[Shelke is sitting cross-legged on the ground outside of the apartment complex, dressed in a purple sweater and a pair of baggy blue jeans, her left arm wrapped in a sling pressed into her stomach. Behind her an umbrella is propped up, shielding her from the drizzle. She'd gone outside to get away from the blackout for a while, and this seemed like as good a time as any to make this announcement.. She's frowning faintly at the camera, as if she isn't certain she wants to be on video but decided she didn't really have a choice.]

...For anyone who knew Cloud Strife, he is gone.

[Her voice isn't quite as empty as usual, there's an edge of frustration, maybe a bit of anger, at a situation she can't control. But she gathers herself up after a moment and reaches out to turn the camera slightly, and behind her is a half-rebuilt motorcycle, which she had been working on for Cloud before he disappeared. Shelke looks even smaller than usual, sitting next to the large machine.]

He left this behind. If anyone wishes to find the remaining parts I need to rebuild it, they may use it as they wish when I am finished.

[And then she turns the camera back to herself, and it looks like she's going to turn it off when she hesitates.]

Has anyone kept a tally on how frequently people who leave here are brought back?

Hey, um... [ There's Yukiteru again. In the very corner of the screen, someone might notice that he found four white ribbons that are situated neatly on his bedside table. He looks like he's adjusting slightly better, but he still sounds distinctly sad. ]

How do you guys deal with something you became really dependent on, but might not have been able to bring with you?

[ He's trying to be vague on purpose. In the off-chance he gets his Future Diary back... well, with his new powers, it's one of the few things that can still kill him relatively easily if someone knows that breaking it is his major weakness. ]

[Shelke doesn't look any different at all when she appears on the screen, at least, not physically, so she still looks nine, and she's dressed in a pair of jeans and a too-big shirt and a large, fluffy jacket someone had given her. But immediately something is different, because she doesn't look bored. If anything, her eyes (which are plain old brown right now) are a bit wide and excited as she is peering around at the building she is currently poking through (which has seen better days but that doesn't seem to be slowing her down.)]

[She glances from where she's going to the little camera and back every few seconds, and nearly drops it twice.]

Uhm. Hi. [She steadies herself long enough to give an almost nervous wave.] Kate said we're allowed to use this for important things, so I was just hoping...has anyone seen my sister?

[That empty, emotionless voice is gone, replaced by an almost normal sounding child's voice, happy, worried, excited, a little bit scared, all mixed up in trying to sound a lot more in-control than she really is.]

Her name is Shalua Rui, and she's about...seven inches taller than me, and she's fourteen years old. Everybody says we look alike, she has the same hair color as me but it's much, much longer and she wears glasses, and she likes to wear red clothes, and she's going to be so mad at me when I find her.

[Because that's a serious worry when you're nine.]

I...she was with me. Before I woke up here I mean, and if this really is another world she should be here too right? Because we were toget-woah!

[The bit of broken building she was standing on wobbles and sends her tumbling down a little pile of rubble to the ground, the camera whirling away, spinning end-over-end until it comes to a stop pressed against some broken stone, showing Shelke sitting where she'd fallen, looking dazzed. But she's apparently fine, as she rubs at her head before scrambling over to pick up the phone again.]

I'm okay! ...So has anyone seen her?

[ Oh look, another person is fumbling with the tablet today. There's a short capture of the grey sky and a glimpse of bright red hair before a "clunk!" sound can be heard and a panicky-- ] Oh no! Did I brea-- [ The video stops there.

Several minutes later, the audio comes on. Whether it's by mistake or choice, who knows. You can still hear the rain coming down heavily and then a young girl's voice speaks up. The same one who was panicking not too long ago. ]

Hello? Is there anyone who can hear this? Hello? I'm-- [ her voice is almost hard to make out in the rain, so she talks louder: ] I don't know how I got up here and I'm stuck! Somebody on the street told me they were gonna come, but it's been forever and it's cold and raining and-- [ She sounds cold, tired and scared. ]

Can somebody come and get me down from the roof? [ A beat. ] Please?


[ ooc: max will be retrieving her! otherwise all network replies will be icly delayed by an hour or so. ]

[The video clicks on when the rolled up tablet hits the ground, and the screen bounces wildly before it settles on its side against a curb, revealing a stretch of street near the apartment buildings. Shelke is standing off to one side with a brown box in her arms, frowning faintly in irritation as she looks over at the tablet. Damn it.]

