[the sound clicks on, and Bela's voice sounds considerably more strained than usual]

Brilliant decision, isn't it?

Remove the one small comfort this place allows and see if we'll suffer enough without it. All functional aspects are gone, and in that place, we're irritable and cranky. It did, as many have noticed, hit directly at midnight. If you are trying to find ways to sleep, I suggest you don't try sleeping pills. They won't work. Nor will many other sleep aids that will keep you out long enough that the nightmares that come won't bother you. I haven't switched to disgusting solutions just yet—caffeine, that is, in large amounts—but I'm afraid that might have to do.

But I do wonder. Are we supposed to share?

Will the Deities come along and make little notes, asking us just what we dream about?

Oh, no, of course not. We're meant to share willingly, and by time we all hit a certain hour, we'll be sharing and caring about all the unfortunate images in our head. It's only a good thing that this ridiculous contraption can't capture what lurks within.

I would try and act like I have a grip on this, but we all know that's a lie, don't we?

[an annoyed sound, like a sigh breathed out in a shaky manner]

I do so enjoy the reminders, though. Make a deal here, and what do you have in return? A lifelong opportunity like this. And I do believe certain things are impossible to be bartered out. You can never forget how warm some places are.

I believe we have our answer about the Deities' idea of a proper ... celebration for such a holiday, Harry. A sudden bunch of crowds and doubling our business. I believe I saw several doubles and triples walking around, as well as some people who looked as if they could have been brought in by a cat. But then again, my cat wouldn't bother with such things. She likes prizes, you see.

All the same, business doubled yesterday, which was interesting enough. Due course, in a way, though I must admit that it was rather irritating to find several people bemused with my presence. One such conversation went a little like this:

"Why aren't you here?"

"I work here. It's a little obvious, really."

"But we don't like you. You shouldn't be anywhere."

And so on. They mentioned things about me always getting in the way, and how I ruined everything, and how one little man could've been saved if it weren't for me. But they were rather vague about who and what, too red in the face at my mere presence. At least they bothered to spend their money. I realise such things as travelling to an unknown land and being forced to manoeuvre about it can be quite devastating; I should also add that during this time of devastation, I should like to be giving cause to such verbal onslaught. I'm quite good at that form of friendliness when I want to be, after all!

As it is, I do have a more important thing to discuss. It's come to my attention that there are certain individuals here in the City, demon hunters, they call themselves, who are hiring young teenagers for positions without even giving them the qualifications. And this is only what I have discerned from the network itself. While I cannot stop little boys from trying to play hero, I find this all rather ridiculous. There are, in fact, demons here. Vampires, too. But we all knew this, didn't we? Playing with fire in the wrong way can earn you severe burns, so I would like to suggest you use your brain before you start pursuing this, or dragging others along with your little sociopathic dreams. It's a little disgusting, but I shouldn't be surprised.

I do, however, have no desire to make any further attempts to stop you. What you do is your business, and if you are hurt for it—or even caught, ever so easily, by a police force that watches this network—it's no problem of mine. But I do suggest you train your little partners better. We have a fair amount of information over such things at my store, actually. Amulets and Enchantments. A little place, but it's nice, and it obviously is a better hand at this than you'll ever be. Whoever you are. Though even being vague, I believe the message is quite clear, yeah?

I suppose I haven't entirely mustered up surprise over this. People like you lot exist everywhere with your terrible ideas, don't you?

[ the recording clicks on suddenly, as if it sounds like Bela's in the middle of making a meal or performing some daily, menial task. when she finishes with whatever it is she's stirring, she pulls back and there's the sound of something dropping from her hand. her breath noticeably catches, and the sound of her shoes slipping over the floor occurs, as if she's moving back away from what she sees. ]

You're—you're not supposed to be here. I—you're supposed to be gone.

[ it's important to note that Bela's voice is different from usual. the accented English is there, obviously, but her voice itself is shaky, meek, as if she's seeing what she fears most in the world. surprisingly, it isn't death. it's her own father, who made her almost unafraid of death itself. ]

... Don't you come any closer. ... Please, please stay away, and stop telling me how nicely I've grown up.

[ and then, after a long pause, there is the jumbling of the recorder, and the sound of a button pushing. Bela makes an annoyed hiss before she lets out a soft bit of laughter. ]

I see, so we really are meant to allow everyone to be voyeurs to even the most intimate part of our lives. To my understanding, most of you cannot see my father, at least I have gathered as much from the network. I am correct, aren't I? Funny, it's a little like schizophrenia.

