[Veronica's face appears on the screen. She's sitting at one of the terminals, leaning to the side. Her entire right arm has been wrapped in bandages, the sleeve pulled up to show a few blood stains.]

...S-so, I woke up in a-a n-new room a w-while ago. I g-guess you a-all have too.

[At least it was surprisingly pleasant. Thanks Zo.]

I h-have to ask, d-does the t-tower feel... different? Like, n-now t-that J-Jason is dead.

[Locked to Rick Dawn]

...[It takes her a moment to collect her voice.] R-rick...? Are... a-are y-you there?

[She leaves the message open for a while, waiting to see if he'll reply.]

I've got a question.

Hadn't given it much thought before.

Has anyone ever beaten that game the terminals come with? The one where that thing is after you and you have to collect items? I've gotten up to seven, but no further than that.

[What he doesn't mention, however, is how unnerving the game gets after a while. Then again with everything he's seen it doesn't bother him as much as it used to.]

[video]
[The feed opens to a Shirou who looked a bit tired, but then again it's still a bit early in the afternoon and everyone might be waking up too. Which is always the best timing for something like:]

Morning, everyone. Well, those who are actually up at this time, at least. It's still pretty early after all.

[For someone who had been through Sab- Arturia's training session, he seemed awfully normal about it. Then again he was used to it after all, even back home when it was still in one piece and not ruined as the telescopes showed him it's not a lie it really happened why is he still the only one saved.]

Considering the weather has been a bit... cold [understatement of the year] I'll be cooking brunch in the cafeteria, just let me know and I'll cook a portion for you! I mean, it does get boring if you all eat the same thing everyday, right?

[He seems sincere in his offer too!]

Oh, yeah, to those who don't know who to look for, my name is Shirou Emiya.

[OOC: He's not even bothering with screening it, because he has a feeling his little friend's clever enough to know who he is. XD;]

Hey Toto. I need to speak with you.

We are, all of us, growing volcanoes that approach the hour of their eruption; but how near or distant that is, nobody knows — not even God.

[ A pause, after reciting an old quote from a certain philosopher Wilhelm may or may not have an attachment to. There's some soft music playing in the background, but the volume, for once, is turned down to where it's barely audible, just loud enough for a listener to know that it's there. ]

This Tower has endured much. The revelations of our true nature here, the Promethean fall of Dax, and the fate of our worlds...

[ Yes - Wilhelm admits he was wrong about the worlds. It appears the Administrators mislead him. Well played, well played. ]

Though there is but one detail that still eludes me. Something I believed inconsequential to the grand scheme, until now.

What exists outside of the Tower?

[ Yes; there is a reason he is asking this. He leans back into his seat, in his small corner of the library he claimed as his own long ago. Those that regularly spoke with him knew where to find him. ]

✑ text

So, it's true. Death isn't permanent here.

[ He's not sure whether he should be happy or upset about this... on one hand, his magic can't cause any permanent harm to others. On the other, he will never die. He's right back to square one, in that sense. ]

I guess I don't have a reason to hide who I am, anymore. In my world, I was responsible for terrible things. Things that, when I arrived here, thought might have lead to my world being destroyed, before learning the truth.

I owe a lot of answers to the people of my world. I'll be waiting in the fourth floor lounge.

- Zeref

✒ action, floor four

[ And sure enough, there he is. He's sitting cross-legged in one of the chairs, staring out at the clouds outside. His magic feels under control, for the moment. Feel free to approach. ]

Hmm... food in the cafeteria is poisoned... ✩

[ He looks more amused than worried. Actually, he thinks that's pretty funny. He claps his hands, and grins. ] Has anyone here gotten sick? You've all earned enough of my love for a favor. Can you describe your symptoms to me? ✩

I promise, I'll be gentle. [ Hagire, after all, was a doctor. A surgeon and a medical researcher, granted, but it counts. While supplies and tools here were limited, and while it's entirely possible the food is poisoned with plants he knows nothing about, he could at least try to narrow down what the food was contaminated with. It's not like he didn't have a vested interest in this. He had to eat, too. ]

( Private to Shiro/Wretched Egg )

Aha, Shiro! Shiro, I have a present for you! ✩

[ "Toto" is literally jumping up and down and clapping his hands on the video. Something has him really excited. ]

The Administrators must really love me. I'm not sure why they gave it to me instead of you, but I'll give it to its rightful owner.

