» the city network

( no video this time... or audio, but you can practically hear the grumble and whine of her complaints anyway if you've met her even the once. )

who keeps taking all the PEACHES
i haven't found ONE in six stores and its raining and its cold and i just wanted some peaches and if i fall on my tail one more time i'm taking all of the kiwi and lychee from the next market i see and going home

also if anyone knows where honeybun is please tell him his mother is very disappointed in him
he'll know why

[ it's early the next morning when prompto slips onto the network. he really needs to be more proactive about making friends and doing things to cheer people up. so!! ] 

happy new year everybody 🎉
not sure if you celebrated or whatever but hope it was good regardless

anyway!!!

what kinda stuff is everyone looking forward to?
like resolutions and things i guess??
never really thought about it too much before but i dunno
feels kinda weird to want good things when part of me just wants to go home haha

if anyone's looking to hang out or whatever tho i'm around
or i guess if you wanna learn how to shoot or take pics i'm your guy

could find something fun to do and make it a real party 🥳

[It's been a long time since this username has been seen on the network. Shinjiro's rarely one for idle chitchat, but he does pay attention. He was at the diner the day that iteration debrief went around, and he's been quietly stewing in it since.]

so if all this shit is really a simulation, what's it supposed to mean when people disappear from here, anyway
if they could just delete us they wouldn't need to make us kill each other to end a round, would they

[Or maybe they're simply that twisted? He doesn't know. But Amada's gone, and until this latest development he would've thought that was for the best -- but now he's not so sure. It's been bothering him, despite himself.]

dunno if these are even our real bodies or if is this some matrix shit
or even if those documents were planted for us to find or any of it's true

[Daan's voice sounds both irritated and cold.]

An item of mine is missing, and I need it back in my hands. So if you have seen it, inform me as soon as you are able.

It is a ghastly looking book that is leatherbound. The outside doesn't have any manner of labels on it, but it is a tome that was penned by someone from my world named Enki.

Whoever took this and can hear me, know that I will look the other away if you return it immediately. I shouldn't have to educate someone that there's no point in stealing from each other while we're all stuck in this place.

Greetings and salutations, my esteemed captive audience!

[TODAY. . . your video feed is taken up by the face of a young man with a teardrop painted on his cheek and a top hat adorning the crown of his head. he presses a hand against his chest and gives the camera a polite and tiny bow, though it's clear from the angle that he's holding said camera with his other one]

Ahaha! Was that joke a bit too gauche? My apologies, I couldn't quite help myself.

[he does not actually look apologetic at all. look at him he made a funny]

All humor aside, I'm a relatively new resident of this. . . [a beat] Lovely city. ["lovely"] I haven't been here long, but already I'm learning much about worlds other than my own. Which brings me to the purpose of this communication.

[it's brief, but the astute may see Lyney flick his wrist subtly and suddenly, until a small red rose blossoms to life between his fingers. he twists the flower idly in his hand as he speaks]

I have a particular interest in magic, you see. Stage magic, to be more precise. After all, I am a great magician, and being brought to this strange land won't change this fact!

[another flick of his wrist, and he closes his flingers around the rose, which seems to just. . . vanish into thin air. where did it go??]

But I am now aware that magic can vary from world to world. In addition to stage magic, my world has Visions, and I've further learned about the existence of something called "magecraft."

If you're feeling a little bored, won't you share with me the nature of magic in your world? It's for research! I promise.

[HE'S JUST A CURIOUS MAGICIAN, THAT'S ALL]

( the video opens with aerith herself, tucked into an old arm chair; it looks like it could be in any of the apartments, but that's unlikely, given the bookshelves behind her, which appear to be more like the ones in the media store. still--she could be in any of the city's various cafes, it's hard to say.

case in point - there's a large book open, spread across her lap, though the words are hard to decipher from the video's resolution, and there's no hint of the title. )

Okay! ( bright and warm, as she leans forward, hands spread over the pages of the book. ) Today's story is a choose-your-own adventure, are you ready?

Ahem, ahem. ( her voice rises and falls in pitch, all full of dramatics. ) To start: you find yourself in a large clearing, full of green grass and well-tilled land. You can't remember how you arrived in this place, but even so...! You feel as though your hands must seek the dirt beneath your feet, as though you must start digging holes, holes for seeds, seeds which... Well.

( her fingers turn the page--and she lifts up a little packet from within the book, not unlike the ones from the cursed tea party, but this one clearly labeled with both pictures and text. some sort of root vegetable. bright orange. )

You find right there, at your fingertips. Now, the question is - out of all these seeds you find, what would you want to grow, and what would you never want to see in a garden, or worse, on your dinner plate?

--Okay, maybe this is less a choose-your-own-adventure and more a terrible marketing tactic. ( dropping the packet of seeds into the book, she pushes both sides of it closed with a snap--and a laugh. ) But I'm wondering what kind of fruits and vegetables are worth growing in my garden. I don't know that I trust the food here, so I want to start growing more things just in case, and...

Everyone has different tastes! So tell me a little bit about the food you like, or even flowers, and maybe I can make a special delivery in...you know, a few months once everything's growing. That's all from Gainsborough Greenery! ( she leans forward with a little wave, before her hand takes over the screen of her phone to cut the video. )