Once everyone who can be found has been collected from their worlds, a new portal opens up--it leads to the silent machine room, glowing with nothing more than the light the various chipped retrieval units' souls give off and Zo's bright glowing eyes. As soon as the group steps through this portal, they will find that all abilities they have, barring those that were never returned to them in the Tower, have been returned to them as real abilities. The second thing they'll notice is the enormous pressure in the room, like something was trying to crush it. Aria is there, and she speaks quickly.

"The power's out--obviously. There's only enough life support left for some of the levels of the Tower, so you can't go upstairs. The elevators aren't working anyway. But listen, it's time. Those of you who can fight, you have to go with Zo and do something about Ruana. Those of you who can't or don't feel like you'll survive, we need to figure out what we're going to do. It's now or never--we have to take control of the Tower and you need to figure out what you're going to do to try and save your worlds. Really, it's okay if you don't want to fight. At this point, there's no way she'd restore any of your bodies even if there was any power that would let her do it. Remember, people who are willing to fight Ruana with Zo, and people who will brainstorm a way to end all of this, stay here with us."

Zo is waiting quietly in a far corner of the room. He looks unhappy and nervous, but he seems determined to at least try to help out. When approached by the group that's going to fight Ruana, he'll explain the plan.

"She's absorbed Jason's and--and Riki's and... Dax's powers. She has her own, too. I can shut down the powers, but you guys need to give me time and I can only do it one power set at a time. You just need to keep her busy. I don't think she's going to use Dax's ability until she doesn't have any other option, so I think that's what we're gonna do. Does that make sense? If I messed something up, tell me, but right now that's the plan, okay? And, um, while I'm doing this I won't be able to help you guys if you get hurt, so please don't get hurt. You'll really die if you do!"

Those remaining will have time to speak among themselves about what they want to do--for now, anyway. There's no telling what might happen later...

From now on all death is permanent. The log for fighting Ruana is here. The log for remaining in the machine room is here.

Those who awoke on their dead worlds have been wandering for hours by this point--if they've bothered to, anyway. There's nothing except death and silence to be found, but they do not thirst and they do not hunger and they do not die. It would always be like that; no one left on a dead world ever dies. However, five hours after they woke up, something changes. A light appears in the distance.

In the tower, five hours after having been locked up, the power fails. There's no voice announcing it, just a few loud warning alarms before everything goes black and the cells holding them in fail, letting them out into the room they've been locked into. Everyone left in the Tower is without their powers or any enhanced abilities above that of a normal human, and a quick exploration of the place they have been left will reveal the door has been welded shut and cannot be broken through. And then, behind them, a light. A rip in space. It's the only way out, though it's impossible to tell where it might lead. Still, there aren't any other options.

Those trapped on their homeworlds will meet up with those who were trapped in the Tower through these portals. They will be able to travel from dead world to dead world, linked by the connections to others they have made, for as soon as one portal closes another will open. And, every time those in the Tower find someone else, they'll feel a little more real, a little less like they've had their abilities stripped from them. Perhaps, if enough people are found, they'll be able to return ready for whatever comes next.

A mingle post for world hopping and dead world travel has been put up here. The next part of endgame will go up at 12:01AM EST on Saturday.

Those downstairs in the bowels of the Tower will know the cause, but for those remaining upstairs, there's a sudden blurring of the world around them. Edges become indistinct, colors brighten and then bleach to white. The Tower vanishes in this light, but the sudden ripple, like the whole structure was the surface of a pond, can be felt like the beat of a drum through the body of each person. Distantly, a voice can be heard: "Just wait--just wait! I'll show you."

The Tower's residents grow lightheaded and pass out. When they wake up, several hours have passed--or, for those who died, perhaps longer than that. Where they wake up, however, is different for each person. Those who would rather remain in the Tower and those who would rather die than remain forever in their current circumstances have been sent back to their dead worlds--apparently abandoned to wander alone. Those who would rather return to their own worlds to try and fix them or to simply be away from the Tower's world have remained in the Tower. They are locked in individual cells somewhere in the administrative levels of the Tower, although from inside the cells it's difficult to know where exactly. They can see and speak to each other, at least--it's more than those trapped on their silent, dead worlds have. All characters have had their powers taken from them, but for those in the cells, their items remain.

