[Two very fair, Asian women sit curt and polite at a table in the first floor lobby.]

[If you looked closer, one would notice that the pair are nothing more than finely crafted dolls.]

[...Looking even closer, one would also notice that they seem to be wearing party hats.]

[The first floor kitchen is buzzing with activity- oh, no, not quite. The room is actually quite empty, except for one person. God knows just what this particular Marionette Owl has been doing all this time. Sadly, venturing from the room she and her commander share was a necessity today.]

[Spring cleaning isn't fun and waiting until autumn to do it ( Read more... )

[And just ~where~ has Marionette Owl been the past month? Well, if anyone bothered to look, they might have found her on the 9th floor library. Inexplicably turning into a child can be very taxing; even without the psychosis that memories of that time bring. Owl had retreated there shortly upon returning to her normal age, severely shaken. Being ( Read more... )

[Marionette Owl seems to have sobered up since placing that call a few days ago. In body, at least; the reminder she got shook her in a way that she has still not recovered. Those rational thoughts Owl clung too began to peel away as the clock ticked down, closer and closer to that day. May first. She can't even remember the year. Fifteen years ago ( Read more... )

[There's a call going out on all frequencies, possibly because Marionette Owl is too drunk to limit it to the person she intended the message for.]

Raiden?

Do you know what day it is tomorrow? Or... hell, what day it is today-?

[Should you venture into the lobby, you might be graced with the sight of two young Asian women standing together. Their faces are painted, all perfect and serene. Upon closer inspection, you might find that these women are, in fact, made of wood. On the outside, at least; heavy perfume masks the scent of death and formaldehyde. One of the few ( Read more... )

[There is a head on the floor.]

[A severed head, yes, skin powdered and hair washed to almost look alive. There's no neck, just patch of skin stitched over the gaping hole where the spine would have connected. Without the hat, it's difficult to tell if the head belongs to a Raiden or a Raikov. The surgical patch on his eye may provide a clue to ( Read more... )

[It hasn't been the best of days.

It hasn't been the best of months, either, to be quite honest.

Ivan could really use a distraction of some kind from his thoughts. He's been trying to distract himself all day and nothing seems to work. He's still not sure whether he likes the Nexus or not, even after the best part of three months. On the one hand, ( Read more... )

( Cut for TL;DR )