[ The video opens in a way that one could consider sudden. There is a feel that nothing planned nor expected about the feed that opens, given that the face that appears rears back in shock at its appearance and the resulting recoil has the screen waggling about at strange and dizzying angles. For a moment there's an awkward silence as the scruffy fellow shown to be making use of his bracelet for the first time stares in wonder — before he breaks into a grin that spreads quite nearly ear to ear. ]

It truly is magic!

[ He moves backwards and the screen naturally follows, earning a raise of eyebrows... before he feints sharply to the right, then to the left, laughing joyously as it manages to keep up. ]

Even Gandalf could not create something so fantastical as this! And the maid, she has told me that this speaks to all the residents of this strange city?

[ He's already poking at the buttons surrounding his screen as he speaks, naturally at random; he doesn't have the hang of this bizarre written word at all and probably wouldn't bother to read any of it even if he could. At one point the video blacks out and becomes audio-only, then video again, then zooms in close, then back out. Satisfied that he has clearly mastered this mystical contraption, the young dwarf finally puffs up his chest and raises his chin with a smirk. ]

Kili, at your service.

[ His fists clench together, the smirk pulling wide into a cocky grin. ]

While it comes to no surprise to me that a son of the line of Durin has been called upon to serve beneath the banner of the gods themselves, it is truly an honor to stand amongst what I expect to be the greatest warriors of our worlds and to fight alongside one another as—

[ The dramatic clench of his hands does in the rest of whatever he'd planned to go on about; fists come down to table, bracelet strikes corner and the video is unceremoniously ended. Hello, Asgard. Your new village idiot has arrived. ]

[When the feed starts, there's Inara sitting on her couch, nursing a cup of tea. She looks a little washed out, tired even, but such is the effect of having been gray for however long she'd been. She is slowly getting more color in her cheeks, so for that, she is most grateful.

She lowers the cup and offers a small smile.]

Nǐmén hǎo. Seems many are coming back from unexpected... uncoloring. [She frowns slightly because that just does not even sound right. But, it's what had happened to many.]

I'm not entirely certain how long I was not myself, but it would be nice to know what I've missed in my absence. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to fill me in?

[Filtered to Malcolm Reynolds and Simon Tam]

I hope the two of you are well and staying out of trouble. Perhaps we could all meet up, maybe for dinner?

((OOC: hover over the Chinese for translation :D ))

[Some of you may have seen this large, bearded red head around Asgard recently. He looks fairly thoughtful as he addresses his bracelet for what turns out to be the first time to make a post of his own. Rider has been talking to a few people, Equius among them, who have pointed out their part in this ongoing war.

And Rider has been thinking about it. Which is either a very good thing, or a very bad thing.]

I have been discussing this matter with a few others, but we all seem to be at an impasse. So I have come to you, the general populace, for an answer to this question.

Where would we be able to acquire a number of horses?

[ Natasha has to say something. She can’t just stay silent. But what to say? That this all has a really unpleasant ring of nostalgia to it? That she’s read the SHIELD file on Asgard before and either their intel was completely off base, or this entire place was not what it was claiming to be? No. She couldn’t alienate an entire group of people right off, not when it seemed like they earnestly believed what they were being told. She’d been watching them for a few hours now, silently observing – learning. She’s even taught herself how to use her bracelet, reading back on the last few days and fiddling around with her settings.

Now it was time to join in.]

I’m not sure .. if I’m doing this correctly. My name is Natalie Rushman. I was on Earth and then now.. I’m here and that strange woman is telling me that I’m in some sort of house and I was given a bracelet…

[ She’s the very picture of a confused, out of place woman, if a little bit more collected than most. There isn’t any crying, hysterics or babbling going on over here. ‘Natalie’ is a little pale, but that could be chalked up to the lighting. In fact, it almost looks like she’s standing in front of a window, with the sun behind her, obscuring parts of her face – it makes it hard to make out who exactly is speaking into the video. ]

Is there anyone .. who can try and explain to me what is really going on? Someone who has an actual face and has been here for a while?