Zo, Aria, and even Ruana are nowhere to be seen, but surely they're somewhere. There's also the matter of the clock counting down in the center of the room. Five hours--and then what?

A mingle for those trapped in the cells has been put up here. The second part of this section of endgame will be put up tomorrow.

On the second of June, several characters sent replies to mysterious little poems left in their mailboxes. Enough, apparently, that the hidden floor was tracked down. Not long after that ominous message carves itself into the wall, all lights and glamour on floor 101 and the hidden floor go off.

Something is coming.

It's growing late when, on the first floor of the Tower, the elevator seems to groan and creak from somewhere below. It soon becomes obvious it's the sound of screeching metal cutting into metal, as if something were being forced upward--the sound grows louder and louder until it sits right outside the elevator doors and then stops. There's a moment's pause before the elevator doors are forced open by two hands. One pushes by force and the other with an evanescent glow.

Zo and Aria tumble out of what's clearly a broken elevator car and into the cafeteria. They'll explain their disappearance, of course--but what were they doing travelling upward in such a manner anyway?

The results are chaotic but an overall success: the chips are disabled and the machine room is secured by Aria's group. The characters can access it at any time by talking to Aria or another retrieval unit in the hidden floor, but there isn't much to see there at the moment, and the retrieval units will prevent anyone from altering the machine for now--it may be possible to convince Aria otherwise, but for now they'd rather nothing be broken.

There are a few days of eerie silence within the Tower: while Zo was scheduled to take control for May, it doesn't seem like he's been around, so it's dubious as to if he really is in charge at the moment. Further, Aria eventually vanishes as well. The other retrieval units, if asked, will say that they're certain she's still alive and uncompromised, but they're not sure exactly where she is.

It will be a few days before that comes to light...

On the 27th, after extensive planning by the Tower residents and the chipped-collar units, Aria will lead the infiltration team to the administrative levels via a retrieval unit elevator. After a long ride--half an hour at the least, though it's hard to keep track--the elevator opens into a hallway which seems to absorb extraneous light after a certain distance, leaving the way ahead pitch black.

Aria will remain stationed at the elevator and give a final overview of the plan: Riki's computers must be shut down without detection, and Riki must be drawn out of the machine room once the equipment has been shut off. Only after Riki leaves the room can Aria and her workers secure the machine.

With that, she sends the infiltration team along with a chipped-collar unit. Deviation from the path specified on the map would not be an easy task; the darkness of the corridor is all-consuming, and even light sources created by those with real powers can barely illuminate the immediate area. Thankfully the chipped unit seems to know the area well, and will lead the team through until the hallway begins to illuminate again.

The chipped unit will not accompany them any further, but the rest of the trek is a short, straight shot to the machine room, and the administrator working within.

Hopefully the time spent planning will pay off.


Meanwhile, the conditions in the residential levels of the Tower continue to deteriorate. Once the monsters have all vanished from the Tower, a profound exhaustion starts to set into the residents. Their energy continues to drain throughout the week, worsening by the day.

But even sleep doesn't offer any respite from the exhaustion--nightmares plague even the most peaceful of sleepers, assaulting them with abstractions that feel representative of fear itself. Later in the week, these horrors begin to bleed into a character's waking world, manifesting as hallucinations. It may be the feeling of always being watched, or the sensation of something crawling beneath the skin, or a flash every now and then that warps the very walls and floors beneath your feet. Whatever form it takes, it always feels somehow beyond the reach of understanding--uncomprehensible, and terrifying for its obscurity.

There are certain areas that worsen the nightmarish visions and increase the frequency at which they are experienced. Floors sixteen, twenty-six, forty-three, forty-four, fifty-six, and fifty-nine will all exacerbate the condititions of the player characters. The exhaustion worsens on these floors, as well, to the point where it almost seems possible to feel the life draining from your body.

Surely there must be some underlying cause? Because at this rate, it seems likely that you could collapse at any minute...

If the player characters do not determine what is causing them to weaken, they will eventually die of exhaustion, with characters who spend more time on afflicted floors succumbing more quickly to their fatigue. Characters who die as a result of the exhaustion will not be revived until the beginning of May.