[ He's so excited that he forgot to filter this message. ]

The Tower finally gets to have its own Aceman. Again. ✩ [ He then holds up a silver, metal mask. And grins. Not quite as scary as her grin, but still an A for effort. ]

So everyone's worked up and sad right so, let's do something to fix that!

Aha, 'Jason month?' ✩

[ Hagire claps his hands. Somehow, he sounds excited about the prospect. ]

What should I expect? Will someone lose a limb? I always did wonder, where did he earn his medical degree? The last time I saw love like that... well... an egg hatched.

In another world, he could have replaced the brat and his pet surgeon. ✩

Ahah, hi everyone! ✩ [ The voice should be semi-familiar to someone, even if it was strained. He's been in a handful of fights, now. ] I see someone gave you all a present. You should be really grateful. The tower is full of love again.

[ ... and what the hell does he mean by that? ]

( Locked to Shiro )

[The Caninu man's sitting in Dahak, his robot, in front of one of the many terminals on Dorm Floor 2. Originally, Red had tried Dahak's radio but found that it didn't work at all. He didn't even get static; the thing just wouldn't turn on. The terminals were his only option for communication. It took a little while for Red to get the hang of them - that and waiting for them to come online - but at last he manages to get an audio entry through. The halls were quiet, thankfully, save for some red goo monster that Dahak had easily dispatched. Hopefully nothing worse than that would show up...]

Hey, anyone in this tower know anythin' about weird blood stuff? I saw this poor girl with blood spikes stickin' out her back yesterday, and tonight somethin' in my bed stabbed me and now my blood's movin' around. Is this normal for the tower or is somethin' real strange goin' on?

Oh, and if anyone knows where a guy can get some real clothes around here, I'd appreciate it.

[Now to wait and see who would respond... or track him down.]

[ There's no chess motif in this video. No fancy metaphors, no elaborate symbolism. Just Wilhelm staring into the Compass, as if in a trance. It seems almost as if the terminal nearest to his makeshift office turned on without him realizing it, until he begins speaking. ]

It's almost time.

[ How long was it for him? Years? Centuries? A millennium? It doesn't matter. To someone who is possibly billions of years old and existed in previous cycles of his own universe, it might as well have been a week. Being that old, and being a cosmic entity, gives him a very odd perception of time compared to humans. He's completely indifferent to this event, even though it did affect on him. ]

I know you can see what I refer to, Yeshua. And I know that you can feel it as well.

[ That affect, of course... was him sensing Animus beginning to awaken. Though whether it actually was, or if it was just a sensation he's feeling due to the event itself, remains to be seen. ]

I was unaware that is possible in this world, but it was a hypothesis I was willing to test. Perhaps now, Tohko, Shion, Allen, and 'Wretched Egg,' your question can be answered.

[ He pauses slightly when he says 'Wretched Egg.' He's still unsure why she insists on being called that, but c'est la vie. ]

[This kid's been here for a little less than a week, and he's just now decided to try out the network terminals. Specifically, one of the ones on his dorm's floor. The face that appears in the video feed isn't a very happy one.]

So I've been here for about a week, and I forget how many people I've never met that seem to know my name.

...What I'm saying is that basically, there's at least one guy around here who shares my face and has been pretending to be me. Maybe two. But if you're looking for Riku, that's me.

[There's a pause while he tries to decide whether to end it or not, then he does. He'll stick around the terminal for a while, then he'll go prowl the lower levels of the tower.]

[ Coughing. He looked like he was about to say something, but, well, you know how it is when you have the flu. He looks flushed, and yet, he's sweating just a tiny bit, which isn't good in this kind of weather. He's wrapped up in not just his orange suit, longer pants, and his blanket, but it looks like he stole a bath robe from somewhere, too. Hey, he paid attention in health class. ... sort of. He glances down at his phone, for a moment.

UNKNOWN DATE, 2:20 PM :: THE MEDICINE FROM THE INFIRMARY DOESN'T WORK.

Yukiteru then looks up at the camera, wiping his face with a tissue. ]

... never mind. [ Cough. ] That answers my question.

[KOS-MOS appears on the terminals. Covered in blood and guts.]

Shion, I need to be cleaned.