[ the feed starts up to a rather wide-eyed face. the shot itself is skewed, tilted at an odd angle, and only just focused on his face. he doesn't seem to be looking directly at the screen; his gaze is just the slightest bit off. ]

Has power gone out? The lights don't work. I can't even tell if this damn thing is working either.

Is anyone else experiencing problems?

[ the area behind him is brightly lit; it looks like the area by the library. his tone is an irritable one, but there's a hint of something else bubbling up there. panic? ]


(ooc: struck blind and without a sense of taste. aw yeah.)

What-- where am I? This isn't the shelter or our house...

Brother? Suzaku? Can you hear me? I--I can't see...

[A voice broadcast begins mere seconds before Marina's clocks turn to 8 PM. However it is not a mere ordinary voice message...]

Bip. Bip. Bip. BEEEEP! [These being completely 'spoken', not actual sound effects.]

Channel 008. ( Radio Leopard )

LETTER RECIPIENTS

• Miranda: a letter from Ryoji.
  
• Saki: a letter from Tamaki.
  
• Touma: a letter from Euphemia.
  
• Alphonse: a letter from Yuuri.
  
• Peregrine Mendicant: a letter from Sasha.
  
• Leopard: a letter from Orihime.
  
• Ryu: a letter from Allen.
  
• Terezi: a letter from Alucard.
  
• Red: a letter from Alma.
  
• Zelda: an introductory brochure from Euphemia.
  
  PACKAGE RECIPIENTS
  
• Zero Kiryuu: erotic magazines and a note from Kaien Kurosu!
  
  NEW PENPAL MATCHUPS
  
• Ryoji & Kaworu

[Today certainly has something new for her to deliver. At first, she'd had a simple bit of joy about delivering magazines, not even giving the contents much attention beyond ensuring that the inmate isn't too young for the material.]

[But she may have accidentally dropped one of the magazines in the post office, and it opened to a certain page, and... well, it answered some questions about her human friends that she didn't even know she had. On top of THAT, the incident was technically a violation of the recipient's privacy. It's a double-whammy of fluster and shame and she could not put them in discrete envelopes fast enough.]

[At least, thanks to Ribbons' guidance, she's dressed very warmly while she shuffles around the dome. She's even got a nice colorful scarf to offset the darker tones of the outfit. Not that it does much to hide her blushing.]

[Click here for pen pal signups. Mail submissions for Day 90 go here!]

[Limbs intact? Check. Clothing in place? Double check! Being where she's not supposed to be? Checked and double checked and triple checked and damn it, where was Bak so she could kick his ass!]

[Except Bak might be dead by now.]

[...]

FUCK

[Holding her body tight, Fou stepped forward and immediately tripped over the welcoming basket. Swearing up a storm, Fou kicked it, rubbing her head and coming away with a network device in her hand. Focusing on the words, Fou swore again.]

Shit, are you kidding me?!

[Fuming, Fou sat on the ground, counting to a hundred as she visualized kicking Bak in the head again and again and again... because it beat imagining Bak dead over and over again…Finally, taking a deep breath, Fou turned on the device.]

Okay Marina, whatever this place is called. HOW THE HELL DO I GET BACK HOME?!

((ooc: Have a late intro as Fou just fell out of her new wall in the middle of the night. She's none to pleased about this, obviously!))

LETTER RECIPIENTS

• Allen: a letter from Ryu.
  
• Sasha: a letter from the Peregrine Mendicant.
  
• Alucard: a letter from Terezi.
  
• Hikaru: a letter from Jeanne.
  
• Peregrine Mendicant: a letter from Ribbons.
  
• Alma: a letter from Red.
  
  MASS MAILERS
  
• From Leopard : to all new arrivals.
  
  PACKAGE RECIPIENTS
  
• Spike: a package from Howard Link!

[Video]
[anthropomorphic chess piece says hello. PM offers a friendly little smile, one Safe For Humans and not full of teeth at all.] Good evening, new Marina inmates! I am the Peregrine Mendicant, also known as the Parcel Mistress and postmaster of the Marina Asylum Postal Service, located in Sector 1. Everyone is welcome to stop in for orientation on rules and usage! You may then also sign up for the pen pal matching service.

