[ Ellana was going to make this post earlier, but then a monster attacked her group yesterday, so she put it off. But it's a new day, so she turns on her tablet to address everyone. ]

The other day I found a strange object in one of the houses. Just one of many strange things, I'm sure. But this one -- it affected me. And I'm curious as to how far that carries.

[ She takes a breath and her arm can be seen moving out of frame. ]

When I look at this object, it hurts me. Like staring into the sun, but worse. I don't know if that means anything, or if it's an important clue. It could mean nothing at all. But I wanted to see if any of you have the same reaction when it's seen through the tablets. So I'm going to hold it up. Remember: it may affect you negatively, so if you don't want to risk it, look away now.

[ Then she holds up the object, tilting it back and forth in front of the camera. It's a Penrose Triangle, made of metal and fitting easily in her hand. And it really looks like it shouldn't exist. And, oh yeah, if you're looking at it, it does hurt, though not as much as it would looking at it in person. Ellana's face is turned away as she shows it off, moving it a little to make sure it'll be in frame at some point. Then she lowers and covers it so she doesn't accidentally see it. ]

All right, I've put it away. Please let me know if you've found anything similar, whether it looks like this or just hurts to look at.


[ ooc: mods say it hurts to look at via tablet, but not as much! ]

A: Network (Video)/Action for Greed and Steph; Afternoon; Open to All

[Al has failed so many times in the past few weeks. Not just tangentially by being unable to protect everyone, but in personal ways. He had promised to protect Tadashi and Steph, he had promised to make sure anyone who travelled with him remained safe, he had promised to make sure Max didn't die alone, and now...

First Steph died, then Tadashi, then Max, and Mami, and now Ed.

Of all the failures, that cuts him by far the deepest. He can still barely believe what he saw, that monster that looked suspiciously like the thing they created with human transmutation had come out of nowhere and then his brother had been-- He wants to cry more passionately now than he ever has in the past, but he still can't do even that for Ed.

When the video clicks on this afternoon it's to the view of an armoured face, the lights of his eyes dim. His expression never alters from happy to sad, but his voice is a very careful and quiet calm that speaks loudly of the distress behind every word. He doesn't have any rousing speeches today, but he has to warn the others, it's what Ed would have wanted.]

Freya... this morning Freya said she saw a creature that looked like something from home, and today I-- I saw something like that too. Whatever is happening here, it's getting more personal to us, and... more dangerous. That... it killed my brother. It killed Ed.

B: Network (Video); Private to @Admin

[He waits until the very depths of the night when the others should be sleeping, and when the shock of losing Ed has begun to dull into an ache that threatens to tear him apart at the seams with every single moment that passes. He waits until he is sure he is alone before he switches on the video to send a private message to whoever runs this place.

Usually it's Ed that loses his temper first, but Ed isn't here any more and Al has been stretched to breaking point. His eyes are so bright that the lights within them seem to give out a glow in the darkness, and his voice is shaking with barely suppressed rage.]

How dare you!

How dare you use that-- use something that looked like her to hurt him! I don't know what you want, and I don't care any more, there's no reason good enough for playing with people's lives like this. You can't keep killing people and bringing... bringing them back not even Ed.

I swear, I won't let you carry on using people and hurting them for whatever this stupid experiment or game is. I'm going to put an end to it, and I won't let you hurt anyone else. I won't let you kill anyone else.

This stops now.