animus_network | [video] Backdated to the morning of the 10th

perhaps they actually are, but whatever it is that allows these monsters to come into our rooms in the first place allows them to bypass that protection as well.

[ text instead of any other option, as always, but despite the inconvenience of typing with one hand he's glad for the way it keeps others at a distance. ]

either way i was under the impression that it wouldn't much matter what the other administrators felt, since ruana outranks them.

*And he's uncomfortable responding to text with video, so he switches as well - even if he's not a very good typist and the reply takes a little while.*

Even if she outranks them, it doesn't mean they don't have those feelings. I think she might want to avoid tension all around, but then again, madness often does preclude good sense.

It will be a trying month.

i didn't say they couldn't, did i? only that it wouldn't matter.

they didn't seem to do the other one any favors. pity. i hear he apparently was a good man.

less prone to experiments or these games, surely.

Dax gave his life for us.

But Ruana can only kill so many before she is left with too few hands to run this tower.

... he gave his life for us, you say, but what do we have to show for it? an environment even more unsympathetic to us, now that its alleged most-humane controller is gone?

i suppose you're right, though. still, one can't help but wonder if she'll care about that for much longer, considering it now has a date of expiry.

What do we have to show for it? It spurred people who would have bided more time to action. Within two months, Jason was paranoid, afraid of us. He mutilated and controlled people for the sake of learning more of our doings. And then two months more and someone has made a move that dealt a crippling blow to the tower itself.

I do not believe such fast movement after a man died for our sakes is a coincidence.

so you martyred him, and were pushed to action only because you now knew what was at stake.

[ he means a general you, but then again Enoch does seem fairly devoted to his argument. there are inklings of suspicions there, but Raven chooses not to act on them for the time being. network, for one thing. ]

... that glamour failure. a crippling blow, yet what did it even accomplish other than prove the admins are not infallible and give us a time limit? if such was the objective, for matters of morale or some similar purpose, it likely was lost in the panic.

still, i suppose it's something. better than uselessly going in circles.

[ he has a habit of talking out his thoughts to himself, and it apparently carries over to electronic communication. sorry, Enoch. ]

*It is the very fact that he is on the network, and that Ruana is certainly watching the tower, that means he can't say anything directly. But there is more than one benefit to the cause of their now limited time.*

It was something. I don't know what it is yet, beyond that panic. But we know they will be closely watching their resources. It may lead to a lesser quality of life for us; I do not know how much energy it takes to maintain a glamour. But if they are focusing their energy on sustaining the tower itself, would it mean less energy could go into things such as Jason's experiments, into the more elaborate of tortures set before us?

And what of the network of eyes that watch us?

that network of eyes never was infallible in the first place if jason had to go to the lengths he did two months ago to obtain information. granted, they retaliated in excess, and perhaps you're right in that some of it will alleviate given the limited resources.

i'd rather be realistic, though. given what we know of them it seems far more likely they'd strip us of even more luxuries before giving up their own pursuits. though without knowing the logistics of the tower, it's hard to say. suppose it could be that they're in dire enough straits to have to forgo both.

not all progress is necessarily good. but in this case, i guess we couldn't do much worse than we already were.

It's clear they want us to function, and it was somewhat difficult to navigate the tower with the glamours down. The glamours on the food may never return, but we do have the food available from the other levels if that is true; even if it is not what it appears to be, it still nourishes us as food should.

difficult, but not impossible. i think that might depend on how far we push them.

[and let's change the subject because he's still trying not to think of the whole body glamour thing...]

food from the other levels— you mean the flora and fauna? i actually don't mind the bars much, though it's irksome they wouldn't allow us to keep the spirits.

suppose it's best, as always, to hunt during the day. now moreso than ever.

*It's a shame Enoch first, has picked up on the convenience of keeping several conversation threads at once in text; and second, does not see that this was a subject change at all because of this. He thinks of it instead as a conversation that has split in two.

While he knows the glamours are a disturbing subject, it's knowledge too valuable to ignore. Especially when he realizes something else...*

Looking back on them, there is, too, the consideration that most of their games, experiments, or distractions depend on altering the glamours.

