animus_network | [Video]

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[Video]

[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.]

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[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?

[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.]

[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.

[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.

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.

A good doctor? ...Shiro knows a lot of doctors but they're not nice. It's good if Miss Stitches' sister is not like that.

Where is Fran right now?

...Why not? He would have kept doing mean things if he wasn't dead.

Fran... [Isn't as nice as she thinks she is. But she does mean well.] Fran is... I don't know. She might be alive somewhere, or she might be dead.

[A rather distressing thought. Though if she knew her sister, she knew Fran would probably find some way to survive if she could.]

Yeah, b-but it was p-part of Ruana's plan to kill him.

Oh... [A pause and then a bright smile.] Shiro is sure Fran is alive somewhere and that Miss Stitches will find her back soon!

...It was? Ruana doesn't like Jason? [Oblivious Shiro is oblivious.]

Thanks.

[Hoping is kind of worthless by this point, but she'll try anyways.]

Apparently. The Admins don't make much sense

Miss Stitches is welcome!

Mmm. Shiro doesn't understand them either. But they organize nice games! [Nice being apparently a very subjective notion.]

Umm...

[Nice is one word for it, that's for sure.]

Not very nice. Not if you have to play them.

Shiro did play them! [Some of them, at least.] There were almost as much fun as those that Shiro played with Ganta in Deadman Wonderland. [That's saying something... about Shiro's definition of nice and fun.]

Deadman....

[Well, with a name like that]

Well, I.... guess if you had... fun.

Shiro did.

[But Shiro is starting to get that Veronica, obviously, did not.]

What kind of games does Miss Stitches like?

[Being forced into murder games generally isn't a good time for anyone. Veronica would be an exception, if anyone deserved it.]

Uh, I don't know. That's kind of a tough question.

Video games, maybe? Or hide and seek?

Yeah. Those are fun, I guess.

[Never really had the time for video games. Hide and seek was something she was good at though.]

Shiro is very good at those! Miss Stitches and Shiro should play together!

Well.... maybe, I guess...

[What did she just agree to]

[Shiro beams. She's just found a new friend!] Today?

Miss Stitches can choose the game and the floor.

[Too late to wonder about it, Veronica. But that's okay, as long as Wretched Egg doesn't come out, you should be safe.]

[Oh dear. She started something]

Uh, sure. Could be fun.

But... why don't you choose?

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