animus_network

[The feed clicks on abruptly. Richtofen glances up at the camera, then down at the keyboard, and scowls.]

Wha- No, you stupid thing, I did not mean-!

[He heaves a sigh. He's silent for about three seconds, then looks back up at the camera wearing a grin that's more predatory than anything. He raises both hands, fingers spread, and gives them a little wiggle.]

...My hands are not cooperating with me today. [He balls them into fists. His smile is tight-lipped, eyes shining with annoyance.] Ah, well. Video will work just as well as text, I suppose...

[He sucks in a big breath, and lets it out in a high-pitched whine of air that trails into a word.]

Soooooo, Tower, mein kleine friends. It has been a little bit, has it not? Two weeks, perhaps three? [He moves one hand around in the air as if grasping for words, and a shiver of a laugh creeps into his voice.] You know, it is just so hard to tell the time when you are trapped in a desolate wasteland without even bugs to keep you company!

[He ends in a shout that wipes the smile off his face, so Richtofen - chest heaving just a bit - takes care to twist his lips upward before he goes on.]

But I digress.

[He leans back in his seat, hoists his boots up onto the terminal. With his arms folded behind his head, he looks confident, even if he's too high-strung to ever be considered "relaxed."]

Tell me, what have I missed? It feels like it has been forever since I have been around all of you lovely people. Please, I implore you, I want to know everything that has happened while I have been away. [He lifts an index finger and gives it a little wave.] The doctor does not like being out of the loop, you know!

[It's unclear why he's asking this on the network, of all places. Surely nothing too secret can be revealed in public... Maybe he just wants attention.]

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[A sour look crosses his face when the watch is mentioned. The last time he saw it, it was being used to disable limbs - his limbs, particularly. The memory of being dragged down to sit in some haunted cell doesn't sit well with him.]

Of course. He cannot face us without that damned watch of his, can he? [He scoffs.] What a coward.

Well, how badly did you hurt him, in any case? Bad enough that he bled? Please tell me you all managed at least that much.

[She nods.]

Cuts and s-scrapes. I managed a stab every once in a w-while.

W-we hurt him enough that even though h-he killed us he still had to retreat.

[Richtofen purses his lips in an attempt to keep himself from grinning like a lunatic.

It doesn't work.]

Wunderbar. Ha!

[He throws his head back and cackles. He's in no mood to pretend like he doesn't take pleasure in Jason's pain. It's not like anyone can hold it against him in this particular case, he's sure.]

I hope he is wallowing in sadness und despair down there! [His voice is condescending, a sour mockery of the kind of voice someone would use to speak to a baby.] Poor little Jason, licking his wounds all by himself. What a sorry sight that must be!

[You're kind of insane, aren't you?

She's... surprisingly okay with that. Reminds her of old company.]

Yeah, I'm certainly feeling better after d-dying pretty painfully because of a d-damn w-watch.

We even t-tried to get it from him. You c-can tell how that turned out.

[He stifles a laugh. Chuckling at her pain would probably not give off a very good impression.]

Oh, come now. Do not think of this as a bad experience. [He waves a hand around in the air.] I mean, suuure, you died, but you got to hurt Jason a bit, didn't you?

[The smile falls off of his face.]

Some of us would have loved that opportunity. Stupid Jason, with his stupid watch, und stupid eyes-! Um.

[He coughs.]

That is to say, think of it as a learning experience, ja? Now you know what will und will not work if you try to go for his watch again! [He sits up and leans close to the terminal abruptly.] What, um, what is it that does not work, specifically? For future reference.

[He wants to stab Jason so bad...]

[She leans back in her seat.]

What didn't work was our trust in Zo, who arrived too late to do anything. Jason had already used his watch by then.

[A scowl appeared on her face, but it quickly dispersed.]

We also tried to get the watch from him, like I said. You know how that turned out.

I feel like we were close though.

Ah, yes, well, I have said repeatedly that the brat is not very trustworthy.

[There's a hint of bitterness on his face, but his voice is smug.]

Perhaps you people will trust my judgment now, hmm?

A while back, he set up a carnival with no strings attached for us.

Sometimes people should be trusted, even if they fail to deliver once in a while.

I would have rather had Jason's head on a platter than a few days of relaxation at a carnival.

[He rolls his shoulders in a ~~passive-aggressive~~ shrug.]

Und as I recall, that carnival did not remain in a pristine state for very long, did it?

No, but it did give us some strange information.

I think we saw some things that happened in the tower before any of us arrived here.

[That gets Richtofen to fall silent for a moment. He remembers his vision distinctly. Walking through a hallway that looked like something out of his lab back home, opening a door to see terrified children all locked up in cells. And one of them got dragged out, hoisted up onto an operating table right in front of him, and--

The vision ended before he could do anything.

Richtofen bites down on his tongue.]

...It is best not to think so hard about those things, isn't it? Why don't we discuss something else?

[Veronica's own vision resurfaces as she thinks it over. Being grabbed from behind, unable to move, and flung to the ground with enough force to knock her unconscious... Yeah.]

Y-yeah.... okay.

Everyone's been getting things from home after the battle. They're a lot bigger than the usual stuff we've gotten.

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