[Saki looks tired, but she's holding up okay as it stands. She doesn't much like using the network, and right now, she really doesn't like it, but it's the best way to speak to the tower as a whole. She has a book with her, and she cracks it open, beginning to read:]

April is the cruelest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.

[Anyone who knows Saki knows poetry isn't her usual style, but she's not been herself lately, to say the least.]

Is April always so cruel here? Or was this month just particularly bad?

...Kazumi, Kyoko, Mami - are you three okay?

[The feed opens to a bespectacled teen staring at you guys with a serious look on his face.]

Hey, I got a question for you guys.

[...He has to admit what he's asking is really dumb even for a guy who had been here for a while, but well...]

This terminal here, does it store information from a long while ago?

[There's a sigh.]

I know that it must've sound weird, but this is the first time I'm using it. So I guess that's all then.

[...oh wait.]

Name's Shiki, Shiki Tohno, in case there's other people sharing the same name here.

Good afternoon. My name is Saki Asami, for those I haven't spoken with before.

I am going to make this short and to the point: there are a lot of legitimate reasons for people to keep things about themselves hidden. They could be protecting themselves. They could be protecting someone else. They might not want to start a conflict. They might have some traumatic memories in their past that they don't want dragged out.

I'm not here to ask what anyone's history is. It's not my place to do that. It's not anyone's place to do that.

My point, and the reason I got on the network, is to ask everyone to stop being foolish with asking personal questions on the network. We don't have a lot of privacy as it is, with the administrators watching our every move. Surveys and questionnaires are only going to serve to cause conflict within our own ranks. There's enough of that here already, and we don't need more of it.

Attention participants of The Holy Grail War

I know not everyone has a mailbox set up as they're quite recent, so to ensure everyone receives it, I've put together this survey. If you already have it in your mailbox, you can ignore this, or choose to reply here, it doesn't matter. In addition if you would rather write it down and give it to myself (Waver Velvet) or Lancer (Diarmuid Ua Duibhne), or slip it into either of our mailboxes, that works too. My room number is 1-16 and Lancer's is 4-16.



Please fill this out to the best of your ability. If there is anything you would truly prefer not to state or do not know, there is no worry, but the survey is for the benefit of us all, and therefore it would be best if you were forthcoming. We do not mean these questions to be invasive in any way and have taken great pains in ensuring such. Should you wish to give more detail than what is asked, please do, anything would be greatly appreciated.
Only fill out the section which applies to you.


( Read more... )

...I don't understand this at all. Not one bit.

Are we supposed to feel sorry for this girl Ruana? Be her friend? She sounds like a confused child. If they did the same kinds of things to her that they're doing to us, she deserves at least some sympathy.

At the same time, though, if she's happy to go along with what they're doing, and it isn't an act, then I can't exactly be sympathetic.

...I will say that I'm glad that the translation mechanisms are working again, however. That's such a relief.

[At first what Dax is saying is completely incomprehensible--a good ear for languages may notice it's the same language the worker units are speaking. Dax has some sort of device in his hand, though, and after fiddling with it a little eventually his words become understandable to anyone listening:]

--Testing, testing--aha, there we are. Alright--well, to get this out of the way for our new residents, I'm Dax, and I'm an administrator of the Tower. Anyway, as you may have noticed, we're having a few minor malfunctions when it comes to our usual translation process which wasn't helped by having to divert all that power to quarantining and scrubbing radiation. I'm using a portable device to translate this to all of you and to translate any of your responses, but it's a bit fussy.

We should have everything fixed within a day or two, however! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.

[He sounds just a bit nervous about the prospect of Q&A, though. It's as if these situations often bring long discussions and arguments, or something.]

I'm supposed to believe the world is destroyed? Really? And everyone along with it.

[While the girl's voice sounds steady enough, she's not doing a perfect job at hiding the emotion behind it.]

My name is Saki. Asami Saki, but please call me Saki. I'm from Asunaro City, in Japan, on Earth. What I wish to know is whether any of the following girls are here. They would all know me by first name: Kazumi, Mirai, Kaoru, Umika -

[She pauses briefly.]

- Nico, and Satomi. They are all friends of mine from home. I'd like to know if they are safe.

To everyone else, it's very nice to make your acquaintance. It's quite a shame it's under these circumstances.

[Before she ends the video, she takes the hair pin out of her hair and holds it in both hands. It becomes a small, egg-shaped object that glows lavender.]

If any of you hold one of these, I would like to speak with you. To the rest of you: I ask that you don't try and take it or steal it. It's a matter of life and death to me, quite literally.

[She changes it back into her hair pin and puts it back into place.]

Have a nice day.