[The feed clicks on to show a wobbly view of one of the shelters rooms, partly blocked by an out flung hand.]

Hot...

[The hand moves away, and a very sick Alessa can be seen, staring at the screen with glazed eyes. She doesn't really know what she's doing, only knows that the device she's looking at will bring help, like the blond nurse with her eyes burnt out, or the blond mother with the gentle smile...]

Water...please...

(ooc: Alessa probably won't be able to answer very well to any video/voice replies, she's so sick, so action replies will probably be best...)

Wha-

[Hello Marina, have one extremely offended pint-sized dragon.]

Prison?! You gotta be kidding me! I ain't no criminal! I didn't even commit any of those crimes you got listed! Well I did kinda break the Great Stone Dragon but that ain't the point! And I ain't assaulted nobody. 'n fact, I oughta be gettin' a medal. Bitin' butts is unhygenic and nasty.

[Scowls.] Mulan better not be doin' anything stupid without me. That girl's gonna get herself sliced in half if she ain't careful.

And what's this thing on my head? A spoon?

((OOC: SO LATE. OTL We'll say that he was curled up in a ball with a massive headache yesterday, so this is his first day fully awake and out and about.))

[There's the sound of a small child gasping and sobbing quietly, as though attempting to stifle the noises.]

This can't be happening, it's not, it's OVER, she came, she got me out, it's not happening again, no, no no...

I didn't do those things! Murder, arson - I've never! I...I want mommy!

[Suddenly the sounds get closer, and the video clicks on as the device is lifted up and fiddled with, revealing a distraught girl of about nine, with long brown hair and blue eyes.]

What is this...can-can anyone hear me! Mom?

[Suddenly, her face...changes, her eyes darkening and her head tilting to the side as her mouth lifts up slightly, in an expression closer to a smirk then a smile.]

Thank you for the gift basket.

[….bathroom. She'd been out walking, and had needed one. So what if she’s never used any of the ones in the scho--education building? They aren’t any different than the ones in the shelter—there isn’t even anyone here. No one cleans these personally; it’s all the little robots that bustle about on a regular basis. There is nothing frightening about this room.

She’s still frozen a bare three steps into it, not even past the first sink on the wall. And she can’t move—not even her eyes, which are frozen on the handicapped stall on the end of the row. It’s the sound of ceramic breaking that finally breaks her paralysis. A few more tiles fall off the wall to join the first, cracking apart on the small patch of inexplicably exposed concrete. It’s when the rust bleeds across the mirror that she finally turns and flees out the door, hand clamped over her mouth.]

['I can't get rid of what they did.'

'You never can. You just decide if that's all you are. If that controls you or if you're more than that.'

'Too late.'']

[Too late.]


(((OOC Info: The bathroom now looks something like this. Feel free to stumble across it and feel a remarkable sense of foreboding--it is a sign of what's to come tonight. Event-style posting is welcome, as Alessa won't be here to interact with anyone.)))

[Rayflo is waiting inside a little impatiently, because he's spent the last few days making sure everything for this party would be ready. The couches in the living have been moved into a half-circle with blankets, pillows, and there are boxes with boardgames on one table and a wide array of drinks and snacks on another.

Maria is watching him curiously from the stairs when he comes to call up it.]

They'll be here anytime now, Alessa!

{OOC: This will be like an event style post. There will be different threads to tag (i.e., Arrival, Dinner, Games, Bedtime, etc). All the little lolis have fun.~ Also any party-crashers may attempt, but be aware of the battle-maids who will try to get rid of you. Unless you're a loli. And you girls can greet and meet each other in the arrival thread if you want.~}

...Is it seriously raining fruit punch?






[Sigh] This is a ridiculous place.

(OOC: Adult content in final thread.)

[Here she is, perched on one of the stone benches with a large stuffed dog in her arms, watching the pretty fluttery things.]

[School begins tomorrow. It won't be bad. It'll be good. She just needs to keep telling herself that. The religious studies class won't be bad--Charley is teaching it. Though that's why she decided to take it in the first place; it was something she could do in return for everything. And he'd probably be disappointed if she didn't. She doesn't want that....]

