[night] | [video]

[consultmybooks]

"Can't even shout, can't even cry
The Gentlemen are coming by
Looking in windows, knocking on doors
They need seven and they might take yours'.
Can't call Mum
Can't scream a word
You're going to die screaming and you won't be heard."

[That night, the strange, twisted little nursery rhyme sounds over the PORTAL network in the voice of an older British man

Comments

[snowwhitesoul]

You are in Promenade, the City of Dreams. It is nighttime and, through the mandate of the king, nobody may speak. Your voice shall return in the daytime, when you will have to wear the mask you undoubtedly have in your possession.

As for the Exile, we are not quite sure. It is a figure that is as nebulous as the riddles it leaves behind. You are also communicating through your PORTAL, which allows you to use the TENEKA function, which is what allows you to communicate at night.

It is a pleasure to meet you, Rupert Giles. I am Kuchiki Rukia.

[consultmybooks]

I do have a mask, actually. [Giles reaches out of sight of the screen before pulling his hand back, holding a half mask with a mirrored surface.] Stupid thing. Do I really have to wear it?

PORTAL? It looks like a...bastard child between a book and a computer. Nice that someone thought to plan for this...this ridiculousness that happens at night.

Kuchiki Ruka?

...Japanese, yes? Thank you, then, Kuchiki-san. That was all very helpful.

[snowwhitesoul]

Yes, unfortunately. It is the law, dictated by the Queen, that everyone wear masks during the day. She believes it makes everyone equal and the price for not doing so can be harsh. At the least, you will meet with severe disapproval from the populace, at the most you will attract the attention of Genero, the head of the Unnatural.

[Wonderful thing about TENEKA? It relays emotion remarkably well. Just Genero's name is laced with cold disdain and venom.]

Each PORTAL conforms to the user. There's a wide variety of shapes and forms used.

Yes, I am. It was no problem, Giles-san.

[consultmybooks]

...I assume that Genero is not someone I'd want to meet, then. Right. Appreciate the warning. [He can't laugh, not in this state, but the TENEKA does pick up an edge of black amusement.] I don't mind severe disapproval from the populace - I got that at home all the time. Sorry, I'm probably going to be doing this a lot - the "Unnatural"?

And does everyone know the Queen is mad, then, or just the newcomers to this place?

video; teneka; 1/idefk ; p.s. i love that you went this route omg

[slayery]

[ Buffy'd be disturbed by hearing that rhyme again, but for the voice it's in. She thinks, at first, that she might be completely out of her mind. But then... No. Can't be. ] It isn't the Gentlemen, Giles.

video; teneka; 2/?

[slayery]

[ Wait. The name just kind of slipped out. Did she really just say - ] Giles? [ Okay, voice and video sync up, but she could be going out of her mind. That happens to people here. ]

video; teneka; 3/4

[slayery]

Ooh, this had better not be a dream, or I'm going to have some serious one-on-one grouchy no-fun Buffy time with the King and Queen...

video; teneka; done~

[slayery]

It's not Hell. It's Promenade. And according to the locals, we've always been here. All of us. We're just... Waking up. [ There's a pause, and she actually gives him a smile. ] You have no idea how happy I am to see you. Dawn's gonna freak.

[video]

[megid0_maiden]

[Hi Giles. Grey face with horns staring at you here]

I don't think this is hell. It's called Promenade. I cannot offer much in the way of information, as I have not long arrived here myself, but I can assure you your voice will return when it's day.

By the way, that rhyme you were saying is rather intriguing. Where does it come from?

Re: [video]

[consultmybooks]

[...grey face with horns, not helping his impression that it's not hell, actually. So excuse him if he flinches back when Aradia shows up in the video screen.] What are...

...it's a song from my home. A, A warning, for when the Gentlemen appear in a town. I...heard it from a friend.

[video]

[megid0_maiden]

[Aradia doesn't really appreciate just how unused to seeing trolls humans are, so she assumes his flinch is down to the fact that her voice is suddenly in his head]

Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. This is just how we talk at night. I realise it's a little strange.

The Gentlemen? Who are they?

Re: [video]

[consultmybooks]

>i>A-At least we have a way to communicate...

...The Gentlemen are a band of monsters from an old German fairy tale. Once in a blue moon, they'll come to a town and steal the voices of all the residents. With everyone silenced, the Gentlemen can case the town, searching for victims. Seven victims will turn up with their hearts removed - without their voices, they can't scream for help.

[kurtonese]

That's poem's not creepy or anything.

[consultmybooks]

It's not? I would hate to see the sort of place you grew up in, then. [Sarcasm - the TENEKA is proving able to identify it beautifully.]

[kurtonese]

[Clearly it loses a little in translation.]

Ohio, actually.

*facepalm* One day, I will master this htmling thing

[consultmybooks]

California. Earth, yes?

[text]

[failedparenting]

This place is pretty much the farthest you can get from Hell, believe me.

[Because Hell is in his mirror right now.]

Re: [text]

[consultmybooks]

[...huh. Text this time.

Let's try treating the book like a book. Just for the hell of it, Giles dreams up a pencil before he writes his reply.]

There are a lot of hells.

[text]

[failedparenting]

[He thinks Giles is speaking metaphorically, so hell, he'll roll with it.]

If you're looking at it that way then, I guess it qualifies.

Re: [text]

[consultmybooks]

Precisely. This would very well be one of them.

They aren't all of the fire and brimstone variety. Fire and brimstone doesn't terrify everyone.

Certainly not me. It would seem almost [...] tacky.