Work Text:
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[Grian]
Statement of Tango Tek, regarding the disappearance of Jimmy Solidarity. Original interview transcribed June 17, 2022. Audio recording by Grian, Head Archivist of the VOID Institute.
Statement begins.
[Grian (Statement)]
Sorry for the humming, it's a habit that I got from Jimmy. People say it is annoying, but I can see why he did it. It makes the room less silent. I probably should talk about why I am here right? It might be best if I start with how I met Jimmy.
I was going to Sahara University for engineering but needed an elective to fill up some credits or something. It is one of those annoying university requirements. So, I decided to take an agriculture class. I have been around farms and have been interested in learning how they run so I can build stuff to help it be more efficient. It was in this class that I met Jimmy.
It was a few weeks into the spring semester when Jimmy transferred to this class. He transferred universities he would tell me later. I never asked why. I had a spare seat next to me and I remember how meekly he asked if he could sit next to me. I almost didn't hear him.
We didn't talk much at first, just simple greetings. There was something that I noticed was the constant humming. It took a few classes to realize it was coming from him. It was comforting in a way. It filled in the static noise that comes from the silence. No one seemed to mind it, so I never said anything.
It was not until we had our finals that we got to know each other. It was a final project of some sort; I forget what it is, but we had to work with another person. Since Jimmy was about the only other person, I at least knew the name of, I asked to be partners. To say he was shocked was an understatement. It reminded me of how a kid would be shocked to not be picked last for a team in grade school after being picked last all the past times.
I do not understand why no one would want to work with Jimmy. He is the greatest work partner I have ever had. We would meet up to work on the project and he would even work ahead on some parts. I would always tell him that he was the reason I passed the class. He would brush it off. I wish he knew how good he was. We started to meet not just to work on the project but just to hang out. It was hard to get him to hang out as friends and not classmates at first. He would always leave after he worked on our project. I thought that maybe it was something to do with me. I know I can seem scary to people or something. I asked Jimmy if I have done something wrong. He was dumbfounded that I would have thought that. He told me it was him and didn’t want to catch me up in some sort of curse of his or something. I remembered I laughed it off, saying that nothing bad has happened since I met him. After that, he started to stay longer and we would hang out eating lunch, playing games, or even just talking to each other at the campus park. We just sort of clicked; you know? We would just talk about anything, and I felt like we knew each other forever. I introduced him to some of my friends and he would get along with them great, but I can tell there was some distance that he was keeping them away. . There was nothing off about him, or at least I didn’t notice until later. I probably should get to that part.
After the class finished, we still found time to hang out with each other, then time passed and we graduated. I guess I never said what Jimmy’s major was, but it was in agriculture. He was great with animals, and they seemed to love him. Since we just graduated and enjoyed each other company, we decided to rent a place together. I think a part of me didn’t want Jimmy to be lonely as I knew he probably would have just lived by himself and if you knew the guy, that is not Jimmy’s vibe. Also, I knew I would not get any work done if I tried to live with some of my other friends. Don’t get me wrong, for example, Bdubs is an amazing friend, but I know for a fact he would force me to go to bed early and that is not my thing. The place was nice. Somehow Jimmy managed to get a place that we were able to rent near a farm. The rent was even lowered because we helped around. Jimmy would take care of the animals and farmland while I would make sure all the machines were in working order, if I was not doing that, I was helping Jimmy. That agriculture class was more helpful than I thought.
It was not until we moved in together that I started to notice what some people might call weird habits from Jimmy. I would notice him just standing in the middle of a room, just listening for something. He would tilt his head like a bird. Once it seemed like he heard what he was looking for, he would nod and then go back to whatever he was doing. When I would see him doing that, I would try to listen as well. The most I would hear might be a songbird’s tune that was not unheard of. I learned that he was very, and I mean very superstitious. If a little salt was spilled, he would throw some over his shoulder, make sure not to break any mirrors, not step on any cracks, and the list goes on. When I asked about it, he told me he was cursed in a very serious tone, and anyone that knew Jimmy, he did not have a serious bone in his body. It reminded me of what he said before we started to hang out. I once again told him that he didn’t seem cursed to me and that I was fine too. I just accepted that was another part of him like the humming.