[Anyone watching will probably notice that the butterflies around her are flying in concentric circles. It takes a delicate touch--gentle coaxing, an application for her powers she hadn't had a chance to try in a very, very long time. It's a relief to see she can still do it. Though she'll probably startle at anyone approaching, from force of habit.]

So, which classes is everyone planning to take? Is anyone else a little nervous?

Oh! And if anyone can teach art or science it would be really helpful!


(OOC: Link is not IC, but Guilford did announce where the catalogs could be found in a prior post.)

[Day 71: the first day of the Marina Asylum Postal Service! And it is a busy one, much to a parcel mistress' delight. The Peregrine Mendicant can be seen skittering energetically around the dome, with a bag full of letters that she is eager to deliver.]

LETTER RECIPIENTS

• Allen: a letter from Spike.
  
• Fletcher: a letter from the Peregrine Mendicant.
  
• The Peregrine Mendicant: a card from Ribbons.
  
  MASS MAILERS
  
• From Euphemia: letters to all the teachers, as well as Guilford and Lelouch.
  
• From Jennifer: invitations to Saya and Saya's friends: Jeanne, Cain, Duo, Yuuri, Josak, Li, and Kitty Pryde the younger.
  
  • Jennifer's invitations were also sent to anyone who could become Saya's friend: ( see list )!
    
  • However, PM has been given extra invites to distribute to any nice people she encounters.
  
  PACKAGE RECIPIENTS
  
• Alessa Gillespie, Charley J. Chrishunds, and Johnny Rayflo: packages from a "secret admirer" named Rayflo! If no one was home to receive them, they may either pick them up at the office, or receive them during tomorrow’s route.

--

[Now that her route is complete, she can take a moment at the post office to catch her breath. That light-headed feeling isn't oxygen deprivation due to exercise, it is the THRILLING RUSH OF CIVILIZATION.]

A satisfying first day! Thank you for making this possible, Marina!

[If you do not feel inclined to thread things out and you were not one of the mass-mailer recipients, please respond OOCly or with a brief IC reaction so we all know you've seen it/received it! Mail submissions for Day 72 go here!]

I think a little girl's coming to kill me.

[from this. matter of fact. not at all like someone who should be freaking out right about now.]

[It's not even noon, and there is some loud noises echoing around the block in the residential area of Sector 4. Not so loud as to bother the entire neighborhood, but enough to cause a disturbance for someone walking by or who is already awake.

These are the sounds of construction. Machines and motors. Someone walking by may see or two women dressed as maids with carry bags of cement, tiles, and tools.]

Make sure the one end is twelve feet deep, girls, four on the other.

[Someone who knows the neighborhood may realize whose house the noise is originating from.

Please feel free to call Rayflo and complain, but you probably won't kill his good mood. He's getting a swimming pool in his backyard after all.]

[The video flicks on to show a lion, looking extremely angry. He had listened very well to the welcome message, and was, to say the least - not pleased with what he heard. His words aren't really directed at anyone - he's almost muttering to himself, hoping someone would hear and oblige.]

What is this?-- Where am I? I need to-- I need to go, if this really is a prison. I can’t stay here. There are things I need to do, there are things I have to do...

So, [his face falls from anger to pure sadness.] please. Let me leave.

[He wasn't the radio announcer type, so Guilford was speaking with a little more authority than one might expect, and he tried not to put too much of the requisite presence into it. Still, he wished to be clear, for Euphie's sake.

He was clasping his hands behind his back, and stood next to a terminal inside the Education Center. On the screen was a blue and aqua logo, and what looked to be paragraphs of text (but it would be hard to read at the distance the camera was at).]

Good morning, Marina. I trust everyone has recovered from the previous night's... festivities. [There were doubts as to whether or not Acumen's assessment was at all accurate, but he wasn't about to bring that up. This broadcast had its own purpose.]

I am broadcasting to you this morning to announce that preparations for the Marina Academy are nearly complete. Euphemia has prepared some literature for the currently available courses, which are freely available in print -- [Pulling his hands forward, he holds up a very professional-looking booklet with the same marking as on the computer next to him, which he sets the item on top of.] -- as well as on the computers within the Education Facility, itself.

