3rd (lack of) sleep note. Audio at three am but left on the network as always.

[11calls]

[Alex doesn't sleep. It's a problem. So, when she doesn't sleep, she reads the network. That's probably a problem too. But for now, she's focusing on one thing. It's a thing that she probably shouldn't focus on, and that Strand would shake his head at, and it's three in the morning but Alex's chipper, canadian ready for radio voice comes out anyway.]

You know what I love? Ghost stories. It's so weird how there's ghost stories that seem almost universal. Well, [You can hear the smile in her voice here.] Earth-versal I guess? But things like the hitchhiker in the dress that you pick up and then drop off somewhere or she disappears and it turns out that she'd been dead for years and it couldn't have happened. Or the ghosts of children who move cars from where they were tragically killed.

Or dark ladies or monks or banshees that warn of impending doom. Or ghost battles that happen hundreds of years after blood was first spilled on the soil.

[A beat.]

And let's not forget about vengeful ghosts who are going to get you for something you've done wrong in life. There's too many of those to even talk about.

But what I want to know what ghost stories are like in your worlds. You can even tell me your favorite fictional ghost story. Mine is Hamlet. It used to be "A Turn of the Screw" but a friend ruined that by calling it "the best case for apophenia in fiction." So it's not fun anymore.

[And then she laughs.]

Don't worry, I promise not to call anything you've experienced here apophenia. We've all seen way too much for that.

And just in case you don't know, I'm Alex. Alex Reagan.

Comments

[thestarling]

And what would be an irrational skeptic, I wonder.

[Actually he's probably met a few on late night patrol, but that's besides the point.]

[11calls]

Someone who doesn't believe despite all evidence to the contrary. Honestly, sometimes I think that Strand's riding that line.

[thestarling]

Have you seen evidence, then?

[It sounds like she has a much more open mind, at least.]

[11calls]

Well, I've seen a lot of videos that can't be explained, not even with the best science has to offer, so that helps.

And I mean if nothing else, I've been kinda kidnapped to a moon that has ghosts and aliens and magic so it makes it a bit harder not to believe in the unexplained.

[thestarling]

That is a point, yeah. You either start accepting things around here or...I don't know, actually. Go a bit mad, maybe.

[11calls]

I think we all have to be kind of mad here anyway, even if we accept it. I mean...

[Alex is just going to gesture broadly around her.]

[thestarling]

I don't know, I think I'm doing alright.

[Says the man who gets into wizard duels in his normal course of work.]

[11calls]

But you world was weird, right? Cause seeing ghosts and stuff. Raises your madness handling level!

[Says girl who is hunting demons and may have caused the end of the world.]

[thestarling]

Weird is relative, but I suppose so. There's still a lot here I've never seen before.

[11calls]

All of the scifi stuff is a trip.

[thestarling]

You know, back home, whenever you tell someone magic is real, the next question is almost always 'but what about aliens'?

[He'd know, he'd done it too.]

Maybe it's all not so different.

[11calls]

Possible Aliens and TARDIS cabins are my friend's dominion actually. But I think people just really want to believe.

So, does that mean you practice magic?

[thestarling]

Practice is a pretty good word for it, yeah.

[11calls]

Is it more of a Wiccan/Religion like thing or more of a Harry Potter thing?

[thestarling]

Definitely more Harry Potter. No wands, though. And my boss doesn't much appreciate the comparison.

[11calls]

I guess I'll need to apologize to your boss.

So is it like genetics or something else?

[thestarling]

No genetics. Anyone can learn, if someone shows you how.

[11calls]

[Yep. She's going to do it.]

Could you show me how?

[thestarling]

[Yeah, he probably should have seen this one coming. There's a pause while Peter takes a deep breath.]

I probably could, technically. There are some pretty heavy issues, though.

For one, I've only barely started learning so there's only so much I could show you. For two...it's dangerous. And I mean genuinely, will fuck you up dangerous.

[11calls]

Like are we talking murdering yourself dangerous level of fucking you up?

Sorry, magic in my world is pretty insane.

[thestarling]

It destroys your brain, if you do too much of it. We call it hyperthaumaturgical degradation.

[11calls]

Wow.

How do you know if you're doing too much?

[thestarling]

The incipient nosebleed tends to be a good hint.

[11calls]

I'm assuming your boss is good at stopping you before you reach that point?

[thestarling]

There are ways to mitigate. No more than an hour at a time and such.