>>6015595Standing around here while everyone is busy searching is... awkward, to say the least. You imagine you should probably lend a hand; in fact, helping out with the search might earn you a few brownie points with the more distrusting members of the group. You'd certainly like to be called something other than a short adjective.
You make the choice to try and help out TERRY. As you walk over, you hear the older man get more and more frustrated as he opens drawer after drawer, only to pull out a few papers, flip through them, and place them aside with a huff. You walk up to him, typing up a message on NELLIE'S phone.
<span class="mu-i">Would you. Like some. Help?</span> You hold up the phone to TERRY, who isn't looking your way. You think about tapping the table to get his attention, but your instincts tell you otherwise. Luckily, you're not left standing there holding out a phone for long, as after a few seconds, he realizes you're there.
"Jesus. I'm not about to read what you're typing every single time you need to say something. Nellie, take your phone back."
"I don't mind letting him use it."
"I do," SHERRY speaks up, still focused on her box. "You've got classified information on that device, Nellie."
"But he's gotta speak somehow!" NELLIE insists. "You wouldn't look at all of my private stuff, would you, Harry?" You shake your head as SHERRY groans.
"Fine, fine. Terr, you have that spare I lent you when you lost your phone in the cafeteria?" TERRY freezes.
"Yes." He opens a cabinet and starts to look through it.
"He lost his phone?" NELLIE asks. "I didn't know that." SHERRY giggles.
"Yeah, he had a bad reaction to the pudding that Marcus served, and he ended up dropping it on the floor while he was racing to the—"
"That's enough," TERRY says loudly. "Can't say our names, no, but embarassing stories are fair game, apparently," he mutters as he tosses you a YELLOW IPHONE 5C. You manage to catch it and give him a nod of thanks. You walk back to NELLIE and return her phone. She rewards you with a smile.
"I'm still not reading anything," TERRY says. After he hears no response, he glances at NELLIE to see a very disappointed look on her face. Pressing two fingers to his temple, he sighs. "He can use the text-to-speech function, can't he?" Oh shit, he's right. You can totally do that. You get to typing.
"<span class="mu-i">Thank you. All. For the. Phone and. Also for. Not killing. Me. I promise. I won't. Get in. The way.</span>" No one really responds to you, so you get to looking through some of the drawers near TERRY. Papers... papers... research... but no cable. You try another.
"Look," TERRY starts without even looking at you. "I appreciate the help, but I do not want it."
