now, he'd just pester people.]

Did you get in a fight?

[Audio]

[halfa_heart]

...Uh.

Wait, what?

[Audio]

[gneeisnotanoise]

You said you had black eyes!

[Yep! That's right. He knows about the system, but he is also an idiot. And also he might not have read all of that thing Marco sent him.]

[Audio]

[halfa_heart]

I--

...

Ooh. Ohh. No, not--

Not that kind of black eyes. More...more like...

More like if--i-if your pupil took up your entire, uh...eye.

[He knows he sounds like a freak...]

Audio // English

[consummateturk]

Your eyes were not always black?

Audio // English

[halfa_heart]

Uhh...

N--No.

Audio // English

[consummateturk]

When did they change?

Audio // English

[halfa_heart]

Last year.

Around--a-around this time, I guess.

[not_methuselah]

Your body go backwards?

[halfa_heart]

Buh--

Ah--

B-By--by a few, uhm, years. Yeah. Jus'--Just, like. Like, two.

Is, like, twelve now mentally. Which means he hasn't yet learned to control his nerd-speak

[tic_tech_turtle]

Considering the circumstances of vicissitudes such as these, it's actually not at all perplexing that your eyes weren't reverted back to their primordial state.

Are you all right, Herz?

Heck yessssssss

[halfa_heart]

Well, it's--it's good to hear from you, Don.

Wanna, uhm...explain to me why it makes sense? I...I-I still don't quite...y'know. Get it.

[tic_tech_turtle]

Well, if your oculi were, say, a result of a fault in the system, then simply changing your overall physical state isn't going to solve the problem, or it might have been done right now to fix you.

And if it's a punishment or an exhortative addition, then it isn't going to be removed. Assuming, of course, that these changes result from a whim of the captain.

[halfa_heart]

[Herz finds himself nodding. He gets it, put like that.

Agh, he wishes it didn't make sense. He wants his eyes back! He needs to know what color they were!]

Assuming.

You're--y-you're right, Don. I get it.

...how're you doing? Anyway? I--I mean--

I'm sorry, we haven't talked a lot.

audio

[whatsakiss]

Were your eyes not always black?

audio

[halfa_heart]

Uh-uhhm...

nn-

No.