SWITCHBOARD

[transmittable]

If you'd like to ask the Transmitter something over the phone, go right ahead! The Transmitter will answer the phone as soon as she's available. Leaving messages is impossible, given how old these phones are, but you should be able to reach her at almost all hours.

Comments are screened for privacy; all Patients are offered confidentiality, didn't you know?

Comments

Early Monday

[heritrix]

[Well she woke up and is still here. So much for hoping it was a hallucination. Rolling over, After laying in bed for 20 minutes, left arm tucked to her side and staring at the back of her right hand where her Command Seals should be (but aren't), Rin pushes upright with a sigh. Glances across the room to that phone.

She put off the conversation by telling herself others would have their questions too and she'd get angry if she were put on hold, but the truth is she'd hoped still this scenario was lie. That's clearly not the case, and it would be reckless to postpone her question any longer.

So climbing out of bed, Rin reaches for the phone in her room. It feels strange not to dial any numbers, so she spins the fingerwheel once, idly, and listens to the static on the other end of the receiver.]

...Transmitter. Are you there?

[transmittable]

[ The response is almost instantaneous. Feedback and distortion color the voice, but it's a little clearer than it was over the PA system. ]

Yep. Right here, Courageous.

[heritrix]

[It's impressively quick. Rin wonders if this isn't the same person they spoke to last night. There were several figures referenced, a collective. Maybe they switch out to let their members sleep?]

Do you still maintain we "patients" be kept healthy for the duration of this course? If that's true, there's something I'll be needing from you.

[transmittable]

I do. What is it that you need?

[heritrix]

[It galls her to have to ask for this. Among mages, particularly those like her who carry Magic Crests, the understanding would be unspoken, but she feels like she's betraying something by bringing it up to an outsider. And more than that, making them aware of an exploitable weakness.]

There's a specific medicine I take daily to manage pain. [She omits what kind for the moment, curious as to what the response will be. How much do they know?] I require regular access to it if I'm meant to continue. No other painkiller will work in place of it, either.

[transmittable]

[ ... ]

Is there a name for this medicine? Just saying "a medicine" doesn't really narrow it down.

[heritrix]

Not really. It was kept within my family, so there was never a need for one. But I can tell you every ingredient, and if you provide them for me I can make it myself. ...And if that's disagreeable, I suppose I can tell you how to do so.

[She sounds less keen on the latter, though. If she doesn't have a choice, she doesn't have a choice, but she feels more comfortable making it herself. It's going into her body, after all.]

[transmittable]

...Yes, we think we can. We...think that's agreeable. We will provide you with the ingredients, and you can create the medicine.

[heritrix]

[Rin breathes a sigh in relief, and pulls the phone's candlestick closer to herself.]

I feel strange saying this to my captor, but thank you.

[And she'll begin to list both what ingredients she'll need, and what quantities. As she goes on, its starting to sound more like a witch's potion than traditional medicine. There's a few plants with medicinal properties that seem legit, but there's a few weird ones. Though thankfully no eye of newt or snake tails. The two key ingredients (and the only ones mentioned in canon) appear to be a rare Chinese herb that she gives them the name of, and crushed bone.

What kind of bone? Rin knows but I don't, let's just hope it's not human. But she needs a small jar of it.]

[transmittable]

[ Throughout Rin's explanation, the feedback on the other end of the line fluctuates, most intense as the...stranger of the ingredients are listed off. Bone? Alright, fine. Sure, why not. At the end of this list, the Transmitter is silent for a few moments. ]

Wow. Yeah, yeah we can get those for you. It will take a day or so? But expect them on Wednesday.

[heritrix]

[She nods, before remembering they obviously can't see it. ...Or actually, they probably can.]

Alright. [She responds without missing a beat. This was a complex request, so to her that seems reasonable.] It's not ideal, but I can manage until then.

[She'll just have to take it easy and try not to get riled up. No intense exercise either. She can do that.]

[transmittable]

Good. Was there anything else you want to ask us...?

[heritrix]

[Yeah, the missing part of her Magic Crest.

Mouth pressed in a line, Rin touches her left forearm and if quiet for the space of two seconds. They said yesterday they weren't responsible for Nachetanya's arm, or Pizzazz's healed injuries, but she doubted it. Rin had hoped to get a clue proving that by leaving out the reason why she needed the medicine — if they took it, surely they'd know of her Crest's existence?

But if they don't, then she shouldn't tell them. She's gotten this far without the subject coming up, and the less they know about the details the better.]

No, that's all. Goodbye for now. I'll look forward to hearing from you.