The World

Euryale: The last one I found was invisible....

*Zalera touches the statue's plaque.*

Zalera: A.

Monudon:<Did you find another video?>

*Monudon approaches the statue*

[A, R, O...OH!]

<Guys, I think these videos are spelling out "Aroma".>

"I was thinking the same thing, which leaves only M and another A," Noct said, "What does the video contain?"

Thiera: Does that mean we're seeing things that Aroma remembers?

Zalera: I'm not sure you want to know. It's fairly disturbing.

"Perhaps," Noct said, "And I get that it is creepy, but we don't really have time for this."

Monudon:<I'd kinda like to see the video, if you don't mind.>

*Zalera sighs & sends an E-mail with the attachment A. The first thing on the screen is Skeith, holding out his hand, the Bracelet forming on his wrist. The spears of data pierce the screen & a loud scream starts. A burst of static warps the scream as the view turns to a hand. Said hand turns gray & starts peeling apart in pieces. The view shifts, & the pieces are disappearing down a stereotypical long tunnel with a bright light at the end. The view is suddenly pulled rapidly towards it & it goes dark for a second. When it returns, a flurry of bubbles emerge from the person behind the "camera" thrashing, trying to get out of a body of water. All along the screaming has persisted, but it is now muffled by the water. After a burst of purple static, the character is laying down, looking out over a field of crucified figures, too dark & too far away to see any details. Looking at her feet, the same dissolution that started the video occurs. The character is once again dragged off by an invisible force, as she thrashes out with one arm, trying to escape the grip. It doesn't work. She finds herself somehow dragged to a room full of pictures of a young girl with white hair, the eyes gouged out of all of them. Overhead, the old man from the previous issue is dissolving, as though being eaten by some kind of flesh-eating bacteria. Now both he & the character are screaming. Over that, a woman can be heard laughing, loudly & coldly. The laughing gets louder & more crazed as the room catches on fire. There are a few more bursts of static, during which the woman's laughing abruptly but briefly changes to a frustrated scream, & then the video goes dark. The woman's laugh slows to a chuckle as the video ends.*

Monudon:<Could those really be Aroma's memories?. They were pretty disgusting.>

Hector considered this.

Noct watches it again simply because she thought she accidentally tabbed out to an entry of Marble Hornets.

OOC: Noctis is fucking sick.

Thiera: Good God, what was that?!

Zalera: I tried to warn you.

Euryale: Is that...what happened to her, after the monster attacked?

Zalera: I don't really remember what happened when the barbell hit me, but that clip feels vaguely familiar.

Monudon:<Hm..then maybe if you get killed by these monsters, you see these clips.>

"Either way, it seems incredibly unpleasant," Noct said.

Zalera: I did try to warn you.

*Thiera begins inspecting the walls, running her hands over them.*

Zalera: I doubt we're going to find any more files here. That one appeared over the monster's name. It is likely it only gravitated here because of that connection.

Euryale: So, what's left? Mac Anu?

Zalera: No need. I sent Luna an E-mail. She found the M.

"Should I assume a vid is going to be in my inbox soon?" Noct asked.

"That leaves another A, right?" Mortal pondered aloud.

Monudon:<If you guy it, can someone forward it to Hector and I?>

Zalera: I didn't tell her to send it to anyone. And it would seem that way.

Euryale: But where would we even look for it? We're running out of locations.

"The last place I can think of is the dungeon we took her to," Noct said, "Unless anyone can remember another place."

Monudon:<How did you get the keywords for that dungeon?>

Hector waited for the next location to be decided upon.

Euryale: I don't remember, does anyone else?

Thiera: I could check the logs, but it would take a very long time.

E-mail to Noctis, from Helba:

Monudon:<If that's the only way, it's at least worth a shot.>

"No need," Noctis said. "I was just e-mailed the last video. Does anyone know a Helba?"

Zalera: ...Yes, she's a notorious hacker. One of the best.

Euryale: She really plays this game? I thought those were just rumors.

Zalera: Who knows why?

Noctis shrugged, then opened the link to the video that totally wasn't just regular text with an underline, and blue font color.