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Doctor. Somebody just said something strange, about the boat making a weird noise, so I listened but I can't hear anything. I mean.... Anything.



So I took a leaf out of yours and I did that thing you did - will do - with my wineglass and --


... I think we have a problem.

[Here it goes again. Whether you had it on or not, your TV will start showing you a fairly uninteresting program, consisting of a young man walking down the length of a train. The train itself is particularly high-end, having lavish carpeting and dark wood paneling. Eventually he comes to a stop in a dining car, pausing to examine a table laden with enough food for twenty people.]

[He picks up a mug and sniffs it, before sipping with an unpleasant smile.]

Chocolate. Of course.

[He turns and looks over his shoulder, as though finally noticing the camera. Yellow eyes can't be normal.]

Delicious, wasn't it? The first thing like it we'd ever tasted. This train had a lot of firsts.

[Abruptly he flings the mug against the wall, where it shatters in an explosion of ceramic and liquid.]

Not a knife, but satisfying enough. Maybe not as satisfying as this--

[He upends the table, lifting it with far more ease than would be expected. Shards of dishware fly everywhere, the floor a mess of rich food ruining the expensive carpets.]

First time I talked to her. First time I looked forward to dying. First time I knew my family wouldn't miss me. I always suspected, of course, but it's different to know.

First time I was actually needed for anything. Stopping nightmares. Pathetic, isn't it? I was happy with just that. I think I always would have been. But I'm not even good for that anymore, am I? Instead I keep her from dying, even when she wants to. And I know she wants to. I'm just too selfish to let her. She thinks it was just the pill, but... she doesn't remember who pulled her out of the flames.

I suppose it comes full circle. After all, she didn't want me to live because she cared about me. She just didn't want to deal with being my killer. Not even when they had me.

[He turns to face the camera fully, grinning crookedly.]

They still have me. They might always have me. Can't trust Peeta, no. The Capitol's toy. Wasn't allowed to die, either time. Have to live, even after losing myself.

[He stoops to pick up a shard of glass from the floor, and calmly slices the tip of his finger. Walking over to a clean section of the wall, he deftly begins finger-painting a design into the wood.]

Not this time.

This is a message to the Host Club and Johanna. Is everyone okay? Did you get a boat?

I... I'll be along. Don't worry about me and keep people safe. That's most important right now, understand? They need you.

All right.  We made good time getting those boats launched, everyone.  Good job.

Not done quiet yet, though.  We're not going to lose a single person tonight.

Rescue crews will be mobilizing already, so let's make this nice and easy for them.   Everyone who's still on the Medusa, sound off.  State your current location, what you're doing, any injuries, and anything important you can see about what's happening with the boat.

I'm on the aft deck right now.  Ship's electronics are going out, but I think I can keep the intercom running as long as we're above water.  Since we don't have any red-headed tech whizzes on board that I know of, I'll be co-ordinating and keeping us networked.

I need you to stop arguing and get on the boat. That's an order. Get on the boat now.

HAS ANYONE found the life jackets yet? 

Don't panic! Everything is going to be fi- Hey! Put that back where you found it. There are more important things right now like-

Oh...

This cruise was a terrible idea to begin with.

( [Private Text - Tamaki] )

Mister Odair.

With the chief of police missing, there's no-one to authorize launching the rescue boats.

How do you feel about some improv piracy?

[a missive from a sinking ship: there's understandably a lot of background noise floating about - people barking orders, raw materials being cut down and split apart to be re-purposed as rafts - so yosuke has to shout to be heard. he's a bit out of breath, like he's running.]

--mmit Shirogane! What part of "get to the lifeboats" is so hard to understand, anyway? And you, Kanji - you were supposed to make sure all the girls got out safely! Doesn't anyone listen to their senpai anymore??

Sorry, Chie, I'm leaving Teddie up to you! Make sure he doesn't dishonor my memory!! Wh- Oh, hang on--

[the voices change, this time it's souji. he sounds measured, calm, and in control - as usual:]

What Yosuke's trying to say is, I know everything's a little crazy right now, but don't worry about us. We'll make it back just fine.

[there's a sound like Yosuke laughing ruefully in the background, before the transmission cuts out.]

The boat is sinking. There are not enough lifeboats and the boat should be completely underwater in the next several hours.

Please advise.

[Locked to Katniss, Finnick, Johanna, the IT, SEES, & previous rescuees.]

[Chie is red-faced, puffy-eyed, and sniffling when she turns on her webcam, but the way she's glaring at the camera makes her look more dangerous than a crying schoolgirl ought to be capable of.  Her voice wavers just a little when she begins to talk, but it quickly steadies.]

Okay guys.  I guess by now you've probably all seen that someone else has disappeared into the Dark Hour.  Usually it's my b-buddy Souji who's making these announcements, but he's... he's not back to shore yet, and he put me in charge when he put me on the lifeboat, so I guess it's going to be me.  I'll be leading the rescue squad into the Dark Hour, and if you don't like it, then.... then I'll kick your ass!

Um.

[She looks offscreen and takes a couple deep breaths, then stares back at the camera, determined.]

Katniss and Finnick and Johanna, this message is mostly for you, to try and explain what's happening.  We're going to get Peeta back, but we need your help.  The message you saw on the network isn't exactly from Peeta, it's more... it's more like the parts of himself that he hides and, um, that he doesn't like very much are getting a voice of their own.  The place where he is right now is really... messed up and crazy and hard to navigate, because it all has to do with the bad stuff that's inside everybody's heads.  And if we can't find him in time, then... he's in really big trouble.

One of my friends has a way to track him down so we can save him, but he needs to know... everything any of you can tell us about Peeta, because he needs to understand the way he thinks before he's able to smell him.  All I could tell him were stories about working at Belgium-san's bakery, but what we really need to know are things about his past, or problems that he's been having, because those are sort of the key to figuring this all out and... I don't even know if I'm making any sense!  But we're going in tonight, as soon as we can, and the more we know when we do the quicker this will be.  Okay.  Um.

Chie out.