They're Still Out There

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>(TangoTek whispers to you): Hey Gri, have you seen Pearl?

>(TangoTek whispers to you): chat mentioned she missed a stream today

>(TangoTek whispers to you): and she hasn't been responding to my dms

<(You whisper to TangoTek): No, I haven't

<(You whisper to TangoTek): Have you checked her base?

>(TangoTek whispers to you): She's not online right now

>(TangoTek whispers to you): Did sje mention to you that she was going anywhere??

<(You whisper to TangoTek): No...

<(You whisper to TangoTek): She's not responding on discord?

>(TangoTek whispers to you): no

>(TangoTek whispers to you): could just be sleeping or something

<(You whisper to TangoTek): Pearl doesn't sleep w

<(You whisper to TangoTek): when stressed*

>(TangoTek whispers to you): lol she just doesn't sleep in general

>(TangoTek whispers to you): crazy moth lady

>(TangoTek whispers to you): I gotta go back to my stream now but lmk if you hear anything from her

<(You whisper to TangoTek): Sure, I was going to go offline soon anyways

<(You whisper to TangoTek): I'll ask the pod station guys if they've seen her

>(TangoTek whispers to you): Sounds good

>(TangoTek whispers to you): actually you probably shouldn't go out so soon after the atack

>[Grian left the game]

>TangoTek: ...

>GeminiTay: ...who's gonna go get him

>EthosLab: Not it

>Xisumavoid: gosh

>[Xisumavoid left the game]

❖✩✩✩❖

Grian stepped out of the server and was immediately tackled.

Pearl pinned him to the ground, wings vibrating, eyes gleaming— then blinked, recognizing him. "Oh. Grian."

"Hi, Pearl," Grian said casually, "found you."

She carefully climbed off him, helping him back to his feet and dusting off his sweater and wings. "Sorry, I was—"

"Patrolling to make sure the hacker doesn't escape?" Grian guessed. Pearl nodded, looking away in slight embarrassment. Grian frowned, noticing the dark circles under her eyes. "How long have you been out here?"

"Thirty, maybe forty minutes," she muttered, kicking at the dirt. "No one else is out here, so I've just been guarding the firewall."

"Riiiiight. . ." Grian said, drawing out the word. "You might want to check the time again, you missed your stream."

Pearl stared at him, then silently lifted her wrist, eyes widening, no doubt seeing the missed messages from Tango. "Oh. I didn't. . . hm."

Xisuma suddenly emerged from the server dome, tensely glancing around at the two winged hermits before relaxing when no threat presented itself. "You two alright? Something going on?"

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