The Velvet Key

[VOICE]
It seems that my absence was poorly timed. And yet I can't help but wonder why it is that we're brought into this place or why some of us manage to disappear while the rest continue searching for answers or for a way back to their countries, and yet they remain. Would any of you be willing to discuss these matters at length? I realize that, especially for those who have newly arrived, the situation can be disorienting, but perhaps if we all came together and shared our experiences with this place, it might be possible to draw some conclusions.

I realize that not everyone here prefers to work as part of a team, but I sincerely believe that to make any progress at all, it will require the cooperation of each and every one of us.

[ACTION]
[With classes over for the summer, Natalia's out practicing well into the morning, making use of the fields to practice with a bow. (Perhaps she shouldn't be here at all, but she doesn't see why anyone should mind. She isn't hurting anything.) She sets an arrow, pulls the string back tight, and lets it fly. Sometimes her arrows hit the target, and sometimes they fall short or soar past. She only has about two dozen to work with, and so after she has depleted her quiver, Natalia walks across the lawn to gather them together again before repeating the process.]

[Natalia stifles a yawn, standing in the hotel lobby in nothing but her nightgown. It is modest enough, but she probably should have known better. It's maybe 4 or 5 o'clock in the morning. She keeps her voice restrained, quiet.]

Could anyone explain to me what the purpose of the lighted boxes are? One of them appears to have food of a sort inside and the other...

[She trails off as she leans forward to get a better look at the contents.]

I'm afraid I'm not familiar with these. Are they beverages? They certainly have unusual names. Cielo Mist, Mad Bull, SoBay... Is there... is there a difference?

[It has taken Natalia approximately twenty minutes to confirm that she has, after all, been left behind. "Separated" is perhaps a little easier to accept, what with the foreign city she has unexpectedly found herself in - this one inhabited, not merely ruins. The temperature has also plummeted from uncomfortably hot and dry to cold and blustery. (Winter in the Zao Desert?)]

[She stands in the shadow of a building, out of the wind, trying to work the strange fonmachine (or whatever it might be, Guy isn't around to ask) into submission. If one of the others dropped it, perhaps she can figure out where they might have disappeared to. If the Six God-Generals lost it, then perhaps it will reveal to her why Fon Master Ion has been kidnapped and where their closest stronghold might be. Where to go.]

[The results of this struggle are what finally come across the network.] Beep! Beep! Bnnn...! BEEEEP!!

Oh, honestly! If you're going to be this difficult, at the very least you might-- [There's a muffled sound. A sneeze.]