@junpei | video

[coolerjunpei]

[Good day city-zens, it's User Name Junpei here with another paranoid rant about god only knows what. Just kidding, he's laser focused his paranoia these days, so, ahem:]

Hi, uh, I'm Junpei, if you didn't know. [A brief pause, while he internally laments that he will never get his goddamn codename, but okay. He's made peace with it. He holds up two fingers.] Two things.

[He leans forward and his head and shoulders go out of frame for a moment, while the rustling of papers can be heard somewhere beyond the camera. Should he have gathered his materials beforehand? Yes, for sure, but such is life. Enjoy this view of his t-shirt while he swears and drops something back there...

When he leans back into frame he doesn't hold anything up just yet.]

First, since it looks like people are going missing now, do you guys think we should have... I don't know, a system? To keep track of each other? I don't mean something like the buddy system— [Although he doesn't NOT mean the buddy system, always investigate mysterious liminal cities with a friend!!--] —But... something. Besides running around looking for signs every time. We need to figure out where they're going.

[He's convinced they're still in the city but Taken Somewhere, you see. Where, though... mmm. Workshopping that. He sits there looking grim for a beat, then sighs himself out of it and lifts up one of his papers.

It has beautiful birds drawn on it. Some people may recall his canary symbol idea from Setsuna's meeting, ahem...]

Second is... this. Somebody out there's gotta be better at drawing a bird than me. If you see these hung up anywhere... be careful of whatever's around. [Another beat.] And, uh, if anyone wants to contribute to the cause, I'll pay you in beer and gummies? Normal gummies.

[sorry, he has no edibles. also never mind that one can get beer and gummies without joining his danger birds cause. sign up for art club!!!]

Comments

@keter, audio

[gradenine]

You mean Greg, right?

[ as usual, roland sounds pretty casual about this. better than that panicking over an acquaintance disappearing. boy, verg isn't gonna like this either way... ]

I don't doubt that there's been people other than him that just went up and disappeared since then; I remember talking to some people like, once or twice during the past month only to find out that they just vanished. I talked to Don after hearing the news and apparently you can't even call their phones anymore. Someone ought to look into that.

[coolerjunpei]

[hi bestie...]

Uh, yeah, mostly... Can you remember who else vanished?

I was looking through my phone, [obsessively, to see if any other messages disappeared and desperately trying to remember everyone he's texted, like a normal person would—] and there's at least two more I know of, but I dunno if you knew them. This guy Tyler, and a girl who wanted to give me shit about threadcounts or something—Arashi?

Oh, and a third one, but I never got a name. Just... nothing there but me talking to myself.

@DONQUIXOT3, video

[icanfixer]

[ omfw ]

What extraordinary avians thou hath drawn, Junpei!!!!!! I adore their rounded forms -- they are exquisito!

[ and like

the worst part?

she is soooooo utterly sincere. also, she's lifting her own picture, freshly painted it would look like. ]

Though it is only a quick paint, I do believe thine are far better than mine! Full of character and charm!

[ but hers is soooooo cute too actually she's sooooooo putting this on the fridge oh my wiiiiiiiiing what other part is necessary, none, she's. dealt with her grief in a totally normal and non-dis-associative manner. yup. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[oh good, another bestie who is just fine and normal about everything--]

I told you they were just balls with feet, come on. You don't have to lay it on that thick.

[but please do actually, the sincerity gives him such unearned confidence in his artistic ability... and the art is, as not-originally-intended, a good distraction from the existential dread of pals and comrades just fucking vanishing overnight!!

anyway. she has paints?? he is leaning in to get a good look at this prime bird, let him See.]

What the hell, yours looks like a real bird! [compliment.]

audio; un: loveless

[limbical]

Missing people now. Unfortunate. I don't think we can force people to enact in a system, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to figure something out.

Who is currently missing among us?

[coolerjunpei]

Oh, hey Doc. At least you're still here.

[Let him consult the notes he took in a fugue state while staring at his message backlog, hmhm...]

Uh, Gregor's gone, as far as we know—but Hackerman already told everyone that. From what I've got, a guy named Tyler and a girl named Arashi have been missing for... I don't know how long. I've got a third without a name, and Roland said he remembers some people from a while back, too.

text | un: ouroborosed

[inlovewithmycar]

Wishful thinking, I know, but you think they could have found a way out of here?

Of course, that may not necessarily mean back wherever home is. Could be an 'out of the frying pan' situation.

Also what's the deal with the birds...?

[coolerjunpei]

They, uh—nope, this is awkward.

[He's going to switch to text, bye-bye video. Good thing, too, because that gives him an excuse to collect his thoughts. Was he suuuper close to Gregor, who this post is mostly about? Not really! But they legitimately talked about being sentimental losers who get attached too easily, so--]

did you know gregor? he wouldn't have left his people behind. i didn't really know the other ones well, so i dunno about them.

the birds are for danger. you know, like canaries in coal mines.

un: NAILS

[nichocolatine]

youre gonna have to fill me in on the birds thing my guy

[ also? this, after giving badou shit about his own drawing?? oh he will not forget this. ]

[coolerjunpei]

[hey, he is not claiming any eyebrows on these birds!!]

huh, really? maybe the drawing is too shitty... people got it when i brought it up at the meeting. you've never heard of canaries in coal mines? miners took them down there because the birds would die first if there was poison gas. like a warning system.

so. see the bird, know there's something screwy going on. at least, that's the idea.

Video, UN Loki

[abit_ofboth]

[Loki is sitting on a bench in the gardens, admiring the view but missing the sounds of birds and other wildlife when he decides to answer the message sent out. He hasn’t yet experienced anyone he knows going missing. Or at least he didn’t think so. He admits he hasn’t seen a few people since he first arrived, but he hasn’t really been keeping track of most people either.]