Thank you for your time!

[Click here for pen pal signups. Mail submissions for Day 89 go here!]

[The backdrop of the Education Center's Dining Hall is visible behind Leopard who addresses the camera seriously. His hand attachments fold together, fingers pressed together.]

Humans! Or whatever things you might be.

I've been observing you this far keeping most of my wisdom to myself, but it's come to light that I simply cannot keep doing this forever.

There's a travesty here, a calamity of culture that simple must be fixed!

[The octahedron-shaped A.I. looks distressed.] What is with the lack of pages on the network!?!

Haven't you humans and whatever heard that it's crucial in this day and age to maintain a proper web page!?! There's hardly any at all! No wonder none of you are well-known at all! If you had a blog or a feed or something, we'd all be far better off!

It's bad enough for that Acumen bastard to deny us the internet and email! It's a true shame what culture we have lost from that!

[Leopard's shape tilts down.] But we can't stay in these Dark Ages forever, which is why I've decided to take the initiative! I've come to be the guiding light to guide you to the noble enlightened high culture of the web!

I present to you: my page!

[The camera moves to show a computer monitor running an internet browser. Leopard's hand pulls up a website before the camera.

If you're a human from late 20th century Earth, the style of the website might remind you of something rather like the average Geocities/Angelfire website circa 1999. A black background with red text fills the page, starting with the website's URL at the top.

Animated GIFs of a chibi version of Leopard's Colony spin around and a MIDI version of some music plays.

The only actual content (so far) is a form in the middle of the page to submit questions to Brother Leopard's Consulting Service.

At the very bottom, a hit counter sits in the single digits, all from Leopard himself.

After a moment, Leopard speaks again:] Now, come forth to build your own web pages and bring life to the network! Strike out against the heart of the repressive Acumen! Mwahahahaha!

[Cain is in uniform, including the standard issue fancy hat. It tends to grab people's attention.] Good morning, everyone. For those of you just joining us, I'm Commissar Ciaphas Cain, servant of the Imperium of Mankind back home, and member of the Defense Force around here. And apparently, I'm a new teacher at Marina Academy.

Anyway! Basic swordsmanship. Anyone interested in learning how to cross blades? Of course, they'll all be wooden. It'll be held three times a... [Frowning at the contents of his teacher folder.] Do we even call that a week?

[Chucking the folder aside.] Frak that, it's an hour at Noon on days ending with one, four, and eight. Since today is Day 88, that gives you plenty of time to decide if you want to join. But if anyone's interested in a meet and greet, being shown which end of the sword to hold, or anything like that, I'll be at the dojo for the next hour.

Questions?

[The voice that's about to come through is extremely excited. Ridiculously so. She's speaking quickly and as if something extraordinary has just happened.]

An underwater prison! I can't stop going glub glub over it, it's all very exciting! Of course there are less exciting parts to it [She pauses to play with the chain around her ankle, an action that can't be seen, but you can probably guess what she's doing if listening hard enough.] They reely know how to hook you in!

But! There is something a little...fishy about all of this. [Her voice doesn't give away if that was meant as a joke or not.]

[Alice is not looking happy here, and her red eyes are narrowed in a dangerous expression that should look totally out of place on a girl in pigtails. There's a distinct clink of a chain as she shifts slightly.]

Your Highnesses! If you are truly here, then answer me!

Where is N- Princess Nunnally? [She hesitates, but apparently steels her resolve. She's unworthy, but nonetheless devoted.] As her knight, I must know.

[Jack shoots up dramatically with a large gasp of breath. The pain from it immediately tells him that before this point, he had been dead. What happened last night?]

[He focuses on the device in front of his eyes and makes a small noise of excitement.] Oh~! What is this piece of work? It looks like some sort of communicator. [He pauses as he takes it off of his face and examines it.] This certainly isn't 21st century Earth technology...I'm not on a different planet...am I?

[Jack takes a long look around and sees that no, he is not on Earth anymore. At least...not a part of Earth he's ever been to.] It smells different too. [Sighs and shifts. It becomes quickly apparent that there's a ball and chain around his ankle then. He smirks at it a little.] So whoever kidnapped me has some sort of jail kink?

