WEEK 3

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 3

[As Marie said: so much for trust and resolve. Two people are dead, and there is very little anyone can do about it now, no matter how much they would have wanted to sacrifice themselves.

In particular, with Marie's words during the trial, it's clear that time is limited. Or is it? Marie is also capable of omitting the truth when it serves her needs, especially when it comes towards the Strangers and their still-missing memories. In any case, one can only hope they don't fall for her tricks again, even though getting away with murder would - apparently - save at least one life.

There is something else, as well. When everyone wakes up the morning, they will find that information on their wristwatches has been updated to reflect their new number - and something new about their powers. Not only that, but a new floor has opened up above Floor 1 for everyone to explore. Maybe more can be found on just what, exactly, is going on.

Is Marie telling the truth? Is the universe really ending? Or is it just another means of getting what she wants? Whatever is happening, people will need to be more careful around her - and one another. Who knows what Marie will offer next - or what your roommate or new friend is now capable of as a result. Especially since it's now known, thanks to Marie's actions during the trial, that everyone has definitely lost some memories. And unfortunately, no one seems to have regained any of them so far - or if anyone has, they haven't said a word.

If trust and resolve was ever needed, it feels like now is the time to try and find all that.

There are thirteen people in this place.]


SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

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TUESDAY

[strangerpeople]

MOTIVE: The Power Is Yours

[commandurr]

[Sometime in the morning, everyone's wristwatch beeps, and the hologram feature pops up. It's not the best quality, but one can see what is happening, nevertheless. On the other hand, f you're in the theater or in the onsen, you can see what is happening very clearly. And - not surprisingly - it's Marie who's sending all of this, looking smug as ever.

What is surprising about her appearance, however, is that the nasty gash Richard gave her is gone, with nary a scar, as she speaks in her room.]

HEY LOSERS! SO YOU ALL KNOW I'M TOTALLY CAPABLE OF BRINGING PEOPLE BACK TO LIFE, OR KEEPING THEM DEAD!! BUT DID YOU KNOW I'M CAPABLE OF MAKING YOU TOTALLY INVINCIBLE??

LOOK AT THIS!!

[Four camerabots surround her as the view pulls out.]

ACTIVATE PUNISHMENT FOR RULE-BREAK.

[It's like deja-vu all over again, as massive laser fire suddenly hits Marie in the chest. However, this time, though Marie's clothing smokes, and there's a giant hold where she was hit, she is clearly completely uninjured.

There is a faint silvery sheen that seems to wriggle on her skin, as the camera pulls back up close to her and her reaction.]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

SEE I'M TOTALLY FINE!! THAT'S WHY I'M IN CHARGE HERE!! IMAGINE IF YOU COULD DO THAT BACK HOME! IMAGINE WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO WITH IT, HMM?

DON'T WORRY! I'LL TEACH MY METHOD...TO WHOEVER GETS AWAY WITH MURDER! BUT REMEMBER, LIKE LAST TIME, THIS IS A LIMITED-TIME OFFER! IF NO ONE GOES THROUGH WITH IT BY THE END OF THE WEEK, YOU GET NOTHING!

YOU CAN BE INVINCIBLE...OR YOU CAN BE A WIMP LIKE THAT OTHER GUY FROM YESTERDAY!!

YOUR CHOICE!!

AHAHAHA HMMHMMHMM!!

[And with that, the feed ends.]

cw: self-harm implications even if that's not what's going on

[tiefleaf]

Closed to Commander

[ Molly's in the onsen when the announcement goes off, and makes a deep sigh of exasperation when this comes up.

So he stands up from the water, but... doesn't bother to put his space suit back on.

Then he says, loudly at the nearest camerabot ]:

Alright, can we talk?

OTA

[ The rest of the morning, anyone wanting to go to the onsen to clear their heads of this nonsense will find Molly there, in various states of exposure or submersion. Anyone there will also notice that Molly has a shitton of tattoos everywhere, particularly on his arms and back, as well as... well, you've probably noticed the ones on his face already, but now you'll be able to see that the weird blue-green markings on his right cheek are a peacock's feathers, as it extends out to his torso and arm.

It kinda merges into a floral piece on his right shoulder, that also merges into a serpent curled all over his right hand and arm. And then between his shoulderblades and encroaching on the nape of his neck, there's a freaky illuminati pyramid tattoo.

On the palm of his right hand, on his right shoulder, and on the right side of his neck, there's also three of these creepy red eye tattoos that are incorporated into the other designs. Ew.

