[It's Lorelei! He looks a little tired, but otherwise perfectly fine.]

I apologize for my absence this past while. It seems our population has grown since I last poked about on the network, so hello to everyone. You may call me Lorelei. I am not in spite of appearances actually Luke or Asch, they're me. It's complicated.

[And he seems to think it's funny by the way he's grinning.]

At any rate, I am hoping for an idea of what I missed, as some digging about has led me to think some significant things have happened lately! Also, for those living in room ...2-08, I believe, you do in fact have another roommate, I've just been absent a while. Hello, I look forward to meeting you all.

Hi, everyone. It's me, Yukiko.

I wanted to check on everyone who was on the machine the other day. Are you all right? I hope the nightmares haven't been too bad.

If there's anything I can d--

[One second, Yukiko is there, talking into the terminal screen. The next second, she's gone. The terminal keeps recording, though all it catches is ambient background noise and video from the terminal bank in the dorms.

She'll eventually be back to answer any 'where the heck did you go?' inquiries, but it won't be before the terminal cuts off.]

[It's been a while since Yukiko has been in the Tower at all - three months, give or take a bit. It shows in her face when she appears on the video feed; this isn't the face of a surprised newcomer. It's the face of someone who has explored enough to know that while she was gone, a lot of her friends have left. Her voice is just a bit shaky when she speaks.]

...hello, Tower. This is Yukiko Amagi. I was here, before, and now I'm back. I think it's been about three months. It's kind of hard to tell time when it passes on a dead world. One day blends into another after a while.

[She pauses, briefly, taking a deep breath.]

I know that there were people from the Japanese town of Inaba here before. They were my friends. I also tried sending them a message. I - I know that they're all gone. The message said 'user not found' for all of them, and so I went down to the graveyard to doublecheck. They're definitely gone.

I'll be okay, though. I know they're gone now, but I can be strong enough for all of them. I know I'm back here for a reason, and that reason must be to make sure they're saved, in the end. Really saved, not just 'saved' as in pulled here again.

...so. What did I miss while I was gone?

[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.]

This isn't an important message, and you can skip it if you want, but I thought I'd sing for the tower.

[V/V has her guitar out and is strumming idly as she speaks. She then begins to perform a song some might recognize: Scarborough Fair.

When she's done, she smiles and reaches to turn off the camera before stopping briefly.] Oh! I can sing more songs if you want to hear them.

[Then she goes and shuts it off.]

["Monster", written over her bed in blood, memories of nights spent prowling the tower with a laugh in her throat and a mindless thirst for death, and Maka wants nothing more than to lock herself in a room somewhere and never come out.

But she has to keep moving forward. She's not scared. She's not scared. It doesn't matter that she transformed for the first time while she was awake, or that she got stuck for a few long, terrifying moments with her blades out. She's not scared.

But she needs to apologize. So she finds a terminal tucked away in a hallway, and addresses the network at large, because she has no way to know the names of the people she killed.]

I was one of the monsters. I killed a boy with a ponytail in the library, and a robot in the cafeteria. I'm sorry.

[V/V seems a little hesitant to ask her question.]

Does anyone mind if I sleep with them tonight?

I don't want to be troublesome, but I really can't defend myself very well.

[The video screen turns on to a familiar, if still somewhat dented copper face, grinning brightly into the screen. He then steps off to the side, and sharply tugs another, slightly taller figure in, trying to position him directly in front of the screen]

C'mon, Spine! Ya gotta do it! Say hello ta everyone!

[Said slightly taller figure may just have an exasperated look on his face.]

Rabbit, I don't think--

[Oh. The feed is already active. Well, that's just... great. The Spine adjusts his tie and gives the screen his best 'no really all according to plan' smile.]

Ah... Hello! [Does he sound like he still thinks this is a bad idea? Yes. Yes he does.] My name is The Spine. Rabbit why're we doin' this.


[Because you gotta, that's why. Older brother says so. He just keeps grinning, knowing full well that The Spine would have to go along with it now that he was in front of the camera.]

An' i-if any of ya di-di-didn't know, I'm Rabbit!

[Wait there was more to this. Rabbit just kept going, ignoring his brothers discomfort]

An' for your entertainment t-t-t-t-today, I'm g-gonna ma-make the both of us disappear!

[All right, so this wasn't so bad so far, although Spine still didn't think it was wise.

...Wait, what.]

And, uh, just how do you plan on doin' that, Rabbit?

[He has a bad, bad feeling about this.]


[Rabbit leans in, resting one hand on The Spine's front, and the other on his shoulder]

A ma-magician ne-never reveals their se-secrets, Spine. But if ya really mu-must know...

[He glances around conspiratorially... Before slowly reaching up... And yanking off both hat and wig, shooting down the hall with a victorious whoop]

[You're getting an odd look, buddy. Whatever you're planning, he's ready for it.

Or... not.]

What the--RABBIT! Get back here, you--

[He makes a grab for Rabbit's collar. Too slow. The feed gets a glimpse of an irritated profile. Then there's a blur of silver-and-black (was that an elbow?) and the receding sound of heavy footsteps gaining speed.]


[And woe upon anyone else in the Dormitory areas. All of them. Because there are now two stampeding robots charging up and down the hall, Rabbit occsionally trying to lose The Spine. He will eventually stop, sneaking up to another terminal, wig and hat still firmly in hand]

O-one heckuva ma-magic trick, huh?

[[OOC: The Spine
Rabbit]]

[Well, here's Kumagawa looking less than his usual chipper self. Whatever could be the matter? Certainly not the worry that his violet collar might be a timebomb, right?]

