[A ten year old Tenjou gets extremely close up to the camera and then backs away. He doesn't have his trademark piercings yet and his hair is much shorter. He cracks a grin.]

Wow. Human technology really improved! Still this place isn't really Kuukan after all. That'd explain why my tutors aren't chasing me around. Cool. I can live with that. My old man's too busy probably to notice me gone as always.

I'm Ken'ichi by the way. Also does anyone know where to get some good kitsune udon? I'm starving.

If you'll indulge a moment of curiosity, in my reading I have come across references to "New Year's Resolutions." As we seem to be coming upon the end of the year, I'm curious what kind of things you find worth assigning a resolution to do.

GUYS!

GUYS GUYS GUYS!

[Hello Exsilium, have a very excited, and possibly familiar to some, Panda! He's been away for a while, but now, it seems, he's back with his usual fanboyish glee.

At least this time we're not seeing the inside of his nose?]

Oh. Right. Sorry, sorry. Volume control. Gotta remember that. But...so cool.

Okay. Okay. I disappeared from here for a while, right? That's what happened? That's what happened. Okay.

We can time travel.

[His expression says "IS THAT NOT THE COOLEST THING EVER?"]

Not the missions, I know about the missions. But we time travel when we go back home! Get this. We come back...exactly...the time we left.

So I didn't even get in trouble with Master Shifu for missing lessons or anything!

[His excitement dulls just a little however, and he looks thoughtful.]

But...okay. It does get kind of weird. I couldn't remember you guys. That was...that was kind of a bummer, actually. But...but now I'm back and it's all back! Here!

[He points to his head.]

Isn't that just the coolest?

((OOC: Folks in (or around) Room 105 can action-tag as well, if they like! Hi new roomies! :D))

[Good day to you Exsilium. This fine morning you have a rather serious looking Erza Scarlet on your screens (she's fully clothed this time) as well as Natsu and Lucy looking rather resigned and kneeling in the background.]

Good morning to you all.

Regarding the events of the masque ball I would like to offer my sincerest apologies for the terrible behavior of my guild mates and myself. It appears I unknowingly became intoxicated at some point during the night and became somewhat violent.

[She doesn't mention that Lucy also became drunk from the punch because she remembers seeing Lucy drinking with Claire. Natsu, however, has no excuse and the glare she shoots in his direction says as much. She clenches her fist with determination.]

I refuse to let this event bring further shame upon the guild. Therefore I wish to offer up our services, to both the Initiative and those wronged by our actions, to repay the debt for any damages we inflicted.

[At the 'damages we inflicted' Lucy can be heard whispering, "Didn't she cause more damage than we did..?" and then quickly half-ducks behind Natsu when Erza turns suddenly with a murderous look in her eyes. The two figures in the background go completely pale but Erza only bows humbly before the camera. After a few moments Erza looks back at the screen, her severe tone having softened.]

Sayaka I'm sorry for abandoning you after our dance, it wasn't my intention.

[With her final apology complete Erza turns to deal with her friends. Lucy, now using Natsu as a shield, raises her arms up as if pleading for mercy.]

((OOC: Context Feel free to say your character was injured by these idiots at some point during that night.))

[It's been days, perhaps weeks since she arrived, and it's taken this long for her to feel comfortable broadcasting even her voice in a public place. Even so, the message is short as she makes an effort to keep distress or dismay out of her voice.]

Since we've all been taken from our homes, there must be many out there who have left behind family, friends, and loved ones. As I've been told, there are people who have been trapped in this place for months.

Does time make the ache of being apart fade? Is there a way to make that pain subside?

[ oh hey, this message brought to you by... not the Initiative, not a Transport... a citizen?? ]

Afternoon, Transports. Let's keep this short, as I'm sure we're all busy people.

My name is Thom Sorenstam. I'm Commissioner of Exsilium's police force, formed as of a few months ago. I've been working with Inspector Barnaby Brooks since to establish a Transport unit within the force.

So that's where you come in.

[ shuffling of papers.... ]

We're recruiting. [ a smack -- Thom hitting the table with his fist. ] Two sergeants, picked by myself and Brooks, twenty to thirty constables, two hundred marques' pay per month, a little more for the sergeants. You'll be reporting to your sergeants or to Inspector Brooks, and mostly be dealing with Transport business.