[It was strange to add this point, but even so:] Once the infrastructure is complete, copies can also be requested via mail.

[A brief pause while he adjusts his glasses.] There are some gaps in the curriculum, due to lack of volunteers or because some have gone... home.

These should best be filled quickly if any semblance of balance is to be maintained. Teachers would be useful for the following courses: [Which he reads off of a notepad he had in his other hand.] General science, additional languages -- I would like to note that there seem to be a number of inmates here that speak Japanese, and thus it would facilitate communication without depending on the communicators [Which some people would be all over.] , as well as some arts, and ethics.

If anyone is interested and capable please contact myself or Lady Euphemia and we can discuss arrangements. Anyone attending is welcome to begin registering for the classes that are posted, which can be done at the same computers that display the catalogs, or on sign-up sheets posted in the Shelter. Teachers, please begin preparing your curriculum, as well.

((OOC: Haunt put up a relevant post for muns here!))

[Good morning Marina! Have a smiley Xellos!]

What a lovely day, isn't it? I just had to bring my new friends out to play~ [he leans close and wags a finger, winking] Be sure to let them know how much you enjoy their performance! They're terribly shy.

( Slightly squickable content, perhaps. )

Bravo, bravo! That calls for an encore, I think...

((OOC: The lines are from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Thanks to Pip for helping me find them!))

Good morning inmates. It is the 67th day of the third generation.

Concerning the explosion in Sector 1 last night, it was limited to causing terrain damage in just the graveyard area, and structural damage and collapse to a few nearby buildings. Remote units will be working to restore the Sector to its original state, and I ask that inmates please not interfere with their progress, or needlessly be present in the general area due to the debris.

In accordance with inmate Saber's request, new alcohol variety is now available at the club in Sector 3. Inmates are reminded that alcoholic beverages are not to leave the premises.

[After some hours at the clothing store, Rayflo thinks it's time to take Alessa to the house. So he lets her try on another dress while he contacts Cherry. Showing up with a little girl to live with them--no matter how cute she may be--won't go over well.]

[Private to Cherry]

Ah, Cherry~ [a bit of a pause, Rayflo has a smile on his face, but it's obvious he's about to say something Chris may not like]

I was out this morning and I met this adorable little girl. But she was all alone in the cemetery. The cemetery, Cherry. She looked hurt, so I decided to check on her, but she wasn't hurt too badly--but she thinks I didn't notice the bruises and cuts on her wrists and ankles--and she was scared. I calmed her down--I just have that way with kids--and took her to the clothing store so she could get some new clothes because hers were covered in blood.

We picked out some of the cutest dresses and even got her a little bonnet to go with one of them! You'll just have to see everything we got when we get home, but I'll need you to air out one of the guest rooms before we get there, maybe the one right down the hall from our room?

[And yes, somewhere in all that rambling is an important piece of information. Hope you like having a new sister, Cherry.]

[....there's something metal around her ankle. That fact pierces through her disorienting haze, flinging her at whipcrack speed into panic. A panic that falters when flailing her limbs proves the metal to only be on one leg--and it's attached to a ball and chain, not a larger frame. Confusion is swift to replace the surge of adrenaline.

She's on the ground--on grass, and she has fingertips capable of feeling it. There are still rope burns on her wrists and ankles, blood on the arms of her jacket and large, hand shaped bruises beneath the fabric. Cybil's blood--it had been one of the men who'd dragged the police woman's body into the church who had dragged Sharon upright to watch the 'cleansing'....

It's a graveyard, but no church facade lurks in the background--just a large building, almost gleaming in its newness.

This isn't home. This isn't Silent Hill. This isn't her world.

...this isn't fair.]

[Without warning there’s a muffled jingle of metal, and the tail end of a despairing wail as Alessa clutches at her head.]--Mommy….!


(((OOC: Going to sleep now, I will tag all of you lovelies tomorrow~! :D)))

(((OOC: Catching up!)))