Voicemail #01

Upon arriving from a five day mission with the HOARD, Isaphiel discovered two messages on his answering machine. One was related to socializing plans they had forgot, and was quickly deleted. The second he has kept secret for the last six months.
As soon as he heard the record, uncertain if it should be deleted, Isaphiel preferred to extract and keep the memory tape. The tape was left in a compartment protected in ways almost no living being should be able to find and steal.
Despite the landline being a secure phone, to keep the mere existance of the call a secret, the hero also hired two distinct supers to erradicate any trace of it. Not even the caller's family were made aware of the doubts voiced secretily to the hero.

Secret caller

While the caller doesn't identify themselves, Isaphiel knows well who it is. The hoarse voice is somewhat slurred indicating some intoxication or altered state of mind but marginally recognizeable.
The caller is the son of a comrade and close friend that took to honoring his father's past. And one of the most notorious Supers of the last twenty years, the face of heroism.

Audio transcript (Spoiler)

MACHINE

...At the tone, please record your message.

[HIGH PITCHED TONE]
[SLOW BREATHING]
[SHUFFLING]

HOARSE VOICE

You are not there are you? [SIGH] I'm not sure I wanted you to be there. I'm not sure of many things these days. [PAUSE] How [CHUCKLE] I can't even pretend to (inaudible). I can't pretend we are friends. How do I start?

[SIGH]

HOARSE VOICE

Maybe I should say hello? Afterall, we haven't spoke in some time now. But that seems [PAUSE] not enough compared to the things we have been through. [CHEERILY] How have you been? [CHUCKLES] That seens shallow compared to what I have said. Maybe I just get to the point. But I don't know how to get to the point. What it even is.

[SHUFFLING]

HOARSE VOICE

I have been [GRUNTS] stuck in this for the last few hours. It might have been for the last few years. [PAUSE] Tell me. It's been [PAUSE] decades for you, right? Centuries even. How do you make it stop? How do you [PAUSE] how do you do it? How do you, well, keep going? How are you sure you should be going? Where are we going with this? With this never ending struggle?

[SHUFFLING]
[GLASS HITTING WOOD]

HOARSE VOICE

Is it worth it? Does it make any difference? If (sic) we do nothing [PAUSE] if we change, if we stop? Does it change with us? What is the point in all of this? I mean, we stop a villain today, we stop a villain tomorrow. Marching, never stopping, never ending, never [PAUSE]

HOARSE VOICE

Are they villains? Are they truly, truly, truly villains? Are we trully the heroes? [SIGH] [PAUSE] I don't know how (inaudible). [PAUSE] I dont know how to end this conversation, honestly. I don't know. I don't even know why I called you, it's been. I mean, you know it has been some sometime since we spoke. You are not obrigated to answer me, you don't have a duty to care for me. [PAUSE]

HOARSE VOICE

You got out. And then you got back. Why? Why? How? I don't know what to do anymore. Can I stop? Should I stop? What would happen if I did stop? Would they [PAUSE] would the world really fall into chaos and misery if I just disappeared? Or would eventually, someone else somewhere else become [PAUSE] me?

HOARSE VOICE

Doesn't matter. You are not listening. You probably won't listen. [SIGH]
Why did I call you? Why did I [PAUSE] why did I become a hero?

Type

Record, Voicemail

Medium

Memory Tape

Location

Hidden drawer, Isaphiel's study

Addresser (Caller)

███████

Addressee

Sir Isaphiel of Alphins

Date of Voicemail

June 11th, 1991

Audio Length

5 minutes 58 seconds

The Burdens of Heroism

The voicemail is not the first nor the last instance of recorded doubt from heroes about the necessity of their existance and the morals behind it. In fact, Heroes Doubt is considered a common reason to retire the heroic persona in the last five years.