If you're interested, talk to me over... this thing, or at our office on [ X AND Y INTERSECTION ]. I'll want to hear how long you've been here, your experiences, your qualifications, specialties, skills, the whole blasted thing. And I'd love to do background checks on all of you, but that's goddamn impossi-- [ someone in the background interjects. their words aren't clear, but she sure sounds disapproving. COUGH. ] Anyway.

[ more paper shuffling. muttering. ]

Any other questions, crimes, concerns? Leave 'em here. I'll get to them.



[ ooc: original police force sign-ups were here! calhoun/chargethesebatteries and nathaniel/noble_nate will be our sergeants, everyone else will be coming in as constables.

you're still welcome to sign up OOCly. IC signing-on in this post is optional and can be handwaved, so long you've signed up in the OOC post! ]

[video, back dated to before the animals went zombie.] 

[The feed starts with two foxes staring back. One of them is bold enough to get in close and lick the screen.]

Hey, you two, what are you...Oh, it's on.

[Tenjou picks up the tablet, much to the foxes' dismay.]

Sorry, about that.  So yeah, Yuna, Priad, sorry but the foxes are tagging along. Let's just say one of my innate skills is not being helpful with this. And believe me, I've done all the things possible to try and shake them off. Don't worry they'll listen to me so they'll behave. So no, you may not use them for target practice. And if anyone gets any other ideas, don't even think about it.

[video; dated for 12/14]

Well, damn. Never thought I had to deal with zombie foxes.

[Behind Tenjou, the foxes are in separate pet carrriers, snarling and trying to get out.]

I'll take full responsibility and take them out. If I get changed by them, I give you guys permission to put me down.

[He shuts off the feed abd readies himself to headout.]

So here's the thing, right. I mean, yeah, the Initiative kinda kidnapped us. But they say they didn't do it on purpose. And I believe them, 'cause nobody in their right mind would wanna recruit me into their army on purpose. Some junkie loser. Ask anybody who saw me my first few weeks here, okay, all shitting in my pants scared and useless with the shakes. I couldn't hold a gun steady if my life depended on it.

So they didn't exactly bring us here on purpose. But what do they do when we end up here?

[He raises his hand to the camera, counting off on his fingers:]

They patch us up, bring us back to life. Hey, that's a big deal for some of us, ain't it?

They give us some swanky ass apartments. Yeah, we got roommates, but do you see what the rest of everybody's living in? We got some damn nice cribs in comparison, yo.

They give us money. Just like that. Like, "here you go, go buy a sandwich."

They give us weapons. You ain't never been a prisoner if you think that's something they'd do if they meant to keep us prisoner. Okay, nobody arms a prisoner. They'd be taking away our weapons if they were trying to hurt us all on purpose. And look at this shit -

[He holds up his own gun for the camera, popping the magazine out so the poison darts inside are visible.]

- All high tech. They ain't just giving us sticks to go out and defend ourselves with. This is some quality craftsmanship.

[He sets the gun aside.]

And you hear how I said "defend ourselves"? Yeah. Those U.E. sons of bitches are coming after us. They bombed the shit outta this place we're living in like my first week here. I mean, look around. You can see what they done to this place. To the people in this world. And they got the technology to do that to our worlds, too, unless we do like the Initiative says and go on missions and fix this shit.

And you know what else? You got a problem with the Initiative, you can just talk to 'em. Yeah. They ain't gonna hurt you. I was having some problems when I got here, so I went and talked to them, and guess what? They gave me everything I asked for! That's all it took. So yeah, maybe they can't send you home right now. But they'll help you out best they can.

Look, we're pretty much their only hope here. They wanna do right by us. So just... stop talking about dumbass rebellions and start - I don't know - communicating.

What makes you worthwhile? Reluctantly interested parties want to know.

And if you're completely useless as I imagine most of you are then tell me why do you want to go home. It sounds like most of you do so indulge me. It must be absolutely fascinating.

[ all replies are text unless otherwise noted! ]

[ Someone has found a tattered, much read book while crawling through the empty houses, and with all the time in the world - and a craving he wanted to ignore - he decided to sit down and read it. And then read it again just to make sure he was reading it right since English can be hard to get. And then he just so happens to want to share the book with the rest of the class.

