[It's Lorelei. For those who haven't encountered him yet, he looks remarkably (one could say exactly!!) like an older, adult Asch or Luke. Right now he looks fairly sober.]

It might be easy, with how things have gone recently, to give into despair and believe none of us are ever getting out of this place. I have chosen to believe that we will, and that our recent efforts against one of our captors proves that where there is a will, there is a way.

We simply weren't prepared enough this time.

[He frowns faintly.]

But aside from that. There is very little I can offer anyone here as consolation. We made our effort, and we failed. ... But I can offer this. Should we ever escape this Tower, should we lose these collars and regain the power that belongs to us.. ... I can't save your worlds. I can't repair the loss of life that's happened there.

But I can repair mine.

[There's no sense of bragging here at all.]

If ... we can't find a way to restore all worlds lost, but find a way to escape, then Auldrant will be open to any and all survivors of the Tower. You don't have to take up the offer, I will not force you. There will be those who would prefer to have their native homes or nothing at all. But for those of you who feel otherwise ... I offer what I can. And I can offer my world. It won't be your first homes, but it will be a home, somewhere to return to that won't ask who you are or what you are or even what you did. Everyone deserves a home. Everyone.

We just have to survive long enough to get there. Don't give up.

I know nobody feels like a party, but it's important to keep spirits up.

The Tower is a sack of shit like always, but the bombings are out of the norm even for this place. It's about time the people of the Tower got together to discuss these developments or just hang out, like we used to.

Cafeteria at Noon, Thursday. Bring your friends. If we could get music down there, that'd be great.


[OOC: Copies of this message can be found in the mailbox if your character doesn't network instead, except for Sephiroth and Ganondorf.]

[It is nighttime when a live video feed appears on the network. The blonde girl on the screen looks shaken and gloomy, standing in front of a terminal that is obviously in the dormitory hallways rather than in the library. Anyone from Auldrant who happens to check the network will recognize her as Natalia, though her general demeanor is less chipper than they may be used to.]

Is... is there anyone who is free at this moment? I...

[She closes her eyes.]

Someone died today. A girl younger than me, a fonist who used wind and lightning. We were lost in a maze and the sun went down, and the plants... they came alive. She used her powers to save me, but I was unable to save her. Is this sort of thing a commonplace occurrence here?

[She takes a shaky breath and does her best not to cry.]

...I never even asked her name.

[Natalia has not yet learned that those who die in the tower return the next day. She'll remain at the terminal looking lost and downtrodden, for those who would prefer to meet with her in person.]

[...Woooow there's a lot of posts on the network today. A lot of people sound really worried about a lot of crazy-sounding things...but what she's got to say doesn't sound that crazy, all things considered.

Worried as she is, Rise is still an idol at heart, and she smiles for the camera like a movie star.]

Hi hi! Rise Kujikawa here, bringing you all an important message!

I know things are kinda crazy today, and lots of people are saying really weird stuff, buuuut this is a little different, because this one's not that unbelievable.

So everyone, be really careful if you're eating the cafeteria food! There might be poisonous plants in it...and honestly, in a place like this, I'd say you're better off safe than sorry.


[Filtered to the Investigation Team + Nanako, Hidetoshi, Luke, Tohko, and (after a moment's debate) Asch, Ken, and Frederick + EDITED (at Luke's request) TO INCLUDE TEAR]

Even if it's not true, I don't think we should risk it, guys... So...who wants to go hunting and who wants to help me see what we can find to make in the kitchen? We should meet up for meals somewhere at least twice a day, and maybe we could invite more people, too.

[EDIT: brief additional video, filtered to the same crew as above]

Senpai says to meet up in the cafeteria, and we'll decide where to go from there!

[It's taken him a great deal of time to get his composure together, after everything is said and done. He might have his body back, but the rush of memories and actions and guilt guilt guilt is enough to make him want to vomit. The images of himself, coated in women, stained in blood, saying one thing while meaning another, leading people astray while knowing otherwise - PRETENDING....

How dare they... How DARE they...

...

As overwhelming as it is, he can't just wallow. Someone HAS to know, and as much as it might hurt to hear it so soon, they have to know immediately.

So Guy slips to a terminal, holding himself composed if not extremely worn... and as strong as he tries to stay, he can't quite keep the small tremble out of his words as he starts to speak.]

If you're hearing my voice right now, then you need to stop and listen. What I'm about to tell you is going to be hard to hear, and I'm sorry. But it's important.

This week was a mess. No one can deny that. But some of you here in the Tower might have been aware of a few of us wandering around, claiming we had "control" of our minds. To some of you, we were your superiors, ordering you to do or say things for us. The few of us that had mixed colors in our collars or could maintain a conversation like normal, despite our modifications, claiming that the Administrators had failed and that we were fighting back.

We sent out a message this week, gathering people and information to try and establish what we claimed was a counter-resistance. Many showed up. Many put confidence in us.

[He pauses, swallowing hard.]

That was a mistake.

The truth is that we were just as brainwashed as anyone else... Even more so, I guess. Despite what we might have said or made people think, we were all actors. The few of us you may have talked to were sent out specifically for sabotage and information, all for the ones that did this to us. We were spies, and before coming back to normal, many of us just gave away information that...

[Another pause, a deep grimace crossing his face.]

Well, it might prove to be a disaster for quite a few people. If you spoke to a drone in what you thought was a form of confidence, especially against the Tower or in details of the resistance...

[His expression pains, grimace thinning into a guilty frown.]

Then I'm sorry. We've done something truly horrible.

[...

There's another long pause, the man at the screen tense and quiet. Either he's searching for something else to say, or his composure is about to slip from him. It's hard to tell.]

