[video]

[prayerless]

[The woman who appears on the video feed might be familiar to some of the Tower residents, particularly the older ones; though, really, not necessarily as old as she thinks, but she doesn't realise there have been other Aquas here since she left.

Despite the situation, she sits up straight and offers a smile.] Hello. My name is Aqua. Some of you might know me, but I've been gone for a long time.

If anyone remembers the whale that attacked the Tower, I was returned home after that. I know it's been... [a small pause, and though her smile doesn't falter, her gaze does, just for a moment. Her eyes fall away from the camera as she continues, in a slightly softer voice.] ...a while, so I think I've missed a lot.

[She looks into the camera again, holding her head up straight.] If anyone could tell me what's happened since I left, I would appreciate it. [And, with resolve:] I want to help.

I'm in the library on the third floor if you'd rather meet in person. [She nods her head in a small, polite gesture of recognition.] Thank you.

Comments

[prayerless]

There have always been a lot of mysteries about this place for us. [But the biggest mystery was probably just how many mysteries there were, wasn't it?]

[Aqua lifts a hand, her curled fingers resting against her collarbone in a thoughtful gesture as she regards Xion with a small tilt of her head.] Can you tell me what you've learned? [She wants to help in whatever way she can, but she can't do that without knowledge. And maybe Xion can't tell her, for whatever reason; it's not safe to, it's meant to be a secret, or it's just hard to explain. She'd understand if that were the case.]

[attheclocktower]

[Xion nods.]

Yeah... there's just a lot of it, and some of it should wait until we're somewhere safer.

[Thankfully they have that now. Xion sighs. This... wasn't going to be much easier than it was with Ven, was it? She'd left before he had, if Xion remembered the chronology of events correctly. Whale was before the body swap.

First of all, she goes over to tap the countdown she'd been glancing at earlier. Best to start with the most important, right?]

That's how much time we have left. We... some of us... [Xion pauses, suddenly nervous. Not everyone had reacted to this information well.] Dax left us instructions nearly a year ago, to leave chips everywhere. We did it and... if I understood it correctly, we drained the power core. We learned... something very important, I'm not sure how we would have learned it otherwise, but... now the Tower's running out of power. Once it does, if we don't fix things first, we'll die. For real.

[She just hopes Aqua doesn't disapprove.]

[prayerless]

That's fine.

[Aqua is patient, and she wouldn't hesitate to believe that it would be dangerous to spread sensitive information in certain areas of the Tower. That said, she watches Xion approach the terminal and indicate the countdown. Aqua had been wondering what it was for — it wasn't there when she left — but she had so many questions that she hadn't really been sure where to start.

She didn't expect it to be nearly so important, though.

Aqua's surprise shows on her face with wide eyes under arched eyebrows. She doesn't really know what to think at first, and the revelation that they could die permanently here when most Tower deaths are only temporary is shocking. And— what was that about Dax? He'd always seemed nicer than Jason and Riki, but telling the residents Tower secrets?

That's what Aqua chooses to focus on first, because it makes a little less sense to her than potentially facing down death. Aqua isn't a stranger to that. There's curiosity, and maybe a shade of something like disbelief in her voice.] Dax told you to do that?

[attheclocktower]

Yeah, it's... [A part of her realizes belatedly she may have given the wrong impression. Uhhhh it's time to backtrack. Which brings them to another important point.] He's dead. He... over a year ago, February before last, he stood up to Ruana for us. I didn't see all of it [Couldn't, really. Couldn't bear to.] But... he said that their job was to save us, and he was going to do it, even if it meant saving us from her.

She didn't take it well.

[Understatement of the century.]

After that, some of the residents got letters, clues that would help them find things he left for us, in case what happened... did. And one of the things he left us were the chips and how to use them.

[Xion hesitates, before adding]

Though... we didn't know exactly what they'd do. He didn't tell us that much, maybe in case the other admins found them by mistake, or something. But because of things like that, some people don't trust him still.

[Overall Xion isn't one of them, though she knows many who are.]

[prayerless]

[Aqua doesn't verbalize her shock, but it's evident in the way she raises her hands to tent both of them over her mouth and in the widening of her eyes the moment Xion tells her the news. She could still easily recall Dax's conversations on the network, and his polite requests that they do their best to help him win that competition against the other admins. To know that he had died to help them all, set up systems to ensure they could be saved even when he was no longer around to see to it...

