video; backdated to April 3rd

[fragileprophet]

[Ion clears his throat as the feed comes to life. He looks tired and shaken and most definitely uncertain about his choice to make this message a video.]

I apologize for any trouble I may experience in this recording, I...I'm afraid I'm not terribly used to using the Network, but I have an important announcement I feel is necessary to make. It's...

[He hesitates, taking a deep breath before he continues on.]

...it's been a few days since those of us who were transported to outside of the Tower returned. I'm sure many of you know Patrick Dawn. He was my roommate and my friend. I wasn't sure what to think when he didn't wake up with the rest of us. I kept hoping...

[Again, he pauses. Ion's face turns a bit stonier and he gets to the point.]

He died. Outside. I followed him when he wandered off and I meant to bring him back to the group but he--there was an accident with a machine.

[For most of the message thus far Ion had been unable to make direct eye contact with the screen, but here he looks up, eyes pleading.]

It's with a heavy heart I inform everyone that I do not believe Rick will be returning. I'm sorry. I couldn't save him. If anyone would like to join me and share in saying kind words, I'm going to be paying my respects to him tomorrow on the forty-eighth floor.

[With that said, Ion makes to turn off the feed but then hesitates, his expression darkening further. After a brief deliberation he speaks again.]

I have something else to say, and I hope you can forgive me for not...bringing this subject to light sooner. I should have, but I'll admit that I've been afraid to. For those of you I haven't already informed, on February 14th, Ruana...[Here Ion struggles briefly with his words.]...disposed of her heart.

[As an afterthought, he adds one final thought--] Please be careful. [--before the feed goes dark.]

((ooc: Ion will reply to any replies made to this post, but he may not be particularly talkative.))

Comments

[keybearer]

[...So it's true, then. Those who die outside the tower really do stay dead. No revival. No second chances. They just go out with a whimper.

For several seconds, Riku stares at the feed, his expression blank. He looks off to the side a few times, resting a fist below his chin. What can he even say to that? Would "sorry" even cut it? Death isn't simple. Never has been, never will be. The last thing he wants is to come across as insensitive.

Maybe he should just focus on that last point.]

Wait, Ruana got rid of her own heart?

[So what does that make her? And what does it mean for the rest of them?]

[fragileprophet]

...that's correct. She put it in one of those bears. It was part of a game.

[Ion's reply comes slow, almost in a whisper. He almost leaves his explanation at that, but after a moment continues on.]

I found it in the media room. Once I did, I was made to bring it up to the forty-third floor and destroy it.

[stitchedupbodyguard]

[There's a long, drawn out silence as Veronica listens to the video. At first, she listened half-caringly, not putting her full attention into it. She was busy with other things, no matter how much she might want to keep up with the tower posts.

That changed in the instant that she heard Rick's name. It was true, she hadn't seen Rick for a while since everyone returned to the tower, she'd simply taken it as him being too busy in other places than her and she'd thought they'd meet up sooner or later. How wrong she was left her face pale and distraught. A large lump in her throat made her unable to speak for a minute or so as Ion finished speaking. No matter how much proof of it there was, she couldn't believe it.]

R-rick... he's... he's dead?

[fragileprophet]

[Ion almost doesn't reply. But he does, though he keeps his head hung as he tries to hide the way his eyes are already watering with tears. He can't hide it from his voice as much as he tries.]

...I'm so sorry. It happened so fast and I...I couldn't...

[video]

[fionnuisce]

He's...what?

[Waver hadn't even registered anything about Ruana yet. He'd known Rick and worked with him in the laboratory; it had seemed to him as though he put up with the magus' insane work ethic without complaint. Though Waver was all but allergic to the term, Rick had been something of his...friend.]

[Was it really possible anyone could have permanently died? Waver wanted to argue the idea as being without precedent, and yet he knew that he was far from holding an unbiased standpoint to be arguing anything. Even if he was, forming sentences was for once proving impossible.]

