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 Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:07 pm
".. So three weeks ago, a family of polar bears appeared around this area, and we've been tracking them as a sort of side project, and just last wednesday one of the cubs--"
"Get to the point, Walker."
".. Right. Yeah. No unusual FEAR readings, no sightings of any sort of FEAR creature."
"Okay. Keep up the observations."
"Yes Ma'am. Clarice, are--"
Transmission terminated.
"are they doing okay?" Her voice caught in her throat, coming out in a whimper. She stood in front of the radio transmitter, blinking back tears, until the humming sound the machine made grew too overwhelming- and then she turned and ran.
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Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:09 pm
One month turned into two; two into four, four into eight.. past that, she had simply stopped counting. Reine spent more and more time staring blankly up at the sky, feeling the snowflakes falling on her face, daydreaming until it was time to pack up and return to the base. At the start, she'd tried to work as hard as she could. Running errands, entering data into systems, filing reports that no one would ever read. They'd laughed at the new little girl, told her it was just a matter of time before she gave up and just joined them for D&D nights.
Reine hadn't ever taken them up on that offer. Every day she made the trek out to Observation Point Five (or Seven) with a mug of hot coffee, took FEAR readings and recorded them, stared out into the snow. She wasn't completely sure what they were looking out for, here in this area- maybe yetis, maybe a cousin, twice or thrice removed, of that gigantic sea-monster that had almost eaten Dr. H that one time. Either way, nothing had appeared for a year before she'd been sent to the base, and nothing was likely to appear the next year either, the hunters here informed her- but of course, she was free to keep an eye out while they played poker and blackjack and occasionally, Monopoly.
Wind ruffled the fur lining on her hood, tugging her back to reality. Ahead of her the sun was just peeking out over the horizon; she'd taken to waking up earlier each day to catch the sunrise. Deep blue lightened as the stars faded, setting the stage- minutes later, a tinge of pink crept up the sky, flaring into oranges, yellows, reds, before settling finally into a clear, cloudless blue.
Her heart hurt watching the sunrise, as it did every morning. The colours in the sky reminded her of her friends- light purple streaks of clouds for Eva, her closest friend; dark for Thackery, though they'd fought each other the last time they'd met. Fiery red for Clerise, who called her Starchild; warm orange for Justin, who'd almost died that one time, in her arms; yellow-blonde like Otto's hair, that she ruffled every time she saw him. She stretched a hand out, feeling the distance as acutely as ever, wondering if they missed her as much- if they thought of her now and then. Pushing herself off the rock, Reine sighed, and dusted off the ice crusting on the back of her jacket. Time to get to work.
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Posted: Thu Aug 29, 2013 6:10 pm
Transmission request pending... Terminated.
Reine frowned at the screen. A snowstorm had rolled through a couple weeks ago- and god knew the communications station was used rarely enough that no one would have noticed things weren't working.. except, hadn't Josh just radioed in to request more supplies (nachos, the best cheese you've got, and some-- crackers? what do you think we are, parro-- hey!!) yesterday?
Checking the authorisation key, she hit the button again.
Transmission request pending... Terminated.
..And again.
Transmission request pending... Terminated.
Alright, so these monthly reports to Clarice essentially meant nothing, she knew that. And each time, the Hunter would close the connection before she could ask about recent news, about her friends. But those precious few minutes were her only link to the outside world, and that was incredibly important to her, even if she couldn't say why.
"Goddamnit." Her fist practically smashed into the button, expecting another error, but almost miraculously, the computerised voice read out:
Transmission request pending... Connected.
"Clarice? Hi? Wow, I thought something happened, you know, snowstorms in the area an--"
A voice, low and brusque and definitely not Clarice's, cut her off. "Yeah, okay, Clarice isn't around anymore, we're all busy here, state of emergency, no time for your bullshit, blah blah. You'll be picked up sometime tomorrow.."
She'd zoned out a little after "Clarice isn't around anymore", her brain working in overdrive, both trying to process the statement and calm herself down, because he couldn't have meant it that way.
".. not around anymore?" The time she'd spent all the way out here, despite the constant worrying about her friends, had dulled her; out in the arctic where nothing happened, hunters sat around a table and played board games or card games. No one died. No one talked about death.
"Yeah." His tone softened a little. "You know. Gone."
This time she was the one to press the button, terminating the connection. The buzzing from the machine grew louder. Outside, she could hear- very faintly- the sounds of laughter and shuffling cards. Everything seemed too bright, and each time she blinked, the room spun around her.
"Hey," Josh yelled, "they call about those nachos yet?"
Reine crumpled to the floor, curled up, and cried.
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