[ It's the twelfth of October. Most of the injured and back on the base, recovering as best they can. Maya's since been discharged, but his body has always been a hot mess that refuses to heal right. He's not as spaced out as before, actually recognizing Where He Is now, but still out of it enough to mean everyone's on his case about resting. So, like anyone else, trapped in a hospital at 3 am, starting to go stir crazy, you... well. Try and find things to do. Realize there's nothing. Then you start running over the things you should have been doing, such as listening to the pile of new messages you have, but couldn't listen to in front of Maya or Lion or Mia. Better to use 'I'm trying to stay low-stress' as a shield.
The thing is, none of the messages were new. He heard them all already, from far away, stuck in a waking hell before everything blanked out. They're all replayed on the lowest volume imaginable, but the despair is as loud as the first time. A prayer to someone yet no one. 'I hope you can't hear any of this.' 'This was a mistake.' Maybe it would be best to ignore it. He vaguely remembers Lion running off. It would be so easy to delete the messages, assume it was handled, and leave Alex's weakness to his privacy.
But at the same time, it's not right. In the wake of everyone suffering from that thrice-damned mission and trying to keep it to themselves, the only thing that it brings back is that same old anger at the same old problems. Now, more than ever, it's crystalline. Transparent. Even if the words are pointless-
No. They're not. ]
Sorry it's late. [ wait wait shit- ] The response, not the time. I hope your birthday was...
[ Wait. Wait no that's even worse hang up before it sends ]
voice for 90% of this, forward-dated to the 12th
The thing is, none of the messages were new. He heard them all already, from far away, stuck in a waking hell before everything blanked out. They're all replayed on the lowest volume imaginable, but the despair is as loud as the first time. A prayer to someone yet no one. 'I hope you can't hear any of this.' 'This was a mistake.' Maybe it would be best to ignore it. He vaguely remembers Lion running off. It would be so easy to delete the messages, assume it was handled, and leave Alex's weakness to his privacy.
But at the same time, it's not right. In the wake of everyone suffering from that thrice-damned mission and trying to keep it to themselves, the only thing that it brings back is that same old anger at the same old problems. Now, more than ever, it's crystalline. Transparent. Even if the words are pointless-
No. They're not. ]
Sorry it's late. [ wait wait shit- ] The response, not the time. I hope your birthday was...
[ Wait. Wait no that's even worse hang up before it sends ]