[Maybe the amplified ticking that only just stopped had gotten to her. Maybe the reality of her situation took five days to hit home. Whatever the reason, Penny doesn't sound particularly chipper. One might go so far as to say that she sounds outright shocked.]

Oh my god. This is all completely real, isn't it? Not just the City, but all of it. What Hammer said, the death ray, Billy, dying, coming here... all of that actually happened.

The City and the dying--that I can deal with. Death happens like everything else, right? But Billy's a supervillain... a real villain with a death ray and everything. And Hammer's supposed to be a hero and he actually told everyone that we slept--oh god. Laundromat-frozen yogurt-shy Billy has a death ray and Captain Hammer's a total... a total jerkface, and he never did care about the homeless, and why does that bother me more than Billy being Dr. Horrible? But Billy--Dr. Horrible--didn't actually shoot anyone, and Hammer made the death ray explode...

And then--

[There's a long pause, but the recording continues. Penny's quieter when she speaks again, as if she's not talking directly into her network device.]

That really happened. All of that happened.

Billy's sweet and a supervillain, Hammer's--and then what happened to the shelter when the death ray exploded? Who else...?

[Another pause. This time the pause stretches into silence until the device times out.]

[ the following is uttered blandly, tiredly, as if it's all a great deal of effort. ] But, like the skeleton at the feast, that warning timepiece never ceased,— "Forever—never! Never—forever!" [ a pause, and he lets out a huff of breath before continuing, sounding a great deal more animated. ] I feel as if I've gone quite mad. In fact, I feared as much when I awoke this morning, lying there — not in a bush, for those curious — staring up at the ceiling. I thought to myself that I must be hearing things, that the countdown to or for my life was drawing to a close and that this was my warning.

Of course, it wasn't until I saw fit to move that I discovered that a vast majority of the city is encountering the same. Perhaps, then, it's the end of days. I'm tempted to say that we ought to spend the entire day in celebration and joyous ceremony, although I also believe that my instinctual reaction to spend the entire day in bed, demanding nothing but the best company and, I think, food, to have been the correct one. There could be nothing worse than to spend my final day on Earth or wherever this ridiculous city is placed, than in the company of people I detest.

Imagining scenarios relating to them receiving their comeuppance is only entertaining for so long, I've discovered. I've had plenty of experience in the matter — it transpires that vocalising such thoughts tends to be frowned upon in polite company.

( private letter to tessa. )

[Good afternoon, City Solutions! Are you having a nice week so far? Eleanor sure was until yesterday. Today, however, she plans to rectify this and get a job at the same time.

Sometime around noon, the speakers of City Solutions will cease whatever they were doing previously and start playing a series of lovely songs. And then, the speakers return to their typical function while Eleanor picks up the device and speaks, specifically to Mister Stark.]

Did you enjoy that, Mister Stark? I believe we need to have a conversation about a job at City Solutions.

(ooc: feel free, city solutions employees to at least react. Eleanor's going to be talking with Tony.)