Welcome to Gaia! ::

Otto had only remembered the text while he poked through Twitter on his phone. There had been so many different occurrences during the incident some days before; that his run in with a woman who looked like Sam had almost been forgotten.



He looked the text over, and his never ending curiosity got the better of him.

He answered it.

He should have figured she wouldn't respond. She was playing him, just like the real Sam might have done. As it was, there was nothing more he could do. Besides, he didn't have much of a plan anyway. Just that he'd been curious, and she'd been too mysterious to ignore.

The next day, he found a present, and to be honest he'd forgotten about the text message for a while. It was not his birthday, yet there was a gift. It took a few moments of staring at it to remember the message.

No way.. she wouldn't have taken the effort to get a gift to his door. How much trouble she'd have to go through to do it.

With a sigh from over thinking it, he took it inside and sat down at his couch to open the gift. It really was wrapped quite nicely. Almost a shame to tear it open. He tore it open anyway, but still. A shame.

"Holy s**t... this is fancy as ********." Otto murmured to himself, getting a little too excited to have a new toy to play with. Surprised at it's functionality without runes, he browsed the capabilities of the device. Only two options seemed available. No games. What a rip-off.

However, with no note attached of the sender or the reason for the gift, Otto had little choice but to try to call whoever the device could contact. Well, not true. He could decide to leave it alone. But nothing amazing never happened to people who sat on their hands all day.

Otto tapped on the camcorder option. He could make normal phone calls any day. Just what would the device show him?

Somehow? He had not actually expected this to happen. Whatever he'd been imagining fell to the wayside, as now before him was the picture perfect image of Sam. It had to be her... but then, who was it who'd died? Could someone actually fake a death on the island? And if so, why? There were questions. many of them. Many things Otto wanted to say, that he was having trouble prioritizing what to say or ask first.

"Hi." He replied back in a flat tone. "Thanks for the present, but it ain't got Candy Crush."

It wasn't a live chat. It was a video. Or.. more like a last will and testament. That answered that, as far as he could tell. Sam was dead, right? Probably? She didn't even sound sure, or more likely she wasn't sure it would happen or not. Then why did that woman say "We have her" back then, with Lucky up on those stairs? Maybe she was alive, and in trouble... maybe. Yet again, there wasn't a whole lot he could do about it. He wasn't very smart, not very cunning. Most bright ideas he had happened on the fly.

He looked down confused as the screen darkened. She entrusted him with a black crystal? Or.. maybe she meant to, and forgot? Looking through the box, there was no trinket or forgotten whatsit. Only the tablet in his hands.

"Take care of what how.." He grumbled, tempted to slam the damned thing against a wall. There was still the call button, but whether that would yield any different result was uncertain.

With no other options, he tried it.

Otto was not prepared for this either. Honestly, he ought to come up with better plans aside from "wing it till you win it". As it stood, he'd have to improvise without getting himself into trouble... or more trouble... Minima; trouble considering he threw himself into many messes as a means of getting s**t done.

"Uh.." Was his eloquent response at first. He could mention that he received a tablet from an unknown person, and simply ask if they knew how he got their number. However, it was possible it would put him or that person at risk. On the other hand, why would he be given this number otherwise? In addition, if he did answer then, would giving out his name help, hinder, or put him in terrible danger? Maybe his middle name instead? Or would communicating on a mystery device put the island at risk, let alone himself? What if it had some terrible tracking device?

If Otto had his way, he'd sit there all day thinking of every non-productive counter theory and spin his inner debate in circles. However, someone was on the line. And waiting.

"Um.. Otto." He answered with some hesitation. "Why is your number on my tablet?" Yeah. Smooth. Throw it back right in their face. Smart. Because this was totally his tablet, originally.

"Who's this?"

Otto stared down at the blank screen. Again. "s**t." Looked like whoever made sure he got this gift from Sam indeed did so at risk to their own welfare. They knew him, anyway. Obviously, considering they found his door and all.

Otto heaved a sigh and set the tablet down. He really didn't want to make anyone get in trouble over his curiosity. Getting himself in trouble was justifiable, as he was the one seeking answers. But a poor squeaky lady on the phone? Not so much.

He reached a dead end. It made him feel fidgety, and anxious. Sam had meant for him to protect some black shard in a jar. But he had no such thing on him. The box was empty. The tablet only had the two settings. No jar. No strange black shard. Had he failed before he even began? Maybe his little care package had gotten ransacked after all...

With little else to do, he tried the number again. He hated the idea of getting the girl in trouble, but he wouldn't be able to sit still with all these unanswered mysteries.

Otto flinched, until he realized it was the timid phone girl. He ran to his door to let her in, obediently closing it behind them.