[In the couple of hours since Aerith has 'woken up' here, she's cycled through several emotions. Surprise and confusion the most prominent, but there's also a sliver of unease tucked away, nagging at her.

She thinks it's because she doesn't have the materia her mother gave her - it's a little bit like her security blanket, even if it was a tiny enough to tuck into the ribbon in her hair.

Disoriented, she has been wandering around in Sector 4, trying to think of what to do next. It's hard to switch from 'lone mission to try to save the Planet' to 'imprisoned underwater with no way out'. Not that she's thinking of escaping - but she does worry about what is happening back home.

Deciding it would be easier to just ask the network in general (and possibly find any of her friends, if they're here), Aerith fiddles with her communicator for a moment before it cuts on.]

I wonder if I can- oh, I think it's working! [There's an adjustment made to the communicator so it's steady.]

Hi there! Wow, this really different from my PHS. I actually just had a question for everyone - I only arrived a little bit ago.

[It's funny how a few hours can seem like forever when one appears inside an underwater prison.]

I know that someone is sent back in our place... [There's a slight frown on her face before continuing.] What I'm curious about is there a way to find out what is happening back home? Besides asking someone who might have been there, anyway.

[Not that she even knows if anyone from home is actually there with her. She hopes if there is they'll catch this and contact her. She's not comfortable calling out for them over a network - she didn't know who might be listening.]

[OOC:Anyone is more than welcome to run into Aerith while she sticks around Sector 4! She's just kind of aimlessly strolling around, gathering her thoughts!]

[upon her arrival, Painwheel definitely had a little bit of an episode. she tore up that welcome basket and flipped her every shit available to be up-ended, and finally inspected the network a little once she calmed down and all the fear and irrational anger subsided—once she realized she's actually in control and she doesn't have to be such a fucking spaz.

it occurs to her, however, that she hasn't properly socialized in a very long time. she's probably bad at carrying on conversation. she also doesn't want to talk about herself. she doesn't want people to see her face. but she wants to know about the other criminals here. she wants to know people like she used to know people. they can't all be bad, right? ...RIGHT??

and so, she's been inspired to make this post!]

...Hello— [her voice is deep and worn, gravelly in its quality, like her vocal chords have been blown out a little.] My...name is Painwheel.

[she takes an unsteady breath in, and manages to push herself forward, a little.]

There's a lot of people here—people who've committed crimes... So I guess that's our common ground, as people... But that can't be it, right?

So...what do all of you enjoy? Who are you? I'd... like to know, I think.

[The turn of the cold weather had done a number on Ashura, and the rapid switch back to warming temperatures (not to warm yet, but warm enough), was playing havoc on his sinuses. The end result being he was stricken with something of a nasty head cold. And of course the consequence of this being that he sneezed - a lot.

The throbbing pressure of a sinus head ache made concentrating a bit difficult, which in turn meant that almost every other time he sneeze, especially in a chain, there was a pop (like a firecracker) of a burst of flame around him. It happened now and then when he got sick, even at this age (one never quite grew out of it).

He was out for some light exercise, a walk really, but the sneezes kept coming - and with the, the pops.]

[ooc: he won't be setting anything on fire, unless you want him to accidentally set something of yours on fire. Otherwise the little flare ups are to fast to do much besides make that loud 'pop' sound.]

[An alarmed face appears on the video. Blonde hair with pink streaks, brightly colored chunky jewelry, thick-rimmed glasses. Immediately, she starts rambling.]

Okay. I'm used to weird, but this is like -- the freaking Twilight Zone. The creepy, prison-themed Twilight Zone with an embarrassingly hackable headset and no keyboard in sight, which is its own special level of hell and somewhere I'd rather not hang, capiche?

Someone please just pinch me, or do whatever it is you do to get someone to wake up from a bad dream, and preferably without any more violence than absolutely necessary, because ickiness is totally not something we need to add to the mix --

[She may not take a breath anytime soon, unless someone cares to interrupt...]

[action]
[when Neku wakes up, face-first on the pavement, dazed and confused, he doesn't know what to make of how -- quiet it is. and when the situation comes back to him, all at once in a sickening rush, he shoves his way to his feet and gropes for his pins. he still has them, all of them, even the player pin, even the red skull pin]

[a thousand potential explanations rush through his mind before he notices the explanations right in front of his eyes. he spends a while poring over the welcome message and the brochure, and then listening to the other new arrivals, trying to think about this reasonably instead of freaking out the way he so desperately wants to]

[feel free to find him while he's flailing, reading, or brooding! he's spending most of his time folded unabashedly on the ground against a wall. otherwise...]



[video]
--Hey. [a slightly awkward pause. he's half-buried in his high collar and heavy headphones, but he's working his way out of his comfort zone] This has been way easier to digest than my last impossible kidnapping. So, thanks, I guess. Props to the welcome committee.

I mostly wanted to know if anyone has met a Shiki Misaki, or a guy calling himself Beat. If not, then -- does anyone recognize this?

[he flashes a small black-and-white pin with a skull emblazoned on it between two fingers, and then lowers it again]

[he needs to be sure]