Beginning at midnight on the 15th, the Tower's population of ever-prowling monsters gradually begins to thin. The monsters never disappear in front of anyone's eyes, but throughout the week it will become clear that they are lessening in number. By the end of the week, the Tower is completely devoid of the monsters that have roamed it for so long, almost as eerily devoid of life as it was at the beginning of the rescue mission.

The disappearing process seems to ignite a kind of tension in the air, or perhaps it's the other way around. It feels heavy, as if a great thunderstorm is bearing down on the entire Tower, and it will only worsen as the monsters clear out over the week.

On the 16th, Aria approaches Waver Velvet (fionnuisce) with the report requested in March. The report contains information on how to infiltrate the administrative levels of the Tower. A basic hand-drawn map that will lead the residents to their destination--but only their destination, nowhere else in the administrative levels--is provided with the report. Additionally, it will include what Aria has discovered of the situation with Riki and Zo; namely, that after bringing in the residents for April, Zo was hurried out of the machine and Riki has been occupying the machine room ever since. It is unclear as to what exactly he plans to do with the machine, but whatever it is, it seems as if his progress has been going slowly.

After providing Waver with her report, Aria will utilize the chipped-collar units to recruit people to come to the hidden floor throughout the week about a mission into the administrative levels. The chipped units will not divulge any of the specific information in the report while recruiting, but Aria will gladly offer it to characters who visit the hidden floor.

When informing people of the infiltration, Aria will stress that Riki will have a considerable amount of Tower technology at his disposal and that facing him head-on for this mission is not advisable. She instead recommends a stealth operation to sabotage the equipment he's working with. She will leave the details of the planning besides this to the player characters, but she is available to ask for advice if necessary.

The month is quickly passing. Ruana will only be asleep for so much longer...

Zo wakes up just as the final March the Tower will see fades away. He sits up as soon as his eyes open, as if he'd never been asleep at all, and vanishes into an elevator down into the administrative level--he has a job to do, after all. But, perhaps ten minutes later, Zo's voice can be heard through the intercoms in the Tower.

"Thank you for waking me up. What happened--um, it's a little hard to explain, but I saw a lot of things, and-- The people who disappeared, they ended up outside. It was an accident, but they're close now, so I can reach them and bring them back in from where they are now. And, um...

I have to bring people in again, but this is the last time I'm gonna do it. Ruana can't make me do it anymore."

The residents who were thrown outside the Tower will, one by one, pass out. They will wake back up on the morning of April 1st in their beds in the Tower. This does not count as a death, and any items they found and took with them outside will still be with them. Any items they left in the Tower will be in their trunks. Any injuries sustained outside of the Tower will remain, and collar fluid status also remains the same.

Characters who spoke to Zo while he was unconscious receive an item from home and a "thank you" note. Characters who were sent outside receive an item from home and an "I'm sorry" note. Regains must be approved here.

It has taken quite some time to travel there, but the residents who were cast out of the Tower have finally reached the city that surrounds the Tower. It's an eerie place, and they have to hurry back, but there may be a few things to discover here...

Meanwhile, in the Tower, a frightened voice--Aria's voice--comes over an intercom. It crackles and skips, and it's clear the power for it won't last long. Still, the message is a simple one.

"Zo needs your help. Please come here."

Those who heed Aria's call will find Zo in the hidden floor of the Tower.

The Tower is eerily silent and still--the power and glamour have shut down without warning, leaving only the sudden downpour of rain and thunder rolling in the distance. For one hour the Tower remains such, as if suspended in time. But then--then, there is something that sounds the way metal tastes and feels the way a drum pounds. It shivers and pulses its way up and down the Tower. Then there is a voice, and it's Zo's, and it's sad and angry and frightened and aware, too aware, all at once--

"This place is too dangerous. It's too dangerous. This place doesn't save anyone at all."

The reality of the Tower cracks in half, as if the border had been snapped in two. Many residents, caught up in the twisting, vanish, and the Tower is silent again.

Those who vanish reappear in an empty, grey field. It is perfectly silent and perfectly dead. The sky is a perfect void, and there is only one point of light breaking the otherwise perfect darkness: a gleaming Tower in the distance. You can feel something in your collars--an uneasy, static warning. They won't last out here.

