[When the screen first flickered on, Midii seemed...almost distracted.  As if she were functioning on autopilot.  Like the broadcast was pre-planned, and some unforeseen circumstance put a damper on the moment.  Or she could have just been tired.  The circles under her eyes were faint but notable.]

I came across something interesting in my...studies.

[A slight pause at that word, and only then did she appear to collect herself enough to lift her gaze and stare at the camera directly.  There were a small pile of flowers off to one side, and she picked one of them up, twirling it gently in front of her as if contemplating its very existence.]

Most of the plants I've been harvesting are supposed to have medicinal qualities.  Healing.  I've been learning how to identify and use them properly.  But there was this one book...[Here, she paused to glance around her before laying eyes on something just below the camera, and seemed satisfied.]...this one here.  I found it when I was shopping in the markets the other day.  It says that flowers can also be used to send messages to people.  Not just to tell someone you like them, or apologize for something you did wrong.  More like...each flower can carry a very specific meaning.  Almost like a puzzle.  

I'd never thought about that before, but it seemed interesting.  And maybe useful for people to know at any point in the future.  I don't...think I've ever seen many people using coded languages here.  [Aside from encryptions, but she purposely refrained from bringing those up.]  And I know many of us don't all speak or read in the same languages.  But...I don't know...maybe it could even be a game?  Or...something.

[She seemed to be losing her train of thought as she went along, pausing just long enough to let out a small yawn.]

Sorry.

Where was I?  Oh, right.  This one, for example.... [she held up the red leaf-like flower in her hand] ...can be used to make a certain kind of poison.  But for some reason, it's hidden message means an abundance of welcoming hospitality.  Strange, isn't it?  That a flower can mean one thing, but be used for something else entirely.

I wonder...if that's true for all the flowers in Keelai.

[A six-year-old appeared on the screen.  Barely.  There was some movement below, like she was shifting a certain book being used as a booster, before her young face appeared in view once more.]

[That face wasn't happy.]

I don't know what's going on...but I don't like it.

[Midii appeared on screen looking...slightly less put together than usual.  Her hair, which looked like it had once been in a ponytail, was sticking up all over the place, and there were a mixture of leaves and flower petals sticking out at odd ends.  There was also a large streak of blue...something...covering most of her cheek.  It looked smudged, like she'd tried to wipe it off and failed miserably.]

[Besides that, her arms were folded, and she was notably glaring at the camera--ie: no one in particular.]

Either the local kids in the park are mad at us again...or else somebody told them about all those tricks people kept playing the other day.

Speaking of: did anybody put all that furniture back yet, or should I start looking for a more right-side up place to live?

[Harmless as it had all been, it seemed Midii was less than amused by the Hotel's April 1st celebration.]

[Over the last few days, Midii had watched as more and more individuals mentioned Dreams.  She had dismissed her own at first--it wouldn't have been the first time her mind had tampered with the possibilities of events past, present, and/or future--until a particular detail was brought to her attention.  Something she hadn't remembered at first, until others mentioned seeing something similar.]

[The yellow jewel in that preteen girl's hand.  Or, more specifically, the yellow soul gem.]

[Combined with the knowledge of recent Turtle-wide events, and a theory was beginning to form in her mind.  Granted, it fell into line with her previous track of thinking...but it also didn't refute anything.  Yet.]

These Dreams...

[A pause.  She didn't think she needed to elaborate.  By now, anybody paying attention would know.]

The Hatchling Turtles had the power to influence our dreams.  I remember.  They'd visited us that way in the past.  Asti, too.

Is there any chance one of them is doing this?  Like the Vision we all saw, only in our sleep.

[Midii very rarely used the Handset. In fact, she very rarely spoke out in public at all; her preference for conversation was usually face-to-face.]

[But a certain conversation the previous month was still weighing heavily in her mind, and with all this construction going on around the palace--she had seen it in passing several times in the last few weeks while running her delivery jobs--curiosity got the better of her. A single question she eventually couldn't help asking:]

What does everyone think of the Midnight Hotel?

[Overgeneralized for a reason. There were so many different opinions to take into account, and she wanted to hear them all.]

I know that there's work being done on the--[But she was cut off by a sudden bout of coughing. Dry, mainly, and lasting only a few seconds, though the subsequent clearing of her throat and audible sigh indicated this wasn't the first time she'd coughed like that today.]--sorry. Like I was saying...um...

[What was I saying again?]

...right. The Palace.

I wanted to know what made it so special, compared to the Hotel.

[It took nearly three tries after stumbling out of bed for Midii to remember the proper button-pushing procedures, and clearly even longer to realize (and subsequently not care) that her hair was still a mess. A mess she was now publicly broadcasting, completely with a stiffened yawn and weary rub at her eyes.]

[Still clinging to the 24+ hours sleep she had unexpectedly succumbed to, her voice was groggy. Her mind, unfocused. Her words, uncensored.]

I fell asleep in the park. I think. But then I woke up here. I...don't remember anything else since then.

[There had been...a little girl crying. She remembered that much. What happened to that little girl? The paranoia began to sink in, and despite herself, she visibly frowned. Suddenly nervous.]

Is this another one of those magic things that keep happening around here?




((ooc: Midii was one of the people attacked by Bakura's summons. Her memories are a bit groggy at the moment, but as time passes, she might remember more and more of the incident.))

(A million, of course, meaning the highest she currently knew how to code, which was a solid 60%. Thus, he theoretically could still hack it, should he choose to do so)


[It had been more than a week, and Midii was still at a complete loss. So much so, she was finally desperate enough to go to the Network for help. Something that, under most any other circumstance, she would never do. Which spoke volumes about the situation as a whole. And how she felt about it.]

[After more than a full ten seconds of silence wondering how to phrase her problem, before she gave up and just blurted out the first question that came to mind:]

How do you get someone to admit he's being a jerk?

[The morning everything first went crazy, Midii was unaffected.  She checked, just to be sure.  There were no bodily changes, no strange new abilities, and she felt like herself.  But there were Network posts advertising those less fortunate, and from the sounds of things, it wasn't going well for many.  So she decided to stay put.]

[Today, however, she wasn't so lucky.  From the moment she woke up, she knew something was wrong.  The kind of wrong that actually required her to ask for help:]

I need clothes.  Please.  I have money, and can pay you back.

[There was a momentary pause, and a low groan could be heard in the background.]

...is my stomach supposed to hurt like this?

[Her voice might sound familiar to the select few who were around her enough.  Only deeper.  Older.  By nearly ten years.  And if that wasn't enough to hint as to who this was over the Network, she didn't block her address.]

[The normally reserved eleven-year-old appears on screen looking even more withdrawn than usual. Withdrawn, and exhausted. Like she was two seconds away from passing out over the console. Her lids were heavy, there were lines beneath her eyes, and her skin was paler than usual. Even at a glance, it would be apparent to the casual onlooker that she hadn't been sleeping very well the last few days. Not since her little visit to the Death realm.]

[In hindsight, audio might have been the better option. But she wasn't thinking straight right then, and unfortunately, what she had to say required a visual aid.]

I...found something. Out there.  While I was...um... [Mind still slightly hazed, she struggled to find the right word before settling for:] ...exploring.

[Her eyes drift downward, and she reaches for something off-screen. Holding it up for the entire Network to see. It was some sort of purple circular device. Technology that definitely did not look local.]

Others were using the Network to help people find there things. And it looked important.

...whatever it is.

[She genuinely had no idea.]