apocalypsehowcomm | network

Entry tags:

network | video

Who: Caitlyn Kiramman
Username: piltoversfinest
Warnings: discussion of the Public Eye event, involving potential body dysmorphia and loss of control

[Caitlyn speaks quickly and eagerly as she shows off a large map of Gloucester pinned to her bedroom wall with variously colored thumbtacks. Pinned around it are all sorts of papers, covered in borderline-illegible scribblings in red and black ink, and polaroid photos, some of which have been drawn on. The whole thing is criss-crossed in red yarn.

As the camera pans around, you can see that her bed is immaculately made but the floor is a mess of papers, books, and notepads. Some of the mess has probably started spilling out into the hallway. Sorry, Donna and Callisto.]

I've been trying to document all of the supernatural goings-on in Gloucester. At least the ones I'm aware of. I've noted approximate locations, dates and times, and which Entities could be implicated by each. The more information I collect, the likelier it is I'll be able to deduce a pattern.

[She points to a red thumbtack pinned near two blue thumbtacks.]

At the moment, I'm particularly interested in the phenomenon that's resulted in certain people being trapped in various cameras around town. Here I've noted the camera I found myself looking through when it happened to me, and [She taps the two blue thumbtacks.] where I was each time it occurred.

If I can compile enough data, it may be possible to ascertain a source. Or perhaps what, if anything, has been triggering certain people to become stuck in the cameras. I would certainly appreciate any information any of you could share.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Caitlyn hasn't any clue what a 'regular Poirot' is, and for half a moment, she worries Donna's making fun of her. But she quickly moves past that. At this point, she feels she knows Donna well enough to know that she wouldn't mock her work.

"Yes! Please do! Red is for the camera locations, if you know them. Blue is for where you were."

She smiles enthusiastically, holding out the box of thumbtacks.

She takes the tacks and starts filling in the board. "I know where I was better than I know where all the cameras are, unfortunately. But..." Four blue thumbtacks go up along with two red ones. "Were you tracking where we spotted suspicious things, too? Because my mate Garner and I found some horrible little Flesh plants from when he was trapped in one of the cameras."

"Yes, of course! More information is always better than less. You can use green for those."

She's almost afraid to ask. "Are flesh plants... Are they what they sound like?"

"Yeah, they're like... like these lit'l lamb things. Just a second. Got a photo." She places her pins and pulls out her phone to show the patch of vegetable lambs she and Garner had found in the alleyway. "They baa and it's just... Ooo, I dun' like it. It's like you want to touch them, but the minute you do, they'll start eating you."

Caitlyn stares at the photo in both curiosity and horror. The things are almost... cute, on an odd sort of way.

"Hang on." She rushes to grab her polaroid camera. "May I take a photograph of... the photograph? I prefer having a physical copy." All the polaroids pinned to the wall are a testament to that.

"Oh? Sure." She's cute with wanting polaroids. Seems nostalgic, really. "I'm not sure what other photos I've got. Let me see... Took some pics in Wolf Pen while we were there. Mostly of weird trees? There were a lot of weird trees out there. Oh, I've got one of some teeth from Dogtown. That's just gross, though."

Caitlyn eagerly takes a polaroid of every picture Donna offers, including every weird tree and the teeth. And onto the map they're pinned, each in the spot that they were found - the Wolf Pen ones off to the side.

It's not until they've mostly developed that Caitlyn notices they're fuzzy and frowns. Well, Donna's hand and the phone itself are perfectly crisp in each photograph, but the screen - the part that Caitlyn actually cares about - is fuzzy. With no understanding of how phone screens work or the technical reasons why taking photographs of screens is tricky, she can't figure out what the problem is.

"Is there something wrong with the film?" she mutters. It's the same film she's been using for everything else. And it's expensive, too - especially frustrating given that she's never had to think about money before. An embarassing percentage of her salary goes towards polaroid film.

"Hmm? Oh, that's probably just glare and... all that. Not the best with cameras. The one you're using there's pretty old-fashioned. Did you just like the look of it, or is it something you came in with?" She doesn't remember seeing it before, but Caitlyn could have just been keeping it close.

