[A young teen has left the hospital wing, journeying off to the computer lab. He has been poking around the available databases. One catches his eye. The Criminal Database. It would be useful to know about everyone around him.]

[He begins a videofeed: ]

Greetings, monsters. Or humans, whatever you want to be called. I see a computer- with further reaching arms than Mother- has collected you. Why it does this instead of partial genocide is beyond me. I will not question it for now. It is perhaps there are no innocent humans.

However, as a minority, I feel you should each inform me of what kind of monster you are! It is only fair, right?

[[OOC: If you choose to respond to Cain, he will use your name from the communicator to retrieve your age and crimes to be viewed publicly. You can post them under whatever you say to him, or I can drag it up. ps this has been mod approved]]

[Hello Marina, a short troll is grumbling, huffing and puffing in anger at you via video. Look at him on a bunch of pillows, some his own, some not and some most definitely stolen from Sollux's bed.]

First of all, whoever created pillows, fucking genius!

Second of all, none of you are the ones that invented pillows so you are all fucking idiots.

[Let him just shift to get more comfortable.]

This isn't why I bugged you today, no instead, I bugged you all to ask how you deal with asshole roommates that should be punched right on the fucking lisp. Suggestions? Comments?

(shhh my phone never corrected anything to Vatheon what are you talking about.)

[ greetings, Marina. Hawke again. today she just tosses a wave at the camera. ]

Let it never be said I was good at planning... well, anything... but I came across something that sounded like a bit of harmless fun. Not that it has to stay that way. [ winks ]

It's a charming little drinking game called "I Never". And if at least half of us are passed out on the floor by the time the evening's over, I'll consider it a success. The tavern would have been my first choice, but as it met a rather sad end... shall we say around eight o'clock? In the club?

((OOC: Forward-dated action in the comments! Enjoy!))

( Index )

It's quite depressing here now that someone burned down the bar. The only really good thing in the place and someone had to throw a fit and burn it down.

Also, is it just me or are a lot of people suddenly rather depressed here? So boring. People just need to get over it.

[The feed opens up and you can hear piano music, seems it's on voice for now but whoever is holding the device discreetly switches it to video. What you see before you, Marina, is a very familiar blue-skinned teen... playing the piano with some skill for a guy who's only been practicing for a few days. Heck, some of you from earth (or a version of) might recognize the song.

If you don't, then you might as he starts to sing.]

( Bird-alien singing under cut )

((ooc: You most likely will get a response from both the boys if you post to the video, but feel free to address either! Otherwise you can tag in with Action and find the two milling about on their "date" out and about just about anywhere. You may even catch them being adorable and affectionate~ They will be visiting the Ramen Shop for a late lunch then the Education Center(obviously), the Movie Theater and the Club!))

[ Roller-coaster.

That was almost too good a word for it. One moment you could have a perfectly good time, working things out and the next people got punched for no valid reason. This was life with Helix and Aidan should know this by now, but it still hurt. It hurt like hell.

He didn't spend all too much time at the Thanksgiving dinner after Helix stormed out, for obvious reasons, but when he arrived at the apartment he realized he was at a complete loss for how to deal with this. It had gone so horribly wrong and now he was starting to doubt whether or not he was capable of fixing this in the first place. Not that he wouldn't try, he even walked up to that very much closed door, hand raised to knock... before faltering. Somehow he would fix this, but right now he didn't know how and so he retreated, sank down to sit on the couch with a sigh. If he just gave it some time to think it through he was bound to find a solution. He leaned back against the cushions, raked his fingers through the messy red mop... closed his eyes.

Before he even knew it himself, he'd fallen asleep.]

[At the entrance to Sector 5, several very long tables have been set up outside. Low light is provided by street lamps hung up just for the occasion, a cozy dining room in the middle of the street. There's turkey, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce, and many, many other Thanksgiving favorites. A warm, printed message at the center of the table asks:

In the tradition of the holiday known as Thanksgiving, please feel free to enjoy this meal and think about all the things over the last year for which you are most grateful.

Come one, come all! Food covers the tables, enough for the prison's entire population, courtesy of the bots. Have a nice big dinner with your fellow inmates, and get your CR on!]

[ he seems to be answering this question a lot lately, so might as well give all future questions an answer in a one fell swoop via PSA. ]

I am not an angel. My name is Angel, but it's just a name. No halo, no wings, no time spent in heaven. Stop asking.

[Inara isn't dealing well with the events she's faced with at the moment. She's waited, and waited and explored every inch of the dome to make certain. Now that she is, she knows that she owes it to the people here who've come to care about Mal to let them know. That doesn't mean they need anything more than an audio confirmation and she's not up to pretending that she's all right outside of keeping her voice calm and level. When she does speak, she sounds normal, for the most part, if a bit flat and controlled.]

Captain Malcolm Reynolds appears to have earned a reprieve from his imprisonment. Any plans he had are on hold, at least for the foreseeable future.

