animus_network

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[After a long month spent gathering information, pouring over the guide to the Tower he found, and generally just trying to gather his bearings, Mello decides to turn to the network at long last. He never did like the idea of a completely solitary investigation.]

How's it going, Tower? Everyone been having fun? Great. Down to business.

First off, let me say that you're just about the craziest bunch of kidnapping victims I've ever had the displeasure of living with.

I mean, come on. Weddings? Birthday celebrations? I know that people have an innate need to try and make unmanageable situations as normal as possible, but surely there are better things you all could be doing with your time.

Now, this might come as a shock, but I'm not content to sit here and leave myself to the mercy of my kidnappers. I've already read that guide that some of you have put together, so don't bother explaining how dangerous the place is to me, or how there's no way out, or blah, blah, blah. However, if anyone has info on hand that hasn't yet been added to the guide, feel free to cough it up. If our hosts have allowed you to write up that guide in the first place, I'm sure they won't mind my asking for a little more elaboration, right?

Information is key, especially in a place where nothing seems to make sense. I fully intend to make use of it and find a way out. You're free to join me, if any of you are up for it.

All right, now time for a question.

I've heard that we all come from different worlds. That isn't normally something I'd believe, but since I've arrived here, I've seen a ton of strange things, so I'll bite. In the interest of finding out which "universe" I'm from, give me an answer: have any of you heard of a mass murderer named Kira? He kills people - criminals - with heart attacks. Just in case any of you are from one of those "alternate timelines" and Kira hasn't yet reared his ugly head, have any of you heard of a detective named L?

Regards.

-M

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[There's a long moment of blank feed and silence until the feed corrects itself and reveals a totally trashed area; bits of flowers and torn chiffon strewn about the terminal, chair, and some of the visible stacks in the library.

Nobody seems to be present, however.]

[Mello cocks his head, staring at the feed while running his tongue over a bar of chocolate. For the moment, he doesn't type or do anything. He's content to watch, half-wondering if this will turn into another freaky sight like the one he saw when the administrator video was leaked.]

[Instead he gets a white haired kid running into the scene.] Reno! Wha... [He looks at the feed and is silent a moment as he reads the text post his red eyes getting angrier as he does so.

Why does everyone try and spoil this? So what if it is insane, if getting married in a place where you might be forced to murder each other, or one of you might disappear forever, or then return with no memories, not even the same person.

Where their lives were so far out of their control that the small times of calm, of happiness, a birthday or a wedding was all they had. And why not get married? The odds of them escaping were so long, it might be defeatist but it was hard not to be when he had been here more than a year. What was wrong with two people wanting to get married, even in a place such as this.

Not even No. 6 had restricted marriages.]

What is wrong with you? Can't you just leave them alone? How long have you even be here? A week? A month? Have you been through the archives? Do you know how long some people have been here? Don't you think if there was a way out we'd have got out by now? Or did you just think we were stupid and you'd wander in here and free us all, be our savior. [Someone has been taking lessons from Reno, and Rat, on how to give scathing lectures.

Normally he'd never say anything like this. But you hurt Reno. No one gets to hurt Reno.]

[Oh, woah. All right. That's what this is about. Mello pops a crick in his neck, sticks his chocolate bar between his teeth, and begins to type, neither looking nor feeling any worse for the wear.]

Didn't know an offhand comment would cause so much stress. Forgive me for being a little too concerned with trying to figure out how to get out of this place to give proper consideration to everyone's feelings.

[Even through text, he does not sound sorry at all.]

[Whelp... Not all that impressed over here.]

If you aren't into celebrations, you are welcome to ignore them.

[Meanwhile the "crazy" people will take the chance to unwind some and enjoy themselves. It's not like the chance for that doesn't roll around every day. Oh, wait-]

It might come as a shock to you, but you are not the first to be searching information on the tower and our hosts. Or to decide that you'd rather not do nothing all day. Believe it or not, many of us feel similar. If you want to know what's been uncovered so far, spend some time digging the network. Anything not in the guides should be available there.

