[It's quiet for a moment, as Hiro works on the tablet, bringing up the video option. He's still not entirely sure on the context for some of the things people are finding on this place prior to.....whatever happened, exactly. But that is just why he figures since he found this sd card, he should share and try see if anyone else might get more answers.]

Uh, hey guys. I know a lot -- a lot has been going on lately. I just, I found this. [Holds up the sd card for everyone for a moment to show it, before placing it back in the tablet.]

It had a video on it. Now, I haven't been here the whole time from the start when some of you woke up here, and I haven't had the chance to go over everything with the tablets so there might be some parts I'm missing. Figured you guys might want to see it.

[A teenage boy--Riley Sung--is standing in front of a camera. That much is obvious, but something has gone wrong with this recording, because it's covered in heavy static and tearing. There's no sound at all. Riley seems to be reporting on another protest with an unnecessary amount of teenaged enthusiasm, though he's still taking it very seriously. The sun hangs low in the sky; it's autumn, and the sun is beginning to set.

For an instant, the recording is crystal clear--just in time to record all of the protesters walking away in frighteningly perfect lockstep, expressions completely blank. Riley seems absolutely baffled by this, his mouth slowly closing on whatever words he might have been able to say. Then he grabs whatever he's been using to record and starts running.

The video ends here.

And so does Hiro's. Because he's not sure if he wants to speculate just yet. If he had all the information, this would be easy to figure. To predict what the answers might be. But Norfinbury is not that simple. Not like the simple, factual science he specializes in. Anyway, it's out there. People can make of it what they will and he might chime in on their interpretations.]

Woah...! Hey, I'm pretty sure you shouldn't be declaring people dead when they aren't!

[ A redheaded lady shows up on screen--someone that Norfinbury hasn't seen for a good few weeks. ]

Even if I... woke up in a morgue.

[ The admittance makes her expression fall. She should probably make her way out of here soon, even as a detective who's run into her share of dead bodies, she doesn't like its atmosphere. Didn't she... vaguely remember something about not all people dying in Norfinbury staying dead? Is that what happened? ]

... I think... I think I was investigating something, before this. Ugh, why can't I remember what it is?!

Someone counting on me... but I can't even remember who. It's like their life depended on it, and there was a deadline I had to or else--

[ It made her break into a cold sweat, feeling like there was this forced gap into her memory that she couldn't fill back in. Pressing her hands together, Lynne took a deep breath to calm herself. There was no use getting frustrated over something like that, right now. ]

Never mind... it might just be more mind tricks, like last time.

[ And yet... she remembered more recent things, like Norfinbury, here. ]

Anyway, I'm not dead. I guess I better start look around this hospital... anyone mind filling me in on anything I might've missed since I've been asleep? And um, if I need to be careful of anything.

[There are shifting noises and the big, dark outline of a hand. When the hand drops away it shows Haurchefant's smiling face. He's sitting out in the snow, leaning back in a sprawl and the tablet seems to be resting against one knee, aiming upward. It's not the best shot in the world.

People who have seen the collapsed wall might recognize his location. He's sitting about half way up it, precariously balanced...but that's not what he's here to talk about.]

Salutations!

[He waves.]

I am uncertain if anyone can see or hear me so I shall keep talking out of blind faith.

I've not been here long but the past few days of quiet solitude have afforded me the opportunity to reflect on matters. This place is truly terrible, it seems, but even the darkest places can be lit up through the puissant bonds of camaraderie.

[He pumps a fist in the air, his grin widening.]

Camaraderie is so important to morale that team building exercises are employed for training soldiers! It promotes cohesion! It brings everyone together with a singular purpose: Watching out for one another!

And yet...

And yet I do not know any of you! So dismayed was I to realize this that I am now endeavoring to talk into this curious "tablet" about it.

If you could introduce yourselves properly, it would do my heart some good... Though I may need you to remind again in the future. 'Tis not that I do not care, mind, but my memory...

[He squints and taps the side of his head.]

My memory is seldom able to penetrate through my recent bout of headaches and I would be lying if I said I were not still numb from the confusion of my arrival.

[Pause]

Anyroad...my troubles aside I think we should all give some proper introductions.

Allow me to start: I am Haurchefant de Fortemps, previously a Lord but currently a stalwart adventurer!

[His eyes twinkle in excitement at this thought.]

I am a knight above aught else and as long as I yet breathe I shall fight to protect those trapped here with me and I shall do mine utmost to see that you are able to return home. My dear friend Zack [Whom he barely knows and has only met once but that's all it takes, really] has already called for everyone to remember hope and why they fight so I shan't repeat his message but know that I endorse it wholeheartedly!

Now....

[He leans forward eagerly.]

Tell me more of yourselves!

[ Afternoon ]

[ Lynne woke up late today, her overexertion into investigating the place finally getting to her. Maybe, for a day like this one, it would have been better to stay asleep--but when are people ever that lucky? The sound of the weather battering against the walls and rooftop jolt her up. But this was joined by something else; the sound of moaning and wails haunted her, coming from no particular direction. She had wandered around the house, and turned on the voice feed. No matter where, she couldn't escape it. And did she want to? It was hard to tell... maybe she was also searching for answers. ]

The bodies they're... they're still there...

They're crying... Soft but. Is it getting louder? "Save us! Save us! Come back--! Bring us back!"

