[IC Inbox -- Snowblind]

[gtfoourgalaxy]

"This is Commander Shepard. Tell me what you need."

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@SceptredIsle; text - morning 58

[keepscalm]

[Though this isn't the hardest thing England has had to tell someone, he's still not looking forward to it.]

Good morning.

We're not well acquainted, but we conversed previously on my post about Sealand. I realise there's quite a bit going on right now, but if you've got the time, I have something important to tell you.

text;

[gtfoourgalaxy]

[She's just seen the obituaries - so yes, you could say that quite a bit is going on. It's only with concerted effort that Shepard formulates a proper, civil reply.]

It's not the best time. But if it's important - did you find Sealand?

[keepscalm]

Not personally.

But Miranda did.

She asked me to pass a message on to you. Would you prefer I repeat it over text, or play it back for you?

[England knows it might be difficult for Shepard to see Miranda right now, but he'd like to give her the choice.]

voice;

[gtfoourgalaxy]

She left a message?

[Shepard repeats the words out loud, almost not believing them. Believing but not. Realizing that this means Miranda most likely knew that she was going to die.]

Play it for me. Please.

text with video attachment

[keepscalm]

Indeed. One moment.

[England fiddles with his tablet a bit, finding the message Miranda told him to pass on. He cuts it down to just the last bit, not wanting to betray her trust or get her in trouble with Shepard by divulging too much.

Then he sends Shepard a message that is simply a video attachment, cropped down as such:]

After the obituary goes up, could you tell her -

- Tell her that I do damn fine work in any universe.

[gtfoourgalaxy]

[There is a long moment of silence on Shepard's end, as she listens, as she fights to control her reaction. She wants to hit something, plant her fist into the wall, through the plaster and the ice. Break her hand, break through... there's nothing she can do. She can't bring Miranda back the way Miranda did for her.

Her voice rasps low when she finally speaks, contained, but seared with the pain that she chokes down, like swallowing hot ash.]

Do you know how she died?

voice

[keepscalm]

[England doesn't feel right giving this sort of news over text any longer. He switches to voice after making sure he can speak as evenly as possible.]

She was on her way back from the chapel and didn't have time to reach shelter before lockdown. She mentioned something about supply drop points, and that she'd been intending to make the trip for a while; I assume it was related.

[gtfoourgalaxy]

[Oh, God. Of all possible things, this is the one Shepard least wanted to hear - that it had been a slow death. A frustrating death, locked out of shelter, because of some failure, some mistake... Miranda isn't supposed to make these kind of mistakes.]

Thank you for letting me know. [Still carefully controlled, though she manages to make that thanks sound genuine.] If there's a body - it would be in the funeral house or the hospital, then?

[keepscalm]

...it's no trouble. You deserve to know. [Plus, Miranda asked him to do it, and he's not the type of person to go back on someone's dying wish.]

I assume so. I suppose there's a chance she could wind up in the chapel; it's closest to where...well, it would have been closest to her. But God only knows if that will be taken into account. [Nothing in this awful place makes any sense.]

[gtfoourgalaxy]

Still. I appreciate it. [With all the talk she's heard about trust issues... reaching out is what she does. All she can do. What she does when she feels lost.]

I'm still moving West, towards the funeral home, maybe the hospital... I guess we're both in the same boat now. Waiting.