[Onscreen, a goodish-sized robotic cat with a large-ish egg cradled lovingly in her arms. If Cait seems not to mind the awful wailing noise the egg seems to be making, it's because she doesn't. She's a robot. A robot with what would sound to those familiar with it to be a scottish accent. Long story.]

There now, that's better! We'll have a little chat, an all-mummies chat!

[Cait hugs the egg closer, a wide smile on her face. She seems to have made a little cape for it, to match her own.]

Reeve is busy with some project or other, so since she's too busy to be this little one's mummy, she's entrusted me with the responsibility. But! Having a wee bairn like this isn't only work. No, it's fun! Sure, it cries a bit, but who wouldn't, being shut up in an egg!

But I don't want to be selfish, so I'm going to share with you my patented parenting tips! First! singing. Do lots of this. Don't worry about sounding grand, just sing out, make it up as you go along! Second. Play games! Dress-up, Hide-and-Seek, Peek-a-Boo, and the like! Entertainment is key. Take long walks together in the dark! That sort of thing. Don't roll the little one along though, it doesn't seem to like that much. Caution is key!

So! What do you have to say for yourselves, mummys? Is there anything you can teach me about wee ones? I can learn equally well from success or failure!

...

[Cait has brought up a mirror on the Vine, and it remains up. When Reeve and Sephiroth return from their business elsewhere in the Gardens, it is still up, yet they don't notice it right away.

Once they enter, the egg stops crying in their presence, but they don't turn toward it right away. Sephiroth leans in and kisses Reeve's mouth, no careful nor gentle kiss. But then she breaks away, and turns toward Cait Sith's charge. (It's nice to have a robot babysitter.)]

I don't understand the point of this exercise.

[It takes Reeve a moment to get her breath, and when when she does it takes her another moment to formulate a response. She chuckles warmly, giving the egg a glance before turing her attention back to Sephiroth, who she hasn't seen all day.]

I take it you're referring to our guest and not the kiss? I'd have to agree.

I certainly didn't mean the kiss. I mean yet another pointless, profitless task we're meant to carry out, supposed to teach us a lesson or encourage bonding. I'd say I grew weary of it, but I always have been.

I know, I know. In some ways, some of the more benign events put me in mind of the sort of tasks a child might set. It's hard to find any pattern in such a jumble! At least Cait seems pleased.

It's very childish. As long as Cait enjoys it, at least we can ignore it, for the most part. There are other things I'd rather do.

[With this, she kisses Reeve again.]

...

[[OOC: Feel free to reply to Cait earlier or directly to Sephiroth and Reeve later once they come in. Red text is Cait, green is Sephiroth, and blue is Reeve.]]

[Ky studies the Vine for a moment once the feed picks up before she shrugs.]

I suppose that in general it's not a problem if we duplicate each other's work, since we're coming from different angles.

But it seems like some sort of central repository of what people have tried and what they have learned might be helpful. It might seem like a lot of hassle, but it would in effect save a lot of time for everyone.

And more importantly, since I would imagine that most of us have an overabundance of time, it might save some frustration.

[Ky understands paperwork, and imposing a little organization on this situation seems like it would be helpful.]

As well as we could make it clearer to new people what the full situation is, rather than simply sharing our personal experiences.

Hey, uh... For those that knew her, Hanako... doesn't seem to be around any more. So... send her your best wishes, yeah? -She was going to need it...-


A-anyways, let's not dwell on the depressing. Ladies and ladies~ of the Gardens, I have a suggestion to make. You see, this place is sorely lacking in cool. Like we have a pretty massive lack of cool going on right now and it's completely killing me. I am bleeding from lack of cool in my life. But don't you worry your pretty heads. I have an idea.

What we need, now bear with me. Hear me out. What we need...

Is a jazz club. Bar, band, the works. We can build anything with this magic dirt, right? So let's inject some cool into this place and get our selves a hip joint to expediate that process. Sounds like a nice idea, right? Right.

So who wants to help?

[Zinc is sitting at her kitchen table, looking a bit formal really. She has an announcement to make.]

Vitalia has not come back.

[She looks down at her hands folded on the table, frowning slightly. She is upset to have lost her new friend so quickly.]

Maybe lost, in the wild places, where time is... wrong. Maybe gone, it happens... often.

[She doesn't sigh, she doesn't breathe, but the idea of it is there.]

She has many plants. I will tend mine, but... the rest are outside. Outside my gate.

They should not be left, to die. Maybe... Himemiya and others, could tend them? I do not know if there are others.

«Hello.»
[ Some may recognize that synthetic, female voice from somewhere; especially when coupled with her rather unique manner of speaking. Subaru is asleep, exhausted from her day's training, and Mach Caliber has commandeered part of the vine for herself at this hour in the late evening. ]
«I wish to forward my thanks to those who guided me after the accident. Subaru's safety remained because of your help.»
«There was resolution. Thank you.»

[ There is a long pause in which one might think she disconnected altogether, having completed the initial objective of this call. ]

«...I must know: what is the meaning of an individual?» [ Someone has been thinking about what happened during those days in Subaru's body, and the new things she has learned. ]

It is lately I find myself curious... I have heard many a strange and curious tale of your homes. But a question burns at my mind, one that cannot be settled so simply.

Where I come from, the Kingdom of Ivalice, we exist as a monarchy with a feudal system. Land and property are alotted to noble houses, and they in turn pledge their allegiance to the crown... no matter who holds it. This is the only system of governing I have ever known... And yet I have been told of other methods.

