animus_network | first ❅ video;

[It's been a while since Yukiko has been in the Tower at all - three months, give or take a bit. It shows in her face when she appears on the video feed; this isn't the face of a surprised newcomer. It's the face of someone who has explored enough to know that while she was gone, a lot of her friends have left. Her voice is just a bit shaky when she speaks.]

...hello, Tower. This is Yukiko Amagi. I was here, before, and now I'm back. I think it's been about three months. It's kind of hard to tell time when it passes on a dead world. One day blends into another after a while.

[She pauses, briefly, taking a deep breath.]

I know that there were people from the Japanese town of Inaba here before. They were my friends. I also tried sending them a message. I - I know that they're all gone. The message said 'user not found' for all of them, and so I went down to the graveyard to doublecheck. They're definitely gone.

I'll be okay, though. I know they're gone now, but I can be strong enough for all of them. I know I'm back here for a reason, and that reason must be to make sure they're saved, in the end. Really saved, not just 'saved' as in pulled here again.

...so. What did I miss while I was gone?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't like people being killed. But if it's him or all of us, it has to be him.

[V/V considers the choice pretty obvious.]

You're right. If it's him or all of us, there's not really a question. It's what has to be done. I don't like people being killed, but if our backs are against the wall, we can't do anything but fight back as hard as we can.

People are really strong here, aren't they? Not physically, I mean, but they're good at enduring a lot.

[Yukiko nods.]

We have to be, I guess. Or at least, we have to learn to be strong, even when it's hard.

I've learned a lot of things here.

Sometime later, maybe - do you want to meet up and do something fun? Like video games, or something like that. I think it'd be nice.

I think we all do.

[She smiles.]

Definitely! We can grab some snacks and a bunch of movies or games or something. It sounds like fun!

Mhm! I don't think we've gotten to know each other well enough yet, but I'd really like to be better friends with you, Yukiko. So we should do something like that!

Sometime this weekend, then?

Sounds good!

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