[The boy on the screen seems to be even angrier, his hands are balled in fists and he seems to be concentrating on his breathing. It's probably a good job this is over the network.]

Well you should learn, we get hurt enough without hurting each other.

[He begins to clear up the mess, trying to find anything salvageable.]

[Mello rests his elbow on the terminal and his cheek in his fist, typing lazily with one hand.]

Oh boy, another person all bent out of shape that I'm not big on parties. Fun.

I've already gone digging around in the network, but thanks for advising me to do the obvious. Got anything new to contribute? Unless you're telling me that everything worth mentioning has already been posted, which, frankly, is almost depressing.

Most of the tower's inhabitants are weak and live in an elaborate fantasy they set up to escape reality. Those celebrating weddings and birthdays are simply particularly pathetic representatives of the common populace here. You would do better to ignore them.

[ Because yes, in his eyes too that's stupid. Before adding: ]

As for your questions, the only valuable information you should know is that to leave this tower and return to your world, the administrators must be killed.

[Mello wears away at his chocolate bar with his tongue, watching the white-haired boy move around on the screen. Truthfully, he didn't expect too much out of this post, but his attempts are crashing and burning far quicker than he'd expected.

He's going to need to re-think this.

Though he doubts the boy will pay much attention to him, he types up a quick reply.]

Hey, look, your friend's just in search of whatever happiness he can grab onto in this place, and he doesn't wanna hear any trash-talk. I get that. But that's not really the point I was trying to make.

What I'm trying to say is that it's not my style to sit around and pretend while the people in charge have God-knows-what planned for all of us. I'd just like to make up a plan of escape and put that on the fast track, all right?

[He's still not sorry.]

[Now we're getting somewhere. Mello's lips quirk upward into a smirk, and he settles in to type up a response.]

I figured it'd come down to something like that. You're pretty bold, though, saying that stuff where they're bound to see it.

[He's referring to both the administrators and the other Tower residents with that last line. Of course, if the original post is of any indication, Mello's got no problems with boldness.]

[Shion glances at the text quickly and reads it before going back to tidying. He's had enough arguments with stubborn people to know that arguing his point is useless and will just make him more angry. So he goes with what he knows best.

Facts. And by facts we mean babbling, as he continues to pick up ruined decorations] There are no openings in the tower until the eleventh floor, if you have looked out of any of the windows you would have seen that we are surrounded by a fog on the lower levels. This is no mere fog, if was described as a barrier by our captors, it shreds anything that passes through. A whale did manage to break through, with a lot of injuries to crash into a tower. A whale that was actually some kind of ship, carrying monsters. We are unaware if they are common in the outside world.

The administrators can control us, including our minds and bodies. They can turn us into monsters or force us to kill each other without even trying. They can kill at the press of a button though a few of them enjoy more creative means of torture.

There have been escape attempts, all which failed, and attempts to take over. Attempts to free people taken away from experiments. They all resulted in the death of those that attempted it. Death is not permament though after a while strange things seem to happen, things that our captors weren't prepared for. There is a group led by Zelda who are currently trying to form plans of escape and survival, a vast majority of the tower are members. So as you have seen we have not been sat around partying.

So far in the seventeen months of recorded tower history us captives have had one success against our captors, with help from another captor, and we cannot be sure if it was a true success or a trick to gain our trust.

oh hey, you found that! it needs to be updated like burning, but it definitely needs to start circulating again, especially with stuff about the people running this place.
_{[She'd half considered writing that update herself, but wording things professionally is gross.]}

never heard of either of those guys, so our worlds don't match.

Edited 2013-01-27 20:56 (UTC)

tl;dr

How does someone kill with heart attacks?

[Mello stares at the screen, hanging on every word. He commits everything to memory, then spends a few moments trying to process all of the information he's been given. The news of a group formed with the intent to escape is comforting; if nothing else, it means that he won't have to go to the trouble of forming a group of his own to conspire with. He knows about the administrators' power to kill from reading it in the guide, and it isn't surprising, but the information about the fog is new.