So. First off, the camera is going to show the tattered cover of the book. Sho is contemplating setting the whole set on fire but he is going to reserve judgement because hey, trashy romance novels without any real porn and who is he to judge someone might actually like the freaky things like some kind of brain dead lemming or something. ]

I get that people find vampires romantic. I get that. I get that people enjoy a little fur too and hey, not everyone is good at shaving, specially when you grow more hair on your body than a stylist right before a wedding every freaking day. I get all of that.

What I don't get is how anyone can believe that a bunch of humans would suddenly go gangster on a fucking corpse glitter in the sunlight. I mean, going up in flames or turning into a fucking bat? That would get people to stop and scream or stop and shoot at anything that moves. Add in a few open wounds and the whole not feeling part and you've got stuff humans would get scared of.

But sparkling? Sparkling? [ Sho blows smoke and just kicks dirt at the book. ] Whoever wrote this thing must've never been downtown Mallepa after class is out for the day. Most of the kids sparkled and they wore lolicon and pink wigs and blue bangs and painted their faces white and some even wore the teeth and leathers and the wings, and even special contacts that would glow gold. Some pale kid with glittering skin wouldn't even got noticed unless he wore a skirt and put his hair up in ribbons.

[ He scowls at the book. The book just remained where it was, looking rather like a poor old book that someone had just kicked around. ]

Anyone want it? Better speak up if you do cause I ain't gonna go dragging it around without a good reason.

[Today you have something different: Rather than a face peering into the camera, you have a full body view of a young woman standing to the left of the shot, with her right hand on her hip. Said hand glows bright white, like the rest of her body. If you haven't seen her before, she's probably a pretty surprising sort of freak to see when you turn on the communicator.

The center and right part of the shot are occupied by the wall, to which she's attached an off-white poster, landscape orientation, with the following written on it in large letters of bright green marker.

* As Your Potential Leader A Complete Stranger In All Senses
* Proposal To Further Factionalize Already Fractured Population
* Plans Will Only Be Revealed When Or Rather If Any Group Is Gathered
* Initiative Is Our First Enemy Rather Than The United Earth
* Conflict With Other Armies Also A Welcome Possibility

It's attached to the wall with a piece of clear tape on each corners and one in the middle of each long side as well. Close examination will note that it appears there is a second identically-sized piece of paper hidden under it.]

Hello, Transports. I'm Kanaya Maryam. Apart from those who saw my arbitrary self-introduction, you probably don't recognize me as anything but an alien interloper of an age you judge as inappropriate. Even though you have absolutely no reason to trust me, I'm going to ask you to do exactly that, because Exsilium has a terrible leadership problem.

[She's pointing to the second bullet now.] Lots of Transports have been trying to create an army out of members of Exsilium's already perfectly fine existing army. This hasn't worked up until now, but I am somehow absolutely certain that when I do this it's going to be totally different.

[Third bullet:] My plans are so fantastic that they have to be kept confidential and will only be revealed to members of the army once it forms - whom, by the way, I will accept and reject at my discretion even though my goal is to unite Exsilium.

Oh, and did I mention - [fourth bullet] - that I want to overthrow the Initiative first, even though we're fighting the United Earth. Because that's my intention, to fight the people who brought us together and control whether we even stay or leave, let alone go back in time.

And by the way, all the other armies that have already been forming - they're getting in the way of my plan, so we're also going to fight you if you go against us.

[Both her hands return to her hips as she stares at with her head cocked and her lips stretched thin.] Tell me, Exsilium, do you think that sounds like a good plan for anyone to execute? Especially if she's an alien, an undead, a "teenager" [finger quotes], or the like? Or would you advise me to stick with the perfectly good hundreds-strong army that we already have, and take it up with the administrators of the Initiative if I really insisted upon doing something. Perhaps would you go so far as to say that I sound... stupid? If so, that's good, because I have some appalling news for you, which I've just delivered wrapped in your planet's particularly loathsome form of verbal irony.

[In a sudden, too-quick motion, she reaches up with both hands to rip off the poster and reveal the paper underneath it, filled up entirely with these four words:

This Is Stupid
Stop

She neatly folds the old poster three times and throws it away in a waste receptacle off screen, and then stands up straight to address the camera again.]

It does sound stupid, because it is, and so do you. Stop.

[The video ends.]

[She looks squarely at the camera. A very nonhuman face: gold fur, slitted eyes, and four large pointed ears. There seems to be some recent damage with small scrapes, the larger ones covered by bandages.] My appearance. Do you feel fear? Of unfamiliarity, or recognition.