[She sets the box down, and inside several little robots appear to be marching around, bumping into each other and clanking occasionally. Shelke heads over towards her tablet but just before she reaches up, when the screen is mostly dominated by her shoes, she makes a soft noise and detours away.]

[A couple moments later she returns, but she's back over by the box, setting two more of the strange little robots down inside of it. It's getting rather crowded, really, she's apparently been at this for a while.]

[Finally she retrieves her tablet, holding it in one hand as she returns to the box. She looks like she's about to turn it off, but after a second she turns her glowing eyes towards it instead.]

I don't know what these little machines are. [Using her free hand she holds one up, and it kicks aimlessly at the air in protest before she sets it back down.] But if anyone else has found some and does not want them, I will take them.

I-[She turns away, and is that a faint smile on her face as she spots another little machine. For a moment she genuinely looks like a little kid, but then it's gone as she turns back towards the screen.] They seem to be everywhere. Does anyone know what they are from? [She asks even as she's standing and walking to collect another little prize.]

So I take it this isn't exactly unusual.

[ And if you wanna know what Adam means with 'this' ... well, the video opens with a closeup of a rabbit, snarling and squirming and hanging off an arm it has bitten into and just won't let go. The person that arm belongs to doesn't sound too bothered, probably because that arm is made of solid, black metal that's not at all sensitive to pain. ]

( Cut for implied animal violence; private messages to Samus, Edgeworth, Barnaby )

[It's a little before dusk when the screen clicks on, and for anyone familiar, the camera is panning around the massive, abandoned arboretum on the edge of the city. The camera turns slowly to reveal a few piles of broken stone and metal, and then a small flower garden tucked in between what might have been a statue, long ago, and a section of shattered wall.]

[Eventually the camera shifts and moves, slowly panning around until the owner has moved to sit down next to the small flower garden, and it is turned towards Shelke, who rests her back against the base of the broken statue. She has changed out of her deepground uniform finally, and is dressed in a raggedy part of baggy pants and a t-shirt a size too large for her frame, making her look even younger than she already does. She has her weapon sheath attacked though, hanging over her shoulder.]

I am no stranger to ruined buildings. [She sounds almost as though she's half talking to herself as she speaks, her voice tinged with tiredness, and her eyes are turned upwards, but then they flick back towards the camera for a moment.] But other than transients, no one appears interested in this place. No one is attempting to salvage it, or reclaim it, or utilize it in some fashion outside of planting a few flowers. That is...strange. Not the flowers are not pleasant, but...

Even after meteor fell on Midgar, people were constantly trying to reclaim destroyed sections of the city. I...

[She frowns suddenly, as if she isn't certain exactly why she's bothering to talk about this, and after a moment she just shakes her head.]

It doesn't matter. I came here looking for...anything, but there isn't much I can use. I need electronics. Circuit boards, appliances, anything I can salvage parts from. I do not have much to trade but I can attempt to find what other people are seeking.

Computer parts would be preferable, but I know they're difficult to find here. I-

[There is a commotion from nearby, the sound of footsteps and raised voices as two of the local squatters appear to be getting into a heated argument, though the words are indistinct. Shelke just sighs softly. She was almost enjoying the silence.]

I suppose I cannot remain here.

[She pushes to her feet as she turns the camera off.]

[ Video--coming from Adam's tablet for once, and not his retinal enhancements. it shows him, obviously in his messy apartment, and obviously... different from what one might be used to. he's neither properly dressed nor his usual stoic, composed, monotone self.

but most notably, the lenses of his shades--which are mounted to his head--are retracted. his eyes are visibly artificial. here's the usual gravely voice: ]

...And they keep dragging more and more people here. Or is that the machine malfunctioning again? Can't be sure anymore.

Anyway, hello. My name's Adam Jensen and I'm -- [ insert vague, dismissive gesture here--his hand, too, is artificial and looks like it's made out of black metal. ] ... who the fuck even cares. I'm the local oversized can opener. Hi.

[ if it wasn't obvious before that he's drunk, it's sure as hell now. ]

Given the uh, premise under which you all arrived here as well as the popularity of thought-provoking surveys lately, let's talk about a topic each of you surely can contribute to with a story or two. Since I couldn't help but notice that we're quite a miserable bunch of misfits. Exceptions prove the rule by the way.

