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 Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:09 pm
Running out of time, two weeks was too long, they hadn't turned up bodies but they hadn't turned up the living either.
He crumpled yet another map and tossed it into the public dumpster furious.
He sighed... the knot in his chest driving uncertainty and paranoia. What if plagued every thought that chased through his head and a lack of sleep made him want to hit the faded brick wall behind him and keep hitting till the crumbling mortar gave way and either rained bricks down on him, or inward on some unfortunate soul whom he could at least feel had suffered worse fortune than he was fighting now.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:28 pm
It was only a moment later that Zink felt his communicator crystal shake. It was a sure sign that someone was phoning in, and by the sheer frequency with which he called it was likely the general could figure out who it was even before picking up.
Still, when he did answer the call it wasn't his partner's usual tone that greeted him. Instead it was Scheelite in an absolute state of panic.
"ZINK, where are you man?! I have to talk to you right now and I'd prefer in person so you can see and make sure I'm not just crazy!"
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:37 pm
"... Out back behind Doughnut world... I was making a tour of the docks...where are you." He replied trying to smother the worry in his voice at Dem's tone. "Can you teleport or should I come there." He added, it was at least minority easier for him to teleport than it was for Schee, though it still took a good deal of energy.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:57 pm
"I'm coming, just stay there okay! I'm coming right now and I'll be there--"
He wasn't even finished the sentence before the blonde captain appeared near Zink. Scheelite did a quick look around, taking a moment to spot the General but the moment he did he dashed over.
"ZINK! Zink it's gone man, it's gone. I had it and it just disappeared and and and..."
The blonde was flailing, words jumbled and rattled off quicker than most could decipher them though thankfully Zinkenite had practice. During this he gestured to his waist, which didn't seem to hold anything out of the ordinary.
Which in itself was out of the ordinary. Ever since Scheelite had found the teal sash belong to Dioptase, he had been wearing it himself to help soothe his nerves. When he was nervous, or just plain worried about his fellow officers his fingers had traveled to that sash to gently play with the fabric. A simple move, but it had been so comforting.
That sash was currently gone.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:01 pm
"Gone..." His mouth felt dry and he just couldn't speak anymore. The sweet voiced girl who slipped into french occasionally and made him stop and wonder what she had just said. Funny how you could say something offensive as anything but it sounded pretty when you did, so long as it was the right language.
He didn't know what was worse... had she powered down... or was she simply...gone.
He couldn't form the words to tell Scheelite, but the pain was clear in his eyes, the most likely.. the most likely, the most terrible.
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:19 pm
"Gone! She..she's alive, she has to be. She's just powered down, right? She can't be dead, she just can't be. They'll be okay, we'll find them and they'll be okay..."
Scheelite wasn't saying these things because he honestly believed them any more. He kept saying them to himself to try and convince himself that they were. Build up that lie til it was true...at least in that little world inside his head. In there, Dioptase still lived. He'd still get his chance to hang all over the foreign Captain, giggle in her ear as she slipped into French. She was so awesome! She simply couldn't be gone, they hadn't had enough time to hang out yet!
But there, looking into Zink's eyes...no amount of repeating what he desperately wanted to be the truth would help.
"...S-s-she's gone...isn't she?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:22 pm
"If she powered down... she's as good as dead." he said quietly, turning away so he wouldn't have to see the sorrow in those acid green eyes. "Her... her family... maybe everyone she's ever talked to the way their operating right now..." His voice cracked and he had to stop, folding his arms over his chest as though he were seeking comfort but unwilling to ask, not sure if he should give it to such a degree either.
"... if she didn't power down..." He shook his head and glanced back at Scheelite... then... she was...very brave..."
He swallowed hard, but it was all too easy to paint elaborate and terrible pictures in his head. He wondered if they even started to touch on reality. Would they all be like this, would each scrap of clothing, one by one... fade away?
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:43 pm
Scheelite's rambling broke off into an eerie silence. For a moment he just stood there, silent and broken at the thought of what fate Dioptase had fallen to.
Then he was moving, quickly crossing the distance between himself and Zinkenite to wrap the other in a hug. He didn't care if it was PDA, didn't care if it wasn't respectful to a higher officer. None of this mattered. Zink needed comforting...and Scheelite desperately needed it too.
"We need to find them, we...we can't lose them all..."
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Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:13 pm
They felt it then, that siren alarm that drew them both, someone, had cracked one of the purple crystals.
Could it be?
He glanced at Scheelite, and without waiting to answer, grasped his shoulder and took them both to where they had felt the summons. If it was them... they would answer in blood.
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