If it is the former, then you need not tell me.

[A pause, as she seems unsure about the next topic. Her speech is slower, cautious and reserved.] Many species, many homeworlds. Many opportunities. My search is ongoing.

What is… expected of your species? Your gender. Your— caste. Your role, by design. Do you fulfill it, or do you rebel?

Oh, London, what have they done to you...?

[ The person on the screen has abnormally pale skin, with an almost reflective quality in the dim light of the room. He's dressed quite fancy, as well, in stark contrast with anyone from Exsilium, perhaps even moreso than most of the other transports. He looks like a crossed between amused, and disappointed; if anyone can properly convey two usually mutually exclusive emotions at the same time, it's him. ]

I've not seen such a lack cheer here in over a century. What a tragedy.

[ A long, overly dramatic sigh goes here. Then he smiles, his eyes flashing yellow for just a brief moment as fangs are bared. ]

They were right to call me, then. Poor, poor mortals. I'd be dearth in my duties as an entertainer to leave them in such a sorry state.

[Congratulations, Exsilium, you are now privy to a very close up view of the Avatar's nose for a good ten seconds before she pulls back and faces the camera with a grin.]

Got it. [Throat clear.] So hi. Welcome to the new guys and girls... and other things. You'll find there are some weird things here, but friendly faces are not in short supply, no matter how many eyes they have. It's pretty neat, actually.

I'm Korra, and this-- [camera moves to show a rather large dog/bear hybrid, then back to Korra] -- is Naga. She's a polar bear dog, and we're from a pretty neat world where some people can control an element. That's called bending. It takes a while to master, but it's totally worth it. If you ever wanna see, let me know; it'll be awesome.

Anyway, I want to hear about what your worlds are like, what people or creatures can do there. We're supposed to work together, so getting to know each other's a step in the right direction.

[She pauses, then smirks.] And if anyone wants to spar, I'll be more than happy to oblige.

 [Tenjou is on a couch, looking rather tired. Even a future god can get tired out, especially when dealing with the back-to-back combat.]

Well, that was interesting. I won't be able to say I'll be bored easily now. Just one question: Are there any places here that serve decent sake? If not, I guess I can go for any kind of alcohol then. After what's been happening lately, I think I could use a drink.

...The name's Tenjou, by the way.

*There's a very sour looking man with a scar from some sort of blade running down his face on the screen, looking somewhere between unimpressed and outright disappointed.*

So, this is the city the Initiative operates out of. If that's the case, then it's truly no wonder they feel the need to outsource to other worlds. That is, assuming their words are true. But I should hope that having been here longer, it isn't too much to presume at least some of you have seen evidence either supporting or refuting their claims about this so-called United Earth. If that is, indeed, the case, I want to hear what information is available from direct observation. But if you've just mindlessly accepted their words as true and have no personal experience to prove one way or the other, don't waste my time.

I'd planned on makin' this announcement after the whole monster attack bullshit was ower an' done with but with all these folks blabberin' on about formin' alliances I ain't takin' chances an' losin' out on the potentially interested to 'em.

[HE'S LOOKING AT YOU SYLVANAS but he's also pretty sure some others had mentioned doing something similar, the open network post about it just spurred him on to finally do something.]

Any a' you here a while should know who I am; for those a' you who don't, it's Eridan Ampora. Alternian royalty an' Prince a' Hope. Fact a' the matter is I been here about eight months now an' the initiatiwe's done nothin' to prowe to me they're worth trustin'.

We got barely anythin' to go on most of the time an' almost ewery bout a' time trawelin' nonsense leads to more problems an' at this stage I'm sick of it. Got no more patience for these guys doin' the remotely competent an' straightenin' up anytime soon.

So I'm proposin' my own alliance with the shared goal of takin' charge. We'll finish this war ourselwes once we'we owerthrown the fuckups who think they're leadin' this sham of a union an' then whatewer you wanna do afterwards, go for it. I don't giwe a' fuck what your own goals are once we're done playin' nice an' pretendin' as if any of us actually like each other.

For the record, anyone who don't wanna join us is fine; but we'll control the machine that sends you home an' you'll either do as we say once we do, or you can rot here forewer. Your mowe.

[Sure is a thirteen year old kid trying to lead a potential rebellion. Laugh at him, take him seriously, your choice really.]

[The video starts up and you get a blonde with an upticked mouth looking at you.]