[wow. w o w what did hijikata ever do to deserve this, huh—? wait, don't answer that.

as of right now, all the vice-chief can offer is a short, tired laugh with that demonic grin of his. hijikata's fatigue is apparent; his wounds may have been healed, but that still doesn't do anything about the fact that the issue with itou had only recently gotten resolved with his life and nothing beyond that. what use was resolving that bullshit if all hijikata had to show for it was fucking prison?

he sounds more than indignant when he begins to speak.]

You think this is funny? Is it? Cop stuck in prison— [it takes more than just effort to try and keep calm and not throw around his restraint everywhere and cause property damage, (not that he could, anyway) and it shows. clearly. hijikata's temple has one laaarge vein about to pop out from irritation. he's probably going to get an ulcer soon, too. words can't describe how much he wants to kill everything right now.] —hilarious. Go laugh in hell, you bastard.

[obligatory scary face included.]

I got things to do, and this isn't one of them. Sougo! Fun's over.

[. . .

there's no response. hijikata waits... and waits... and waits. ......... what. does this mean he's alone in this scary place?? guys???]

Sougo!!

[There is video, as Rebecca adjusts it-- coming down a little bit on an angle, she's set the device on a shelf while she finishes screwing the case back on to her laptop.

It takes a minute, but then her eyes flick up and she gives the camera a two fingered little wave.] Hey.

Looking for two volunteers for a little project Lacus and I've got going. If you've got a couple hours to spare today and don't mind letting your brain be picked at [kinda literally] I'm fielding applications right now. It involves beta testing a virtual reality simulator. If you saw us the other day around the dome, this is the next step where we put all that sweet data to use.

Anyway, if this sounds like your cup of tea, lemme know. We only need two people right now, adults only please, but we can put up a waiting list if demand is high... oh, and it's totally safe. [She shakes her hand in the air dismissively.] We've done a couple tests ourselves, I'd never put anyone in something I'm not confident about.

Woot, so that's that. Show of interested hands?

[[ooc: Responses to this post/ Rebecca will have a comment thread of their own-- and subsequent chosen volunteers will have their own individual threads with either Rebecca or Lacus watching over them while testing out the VR Machines. Virtual!Lacus may be sprinkled through out. Headers will guide the way~]]

[ Being locked up is one thing; being restrained just makes Faith's skin crawl. The fact that okay, yeah, she's kind of totally dangerous doesn't escape her but the problem here is she's usually the target of other dangerous things. Which means having a giant heavy ball attached to her leg makes her way more vulnerable. So the grunting and wheezing should be unsurprising as she tries to yank the chain off of the ball. ]

You think this is gonna help? Seriously, I get it. Normal prison wasn't cutting it, so you pull me out and dump me here. Fine, great. Three squares and a weird headset? All kosher. But this? [ She punctuates that by chucking the welcome basket away with a sneer. ] Ain't gonna cut it -- can't chain me up and dump in some graveyard like old times. I'm only declawed for humans, let's get it straight.

[ Though...now that she's looking around this place is pretty scarce for a graveyard. ]

Okay, what the hell is this? Whack-a-vamp? [ Stiiiiill trying to disable the old ball 'n' chain, here. ]

...Leo? [his voice shakes slightly, confused and groggy (and maybe a little scared -- no one's here to hear it, so what does it matter?). his head is pounding, and he can't remember how he got here, but all he can remember are Leo's words:

"I've come for you, Oz-kun."
what did that even mean? and did that have anything to do with now? unlikely, perhaps, considering the information he'd woken up to and the weight chained to his ankle and he takes a moment to play with the chain before giving up. he can barely move with it nevermind get it off.

the video feed that (accidentally) is initiated a few moments later shows oz crushing his hands to his head in an attempt to numb the pain he's feeling. he's alone, of course, collapsed to the floor with his back up against the weight for support and knees pulled in. his eyes are open, wide and pupils narrowed.

the abyss had been different. he'd been a different person, then, and in the abyss he barely had time to think with the chains present but this place he could sit and think and think for hours upon hours (and perhaps he had depending on when he exactly got here) and the more he did, the shorter his patience was becoming. he can't be here, he has to be with his friends, he has to protect them, he has to protect himself for them and being stuck in some underwater prison isn't protecting himself at all! finally, he speaks up, his voice loud.]

Alice! Gil! Where are you! [it drops, the slight desperation seeping through.] I need you both... [here. with him. where he knew they were safe and not hurt or anything considering the encounter they had had all been facing with leo, vincent, and echo.]

[another presence of silence, just oz's breathing before he speaks again, this time not nearly as desperate. it's like shutting a switch off the way the built up panic dissipates completely. he's quiet, voice low and slightly poisonous with spite.]

...This is stupid. My head hurts.

I can't sleep...

[the video feed is nothing but the lifeless stare of a girl who has lost all hope to what pertains to sleeping. her arrival has made her inner clock all sorts of jacked up and it was messing with her beauty sleep and napping cycle. is she even blinking? (no, she isn't.)]

I am trying so hard to, like, go to sleep but all I end up doing is thinking too much, uhuh. I can't even move and I'm starting to miss being able to move around and choose where I want to take a nap on and be a bum and do nothing all day. I am tired of not doing things. [rolls on her side, because obviously she's resigned herself to lying flat on the floor, the communicator a few feet away from her.] And when I try to take a nap, like, I'm already rested from doing nothin' and I'm starting to really wonder what does the sun look like again?

