[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

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[Veronica just leaned back for the rest of it, waiting for the magic to stop flowing.]

My s-sister is a d-doctor. If s-she w-was here, things w-would b-be different.

[Less people would be dead for sure. Although, the manner in which they wouldn't be dead would probably be disagreed with more than once. When Yukiko is finally done, Veronica felt her arm and gave it a test. Lifting it up and down slowly, it performed well.]

I feel... b-better. T-thank you.

[slightlyoblivious]

We could use more people with actual medical training. I just know what I do thanks to a lot of battle experience.

[She smiles when she notices Veronica's arm is moving a lot better.]

I'm glad I could help out.

[And now that the healing is out of the way...]

So you got your room changed around, Veronica-san? I have a couple of new roommates, but my room wasn't changed or anything. I guess it means there are a lot fewer of us here now...

[stitchedupbodyguard]

T-that's what it s-seems like. I'm s-seeing a l-lot fewer p-people I-in the tower nowadays.

[A frown appears momentarily, but she wipes it away and remains calm.]

At l-least some p-people are still around.

[slightlyoblivious]

I've noticed that, too, but it's kind of working both ways? Some people who were here for a long time are gone now, and some people are coming back who were gone for a long time. Who knows what kind of chaos is causing that?

[She gives a little nod.]

I'm glad for that, too.

[stitchedupbodyguard]

I-is it a little r-rude t-to say that? I k-know back h-home is.... w-whatever it is, but should I be h-happy that people are s-still here?

[She just shakes her head. This sort of thing was so difficult to figure out.] I g-guess here, they're safer.

[slightlyoblivious]

I don't know that it's rude. I spent a few months on my own back on my home world, and I wound up missing it here more than I thought. I missed a lot of things - little things, like the sounds of people on the staircases or in the cafeteria - and a lot of people. The people more than anything else...

[Yukiko hugs herself just a little. It still bothers her a bit to talk about it, though it's getting easier with time.]

I don't know if they're safer here, but at least they don't have that kind of loneliness that you get when you're on your home world too long.

[stitchedupbodyguard]

...T-the worlds r-really a-are destroyed, a-aren't they?

[She'd spent so long denying it. Guess denying it any longer was pointless.]

I guess, l-like it or n-not, w-we're all b-better off h-here.

[slightlyoblivious]

[Yukiko nods sadly.]

They are. I mean, the structures and buildings and stuff are still there, but people, animals, anything like that...nothing survived. It's strange and quiet and really lonely.

...not if we can figure out how to restore them, or go to some other place where it's safer. We can't stay here past June, anyway, if the stuff about the timer is right. Riki wouldn't have asked us to help power the place otherwise, right?

[stitchedupbodyguard]

R-right. Riki does want to help us.... m-maybe. My f-friend has d-doubts.

[But then again, he has doubts on everything.]

B-but we really c-cant stay here f-forever. [Veronica thought for a moment and sighed.] I r-remember when I g-got here. The t-timer was almost t-two hundred days. Now it's p-past a-a hundred.

[slightlyoblivious]

That's fair enough. We can't count on the admins to do everything for us, even if they do want to help.

[She's had a few doubts of her own, from time to time.]

...I'd forgotten there was a timer. I don't even want to know where it is now. It's a kind of pressure I don't want to think about.