taxonomites | [ Visual | The aftermath isn't where you want to stand ]

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[ Visual | The aftermath isn't where you want to stand ]

Jenny pops up on the tablet, haggard, exhausted, and in need of a long bath. She opens her mouth to speak, then closes it to clear her throat before trying again.

"Morning, Taxon. It looks like the worst of it is over. Most of the zombies are dead, but there are a few stragglers, so keep your guard up. The hatches still don't work, or the electricity, and we've got bodies piled up in the streets, scattered fires, the works." She takes a deep breath. "There have been some casualties. Other than the Extras, I mean. We should...probably compile some sort of list, I think."

She looks like she might say more, but she stops. This would all be normal behavior coming from a normal person, but this is Jenny, she of eternal optimism, she who takes joy in vanquishing evil. Something is plainly wrong, despite the fairly good news.

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The power's still off, and Tara's stayed put, just to be safe, so there are a lot of candles lit in the background.

"Jenny? Are you okay?" It had been quite some time since they'd spoken, but Jenny sounded a bit shaken.

"Hey, Tara." She manages a smile. "I'm fine. I'm just-- It's just-- Yesterday was...bad. But I'm alright. Are you alright?"

She nods. "I'm okay. I got trapped for a bit, but I kept them out alright." She'd seen, though, on the tablets, some of the death and mayhem she'd missed. "Is there anything you need help with?"

She takes a deep breath and lets it out again. "Good. I just really need people to work together and not start arguing and descend into further chaos," she says wryly. "I'm pretty sure I can count on you for that, yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll certainly try." She smiles a little, trying to be reassuring as she can. "I think everyone's just scared - hopefully things will get a bit better now that it's calming down."

Jenny nods, doing her best to regain some positivity in this whole mess.

"Thanks, Tara. I think you're right. Be safe, yeah?"

"You too - let me know if you need anything?" There wasn't much left to be done, she suspects, but the offer still stands.

Jenny, let someone else worry about that. [Martha wasn't quite desensitized when it came to death - she knew that she'd lose a large and important part of herself if that happened - but doctors had to be able to distance themselves. It was the only way for them to carry on.] You look exhausted. You need to rest.

Jenny nods, a little reluctantly.

"I could probably stand a solid five hours." Her usual is three. Jenny doesn't understand why humans have to sleep so much any more than her father does. "But I don't want to sleep. Not yet. I, um. I have to--"

And all of a sudden she looks like she's going to cry.

[She didn't need to ask if Jenny was all right. The answer was all too obvious.]

What happened?

Jenny bites her lip, silent for a few moments as she gathers herself.

"Paul's gone. I got there too late, he was already one of them. I-I had to shoot him. I know he was already dead, but..." But that doesn't really make her feel any better about it.

[As Jenny explained the situation, Martha's eyes widened in horror and disbelief. Poor Jenny. No one should have to go through that.]

You did the right thing. I know it doesn't feel like, but you did.

He wasn't Paul any more. He was just a monster wearing his face. You stopped him from hurting anyone else.

[If only it really was as simple as that.]

Jenny takes a breath and nods. She already knew all that, but it helps, hearing it from Martha. It doesn't really make it better, but it helps.

"I know. I know I did, but it didn't make it any easier."

I didn't think it would.

[She paused. She didn't want to apologise. An apology wouldn't help.]

Do you need anything?

Brennan listens to Jenny's broadcast with a furrowed brow. Though she's glad to hear the worst threat is over, they are not out of the woods yet. There are other, more insidious dangers to be considered soon.

"The bodies," she begins grimly, pausing to heave a quiet sigh at the thought of these other casualties that weren't Extras, "They should be burned as soon as possible. The Extras, I mean. The risk of epidemic diseases becomes more likely the longer they are left unattended on the streets. That's the last thing we need, now, on top of everything."

It's easier said than done, the scientist knows. There's just such a sheer number of dead Extras littering the city streets. But somehow, it needs to be done.

"I know. Even the ones who aren't Extras," she adds softly, regretfully. "But moving them far is a problem, even piling them up properly is risky. And then there's the risk of structural fires..."

Glitch looks...not much better than Jenny, another optimist lost in the crushing wilderness of a reality he can't handle.

"A list," he repeats with a tiny nod. "We...one of my friends, f-from home, Cain, he's--"

He'd buried him and he still can't say it.

Jenny winces. "I'm sorry, Glitch. I... Paul's gone too."

I had to shoot him, she adds silently.

Good job, Jenny, you've just destroyed a bit more of Glitch's soul with that news.

"Paul's gone too," he repeated, then willfully folded that knowledge up and buried it somewhere in the emptyness of his mind. "Right. I-I'm sorry."

He looked away for a moment, lost and distracted, then sighed and glanced back. "So...what do we do now?"

Jenny doesn't respond for a long minute.

"We clean up. We keep going," she finally says, softly.

"Right," Glitch says with a tiny nod. "'Til they drop the next thing on us."

The bodies, the ruins, the despair, it was all somehow familiar. Not just an echo from the war in the O.Z., something a little more recent.

"I I wonder is this is what happened to the other city."

Casualties?

[ stefan's not surprised, there's always casualties, but he feigns it for the sake of maintaining that seventeen-year-old kid cover. spoiled rich kid from virginia, never touched by any of this and so on. ]

I'm not sure how many yet.

I wasn't aware that anyone was killed during that...

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[ Visual | The aftermath isn't where you want to stand ]

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