You are outside. You are without your abilities and your items. You must get back inside.



All those who have found themselves outside the Tower will find they have no abilities and no items with them. For those who have not had their collar fluid replaced and only have false powers, it makes sense: you are far beyond the reach of the Tower's glamour. For those who have real abilities, there is a much more ominous and sinister feeling. It's as if your body is too big for itself. You have the feeling if you linger you will fall to pieces. And this is true, because outside of the Tower, the wireframe bodies cannot last. The characters must travel back to the Tower as quickly as possible. For now, there are no apparent dangers except that of time. Be aware that any characters who die outside the Tower will be permanently killed. They will not be able to be applied for again with their current memories.

As many of your characters as you wish may have been pulled outside the Tower. A log has been put up here to thread out interactions and travel.

After being worn down by the vicious hunt in the labyrinth, Jason is finally struck down by the combined efforts of Asch and Zelda. He falls to the death blows and doesn't show any sign of getting up; no weaving his arms about to repair himself, as he always had before.

There is a moment of stillness. And finally, for the first time this month, Ruana appears. (Warning: Cannibalism, gore, horror.)

All characters in the labyrinth will feel the pressure of Ruana's surges of psionic power. Any character who does not evacuate the labyrinth within ten minutes will die of the exposure. Aria and her chipped-collar units will help labyrinth escapees into the retrieval unit elevator at the center of the maze. These characters will be brought up to the hidden floor via the elevator and may rest there for a time if they desire--in fact, Aria will recommend it, given what has happened in the labyrinth.

Of course, Jason isn't here to bring people back to life anymore. Don't worry--Ruana can manage it on her own now. She doesn't have as much finesse, though; from now on, there will be additional consequences of death and side-effects to the revival process.

With the new process, it will take from two to four days for characters to be revived, as opposed to the previous one day. Characters will also be sore and uncomfortable the day they revive, and may potentially experience bleeding, both external and internal. Characters may suffer from temporary memory loss, or temporary loss of a sense or ability from one to five days. They will not be ICly informed of the changes to the revival process or any of the consequences that will result from it.

The evening of the 20th, Aria will address all characters that have gathered on the hidden floor under the instructions of the chipped-collar units.

"Thanks to everyone who came. We don't have a lot of time, so I'll try to explain quickly!

I think most of you saw that Jason is in the labyrinth now. Ruana wants him dead--and, well, I think a lot of you guys probably do too? He's strong, so the people in the maze might need some help. Especially because Ruana is so mad. I don't think anyone down there is safe, even if they manage to defeat Jason. That's why I asked you all to help.

This will be dangerous, but we'll try to help you as much as we can. If you find someone who's too hurt to fight, bring them straight to the access point and we'll take care of them! Whatever happens down there, if you guys do kill Jason, you're going to have to get out quickly."

A little after midnight on Friday, characters who reported to the meeting on time will be brought down to the labyrinth via a retrieval unit elevator that opens up into the very center of the labyrinth. From that point the elevator will close and lock, but it will open to any resident who was brought down and presses a hand to the door. It will not open for the predators or prey, and it will not open for Jason--though he seems unaware that it's there at all for now.

As for Jason himself, the fighting involving him will take place in a log here. In order to speed things along, everyone is allowed to make their own individual or small group threads for fighting them rather than having to post in one especially long thread. The main post will be used for fighting Jason, but there will be a subthread for activities in the labyrinth that do not involve fighting Jason.

The person who will strike the final blow on Jason will be randomly selected out of the people who have replied to fight Jason by 11AM EST Saturday morning and PMed about their selection. This is the fairest way to allow everyone to have an opportunity to strike the killing blow and also will allow everyone to know the conclusion even if backtagging is necessary to actually reach it. If you would like to opt out of having your character be the one to kill Jason, reply to this comment to let us know.

On February 20th, a change happens in the labyrinth. Black numbers will appear on the white bracelets of the hunters.

As of midnight on the 20th, Prey will find that the abilities granted to them by their bracelets have become twice as strong. Hunters will also have access to abilities of this nature, though theirs are not as powerful as those possessed by prey characters.

