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[Daneca has spent the first few hours going through the posts to the network. She...]

[...doesn't know how to feel about any of this so far. People going missing and others turning up dead. Zombies, vampires. And Cassel. Realistically speaking, Daneca knows she should probably be more anxious over a potential serial killer running around than the prospect of speaking to Cassel again, but that's what gives her more pause than anything. (At least she's not totally surprised by the idea of a serial killer on the Barge, she figures. Still in the realm of sanity for now.) She thinks maybe she should send him a private message or try to find him and speak one-on-one, in private. But that seems like too much even for her right now.]

[So, she settles for just introducing herself to everyone else. If he wants to talk to her, he can. If not...]

[Well, he doesn't have to. It's not like Cassel owes her anything anyway.]

[With that resolved, she can go back to being properly more anxious about people turning up dead, zombies, and vampires. And apparently also werewolves being real as well.]

[Daneca appears a little stiff and tense. Being on camera and broadcasting like this makes her a little nervous in ways that are harder to cover up than other things that make her nervous or uncomfortable. But it doesn't paralyze her or make her smile seem like a disingenous cover for nerves that ends up looking more scary than pleasant. Daneca is not someone who can lie very well. It's nervous and small, but her smile is no less sincere. She's trying desperately to channel her mother right now.]

I know I'm coming in at a really bad time, but I thought I should probably introduce myself anyway. My name is Daneca and I'm new. [She flushes a little and says a little softer:] Obviously.

[She shifts a little uncomfortably and finds the strength in her voice again.]

I'm a warden for anyone that might matter to.

[She's sure it does especially to some of the inmates. She'll lie about other parts about herself anyway. Might as well be honest about some things that might make people uncomfortable.]

Anyway, I guess I'm just looking for a tour. Or advice. Whatever anybody can spare.

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We call her Dani.

[ He thinks, slowly, that he should say his name. He shifts, reaching for a sliver of apple. Her favorite. ]

I'm Zane.

I heard about you. It's nice to finally talk.

[She's silent for a moment, pursing her lips. She switches it over to private.]

Listen, I don't want things to be awkward, but I want to be honest with you, too.

I won't go into details, but Cassel and I aren't on the best of terms right now. So, if you were only talking to me because we know each other, it's okay. You don't have to.

I'm talking because the silence in my mind is driving me insane.

[ Bluntly. He doesn't know the story between them. He should want to know. Right now it's hard to want anything. ]

Oh.

[Well, that's something.]

If it helps to talk, then okay.

Cassel and I are close. But it's because we're alike - and because of that, I know how much he can hurt people.

Yeah, well, I thought I knew, too.

And I was wrong.

Did you have faith in him?

I... [she starts, but her voice falters. She has a reflexive answer, but her brain caught up to the question before she could answer. There's a small pause as Daneca thinks about what he's asking.]

How much... How much did Cassel tell you about the world we come from?

Some.

It was just a guess. Disappointment makes hurt sharper.

I'm not disappointed in him. I mean, not just disappointed.

[She's disgusted. But she can't say she is aloud because it's so outside what she always thought herself capable of thinking of other people.]

Workers in our world are looked at as criminals. It doesn't matter what they do. That's just the way it is.

I've never looked at anyone like that. I always thought that no matter the person's circumstances, no matter what they did, they can be more than that. And I thought that way about Cassel for a really long time. Even after he ran away, I still thought that he still had enough good in him that he would always do the right thing in the end.

[Daneca is not good at bluffing or hiding what she's thinking and feeling. Her voice is shakier and she can feel the wetness in her eyes.]

What his brothers did to him is unforgivable. But what he did to Barron? To me? I can't just look the other way and pretend like it doesn't mean anything. Like it doesn't change anything.

I know he's a different person here than who I knew and he's grown up so much, but... I can't. I can't look at him and see what I saw before. I can't just see a boy who was lost and confused and just wanted to matter. I can't trust him to be there and to put me first over himself like a friend should. I can't see someone who cared about anything or anyone other than himself. I wish I could, but...

[She shakes her head.]

I can't forgive him. Not this time. It's too much.

And he knows that.

[ This is, despite everything, stirring him out of the tumult of his own emotions. ]

Did it happen recently?

[ It sounds like it's been a shock to her. This time. ]

Not exactly. I just didn't know about it until yesterday.

Kinda wish I still didn't.

You mean he told you.

Yeah, he did.

[She wipes at an eye.]

[It's more than Cassel would have probably done before. She probably would have gone her whole life never knowing he did that.]

[Daneca has a hard time seeing that as such a bad thing right now.]

Would the Cassel you know have done that? Or would he have just tried to keep you to himself?

The Cassel I know left without saying goodbye and with no way to find him or know if anything happened to him.

That sounds like him.

I think I was just better off not knowing.

No. You weren't. Because he was taking a choice away from you by not telling you. He was taking advantage of you.

[There's a flash of a smile on Daneca's face, bitter and pained.]

I'm not sure it was such a bad thing this time because I can't really tell if he told me for my sake or for his own.

Doesn't matter his reasons. Lying would have been wrong.

I thought Cassel was just trying to be a good friend and protect me from Barron when he told me what happened so we would break up. But now I don't even know about that. Because regardless of how it ended, that relationship was important to me and it was important to Barron.

But Cassel just erased it. He erased me. And it wasn't for my protection from Barron. I was just something to take away from Barron because he wanted to hurt his brother and he didn't care about the consequences. Cassel manipulated me and he got what he wanted for me.

You think that lying to me was taking away my choice? Well, too late. It was already taken from me.

And now, I'm just wishing that Cassel had the decency enough to protect me from himself. But I guess that was expecting too much.

Doing the right thing now means facing the consequences for what he did then. If that means he hurts because of it, then that's what it means.

...how could you like Barron like that?

Not that I owe you an explanation, but there was more to Barron than what he did to Cassel.

There's always more. Someone might not really want to do the things they do. But they still do them.

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