I suppose you mean some sort of roll call? We would need a roll to call first, of course. I suppose it is a bit of a shame that this was not something thought of right away. As such, we can only start with who is here now, which would not include those who have gone missing, as you say. But, better late than never.

As for your second question, I am no artist, but I am curious, do you often use beer as payment? And what exactly are normal gummies?

[coolerjunpei]

[Okay, let him tackle these in order of priority:]

Normal gummies don't get you high. And if I could pass out twenties I would, but there's no money in this place, so beer it is. If some kid shows up I'll get them apple juice, I guess.

As for the other thing, yeah, like a roll call! None of us were thinking people would go missing when we first got here... [he shrugs; it's true, even he didn't have "friend goes missing and all his stuff disappears" on his kidnapping bingo card.] Kind of screwed that one up.

video; un: louis

[deathoftheauthor]

( He's not going to comment on the quality of the drawings, but... )

What exactly are these birds mean to warn us about?

[coolerjunpei]

Uh... danger. [A beat, while Junpei frowns at his own bird doodles again. Look, he's an idea guy, not an execution guy. This is the all call for real artists for a reason.] Like the bank. You know how it locks you in?

[He puts the paper... down, a little awkwardly.]

We're working on a system.

@weltyang

[indwelt]

[ did someone say art club— ]

I used to be an animator in the past. If you need help with any drawings, I can offer my assistance.

[ as for the other bit..... ]

I don't think having some sort of buddy system would be a bad idea, either, though it could pose a problem if both people in the pair go missing. Unless you were intending to set up something more akin to a chain rather than strict pairs.

[coolerjunpei]

An animator, like... you made anime?

[That's on the same level of cool as the guys who literally pilot mobile suits around, wowza—but he's normal, he's not going to be a dweeb. Yet.]

And uh, a chain would probably cover more people, right? Having a couple people to keep track of per person is easier than one person keeping track of all of us, too.

@willthewise | text

[willtheunwise]

[ One Canary ]

Yours is probably easier for transferring to places honestly but you asked for artists.

Also I think I remember which box Gregor put his item back into so if we can find the key maybe we can see if that reset too?
He was putting it back when I took mine out and he was really good about it so if I can help find out what happened I’d like to.

[coolerjunpei]

whoa what the hell, you're like an *artist* artist. that's really good!

[He's over here drawing balls with feet and Don is drawing weird monsters, they need all the real talent they can get--]

you saw him at the bank though, that first day it opened? i dunno about the key... can you pick a lock?

@moment | audio

[elswhisperer]

There may be a pattern here. Do the missing people share any obvious commonalities?

[coolerjunpei]

Not as far as I can tell, no. There are a few whose names we can't remember, anyway, so I don't think we're going to be able to spreadsheet this one.

text ↪ un: savagestarlight

[pundemic]

first: or maybe you could just mind your own fucking business. maybe some people don't want to be found, ever think of that?

（ tiny angry teen is hurt and lashing out. it's a whole thing. ）

second: why would literally anyone agree to work for shit they can get themselves for free from the city???

[coolerjunpei]

yeah, we're not talking about that kind of missing. sorry, this is a double-kidnapped only kind of effort.

you can just say no to drawing the birds, i don't need that much help.

voice. @kaveh

[fussiest]

[ oh no dear lord. kaveh looks, with some measure of horror, at the masterpieces on display. a part of his heart sinks to the bottom of his shoes. ]

Those birds are... [ wait, quick, before your mouth gets you into trouble! kaveh, say something nice!!! ] Well, they... they certainly have shape.

[ #nailed it.

... anyway, he's rushing ahead: ] The idea is an excellent one, however. I think we ought to have warnings of some kind up, and a list of individuals too. I've tested leaving a few of my drafts here and there in the city to see if the writing gets erased, or if details are changed from what I remember, but they seem to remain intact. Of course, if both the changes are happening in reality and in my memory, that would invalidate my tests - but, well, by then we'd have bigger issues, do we not?

[coolerjunpei]

That's what they tell me. [The tennis ball bird is the most popular, but surely there are some deflated bean bird fans out there too...! Anyway, he knows an artiste he is not, so it's fine. Judge his birds. It is fine.

Moving on.]

Slow down though, one thing at a time. Don't get me wrong, I definitely want to hear about the memory theory, but drafts? Of what? You've been hanging stuff up out there?

[Mission: Danger Birds is possible??]

un: poison_wing | audio

[wingclip]

[Hi Junpei, hi. She's definitely been keeping tabs on the progress here but, you know— recent events, mysterious items belonging to dead relatives...]

Hello, Junpei. My name is Shinobu.

[Now that's out of the way—]

Could you tell me more about this 'buddy system'?

[She knows he literally said maybe not that but it really did stick out to her!]

[coolerjunpei]

Oh—you're the other doctor. Hey.

[Daan seems to think she's alright, and Junpei thinks Daan is alright, so: starting off positive. He'll even talk about the totally off topic buddy system...]

And it's your pretty basic, everyday buddy system for beginners... Try not to go anywhere alone if we don't know it's normal, or at least tell somebody where you're going just in case. Look out for each other and other essentials. If you upgrade to Buddy System Plus you get more Buddy Points—BP—for increased buddy capacity.

[This is a bit, but like, also not a bit? He's just like this.]

@anonymous | rolls in here late as fuck

[wrenchedup]

so. casually late to the party. has the idea of tracking people who go missing just to keep a running list of shit been brought up?

nice bird btw (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

[coolerjunpei]

like a list of missing persons? not exactly, but that's a good idea. i sure hope someone will generously offer space in their hackerman files collection for something like this...

thanks, it's both a hit and a miss.