[this goes on and on; silly rambling over nothing that makes no specific sense. her eyes are bloodshot, her voice monotone and that of a person in deep anguish. pathetically bends her knees and brings them closer to her chest, taking on a fetal position.

obviously she doesn't care about paying attention to her surroundings slash situation.]

Is this deportation, huh? I promise I've been a good girl. I don't wanna be sent baaaack, aru.

[A young man with dark hair and eyes stares into the feed. A smirk begins to creep across his lips, he almost feels like laughing. What is N.O.W.H.E.R.E going to try next? Sure, he heard the whole spiel about who he is and why he has a ball and chain attached to his ankle but he's not buying into it. This is likely N.O.W.H.E.R.E's way of punishing him for his acts of defiance. His guess is they weren't able to get out of him what they wanted, so now they were trying to scare him into working for them.]

Is this the best you can do, Templar? Do you think you'll be able to retrain your weapon into what you want me to be? It didn't work the first time and it's not going to work this time either.

[Superboy is convinced this is another one of N.O.W.H.E.R.E's virtual reality tests. Due to his powers being dampened, his sense of perception is off kilter and while this feels more real than the previous tests he was put through, it doesn't feel normal either.]

I'm tired of playing along with your little games. Do yourself a favor , skip this crap, and try to finish the job. Because I am coming for you and you should know by now that any prison, real or imaginary is not going to stop me from getting to you.

[ After waking up, it takes Elena a few breathless, panicked moments of trying to pull off the source of that sudden and disturbing communiqué and barely processing what Sentience is telling her. The communicator hits the ground and switches on to voice.

(She's not sure where she is. Someone took her? There's a chill to the air. She's surrounded by metal and concrete. This isn't - doesn't seem like Klaus. Because the voice said - what did it say?)

Inmates? Thanksgiving? - no, that's not possible. Neither is the weight attached to her ankle, which she touches lightly for an astounded moment and then gives a testing tug to pull off, to no avail.

Her breath is heavy and shakes slightly; that's all the network hears for a moment.

Okay. She can figure this out. Resolved and confused, she grabs for the device she had tossed to the floor. ] Hello? Is anyone-? ... Damon? [ His name is soft, and the last syllable trembles. Where is he? She can't be here alone.

That's when she notices the welcome basket. She sets the device aside in favor of rummaging through it for something, anything, her fingers eventually slipping over and clutching the pamphlet. There's a map, and she skims the words, processing them much like she processed Sentience's. Getting outside to see how real this is seems like good a plan as any.

It's a good several minutes before Elena's on the network again, and now she's on video and outside the ice rink. ]

This doesn't make sense. [ Her lips twist slightly; there is uncertain fear in her eyes, but determination too. Is this some really bad trip of her conscience? ] How is any of this even possible? Please, I- if anyone can answer me...

My friends, my fam- [ Her voice catches in her throat. ] Is Jeremy here? Jeremy Gilbert? ... or... Klaus? [ Please no. ] Ric? Stefan? [ She pauses. The silence is not comforting. ] Anyone.

[Suddenly there is video! And now there isn't. Oh, but now it's back! Give him a break, he's a carpenter, not an A/V geek.]

Hey, so did anyone know that prison came with headgear? I was not aware of that. I kind of feel like I should be one of those really pretentious rock stars who can't be bothered with a microphone. Also, kind of awkward to have this thing over one eye when you only have one eye.

Right, so... I was with some people. And there was a giant hole where a town used to be. Buff? Wil? ...I'll even take Andrew. Are you on this thing?

(OOC: He has an eyepatch over one eye even though not every icon confirms this!)

[In light of recent events, we could all benefit from an episode bookend quote some encouraging words, right?]

Bruce Barton wrote, "Action and reaction, ebb and flow, trial and error, change - this is the rhythm of living. Out of our over-confidence, fear; out of our fear, clearer vision, fresh hope. And out of hope, progress."

Euphemia? May I have a word with you, please?

[Filtered to the Defense Force]

Hey guys… I have a proposition.

[Hikaru waves!]

I have an announcement to make!

[Imitates the sound of trumpets.]

I'm going to be making some changes with my current living arrangements. It's just way too boring without anyone around so maybe if there's anyone looking for a place or anything...

But to make this fun, you need to sell yourself! Why should we live together? I don't want any lies. It has to be honest stuff!

[Anyone working the DF dispatch right around noon will register an alarm. Someone's vitals are taking a nosedive. But before anyone can call it in, a video feed snaps on.]

( Cut for blood and evidence of torture )

((OOC: There will be one closed action thread for the Order crew and anyone they invite in to help rescue Cross - healers/others can offer their help over the network. Other people who want to show up at the church will find that Komui has blocked the entrances for their protection, but they can thread with Komui or each other. Please note that the church will be closed and off limits until further notice.

Network replies will need threadjacks since Cross is -- uh. Indisposed.))