So, I may ask... to what powers are you beholden in your world? Governments? The Church? Who controls the masses? Who pacifies them, and cares for their needs... or fails to, in any extent?

[Reeve is onscreen. The engineer looks as though she's been pulling all-nighters (which she has), but is also very pleased with herself (which she is). This is no accidental transmission, but Reeve's attention does seem a bit-- divided. She glances periodically offscreen.]

Hello there, everyone! Reeve Tuesti, here. I suppose I could call this transmission a Public Service Announcement, that's how it's meant to be considered, anyhow.

I know I've been rather scarce lately, but I've been absorbed in a little project. Not to say I haven't had support-- Jessica has been a great help, as has Sephiroth, of course. I'm sure at times they wondered if the effort would bear any fruit, I know I had my moments! But in the end, I'm happy to say that it did.

[Cait, put that down, please.]

You see, at home I had this special friend. Quite special, since he's the only one of this kind. I made him myself. I dabble in robotics-- for pleasure, really, but I've had some successes, and the greatest of those is Cait. Cait Sith (Cat Shee) is an artificial life form, who pretends to listen to me when it suits him, but has his own ideas as well as a head full of mine. Here, of course, things are a little different.

One moment--

[Reeve leans out of frame briefly. When she reappears, she's in the midst of giving her creation a hand up onto her desk. Said creation comes in at just over 3 feet in height and looks to be a bright-eyed, rather fae-looking black and white cat. Standing upright on its hind-legs. Wearing a crown-- and a cape.

The strange cat peers into the screen, but doesn't speak. Yet.]

So! Cait. My Cait at home is quite the rogue, and this Cait doesn't seem all that much different in that regard-- she does like her joke! But she is female, which is a change, and she doesn't have some of the other Cait's-- offensive abilities. She's a much more basic AI then the other Cait, but then again, she is quite a bit more-- magical. Or so it seems. So there's that. Nature of the materials, I suppose! I do have input into her behavior, but she learns and is independent to the limited degree this place will allow. Those limits are currently being tested.

Cait's a social animal, and I'm sure you'll see her around. When you do, it would be best to remember that she's a bit of a trickster-- aren't you Cait?
[In reply, Cait makes a bow to the screen-- followed by an exaggerated wink.

Reeve smiles, proud and a bit mischievous herself.]

Oh, and ask her to tell your fortune, it's her specialty.

[Cait comes in close to the screen, her lamp-like eyes shining. When she finally speaks, her voice is clear and on the edge of being too loud. It is also oddly accented with what would sound to those who could identify it to be an overblown, comic Scottish lilt.]

Oh, aye! It'll be very special, you can be sure!

[Reeve can be heard chuckling in the background. Cait, being a cat of mystery, makes her exit-- with a sweep of red cape, she's gone. For now. Reeve herself remains.]

[There's a sigh emanating from the other end of the vine.] ...I'm talking into a plant. Great. Wish I could say this was the weirdest thing that ever happened to me, but what the fuck ever.

May as well just make myself comfortable until I wake up or the cavalry gets here. Whichever comes first. You guys have fun with your whole hippie commune thing you got going here.

[There's one more annoyed grunt, and the distinct sound of a flower being crushed before cutting out. She's not in the most talkative mood, clearly.]

[If anyone is watching the vine in the evening, they may come across a mirror recording. It shows Zinc standing at her gate, her hands curled loosely around the bars.]

...please. Someone come let me out. Something is pulling.



[[ooc; did a quick RNG. Vita is first. America is second, and Reeve has the last few days, but forward-dating is great, as is backtagging, so don't even worry about that. And of course, it's also open to anyone and everyone else in general as well.]]

[ Let it be said that, for all her pride and vanity, Her Imperial Majesty was one far from lazy and one most certainly capable. She quickly learned of the 'magic dirt' and as foolish as the name was, she recognized its potential immediately. That was well over a month ago.

This is now.

Possessing tremendous brute strength as well as centuries worth of experience in all matters architectural and war-like, it took her an inhuman (as one may expect, due to being inhuman, and the adjective frankly means little here) amount of time to fashion her abode. That is, if one can call a tremendous aquatic fortress an 'abode'.

She has taken an entire lake as her own. It is a particularly enormous lake comparable to the depth and surface area of a certain Earth lake and conveniently resembling her favorite shape; here, she has constructed her center of operations. From the center of the the lake sprouts a black-and-red tower, like a bloodied spear thrusting out of the surface. On one side of the tower, at water level, is an open entrance. The inside is...filled with way too much crap worth describing here--at least beyond describing it as being fit for the most frustrating of endbosses, filled with traps, puzzles, treasure, and gratuitous booby-traps.

The entrance opens up to a long, long hall with a throne at the end; lining the sides are strange unmoving black and red statues, but it is otherwise empty and there seem to be no exits into other rooms.

Her Imperious Condescension's video is broadcast from somewhere inside the fortress, as she has deliberately allowed the Vine to grow within; wherever she is, it is a room filled with water. Everyone's favorite intergalactic mermaid is swimming gracefully about, looking very pleased with herself, before settling onto a throne. ]

After a frustratingly long fleeting moment in time, I have finished creating my new residence! That dirt is a bit useful; it almost has a chance of being compared to my empire's technology. I wonder, just what else can it do beyond building?

New things are always so EEEXCITING. So, without further wait, I will christen my new cozy hive. I introduce to all...

Bastille Condescension!