[His kitten with him, Akito's snuck out to the kitchen. It's fairly late, around midnight according to his tuner clock.

The teen's curled on a chair by the bench, a pillow in his grip. Kasumi's fast asleep on the bench. Akito hugs the pillow to his chest, legs drawn up a little. He's not overly tired, and can't sleep anyway.

Kaito...he both loves and fears his brother, but after what happened earlier...he'd clung to Yuuri for awhile, but now...he wants to go back to his brother. Apologise for Agito kicking him. But people will worry about him if he goes and Agito doesn't want him to go...

Akito's confused. He doesn't know what to think]

Hello?

[ Shirley sounds more confused than anything. She's got a pretty good internal clock, after all, and this... doesn't look like daytime. More importantly, the clock on her communicator is acknowledging that it is the time she thinks it is. ]

Um... I know it's a little early, but shouldn't the lights be on by now. There wasn't a storm or anything, was there?

[ A storm in a dome? That... doesn't make sense. At all. ]

Is everyone okay?

[ Terminal had trouble sleeping the night before, and so he is still wearing his make-up. Shortly after the Sentience went down, Terminal feared that something had gone wrong with Lain, however didn't act at the time trusting in her ability to fix any problems. In the morning when there was a lack of a message from Sentience, Terminal checked his communicator and sent a message to Lain & Dr. Eggman. ]

Dr. Eggman, please meet me at Lain's dorm room. I fear something bad may have happened. Lain, if you are there please reply, did something go wrong with out project?

[ Note: This base post has been edited to due to a misunderstanding about the time Sentience went down. ]

[Good morning, criminals... is what Sentience would say if, Sentience were here. But this morning, there's nothing but silence over the communicator. In fact, the whole dome is silent.

There are no bots running errands. They all stand, frozen and motionless, precisely where they were in the middle of the night, unresponsive.

The pet shop and the hospital are completely sealed off.

The decimated Twinkie section of the convenience store has not been restocked.

And it is still dark as midnight outside -- and inside. The whole dome is dark. Only the shelter is still lit, with the dim, unhelpful red glow of emergency lights.

Now what will you do?]

[he's getting dressed awkwardly in the dark, so this message is a little breathless and curt]

This is Lelouch vi Britannia. I need for my people to report in to me immediately.

I have two questions for the rest of you:

First, where is Deire? [the Engineers might be the key to what's going on, one way or the other, and she might have experience with this otherwise]

Second, where is Lain? [she was considering interfering with Sentience's code, and Sentience seems to be having a problem now, so she's the other logical possibility]

[it starts out as a harsh huff of breath, only for silence to stretch on for minutes afterward. finally, after it seems that's all there is to it, he speaks up, low and muttered, as if to himself.

the voice is a weary one.]

So that's it, huh? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, but why so sudden? They never mentioned anything about a transfer like this. I'm pretty sure Dojima would've let me know if there was a change in protoco--

Why is it so dark?

It's not supposed to still be this dark, is it? It's very, very, dark. Extremely so. Is it going to stay this way?

At least I seem to be free to move around the prison now.

[Private to Lain // Hackable if you're Lelouch]
Lain Iwakura, where are you? May I ask you a few questions?

Akito? Akito! Where are you? [Worried Yuuri, is worried and not using filters. And walking into a dresser.]

OW!

[Clears throat.]

LET THERE BE LIGHT!

Well, still not god. Worth a try though. Anyone else got any ideas?

[Rosalie's gorgeous face is just barely visible by the emergency lights, the dark kitchen her backdrop. It's worth noting that her eyes are a dark shade of gold, approaching black even.]

Well, isn't this delightful? Our warden has left us to fend for ourselves. How thoughtful of him. But basic needs must still be met. I hope we don't collapse into chaos.

I'd appreciate if someone would answer a question for me. Where, exactly, does the supply of blood in the refrigerator come from?

[There's a startled yell and a thump.]

Where'd the lights go?!

... shouldn't it be light now?

When I said that I was bored I didn't expect something like this to happen.

[Breaks out into a fit of giggles]

But this is a pretty interesting development. Who should I thank for this experience, if anyone at all?~

[There's the sound of deep, shaky breathing and Al is talking to himself, trying to keep himself calm, not realizing that the communicator is on. If someone was able to see him, he'd be curled up as much as possible, squeezing his eyes shut and holding his hands over his ears.]

I-I-It's okay... This is Marina... I'm still in Marina, I haven't gone anywhere, it's okay... Th-the lights just aren't working but they'll come back... They'll come back on really soon and it'll be okay...

[After a few long seconds of silence, Al let's out a sob. He's really trying not to cry but it's not working very well.]

This is Marina. It's not the Gate. I'm okay. N-nothing's going to reach out and grab me... I haven't done anything to open it... I haven't used any alchemy... There are no hands. There are no hands.