[ She gulps, and hesitates to reply back. ]

I... I can't! I'm sorry! I don't have the power to... I can't do anything like that! I wish I could... you have no idea...

[ There's a clatter, caused by Lynne herself bumping into a table--though she isn't aware of it. Her breathing's getting heavier, and she's in a cold sweat. It felt like all the movie posters she was in, their eyes were following. Dark figures of sharp-clawed hands, reached from the walls, attempting to grab her. ]

D-don't grab me! Go away! Stop looking at me!!

[ There's the further sound of her tumbling into furniture, hurting herself through the jagged edges. ]

A-ahhh! 

[ Because none of the other exact sounds Lynne heard could actually be there for anyone else, the crisp sound of the snapping clamp of a mousetrap can be heard. Where an incidental object had fallen to trigger it, Lynne saw a moving mouth, that couldn't be heard, but widely smiled, and continually laughed. Laughed about what? Or was it laughing at her, and how useless she was in everything? ]

Shut up! Shut up shut up SHUTUP!

[ Wielding the butcher knife, she had picked up, she swung down with all her might, leaving the mousetrap clean in two, and an ugly jag on the floor. Lynne herself, is still gasping for breath. ]

[ the past few days have been overly eventful for those he's traveling with, and with some downtime, he's at least able to catch his breath a moment. the video flickers on, showing nothing more than a red faced, rather flustered looking young man. ]

Okay, so let's get this straight.

[ unfortunately, the people of Norfinbury are about to get an earful from one Edward Elric. ] So I'm sure most of you know Al. Alphonse Elric. About a hundred feet tall, shiny and metal, he's really hard to miss.

[ seriously, how do you even miss a suit of freaking armor? ] That's my younger brother, do you hear me? Alphonse is my little brother. Got that? I'm the older one, I'm the rule maker, the elder, the wiser!

I. Am. Not. The. Little. Brother.

[ he takes big, heaping breaths between each word, his face only seeming to grow more flushed with each passing second, his voice rising near to the point of yelling. ] So if anyone of you calls me little, younger, small, tiny, pipsqueak, nosmallerthanacrumb one more time--!

[ he lets out a wail, a sort of frustrated cry that really does not work in his favor. only younger brothers cried like this, right? ]

That's all.

If you're confused, read this.

- Clarke

( welp i forgot to unprivate it! it's fixed now! )

[It's mid-afternoon when it happens. Lancer's voice, dripping with enough sass and sarcasm that it could drown the town, reads:]

"You and your guy BFF talk all the time and you're the first person he turns to when he's got news. But how do you know if your buddy is a platonic pal or a budding boyfriend? Take this quiz to find out if he likes you!"

[And then there's a slightly resigned noise.] This convenience store is less useful than I thought. But, if any of you are having relationship trouble I found something for you.

afternoon - video

[The camera comes on to the dim interior of the abandoned school, focused on a nearby spot on the floor. There's nothing there, but there's plenty of other things to notice. Primarily, the heavy distortion of the film itself; it's stretched almost to the point that it's unrecognizable and frequently flickers in and out of focus. At the points where things seem to align and the video is reasonably coherent, Clayton's panicked, gasping breaths come through in the background. It sounds like he's trying to calm down. He's not doing a good job of calming down.]

[The tablet is given a firm shake, as if attempting to resolve the apparent camera abnormalities, then Clayton gives up and shuts it off.]

afternoon - text

[Thankfully, Clayton doesn't let this video stand alone for too long after he posts it.]

Sorry about that--thought I saw something. The air isn't right here.

[And that's putting it lightly. A hallucination that vivid and alarming isn't something Clayton can brush off so easily, especially after experiencing something similar the day before in the school's kitchens. It's recurring. That's a problem.]

[He would think it's a personal problem, if Enoch wasn't experiencing the same sorts of things.]

Who else has been to the school? What have you seen or heard while there that you would consider "abnormal," if anything?

slightly before lockdown - video

[It's much later in the day when Clayton turns on the camera again, and in significantly more dire circumstances. The video is trained on his face this time--he looks flushed and exhausted, like he just ran a marathon, and he's only now letting himself relax and slide the rest of the way down the wall of the sports shed. Other feet and voices murmur and shuffle in the background as three other people position themselves in the tight quarters. Clayton's eyes flicker to them with a look of immense relief.]

[There's a loud thump at the door, followed by distinctive scratching noises. Clayton's expression sobers.]

Alright... [Pant, pant. He quickly swipes a hand over his brow.] ...I got good news and I got bad news.

Bad news is, we ain't lost them shadows yet. [There's another round of clawing at the shed's door to verify this.] If any a y'all 're in the school, run. Don't you come to the shed t' the west. It ain't safe out there. Pack up what yer doin' an' head north 'r south. You ain't got much time.

[He lets that hang in the air for a few moments.]

...Good news! [Clayton chuckles giddily and his mouth twitches into a tired smile.] They ain't that smart. Enoch 'n I just gave one the runaround outside. If you get one of ya to lead 'em, the other can head in an' get the door--trick 'em 'fore they know what's happenin'.

Anybody else runnin' into these things out there? If they're gettin' bolder, we oughta start travelin' 'n pairs. Safer that way.

[He pauses again to finish catching his breath and adds a couple more airy laughs for good measure. The monster continues thumping against the door. Clayton is clearly too relieved to notice.]

Y'all be careful out there. Keep in touch.

[And the feed ends.]