[ pause, during which he reaches off screen... for his smoke. ]

So, broken dreams. There's a pretty catchy song on them by Green Day which I can only recommend. But before you scurry off to find it, why don't we share with the class why we're all so damn bitter, and not only since we ended up in this shithole. Though I guess the shithole made it worse, in some cases. I don't know. Getting it off your chest might have a soothing effect, or something.

[ another pause, and he seems pensive for a moment. he might be able to offer alternative treatment methods for your troubles which may involve punching ahem. ]

Here, I'll start. I was planning to get married not too long ago, start a family. I had the perfect girl, a decent job I liked and paid well, and then--then science happened.

[ a dry, humorless chuckle. ]

Gotta love science. Your turn.

Oh! Andaran atish’an! This is such an interesting way to talk to people, don't you think? I can see your face and you can see mine! It's like a mirror, but it reflects other people back at you.

[Merrill waves, smiling broadly, her large eyes sparkling with delight.]

My name is Merrill, and I'm looking for my friends. I appear to be a little lost. [She swings the tablet around too fast to really see anything useful. Just a lot of stone.] Did you see that? I'm lost. But I have friends who can help me become, ah, not lost.

Sometimes, when I was lost in Kirkwall, Isabela - she's one of my friends - would swoop down from the top of a building and tell me where to go. She's very pretty, with dark hair and a lovely blue bandana. Oh, and a necklace. It's quite hard to miss her necklace and what's below it. And there's Aveline, but sometimes I worry she doesn't like me. She has red hair, like the sun, and quite a lot of freckles. I like her freckles. I wish I had freckles... [Merrill trails off, tapping her fingers against her cheeks as if counting freckles. She comes back to herself suddenly.] I'm sorry, I tend to get lost in my thoughts. I think that's how I ended up here. Do you ever do that? You start thinking and then you just don't come out. What was I saying before?

Oh, yes, my friends! I have quite a few of them. Isabela and Aveline and Varric! Varric is a dwarf, and he's very funny, but his stories aren't always true. He tells me stories about pirates, but Isabela says they're mostly made up. And Fenris, he's elvhen, like me, but--that's not going to be trouble, is it? In Kirkwall, they make us live in alienages, and they're very dirty. I had a nice house, but it was very small. No one in Thedas seems to like the elvhen very much, and living in the alienage is very uncomfortable...

[She stares past the tablet screen for a moment, thoughtful.] I hope there aren't any alienages here...

If you know my friends, would you tell them I'm looking for them? Ma serannas for your troubles. Or, if you recognize this place-- [She ducks out of the frame, an alleyway filling the screen for a few seconds before she fumbles the tablet and then drops it. Merrill's face pops into the frame again, a worried expression on it.] Oh, dear, I hope I haven't broken you...

[ooc: Feel free to engage the very lost Merrill in actiony posts. As a Dalish elf, she tends to speak in the elvhen language frequently. You can hover over the text with your mouse to get a translation!]

[So it probably isn't every day that a nine or ten year old kid appears on these things, huh? Shelke is holding the device at a slightly askew angle as she studies it, and her unnaturally blue eyes narrow faintly as she realizes she's accidentally set it to transmit. Hmm.]

[From the look of things, she's found her assigned apartment, and is curled up on the couch of the couch in her Deepground uniform, the blue stripes glowing faintly in the dim room. She seems to take a moment, as if trying to decide whether to turn the little machine off or not, before she just shakes her head and lets out a slow, tired sigh.]

Given what I've already learned, I suppose there is little point in asking if anyone has found a way for us to return to where we came from.

[Another pause, another slow, tired breath. After the day she's had back home and here, the fact that she isn't passed out is a small miracle. She's very carefully choosing her words, it seems, and her eyes flick away, considering her room before she looks back.]

I am Shelke the Tra...[A breath.] I am Shelke. I am looking for anyone familiar with the city of Midgar, or the world of Gaia. Vincent Valentine, if you are here...

[This last part is said almost absent-mindedly, and she frowns faintly at herself before she continues.]

...And if anyone is familiar with a substance called Mako...it may have another name here. It would be the distilled liquid essence of this planet's Lifesteam. It would look like this.

[She holds up a thin glass vial filled with a faintly glowing blue-green liquid. It bubbles and shifts by itself, and the vial appears to have a small injector at the top.]

I would be...grateful.

[Another pause.]

That is all.

[Click.]