#chronicler.

[break-between-the-walls]

I dunno, I mean, we could give it a shot. If you don’t hear back in a second, then it worked.

"Alright, go on," Chase says. "Like you said, it's worth a shot."

Good luck! Jameson adds, smiling.

[break-between-the-walls]

Yeah, Marvin seems like he’s been through a lot. I’m glad he’s got a friend like you.

Jameson smiles. Thank you!

Chase leans back, rocking slightly where he's sitting. "Jackie would be losing his mind if he heard us being so nice about Marvin. He's been softening up to him lately but he's still got beef with him."

Where is your brother, anyway? Jameson asks.

"Ha, never heard someone use the phrase 'your brother' in real life when they know the person. Only seen that in TV shows. Usually people just say the person's name."

It's different in sign language, Jameson says. Where is he?

"Jackie's out doing patrols around the city," Chase explains. "I wonder... Maybe the ghosts could... switch to him? Or does being around me sorta override that?"

[break-between-the-walls]

Yeah… he probably wouldn’t hesitate to make a big show of it if he found this place…

Chase sighs. "Yeah..." He pulls his legs close to his chest while he still sits on the bed. "That guy... that guy freaks me out." He looks at Jameson. "Um... I think... I-I think it's really impressive that you lasted that long under him."

Jameson blinks. He's clearly touched by that. I... well, I did what I could. Thank you. He smiles slightly. I just... Anti threatening to go after Marvin really got to me. I couldn't let Marvin go through any of that.

"Right, I-I forgot that's why you cooperated with him," Chase stammers. "It, uh... it seems like a lot to do for him, though."

Well, I care about him, Jameson says. I know he's prickly to everyone else, but he's really nice beneath that. You just have to get past his layers of defenses.

Chase laughs. "Yeah. You're... you're a good guy, you know."

Thank you.

[break-between-the-walls]

That makes sense… and then there’s us, and we still don’t know why we’re here.

"Aw... do you guys feel left out too?" Chase asks, expression softening.

"Well, we can't do much since you guys don't have physical bodies, but you're definitely a part of the group!" Jackie says. "All of you!"

"Yeah! You helped rescue me and Henrik, you're a part of this!" Phoebe nods and smiles.

Henrik smiles slightly too. "I wonder... perhaps you all accidentally slipped through a rift in your home universe. A certain type that only allows energy to pass through, so that is why you just seem like thoughts. Don't worry, you all. We will do everything we can to get you back to where you come from. Perhaps if we figure out how to defeat Anti, that will help. After all, he is also just energy."

"Uh... we don't want to 'defeat' the ghosts, but yeah, maybe we can modify whatever we discover," Jackie says.

[break-between-the-walls]

Oh right! We’re away from Anti now, can you tell us where he is?

“Do you guys think you can, like, reach him?” Phoebe asks.

“No, they can only connect to me, Jackie, or the kids,” Chase says.

“Oh riiiiight.” Phoebe nods.

“Anyway… he’s staying with Chase and me in our hideout,” Jackie says. “You know. That little house? Uh he’s actually technically living in an old shelter in the house’s backyard, he doesn’t want to get too close to us in case we have electronic stuff. He tried staying with the escapees for a bit but he thought it was too awkward.”

[break-between-the-walls]

Yeah, me too. I wonder if that’s what kept us away so long? Some sort of “storm” keeping us from landing?

“The rifts? Hm I suppose it is possible,” Henrik says. “Perhaps the fabric of space-time was too unstable for a while. You could not settle.”

Chase shudders. “I don’t like to think is about space and time being unstable,” he mutters.

“It is a bit… unnerving,” Stacy agrees.

“Well also—perhaps the ghosts were simply pushed forward in time by the rifts,” Henrik speculates. “We have proven there are time distortions in the city. Jameson Jackson being here is proof enough.”

“Yeah, I can’t believe Mr. Mustache is from the past still!” Phoebe says. “How is he?”

“Fine last I checked,” Jackie says, and Chase nods in agreement. “A bit… paranoid. But it’s well earned.”

[break-between-the-walls]

It all came through in a rush right before we got back, a lot like the other visions. But it really felt like an e̵te̸rn̛i̢ty out there.

“Oh! You must be experiencing time dilation of some sort!” Henrik says excitedly. “Maybe it is because of you being from other worlds! The visitors we had mentioned they were from a universe in 2020, but of course we are I 2017. Things do not match up! Perhaps your world moves at a faster time frame so the pauses feel longer to you than to us. But I do not think time is consistent in how it passes sometimes. Because sometimes it only seemed like a moment to you but much longer for us—Are you getting all this?”

Chase chuckles. “He’s been going on about a bunch of stuff like that for a while.”

“How do you know, Chase?” Henrik shoves him playfully. “You are not even here most of the time!”

“Stacy told me.” Behind Chase, Stacy nods.

“Well—I am excited!” Henrik says. “Prior is as well, I-I have asked him to access some of Psyode’s files for me, we are meeting up soon so he can drop those off. We must know if Psyode picked up on—well—everything that happened.”