The whole Tower went a brilliant, blinding white. Then it went black, and there was nothing. Surely this is it--something's gone wrong, something's failed, it didn't work, everyone is dead, or maybe worse--

And then light filters back in--it lights only the various residents of the Tower. No matter where in the Tower they were before this happened, they are all together again now. It appears that they are in a void, but after a few moments, as if their eyes are adjusting to it, more things become visible: the machine that may be their salvation is here. Ruana, with a visible pulse of energy encircling her, is here, but appears colorless and frozen. Aria is here.

Zo is here. And he speaks. "I can't hold her forever. We have to act now. I want to save you all, so I'll do my best. Just tell me, okay?

What do you want me to do?"

Characters: open to those who want to fight Ruana
Setting: the lower administrative levels
Format: action, please!
Summary: It's time to take control of the Tower.
Warnings: physical and psychological horror, violence

When everyone is assembled, Zo opens up a portal--rather, he rips into space violently, as if doing anything less will cause it to snap back shut again. The way the portal quivers and shakes at the edges, it really might. He'll hurry everyone through--and they'll all step into a bedroom. The bed in the center is decorated in pink, with a large canopy and curtains surrounding the bed itself. The curtains are closed. It's silent, but the pressure is so thick in the air it's a living thing all its own. It's completely silent.

Characters: any characters who are still within the Tower
Setting: the hidden floor
Format: any
Summary: Zo needs help. What will you do?
Warnings: psychological horror

Aria and the other retrieval units stand guard in the room and regard each person who enters with a little bit of caution. The reason quickly becomes clear: Zo lies unconscious on a bed that appears to have been stolen from a hospital recovery room. With the glamour down, he looks spectral: it's possible to look through his body and to the bed beneath. He's not quite a ghost, though, as he can be interacted with.

If Zo is attacked, the retrieval units will be quick to retaliate. They can't help Zo on their own, though--so maybe there's something you can do...

Characters: Ruana
Setting: the labyrinth
Format: prose
Summary: Ruana finally appears.
Warnings: graphic description of cannibalism, gore, horror

( 'cause she's liable to grow up mean )

Characters: Jason, open to characters who are in the labyrinth
Setting: the labyrinth
Format: party-style
Summary: Fighting Jason and other fun labyrinth activities.
Warnings: violence, gore, disturbing content, Animus event
Note: Most of this thread will be used for fighting Jason. Doing things in the labyrinth that are not fighting Jason is perfectly fine, just use the subthread here!

( I have taken control )

Characters: Riki, open
Setting: dormitory floor 5, 6:00PM
Format: action
Summary: Riki visits the populace.
Warnings: nothing for now

[Riki's announcement is prefaced with a loudspeaker announcement stating, simply, "I will be taking questions on dormitory floor five in one hour." And, in one hour, Riki arrives. He steps out of an elevator that vanishes into the wall seamlessly. There are no retrieval units with him, nor are there worker units, but he doesn't look worried. A blank screen that seems to be made of the air itself floats in the air near his head, following him as he moves. For now, though, he waits--he's already announced that he'll be here, after all.]

Characters: those who participated in the hacking plot
Setting: the Tower; nighttime
Format: any
Summary: You can't go digging without a cave-in or two.
Warnings: monsters
Note: This post will not be NPCed--please play your own monsters!

( It seems almost as if they got away with their scheme. )

Characters: Zo, open
Setting: floor 001
Format: brackets, party-style
Summary: Zo visits the residential levels of the Tower.
Warnings: none so far

( but I guess that's just the way )

Characters: Dax, Riki, Jason, and Zo; open
Setting: cafeteria, after lunch, February 10
Format: either
Summary: Some of the administrators answer questions.
Warnings: possible language, possible violence

( This question and answer session was obviously hastily-planned. )

Characters: anyone carried away by the retrieval units in the mob thread
Setting: ???
Format: any
Summary: Death is far too easy for a punishment, you know.
Warnings: psychological horror, things that go bump in the night and then bump you back

The retrieval unit dumps you, in whatever state you happen to be in, into a cell. To those familiar with Jason, this isn't the clean, polished hospital look of Jason's usual quarters. No, if anything this is an abandoned hospital. There's mold on the floor and the paint is peeling off the walls. It's certainly high tech--the door that blocks your cell is made of some sort of nearly invisible force field--but it looks like it hasn't been cleaned in a few decades.

Once you're secure in your cell, you will have the ability to move your body again. All supernatural skills have been disabled--no one is more powerful than an Olympic-level human inside these cells.

Interact with your fellow prisoners?

Characters: Dax and some girl
Setting: Floor Twenty-Three
Format: brackets
Summary: Dax discusses the Tower with someone where the residents can overhear.
Warnings: none

[There's no way to access floor twenty-three, of course. Therefore, while there are certainly voices drifting up from it, there's no way to reach the source of the voices. Still, it's easy enough to sit on the staircase and listen in.

The first voice would be identifiable, by those who have spent enough time in this tower, as Dax. He sounds distressed.]

Don't you think they've had enough of this? It's--between you and Jason they're not going to trust anything I say, you know.

Characters:Dax and Riki
Setting: floor 17
Format: prose
Summary:Dax and Riki and floor seventeen.
Warnings: none

( The administrative elevator comes to a slow stop on floor seventeen. )