[ Oh look! It's Drift, your neighborhood giant robot. He looks pretty banged up, plating scraped and paint chipped in spots. More over, he doesn't look like his usual aggressively serene self. He glowers at the screen, downright dour, optics glowing coldly from under his helm. ]

I'm back.

Sorry to anyone I've been tutoring on swordplay.

Lessons are cancelled until further notice.

I'll be working on my house if anyone needs me.

[ His mouth draw into a tight line before he switches the video off. ]

[So Sollux thought it'd be a good idea to see what Earth movies are like. And with Crank as his only basis thus far, he's 1. not impressed, and 2. confused on a few things.]

Hey.

That movie that was shown last night, used a lot of words I don't know. Human vernacular ith really stupid and weird. Tho everyone should tell me all the thwear words they know and what they mean. There were like twenty onesth I didn't know in that movie, and I thtill don't get what they meant. Thith ith for educational purposes, of course.

[His first post is voice.]

Say, to all you magic-users! I'm curious. How did you learn your art? I suppose this applies to anyone with an "unnatural" ability as well.

[The second is a text post under his name, posted an hour after the above.]

I have a puzzle for you, Exsilium. But that's not fun enough, is it? Let's make it a game! I'll pay the first three people who solve it 10✥... no, up to 50✥! The first one gets a special prize! Isn't that exciting? (⌒▽⌒)☆

[Attached to this post is this diagram.]

Now, here is the situation! There are three houses. Each house needs electricity, gas, and water. The goal is to connect the houses to their utilities by drawing lines. It's easy, right? Very easy!

But there's a catch! None of the lines can intersect. But even with the handicap, it's a simple puzzle. I'm sure you can all crack it in no time!

Respond with your answers. Be sure to lock them, so there won't be any cheating~ 1✥ will buy you a hint.

I look forward to rewarding the winner!!

[ Hey look! It's the resident giant robot. He smiles so warmly it almost seems fake. ]

Greetings! Since it seems we have some new people since I last spoke on the network, my name is Drift.

For those of you who do know me, there are a few matters I need to attend to.

The first being, I'm moving! There's an abandoned warehouse down the way so if anyone would like my new location, please don't hesitate to ask. On a related note it uh, It's a bit of a fixer-upper. I don't have much to offer in return, but if anyone would be willing to help me strip it down and patch a few things up, I'd be very grateful.

On the other note, I was considering starting some self-defense classes to be held at my new location. I've had a job for now as a transport and delivery service of sorts, but I think, if anyone was interested, I'd enjoy teaching that on the side.

So! If you'd like to learn basic hand-to-hand or swordplay, please let me know!

( Locked to Helmsman )

[The video feed clicks on, tablet hovering a short distance from its owner. M'gann is located in the armory, and she's standing in front of what looks like a large red egg. A bright smile is in place, and it's taking all she has to contain her excitement. It helps that she's already flown around in glee; no one else really needs to see that, right? Right.

The martian places her hand on the side of the object as she addresses the network, clearly ready to burst from happiness.]

Um, I'm not really sure how to start this, so I guess jumping right in is the best way to do it. This [she pats the thing] is my Bio-Ship. She's an organic ship from my home world. I know she looks odd right now, but she's at rest. Normally she'll respond to my commands and wake up, however, right now, she's a little worse for wear. I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I'm sure it's fixable! She'll just need time and maintenance.

[M'gann pauses and faces the ship for a moment, something occurring to her.] I'd love to have some help working on her right away, but first, I'll need to get her out of here. The doors's too small, though that could be easily fixed. It looks like the main problem will be transporting her. Since my commands aren't enough right now, we'll have to physically move her, whether it be strength or teleportation or telekinetic efforts.

I can't do this alone. I'm positive some of you are more than enough to get this job completed. I'd be very grateful for any help! I'll be in the armory or over the network if there are questions of any kind!

[He told Sollux he would ask this once they were back into their normal bodies, and the Helmsman is going to keep his promise. He won't go video, though, much preferring the relative anonymity of voice.]

Query: have any userth returned to their home worldth and then come back to thith location later in time? If tho, can userth pleathe describe the experienthe, and if anything had changed for the user in the home world?

Thieves.

[ River is currently pacing around anxiously in front of the tablet where it's sat on the bed she has not slept in once in the week she's been here. ( Has she slept at all ? ) She's playing with the ends of her hair, head bowed, but wide eyes with dark circles dart over to the tablet on every other pass. ]

You're all - thieves and thefts, criminals and their crimes. They told you to go and you went, toy soldiers lined up in a row, and they took it all. Took everything, took you -

[ She stops for a moment, just to stare, before her pacing grows a little more jerky and frantic. ]

You're not you anymore. They mixed the signals and broke it apart, tore you into pieces and put you back wrong. You are a soul and you have a body, he said, but when you take someone else's brain and put it in someone else's body, can you still be called you? Were you even you to begin with?

Nǐ suǒyǒu de shuōhuǎng zhě, it wasn't yours to take and you took it, stole it away, and I - I know what they're trying to do. I can see you, and you're wrong.

