The Science Center at Cape Kore Network

[While the previous morning had been a relatively quiet one, this morning? Well, it doesn't quite start off that way. Meja had stopped by the closet where Balthazar had kept his spider 'friend' that he'd taken off of her hands, to give her her weekly meal. Since the angel's disappearance, she's more or less taken over, although dropping a rat in the room is about the most she does. There's no telling what is in the creature's venom. And if she's eating rats, she's not snacking on people (though the 'keep away - dangerous' makeshift sign on the door helps).

But today starts off with Meja in the closet, face pensive as she turns her device on.]

Safety's a relative concept, around here, but you should all know that there's a giant spider who escaped her 'enclosure' today. [She mimes about the size of two chihuahuas. Getting a steady diet's made her even bigger. Unfortunately.] She's aggressive, but she'll probably hole herself up somewhere for a while. So be careful with cupboards and things like that — her bite might be deadly. Let's not confirm it.

[And if someone has to kill her for self defense, well, them's the breaks for a hissy, giant spider.]

[Suffice it to say, the Center has been a bit strange for the past few days. Maybe more. Meja's found it hard to categorize "strange" after being here for so long. But she has noticed the flow of newcomers, and so, to that end, she pulls out her phone.

She's in the hydroponics lab, trimming one of the larger plants. Surprise, surprise.]

Hei hei, Center. This is a... general message. I've noticed that we seem to have a few new people around here, and I know getting used to this place is rough. I trust that someone's explained the basics to you by now. If they haven't, feel free to ask me what you'd like; I'll try to explain as well as I can.

On another general note, we do have a library if you get bored, and many labs with equipment in them. Please don't mess around with something unless you feel confident in your ability to do so. We don't know what a lot of it does, yet. [She smiles wryly.] I'd like everyone to keep their limbs, if at all possible.

But, if something does happen, and you need medical assistance, you're free to call me. My name is Meja, for those who don't know me already. And if you start missing sunlight, you can come here, to the hydroponics lab.

[She tilts the phone slightly to show all of the plants that they've successfully tended to, here. It's a nice, leafy space, now. There's also Roland the rescued white lab rat, who pokes his nose at the phone before Meja gently removes it from his little paws.]

I'm always up for company.

[Surprise, surprise, Meja's in the plant lab. It's either there or in the library that she can be seen, for the most part. She only retreats to her room late at night because, otherwise, she starts feeling whoozy. It's irritating, being herded by a building, but there isn't much she can do about it.

She holds up a vegetable to her phone. It looks an awful lot like a green-blue squash. Meja herself looks a bit on the tired side.]

If anyone's noticed these in the cafeteria lately, they're completely safe to eat. I put them there myself. One of our jars of seeds turned out to be useful. If you don't see any and you'd like some fresh food, there's usually one or two here in the lab, as well.

How are we all holding up? Senses back to normal?

[Meja's in the hydroponics bay, because nowhere else would there be a large green backdrop for this message. The plants are doing well, and today she's modifying their runes, just slightly, to give them a little more nutrients. It's part of her recent tinkering, an improvement she's stumbled upon. Being in this place and forced to stand still, while unnatural for a Valkyrie, is good for getting things done.

Sitting on the work table in front of her is a little box and its note. She found it in her room just a few hours ago; it's unopened. Meja has seen too many tricks to trust this box at all. In fact, it strikes her of a certain trickster so much that she can barely stomach looking at the note at all.

But she's fairly certain the trickster is, in fact, building-shaped, and not her old foe come to rain new problems on her.]

Hei hei, and good morning. Does this look familiar to anyone? [She holds it up for the camera. Roland the rat scurries into view to peer up at it.] It was sitting on my floor, in front of the door. I wasn't meditating, and I didn't have my back turned. It simply... appeared, I believe. [Unless she lost the memory of some other kind of arrival... No, no, best not to think of that right now.] Please be careful with them, if you've seen one. If you know what they do, please let me know, and if you're in need of help, also let me know. The more we all learn, the better we can deal with this new excitement. Tusen takk.

[And with that, she cuts the feed.]

[The feed flickers on to a view of the library. And Meja, sitting at a table, with a big book out in front of her. It appears to be a book about plants, hazarding from the pictures visible on the video feed. Laying on Meja's shoulder is a white rat, who appears to be sleeping. Her armor is glamoured into a dark blue coat.]

I don't suppose anyone's been poking around the lab machines, as of late? Some of the plants in hydroponics are getting quite large, and I've been curious about food applications since I started. Unless we'd like to completely depend on random chance in the cafeteria. It was suggested to me that we should test the plants properly, to see if they're edible, but I'm terrible with anything mechanical.

Is anyone interested? I should mention that if this work also includes testing machines, it will be dangerous and should not be undertaken lightly. I can heal wounds, if it comes to that, but I'd like to exercise as much caution as we're able to, here.

[She smiles.]

Tusen takk.