oo1. [Video/Action]

[theworldwillruinyou]

[As the post starts, there's not actually anyone talking or anything showing on the video feed. Just a dark screen, footsteps and light breathing. Whoever's on the other end of the post is on edge; ready for something or someone to come at him. Carl reaches for a weapon - the knife in the holster on his hip - but gets a handful of communicator. The audio rustles uncomfortably and the video is jumbled while he rearranges the device to face him and takes a moment to realize that the thing is recording him.]

A...phone?

[He's very clearly confused, but not for lack of knowledge of the technology. Rather it's just been years since he's seen a working phone, much less one that would record and broadcast anything.]

Hello? I...is anyone there?

[What probably should have been obvious in the first place dawns on him, then, and it shows on his face. His eyebrows furrow and now he's more confident in what he wants out of this thing. What he needs to accomplish here. If he's here - in a strange place, with no clue how he got here - there's a good chance that whoever took him took the people around him as well.]

Dad? Michonne? Anyone?

[One more time just for good measure:]

Dad?

[He pauses for a moment, but the lack of immediate response is enough dissonance from what he remembers of cell phones from his world and enough to disappoint him slightly. Before turning off the feed, he pulls out the knife he was looking for in the first place and speaks one last time to the video. He's still addressing 'Dad' and 'Michonne,' if the tone of his voice is any indication and he does it with a smile on his face.]

If you're here...come find me.

[Left unsaid is the reminder that he'll handle himself until they do, but that they shouldn't take their time.]

Comments

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[iseethings]

[ He's been waiting for this moment since he got here. Carl was the first thought on his mind - at the time, he'd thought Judith was dead - and he's been hoping since then that his boy will show up. It's selfish, he gets that; in some ways, Wonderland ain't much better than what they've got back home, but he can protect Carl no matter where they are. And they don't have walkers here. They've got beds, running water, food. It's more than they he can give his kids back home. ]

Carl. Where are you?

[theworldwillruinyou]

[It's instant serious time now. He doesn't waste any time turning the camera around to show the mansion's entrance hall]

The front door, I think.

[iseethings]

I'm close, stay there.

[ He's been patrolling lately, and he's out on the grounds, just a quick jog from the mansion. Knowing his son is there, Rick gets to the mansion in half the time he'd expect, barely breathless. He immediately pockets his phone when he sees Carl. ]

Carl. [ That's all he says before striding forward, arms outstretched to pull his son in for a tight hug. ]

[thesamurai]

[As it happens, Michonne's making her way downstairs when she hears the voice rather than actually sees the message on her phone. And she realizes the interference is enough that he has to be close. Quelling her smile for now, holding back until she can see him, Michonne sprints to where the sound of his voice is coming from, then stops short, just behind him. And now she smiles, now she can't hold back sheer relief at the fact that he's here.]

Found you.

[theworldwillruinyou]

[Carl turns around in a hurry when he hears Michonne's voice and smiles in an even bigger hurry when he sees her face. Just like with Rick, it's possible that she notices at least that he's grown a couple inches since she last saw him. Maybe a few other signs that he's a little older than she remembers. Just by a few months. In any case, it doesn't really concern Carl when he goes in for the hug.

It seems like he needs to take any opportunity he can for hugs these days. Just in case.]

I'm glad you did.

[thesamurai]

[Her last memory of being outside of Wonderland is seeing Beth, bloody and dead, so she might hold onto Carl a little tightly, just be grateful that he's alive. She notices his hair's a little longer, and pulls back just enough to look at him.]

Tell me what the last thing you remember is.

[Video]

[lightgunhustler]

[Jo can't know for sure who this kid is, exactly, but on top of being obviously new and needing to be pointed in the right directions, he mentions Michonne as well as his father, and given the company Michonne keeps--

She thinks she can guess.]

Hey, is your dad-- are you looking for Rick Grimes?

[She knows he'd left kids behind.]

[theworldwillruinyou]

[Unfortunately, you're the first stranger he's run into and strangers aren't to be trusted where he's from. So you're not gonna get the warmest welcome. As if from that, his dad was the first person to greet him, so he's not technically looking for him anymore.]

What's it to you?

[lightgunhustler]

I know him, a little.

[They're more recent acquaintances, but she likes Rick, sympathizes with him. He has a lot in common with some of the people closest to her-- hell, even with her family and people back home, and she knows that being here without his kids has been rough for him.]

He's a friend. I'm sure he'll see this if he hasn't already-- [A lot of responses on the network are private, and she doesn't go around nosing through other people's messages, generally.] But if he hadn't gotten in touch with you yet, I just wanted to make sure you knew he was here and he's safe.

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[pottershotter]

[Ever since he talked to Rick (and any search for his son turned out to be fruitless at the time) James has kept his word and kept an eye on the network for any sign of someone who might be his boy. And lo and behold, there's a boy like that on the network now.]

Are you Carl? Your father's here. He's been looking for you.

[He smiles like a friend, though he probably seems a bit young to be a friend of Rick's - he's technically seventeen, only a few years older than Carl himself.]

