[ Maintenance Operation #6 ]

[squeakyslate]

[ It's a scurry and a scratch, a little clash and a little clattering of teeth and claws, it's a flicking tongue and a freezer, a rusty and old freezer box all banged up and useless and still so cold, and Bill crawls out on top shivering, bits of ice stuck to him still. ]

Can't fix that one no more, might kill me if I tried! Won't be from the cold neither. Know what they say? Out of the freezer, into the oven. Didn't say that one proper, did I? Thing is--

[ He whips his head about, poor fella. Something he sees back there, something he don't like one bit. Something you can't see from where you stand. Not just yet. Bill flicks his tail. ]

Can't stay now, can't wait for- can't let 'em catch up. You run along now, you hear me? You run along right fast, won't be the cold what gets you otherwise. Won't be the cold what gets you...

[Video]

[widows_kiss]

[ She's been back a little over a day. Not long, just enough to get her bearings, to find out how much is the same and what is different. Having an entire year's worth of memories since her last stay here has made things... well. More than a little disorienting. And she's not happy about it.

Still, when she opens a video feed late this evening, none of that shows on her face, just a calm, composed expression as she gets right back to business as usual. ]

I apologize for my unexpected absence this past... however long it's been. I had an unscheduled trip home that interrupted pretty much everything. If I missed a session with you over the past several days or weeks, I apologize and hopefully we can make them up now that I'm back and getting sorted again.

For those of you who don't know me or who I haven't met, my name is Natasha Romanoff. I help run the Training Center down on the first floor, along with some teammates of mine back home, or some similar places.

[ Because she is not going into alternate universes right now, that's up to everyone else to puzzle through on their own time, she has a big enough headache as it is. ]

We offer a place to practice, enhance and hone skills in both offense and defense - something that can come in handy around here when things get a little less pleasant and boring. We offer classes and training to people interested in learning or improving these skills as well. If it's something you'd be interested, feel free to stop by any time, there's usually one or two of us around to talk to about it. You can come find me or look for the big guy in the red white and blue suit. He's a little hard to miss.

[ And with that, she flicks off the feed for the time being, letting the citizens of Wonderland do with that what they will. ]