[He grins and looks over the message and list of crimes on his communicator. He also looks through the welcome basket for a while and snacks on the various little candies inside as he fiddles with the new device. Eventually he turns it onto Video. He figures that people should get a good view of his face, rather than his voice. Why would he ever be so secretive?]

Well hello, inmates! [The excited grin on his face gives the impression that he doesn't have a bullet popping out of his chest right now. You wouldn't ever guess that he just healed from a fatal gun-wound to the heart. Or that just a moment ago, in his own world, he was dead.] Captain Jack Harkness, at your service! Can anyone tell me where I can find some food in this place? [He's starving.]

How I feel at the moment is not hilarious and you better not think it is, so where the fuck are you, spiderwitch?

I've said this before because it's true! You're a no good, fucking backstabbing land hag so you would leave me all alone like this here, I hate you so much right now and it hurts more than I would like to admit! If only I had my Ahab's Crosshairs on me yesterday I wouldn't have been hiding inside my apartment I would have been obliterating all those monsters outside who dare kept me from finding and ripping you apart before they ever could have!

Otherwise, I don't give a fuck if all the humans died out due to the monsters around here whenever the power goes out, fucking land dwellers don't even appreciate the hemospectrum and there are too many of them...

[Vriska's disappearance makes one very upset Eridan without his kismesis]

[Leopard is still in his recently claimed chamber in the Education Center Dining Hall, having seen no reason to move from there so far today.

To those who don't experience the blackout, he appears in perfect (well, a bit dim) lighting, but to others it's purely dark other than a glowing red 'eye' which shifts around.

Being a hikikomori and having an artificial eye, he has little trouble with the dark, preferring it even to the bright sun. Still it's a little dark for his tastes even, particularly since he can't have the glow of his personal computer's monitor on his eye.

Periodically the transmission is marred by static, interrupting the A.I.'s words.]

Why is this blackout last░░░░long? Acumen! I really must say, your power generation is really qui░░░░░░░░acular.

Spectacularly BAD that is!

If this were my colony, there would be no shorta░░░░░░░░wer! Ah, my mirrors, what beautiful work they are!

What do you people even do here without power?! Really, really...

I suppose there's alway-

[There's a gap in the transmission here for about thirty seconds.]

"Don't give up, you're the best, Leopard!"

D...D... "Divine is what you are, Leopard!"

Another D... Hasn't anyone else thought of one yet?! [He doesn't wait long for a response.] "Debonair as ever, Leopard!"

D...What's that knocking? Hmph, useles░░░umans! Needing me to open the door for you!

[He opens the door, but nothing is there. (At least that can be transmitted via camera.)]

Oh, what's this? You.... [He sounds delighted.] You must be Deinonychus leopardus! Now you've fin░░░░░░░peared to me at last! I was beginning to wonder if they were ly-

[There's another gap in the video and audio for about twenty seconds here.

When the static clears, Leopard is lying on the floor. He quickly floats back up, his eye going wide at the thin air.]

THAT HURT, YOU STUPID DEINONYCHUS LEOPARDUS! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?

[And then the transmission abruptly ends.]

For those of you who aren't aware, don't understand, or are worried about what's happening right now -- we're experiencing another incident like the monster attacks. But this is the first time it's ever happened during the day.

Whoever is responsible has a twisted sense of humor [honestly, the day before Halloween?] and we shouldn't reward them by panicking.

I'd like to encourage everyone who can to please gather in the shelter. There don't seem to be monsters about right now, but I don't think that will last for long, and this time seems to be different than the other times, so take every precaution.

If you need help, please don't hesitate to ask for it -- I'm sure the defense force is standing by. But we should all get to safety as soon as possible.

Excuses, excuses.

I knew Acumen was behind this. And now we're being punished for not bending to its will. Is anyone else unsurprised?

[Maybe ten minutes later:]

I need someone from... from the Defense Force to escort me to sector six. And no, it can't wait until tomorrow.

[She's had far too much coffee today to sleep, and she can't get comfortable since Naoya's stupid cat decided to make her stomach into a body pillow (even though she can't bring herself to push it off, either).]