Video

[theworldwillruinyou]

Yeah, I know. Thanks.

[He might have sounded like a snotty fourteen year old there if he hadn't been so instinctively distant with James. Instead he just sounds cold and short. A bit like a jaded old man with no reason to trust anyone.]

How do you know my dad?

Video

[pottershotter]

[It surprises James a little, though probably not as much as it could have. He knows a little about Carl's world - not much, but enough to see how it could harden someone.]

I met him here a few weeks ago. He's a friend of a old friend - Daryl Dixon.

[That name had gotten Rick's attention, so he figures it's worth a shot.]

This place sent Daryl back to where you're from ages ago, but he's a good man. Any friend of his is a friend of mine.

[He probably uses the word "friend" a bit more liberally than Daryl would, but again he's also much younger.]

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[unhand]

Michonne? You're not...

[Her son? A beat, then he realizes how very silly a question that is. He looks nothing like Michonne, and the boy died when he was much younger than this. Michonne's memories have faded from his head, but the memory of the memories still remains. He remembers the pain of childbirth, and the even sharper pain of losing that child. He knows they're Michonne's now. And even if this child couldn't possibly be hers, the fact that he's looking for her makes him hope that she found family again, that she might be able to be happy.]

Sorry, never mind. You're new here, I take it?

[theworldwillruinyou]

Yeah...I guess?

[He seems a little nervous about what he asks next. Not because he's scared of asking but because the reality and weight of the situation is starting to dawn on him. He knows he might not like the answer.]

How long have you been here?

[unhand]

Over half a year now. [He shrugs a shoulder.] It's not half bad if you've got friends here. And I know Michonne is here. [He doesn't know who the child's father is, but Michonne is one person, at least, he can guarantee.]

[keeperfromtheflame]

[She was only half paying attention, really, when the name Michonne came in through the speakers. For the second time in just a couple of months. Eyebrows raised, Hazel paused in her latest sketch to reach over and pick up her communicator.]

You're a friend of Michonne's?

[theworldwillruinyou]

[He's not sure whether to answer that or not for a moment, because he doesn't know who this woman is and what her relationship to Michonne is. But then again, he's already made it clear that, yes, he is a friend of Michonne's just by mentioning her in his post. So he might as well...]

Yeah...are you?

[keeperfromtheflame]

[He seemed paranoid. After getting to know Michonne and her world, not to mention Mr. Grimes not too long ago, she understood. In fact, considering her own world and the trials and tribulations that came with being a 14-year-old demigod...she even empathized.]

We've spoken a few times since she'd been here. We even trained together recently.

She's very nice. And really good with that katana of hers.

[belovedson]

[A kid calling out for help over the network is enough to get Neal's attention anyway, but then this one starts asking after his dad, and that's just a punch to the gut. He's dreaded Henry going through that, to wake up one day and suddenly find his father's gone, back to the world where they never get to see each other again.

So it doesn't matter that he doesn't know this boy, or have a clue who his father might be. Like hell is Neal leaving him alone.]

Hey kid. There's a lot of us here, actually. [Geez, what kind of world does he come from to pull out a knife like that?] What's your dad's name? Someone around here may know him.

[If the man has been there, and for once Neal's kind of hoping he is.]

[theworldwillruinyou]

I already found him. Thanks.

[To be more precise, his dad found him pretty quick after his broadcast. By the time he gets to even really thinking about responding to other people, he's probably already settled into his room and finally just has some spare time. It's something he's not really used to and neither is polite conversation, apparently. He's not particularly friendly, but at least isn't being actively hostile. Just untrusting and bit paranoid.

Besides that, he's a little annoyed that the guy seems to think he can't handle finding is dad when the answer was literally placed in his pocket.]

[belovedson]

So he’s here? Good.

[Be as annoyed as you want, kid. Neal’s concern hadn’t been based at all in Carl’s ability or lack thereof, but knowledge of just how Wonderland works. Plenty of people show up and they’re on their own, including kids younger than the one he’s talking to now. It’s a relief to know that it isn’t the case for this boy, and Neal nods to himself before he goes on.]

So he told you about this place, yeah? Where we are, how things work around here? [Provided they hadn’t shown up at the same time and the father’s just as clueless. Neal knows better than to assume anything when it comes to Wonderland.]

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[assistanting]

You've gone down the rabbit hole, kid.

[theworldwillruinyou]

Thanks...I guess.

[It's a little off-putting that he's being held in a strange place against his will and this lady is being so nonchalant about it all.]

Voice;

[cupboards]

Er--yeah, I'm here. [ And like a whole bunch of other people. ] I don't know who your dad is, but I can help you look for him if you'd like? He might not be here, but he shouldn't be too hard to find if he is.

[ Harry knows how valuable family is. ]

[theworldwillruinyou]

It's fine, I already found him.

[Carl knows that Harry can't be any older than him, if that. He talks down to Harry just a little bit - like adults do with kids that are getting annoying while they're trying to do adult things.]