The Deadland

[ Yoshitsugu has scarcely been asleep for 3 hours when the noise begins. The sounds of things being knocked over, broken, homes being torn apart. The house he and Mitsunari have taken over is intact, but if the ruckus next door is any indication of what is to come, he’ll have to do something about this. He rises from bed with some effort and manages to get himself onto his palanquin without assistance. Yoshitsugu is largely unsurprised to see that Mitsunari is still sound asleep on the floor once his eyes adjust to the darkness. Yoshitsugu watches him for a moment;  the rise and fall of his chest is still familiar despite everything else being changed. It is almost… A word flutters through his mind, but he willfully ignores it in favor of a new series of crashes and thumps. Whatever is making the noise is closer now, and he moves to the front of the house and looks out the window.  It strikes him as odd that he hadn’t seen or heard so much as a bird yesterday, and now there’s a pack of animals wreaking havoc on the street they’ve taken up on. Yoshitsugu is about to go outside and deal with this when there’s a loud crash at the back of the house, close to the bedroom.  How Mitsunari can sleep through this he cannot imagine. He heads back to the bedroom and nudges Mitsunari with one of his beads. ]

AUDIO

[ the voice that speaks through the radio is soft, polite. a girl's voice, no doubt, hardly bouncy and cheerful but neither is it monotonous. but while there is civility in the tone, beneath it lies a certain degree of distance. wariness. a girl, apprehensive and distrusting. ]

If the payment is not made fully, then the price cannot be granted fully. There's no such thing as a free wish. But I wonder -- if that child would credit what can be partially worked for?

[ if so, then i no longer mind.

she pauses. a hint of -- was it desire? longing? wishful thinking faintly laces the tone before it disappears, replaced by once more that tone of civility and politeness, followed by an awkward laugh. ]

A question of sorts though I have a feeling that I may already know the answer.

[ Beep. Beep. Beep beep beep. Shuffling, the sound of fabric brushing against the microphone. More beeping. Someone has no idea what the fuck they're doing with the radio. ]

What in the world is this infernal device...!! Squeaking and hissing like some sort of vile hellspawn! I--

[ Next comes a ton of beeping. Beep beep beep beep beepbeep beep. He's obviously yelling at the radio and getting cut off a lot by the button press. When he speaks next it seems as though he's raged himself out. There is obvious hostility in his tone but it is not of the previous sort. And evidently he's also missed the previous broadcasts. ]

I was told this would allow me to speak with others, through what wizardry I cannot imagine. So. Is anyone there?