( INTROSPECTION. Warning: Less manpain than one might think )

I see everyone's quick to mope or make apologies. Excuse me if I refrain from joining your ranks this time, seeing as I came out of this with a few cute girls, free meals and a videogame—all things I didn't ask for, but I'm still not sharing. The game, maybe, if you ask nicely, but it's somewhat dated. So unless you can appreciate classics, don't even bother.

[ HI everyone did you miss this butt he's sure you did. ]

Oh, and here's your general PSA, directed at no one in particular, especially not the guys around the precinct: get into the habits of locking your tablets if you're just gonna leave 'em lying around. The next time I find one I'm gonna post the entirety of its porn folder to the network tagged with your name. And before you go, oh, that silly Adam Jensen, of course my porn folder is locked and hidden slash I'm an innocent virgin who doesn't even have a porn folder, honest--

Don't make the mistake of thinking that's gonna stop me.


[ Private to Samus ]

You free tonight?

[The feed flicks on to the rather perturbed face of a woman. A new women. Yaaaay, sudden influx of transports, right? Yeah, not so thrilling to her either.]

Oh, it is just like the queen and country to fight against every strong power with nothing left. I suppose I should feel proud to be ripped from my home to be brought to this wasteland. And I had always been curious to see how our civilization would end … however I didn’t think I would bear witness to it.

[She pauses with thought on this for a moment, giving it the proper weight an idea like that should deserve. But the thought is quickly ended as her regular annoyed tone starts up again.]

Regardless, I’m really not in the mood for impossible odds today, and I have many things to attend to. So could someone point me to the bloody transport home?

((OOC: This entire post is backdated to February 2nd! Yeah, one day, but...))

[Network, Video, Private to "Kaneis"]

Hey. I read those posts that I made during the last couple weeks. The ones where...

Well, that was me a decade ago. Riana, I mean. It's... A long story.

And... I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I shouldn't have taken the attitude I did towards you, I shouldn't have been so pushy, and I should've remembered I don't need hair secrets.

[Network-to-probable-action, Private to Shirley Fenette]

So, uh, it's not perfect, but I got some stuff together. I got lucky just after the mission and found a bunch of my world's sourcebooks. Haven't had a lot of time to go over them yet, but they're in really good condition for being, near as I can tell, a millenium-plus old.

Then again, they mentioned that resources one needs from their world become available here, so this might just be an extension of that? Or just coincidence. Or both.

Let's just not think about that, all right?

[Action, all over the place]

*Whenever Pidonus isn't busy teaching Shirley, she's going to be teleporting around the region at random. She's... DEFINITELY in some kind of funk, which seems doubly odd compared to her often fairly bright, confident attitude.

She's not even looking where she's going, so she might bump into you.*

(WARNING: Pidonus is basically a giant swarm of adequacy issues, and these have been brought to the fore by a certain someone's temporary instability. She's potentially likely to try and use her powers on anyone she runs into, trying to charm and seduce people as a desperate - and unlikely to succeed - attempt to ignore the problem. Please include in an OOC note in your response if you want her to try anything, if that something will succeed, or if you just want to talk to her.)

[The audio feed picks up faint, labored breathing, like someone in pain.] That's it? That's all they're giving me, even after fighting for them?

[He lets out a shaky sigh, trying to control himself. Being deprived of energy after his exhaustive spellcasting is pure, unadulterated torture. But he is better-- he thinks-- than some Wretched beggar. After this embarrassing tantrum last year, he doesn't need people interfering in his plight. The plight of any blood elf brought here.

There are books on the line, man.

He fumbles the tablet a couple times before planting it squarely on his desk. The vid feed snaps on, showing a mop of wavy black hair on top of robed arms. He is easily recognizable as the cute kid with bad hair from a couple weeks ago, even if he's hiding most of his face.]

I need a distraction. I don't care who you are. Tell me a story. Tell me about your boring life. [His voice begins to crack because he's tired and in the middle of elf puberty.] Anything.

[The video feed comes on to show what appears to be a young woman, still dressed in the outfit she arrived in. She has found her way to the apartments, thanks to Jake's help, but there was no sign of her friends. And so she decided to use the tablet to try to see if she can reach them after practicing her cover story - since she's not sure if this place is safe to reveal herself as a princess or not.]

[Though the camera is a bit skewed as she's pretty to this stuff]

The Initiative said I should introduce myself over the tablet...I hope I'm doing this right.

My name is Dagger. I come from the kingdom of Alexandria, in...[a pause since this is weird to say] the world Gaia. I'm part of a theater trope, but I promise I'm no stranger to battles! I hope to help as much as I can!

And if you're in Unit 110, I'll be your new roommate. I hope we get along well!

Also, I'm looking for my friends I was traveling with. Their names are Zidane and Vivi. Zidane has blond hair and a tail, while Vivi is a small boy with a large pointed hat.

If anyone has any information on them, I'd like to know.

[a beat and oh yeah!]

Thanks.

[And the feed ends]

I'm back.

[That was the coolest opening he could think of (or rather, the lamest of the coolest he decided on). It looks like the blue-suited lawyer is back to being a blue-beanied scruffy.]

That was a bit of an adventure wasn't it? I'm kind of embarrassed to remember it. How was it for anyone else?

Oh, and... [A pause. Then he clears his throat.] Aah, never mind. It really is a bad idea to let kids into something like this. But I guess Father's Day will be a little lonely from now on.

[to Maya, Mia, locked separately]
I think I owe you an explanation. Got some time for lunch?

