[ there's a little boy out of the streets of Genessia. he's close to all of the shops and looking for handouts...except, you wouldn't know he's a boy at first glance. he just looks like an injured little girl who has both her hands over her eyes and is crying.

he's just trying to get someone's attention at this point. when he isn't noticed after a moment, he crosses his arms and gets up looking more than annoyed. the kid has no shoes on and his feet are black with blisters underneath ]

I wanna go home... I'm so hungry...

HEY!

[ This video is definitely set up with Liv's device leaning against something in her living room. She can't be bothered to actually face it- she's clearly doing something off screen. It's entirely possible that she's playing some kind of gaming console. From the sounds in the background, she might be shooting zombies. For the irony. She glances over at the video for a second, then keeps playing as she talks. ]

First off, thanks to everyone who ambushed me at the Christmas party to ask how this was going, it's really nice to know that I can do a job and not be hounded about it any time I go anywhere by literally everyone I talk to. Now that all of the holidays I was supposed to be enjoying are through, I'm going to go ahead and actually answer.

Most of you are probably aware I work in the morgue at the hospital, but back home I worked in the city morgue for the Seattle PD Police Department. I love lively jobs and never getting to see the sun, what can I say? The test that we were doing was a forensic technique used to age murder victims or blood samples found at crime scenes when we don't have other possible clues. I got the idea when I ran out of other things to test on some of the newcomers after some other general tests that are often run on kidnap victims. It wasn't the first test I ran, but it was definitely the only one with actual visible results.

The test typically reveals information about the age range within about 9 years by looking at a byproduct of the T-cells in the immune system. Most of the non-humanoid samples I didn't have a standard to go by, go figure, so most of those tests were inconclusive. I'll have your participation awards sent to you via mail on the 6th Friday of July. I had our lab retest the actually useful samples multiple times and the results were fairly consistent. Most of the people who come here to Genessia are currently between the ages of 0 and 10 years of age.

There are a few different explanations for this, so hey- panic on hold, it could be the least terrible of options in which.. [ She has to think for a second. David came up with this theory while she was a little bit drunk and a little bit anxiety-ridden on top of depressed. Thanks brains. It's a good thing she found a much snider snack to help her report this. ] Some forms of teleportation to other worlds apparently involve cellular breakdown and I guess the cells could've been lost during that process? I'd have to test everyone again to find out if they were missing anything else considering how specific it would have to be to just be missing that. Great theory David, I'm sure all teleportation specifically leaves out tiny cells that hint at what age you are. Other options include that we're all clones of whoever we look like or someone made us up in entirety and none of our lives are real.

[ On second thought, this was probably a terrible brain to eat before making this announcement. She puts the controller down finally and gives the camera two thumbs up and the most sarcastic smile possible. ]

Happy New Year everyone!

[ And the video feed ends on her leaning over the edge of her couch to turn it off. ]

[Shion just got off his shift and he's been thinking about this for a while. He tucks some hair behind his ear and starts talking.]

I've started working at the hospital, but that led me to noticing that we could use more medical facilities in the other cities. So I'm thinking of starting an emergency clinic that would be open to anyone who needs medical attention.

I'm still not sure which city would need it the most, and I'm wondering if there's anyone else who would be interested in volunteering. It could be group-run, so when someone leaves, ideally there wouldn't be a sudden shift of responsibility onto just one person.

[When the video begins, Shion is peering straight into the camera, but he sounds distracted.]

I thought they were lying about this place to the people who have been brought here, but after looking around I'm starting to doubt that's the case.

Anyway, hi. I'm Shion. It's nice to meet you. [He smiles cheerfully. Nezumi said they should scope out the place, so that's what he's working on doing. Okay moving on.]

I'd like to ask a few questions to anyone who is willing to answer them. Since most of us are from different worlds, I'd be interested to hear how similar or dissimilar this world is from the ones we're from. If this has been going on for an undetermined amount of time, I'm sure there are already people looking into how this world works, but I'd be interested in doing the same and seeing what we've learned so far. It might be safer for some of you, depending on the state of your world, but there are probably others eager to go home. As safe as it may seem, we've still been brought here against our will.

I guess I should get a job at some point too, huh? I could do that separately from the other work...

action, at the bay

[ Nezumi wakes up, holding his head. he's already unpacked the box and stuffed everything into his pockets, tossing the box aside.

once he's out of the cave though, he's startled by the hologram and rushes to actually try and attack it. but he's not that stupid, of course it's a hologram ]

Stupid... [ he scoffs, looking it over with disgust. that girl... she sure acts like she's entitled to a lot. he rolls his eyes, stuffing his hands into his pockets and pulling out the videophone ]

This must be another level of Number 6. They must have just built this... I've never seen it before-- [ then it dawns on him and he's looking around ] Shion--! Hey, where are you?! [ he's looking around frantically for his friend to see if he can find him ]

Damnit, I bet they've taken him! [ and now he's running towards Genessia, taking that videophone out to address everyone ]

video, running towards Genessia

[ he's angry. more than he should be at least... but he just wants to find Shion at this point ] Look, I don't know who the hell did this and I don't really care. But if you want to go home tonight and see your family again, release Shion. I mean it.

Not going to reply then? Heh, I thought you Number 6 scum would have some snide comment back to me. But that's okay, I'll rip you guys a new asshole when I get there.