So everyone got these new tablets, but teaching us how to use them was just one step they weren't willing to take. I figure I could step in here and offer to teach the basics to anyone who was having a problem using theirs.

I'll be at the *insert random place here idk* for most of today, so if anyone wants to stop by for a lesson, I'll be there. [Grins a little wiser] I hope ya'll are good, attentive students so I don't regret this later.

[/feed ends]

[Video]
[The feed opens up to a sight of a red-haired boy standing with a certain blonde-haired young woman standing behind him as he began to speak, kinda awkwardly in fact.]

Um, I know most of us still busy with rebuilding and all, but I might as well introduce ourselves.

[He cleared his throat.]

My name is Shirou Emiya, and I'm from Fuyuki City, that name would've sounded foreign to most of you, so uh...

Yeah. Anyways, if you need any kinds of help, feel free to contact me and oh-!

[He's going to gesture to the woman before him.]

She is Saber, and she's-

[And with that, the woman spoke for the first time since the feed started.]

I am Shirou's loyal vassal. [ A curt statement. Then again, she didn't seem the type to speak unless it was necessary. ] Therefore, I offer my aid as well.

S-Saber! You shouldn't really use that sentence...! A-ah, she's a really close friend of mine, actually! [It'll make people think that he's royalty...! Either ways, the feed's going to click off at this point.]

((OOC: Both of them will be replying to you!))

I've been curious about something lately. How does magic work in other worlds?

[ A somewhat ironic question, coming from him. In his 'universe,' he supposed, it was fairly universal. But from what he's seen lately... it's slightly more complicated than that. And he's curious if he can learn other spells besides the ones he already knows. ]

[ He had managed to repair his appearance now that they were able to get out of the catacombs. But it was easy to tell that he was still not at his full strength - skin pale, healing bruises and scrapes visible on exposed skin, and hands tightly bandaged almost mummy-like.

He had found an unbroken bottle of whiskey and had poured himself a drink before turning the new netbook on. ]

And so they give us a new toy and a better lock on the new toy. How generous.

[ His deadpan words are accompanied by a slight twist to his lips, and a narrowing of his eyes. He is not in a good mood. ]

I would have rather have received a new piano than this.

wwell THANKS A WWHOLE FUCKIN LOT

[Bet you missed him, Exsilium. The text. The quirk. Everything.]

no big deal right enemy forces decide to swweep in an bomb the fuck outta evverythin they can see an go transport huntin evveryone figures its no big deal wwell all fuck off right dowwn under an havve ourselvves a subterranean party out of it
oh hey anyone see eridan around wwait wwho givves a shit if he dies he dies an its no wwater off our backs right
not a single one a you bastards showwed hide nor hair in tryin a make sure i wwasnt a charred corpse out in some godforsaken patch a nowwhere that once wwas
wwell tough break to all of you hopin id kick it cause im STILL HERE and im FINE
itd take more than that to knock off the prince a hope im tellin you all noww

[At first it appears the screen is simply black, but no, it's just an EXTREME CLOSEUP of black fur. Followed by an equally EXTREME close up of an eye.]

HELLO? HELLO PEOPLE IN THE MACHINE. [The eyeball is speaking very. Very. Slowly. And loudly.]

I AM THE DRAGON WARRIOR. MY NAME IS PO. PLEASE DO NOT BE ALARMED. I MEAN YOU NO HARM. I AM A MASTER OF KUNG FU AND I AM HERE TO SAVE YOU. ALSO, I AM A PANDA. WE DO NOT EAT...uh...oh what were they called aga--Oh! Right!HEE-YOU-MANS. WE EAT BAMBOO. AND ALSO NOODLES. AND OOH! OOH! ALMOND COOKIES. Man I could really go for some of Monkey’s almond cookies right no--Uh, wait, I mean DO NOT BE ALARMED.

[Pause.]

I SAID THAT ALREADY. BUT THAT'S OKAY. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT YOU NOT BE ALARMED BECAUSE I AM A HERO.

[Pause.]

I AM ALSO A MASTER OF KUNG FU. I SAID THAT ALREADY ALSO. Oh man just shut up Po you’re blowing this. Uh...

YOU MAY SPEAK NOW!

[There's a blur of black and white as the eyeball turns into a...is that an ear canal? Is he putting his ear against the camera? ...Yes. Yes he is.]