It's surprising, but Aqua has learned by now that people are full of surprises.

She takes a moment to absorb everything Xion is saying, slowly lowering her hands from her face as the shock of the word of Dax's passing subsides. She's having a hard time imagining that there was a secret so urgent that it was worth almost certain death for the residents...but if Dax was killed trying to ensure that it was discovered, it has to have been important.

She's willing to trust in his intentions for now. But, she still has to know:] What did you learn from those chips?

[attheclocktower]

[Xion waits. She knows - on some level - it's a lot to take in. A lot. And what she still has to tell isn't going to be much better. She wonders maybe if they should find a place to sit down. But then Aqua asks her next question.

Xion hesitates a moment, before answering.]

When we drained the power core, it shut some of the systems off. Especially... the glamour system.

This place is called the Tower of Animus, right? I think... I remember hearing somewhere that "Animus" means "soul," in some language somewhere. And... [She slowly, carefully lifts her hands to around where she remembered the ball of light being. She circles the spot with her fingers, thumbs pointing up.] That's all we really are right now. When the glamour's up... everything we see. Our bodies, our powers, even a lot of the floors.... it's not really real. It's made of film. We're all... these wireframes, with our souls in the middle.

I'm sorry. It's... it's hard to really describe. It'd be easier to show you but... it's a Riki month now. He's always been better with the glamour. Unless something big happens, you might not get to see until May.

[And who knew what would happen by then.]

[prayerless]

[This, somehow, bothers her more than the news about Dax. The words don't make much sense to her, "Animus" and "glamour system", but she nonetheless listens intently to what Xion is telling her. Aqua tries to conjure up an image in her mind of what Xion describes, imagining her soul suspended in some sort of body made out of wires, but it's hard to paint the proper picture when she barely understands most of the technology of the Tower.

Being just a soul doesn't really bother her, though. What bothers her is that all the torment, all the suffering that people thought they were going through under both claw and knife, wasn't even real.

Aqua doesn't really mean to speak her next question aloud, but it escapes her anyway, almost under her breath in her quiet disgust.] Why would someone simulate such awful things?

[She doesn't expect Xion to have an answer, of course. So, she presses on, with a stronger and more relevant response.] It's okay. I think I understand. That's how they do everything, right? Like making the floors and twisting our bodies. They just...change the glamour?

[attheclocktower]

[Xion lowers her hands, breaking the circle]

Yeah... I think so. I don't really understand all of it. But it makes sense. [She knows some things - like the forms they'd all taken on when Jason had brainwashed them, the costumes after they'd died.... some of those forms hadn't even made sense.] There are some exceptions, though... like the monsters are real. And... [The volume of her voice suddenly goes way down, only just above a whisper.] we've found a way to get our real powers back.

[The volume in her voice returns to normal. As for Aqua's other question...] I don't know why they want to. I know... that Jason wanted to do experiments, and Ruana likes games. And she thinks that it's okay because she "saved" us...

There's also been some weird things we've seen lately that... I don't think has anything to do with the glamour at all but... I don't really understand that either.

[Psychoradiation, she thinks it was called? But she's getting ahead of herself here, probably. Not to mention she feels like she's said those words a lot, even in the past few minutes.]

... I'm sorry. I know... that that probably doesn't help. I wish I did understand, but...

[prayerless]

[The monsters are real? What an awful thought. And it put the residents at a terrible disadvantage, if all they had were their souls.

Xion's sudden secretive whisper, however, is fascinating. Aqua knows immediately that she'll be trying to get her powers back as soon as possible. But the way Xion says it is indicative enough that it's not something to be spoken of casually; it will probably have to wait until they're somewhere safer. Instead, she addresses the matter of Ruana and Jason in passing, her voice quiet with thought.] She was really excited about that competition between the others. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. [Though it somehow seems sad to only enjoy such cruel games.

Aqua lifts her eyes to meet Xion's gaze again.] You don't have to be sorry; you've been a lot of help. Thank you.

[And then, though the situation is certainly grim and the mood heavy, she manages something of a weary smile.] It's good to see you again.