[a rustle, a snap then-] HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!~ [the sparkles may not be your imagination and Minako beams into the camera]

Hey everyone!~ As all you cuties might very well know, and if you don't well now you do, today is the date auction! Sentience has given me and C.C. the authority to run this fantastical event and - of course - what's a fantastical event without some fantastical people to be there?

IN OTHER WORDS - [whips out a rather formidable LIST and waves it just long enough for you to glimpse at some of the names already written.] It's sign up time! Everyone who would like to be biddee please respond to this message, and your name will be added to the list.

Remember, for those who sign up there are some requirements. 1! You must come in costume or dress or something just very pretty. 2! Biddees are allowed to become bidders if they so choose to. 3! THE DATE MUST BE DONE.

[and here she gives a rather devious smile] Those on the list that are...less than enthused will get a friendly nudge from our very own captain of the defense force, Gino Weinberg~ And of course, anyone who would like to...volunteer others are welcome to do so! The event will be announced by Sentience later today!

Hope to see everyone there!~

( OOC )

[Tch, he's only doing this because Kaoru said to, he kept grumbling to himself. No, not because he wanted to. It's what Kaoru wanted, so...]

Um, Miss Euphie? I, uh-

[God, this was so lame. He raised a brow, clearly irritated.]

About yesterday...

[Come on, Hikaru. Do this for Kaoru! He took a deep breathe. Okay, maybe it'll seem more genuine now that he got himself to relax a little... maybe...]

Look, I just wanted to say that I was a jerk, and... I'm really sorry for yelling at you.

[Ah, he let out a breathe. He got it out, something to feel accomplished for. Oh yeah, he couldn't forget one last thing.]

And, uh... thanks for the chocolates.

[And now another look of irritation as he is SO DAMN GLAD HE GOT IT OUT AND HOPED TO GOD HE WOULD NEVER HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN. ugh this was so lame and he hates everyone who is looking right now. Except Kaoru. And maybe a handful of other people too.]

Good morning, criminals! It is the fiftieth day of the third generation, and Valentine's Day, or thereabouts. Inmates Minako Aino and C.C. have planned a marvelous event for all of you: a date auction! I will leave it to them to explain their plan for the day, and I hope that you all enjoy it and feel wonderful about yourselves. Remember that there is no way to put value on any of you, you are all unique individuals who are capable of amazing personal evolution and achievement. ♥

And, if I might--
--well, it isn't important. Everyone please enjoy your day.


((Sentience will not be responding to comments except at the kiosk.))

[ooc. OKAY I KNOW I FAIL I'M SORRY fjasdklfasdjfklasdfjkl

and full out shouting into the mic. enjoy.]

-- WHY AM I HERE AGAIN.

Look, I know I'm awesome and you all want this great god and all but -- Shit!

[ sound of him kicking something and it cuts off ]

Hello? Hey, can anyone hear me? Oh jeez... I can't believe this... There's no way I can really be in prison. Right? This has to be some really bad joke. A really, really bad joke. I mean, I'm a good person, I help people. I haven't done anything illegal in my entire life. Oh man, a criminal record is gonna look really bad...

[She gives a groaning kind of sigh.]

And I was thinking about joining the police, too... Catch the real bad guys...This is so unfair...

[OOC Note: Yosuke-mun and I have plans for V-Day, but we'll be back for tags on Sunday night! o/]

Thanks to everyone's help, I've been able to put together a few baskets for new arrivals. If anyone who contacted me before about helping or anyone who wants to join in now would like, I'm in the kitchen assembling more.

I would really appreciate help distributing them. Sentience is giving me a list of all the newcomer's names, but no addresses of course. I'm sure it will be a little hit or miss. [A little apologetic sounding.] But I hope it helps a little.

I also added extra chocolates to these since it's Valentine's Day. [Does not sound sad! ...Might sound a little uncharacteristically formal on this point.]

[Added a few moments later as an after thought] And if you are recently arrived and haven't gotten one, please feel free to drop by or speak up.

[OOC: Set in the late afternoon.]

[Takami does not reveal his name, but just believes that it is necessary to ask this simple question. He disguises his voice by speaking at a lower pitch than he usually does, although he is sure that he is fallible, it doesn't hurt to gather some information.]

Is killing justifiable? Please justify your claim regarding said matter.

If anyone is curious as to why I am asking, I am merely gathering data. If you do not wish to have your thoughts viewed by anyone else, I am capable of making conversations private. The technology here is slightly more enhanced than mine back home, but it is manageable.

