thoughtformed | [Audio/Video/Text]//unlocked

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[Audio/Video/Text]//unlocked

[Sheska's voice comes on in the middle of a sentence, sharp and confused. Whoops. Looks like something's screwy with her new Starkphone.]

--VIS? What's--? No, really, I'm supposed to be here! I-- Ah... What're you doing? What do those attachments do? Really, if you just call--

[She yelps, and from the clatter, it's not hard to extrapolate that she's fallen over. The phone rattles on the floor and the video clicks on just in time to see the mousy-haired young woman struggle to her feet and pound on a pane of rounded glass.]

Let me out! Please, I'm not going to do anything! I'll just leave, I--

[A rush of fluffy white foam sprays down from the ceiling of the small area, cutting her off. The screen is covered with the stuff, but you can hear her coughing and choking. She stumbles and slips, from the sound of it, and when the foam is followed by a deluge of water, the foam dissipates to reveal her huddled against one wall, soaking wet in her skirt suit, trying to shield her face. The water stops and she peeks out through her fingers. She seems to spot the phone, because she grabs for it and the video shuts off before anyone gets a look up her skirt.]

[TEXT//ACCIDENTALLY PRIVATE//JARVIS SECURITY]

C2^ a^(^n# re@# t$i&// Pl#@&e le* M& S*@r% k^^( $ n### h$& h#%&1

[Read: "Can anyone read this?? Please let Mr Stark know I need his help." Looks like not only did the technology haywire somewhat, but all that water wasn't too great for it...]

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[Sheska's lips twitch, and then she starts giggling. Here she is, dripping wet, and Kate asks about water. ...But it shouldn't be quite that funny. Hm. Ah, that might be a touch of hysteria. Well, when she gets to the gasping for breath stage of things, she finally manages to calm down a little, wiping her eyes and rescuing the phone from falling off her knees.]

Ah... Y-yes, I think I'll be ok for water. Unless this isn't water, but... it t-tasted like water earlier.

[Kate didn't want to laugh, but she cracks a smile. At least Sheska is handling this with some grace. Kate's been in similar situations before and hardly handled it as well.]

I was hoping for something a little more... Sanitary, but I guess we'll have to take what we can get.

You know... [She settles back in her chair. It's not like she's going anywhere until Sheska gets out of there, so she might as well try and take her mind off of it.] I got trapped in a walk-in freezer once.

[Grace is probably a strong term, but she seems to mostly be coming out of her shock, so that's a good thing? Her shivers are still spaced out a fair amount, but they're slightly more violent when they sneak up on her, making her teeth chatter a moment before she can get them under control. Makes the video feed shake too.]

A walk-in freezer? Like at a butcher's?

[Kate's concerned about her shock, but she thinks the best thing to do is keep her talking and alert.]

Yeah, but it was empty... Except for me and Castle. I honestly thought that was going to be the end of us.

[Wide-eyed stare.]

What happened? I assume you weren't in there on purpose!

We were chasing down a lead, and we ended up trapped in there. Luckily my team found me before it got too bad.

I really wish I could say it was the closest brush with death I've ever had.

[...And by "got too bad", you mean...? Sheska zones out a little as she visibly thinks through the ramifications of this. She's a little subdued by the idea of her roommate being frozen to death. A look at her screen reassures her that, no, Kate's clearly ok, and has all her fingers, and presumably all her toes, and her nose, so it must not have been quite as close to death as she made it sound... And then that last sentence makes her start a little, and she looks a bit alarmed.]

Ah...

[Kate counts herself lucky for having all her digits intact, actually, and she figured Castle probably did as well. They hadn't been in there long enough for there to be any serious damage; but Kate was well aware of the fact that if her team wasn't as good as they were, no one probably would have found them.

But it's the look on Sheska's face that gives her pause. She bites her bottom lip; now doesn't seem like the most sympathetic time to tell her, but maybe it would help.]

About three months before I ended up here, I was shot. I'm fine, though... Obviously. I was just getting ready to go back to work when I woke up here.

Shot?

[Sheska's voice was quiet - unusual for her when something surprised her - and she couldn't have looked more stunned if someone had hit her with a brick.]

You were shot? I-I suppose... you were a police officer... I mean, you were in dangerous situations all the time, it's something that could have happened at any time, it's probably not that unusual, and you're ok, but you were shot! You could have died! You-you almost did? All that blood... You could have died!