( HUNTER BRACELETS AND POWERS )

As the bracelets of the hunters change, sections of labyrinth wall will open up to reveal screens. These screens will be adjacent to every character present in the labyrinth, both hunter and prey, and positioned in a way that all characters will be able to see what is happening on the screens.

It's a brief moment of watching a nondescript wall of the labyrinth before a tangled, sewn-up heap of limbs is dropped unceremoniously onto the floor in view of the feed. As the creature shifts, it becomes apparent that it is Jason, in all of his unglamoured glory. A retrieval unit's face appears superimposed on the left-hand side of the screen, its face as emotionless as ever. In lieu of speakers, the announcement seems to come from every direction as the retrieval unit speaks. The camera remains focused on Jason as the announcement goes out.

"You have all been provided with a unique opportunity. Any hunter that is able to complete the assigned task will automatically win the game, and any prey that is able to complete the task will be allowed to withdraw from the game without penalty. Hunters have been granted additional abilities to aid in completing this task. Prey have been augmented for the same reason.

Kill him. You will be rewarded."

The screens close back up. If the labyrinth walls are examined, they do not turn up any evidence of having had screens in them.

There are still nutrition bars and water bottles scattered throughout the maze, though they are sparse.

Also starting at midnight on the 20th, chipped-collar units will begin circulating around the Tower in greater numbers. Any character not participating in the event who passes by a chipped unit in a somewhat inconspicuous place -- usually away from any walls -- will be addressed quietly.

If they give the chipped unit their attention, they will be informed that they can help the people involved in Ruana's game. Expressing interest in this prospect will lead the unit to tell them to come to the hidden floor on the evening of the 20th. If a character does not know how to access the hidden floor, they will be told the way.

Chipped-collar units will continue to spread this information among characters not involved in the event until nighttime on the 20th, when the meeting on the secret floor will be conducted with Aria and the chipped units.

To sign up for Aria's rescue mission, please reply to this subthread. Only one character per player may be signed up, barring extenuating IC circumstances (for example, two characters of one player both having their closest CR in the labyrinth).

Despite all these developments, the administrator of the game seems to be almost completely absent from its proceedings thus far...

Early in the morning of February 16, the characters selected to participate in the game are gathered up by a horde of retrieval units and escorted to the elevator, which expands to fit all of them. They are taken down in silence to a location that may be unfortunately familiar to some. It's only once they arrive that they are separated out: Tetra stop_calling_me_zelda, Sheena Fujibayashi ninjainviolet, Wriggle Nightbug wrigurun, Zelda sageprincess, Sealand bydefacto, and Ruler faithstaynight are pulled out of the elevator into a group of their own. As soon as they step out of the elevator, their outfits change into something resembling more modest hospital gowns, and hospital bracelets appear around one of their wrists. The bracelets glow red and each bare a unique number. The hunter group is moved out of the elevator next. They, too, have their clothes change into hospital gowns and gain hospital bracelets, but theirs are white and blank.

A retrieval unit addresses both groups.

"This group has been selected to be the prey for this game. They can be identified by their red bracelets. The rest of you are hunters. To win in this game as hunters, you must kill the prey and collect the bracelets; the bracelets will not detach unless the death of the prey is confirmed. You have been provided with motivation for this task, and must kill and collect two bracelets to succeed. You may kill other hunters to eliminate competition once the number of prey has fallen to three.

To win in this game as prey, you must survive the week. You will be provided with a thirty minute head start, among other advantages. However, these advantages will disappear as the game goes on. Winners will receive a special prize.

Anyone, hunter or prey, who survives until Thursday will receive additional motivation. Begin."

Prey will be given thirty minutes to run into the labyrinth however they choose. They will find that their normal supernatural abilities have been disabled in favor of other abilities. Even those without any powers at all will find themselves with something.

Hunters will only be released into the labyrinth after the thirty minutes have passed. For now. they will find that all of their supernatural abilities are completely disabled, and they have nothing to compensate for them for now. They will, however, all be provided with their choice of sword, dagger, spear, or bow.

