[video]

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

*The video turns on to a small, pale thirteen-year-old girl with lightless, dilated eyes. She stares at the screen for a few seconds with no expression whatsoever, until she finally decides to speak.*

...What.

*Apparently, that's enough.*

Comments

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

My name's Devola. This city is Prospero, in the United States of America. To be frank, I couldn't tell you when you got here; I'll take a shot in the dark and assume it was within the past twenty-four hours.

As for that last one, your original question was a bit... lacking in substance and detail. And there are a bunch of smartasses on this network.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Tch. So far, I've learned that everybody on this network is a person from a diffderent world who did not arrive willingly. What else is there?

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

Aside from the Dark Hour and related topics? Not a whole lot. More questions than answers, anyway.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Tell me about that, then.

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

It's an extra hour of time, separate from regular time. Sandwiched in between 12:00:00 and 12:00:01, as far as anyone can tell. Only certain people can experience it, and people who can't are shunted off into coffins for the duration.

Feel free to tell me that's highly unlikely now. That's the usual response.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Appearing here is also highly unlikely.

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

A good point. Nice to see someone put all the skepticism aside for once.

There's one more 'twist', though. Simply put, the extra hour's literally filled with hostile creatures that don't show up any other time. People've taken to calling the 'shadows' for some reason.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Monsters, then?

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

Pretty much. They look like cute little blobs, until you get close. Then they transform into weird stuff.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

I can deal with that. *She looks like she's looking at something behind the p0hone's camera... and blinks.* Nothing?

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

[She tilts her head curiously.] Nothing what?

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Tell me what this place did to me.

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

...Brought you here? [Like, duh.]

[But there's a decent idea what this is about, so...] Normalized you too, I guess. Everyone here is a bona-fide ordinary human being. Even the ones who go about saying they're 2/3s God, or whatever.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

What.

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm not sure how that genealogy would work, either. When I played with the numbers I think it was 1/3 + a whole? Kinda ridiculous circumstances.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Why is it taking powers?

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

Oh. That, I couldn't tell you. I'm not the ringmaster here or anything, not even close. I'm just as in the dark as everyone else.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

It seems entirely pointless to me.

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

Well, the way I see it is there's gotta be some kinda reason everyone was brought into this place. Maybe having a bunch of powered-up people around would be detrimental to that cause.

...Course, the theory kinda dies at that point because the question, 'why bring them in if they're superpowered and you don't want that?' rears it's ugly head. Oh well.

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

What do you think they want?

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

Good question. My best guess is, assuming 'they' have some kinda omnipresent sight, entertainment. Dropping a bunch of people into a contained area and watch the personalities clash. Kinda sick entertainment, but...

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Is that the war, then?

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

War? What wa--

[A look of dawning realization.]

...Mister Loken doesn't even spare the children on the comm his 'welcome to the war' bit, does he?

[windsofdaytime.livejournal.com]

Should he?

[skaldssong.livejournal.com]

I guess it's not totally imprudent. Just a bit low on tact. [Sigh.]

He's more or less right, though it's a pretty mellow war overall.