[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica's face appears on the screen. She's sitting at one of the terminals, leaning to the side. Her entire right arm has been wrapped in bandages, the sleeve pulled up to show a few blood stains.]

...S-so, I woke up in a-a n-new room a w-while ago. I g-guess you a-all have too.

[At least it was surprisingly pleasant. Thanks Zo.]

I h-have to ask, d-does the t-tower feel... different? Like, n-now t-that J-Jason is dead.

[Locked to Rick Dawn]

...[It takes her a moment to collect her voice.] R-rick...? Are... a-are y-you there?

[She leaves the message open for a while, waiting to see if he'll reply.]

Comments

[text]

[bashfulshifter]

[Rick doesn't take as long as he has been the past few months to reply, which is already a positive sign.]

I'm here. Is something wrong?

[text]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[It takes her a moment to reply, mostly because she doesn't know where to start.]

Sort of. I wanted to know how you're doing.

You were bleeding pretty badly last time I saw you.

[text]

[bashfulshifter]

...I'm sorry. I should have checked in sooner to let you know I was okay. I didn't mean to make you worry.

I'm doing alright, I think, now that I've had some time to sleep. My hand still hurts a lot...it should heal soon, though. How's your arm?

[text]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[She checks her arm.

It's still bleeding a bit, and she still hasn't regained all the feeling in it.]

It's doing fine. It should be good as new soon. And I'm glad you're alright.

Listen. I want to talk to you, like personally, if that's okay.

[text]

[bashfulshifter]

That's good to hear. Just be careful.

[Oh dear.]

...Of course--it's not a problem at all. I'm always here to listen.

[text]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

It's... it's kind of a personal thing though. Can we meet on floor 25 or whatever? I'd rather talk to you in person.

[This sort of thing demands actually being there.]

[text/action]

[bashfulshifter]

Yes. I'll be there as soon as possible.

[Which he is--slowly, given that he's still kind of sore, but still within a reasonable amount of time. Given the gravity of Veronica's claims, he looks understandably nervous.]

[Video]

[taintedwhite]

[An hyper albino girl appears on screen, waving enthusiastically at the other girl.] Shiro did too. At first Shiro thought they had taken away Shiro's stuff but they did not. So Shiro doesn't mind.

Different how?

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[blinkblink]

D-different like.... I d-don't know. It's l-like t-the t-tower... c-changed a bit.

At least t-the w-whole room thing isn't j-just me. Is S-shiro doing okay?

[Video]

[taintedwhite]

[Shiro looks like she's trying hard to remember if she's noticed anything. Then she nods a bit.] Shiro thinks Miss Stitches is right. But Shiro doesn't know why it's changing. Maybe the Tower is like... a person. Maybe it's turning older. ...If Wilhelm was here, Shiro would ask Wilhelm. He's very smart and he has his... [She stops abruptly, remembering she's not supposed to talk about this. She looks a bit sad too.] He would know.

[A nod.] Shiro's okay. Miss Stitches is too? ...Miss Stitches looks hurt. [She's frowning at the blood stains.]

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[It's at this moment that Veronica makes the stunning realization that this girl was actually talking in the third person and not about someone else.

Ace investigator, right here.]

Yeah... F-Fran would p-probably have an idea a-about what's g-going on. [She frowns momentarily, letting out a small sigh. then, she turns her attention back to the girl.]

Uh... I-I'm fine. I just... g-got hurt in the fight with J-Jason.

[Video]

[taintedwhite]

[Well to Veronica's credit, Shiro is quite the special little snowflake. XD]

Shiro doesn't know Fran. Fran is a friend of Miss Stitches'?

[Shiro frowns.] Aceman said Jason was a bad guy. He deserved what happened.

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Fran is m-my sister. S-she's this r-really g-good doctor that isn't here r-right now.

[The ghost of a smile goes across her lips as she thinks about her sister. She hasn't seen her since she arrived in the tower.]

Jason.... d-did deserve it, but I-it d-doesn't m-mean that he s-should have died there.

[Video]

[wrathishness]

[Ira is all frowns, but that's not exactly unusual for him.]

Different? I don't get what you mean. What happened to your arm?

]Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Oh, hello you.]

I g-got s-stabbed by about a h-hundred scalpels. It's n-no b-biggie.

Like, t-the t-tower just... f-feels different. You probably w-wouldnt feel it b-because you're new.

[Video]

[wrathishness]

You got stabbed that many times and you're okay? You must be tough.

Guess not. I don't really notice anything. What'm I supposed to notice?

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

It's n-not an exact n-number. [More like twenty or something.] H-hurt l-like hell too.

T-that some people are w-waking up in n-new rooms? Or m-maybe some weird change of p-power.

[Video]

[wrathishness]

Oh, so you're not that tough. C'mon!

[Because getting stabbed twenty times and coming away relatively okay is SO UNIMPRESSIVE, SOMEHOW. At least Ira's less of a jerk with the rest of what Veronica says, where his golden eyes light up in realization.]

Oh, hey! Come to think of it, there were some new guys in my room... I think. I barely knew 'em anyway, so I didn't notice. Huh.

[Video]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Yeah, e-everyone's g-getting new r-roomates it seems.

[Her own eyes light up as she realizes that she's been put down.]

H-hey! I'm p-plenty tough!

video;

[slightlyoblivious]

You don't look so good. Are you okay? I've got healing magic.

[The room changes and such can wait until that's settled.]

video;

[stitchedupbodyguard]

Eh, it's j-just some b-blood a-and cuts. I'm fine.

[Actually she's a little pale. One thing that'll slow someone down is a loss of blood.]

video;

[slightlyoblivious]

...which means you aren't fine. What terminal are you at? I'm coming by to make sure you get some healing.

[That tone of voice is a 'don't argue with me' tone.]

video;

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[She sighs, the tone of 'this isn't necessary' on her voice.]

I'm in the dorm hallway at the terminals. You can't miss it.

video -> action;

[slightlyoblivious]

All right. I'll be right there.

[Yukiko had been in the library, but it doesn't take her long to get back down to the dorms.]

Veronica-san? Hey.

[She doesn't pause before casting a Diarahan spell - that's full healing, at least in her universe.]

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[And Veronica is still sitting there when Yukiko appears. She even gives a little wave with her good arm.]

H-hey, Yukkiko-san. [God, how long has it been since she used honorifics? She almost says something else before Yukiko starts with the healing spells. Instead, she just watches.]

Y-you really d-don't have to d-do this.