victory_road | first video

[The feed's shaky for a second, before it focuses on the man with the spiky yellow hair. That doesn't seem to be a function of him not knowing how video calls work; judging from the fact that he seems to have a whole-ass robot arm, he's probably familiar with technology. It's more likely due to the fact that he looks like he hasn't slept in three days and looks to have the start of a bruise forming on his face in addition to the dark circles under his eyes. There's also a gerbil in his hair. This dude's a fuckin' wreck.]

Hey! Hi, uh, weird...alternate dimension people. [Great, nailed it.] Um. I - I'm Arthur. Soooo I looked through this, uh, video forum thing, and I kinda talked to the mom lady, so I, I kinda got the whole gist of the whole, uh. The kidnapping thing. But, um, is there really no way we can go straight back? None at all?

See, my friend's been missing for like, more than a year at this point, and everybody else pretty much thinks he's dead, so I have to be there. I'm the only person still looking for him. If I'm not around, then no one's gonna find him, and he's just gonna be stuck in wherever he went, unless - shit, is he here? Is there a Lewis Pepper here? I'm pretty sure he got sucked up into some kind of...I-I-I don't know, a magic ghost devil vortex or something, and this is basically like that, right? Lewis, please call me if you've been in gerbil land this whole time.

[God, he actually really kinda hopes that's the case? Not high hopes, but it's possible, he guesses???]

Oh, also I think I kinda just crashed my van into my job, so I'm probably gonna have to clean that up. Honestly, I'm like maybe 60, 70 percent on this being some kinda crazy head trauma hallucination...thing. I just had a freaky nightmare, so that would make sense. Is that a concussion symptom? My other friend Vivi was in the car too, but she's not here now, and wouldn't she be here if we drove through a gerbil land vortex?

[.........]

Anyway, uh. You're not gonna tell me if you're hallucinations, so just - let me know about the first thing, I guess. Thanks.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

So it looks like others have covered the "you're not hallucinating" thing. Anyway, I asked about getting in touch with the places we're from, but so far, I don't think anyone's figured it out. So I'd say the chances of just plain going home are pretty bad.

Uh, sorry about that. And your friend.

Thanks.

But we have to go home at SOME point, don't we???

Yeah, I'm hoping so, but I'm not expecting it to be soon.

[It takes ten years to get back to family by his (indirect) experience... Also Louie's just a rather cynical kid.]

I just feel like if it was easy to figure out a way home, people would be, you know, going home.

It’s probably just some random thing like getting here was, so even if they did they couldn't tell us about it.

You know what? I gotta say, it's really nice to hear that kind of realism and not someone telling me to think of this as a fun adventure or opportunity to learn.

Who would say something like that

[it's literally a kidnapping, bro]

The first part? My mom or my uncle. The second part? That's all my nerdy brother.

My uncle would be PISSED if he were here.

[And he has no other family that he's willing to acknowledge, rip]

I mean, our whole lives are back home. Everything that's important.

Right, and you've been looking for your friend, you said. That Lewis guy?

I have to ask, why are you the only one who's so sure he's still alive?

I mean, they never found a body or anything. No trace of him at all. They all said it was probably a bear or something, but bears don't do that, right?

[He's talked about this with enough people that he doesn't mind broaching the topic with a stranger, especially over text; he expresses himself better that way, usually. He might be editing himself a little if he knew this was a kid, but he doesn't, so whatever!]

Anyway, you don't know Lewis. He's the toughest guy I've ever met. He wouldn't just die. [Especially not when Arthur survived.]

[So far, Arthur has reminded Louie a lot of himself, but this dedication to finding someone lost- It definitely reminds him of his brother Dewey. Sure, even he'd thought their mother was dead. They all had. But Dewey had still been the most determined to find out what had happened, no matter what the cost.

Simply put? This whole conversation thus far has hit home for Louie, in a few different ways.]

Yeah, you're probably right. Tough people like that can survive just about anything, especially if they've got something or someone they want to get back to.

Exactly! And his girlfriend's still here, she's been coming around with me looking for him.

[arthur not included bc what's self-esteem]

I mean, she doesn't know we're doing that. She sort of forgot he ever existed? And every time you mention him to her, her eyes do this weird thing and she spaces out.

So uh, that's gonna be weird.
But it's another reason I think something more happened.

[Like, the doctors said it was trauma, and...sure, he guesses that might track. But it seems weird that she doesn't remember Lewis existing, ever? They've all known each other for years, and it's like someone just went over all of them and photoshopped him out.]

She forgot he ever existed? Sounds like a wish gone wrong, in my experience. Or maybe a curse.

But I definitely think you're right that it's not just some wild animal attack.

Yeah, I can see it being a curse or something.

Unfortunately Vivi's sort of the expert on that stuff. Her, then Lewis, then maybe the dog and then me. I've been trying to research, but
y'know
not that easy to catch up

Wait, the dog? Like a pet dog, right?

Well, I mean, at least you're trying?

I guess.
There's no one else to do it now.

and yeah he's a really smart dog

Well, maybe not. He might be trying to get back to you guys, too, right?

That's true.
But I don't know, it just seems like he really needs help.
Lewis is really tough and smart, if it's been this long and he's not back it must've been something REALLY bad.

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