[There's a moment where you can see Luke, looking angry and about to cry, before his fist suddenly descents on the terminal screen, punching it as hard as he can. The view rattles angrily, and again when he plants his hands down on either side of the keyboard hard. His voice is high pitched as he struggles not to cry, but it's a futile effort, and it's not long after he starts speaking before he can't see the terminal because of the tears.]

Jason, you damn bastard!!! How could you make me do those things?! How could you make anyone do those things!? I killed my friends; I killed people I care about because of you! And then you made us tell you about everyone!? Betray everyone?! You... you...!

[He just can't anymore; he sinks down against the terminal, just barely in view as he curls his arms around him, sobbing so hard it feels like his chest is going to burst. It's a moment before he can say anything more, and when he does, it's barely more than a whimper.]

...I hate you... I hate all of you...

[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.]

Promethius defied the Gods by granting a boon to humanity, and was condemned to death for his compassion.

[ A pause. He's been scarce lately. But with how deadpan his voice is, one thing that always gives him away is the soft music playing in the background. Opera. Specifically, Richard Wagner. And today's choice is oddly appropriate. ]

It appears to be a running theme all throughout history: No good deed going unpunished. No hero that, in time, is denied martyrdom. I often wonder why this one lesson is routinely ignored. But, now, perhaps, I see why. Human nature requires inspiration before it begins to to act upon its desires.

Perhaps now this performance will enter its final act.

[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....

Nutrition bars this month. Of course that has a more sinister meaning here in this tower, but it's also tedious to eat. If you're going to be gruesomely experimented on, there's no need to tolerate bland meals as well. I don't intend to put up with it all month, and neither should you. Here are places you can find the ingredients for better meals in the tower.

Floor 101: You can find many plants here, and they're no more likely to be toxic than anywhere else.
Floor 79: There are fish and other marine animals here which don't appear to be poisonous.
Floor 63: This floor also has fish, but many are very alien. It's impossible to predict which of the strange ones are poisonous.
Floor 62: More fish.
Floor 60: There is no food here, but there's everything else you could need in a kitchen.
Floor 33: I've examined the soil in this field and it appears to be arable. There are seeds in the shed.
Floor 32: There are deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc in this forest. (But you'll have to kill them without any unusual powers you possess, on this floor.) There are also berries and mushrooms, but you're an idiot if you get careless with the latter.
Floor 10: More fish.
Floor 6: More deer, rabbits, squirrels, birds, etc but these are freakish mutants who also render powers useless near them.
All floors: Some of the monsters are edible. Others will probably do bizarre and terrible things to you if you consume their flesh. Choose wisely. (I can speak for the safety of the huge, bloodied yellow birds if you can corner and kill them, as well as the small and weak flying bulls, but I have tried no others.) Good places to farm for kills are the tower on floor 75, the maze in floor 72, floor 57 at night, and floor 30. If someone could find out how to get our powers to work on floor 97, that would be the best place yet.

Since I've already written this much, I'll add some warnings.

Floor 87: You are an idiot if you try to use any of these flowers as ingredients, and soon you will be a dead idiot.
Floor 86: Don't try to pick the mushrooms, much less eat them.
Floor 76: Did you really think they would give us a normal greenhouse? Most of what's here is poisonous.
Floor 71: It would be too convenient if we could carve up the flesh here for meat. The beast has defenses. Don't try it.
Floor 61: You can pick the mushrooms here, but I haven't tried eating them yet. I don't know what species they are. It's on your head if you risk it.

I won't babysit you if you want to try to use any of this information.

[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.]

Greetings.

[ As is usual for Data, his message is simultaneously sent in both video and text formats. ]

There has been a weeding recently and in one week is an event known as "Saint Valentine's Day", a holiday associated with romantic love. It is an occasion in which lovers express their love for each other in a special manner, most often depending on their culture and past.

But what is love? How would you define that feeling? I have been told about love before, but it is a most... complicated emotion and no explanation I have heard truly conveyed an understanding of the feeling.

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.]

[Someone hated him. He's pretty sure of that. Well, no..

Lots of people hated him, on Auldrant, that is. Here, he hadn't been here long enough to annoy anyone to the length of which would deserve this kind of punishment.

The first sensation after waking up was the soreness. Everything ached and Jade couldn't open his eyes or move yet. Sleep paralysis, how he loathed it. Until here, he'd never had the displeasure of feeling it for any amount of time. When the soreness began to go away, tingling spread from his toes all the way up to his ears as his body continued to try to wake up.

When he could finally open his eyes, he was blearily staring at the ceiling and feeling like his mouth was stuffed with cotton. Every time he began to move any limbs, he could hear popping and cracking and other various old people noises. As he finally got himself to sit up, he hunched over and held his face, making a garbled noise. He was never sunshine and rainbows in the morning, but he was never this bad. Then again, he felt like he'd been asleep for a while; much longer than was necessary. There's a bit of a shift as Jade gets his legs over the side of the bed and sits there idly for a bit. Best to get all his faculties in order before he tries to get to a terminal.

When that's accomplished, Jade is up and going to get dressed before he goes into the hallway, shuffling for the first few steps before he gets himself back up to walking a bit better. When he's reached a terminal, he turns it on, his expression far less intense than it had been last time he'd addressed anyone.]

Is it normal in the Tower to fall asleep for three weeks?

((OOC, I'm finally back babeh))