( PREY BRACELETS AND POWERS )

There are nutrition bars and bottled water scattered about the labyrinth--enough to keep everyone alive but forcing them to keep moving to search out more. A mingle log has been provided here. A plotting thread has been made here.

For those not participating in the event, the situation in the labyrinth is displaying in the media room and on the terminals. For now, though, they can only watch.

During the night, a few unfortunate residents may have a nightmare about having their hearts torn out by a teddy bear--a familiar bear to those who have been in the Tower long enough to remember it. In the morning, these characters will find that all their positive emotions toward their friends, family, and lovers has turned into dislike and hatred--the stronger the love previously, the stronger the hatred now. Even if you don't know the afflicted resident or only see them at a distance, there's an obvious mark somewhere on their skin that isn't covered up--a painted on Valentine's Day heart, in a unique shade of red or pink. There's also a note attached to their clothing that they don't seem to notice and therefore will not take off:

"A bear stole my heart. Will you find it for me?"

Those who go searching will find the teddy bears scattered around the Tower, wearing a heart in the same color as the one of the resident they stole the heart from. In the event of the character whose heart was stolen having participated in the Hitori Kakurenbo event, their own bear is in possession of their heart. If their close CR participated in the Hitori Kakurenbo event, their heart may have been stolen by the bear belonging to their CR. It may be a completely new bear, also. In any event, in order to bring the afflicted character back to normal, someone must cut open the bear's stomach and remove a heart--appearing in the shape of a Valentine's Day heart that is nonetheless made of flesh and beating--and give it to the character. It will disappear upon being handed to its owner and they will return to normal.

This mini event will last until 11:59PM EST February 15th. After that point, all bears will disappear and any remaining afflicted characters will return to normal.

There's really only one bear you have to find...

It's February, and of course, that means games. Still, even if that's a sick sort of routine, Ruana's message is more blunt and less casually worded than her usual. Beginning on the morning of February 13 and continuing over the weekend, a select few characters will receive the following note:

You have been chosen to participate in a hunt game. Attendance is required for one week beginning on the 16th. You will be collected if you do not arrive promptly.
♠

While the characters will not be aware of this, anyone who signs up for this game will be participating in a game in which they are selected either as hunters or as prey. Hunters must attempt to kill the prey, and the prey must attempt to last the entire week without being murdered. There will be at least one motivation provided for the hunter characters--in your sign up, you will be asked to provide another. Your character's motivation can be either a reward or a punishment. If your character would desire something that they would not believe the Tower could provide, they can also be mildly brainwashed into believing the Tower can provide it. Characters killed in the event will remain dead until the end of the event.

You may sign up one character. Hunter slots are unlimited, but prey slots are not: the exact number will be determined by the number of sign ups, but the prey will be chosen via a random number generator. If you sign up, especially as prey, you must plan to be active over the next week. Backtagging is fine, but please be prepared to at least plot out results of deaths and interactions. While only one character can ultimately be accepted, you may sign up one character to be prey and then provide a "back up" character to be a hunter in the case of your first character not being selected.

Sign ups run until 12:01 AM EST on February 16. To sign up, reply to this comment with the following form:
<b>Player Name:</b> <b>Character Name:</b> [OU/AU] CHARACTER NAME <user name="CHARACTERUSERNAME"> <b>Role Desired:</b> Hunter/Prey/Either <b>Motivation:</b> (only required if you want to play the hunter role)

As for what's causing Ruana to take this a little more seriously--for now, that's a secret.

It isn't until late on Friday evening when things seem to return, more or less, to normal. The power returns, things are fairly stable, and the Tower finally begins its repair work, covering up with mechanical efficiency the exposed wiring of the Tower's spine. Riki comes on over the intercoms as the repair work is being completed.

"Looks like things're getting back to normal, more or less. Thanks for the help. Everyone who went downstairs to help out will be back in the morning."