I don't mind them, either. There is worse than blandness, but variety is better for us. Perhaps if I made a syrup from some fruit to flavor the bars.

[ the reply is slightly slower to come. ]

the alternative is that they somehow know the physical workings of both various races and long lost technology from different worlds well enough to not leave permanent issues after modifying them. as far as the alterations of our beings goes, it's far more likely they were playing with the glamours.

i assume the bars have enough in them to sustain us, though there's the question of why these bodies need it at all.

*And Enoch turns out unusually tactless because even that is simple fact of life for text for him - there is also the luxury of being able to think of your words before letting the other person know what they are...*

That's exactly what I was saying. I don't believe they would take those from us because they deal in them as well.

I don't know why, but I do know that it is needed. If they will still hear questions from us, we might ask.

[ that's the magic of text-based replies on a network; any strange pauses can be comfortably attributed to technical errors on the other end or some sort of temporary distraction, or just simply thinking longer on something.

by which to say as much as the removal of the cues present in face-to-face interaction helps him in keeping his distance it has its obvious drawbacks. like now. oops. ]

fair point. the two are interlinked, it's a sound enough argument.

perhaps one could raise the issue the next time they deign to appear to us.

*And Enoch himself is a slow typist, so it's easy for him to consider that too. If the truth comes out he'll feel terrible for it.*

I plan to.

*Actually, depending on how Zo answers his note next month he'll take the opportunity to ask Jason after that. Surely such information is harmless now that they know.*

...that's rather bold of you.

if it would not be too presumptuous, could i ask to be kept updated on that correspondence and any subsequent?

Of course. Can I have a name or mailbox number to send that to?

*Since "R1822322" was...well, clumsy.*

mailbox 0322.

name's raven.

Very well, Raven. I'll remember that.

much appreciated, thank you.

Or... he's enjoying the potential of fresh subjects to experiment on...

He only experiments on living subjects. "Functional", he would call them...

*Moment of concern for his workload aside, he isn't exactly hiding his disgust for the man.*

Such a strange little man. Still, I do not think long on the ways of such creatures. It is not healthy.

I think trying to understand him can help us. It isn't pity or sympathy I aim for, only understanding.

*After all, if Dax was able to persuade him to be lighter on them than he normally would be, there's a way to negotiate with him.*

To what end would you use understanding, however? I am curious what your goals would be in this.

If Dax was able to convince him to hold back for so long, there must be a way to speak to him effectively.

So long as he thinks you are at his level. They may not be inclined to listen to those so far beneath them.

I know. It's very likely. But all the same...what harm can it do to try?

*He doesn't want to think violence is the only option. And he suspects Jason doesn't see them as people, now knowing what it is he's been working with. And in all honesty, he hopes to learn a way he can show them they are more than their cages.

Or at least convince him to publish the results. For their suffering during his months to have more of a purpose.*

At this point? None.

In truth, we are little more than wire dolls and playthings with our spirits attached. There's very little, other than torture and oblivion they can do, and they already do one of those.

[They can enter the dorms now...?]

That might be a clue to beating her 'game.'

The fact that they can go where other monsters can't?

Exactly. They're different from the others in more ways than the obvious if they can do that.

They're Ruana's creations, that much is certain. Given how powerful she is, and what the technology here can do, I wonder if that isn't all we need to explain it...

We'll need to ask around for more reports. Maybe others have noticed a few details.

[Always one to choose the rational option when he can, Barnaby wanted to analyze the entire situation as much as was possible.]

Now's not the time to work alone. That much is for sure.

Of course. It never has been... I trust we can coordinate little by little here on the network for information, and travel in groups for safety.

That's my thinking. With luck, people won't be too concerned to use the network...and it stays running, of course.

It's all up to Ruana's whims. Though I think she'd enjoy watching us react to her game like this.

I think she already is.

*A nod.* Which is why I think she won't do anything to the network. It's another way to watch us.

Of course it is. It can't just be here for our convenience.

[video] Backdated to the morning of the 10th

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