003 - [Video] Happy Birthday, Chloe Price.

[helladoomed]

[It's a little after noon when Chloe turns her communicator on. She's sitting on an old white plastic deck chair, and from the look of the buildings behind her, probably on a roof somewhere in Nonah. She's in a worn old white tanktop with a skull on the front, her jeans-covered legs propped up on something, her coat hanging off the back of her chair. She's spent the morning avoiding people, not answering her texts, just...brooding. There's a cigarette between her lips, and she takes a drag off it before she catches it with her other hand, her attention mostly on the phone.]

You ever think about time 'n shit? Like, how it hella doesn't make any sense here? Like, okay, back home, before I wound up here, it was 2013 right? In October.

[She leans back in her chair, resting the phone on her leg, tilted up so all the screen really catches is her face and neck and the clouds.]

Suddenly I'm here, it's three years and a couple months later. Just, wham, welcome to the future except it's a weird fucked up cold war version of the future. And I get like, it's way worse for other people, right? Pulled from other centuries or other fuckin' planets with their own weird-ass calendars but.

Three years.

[She's not even really sure what she's going on about, honestly. She'd been puzzling this over in her head all morning and hadn't gotten anywhere, so maybe she thought rambling out loud would help. It wasn't really working.]

So here we are, right? March 11th, 2016. Shit had gone different, I'd be twenty-two today.

[She hesitates, her gaze distant, up on the clouds as she took another puff off her cigarette.]

Instead, I guess I'm twenty. Sort of. Minus a couple months. Still my birthday though. [And then she smirks, pointing the two fingers holding her cigarette at the sky.] Fuck you, universe. Chloe Price made it to twenty after all.

[She scooped up the phone again, and for a second is framed in the picture again, the camera half-covered by her thumb as she reaches for the disconnect. Her voice is quieter again.]

Didn't see that comin'.

[Click.]

1 ¡ text.

[fuckwashington]

this is joseph kavinsky

[Ronan attaches a photo of a skinny teenager staring down from the top of what appears to be a suburban apartment complex.]

you only get one warning
stay the fuck away from him
dont believe any of the shit he says

i dont care if you listen
its on you not to be a stupid shit
you get one chance not to fuck up
thats more than most people ever get

001 - Video

[hawkfire]

[The feed crackles to life on the face of what seems to be your typical Southern California girl. Blonde, tan, athletic, perky. A close look at her eys belies a sort of fire there, though. A steely-eyed determination punctuated by the sparkle of promise. She's a stranger in a strange land, sure, but she's also aware that she's not the only one. More than that, she's been chosen. CHOSEN. Not as a tennis champ. Not as a childhood beauty pageant queen. No. She's been chosen as a HERO. The excitement all over her face is hard to miss.]

Hi! I'm Bette. Kane. Bette Kane. Is me. And that could probably have gone a little bit smoother. Some of you might know me as Flamebird. Maybe Hawkfire. Most likely not, though? I'm not, like, as popular as Batgirl.

[She even sounds like your stereotypical SoCal girl. A little Cher Horowitz, a little Elle Woods, a little Summer Roberts. Bright, warm, perky. A slight uptick. The excitement that was on her face a moment ago is shadowed by a little bit of self-doubt, suddenly.]

Actually, is there anyone from home here? I mean, I'm obviously new, but you know. If you've heard of Gotham City, or Metropolis, or Coast City... Drop a hey my way? I mean, even if you're not from back home, say hey. I could use some help getting acclimated. Find the hotspots for food, clothes.

Meting out justice.

You know how it goes. I'm thinking I'll brave the rain and head into the city later, but. A buddy might be nice.

So yeah. ...This doesn't sound like a Tinder or Hooq profile, does it?

[She opens her mouth to say something more and then visibly thinks better of it. Click.]

VIDEO ✿✿✿ 004

[nagachika]

[The video's going to start with the camera passing over the headlines of several newspaper clippings, the date pretty unclear to how the camera's moving, but the headlines come out pretty clear. 'Russian Kidnapping plots', 'Invaders within the City', 'COMRADE RED', etc.

It looks as if he's showing off a section of wall set up like someone's tracking something--and honestly, it's not far from the truth. After a second of silence, the Camera whips around to show the image of a bright blonde many of you might recognise. Despite the sour headlines, he's grinning madly.]

...Seriously? Brainwashing? Soviets invading?

I've been gone for what, a month, and I come back to this place recovering from Crisis mode?

I knew shit was getting bad when all those propoganda videos and clips hit the air months ago, but now this, all at once?
How long do we got until everything really goes to hell in a handbasket.


Also hey, what's up. Been gone for a while, huh. Sorry about that, guess something just wanted to drag me home for a while or something. My roomate's gone, and so're his pets. If any of you guys know where Maine--or Tank--has gone, give me a ring, yeah?

Hideyoshi, Out.

[VIDEO]

[learntofly]

[The video opens on a view of part of Nonah's skyline in the setting sun. It looks like it's being shot from the roof of one of the taller skyscrapers in the city.]

It's pretty, isn't it?

[The camera turns to focus on a teenaged girl—apparently the speaker—gazing off at the horizon in silence for a few long moments. Finally, she inhales deeply and turns to look sidelong at the camera.]

I thought I'd come up to clear my head, but I don't think it helped much. There isn't a place high enough to get out of this cage yet. It was probably dumb to think that there was, but . . . I guess I can't just leave it at that. Which means I've got a lot of work to do.

[She picks up the camera, view panning wildly for a moment, and sets it down in front of her so she can look directly at it. The somber look is gone, replaced with something more serious and intense.]

So I've got some questions. First the most important one: If an Import practicing their powers causes a . . . scene but doesn't hurt anyone, could they get into trouble with the cops? I need to know for . . . for some idiots I know. [Definitely not herself. Probably.]

Second: Does anyone know where I can get recording equipment? Audio recording, specifically. It needs to be pretty high quality.

Third: Are there any . . . like, sparring groups? I could just practice fighting with my friends, but . . . [She trails off, exasperation clear on her face just thinking about getting hand-to-hand lessons from her friends.] They can get intense.

And last, [Her expression softens here, the first hint of a smile creeping in at the corners of her mouth for the first time in the whole video.], what's the tallest building you know about? It might not be high enough to escape a cage, but the views are always the best from up there.