[ The ruins aren't any help, not that Jo knows what help will look like in this place, whatever this place even is. She can't see for any long distance yet, to be able to see where exactly in the Horizon she is and how long that trek back to saner places might be. But it is the long-term plan already. Getting the hell out of here and back.

At least it's not the labyrinth again, Jo thinks, right before the shrill sound slides past her one side. Then, there's a quieter cackling in the air after that high-pitched noise clears everything out. She turns and then again, watching the color leech further and further and further away—the laughter skittering ever closer.

There's no one else here that appears sane, too smart to yell for anyone, and she doesn't have a fucking clue what that's going to be—only that the answer is bad, everything is bad in the Horizon lately—but she starts backing away. Not running, but looking for something to be able to watch from behind. Jo isn't fully paying attention to it when her sword manifests in her hand. Longer than half herself, thin and sharp. Still untouched by the malfunctions. ]