TRANSCRIPT OF A REDACTED MESSAGE...

“Maybe it’s kinda like that one time my radio stopped working…”

<'Toto?'>

“Oh, I haven’t told you that story? It was a bit crazy… Most bigger boats have these radios that are used for marine traffic control, to call harbours, nav, ask for rescue, and all that, yeah? Pretty damn important. So, like… this one time I’m on this long trip — open seas, nothing but water all around — and just when I’m about to hit up my radio to check some navigation stuff ‘cause I’m trying to avoid this tropical storm, I realise it’s not working. Just like that! Out of the blue! Didn’t look like anything was wrong with it and nothing I tried to do to fix it worked. Hell, I even went up on the mast to check on the antenna and I—…”

There had been a point to this story. The point on how maybe, just maybe, that person’s chat function was no longer working (for whatever reason, as gods know our chatty Captain doesn’t have the slightest clue how UNOVR logic works… and honestly, who actually does? We have a relatable king here) and that even though their chat may not have been working, they may have also been perfectly fine. No harm done! And, yes, he had had that point, but as he walked over dunes and told his little tale, The Captain found himself gradually drawing away from his own words, because realisation begun to hit him that Roger had gone uncharacteristically still against his chest, and then…

Then it was as if Roger wasn’t there at all.

“…Roger?”

Silence.

The Captain is not a man who’s used to silence.

You would think that he would be, with all the time Remy’s has spent at sea with no one but his dog as company, but the thing is that the seas are never truly silent. Even when hours are spent without speaking a word, even when he won’t bother with music or anything of the sort, and even when Davy isn’t feeling particularly vocal, giving no barks or whines or anything of the sort, silence is never to be found at the Dawn Star. Waves meeting the sailboat’s hull at varied degrees of force, sea spray, rain, winds and the fluttering of raised sails, other ships, the soft electric hum of appliances, the birds with their squawking that is much more prominent the closer the boat gets to the shore, so many other types of marine wildlife and the sounds they all make, and so on and so forth. Sound is ever-present in Remy’s world.

The Captain’s world, though? This world? UNOVR? This desert? Right here and now? There isn’t a single sound at all. Roger gives no reply and he’s nowhere when Remy turns to look around. He tried to call to him again, but this time, even though the questioning thought is there, no sound comes — as if some omnipotent creature had pressed a mute button on The Captain himself. And, it’s not just The Captain. The world itself had been muted. There’s no rustling of fabric when he turns and moves around, there’s no pouring of sand as it shifts beneath his feet with every motion of his. No wind. No sand blowing over dunes. No voices. No sound of living beings. Nothing at all.

…What the fuck?

He tries to open his UI to check if Roger had returned to his Pokéball for whatever reason, but this too is gone. Had he gotten the gesture wrong? No, no… It had taken a while for The Captain to figure out all those game mechanics, so he’s pretty damn sure he had gotten it right. So, why is it not working now? Is it the same as that radio anecdote that he had been telling Roger to ease his worries and calm him down?

It has to be… right?

Everything will be just fine.

The situation is concerning, sure, but it’s far from the worse Remy has dealt with all on his own. Although… wait a fucking minute… if his UI is gone he can’t log off, and if he can’t log off, who will feed Davy, look after the boat, and also keep HIM fed?! He needs food and water to live! Sure, the Dawn Star is at the coast right now, so the situation isn’t nearly as concerning as it would be if he were at sea, but still! And, man, his kids will get so worried if he doesn’t contact them for a while… Neri will get so mad…

Man…

This really isn’t good, isn’t it?

He stands there, silent; arms crossed as he considers his new circumstances. No, this is not good, but what can he do to get things back to the way they were? Maybe he just needs to wait for this weird glitch to pass (or what he assumes must be a weird glitch, at least) and it will all be just fine, but who knows how long that will take? Davy is probably hungry by now. Maybe if he walks out of the desert the problem will fix itself, Roger will return, and he’ll be able to log off for a while? Yeah! That’s it, right? Everything had started to gone sideways the moment he stepped into this desert. Fuck deserts!

With newfound resolve, our Captain steps forward, even smirking to himself, but that smirk is one that soon begins to fade: despite being no sound, there’s something moving in the sand. All around him, low to the ground, darkness spreads, alive.

That sure doesn’t look like a good sign.