video

[doctor_dismemberment]

[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.]

Comments

[doctor_dismemberment]

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?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

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.

[doctor_dismemberment]

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?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

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.

[doctor_dismemberment]

[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?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[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.