[fragileprophet]

He never made it back to the Tower and his name's been crossed out from our dorm listing as opposed to having been removed entirely.

[Ion supposes he should stop here. There's really not much else to be said. He could've just repeated Rick is dead but it seemed so horribly blunt to do so. The boy can't stop himself from continuing.]

It's my fault. If I had just been a bit faster, I could have saved him. None of this would have had to happen. I'm so sorry.

Text

[frilliance]

[Mr. Dawn? He's.......dead? And actually properly dead? He won't come back?

Edgeworth hated the way that death was cheated in this place, but still.....that was a terrible way to go. Edgeworth did not know Rick very well but he did work with him - enough to know that the man was timid but hardworking and kind-hearted. Rick did not deserve this.

This was terrible.]

I see. Thank you very much for this news, young man. We must strive to make sure his death is not in vain.

text;

[fragileprophet]

[Ion switches to text, following Edgeworth's lead. It's a bit of a relief; he doesn't have to worry about his written word betraying his composure quite so heavily.]

I couldn't bear to think that anyone here who may have known him was left wondering. I was the last person to see him alive; it was my responsibility to explain what happened.

[All Ion can hope now is that Rick, where ever his soul was taken to when he died, was reunited with the wife he loved so greatly. To the other statement that Edgeworth makes, Ion offers a succinct reply.]

I agree.

text.

[prayed]

What do you mean she disposed of it? What the Hell are you talking about?

text;

[fragileprophet]

[This is a response Ion can better give in text, so he's glad to follow her lead and switch over.]

In February several individuals in the Tower had their hearts removed and placed into stuffed bears where they were scattered about the floors. If the bear was found and returned to the individual it belonged to, he or she would regain her heart. It was a game.

Ruana included her own heart. I found it on the fourteenth floor and as soon as I did I lost control of my body, carried it up to the forty-third floor, and destroyed it.

[zelfies]

I'm sorry for your friend.

[Link may not have known him, or whoever is making this post for that matter, but... all the same.]

[fragileprophet]

Thank you; I am too. He didn't deserve to go the way he did. Nobody deserves that.

[Ion tries to smile as best as he can, but it's hard. It's so much harder than it's ever been before, to pretend he was okay.]

I'm sure your sympathies would mean a lot to him. They certainly mean a lot to me.

[video]

[notsogrimreaper]

[Ryoji is shaking as he turns on the feed, one hand adjusting the camera and one clutching his scarf... not the usual yellow, but a blue one. One Rick had given him himself. The idea that the person who knitted this piece of fabric, who did so many kind and amazing things is gone... Ryoji refuses to believe it. It's too unreal, and he has to protest, even if there's something deep inside him that knows Ion is telling the truth.]

You're lying... He can't be gone. People don't die permanently here. That never happens.

[fragileprophet]

I wish I was lying, but I don't know what else to conclude at this point.

[Ryoji's denial and clear pain at the assertion Ion made only makes it impossible for Ion to look him in the eye for all the guilt that directs his gaze downward.]

It's been a few days and he has yet to come back after the accident...I...I'm so sorry.

[no_longer_a_king]

[She's numb. It's the best way to describe the feeling that settles over her, how distant it feels at this moment. The first thought that goes through her mind is 'Ah, that's why I have not seen him since I returned.' The second, selfishly, is: 'At least he is well and truly free now.']

I see. Thank you for informing us.

[fragileprophet]

[Ion nods, albeit somewhat shakily.]

I'm only doing what I believe is right; I couldn't bear to dishonor his memory by leaving those who cared about him to wonder.

[sawthelockdown]

[Both of these statements prompt the normally quiet, skulky-as-of-late overlord to reply.]

So - wait - hang on, so if you die outside the Tower you're not coming back, huh? [Moment of silence, that's how you do it, and then she continues:]

... And wait, Ruana what? ... That's probably not a good thing, is it?

[fragileprophet]

So it seems. [Ion's expression is strained.] I don't know too much about it. All I know is the man who I saw die outside was not revived with the rest of us. I'm hard pressed to believe this is just a coincidence.