( ooc: bringing you one spy! her post is going to be tagged with her real name "natasha romanova" so technically, if your character is the type to figure these things out, feel free to have her catch her in her 'lie' - just don't expect her to go down without a fight. (; )

[ Despite staying out of the way during most of the fighting - as much as possible, anyways - Shion hasn’t been procrastinating, no way. Amongst various things that could be important, she’s been debating on what to do about someone. The someone she currently happens to be in the same room with. So all of Asgard is blessed with her delightful face today, and with some other kid’s head as well. ]

Ah, hello everyone! [ You remember her? OF COURSE YOU DO. She’s waving towards Satoshi, smiling cheerfully. And then nudging him in the ribs. ] Say hello!

[ For his own part, Satoshi had managed to stay away from the fighting too... mostly at Shion’s insistence. It’d been hard to ignore at times, but he knew there probably wasn’t much he could anyways. Better to leave that sort of stuff to people better suited for it, right? ]

Oh... um... hello! [ He smiles weakly as he rubs his ribs, glancing back at Shion. ] You never told me what this was about... [ Or that she’d be recording it, whatever it was. ]

Ahh, about that... I’m going to introduce you to the rest of the city! [ Because he needs friends. ] So please, tell us all your name, age and special skill! [ Wait, can she take that back... As much as she likes him... ] Go on!

Well... my name is Satoshi Houjou, and I’m 16. My special skill is... [ Does he even have a special skill? He seems to go into deep thought for a while, unable to really come up with anything. Yeah, this is pretty tough. Sorry, Shion. ]

...Let’s leave that up to our viewers. [ She turns back to the screen and nods. ] If you have any suggestions as to what his skill could be, please let me know. It’s more dire than I expected.

Is it really that bad...? I can come up with something, I just need more time! [ A lot more. ]

A-anyways, please treat him kindly! [ She’s going to use this opportunity to warn him away from everyone she deems unworthy... And if they don’t treat him nicely, she’ll wait until they’re asleep and... ] Satoshi-kun, is there anything you want to add?

Not really. I’d be glad if I could meet any of Shion’s friends though. Things have been kind of... crazy lately, so it’s nice that things are finally getting back to normal. [ Relatively speaking, anyway. ] I hope we all get along!

Don’t worry, I’m sure you will. [ With that, she flicks the feed off. Friend request him, Asgard. ]

[ green is shion, blue is satoshi! since she's introducing him to everyone, tags will go CHARACTER, SHION, SATOSHI, etc. it might break off a bit later on, after the introductory stage and such. ]

[It takes a moment for the weary-eyed gentleman to comprehend that his bracelet - which he's put off using for long enough - is working as intended. This kind of technology isn't exactly beyond what's realistic for his world, but at the same time, he can't help but be a little uneasy with it.]

Right. I'll try to keep this brief. I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds, owner of the Firefly-class transport ship Serenity. But that's neither here nor there, and I didn't come to you to regale you with thrilling tales of adventure.

[He swallows hard, contemplating his next few words.]

This place obviously ain't some quiet, peaceful little lǜzhōu. Truth be told, everything that's going on around here still confuses me somewhat. In fact, I met a very handsome fellow when I first arrived here... happened to look exactly like me.

[He pauses for a moment, and it occurs to him that he could be .]

...I ain't him, for the record.

The point is, I ain't looking to fight a war. I fought in a war before. Not an experience I'd like to repeat. That all being said, I suppose we're all in this mess together, bùshìma?

So, I've got a firearm. I happen to keep it at my side at all times. But what I don't have is ammunition, and that situation needs rectified. So, in case it all hits the fan, which of you fine folks do I talk to about that?

[OOC: shhh. you didn't see that.]

[If this face is familiar to you, well get ready for a mess of confusion.]

[Because Mal has plenty of that to spare. He also has plenty of anger and annoyance to go along with it. Some coffee, and admittedly something strong in that coffee helped with the nerves greatly. For now he had to get down to business.]

This is Captain Malcolm Reynolds of the Serenity, Firefly-class transport, an old boat but easy to make out. Anyone who's seen her best let me know where she is. Any of my crew listnin' in best give holler out now. Can't be too sure what's happenin', and I need to know who I'm lookin' out for.

[Your captain does care. Really.]

For the rest of y'all, I'm guessin' that letter wasn't exclusive. Now I ain't much one to go for bein' "chosen by the gods" and whatnot. I actually have plenty enough problems with just the one that I don't necessarily need some bull 'bout orders comin' in from a mess of 'em. All for "the greater good" no less. Scumbags are more honest and the Alliance wouldn't be this elaborate in their kidnappin'. So I'd really like to know what's really goin' on 'round here.