silberfuchs | Appointments/Voicemail

A projection that controls everything in this place. I know I need to sleep longer, but I have tried and it won't come.

[As exhausted as he is, every little noise, every unfamiliar settling of the compound makes him flinch, and he can't seem to get his mind to turn off. He has to think of a way to get back, a way to rescue those still on the island, a way that Jaden can be touched and taken down.

In his sleep deprived state he goes back to that analogy of Ragnarök. Who will be their Heimdall? Who will call to battle against Loki and his forces? Who will fight Jaden and take him down with him? Albert would gladly take the role if it meant freeing those trapped on the island, if it meant Jaden couldn't hurt anyone else.]

You've got to stay safe. Lay low. We'll think of something.

[There's a long pause between messages.]

Please don't do that.

We will. I will.

[He types out 'don't worry, but erases it before he can press send. That was a dumb and useless thing to ask for.]

Please keep trying. You can't help anyone half asleep and unable to think clearly.

[There's a pause of his own, but it's only about half as long as he debates with his desire to say it versus how lame it sounded. Maybe lame was just what was needed here.]

I won't. I'll keep texting you as much and as long as I can. I'll text you in the morning too, to let you know the island hasn't blown up in the night or anything.

[To let Albert know Jet was still alive. To let Jet know Albert was still there, just out of physical reach at the moment. That was all he needed and texts were the only way he could do that.]

Be safe about it. Don't get traced.

[But he's glad. It eases a little of the tension in his chest to know Jet is as safe as he can be given the circumstances, that they're still in contact.

He lays back on the bed, phone still in hand.]

Is Eve alright?

[He resists the urge to remind Albert of exactly where Jet had been working the past two and a half decades and how 'being traced' wasn't something he was worried about.]

Shaken up. The somnua who attacked was that friend of hers she was looking for. It's not a problem anymore. But she got scraped up pretty bad from falling when I pushed her out of the way. She'll heal, though.

That poor girl.

[He would tell Jet to take care of her but he's certain the man is doing his utmost already. Albert's not the only one with a soft spot for kids.]

We lost too many yesterday.

Don't say that. Am I 'lost?' Q and Kirk were, but that's it. Everyone else will be fine, it just might be a little more time before we get get them safe again.

[He'd keep their hope up single-handedly if he had to, but he wasn't about to let Albert's thoughts turn that way without a fight.]

Even one is too many, and you're not as safe as I'd like you to be.

We'll figure something out. I swear it to you, Jet. We'll get you out. All of you.

[Because he refuses to see another choice.]

I know. Just don't do anything stupid.

[Albert wasn't the reckless type, but he'd been known to do uncharacteristically stupid things and Jet wasn't so dim as to not be able to pick out the trend.]

You either.

[It pulls a small smile from him, bittersweet but somehow nostalgic. The same things he's worried about in the way that Jet operates are some of the same things he's missed so terribly.]