Hello.

[Her voice is faint, whispering and hoarse, but it is usually that way, just not always quite so soft. Zinc, pale-skinned and dark-haired, is sitting on the front porch of her little house, one robot cat curled against her side, and a robot bug in her lap.

She's watching the birds in her courtyard wistfully.]

It has been... difficult again. I heard screaming. Sometimes, I wonder... why the Queen lets us be hurt, if she says she loves us. [Large brown eyes blink, the way someone would if they were pushing back tears, but Zinc can't cry.] She can't stop it. Love hurts. It will always hurt.

[That's cheerful, Zinc. She's quiet for a long moment, watching birds peck peanut butter and seeds off the pine cones she prepared.]

I hope everyone is... doing better, today.

[She rests her cheek against the Cait's head sadly and doesn't say anything else.]

[Kazumi's expression is worried; not surprising after how the last few weeks have been. She wasn't really affected much, but she saw people who were...]

Is everyone alright now? Back to normal...?

[She sighs, looking a bit forlorn.]

Things making people act unlike themselves... what's "like yourself" though, other than how you acted before? I mean... what makes up a person? Our bodies? Our actions? Our memories?

[Memories...]

...hey, what do memories mean to you? How important are your memories? If you had something painful in your past... do you think it'd be better not to remember it?

[She's taking the video just outside the apartment complex, so anyone is free to run into her there or respond over the vine]