「Hey, everyone, a friendly poll from your neighborhood Kumagawa: of those of you with amazing super powers, gifts, magic, psychic abilities and all those amazing things, have any of you noticed them acting any differently since you arrived here? Please respond in 140 characters or less.」

[Heather looks sulky and a bit awkward as the feed starts.]

Um, hi people. So, this place is absolute torture.

[She looks down, off screen for a second before turning her gaze back upon the viewers.]

Does anybody know any way to make it more, I dunno, bearable? Like, is there anything to do or something? Anything at all.

[She sighs softly.]

Well, that's all I guess. Please. Anything.

[ You can see the young girl fidgeting as she tries to figure out what to with this thing on the screen. When she doesn't see any reaction, she almost peers a little too closely before ducking back.

Oh, wow, what is this thing? It looks kind of like a computer, not that she has access to one back home on a regular basis. ]

H-hello? Is anyone there? My name is Madoka Kaname and I've just arrived at the "Tower", is it? And... ah... I don't really know what's going on. Is it true that our worlds have been destroyed so we were saved?

I'm really glad that I got to live, but... [ She's thinking off to her parents and friends now. ]

If anyone knows anything about Mami Tomoe, Sayaka Miki, Hitomi Shizuki, and Homura Akemi, please talk to me immediately...! I'd really like to know where they are if possible? Oh, and... what are the chances of someone being brought here later?

[[The boy showing up on the screen looked...well. Crestfallen to say the least. He pulled his orange headband down a little before finally addressing the screen.]]

I...I'm sorry everyone. [[What's this kid apologizing for?]] We failed. We let the aliens win... [[It was clearly hard to admit, he was visibly trembling.]]

I...there's no excuse. I wasn't strong enough. I'm sorry. [[His fists finally pounded on the console. He was so frustrated, so disappointed in himself. After a moment he sighed, relaxing as best he could. His hands slipped from the console, and he put on a smile.]]

So...who all is here? Mom? Any of my team? How about any other soccer players? Please ah...speak up! I want to know who was saved...

[Someone is feeling lonely and depressed and just... oh just about every flavor of 'not good' in the book that a robot can feel. If he had a stomach it would be in knots right now.

It's... been an unpleasant time here. The damage on his face is clear enough, with the one blue eye constantly flickering out. He gives his head a sharp rap and it flickers back on again, but there's no smile into the terminal right now.

He just wants to try and cheer himself up]

H-hey. Does anyone he-he-here wanna song? I gotta few s-s-songs if ya wanna hear 'em.

[No accordion, none of the songs he wanted to sing needed it anyway. He was kind of taking Legolas's advice and doing what he likes to do anyway.]

It's a re-re-real sweet one. Nuthin' t-too loud 'r nuthin.

[He hums a few bars, before going into the piece, the tune just a little bit more mournful than usual.]

...

I-i-if ya want any other s-songs, I got more. Wou-wouldn't mind s-singin' 'em fer someone if they wanna hear it.

( action for roommates )

[Eventually, she makes her way to the terminals, and figures out how to post.]

Anybody here know how to fight hand-to-hand? A spar would be a good way to work off some energy after last week.

[V/V smiles at the screen gently, a little more subdued than normal.]

A lot of people here need a lot of happiness in their lives right about now... I'm not good at a lot of things, but I can try to do the best I can at what I can do.

I'm going to have a concert at the start of the next month, where there'll be food to make a really good concert experience. Everyone who wants to play or sing is welcome to perform, and I'll be singing.

Do you know any songs from your home? Can you teach me? I only know songs from my world, but I know they won't mean as much to you as songs from your homes. It's okay if they're in languages I don't speak, I'm good at mimicking them.

And if you don't like music...

What makes you happy?

[The girl looking into the camera looks a little bit suspicious as the feed comes into view. She's muttering to herself, things like 'I hope this is actually working this time' and 'Maybe I should just go exploring', before finally settling down.]

Hello, everyone. My name is Yukiko Amagi. I just got here, and I'm looking for anyone who might be from the town of Inaba. Yu Narukami, Chie Satonaka, Yosuke Hanamura, Teddie, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa, or Naoto Shirogane, in particular - if you're here and you're okay, let me know?

Or if Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada, Aigis, or Labrys is here, the same goes for all of you. If you're here and you're okay, let me know, all right?

I guess the biggest question I have isn't really about the message I got when I woke up here. If it's true, I'll figure that one out and figure out how to handle it.

The bigger question...well, it's kind of weird. [She lets out an awkward laugh.] When I tried using this thing to send a message out, the first time I tried, I thought I clicked the little video button, but this weird game thing came up instead. It was super scary! Do these computers do that a lot? I don't want to play some scary game every time I try to get on here to send a message...

[ooc: game thing based on our lovely network faq ♥]

[One might notice at first that the older troll appears distraught. His eyes are sunken in and the vibrant red of his blood glistens around the yellow of his eyes, creating small viens that extend into the iris. It is a subtle effect that lack of sleep may cause.

There is a moment as he brings a hand up to rub his eyes, following with a pinch at the bridge of his nose before he drops his hand to his side. His mouth opens to speak but is caught in the crossfire with a sharp yawn. A short and curt growl escapes his throat. This was annoying.

Quickly he gains his composure and shakes his head, trying to wake himself from such a drowsy state. Now he can talk at full attention...maybe.]

I wish to address....

[Another pause, muscles tense as he subdues the urge to yawn once more. Calmly he drops back to a relaxing state.]

This tower has grown. I am unaware if any have noticed, though...I am sure. That you have. Since I have found exploring on ones own can prove difficult, especially with new dangers about now.

Would anyone wish to engage...eng..age...in....

[Another yawn escapes him and he nods off for a moment, before the feed cuts off. It must have been an accident maybe an unconscious flick of a finger.]