You know, my missus is very suspicious of me. She says that my eye wanders. Maybe she's right. [ He sighs, an overdramatic sigh, with his shoulders raising and falling. He does miss her, and it occurs to him in this moment just how much. ] Don't tell her I said this, but she usually is.

[ And then he straightens up and his expression levels. ]

The UE is authorizing their Black Code. By the end of the month— so a week, give or take. [ Nash doesn't quite know what this means, but the previous posts, and the way the UE talked about it, have given him an idea. He turns very grave, very quickly, and uses the tone of voice to order soldiers around. ]

I think we should evacuate as soon as possible. As many people as possible—

And I don't think we have much time for debate.

[ the video comes on a little shakily with a lot of screeching noises; people who've been introduced to riku's stellaluna would probably recognize her. the feed's too dark to see anything though, like something's covering it. ]

No - stop, just stop. I got it, okay? We're gonna find him, all right? Now would you quit trying to bite my face off?

[ someone's hand lifts from the camera and Virgil's face comes into view, with stellaluna perched on his shoulder. he looks pretty annoyed and kind of distressed for the most part. ]

Riku's missing. I don't know where he is, but I've looked all over this stupid place and I can't find him anywhere. His stuff's still here and she's [ thumb jab in stellaluna's direction ] still here, so this wasn't something he'd planned in advance.

[ his mouth twists into a vague snarl, feral and angry. ]

I don't want to hear any stupid excuses like "oh, he's probably just on a mission" or whatever dumb reasons you can think of. Something's not right. This isn't like him at all.

[ because he would've told him too, if he was leaving. he rakes a hand through his hair with a sigh and stellaluna promptly takes it upon herself to try and hug his face, which effectively makes him lose his balance and drop his tablet, ending the video. ]