[She's babbling and she's almost crying, but she doesn't seem to notice. It must have triggered something... ]

[Beckett sits there for a moment, absolutely horrified at Sheska's reaction. On second thought, maybe she should have kept her mouth shut. The last thing she had meant to do was make an already stressful situation all the more stressful with her own problems.]

Sheska, calm down. I'm fine, okay? It's not like it's still rattling around in there.

[She figures it's probably a bad time to mention she did die - clinically, anyway - because the whole thing is upsetting enough to her poor roommate as it is.] I'm perfectly okay now. My point is, if I can survive a bullet to the heart there is definitely a way we'll get you out of this situation, okay?

[Sheska hunches in on herself a little, chewing on her thumbnail and trying very hard not to cry. She closes her eyes to take a few deep breaths and steady herself a bit.]

I-I'm sorry... You're all right, yes, of course you are. I just... I guess I'm not very good at controlling my emotions right now.

[She shakes her head, swallowing hard, and takes a moment to swipe at her eyes with the heel of one hand.]

Well, yeah, I don't blame you. Getting trapped freaks me out, too. I'm sorry, I shouldn't even had said anything.

[And talking about her shooting sure didn't do anything for Kate's mood, either. It's the first time she's mentioned it at all practically since she came to New Moore.]

It... It's less that, and more... Well, I mean, I know that I'll get out eventually. Everyone here is so smart, they'll figure out a way to get Mr. JARVIS to calm down and let me out. I'm just... a little high-strung right now, I guess.

[Sheska pauses a moment to bite her lip, and comes to a decision. If Kate can confide in her about something that personal, Sheska should be able to confide in her as well.]

I recently lost a friend. He was murdered, stabbed and shot. He... he left behind a wife and a little daughter, too. I'm sorry... I'm just so frightened of losing another friend.

[Kate's heart goes out to her. They have a lot more in common than Kate thought, considering the different worlds they came from.]

I'm so sorry. I... My mom was a killed, about twelve years ago. She was stabbed to death. Whoever had her killed was the same person who tried to have me killed. And my chief back home, someone I was so close to he was practically family... He died recently too. So believe me, I'm not interested in losing anymore of my friends either. [She gives her a comforting smile.] And I'm definitely not planning on going anywhere myself.

[Sheska offers her roommate a grateful, watery smile, and then finds herself laughing a little.]

We're just the most cheerful people. Look at us. I guess I'd better get comfortable, though... From the sounds of it, I may be stuck in here for a while. ......I honestly have no idea what those sounds are, but I think Mr. Stark may be busy.

Yeah, we're real bundles of joy.

He's probably working on getting you out. And there's no other way out of that room? No, like... vent you can crawl through or anything?

Out of the room? Probably. Out of here... I'm not sure. I don't think this was actually supposed to be a holding cell or anything. Hm. Hold on. All that water had to go somewhere, right?

[Sheska carefully shifts so she's examining the floor - behind her head, there's a somewhat obscured view of two concentric rings of nozzles in a smooth metal ceiling. Sheska puts the phone down so that she can fiddle with something, but nothing shifts.]

It looks like maybe something is supposed to rise out of the floor, but I can't get it to budge, and the drainage holes are part of the floor, so I can't pull it up that way.

[She lifts the phone again, but mostly so she doesn't step on it while she looks up at the ceiling some two or three feet over her head. The screen shows a possibly-nauseating view of an upside-down lab of some sort through thick, curved glass; tables and empty frames and all sorts of arcane tools all over the place. Sheska's murmuring to herself, but eventually brings the phone back up so that she's in view, a little crestfallen.]

I'm not seeing anything that I can pull off anywhere... And I'm not sure I could reach the ceiling even if I did.

[Kate tries to hide her disappointment.]

You know, maybe you should suggest installing some manual escape routes in that place once you get out. Because, let's face it, this probably isn't the last time something like this is gonna happen.

Mr. Stark is very inventive, and very energetic. I wouldn't be surprised if he isn't already coming up with new security measures and escape routes for the whole building.

[She's a bit awed and overwhelmed by the man, really, and it's reflected in her voice.]

But if you like, I can mention it to him as well.

[Kate's not surprised, Super Heroes are kind of a big deal.]

I would like that. You know, just to be on the safe side, even if it's something he already has in mind.

Mm. I'll do that, then. Is everything all right where you are? I mean, I know people are having trouble with their phones and such.

Oh, I'm fine. A text message or two going to the wrong recipient but nothing worse than that, I don't think.

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