[Then, at the next question, his face becomes even further strained.]

...no, I don't believe it is. She was already dangerous, but I worry that she may be even more merciless now. I'm so sorry.

video;

[slightlyoblivious]

I - it's hard to imagine someone actually dying here...especially someone with such a good heart. I'm - I'm sorry.

[And that's just half of it.]

...and Ruana did what? I'm sorry, it's just a bit of a shock...

[fragileprophet]

[Ion's response comes slow, and he speaks in a strained whisper.]

He deserved to go peacefully, surrounded by his family. Not like this...

[But at the change to the next subject, Ion speaks up a bit louder, though he doesn't sound any less guilty.]

She had me destroy it. I didn't control over my actions, and please believe me when I say how sorry I am. It was wrong of me to wait so long in giving this announcement.

Video

[clumsyjesus]

Someone died....outside the tower?

[Th-that is awful. That poor man.....he never got the chance to escape the tower and be saved.]

[fragileprophet]

Yes.

[Ion confirms the answer softly, eyes downcast and guilty.]

It was an accident. A horrible accident.

video;

[bydefacto]

He's... gone?

[Sealand feels like the bottom fell out his stomach. No, he'd not seen Rick about - but for him to be dead. Properly dead... No way.]

But are you sure? Maybe he just went home and - maybe he'll be back...!

[fragileprophet]

I...I guess it's not really my place to say for certain.

[Although Ion admits this, it doesn't help make him seem any less out of hope. If anything, Sealand's attempt at optimism only sinks him further into his own guilt.]

But I don't know what else to conclude. He hasn't come back, but his name also hasn't been removed from our dorm room as is usually the case when an individual is sent back to their home world. Please forgive me; I don't mean to be so cryptic...I just want everyone to know the truth.

[Video]

[evokingfool]

[There is silence from Minato, as he stares and think. After seeing how much death have become cheated and almost trivialised, it's almost strange to think of someone permanently dead. Not just because of Ruana, but from an accident.

Which would be normal and expected to revived from afterwards.]

...Thank you for letting us know, and I'm sorry.

[For the loss. No matter how one feels about death, no one wants to lose a loved one.]

Ruana disposed of her heart?

[However, the other part of the message is also worrying.]

[fragileprophet]

[Ion responds with a polite, yet sad, nod. It doesn't seem like a good place to respond with a "you're welcome" or a "no need to be sorry" so instead he moves on to answer the question.]

Yes. She had her heart in one of the stuffed bears as part of the game, and hid it on the fourteenth floor. When I found it there, I brought it up to one of the cells in the forty-third floor and destroyed it with a knife.

[His calm wavers and pain flashes across his pale face.]

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[wegotlucky]

[Neal looks horrified. It's true, he hadn't seen Rick since they returned, but he had thought that maybe he just hadn't run into the man.]

That... that can't be possible. No one... no one's died for real before.

[That other comment, though...]

What do you mean Ruana disposed of her heart?

[fragileprophet]

[Neal's expression creates a knot in Ion's throat that forces him to struggle with his reply, his eyes downcast.]

It was dangerous outside of the Tower...and everyone was so adamant about how important it was to get back as quickly as possible. I...I'm so sorry. I wish it wasn't true but I don't know what else to think...

[It hurt too much to keep hoping for the best. To wait around, thinking that maybe he'd wake up and Rick would be in his bed again. It had only been a couple of days, but it felt so much longer with how clear and how sudden Rick's death had been outside the Tower. The more Ion thought about it, the more final it seemed.]

When Ruana took peoples' hearts from them on the fourteenth of February and placed them inside of stuffed bears throughout the Tower, she included her own. I found it. When I did, I lost control of my body and...was made to bring it up to the forty-third floor, where I destroyed it with a knife.

[It didn't get any easier to say no matter how many times he explained. He still felt as if, had he somehow been stronger, he could have taken back control of his body and prevented this from having happened.]