"No, I bought it. Here. With my salary." She turns it over a couple times awkwardly, half-expecting Donna to tell her it was a waste of money.

"At home, we haven't got anything like that." She gestures to the phone. "I like having the photographs, not just the images of the photographs."

She's retro, and it's adorable, in its own way. "Yeah? Used to love those sorts of cameras when I was a kid, too. Never had one, but Jenna Foxx down the street did, got it for her birthday one year. I was always so jealous, but Mum said they were a waste. Do whatever works best for the process. Love a good red string board. Mind, you look a little bit like a nutter, after a while."

"My mother would have had a similarly low opinion, if we had the option of phones." Her mother wouldn't have said it was a waste of money, because the Kiramman family has enough money that the purchase of an entire camera factory would cost a mere fraction of a percent of their fortune. But she would have said it was yet another silly accessory of Caitlyn's unbecoming career choice.

She's well aware that the red string board makes her look a bit of 'a nutter,' as Donna puts it. The only person who never said as much to her face was... Vi. She's been in this world longer than she knew Vi and still, she misses her fiercely. "It does, I suppose. But it'll help me figure it all out. And that's the important thing, isn't it."

"Sure, sure. Had a sort of one when I was trying to track down my friend. And ran down way too many conspiracy board rabbit holes while I was doing that. Even started to think they might actually have a point about Elvis not being dead at one point." The girl... is not going to know who that is. "Famous singer. Died young. People had all sorts of theories about him just vanishing. My guess is alien, personally. It's almost always aliens."

Or something alien-adjacent.

"So, has you board found anything yet, so far? Looks like you've got a good few number of pins up there."

Caitlyn blinks in confusion at the reference to Elvis, until Donna explains it. And if aliens are real in Donna's world, well, who is Caitlyn to say that they didn't abduct a singer?

She turns eagerly back to her board the second Donna brings it up. "I haven't found anything definitive yet, but if you look at these pins..." She points. "They seem to be forming, or starting to form, a line." It isn't a perfect line, it's a little curved, and it's not enough points to rule out a coincidence in their placement, but it's something.

"If I could just collect a few more points of data, I'd know more." She frowns in concentration, as though she could will data into existence simply by staring hard enough at the map.

"I'm sure you'll get there. No shortage of odd things happening here. I'll let you know if I find out anything from anyone who isn't on the network as much. Who's checked in on the network so far? That Aelwyn girl's a bit of a-" Donna breaks off. "Difficult person, but she's got good intel most of the time. Or Yelena? Yelena's nice." So much nicer than Aelwyn.

Caitlyn glances away from the map to Donna, catching the way she cuts herself off. She has rather mixed feelings about Aelwyn - there's something about the other girl that reminds Caitlyn far too much of herself, and something about her that rubs Caitlyn in all the wrong ways. "So far, I've only heard from Aelwyn and Garner Cinderbrook. But I intend to track down as many people as I can."

She takes a step back, her eyes returning to the map, trying to discern what shape the pins are starting to form. But a slightly curved line is nearly meaningless on its own.

"Anything you hear from anyone else would be of help. Anything at all."

"I'll keep my ear to the ground." She offers the young woman an encouraging smile. "Jaeger's another one to reach out to. And... Ugh. I hate suggesting him 'cause he's a prick, but Jon Sims? He certainly acts like he knows more than other people around here."

"Thanks." She offers Donna a smile before scribbling down the names Jaeger and Jon Sims. "I'll have to get in touch with them. Even if one of them is a prick," she adds ruefully.

"Yeah, good luck with him. He's apparently got a nice boyfriend, so there's something there." She shrugs. "Gonna put the kettle on if you want anything to drink."

"I could do with a tea." She says it absently, her focus almost entirely back on the map. But she'll never say no to a tea.

Of course, it's an open question whether she'll remember the kettle's on in a few minutes when it comes time to actually pour herself some tea. It's easy for her to become so engrossed in her work that she forgets things like that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

network | video

no subject

no subject

no subject

cw: body horror, uncanny valley in the link

no subject

cw: mention of teeth

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

think we can fade out with Caitlyn's response!

sounds good!