[There's another long pause and Al starts really crying.] I j-j-just have t-to w-w-wait... It's ok-kay. It's -

[Al suddenly lets out a terrified blood-curdling scream and the communicator switches off.]

OOC: THIS is what happens when you're eleven years old, you still sleep with a nightlight, you're in the dark, and the last thing you remember before coming here is getting pulled into a doorway of DARKNESS while your body is BREAKING APART. 8D;

[Wandering through Sector Zero as he travels along the red emergency lights. He has his communicator in hand but is incredibly confused. What kind of facility is this? The message cut off abruptly. Was he captured again? Is Teito okay?]

This place is a maze...[Muttering to himself as he comes out into a larger area but he still really can't see much. A commons room?]

Everyone! Even people I don't know- Please be careful in the dark! I wouldn't want the typical pattern of people hurting themselves in such darkness to happen in this situation, please be safe!

[Ironically, Sakamoto's nose is bleeding and he still doesn't seem to realize it.]

And if anyone asks you suspicious questions, just say no! Rape occurs most frequently in darkness, ahahaha! Unless it's someone you love! Then just try and keep things a secret, haha!

[There is a pause.]

Does anyone have a tissue? I fear I've caught cold, ahaha! And using my shirt to wipe my nose wouldn't be the most clean idea!

[His nose is just bleeding, but he believes that it is merely dripping.]

And if anyone can direct me to the alcohol, please do!

[ with Lero's help, he's floating high above the ground. Ah, flight is so exilerating! Even being without it for two days is too long. Not only that, but he is completely free. His Dark Matter is speaking to him, whispering its impressions of the people in the dome; where the powerful people are, where there are weaker ones or no one at all. So many bodies.

Anyone outside in the dome may hear some happy, yet, unnerving laughter coming from the dark above them. ]

... well.

[ sound of buttons being pushed, then a rapping on metal ]

I'm not sure if this is better or worse than the baths. At least my clothes are dry.

My, isn't thiiiis a pleasant surprise~ ♥ It's so nice to be able to move around again that I can't even complain about the lack of lights~~

Ah, but I can't exactly cook without power, can I~? Such a dilemma~

...

Okay, I can't find the kiosk.

Because I can't see ANYTHING! It is also very VERY dark out here!

[She reads over what little of the message as she is able to see and then spends a couple of minutes pressing buttons on her communicator and testing the various functions before switching the feed to video.

A smiling woman with bright blue eyes and long ruby red hair tied back into a high ponytail appears on the screen. Of course she is only dimly illuminated by the red lights in the shelter making her look maybe just a little scaryier than usual.]

Greetings, citizens of Marina Asylum! I am Anissina von Khrennikov, and I have just arrived, but fear not! I should be able to start making improvements immediately. There is clearly much work to be done, and I'm sure you'll all be very useful helpful in accomplishing our goals!

[Fumbling noises here. Teito still hasn't figured this thing out completely.]

S-Sora? Lenalee? Sakamoto? Are you all right?

[Pause... He's actually talking pretty loud. Sounds very nervous too. The network is pretty... Uh... Noisy]

The chains sort of fell off and...

[Mikhail is squirming. Teito doesn't like the feeling. Not at all.]

I...

[Stops right there. He doesn't need to worry everyone else that has been nice to him.]

[The first sound over the network is faint, but slowly grows into a long high-pitched whine. Almost as if a spoiled child is demanding for a dolly...]

Crime?! They can't imprison me, the 9th disciple of the Noah family of some petty crimes! I'm the daughter of a minister. My uncle is the Mille- the Earl! It's not fair! I'll be missing out on the Earl's trip to the Black Order! Just when we were going to - just when we were - UGH! I'd like to meet the person who imprisoned me here because I have a thing or two to complain about! And why is it so dark here anyway?!

Now I'm going to miss seeing Allen! It's not faiiiiiiiirrr!

[The audio is abruptly cut off by an enraged shriek before the communicator is snatched off and chucked across the room.]

[A smidgen of fumbling on Haruhi's part, mostly because she can't, ya know, SEE anything. Her contacts are now utterly useless, much to her dismay.]

Uh, the library is awfully dark. And quiet...even more so than usual considering it's supposed to be.

[A resonant 'thud' can be heard as she accidently hits her head on a sudden bookshelf.]

Ow!

[And cue the second bookshelf!]

Eh!?

[For once Haruhi is not happy to be in the library. Not one little bit.]

[She's not scared. Not scared. Not scared. *gulp* Not... s-scared.]

AAAAUUUUUGH!!!!

[That shadow on the wall looks like a g-g-ghoooost!

...and this will be Akane running through the darkness, whimpers and cries falling from her mouth as she prays that whatever monster she's concocted in her imagination isn't right behind her.

Hopefully she doesn't run into anyone (literally) because she cannot see where she's going.]

RAAAAANMAAAAAAA!