[This morning the Composer can be found in the kitchen area. He finally took that kitten away from Minamimoto not that the Reaper will really care and Joshua doesn't want Sentience to get in a huff over a joke. Joshua will be returning it later in the day, because he doesn't want it either is really such a sweet, caring guy. And look. Joshua even gave the little thing some milk while eating himself. He doesn't really need to eat, but Joshua always likes good food. Well, good food according to him. It probably looks odd seeing someone eating instant ramen for "breakfast," but Joshua will eat what Joshua wants and that is all there is to it.

Now he taps his chopsticks on the container, with a giggle.]

Valentines Day now? My, we really are playing around with dates! Going from May to February.~

[Pausing to nibble on some noodles.]

For those not familiar with the holiday, it's more or less a romantic one. In Japan, girls usually make or buy chocolates for the guys. A month later, the guys get to do the same for the girls that had given them a present. It's a day to celebrate love and those warm fuzzy feelings you get about another person.

So, I ask: How does your home celebrate the holiday, if it even has it? If not, is there a holiday like it?

[And now he'll just sit back and eat. He hasn't done this in a while.]

[have a somewhat flat and very businesslike tone] I want to learn how to communicate with Sentience directly. If anyone has any information, it would be appreciated.

[Yes, Zero looks very irritated today. Yes, this IS beginning to become a pattern with him. He isn't normally so quick to anger these days. In fact many would say he'd just gotten even colder and less emotional during the past year. So him being so volatile wasn't something he liked to express. It showed weakness. He refused to show any weakness.]

I understand that we were provided with clothing for this celebration today, but...

[He holds up some things that are obviously not traditional Japanese clothing. In fact, they aren't something he would wear anyway. They are dresses in various pastel shades.]

This obviously isn't it. Who put these in my closet?

[OOC:Road...naturally. After the whole cross dressing debacle the other day.]

[It's early in the morning and Al is outside with some chalk. He's carefully drawing circles on the ground and practicing his alchemy, making little toys like a small statue of Den, a train car, a tiny house, some toy soldiers... When he's done, though, he transmutes them back into the floor since he doesn't want to get into trouble for 'defacing property'.

Then Al makes another circle, this time transmuting a one foot tall suit of armor out of the ground, modeled after the one his dad had in his study where he and Ed started to learn alchemy.

He closes his eyes, taking a deep breath.] Okay... You did it once before...

[Al opens his eyes, a determined look in them as he places his hands against the circle and concentrates. Blue markings light up around the armor for a moment, then fade away. A slow grin comes onto Al's face as he leans back, watching the little armor take a few steps forward on it's own.]

I did it!

[He lets out a delighted laugh as the armor does a few punches and kicks into the air, then sets off walking, changing directions every so often.]

Wonder how far I can make it go...

[Off the armor goes, straight in one direction, not stopping this time.]

[No, he didn't forget your dare, Euphie. Loud and clear,]

I like pink, fluffy things.

[Now. On a more serious note.]

[screened to Defense Team]

Now that I have your attention. [More sober,] I think we've got another baddie for the list.

[The screen cuts on, showing a man's face, and the top of what appears to be a green spacesuit with metal bits on the shoulders. He speaks after a moment, facing away from the camera.] I think that did it, Haro.

[A moment later, the camera pans up and back, showing his amused face, framed by brown hair, and one eye covered by a rather large black eyepatch.] This must be some kind of experimental prison. Underwater, with cameras for all the inmates? Creepy, even for Veda. [Which is what he blames this on. It sounded too... omnipotent to not be the AI's fault. Who else would really know all of his atrocities in such intimate detail?]

Unknown! Unknown!

[Lockon sighed a little.] I was afraid you'd say that.

(When the feed clicks on, the Master pans it around a room in the education centre where he's apparently set up shop, before setting it on it himself. Evidently, his restraints have been removed and he's feeling a little chuffed about it.) So, Marina. How's that defence force working out? Busy night for you all, I hear. But that is neither here nor there. The defence force and the attacks speak of an incredibly disturbing contentment to stay here. (He looks slightly disgusted at the concept before his expression settles back into his almost-standard smugness -- although compared to the previous three days, there's a hint of distraction.) Such limited aims, Marina. I'm disappointed. Still! Some of us have larger goals in mind.

(There's a brief pause and he glances down at the table momentarily, apparently fiddling with one or two items before a small smile of amusement plays at his lips.) The electrolysis of sodium chloride solution. Don't worry, I don't intend on gassing you all. (There's a flash of amusement in his expression, as if he's remembering something particularly amusing.) It's going to be useful! (For him. Regardless, he pauses again to tap on the table a few times.)

