[ ah... hand... he squeezes back softly, gentle with his claws. ]

People panic when the clock runs down. To think we've been so spot on before... and now...

[ it's chaos. their group gets smaller and instead of becoming more cohesive, they scatter, afraid. ]

It's frustrating. That we'll simply have to move from here, but after such a disaster at least we know that we can't be so easily distracted by pieces of puzzles that do not interlock so immediately. [ the dead letters are helpful, but more a jigsaw all their own. ] I allowed my mind to succumb to grief. I could have done better.

[ the last ten minutes, his hands resting on her nearly-digested corpse... it had been a nightmare. evidence. gone. eaten away. ]