There's nothing we can do to take it back. Think what you would like of us. But we've tricked you, and you deserve to know. And right now... I'd recommend to be prepared for the worst.

[...]

If you have questions, then feel free to ask. I'm... not sure what any of us can tell you. I'm sorry.

[And with a tired, forced smile, the feed ends.]

[She probably should have done this a lot sooner but... to tell the truth it's taken this long for the wound of Reno's departure to not be too raw. But now some of the edge is fading, and she needs to be practical. She's never going to get better like this.]

Up until recently I was training with someone how to fight, but... he's gone now. So... I was wondering, is there anybody who can help me train? I can fight hand-to-hand, and also I can... I've never found anything like it anywhere else, but I think it's most like a sword in other worlds. I'm trying to learn to fight with it a little differently too, so... I might not be as good, but I want to to get better.

[Meaning her bad hand is useless for pretty much anything still, and she hasn't had much chance to practice one-handed keyblade wielding]

Anyway, thanks.

[She pauses, then adds]

Oh... Shion, if I find anybody, do you want to come as well? [Er...] I'll ask you if I see you too.

Um, hello everyone. I just had a question that's been bothering me for awhile now and I'd really really appreciate it if you could help me with it.

Anyway If someone is suffering do you think it is right to kill them to end their pain? I really don't know myself....

[Luke's curled up in front of the terminal, looking rather forlorn after the massive info dump that was just dropped on everyone, not to mention Dax's horrifying death. It takes him a moment for him to live his chin up from where it's wedged against his knees so he can speak clearly.]

So... I don't... really understand what's happened. But from what I've read and watched on the network... does this mean everyone that's died is... a replica?

[...he really doesn't know how to feel about that. On one hand, yay, even more people like him! On the other... that is so damn depressing.]

W-were we living when we were taken from our worlds, or was that our first 'death'? How is it even that they were able to bring any part of us here?

[He sulked back until his face was hiding behind his knees now.]

...I think all this gave us even more questions than answers...

[Feferi's gray skin looks pale as she steps forward, and it's clear that she's shaking. But she takes a deep breath, because this is too important not to tell everyone.]

My name is Feferi Peixes. Anyone who knows me knows I'm infamous for fish puns, but I'm going to hold off on them here, just so the message is as clear as possible. I don't want it to get twisted by a bad turn of phrase.


The message you all saw about the soul thing...it's true. I know, because...

[She takes another deep breath, swallowing hard.]

I went down the elevator, with some others, when we saw it open. We had to take the chance. We needed to know what was down there.

When the group I was with saw a soul being extracted from a dead person, we couldn't believe what we were seeing. More than anything, we knew what a precious thing that was. We didn't want it to be harmed, and so we followed where the retrieval unit was taking it.

...we didn't expect that it would be carrying the soul straight to Jason. We confronted him, we refused to give up the presence of the other groups that were in the administrators' area, and he punished us by forcing us to go through the soul extraction and re-implantation processes while we were still conscious.

Before I go on any further, I have to stress this point: DO NOT TAKE THIS AS AN INVITATION TO CONFRONT JASON. He will not hesitate to put you through that process, and no one should ever have to experience a thing like that. I don't want anyone to consider this as an invitation to take some kind of vengeance. That path only leads to pain.

I didn't think that he was actually capable of anything close to mercy until I went through that. Everyone in this tower has been through it while unconscious, and that is truly a mercy. When it happens, your body is taken downstairs and placed into a sphere. That sphere fills with a violet liquid, and then it begins to contract.

[Tears start to run down her cheeks as she remembers, and her voice cracks.]

It quite literally squeezes your soul out of your body, and that is like no physical pain in this or any other universe. I don't think there is a single word that is capable of describing it. Agony isn't strong enough, because the pain keeps going while you feel your body stop working.

And even when you are only that shining light, the pain doesn't fade immediately. It takes time.

Then, you're surgically put into - into a...a new body. I...

[She can't keep talking. She breaks down sobbing, and then the feed cuts.]

I have two things to speak of today, starting with the one directed to the residents of this Tower as a whole.

[She holds up a striped billiard ball from the bar on the 88th Floor.]

I wish to learn to play this game. Who can teach me?

[She then idly rolls the ball in her fingers as she continues.]

As for the other matter, it is directed to those from my world or a variation of it where a specific war takes place involving magi. With Rider gone, his ridiculous idea of a conclave amongst us to discuss the War and those of us involved in it should also disappear.

Though I understand why the King of Conquerors wished for the gathering, it was folly to believe such a thing could ever happen and remain peaceful. There are worst fates than a death that does not take here. I know that there was one that had been planning to use Rider's conclave as means to gaining power with all gathered in one location. Had Rider carried his meeting out before his disappearance, I would have seen to neutralizing that threat.

Should another of you be foolish enough to pursue this idea, I will not and you will reap what you sow.

So we're letting creeps into the library now, huh. Nice.

I wouldn't think that setting these terminals up as some sort of monster-laden booby trap was really a clever idea. Blame the weird technical earlier on the mass of construction, sure. Bait them to have something crawl out of the shadows when you have your back turned to read a message? Not so much.

But hey, joke successful, I guess. I'm surprised. [And splattered with the blood of god-knows-what-that-was in an effort to rip himself out of the library, down the stairs and into the elevator. Details weren't exactly important right now.]

So, does this kind of trick happen a lot around here? Monsters braething down your neck, I mean.

[There's a slight pause before a second message is written up, a filter hastily applied.]

( FILTERED )

((OOC: MASSIVE EDIT because the mun apparently can't read dates, oops.))

[Luke's holding up that evening's dinner, making a face as he pulled a piece of candy out from his hamburger.]

...definitely a Ruana month. I hated candy after October, I really hate it now.

[He flicked the candy down the hallway.]