As for those Riki is speaking of, following the pull will lead them to a mirror, though the mirror won't be visible until they approach it. They will feel compelled to touch the mirror--when they do, they will, in an instant, see every possible good and bad outcome they may face in their original universe. They'll see themselves triumph and killed horribly in an instant, see their friends lauded and enslaved, see their worlds exactly as they wish them and in ruins. It's enough to drive someone insane--but the experience only lasts an instant, as they're pulled through the mirror. The light emanating from the one who passed through the mirror has nearly gone out entirely--but they'll be able to sense that with time the light will recover, and no permanent damage has been done (not counting any trauma from the explosion of possibilities, anyway). The memory of the various branches their worlds could take is dull and vague; the emotional strain remains, and there are snatches of clarity, but overall things are too vague to cause any sanity loss.

Once everyone passes through the mirror, they will all black out and awaken in the morning in their beds in the Tower.

Everyone who was hooked up into the machine will experience the following effects for all of February:

-All superhuman abilities are unreliable; they're often completely nullified, but sometimes they go off without warning.
-General exhaustion, worst during the beginning of the month and slowly improving as the month goes on.
-Characters will find themselves blinking in and out of reality at random; when they blink out of reality, they return to the void they slept in for as little as a few seconds and as long as several hours.

If Thursday was relatively quiet, Friday is the opposite. The whole Tower hums and rattles, bright electric sparks and arcs pushing out from the exposed core of the Tower. The strange rips in the air are more prominent now, revealing themselves to be something like a void--the complete absence of anything, even reality, in that spot. Coming into contact with one of these spots causes the character to blink out of existence for anywhere from fifteen minutes to an hour. They're easily enough avoided in the day, but at night or in the dark it's more difficult.

As for those who volunteered to provide power to the Tower, they dream on. The nightmares have grown worse all throughout Thursday, to the point of something approaching (but not exactly like) physical pain, until finally on Friday they cease.

While still asleep, they seem to have slid into a different realm entirely--a perfectly black void, lit only by the glow that seems to come from somewhere inside each of them. None of them is alone: they have all arrived in this place together. While they cannot see anything around them, they feel drawn to a specific point somewhere in the distance, and will be compelled to travel there. It's a quiet, eerie journey, and it seems like it will take some time, but surely the reason everyone has been brought here is at the place that's calling out to them...

There is a mingle log for those hooked up to the machine here.

As the week stretches on, it becomes apparent that the Tower doesn't seem to be repairing itself; the damage remains the same as before. If anything, the strange effects resulting from being near it are getting worse: those who draw near the staircase will experience moments of unconsciousness, spanning anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes. What might be more alarming, though, is that anyone who watches someone else lapse into one of these unconscious spells will see the person vanish from reality entirely. They always reappear, but it's probably quite alarming.

Riki's voice crackles over the intercoms during breakfast hours on Wednesday:

"You can all guess the explosions did something. What they actually did is damage the power core that runs through the Tower. We're gonna run out faster than expected unless that can be fixed and we get a bit of a recharge. I can repair it, but not without extra power--so I need your help. I need volunteers--willing volunteers, don't go shoving people you don't like down the elevator shaft to help out--to let me hook them up to a machine that can provide some extra power to the Tower. Won't kill you, won't suck you up and make you part of the Tower, nothing crazy like that. I can't tell you all the exact effects since I've never done it before, but I know anyone who agrees to help out will end up pretty exhausted for a while. If you don't help out here, there's two options: first option, everyone dies here. Second option, you all get sent back to your dead worlds, wandering around those alone for eternity, since you can't die there. Not good options.

You've helped me out in the past, so I'm trusting you guys to help out again. But here's some information for you, too: after the damage done to my Tower, I've managed to trace the explosions. They're Jason's fault--trying to create chaos and infighting, I'd guess. I'll let the boss know, too, so maybe something'll happen there. 'Course, wouldn't've been able to figure it out at all had you not drawn him out last month and given me a good look at his signatures, so thanks for that, too.

Anyone who wants to help out, come to the elevator on floor one at noon today. It'll take the rest of the week."

Anyone who does agree to come down will find themselves escorted to a large machine, one some may recognize from the 1369 event. They will be seated in the machine, strapped to chairs, and be hooked up with wires and electrodes. If at any point someone changes their mind before the machine starts, Riki will allow them down and send them back upstairs to the residential areas. Once it starts, every resident hooked up to the machine will feel a tingling sensation throughout their body and then fall asleep.

For now, they have nightmares, but only vague ones. Of course, this is only the start...