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Noelle was gone.

She had been for a while, actually. No sign of her anywhere on the station. Radvi had only noticed such a few days after the breakout. Once he did, he made a trip to the High Rise, only to discover that it had been demolished during the event. And it was pretty low on the priority repair list.

Now, it was back in business, but under new management. Some woman Radvi had never met before took over, saying that Noelle simply left because the Promise was going to hell. No notice, no goodbye, just… gone. An unceremonious departure.

Oh, well. She had her reasons.

Radvi got himself some coffee, the newly-managed High Rise being one of the few places still open during Homecoming. Somewhere to get drinks that wouldn’t completely wreck your head. It wasn’t busy, of course, and the new owner was mostly just lounging about. But hey, Radvi got his coffee, and that’s what mattered. He found his way back to a little alcove where D was seated. His ATV was parked nearby. He sat down, and forced himself to relax a bit. Sipped some of his coffee.

“So far, nothing’s come up.” Radvi said to D, who was just kicking his foot idly. “I’m starting to think this is just a giant waste of time.”

D turned his head, somehow exhibiting concern without any expressions to form.

“Almost all of the security force has written me off as a loonie and a traitor, for working with you. Because you’re still on their shit list ever since orientation. Why… why even [i]did[/i] you kick Anderson’s face?”

D shrugged. He didn’t have any good of an answer.

“Hmm.”

Pause. Another sip of coffee.

“Wish you’d just tell me what you’re doing up here. Or how you survived getting spaced. Or who you actually are or, [i]anything[/i].”

A moment passed before D’s helmet blinked out, the default grin giving way to a dimly lit black surface. The sounds of… [i]breathing[/i], began to emanate from it. Strained, slow, as if being assisted by some form of medical equipment. And shortly after came the accompanying sound of a heart rate monitor, a constant beeping, evenly spaced out. He played these sounds for what seemed like years, even though it was only about ten seconds.

[sub]“...What the [i]fuck[/i]?”[/sub] Radvi muttered to himself.

After a few more seconds, the sounds stopped, and D’s face blinked back. The crosshair eyes and the giant, toothy grin. He turned his attention towards Radvi and just gave him a silent, unmoving stare.

“You are…” Radvi said, “[i]All kinds[/i] of weird.”

D chuckled. Radvi sipped his coffee again.