01 | 🕐 | audio

[mirrortouch]

[ It's not something that really ever becomes routine, it doesn't matter how often he wakes up someplace strange and uncharted. The voice on the line sounds about as scattered as he feels. ]

My name is Will Graham, it's- [ He's pulling back his sleeve to look for a watch that's not there. ] I don't have the time. I don't- I don't have the time.

[ Hang on, don't get too lost. ]

It's not clear to me exactly where I am, but- [ a dry laugh ] you probably already knew that. This isn't even my phone. But you probably knew that too.

[ He's missing details. He's missing plenty. His voice trails off for a short while before he can get his bearings enough to speak again, and even then it's almost unconsciously. ] I don't know. I don't know.

[ It's as if the fact that he has no idea sparks him back into the present. His voice grows more composed, if somewhat cracked. ] So if you're hearing this, if anyone is hearing this - [ is anyone hearing this? ] - any singular indication will be key.

[ Another beat. ]

I feel as though I've strayed a long, long way from home.

[ The air goes dead, and then so does the line. ]

Comments

[mirrortouch]

It's purely cultural shock, what it boils down to.

[ Or at least that's what affecting him the most here, the most that he's come to be able to handle and comprehend. Some of these people may have come from very different, much - stranger worlds than he has, but he's from a relatively normal Earth. He's - ]

Acclimation isn't my problem [ yes it is ] insomuch as - [ Oh, what else is there to say. ] I'm just a guy. I'm just a guy from Wolf Trap, Virginia and I didn't ask for any of this.

[ Certainly didn't ask for being dead. ]

But I suppose that's a common trend as well as the potential rebellion.

[advocacy]

[Daneca laughs a little before nodding.]

Yeah. It's actually pretty common even with the wardens, to be honest. That's usually the whole reason they're on the ship anyway.

[mirrortouch]

Because they're dead and there's nothing better to do?

[ Bluntly. ]

Is that why you're here?

[advocacy]

[She shakes her head.]

No. I mean, there's something I need to fix. [No, need isn't the right word. She corrects herself promptly,] Something that I want to fix. It's long, complicated, and honestly not that interesting.

[Daneca also doesn't fully disclose these things to people.]

But the point is that wardens want to change something. Inmates, from the Admiral's point of view, need to change something. In both cases, they're usually pretty impossible things at the outset.

We're all about making the impossible improbable, I guess.