—Oh, do shut up, Father.

I would delete this mess, but it seems that the City—or rather, our lovely Deities—which to really put it all on show. How nice to let me see my father again, though.

[ her voice goes flat, as if she's clearly forcing this last bit out: ]

Once in a lifetime opportunity, isn't it?

[ooc: while it's not clear what Bela's father did to her, it's heavily implied, so I'm sorry if this makes anyone uncomfortable. she's also been scouring the network and saw a few other entries about this (specifically: Sam's) and was able to discern what was going on before daddy showed up.]

I continue to find myself immensely curious about this place. Just the other day, I managed to gather quite the curious collection of jewelry because of our surprising royalty. On top of that, I saw boys who should be girls and girls who should be boys, all believing that they were dragons or royalty.

I also saw Dean. I wouldn't say you'd be special enough to be a unicorn, really. I'd have to wonder if your mindset had a part in that. You would think yourself that special, wouldn't you?

But enough about these ridiculous curses. I have a very necessary question.

Do you believe in religious figures? God? Lucifer? Or do you have some religion that seems all too uncommon here, but you would like to talk about? Were there so-called Deities within these religions?

Do you believe, then, that we are forced into a new branch of faith merely by being here?

I was never much of a believer myself. I do, however, see strength in power. Such a power is able to provide me with a normal life, and, I should add, a normal job. A very sweet roommate. And a life, an actual life. How fortunate I am, don't you agree?

[ Filtered Away From the Supernatural Crew // Unhackable ]

Along those same lines, would anyone care to tell me if they've had experience with the Deities?

Can't blame me for my curiosity, can you?

[ooc: warning for tipsy and incredibly slow due to hockey game. go wings. plz excuse typos. ]

I take back what I said about this place before, Andy. It's hardly boring, even in its near perfect layout. Even when the place is in a circus and people are trapped in cages, the behaviour is absolutely atrocious. And it's very amusing to watch as a result. While the City found itself experiencing a literal circus, there seemed to be many hypothesising over a comparison of the City always being a circus, and even beyond that, a large number of people who didn't seem to be doing anything about it. They just complained. Endlessly.

Good on you all. It made for very interesting reading while I continued to acquaint myself with the setting. I count myself lucky that I wasn't one of the unfortunate in the cages. I would have had to make myself comfortable.

Of course, I wasn't. I'd say I'm sorry, but you really just drew the short straw this time, didn't you? Poor things.

Otherwise, the City has been very good to me. I've heard curses can be much worse, and all I've been is intangible. I've had a run of luck, I just hope it doesn't run out.

Oh, speaking of that. Dean, sweetie, when were you planning on making me miserable over dinner? I'm rather impatient to find out and I did say to not mope over it for far too long. And I hardly think our little talk the other night was a proper replacement. Please get back to me soon, all right?

And as a final note: Has anyone else experienced much luck during these curses? Found a way to get close to someone you cared for? Managed to acquaint yourself with a good best friend? Or even saw someone you hated perish for once? Curiosity and all.

( filter: Harry Dresden; unhackable )

[ooc note: I am in and out right now because of Memorial Day festivities. I'll answer as quickly as I can! But sorry for the slow comments.]

—This isn't the place where I was before! Oh, wherever could this place be! There aren't any visible payphones and the set up of this place is far too logical to be any place in the States! Perhaps if I speak loudly enough to myself, someone will come to my rescue and I'll deem them my knight in shining armour.

[ A brief pause, accompanied by a soft snort. ]

That is how it goes, isn't it? I'm afraid I've been a bit wiser than most. I took a look around before I made a point to announce my presence. It's amazing how observation skills can help you these days. Of course, I was fortunate enough to find that many other people land around the same time. Same questions, same answers, same guide to find lying around: you're in a completely and utterly unoriginal place called "The City." Boring, a bit drab, but from what I can see, people get enough excitement in their lives in other ways.

And by "excitement" I mean the Deities. Higher beings that randomly throw things at you, but are there to make deals if you so choose. Interesting, really. Of course, in my time, we didn't call them Deities.

Anyway, I'd say that's it. You can call me Bela. I'm sure we'll make such lovely acquaintances.