audio;

[eatsyourscience]

[Early in the morning, not long after the Midnight Channel broadcast, Souji decides he has some 'splaining to do. He fires up the old network device, but isn't really sure how to go about this.]

I can't explain the armor, but these broadcasts...they come from my world.

[It's not easy to tell from his tone whether or not he's affected by what he saw, especially for people who don't know him well. In reality, it's hard for him not to feel agitated in response to it. He spent a year hyper-alert to this thing, after all, and even after the time he's spent in Wonderland, it's become a habit to react this way.]

I don't think you should worry about what it shows you. It's probably not real.

[Probably.]

This sort of thing used to happen sometimes. Where two events got mixed together. It's been over a year though, I think.

[He can't think of anything else to say that would actually be helpful. He had thought of offering to explain the broadcasts, but he's alarmed by the fact that he can't remember what they're called. After a couple seconds of dead air, he shuts off the feed.]

Comments

[ video ]

[crosscompiler]

S-Souji-senpai... is it really all fake?

[ The hollow voice is familiar, and thankfully so is the shape of the hollow being it belongs to - luckily, Chihiro still looks at least vaguely like herself, with a bit of a twist, all sleek metal and glowing neon flourish, with little of a face to speak of save two round glowing eyes. ]

I... I saw Kirigiri-san... sh-she was strapped to a chair... a desk... on a conveyor belt, about to be... to be... i-it was an execution... K-Kirigiri-san wouldn't kill anyone... I know it...

[ video ]

[eatsyourscience]

[That's...really specific, and Souji hesitates to brush it off as fake. It would be nice to be able to do so, since it might comfort Chihiro, but it also might be a lie.]

...I don't know. I don't think Wonderland can make things happen in our worlds...so if it isn't fake, maybe it's going to happen anyway.

Re: [ video ]

[crosscompiler]

[ The armor's glowing round eyes slim down to lines as her eyes 'close', and she hangs her head. ]

I can't believe it... I don't want to believe it... it... it has to be a trick. I-it just has to be...

[ video ]

[eatsyourscience]

...I think believing that would be okay.

[crosscompiler]

...Believing that it's a trick...?

[eatsyourscience]

Yes. Even if it comes true, you can't do anything about it now.

[crosscompiler]

I guess... there's nothing to be done...

Kirigiri-san... I hope she's going to be all right... I still think about her, sometimes...

[eatsyourscience]

She was here, wasn't she? How long has it been since she went back?

[crosscompiler]

It was... a couple of months, at least... it's been hard to keep track, with the events changing... and since I had been gone, during Christmas...

[eatsyourscience]

It's a chronic problem for me, too.

[crosscompiler]

Losing track...?

[eatsyourscience]

Yeah. I know about how long I've been here, but I lose track of what time of year it is until the seasons change.

[They change so suddenly that it's hard to tell the difference between July and mid-October.]