Is anyone actually awake right now? [Aside from you, Ushiro, and your morbid questions haha, pot and kettle]

LETTER RECIPIENTS

• Touma: a letter from Euphemia.
  
• Ryu: a letter from Allen.
  
• Yuuri: a letter from Alphonse.
  
• Nunnally: a letter from Toothless.
  
• Eridan: a letter from Hiling.
  
• Peregrine Mendicant: a letter from Ribbons.
  
• Roxas: a letter from Fai.
  
• Kaien: a letter from Rinoa.
  
• Jeanne: a letter from Hikaru.
  
• Axel: a letter from Wolfram.
  
• Alma: a letter from Red.
  
• Orihime: a letter from Xion.
  
• Alucard: a letter from Terezi.
  
  MASS MAILERS
  
• From Leopard : postcards for everyone.
  
• From Nepeta : individualized letters for Terezi, Eridan, Vriska, GIR, Akito, and Axel.
  
• From Josak : invitations to the grand opening of Trés Magnifique for everyone.
  
  PACKAGE RECIPIENTS
  
• Tsukasa: package and letter from Sasha.
  
• Euphemia: package from Ribbons.
  
• Jennifer: package and letter from Ciel.
  
• Saki: package from Wolfram.
  
  NEW PENPAL MATCHUPS
  
• Spencer Reid & Tavros
  

[So much mail! There's no better day to use the mail cart. Along she rolls, its pouches stuffed with letters, packages, and postcards. Given the presence of mass mailers, she will be in EVERY residential area today. She will find you, Saki, no matter what couch you crash on]

[Click here for pen pal signups~ Mail submissions for Day 86 go here!]

( A takeover )

[At the moment Leopard is using his "maid drone" to brew a cup of tea by gracefully dumping some amount of water over the tea bag, then proceeds to go about enjoying it. The blue laser from his drone scans over the cup for its master, transmitting the data to his processor.] Ahhhh, the soothing aroma of Earl Grey!

I bet that Acumen knows nothing of the pleasures of having a good cup of tea, that colony stealing bastard! He doesn't deserve to know its subtle melody of flavours!

[Leaving the full cup of tea behind, he looks over to the computer he's gained as his first victory over Acumen, reminded of Acumen's faults once again. He continues talking to himself and anyone else who might be listening.] Hmph, not only that, but limiting the computer network to such limited resources!
I CAN'T EVEN CHECK MY EMAIL!!

[He clenches his arm attachment's hands into fists in the air in front of him in fury.]
I won't accept this! I'm sure he's hogging the internet all to himself, getting all the hits in the search engines! Ey!!

[Before long he folds his arm and opens the shell around his eye wider.] Well, whatever. All will be right before long. Soon, my chamber will be complete again! Mwahahahaha!

If only that stupid Withered Leaf was here, so she could help fix it. [He's totally not missing her at all, but she had her uses.] Or Honoka, even better. Someone at least! The ambience is important! Why haven't they followed me to take care of these things!?

[After a moment of aggravation, his demeanor changes.]

...Oh? What's this? [Having noticed a slight glint off the floor, he lowers his eye down to examine it. It's a fork on the floor, slightly soiled, left there by a previous customer of the dining hall.]

[He stares at it enthralled, before speaking again with enthusiasm.] How elegant, the prongs on this object! [He picks it up from the floor, holding it up to the light better.]

Ahh~! How marvelous! Surely this must go in my new collection! [He places it on a nearby table delicately, then tilts his eye to look up at the ceiling.]

Already another step towards my dominance over you, Acumen! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

[He looks back to the computer and starts typing.]

((OOC: He's claimed the Dining Hall as his own. He'll ignore you if you're quiet, and there's still plenty of space to eat at still. Even if you sneak up to him, he might not notice you since he's a bit absorbed by his cause and computer.))

Ah, c'mon. What's up with all the chattering and a distinct lack of tunes around here? Don't tell me you guys don't believe in radios!

[After that lackluster morning announcement, someone's a little bored sitting around the house and waiting for his chains to come off.]

...I want Sentience back in charge.