The humming never stopped unless Jimmy was talking, eating, sleeping, or in those moments when he was trying to hear something. Sometimes I thought I would hear the humming even when Jimmy was not around. One time a friend was visiting, and they pointed out I started humming, I didn’t even realize it. It is like when you have been around someone a lot or watching someone on tv and you pick up their habits. I must have picked up the humming from Jimmy. When Jimmy would do it, it reminded me of a bird but at the time I could not figure out what kind. It was a constant, one that was just in the background until it wasn’t.
One day, after a couple of months of us helping on the farm and having our own jobs, I notice how quiet the house was after coming home from work. I looked for Jimmy, but he was just sitting in the living room, looking at nothing. I can tell something was wrong, that something was off with him. He seemed sick? That doesn’t seem right but there was no other way to describe how he looked. His face was pale and his eyes… Well normally his eyes are blue but at that time they were a very dark blue, almost black. I went to see if he had a fever, and he was cold to the touch. I asked if he was okay and he told me he was fine, just did not feel right. He then told me that I needed to leave. I was thinking he just wanted some alone time. I gave him a hug, not quite sure why I did. There was something in his facial expression that was sad. I walked to my room to give him some alone time and noticed that all my stuff was packed, a bus ticket out of town, and what looked like an envelope with the words, “Wait to open until it is time.” I walked out of my room to ask Jimmy some questions, but he was nowhere to be seen. I called out to him, but there was no answer. There was no noise at all. I don’t know why I left, how I was convinced to leave but the next thing I knew, I blinked, and I was on the bus heading to a few towns over.
It was not until after I got a hotel room and the next day that I realized what happened. I was sitting in the lobby. When the tv switched to the news. On it was coverage of a fire that happened in the town Jimmy, and I lived in. The news was saying something about how several houses caught on fire, burning them all to the ground and leaving about no traces. I was not paying too much attention as the screen showed what used to be our house. I remembered getting on my phone and trying to call Jimmy repeatedly, just getting his voicemail. Though out that day, I would hear my phone ring and quickly pick it up thinking I would hear Jimmy’s voice. The next few days were a blur. I would check to see if there was any update, that anyone survived, that Jimmy survived. My friends, our friends would call to check on me to see how I was. I told them I was fine; I was out of town when it happened. I do know I kept thinking about why they are checking up on me, they should be worried about Jimmy. There was never an update, and no human remains were found. Jimmy’s body was never found.
I remembered the envelope that was left with my stuff and opened it a few days after the event. I figure this was the time that Jimmy meant and so after staring at it for the latest time, I tore it open. There were two things I noticed after doing that. The first thing was that there was a will inside it. It was stated that any assets that Jimmy had, would be transferred to me. It was signed on the dated that I left. The next thing I noticed was that the silence was gone. I did not realize how much I missed hearing that canary song. I cried myself to sleep that day.
From there on, I got Jimmy’s assets transferred to me, which was a good chunk of money, it helped me get a new place and new ones in the future. I would hop around a lot, not staying in one place for too long. One of Jimmy’s old friends and one of mine told me that Jimmy used to do the same thing before meeting me. He was actually the one who told me about you all. Sometimes I think I see a yellow canary watching me, protecting me. Jimmy’s song would follow me, and I would do what he used to do and hum it back, it only seemed right. Whenever the song would stop, I would leave the area, no questions asked. I learned to trust the song, to trust Jimmy.
Statement ends.
[Grian]
I did not know what to think when I found this statement. I thought it was just someone that wanted closure as some of these were. I think this was able to provide some closure. There was no follow-up or anything and I always try to see if I can get any more information even if this doesn't seem like anything major. It is my policy to research the statement before dismissing it. Pearl did some searching and found the town that Tango described and news articles describing the event that took a couple of years ago. There indeed was a person named Jimmy Solidary that have graduated from Sahara University. According to what Pearl found, he would move around a lot like what Tango have heard. Tango was the last person to see Jimmy as Jimmy was reported missing a few days after the event. What is more interesting from her finds is the places that Tango lives afterward. There seems to be some sort of incident that follows him leaving, whether that be the building collapsing, flooding, the list goes on. When compared to Jimmy, similar patterns accorded. It seemed he would always leave before these events happened. I tried to get a follow-up with Tango himself but couldn’t get ahold of him. Supposedly the latest location he was last seen was in a small town near some forest. There was a wild animal attack. Several people were reported missing. Tango was last heard from his friends on July 15, 2022, the day of the attack.
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