WELCOME TO DREAMWIDTH, HERO...

[posted from NO.96's communicator]
[There's something very distinct about his voice; he lacks his usual autotune.] Death threat, report of a murder, cannibalism... Wow, you're all quite busy, aren't you? [He laughs at a joke that's only funny to him.] I haven't checked the Network in months, and I figured it was all the same ole thing. Swimming and birthdays, y'know, boring crap like that. [A beat.]

Well, since you guys already set the mood for me! Let's talk hypothetical. Say you know someone, and they're hurt by another person. Injured horribly. Maybe even killed. I know that doesn't matter much here, but for the purpose of this, let's say it does. What do you do? Do you report to the police? Or take justice into your own hands?

To continue this series of hypotheticals... This person who did it wasn't entirely in control of themselves, a third-party forced their hand. What happens now? Are they still at fault? If you chose to take justice into your own hands before learning this information, doesn't that make you the bad guy?

This is some pretty serious stuff! Watching a couple of homeless people go at it at the shelter a few nights ago really inspired the philosopher in me. [wait, what was that last part]

i know this is quite possibly short notice
but yumas birthday is very very soon

i would like to do something special for him
because he always does so much for me and very little for himself

i think being with many of his friends at the same time would be good too

[Well, there's someone who hasn't been seen on camera for a while. Sadly, it's 96 and his communicator opposed to Astral. At the very least, they look 96. There are a few things wrong, and he seems... off. Like he's too calm. A particularly keen eye will notice his posture is surprisingly defensive.

When he speaks, his voice lacks a certain cadence. Of course, the undercurrent of anger is still present, but something is missing that just can't be placed. He sounds almost exactly Astral.

It's pretty eerie.]

It's unfortunate that I have even had to come to this, but— [A significant pause, as if he's not certain how to say the next few words.]

I have a problem I can't quite solve on my own. Rather my solution won't work. Not here anyway. [Resignation? Perhaps something else? Who can say at this point.] So someone suggested something to me, and I have given it some thought.

While I didn't want to bring this out to the open, it... [If he produced saliva, he would be swallowing a knot in his throat about now. But he can't, so he's not. Yes, this is pointless action for dramatic effect.]

Might be beneficial if it's public. So others may see that I am trying alternative methods other than destruction. [Even though he's acting really weird, 96 still gleefully cracks on that particular word. It's a habit.]

Recently there has been a rather marked increase of humans from my... Dimension. Two of which pose a threat to not only my continued existence, but others as well. While I am uncertain of the abilities that may have been granted to them by the machine, I know what they are capable of doing.

It's not too much of a stretch to assume they possess the same powers. Perhaps even augmented in a way that allows them to bypass Dueling, similar to us Numbers.

But they are human! Humans want to reason before acting on their baser instincts, yes? Because that's what makes them intelligent creatures. [His voice cracks again, but this time he seems insulted by himself apparently.]

Kaito. And that other one, the one with the short hair and cut on your face.

I propose a truce.

people of the network what are some of your favorite foods

if i am to be stuck in this form i feel i should try as many new foods as possible but i need to know where to start

( i prefer not to eat animals )

i wondered this for quite a while

what are some characteristics that make humans unique on your home world or in your dimension

for example the humans i am more familiar with typically have bright colorful hair
very similar to tropical birds
its much easier to differentiate them compared to the humans present on this earth

Do you know what it's like to be a rice cooker? It's humiliating. Humans, rats... They aren't much different from each other. They've got legs. They can move. So it's easy to position them in a way to switch to more, ah, favorable hosts...

[monotone:] But a rice cooker is stationary. You sit there all day. You can't do nothing but steam rice, maybe burn it if people aren't paying attention. [it doesn't last, 96's voice breaks] What point is there to that when a person can MAGICALLY PRODUCE ALREADY-COOKED RICE? Why do they even own a rice cooker?! It's stupid! Stupid, inefficient!

Stupid, stupid, stupid! [he kinda... smoulders on screen for a few minutes... Then calm, eerily so.]

I have my own communicator now. [oooh, a NO.96 identification tag and everything]

What is a birthday? Why is it important? I understand it's some sort of human invention... [oh my, oh dear, Astral's not rambling forever this time!!!]

When a person is ported out, the humans closest to them display a great amount of concern and openly grieve on the Network. If I am not human, should I do the same?

Who can fly?

If you can, do you wish to play a game with me? Or partake in any other suitable mid-air activity. Perhaps a race.

I've been grounded for far too long.

It seems that with the inclusion of eight hours sleep in my schedule, time moves distressingly fast. I did not know two weeks could pass so quickly! In order to make up for this lost time, I will address several matters at once. [efficiency! ... or so he thinks anyway]

Why do humans of this Earth celebrate a holiday about a very strange imPort?

Jesus Christ, I do not appreciate your cat image attachments and it is rude to force your bizarre human holidays onto me. While I may have asked [forced] Yuma to purchase a dead pine tree to decorate with many bright lights and colorful round bulbs, it was because they were quite pretty and did not have much to do with your horribly hairy, four-legged abominations. To be honest I am reluctant to fully partake in your holiday and would appreciate it that you never send me another e-mail again.

[clears this throat] Now, onto other matters...

On November 27th, ten cards were scattered across the City. A friend of mine managed to reclaim some of them. It is of utmost importance that anyone who possesses these cards return them to me immediately.

They are dangerous. I'm aware that it is strange that something so simple could cause such devastation, but they are more than just cards.

They are pieces of my memory.

They bind to Duelists and amplify the desires in their heart; it's logical they take the form of an object only a Duelist yields.

What happened that week far exceeded my expectations. I never thought they were capable of mutating inanimate objects. I also did not know their influence could be so widespread. If you or anyone else were acting strangely during that period, it is extremely likely to be due to them.

I've been informed there are more Duelists in this world, much more than I originally thought. I urge you not handle them. While it is possible to overcome their influence on your own, such instances are rare. In my current state, I do not have power necessary to extract them from your body should they bind to you.

They are black cards and written in my native language. If you have one, Yuma will be the one to reclaim them. [translation: it is cold and I don't want to, so I'm going to make the person I threw out a window go instead]

[a beat, if you think the feed will end here you are so wrong]

...How can I make my hair stand up straight again? It continues to fall into my face, and it is very distracting.

[Look at this camera angle! It's all tilted. It does give a clear view of the computer it's filming, though. Hey, what's this on the screen? Some sort of website dosed in black and terrible font color choices? Is that Comic Sans? This is the most interesting video ever.

The Geocities-inspired sparkly banner at the top reads ASTRAL WORLD. And the amount of star fields make it look like someone's on tumblr, but nope. It's Angelfire.

Astral turns the camera away a little too fast thanks to being an amateur at this kind of thing. That must leave someone out there disappointed because MAN that was a gorgeous website for the eyes to feast on.

Whoa, this kid... He's all glowing blue, for the love of your eyes don't look directly at him. And he's in a library. This is all very fascinating.

Astral, being the most important character in this video because he's in the foreground, looks... confused. Yeah, that definitely appears to be confusion written all over his face.]

I'm told that "Google" is capable of searching for anything. While it presented me what it knows about my home world, it's not helpful. It leaves me with more questions than answers.

[He continues, sounding more hopeful than auto-tuned monotone:] Everyone who uses this Network comes from a different world. And from what I've observed, not everyone is a human. [Pause] This information must come from somewhere... Is anyone familiar with the Astral World?