However, it's that last bit that Mello finally decides to respond to. He darts his tongue out to lick melted chocolate from his lips, then switches to a voice feed. He figures it'll be more convenient for the both of them.]

What sort of success was it?

So you know more about the ones who're holding us captive?

[Mello silently acknowledges the last part of the message. He can't be absolutely certain she's telling the truth about whether or not their worlds match, but he'll assume she is for the time being. He hadn't been planning to share any incriminating information, anyway.]

I learn more and more about the general intelligence level of the people in this place every day. Thanks for your contribution, I really appreciate it.

[Mello knows exactly how, and the murder weapon is nestled safely underneath his coat. That's not the sort of information he wants to share so freely, though.]

Not sure. That's what I was investigating back home.

there's five in total. you saw this yet? that's three of them. guy working with the computers is Riki, other is Dax, and that girl is Ruana.

the ones not on there are Jason - he's this smarmy jackass with a shaved head and a tie - and Zo, he's a kid.

When people die on a daily basis and wake up the next day with knowledge of it? A little bit of crazy is expected. When people have seen their dead home worlds and know that their friends are family are dead, they latch onto what happiness they can find.

That out of the way, that is my best friends little sister getting married and I damn well won't let you ruin this for her or Reno. Get to know they before you even dare say anything about what they're doing! They've been through enough in their lives on top of the shit that the administrators put us through every mother that they deserve this.

Yeah, I saw it.

[He frowns, replaying the scene in his mind. Everything from the conversation to the... unorthodox ending left a bad taste in his mouth, and as much as he tries to keep an open mind about things, the video feed doesn't sit right with him. That woman, Ruana... He's not sure what her deal is, but he has a feeling that she's someone to watch out for.

Ruana is one matter, but "Jason" is a name he keeps hearing on endless repeat. He's never even seen the man, but he seems to be infamous. Mello snaps a piece of his chocolate bar off, fixing the screen with a focused glare.]

I've heard about everyone at least once before, but never anything in detail. If you can't tell me anything specific over the network, I understand. On that same note, I don't suppose you have any idea what sort of "project" Riki was working on?

I'm not trying to ruin anything for anyone. You're not gonna catch me running down the aisle screaming, "I object!" or anything, don't worry.

But, as a new captive here? It's a little strange to be dropped off in the middle of a place that seems no better than Hell, and almost immediately hear talk of a wedding. Wouldn't be my ideal venue, you know?

Good. I've known the two of them for years, since Elena was just a kid, so I don't want anyone or anything ruining this.

[She pauses.]

Yeah, I guess it is a little weird. It's better than a lifeless planet though, isn't it? I just spent six months where we're from and this place is definitely the better of two evils.

[Mello very nearly breathes a sigh of relief when the woman seems to settle down. Arguing about whether or not getting married in the Tower is a dumb idea is not something he's particularly eager to do (not right now, that is).

He focuses instead on the latter part of what she said. More information on the so-called worlds they left behind would be wonderful.]

A lifeless planet... what do you mean by that?

it's better if I tell you here. even if we both get kicked out into the wastelands, we might still get someone halfway useful reading back through all this one day who could do do something with it.

case in point with you, right?

_{[Maybe she would've said 'yeah, let's be stealthy about this' a few months ago, but Sayaka's gained a blasé attitude. Oh, sure, let them punish her, or delete the posts. Like that even matters.]}

Riki's the one I can't quite figure out. he's in charge of spatial stuff, I guess? He makes the floors, decides what goes on them, and he seems to like doing everything in weird convoluted ways. so that's what Dax would think is so inefficient.

that time bullshit that just got over with was definitely the distraction, might've been a part of the project. I dunno why he felt like he needed to distract us. the only way down to where they are is that special first floor elevator, so maybe he did something that made it more vulnerable to get into, or there's a completely different door he's talking about.

Edited 2013-01-28 04:33 (UTC)

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