[to Edgeworth, in the evening]
Do you have some time? I'll pay for tea, or coffee, or whatever you drink.

[Hisoka's had a tough couple of weeks since coming to town, and Tsuzuki has been on the sidelines, worrying for his young partner. Normal emotions were difficult enough to handle for an empath, but this new turn, this twisting of emotion in the air made Tsuzuki nothing short of a tense worrywart. At least back home, his partner had a library to retreat to, where people didn't disturb him so much.]

[It's not like madness was that new to him. He had Watari as a coworker long enough to know when to expect something to blow up. But even then, it hadn't happened as frequently as it did here in Exsilium.]

Okay. So first people turn into kids and then the ...bad moods happened.

...Is this normal? I mean, does it happen a lot here?

[ Akito’s eyebrows are wrinkled and his face is definitely way too close to the screen, but once he realizes the video function is actually on and working - he pulls back, an easy smile on his lips and a hand raising to give a small wave to the camera. ]

Hello! I haven’t been able to look around much yet myself, but -- there was someone with me before I got here, and I was wondering if anyone has seen him? He’s about this tall, [ he gestures about foot and a half above his head, which probably isn’t much help, but. ] has brown hair that’s pointed at the ends, yellow eyes, and might be wearing am ugly colored sweater vest. Goes by Akira!!

If you haven’t seen him, then maybe Kazu? He’s about -- [ the hand lowers a half a foot. ] this tall, has blond hair, blue eyes, always wears a white beanie.

[ the hand drops down as he finishes speaking, arm pressing close to his side. ] Or if you could tell me where the nearest cake shop is, that would be almost as good!

My name is Akito, by the way. Akito Wanijima. It's a pleasure to meet you all, I'm sure.

[ as usual, Riku's been helping Transports that're coming in. it's the courteous thing to do, he figures. but even he needs a break, and remembering what he was told as a kid during the event, he's ... made something of a makeshift soccer field in one of the gymnasiums. with two goalposts and lines in tape, it looks like a proper field.

without the grass, of course. he'd love to play in the rain, but with all the new Transports and with dirt turning to mud and good god, the chill... well, not much of a game if everyone's slipping and sliding and freezing, anyway. he bounces the ball on his head like the proper showoff he is. ]

Who's up for a game?

There's got to be soccer--uh, or football [ he glances to the Initiative staff member who coughed when he said 'soccer' with a raised brow ] on other worlds, too.

There's a lot of new people around, now, like there always is around this time of month. So if you just arrived and need to kick something--

[ there's a flash of yellow and purple suddenly, and the ball he'd been bouncing is suddenly gone. he has to turn to look off-camera, and he levels his gaze. ]

C'mon, Stellaluna. You can't...

[ ...!

he rolls his eyes and moves off-screen, himself. ]

That's not for eating. Spit it out.

[ off-screen wrestling; the ball shoots out, hitting the chair his device is sitting upon. it tumbles over and reveals Riku taking the ball from a flapping bat's grip.

once the ball's let go, the bat perches atop his head, and he gives her a pet before looking back at the device. ]

... oh, right. [ he starts to get up. ] If you helped me as a kid, I'd like to talk to you. Privately.

[ he moves over, and clicks off the feed. ]

( there's a bit of a pause before anyone speaks. when the voice does start, though, it's pretty low. flat, almost, like the speaker is tired, and her voice sounds pretty rough and husky-- and distinctly australian. she sounds decidedly... detached from what's just happened, considering it's her first entry. )

I remember, once when I was a kid. One of the shearers bought a kangaroo to the farm – not alive, though. It was roadkill. I couldn't tell you if... he hit it, or if he just found it. I don't know if that matters.

Anyway, he brings this dead 'roo over in the back of his ute, and hauls the thing off his trailer. I'm surprised he got it on there, to be honest. He and my dad, they took it over to one of the sheds and started butchering it. It was already dead, but they still went through all the steps they use for lamb or cattle if we're gonna be using them for food. Slice the throat, first. They took the whole thing apart, until there was just this... steaming carcass, and then they froze the meat for dog food, buried the guts so that the foxes couldn't get at them.

That's a bit what I feel like right now. Like I'm a carcass that someone picked up and dropped off here. It doesn't matter if I was alive or not when they found me. ( She laughs a bit, but it's a bitter sound. ) I'm here now, aren't I? Either I've gone bush crazy and I'll be dead soon, or I'm already dead. This Initiative bullshit is just-- Jesus.

( A sigh, and a long silence. )

My name's Ellie. Ellie Linton. I don't know if names mean much to the dead, but that's it.

[ it's been a month and mithos has gotten pretty situated here. however, other than getting used to the new place when he could (aka when they're not being transported somewhere else) he hasn't really ... done much else.

and that has included meeting others and getting to know them. and now that the person he really knew from back home seemed to have been avoiding him a week or so ago he feels... lonely.

perhaps a bit more than he should. and within that a pile of other emotions that come with it. he's doing a good job trying to suppress them but it's only a matter of time.

but as an attempt to rid of them, a question. ]

How easy is it for some of you to make friends? Or even become acquainted with someone. I know some people find it easier than others, so if you find it easy what is it that makes it easy for you?

[ he already somewhat knows the answer to the other side of the question. and there is always the 'i don't care' answer but that is one he doesn't want to hear right now.

there is a small pause ]

And what do you do when you're alone with no one to talk to.

[ because he certainly feels like he has no one to talk to right now. maybe it's partially why he's making this? ]