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[animusnpcs]

[Early in the morning--perhaps one or two--there's a series of violent explosions that seem to originate in the residential elevator shaft. The elevator itself plummets--anyone unlucky enough to be inside is killed either by the explosion or the fall, although they won't be able to recall which due to apparent unconsciousness.

Jason sends this message not long after the explosions quiet down.]

WHAT have you lot done this time? Are you trying to crack the Tower in half? HOW did you even get explosives? Do you know what you've just DONE? This is going to be a mess. It's your own fault, but given I'm on babysitting duties, I'm going to do my best to fix this as quickly as possible. It'll still take a week or so, though.

Until then--well, maybe you should figure out which of your revolutionaries had THIS bright idea and give them a talking to, because pretty soon you're all going to find out what that explosion broke.

(There will be no NPC response to this post.)

Comments

[integrous]

Exactly.. I mean.. [ She swallows. She's thought about it, and honestly, this is the scariest part. ] They didn't announce it, so.. there could have been people in there while it happened.. i-if so, what happened to those people..?

[technologic]

[April winces, biting her lips as she thinks.] I think... I-I think they're probably d-dead...

... But I s-still don't think one of us did it, s-since there's no way we could make a bomb that would d-damage the tower.

[integrous]

[ Yeah. They're probably dead.. people might have died there. No matter who did that, it's unforgivable either way, nobody should have to be sacrificed like that.. ]

You really think there's no way? Maybe someone used magic or something like that-- o-or maybe they just happened to find the right stuff!

[technologic]

Our magic wouldn't damage the tower either... And if they did find the right stuff, I-I don't think they would waste it on blowing up the elevator, n-not when it could be taken right down t-to the admin levels...

[This all doesn't feel right, and April rubs at her forehead as she thinks it over. The fact that people died from this already made her feel sick.]

... Maybe it was Jason. H-he could be using this as a way to make us fight with each other.

[integrous]

.. I know it's probably weird to say it, but.. his message seemed pretty genuine. [ It's difficult to tell though. Asahi is so used to being able to just see if people are lying or not that decyphering the amount of trust she can put in this text is really difficult. ]

Like he was really pissed over it. Do you think maybe something other than us or he himself caused it..?

[technologic]

[April is quiet for a few moments as she thinks over that.] ... I-it might have been something other than us, if it wasn't Jason or one of the other admins. There are all kinds of monsters in the tower...

[integrous]

E.. exactly, right?! And we don't know everything about this place, so it could just be something we don't even get..

[ .. nnnn, it's all just speculation in the end though, huh.. ]

.. I hate feeling so helpless. [ April's been nice to her and they've talked a few times, so she at least feels comfortable enough admitting it to her of all people. ]

[technologic]

... Same here. Just sitting here and wondering what's going on is annoying as hell, but we... can't do much else right now. [And April has never liked sitting around at all.]

... But hopefully we'll be able to do more than this sometime.

[integrous]

Even against whatever the consequence of all this is..? It doesn't sound like something good, and even Jason is freaking out about it-- and he's pretty cruel to begin with, right? It makes it feel even worse.

[technologic]

Yeah... I mean, even if it's dangerous, w-we still have to do our best to find a way to fix things and get back home.

[integrous]

Sometimes it just seems like stuff always gets worse here though.. [ For a moment her voice shakes at the end of the sentence, but she quickly tries to swallow the tone, shaking her head. ]

N-not like I'm going to give up though! I'll never give up, no matter what..!

[ But it's still hard to say, even if it's the truth. It's hard to fight. ]

[technologic]

But it's still pretty hard, huh? [Her voice takes on a sympathetic tone, and she sighs quietly to herself.]

... It'll get better though, I think. We just... have to push through the bad stuff first.

[integrous]

.. Right. Whatever bad it is that's going to happen.. we'll just have to deal with it. [ She swallows. ]

I don't know what it's going to be or if I can even be of use, but.. if you need my help with it, just tell me, okay?

[technologic]

... Thank you, Asahi. And it's the same for you, um... If you n-need my help, just let me know a-and I'll do my best.

[integrous]

Thanks. [ She smiles. It's not as wide as usually, but still.. it's pretty genuine. It's a slight relief, knowing she has people to fall back on. ]

It's only thanks to other people that I could make it so far, either way, so.. it means a lot to me.

[technologic]

[April blinks, before she gives Asahi a small smile back.] Y-you're welcome. It's, ah, the same for me too, so I'm g-glad I can help.