12th Transmission -- Audio

[heavyweaponsbot]

[Oh hey Keep. It's Ironhide again. And boy does he sound unhappy.]

Tell me, lord.

[There is so much derision in that word, it should be a curse, not a title.]

Where are those who go missing? Do you send them home, to their "vanished worlds"? Or are you keeping them locked up!

[Something big and heavy impacts a wall.]

Answer me!

[...

Comments

audio;

[keelah_selai]

I'm sorry, I know I'm not the one you're trying to contact, but-

[It's a young voice, female, and with a rasping, mechanical overtone.]

"Missing?"

audio;

[heavyweaponsbot]

No. You are not.

[He grunts.]

People vanish. Here one moment, gone the next. Just like before.

[And then they turned up dead on the Shore.]

audio;

[keelah_selai]

Just like that? No warning signs, nothing left behind?

[It's familiar to Tali too, and not in a good way. But pinning this on Collectors would be a pretty long stretch.]

...what do you meant by 'like before?'

audio;

[heavyweaponsbot]

Nothing. There is never any sign.

[Another grunt. He's bad at discussing this.]

... On the ship. The Elegante. People would vanish, sometimes they came back. Most of the time, they did not.

[Audio]

[stillseecracks]

[For a minute or two, Xanth just stares at this post, his heart heavy. When his question does come, it's spoken softly.]

Wh... who's-- who's gone?

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

Lea.

[His voice is clipped and cold. It's not Xanth's fault, but he's never been good at directing his emotions.]

A child.

[Audio]

[stillseecracks]

[Yeah, Xanth cringes a little at that tone, even though he knows it's not his fault and he knows Ironhide knows that. It just never feels good to be on the other end of an angry Ironhide, no matter who you are.]

I--I-I'm... I'm sorry.

[Xanth never knew the boy, doesn't even recognize the name, but that doesn't change that this was a guest who's vanished into thin air.]

[Audio]

[heavyweaponsbot]

[He'll apologize later. Once he's got control of himself again. Right now, he's just upset, without the one who knows best how to talk him down.]

You are not the one responsible for disappearances.