first puzzle | voice

[recinerate]

[beyond was dead, and now he's not.

it's a perplexing position for anyone to find themselves in, of course, but even more so when there's something fundamental about that person that's gone missing - something that should be there, but isn't. beyond has found he is missing such a thing, and has decided to take advantage of the technology of this new place in order to work out his thoughts regarding this dilemma.]

"In the social jungle of human existence, there is no feeling of being alive without a sense of identity."

[his voice is quiet, raspy, almost unnaturally even in tone. he pauses, then picks up with one of many questions currently on his mind, addressing anyone within earshot.]

What shapes your sense of identity?

Comments

[visetvires]

[He's new. She would remember that voice. In flat tones, neither curious nor distracted:]

Are you collecting data?

[characterdefect]

Family.

[Roderick tends to take these questions with good humor, even on those occasions when he's just been through a 2Fast2Furious wringer, like right now.]

[Also: his secondary answer is killing people, but that's neither here nor there.]

You're quoting someone, aren't you?

[recinerate]

[yes.]

I'm attempting to initiate a conversation.

[voice]

[routemistress]

[Iris is in her cabin with her dogs, rather unwilling for once to be social, but the unfamiliar voice and his question catch her attention and she thumbs her communicator.]

I do. Nowt else. Welcome aboard, lovey.

[recinerate]

Erik Erikson. [no further explanation, because of course you know who that is, right?]

What is it about family that shapes your identity? [he wouldn't really know, being an orphan.]

[visetvires]

I don't believe you.

[characterdefect]

[He vaguely remembers this name from a psychology course in college, but. Not super up on all this, no. He's not going to question it, though.]

They give me something to protect.

[voice]

[recinerate]

What specifically about you? [he ignores the welcome because frankly, he can be rude like that.]

[recinerate]

I suppose that's your prerogative.

[recinerate]

From what do they need protecting?

[voice]

[routemistress]

My will. My choices. My fancies.

What about yours, chuck?

[characterdefect]

The world.

[tucky]

I don't know yet. Still figuring that out.

[voice]

[recinerate]

My name isn't Chuck. [he's familiar enough with the term, just choosing to misinterpret. beyond spent most of his life in england - winchester, to be exact. years of practice in being invisible means he's worked hard to keep from taking on the accent from his original californian, but a keen ear may be able to hear just a trace around the edges.]

[recinerate]

You don't have an identity?

[recinerate]

That's an awfully pessimistic outlook. [but not untrue.]

[tucky]

I mean... I got one. Everyone does, right? I just don't know everything about it yet.

[voice]

[routemistress]

But your middle name's still evasive, eh?

[She says it laughing, and doesn't press the point.]

Iris Wildthyme, transtemporal adventuress, former Miss Scunthorpe, intergalactic darts champion, warden. What shall I call you, then, lovey?

[recinerate]

You don't have to know everything all at once. Start with one thing - how would you describe yourself to someone who has never met you?

Voice

[chillestrogue]

Passion for my work.

[voice]

[recinerate]

[beyond's eyes narrow at the word warden. he's spent the past year and a half in prison; he knows exactly what a warden is, and the implications the title holds. he briefly considers giving her a false name, but decides it's ultimately pointless. he no longer has any other names to claim for himself.]

You may call me Beyond.

[it's his chosen name - not the name his parents gave him, not any of the names he used while in training to learn L's methods, not even the name he took for his identity in challenging L, a direct perversion of the detective's best known handle. beyond birthday is the name he christened himself, because he sees death and always has, ever since he was born.

or at least he had, before he died and woke up on this ship. he hasn't seen many others in person, but the names and string of numbers signifying their spans of life are gone. it's a turn of events beyond finds both frightening and frustrating.]

[tucky]

I'd tell 'em my name. Tiffany.

[characterdefect]

The world is a dangerous place. It's naive to think otherwise.

[visetvires]

[She takes a deep breath. In, out. She isn't angry, just - still flat.]

My answer is God.

Voice

[recinerate]

What sort of work do you do?