Do you hear them, Marina? The drums. (A flicker of emotion -- irritation? anger? it's too brief to tell. If you happen to come across him in the education centre, it would be more than obvious that he's building something.)

( OOC NOTE )

Good morning, criminals! Today marks the forty-seventh day of the third generation. It should be a warm, sunny day, and those of you who are recovering from last night are encouraged to spend some time outdoors and enjoy it. I would like to inform everyone who might not be aware that the threat has been handled. It is most regrettable that such a thing happened, but this is precisely why this system does not bring criminals back from the dead.

I have one last, fairly significant code adjustment to make to this system. Please bear with me if I cannot converse with you this morning. If you require my input, please feel free to come visit the kiosk in Sector 1, and I will address your concerns there. Thank you for your understanding.

[It takes him a few tries, but he manages to get it to work (technology was never really his forte) and he smiles politely, easily, despite the circumstances.]

Good morning. My name is Cho Hakkai, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I've just arrived a few days ago, so I suppose this was all quite a bit for me to take in... [He trails off, glancing to the side briefly here, smile waning just a tad.]

I hope it isn't too much to ask, but if you were to describe this... prison with one word, what would it be?

[And then it's all smiles again] Thank you for your time.

(Whatever temper tantrum the Master had been having earlier, he seems to be over it. He's taken a break from whatever labour he was supposed to be doing -- likely cleaning by the looks of him.)

I've heard one or two things about a 'defence force', and I'm curious. Can anyone tell me about it? Its history. Its purpose. Members, even. It strikes me as a creation overflowing with irony and wonderfully likely to aid the formation of criminal factions. Not to mention, of course, the lack of faith its mere existence seems to imply on the part of Sentience, its bots and their ability to adequately protect this prison, both from the outside and from within -- not to mention the entire running of a prison. I almost miss Shada. Now that was a real prison.

Or is it supposed to aid with the concept of having faith and trusting Sentience? If he gives us freedom (he presses his lips together for the briefest of moments at that) -- if you want to call it freedom -- then you give him your trust. Oh, but cultivating a group like that really does run a risk, doesn't it? A group of criminals placed up on a pedestal, high above the others, privy to information that we, as mere (although he doesn't smile, his expression holds a hint of amusement) simple and untrusted individuals, otherwise doing our best, aren't. Jealousy could arise. Arrogance. Stanford prison experiment, anyone? No? Yes? Maybe?

(A pause, and a particularly smug grin.) I lose the cat ears and the restraint tomorrow morning! It's like my birthday and Christmas all at once!

( Locked to Kamille )

[Winry appears before the camera, fiddling with her headset for a moment until she realizes it's started recording. She's wearing her regular work outfit and holding what looks like a metallic, mechanical human arm, quite similar to one you may have seen attached to a certain alchemist in prison.]

Ah, um, hello, Doctor Eggman?

I've finished building my automail sample, if you were still interested in having a look at it. I'm in the cafeteria at the moment if you wanted to stop by.

[She ends the video feed and then sets the arm aside on the table for now while she has some hot tomato soup.]

With all that free time I found myself in acquisition of as everyone else slept and the library is poor, I made a list! Mostly for Sentience, and-- that lawyer. (He waves a hand dismissively; he doesn't care in the slightest.) Never did get his name. But, I thought I'd let everyone have a look. Why hide crimes? We're all criminals here.

( Laws of Time--! And also the Master being self-centred. )

You see, kiddies. (His expression is a mockery of solemnity, as if he's trying to explain something very, very basic to very, very simple people.) The Laws of Time are Important (hear that capital letter--!). They're not to be broken. If the Laws of Time are broken, then very bad things happen. We don't want those very bad things to happen now, do we? It could result in, oh, the destruction of planets. The wiping out of entire peoples. And we're here to learn how to be good. To stop that from happening.

Why, Sentience! You're almost as bad as me! (And he laughs before going to turn off the feed, but then--)

Oh, no, wait! Question! Lying. How many Brownie points do I lose for it? We might have to re-do introductions, Marina.

((ooc: Bored Master is really bored and seeking attention.))

[A few sounds of rustling, and then the video turns on, a blurred image clearing as the camera stills. A pink-haired young woman wearing a calm smile waves at the audience, not troubled in the least that she's just been welcomed to prison.] Hello everyone, I am Lacus Clyne. I've just arrived here. Are you all doing well?

[Behind Lacus is a spherical pink... mechanical thing that's bouncing away, tiny round arms flapping. And it's saying:] I won't accept it!!