animus_network | video 001

[The feed clicks on, showing a surprised masked man.]

Okay, what did I just--

[He clears his throat.]

Hi. I’ve been trying to hack this terminal for an hour or so, to see if I can verify the information I’ve been given. It’s not really working, so I guess the next option is to ask around.

[He rubs the back of his neck, clearly not used to having to ask for help.

He’s not alone, either. Behind him someone happens to be hovering past the doorway silently at first, but then backtracks and stops in the entrance. Since his back is facing her he probably won’t notice, but she’s definitely noticed him. Her eyes open wide and her jaw drops with an audible gasp.

Yeah, her surprise is definitely apparent.]

Nightwing?! You are here??

[He jerks around in surprise, already brandishing a pair of escrima sticks.]

Who are you?

[Who she is might just have to wait, because (heedless of the weapons, she’s just that excited) before the last word has left his mouth she’s already halfway across the room, throwing her arms around him in relief and accidentally sending them both against the terminal. The last thing that the feed picks up from either of them is a shout (“What in--?!”) from “Nightwing” and a relieved string of WORDS (“I am so relieved to see you are undamaged!”) from the weird orange girl before the feed cuts off rather abruptly.]

[OOC: Answers will come from both Starfire and Nightwing!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

*The tinge of concern in his nervous smile becomes ever stronger as the smile itself fades away.*

...Not good. It may be relatively calm next month, but the man who watches over us the month after next is...known for his cruelty.

Known, huh.

[Slips into a bit of a deadpan.]

What is it that people know about him? There's not some-- organized way to prevent this cruelty, is there?

He...has a tendency to alter our bodies somehow. He only sees us as things to be experimented on. Unfortunately, the...cruelty is the organization. Our other hosts are prohibited under threat from interfering with the one overseeing us.

Great.

And I take it we're prohibited from interfering, too. [He gives an experimental tug at his collar.]

Can you tell me anything about previous experiments, and whether he likes reruns?

We've tried. The ones who didn't run were killed by orders of their leader.

*Enoch sighs.* I've only seen two experiments, myself. The first I saw, he switched the bodies of multiple people within the tower. Those switched became violently ill - we found the remedy, but those we couldn't give it to died. The second was...a disease. The tower wasn't heated, and many of us fell ill. Some of us had an ordinary illness, but others...it warped our minds.

Those who have been here longer than I have could tell you more about the...alterations.

So what, exactly, were we saved from, if people are still dying?

[It comes out a bit more snappishly than he really meant it to, but God, why wouldn't it? This is a lot to take in, all at once, after everything else with Kaldur and the Cave... and all of them were gone now...]

How long are people usually here for? I mean, what's the general life expectancy? If you know. I wouldn't blame you for not wanting to find that out.

*Oh. He...should have started with that.* The life expectancy is...as long as you would normally live. We're in a world that isn't our own, so death is impermanent. It...doesn't make it any less unpleasant.

Best news I've heard all day.

[He sighs.]

That I'm not joking is kind of depressing, I guess.

*Enoch nods solemnly, so slow it might better be described as a bow of the head.*

I'm afraid there's little good news here...

Talking to new people must be kind of horrifying, if you don't know what's in store for them. I appreciate you helping me get up to speed.

...In a way. But I couldn't simply sit by and not pass on what I've learned. What good is knowledge if it isn't spread? Especially here, where the most we can do is help one another survive.

Knowledge also has to be something of a burden here. If something happens to you before you can pass it on...

Does everyone see it like that? I mean, is it common for the people here to pull together?

I would say it is, or that everyone seems to try. There are those that don't, that are less than trustworthy, but those types of people are always to be found in large groups.

The kind that don't care if everyone gets out alive so long as they do. Right.

[Not a whole lot of patience for that.]

I guess they don't advertise their presence.

Some are too egotistical not to, but many do not, you're right.

video 001

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