walled up your kingdom with radio wires

[singmod]

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING

WHERE: Everywhere.
WHEN: November 26th
CONTENT WARNINGS: N/A.

I WAS TURNING UP THE DIALS

On November 26th, the world is calm. It is the last sunset of the year. The sun rises a little after one in the afternoon and does not even last a full hour before it sets once more — slipping below the horizon, outlined by sundogs. It is a beautiful sight: the golden hues extinguishing, and a sharp reminder of the long night to come. There will be no more sunrises until mid-January now, only the scant hours of twilight's gloom and then the endless black.

The peaceful twilight grows dim, and a little after five in the evening — you hear it before you see it. The crackles and snaps of electricity in the air, and the faint almost melodic sounds that echo across the world. The aurora is coming.

Before the skies light up with bright greens, reds, purples and pinks — the decaying, forgotten technologies of the world shudder into life. They splutter and jitter; lights flicker and televisions long-lost of any frequencies burst into static and white noise. But as much as the Aurora is a reminder of the broken husks of technology, it is also a reminder of new power. Interlopers with Aurora Call are able to reach out far across the Northern Territories; those with Old Bear's Blessing can find the adrenaline rush in ancient furies; those with Moon Touched can be lost in beast-like savagery.

And Marra's radios are more alive than ever — their range extended. The old and new with their own place in this strange new world.

There is a message, tonight:

QRA. IDENTIFY.

Comments

[meadqueen]

[Randvi actually knows this, thanks to the library! This is different from the other messages they've received on these radios. Her heart races as she responds.]

INTERLOPER. QRZ.

[singmod]

BEAROAK. CALL SIGN UNRECOGNISED. QTH.

[meadqueen]

SILVERPOINT. QRB.

[singmod]

CLASSIFIED.

[ There is a long delay in further transmissions. ]

NORTH. ASSISTANCE REQUIRED. QUA MAINLAND.

[meadqueen]

NO NEWS. NATURE OF ASSISTANCE.

[singmod]

FUBAR. COLLEAGUES DECEASED.

QUC MAINLAND.

[meadqueen]

NO CONTACT SINCE DISASTER. EXPLAIN WINTERMUTE.

[singmod]

CANNOT COMPLY. CLASSIFIED.

I DO NOT RECOGNISE YOUR CALLSIGN. WHAT IS YOUR AFFILIATION.

[meadqueen]

EXPLAIN AURORA INSTABILITY.

[singmod]

[ There is another lengthy delay. ]

I AM SORRY.

INTERLOPER. WHAT IS YOUR AFFILIATION.

[meadqueen]

NONE RELEVANT. ARRIVED WITH AURORA TWO YEARS.

[singmod]

PLEASE REPEAT YOUR CALL.

CLARIFY INTERLOPER.

[meadqueen]

FOREIGNER. ARRIVED WITH AURORA. THREATENED BY CREATURE. AFFILIATION RAVEN CLAN YEAR EIGHT SEVEN FOUR.

[singmod]

R. AS.

[ Another delay before the message comes: ]

CONFIRM: TRAVELLER FROM ANOTHER WORLD.

[meadqueen]

ORIGIN CFD. DENY DESIGNATION TRAVELLER. STOLEN UNABLE TO RETURN. EXPLAIN AURORA INSTABILITY.

returns one month later with frozen starbucks...

[singmod]

[ The silence is long enough that one might thing they have gone. Or that that confirmation of message received may be sent out. Until there is: ]

YOU.

EPOCH EVENT. UNSURE OF SCALE. POSSIBLE GLOBAL APOCALYPSE.

[meadqueen]

THIS IS THE ENDING OF ALL THINGS.

[It's come up again and again. If Bearoak is on this island they must feel it.]

WHY WERE WE BROUGHT HERE. CREATURE FURIOUS AT OUR PRESENCE. MANY DEATHS.

IF WE HELP YOU CAN YOU HELP US.

[tedandroses]

[Teddy has been dreaming Morse Code. Maybe literally: after a long day of trying to both help with things around town and spending as much time outside as she can, soaking up the last of the sunset, she blinks awake with her head on her arms on a table in the community hall near the radio Randvi retrieved from Marra.

Teddy’s frequently found there, especially not on Aurora nights: they and Randvi practice their telegraph operating with sometimes silly, sometimes useful little conversations. There are decent enough number of others with a radio that it can be useful to check in. And…it’s a step toward finding out more — without much to go on — about the signal on repeat, or the bunkers for that matter.

Memorizing common phrases by ear is easier and works into Teddy’s subconscious better than precisely listening for each letter or writing them down. They become familiar rhythms, little musical phrases, and they do sometimes weave into his sleep.

So it takes Teddy a moment to realize it’s not a dream, and to process that she understood it. She grabs at the radio, heart hammering; pauses, a little, indecisive. She doesn’t know anything about the operator, and technically, this radio isn’t hers alone to keep an eye on at all times.

They key back, tentatively:]

R. DE MILTON OP-
[that gets a pause; they never made up a call sign and TR already means transmit. Next to them, Scout snores gently; Teddy smirks.]
OP CUBSCOUT. QRZ?