[ A hand buries in her hair, shaking. ]

They want help. They need help, they're trapped and they - put it in my head, you cut it out and put it there but that doesn't make it right. Who decided you were right?

[ She lifts her head suddenly, fingers still tangled in her hair and eyes gone even wider. ]

Where are you? Whose side are you on?

[ ooc; as per usual, hover for Chinese translations and please check out her permissions post! you might notice that her name as it appears on the network is listed as "Mǐnsōu Shí," which is the alias she'll be using while in Ex. The first name is an anagram of her brother's name and composed with hack-job Chinese characters that don't actually mean anything, which anyone that can speak the language is more than free to call her out on. :') ]

[And, much like he said he would because Sollux is nothing but a man of his word, (when his word promises to do something spiteful towards a guy he very much dislikes), the feed opens up with just audio. Because if you saw the mess of a body this guy was in right now, you'd be horrified too.]

Public thervice announcement time.

I don't believe I even have to saying this, but apparently I fucking do. One. Just because you're in a different person's body doesn't give you the right to fuck with them. That includes: not being a dumbass and thinking just because the body you're in has superpowers that you should immediately try them out, and not doing anything that will later embarrass that person which INCLUDES POSTING VIDEOS NAKED, you know who I am talking to here. No one wantsth do see that shit, fuckheads.

Two. Will the original owner of the body of a blond woman who "usually wears a lot of armor" comment here. It pertains to the PSA I just had to give.

[He specifically means Samus because of this post. However, there are... quite a few blond women who wear armor in Exsilium. Whoops.]

...And a side note: if I say "rumble spheres", everyone knowsth what I mean, right?

[He seems almost apologetic for clogging the network, but the cause is, he considers, rather serious enough.]

I'm looking for someone who looks like me.  Kind of like me.  

His name's Drift. I've heard he's here. 

[He's been looking, but he hasn't found him yet. And that only compounds Wing's worry.]

I fear he may need fuel. If so, I am hoping someone will help take some of mine.  

Say, if you're an alien, I have a question for you. What was your world like? Do you miss it? Please tell me about it if you feel like it. Did you get to fly a space ship? Was that fun? What kind of fun things did you do? Are humans weird? What's the weirdest thing about them? Do you like humans? Did you ever meet humans when you were an alien?

[Okay, that's a bunch of questions. But she doesn't self-correct.]

Also, does anyone here know how to do magic? And if you do, is it magic you can teach to anybody? I think it would be pretty neat to know how to do some magic, and it could come in handy sometime. If you do please let me know.

[ Oh hey look, it's Drift. And it appears he's finally given up the gun on the whole trying to pretend he's not a giant awkward robot. He sucks at this whole secret thing. So have a giant robot. ]

So hi there. Uhm. Right. So I'm Drift. And I've got just a few questions.

First is that uh. I'm becoming abundantly aware that I'll probably need to find a better way to fit in here for obvious reasons. I do have something called a "Holoform" which allows me to project a solid holomatter representation of a human. But I'm really. Not a human. So there's that.

I guess what I'm asking is for some help in how humans or organics are really supposed to act.

Second, I'm looking for work. It doesn't actually have to be paid work, but anything I can do to help. My skills lie in.

Uh. Lifting heavy objects, chopping things and... well I'm pretty decent in a fight. So you know. Sparring or training self defense? Anything anyone can think of that they need help with. Please don't hesitate to ask.

[ He's a little desperate to make himself useful. ]

[ This lady's looking a little different, for anyone that's spoken with her before. Not any older, but there's a sort of crooked quality to her nose, like it'd been broken and healed some time ago. She's lounging in the Initiative apartments, looking like she's recently made friends with a superiority complex. ]

I want to speak to those of you who have seen a war before. Not the skirmishes that the Initiative sends us on here, but actual war.

And failing that, I'll take anyone that knows magic — and can teach it. That part is important. Don't waste my time if all you can do is cast it.

[ A hushed voice crackles slightly. Whoever it is, they sound like they're talking from inside a tin can. Their voice has a metallic flange to it. ]

Lost Light. Come in. This is Drift! Lost Light, do you read me? I'm stranded. I may have stumbled into a rift...

This could be a lead on finding the Circle of Light or the Knights of Cybertron.

Or I could be dead. I don't really believe the people here. They did something to my sword.

...

Rodimus! Please! If you're up there, please respond! This isn't funny! I have a good signal down here and if I find out for one second that you're having a go at me so help me I'll-

... I'm sorry. But please, if anyone from the Lost Light gets this transmission, please respond.

What if I really am dead... I thought he would be here, if I was.

[ A gasp. ]

What if this is the pit?! They're pretty polite for the pit but still-

Primus, spare my spark!

[ 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? ]

[So he's figured out how this tablet works now, so started reading back a bit. One thing has mostly caught his attention, so here he is.]

A lot of you seem adamant to abstain from offering your loyalty to the initiative, which...I understand in the sense that they are strangers just as much as the United Earth.

But should the claims of their forces attempting to raid your own home world be true, it would have disastrous consequences for the people you know still there. Is that worth the risk?

Or is there something else I'm missing here?

[C'mon people, he suspects he's missed something important. Give him some deets.]