And then all across his chest and on his upper arms and part of the bottom of his neck, there's these straight, shallow scars, several of which overlap, that look like they came from the edge of a knife. He has a number of other ones on the rest of his body that just look like regular injuries, but these...

After a while, he stands up to get some shit done before the meeting. ]

[commandurr]

[After a few moments, she appears.]

HM? WHAT DO YOU WANT, HMMM??

[tiefleaf]

I wanted to ask something about this... incentive of yours.

...we still get to use freaky blood powers if we get it, right?

[theserpentsmiles]

[Nagisa watches the whole display with intent fascination....then laughs of all things. Like someone just told a well-timed joke. Not uproriously, but with quiet amusement. And then he goes on his way!]

[vividsins]

[ Okay. He literally doesn't care about this motive. Instead, he's going to keep brown-nosing because it's what he's good at. So here he is, at a camera bot in the garden. ]

I'm glad to see you well, Milady Marie. I was worried when you ran off. It would pain me to know your pretty face was injured, but it seems you're just fine now.

[earietale]

Because there's no such thing as editing film just to make it look like you're invincible. That's just impossible.

[Apparently, time travel hasn't affected Barbara's sarcasm levels.

[losergod]

...

[ He just shakes his head, and then he chuckles. Oh Marie. ]

[toushiro]

Really.

[ not impressed at all. hitsugaya just walks away once the motive's done because this is just downright stupid. ]

[backuphero]

[It's the same thing that killed Richard, and she's still screeching afterwards.

If he could do that back home... if he could do that back home...! Never mind the whip not working, if he could take a hit like that, he could just walk up to Brauner and kick him to true death if he wanted!

That he even considered it for a moment is enough to wrench a disgusted noise from Jonathan's throat. It's not worth spilling innocent blood for something that bitch offered, no matter what it was. But if this is the way Marie is stepping up her temptation...

He isn't sure how well he'll be able to resist whatever comes next, and that's such a shameful realization that he feels sick.]

[crouching_sin]

[Well that's... huh. It looks a bit like how a Shield All spell works. That's interesting to note. Thankfully his, at least, has the benefit of not messing up his clothes.]

[That's just going to make fighting Marie tougher. He'll keep in in mind. He turns away from the display, rolling his eyes at her laughter.]

Meeting Time

[crouching_sin]

[Everyone will find a note on their door this morning. It's a drawing of Akira giving a thumbs up, with a note saying 'You can do it!'. Underneath, there's some more writing.]

Meeting in the mess hall at 2 PM. Snacks will be provided.

[And snacks are, indeed, provided. No alcohol - if you want that, you'll have to grab that yourselves. But there's ice cream, salads, toasted bread, and spaghetti.]

[... Look, he did what he could.]

[There's also a table with a note set up on it that says Is this yours? Please take it if it is., with a number of items on it.]

[Naoya himself is sitting at a table, drinking some soda.]

[tiefleaf]

...this motive was pretty stupid.

[ He's just. Laying that out there, as he grabs a super gaudy dragon tapestry. ]

[fashionfever]

Are you kidding me? What if someone's in a battle of demons and angels or whatever!

[SHE'S VERY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS?]

[vividsins]

While it might be tempting to some, I think there's a few we don't have to worry about. Most things aren't meant to be immortal or invincible.

[crouching_sin]

... I mean, I am, but it's still a stupid motive. There's so many other ways to protect yourself.

[losergod]

[ Hi, he's here too! And looking really amused. ]

I couldn't agree more. It's incredibly foolish. If it were true invulnerability, how would we kill one another?

[fashionfever]

There will be plenty of us regular humans left over to stab, you don't have to worry about that.

[tiefleaf]

I think she meant to give it to the murderer after they did the thing, but come on. There's better incentives out there.

[earietale]

Agreed. It's like she thinks none of us know about film editing or anything like that!

[It wasn't exactly her depart, but you can just figure it out when you have to have a stunt man switch out with an actor.]

[losergod]

Editing is one possibility. I think she could be telling the truth, but even if she was, there's no reliable way to prove it's actual invulnerability permanently. The technology could quickly become outdated, for all you know.

[backuphero]

[Jonathan's just been sitting here looking more and more conflicted as everyone talks. He's really glad Naoya didn't bother dragging any alcohol down here, but at this point the soda he's been drinking doesn't seem to taste like anything anymore.]

Okay, I get it, everybody gets it, it's a stupid motive. And yeah, I agree, hell no that's not worth somebody's life, but... what if it wasn't a stunt, and what if we could get it away from her anyway? Even if it's just a temporary effect, if you can get the way to put it in place - there are times when something like that could -

[Without realizing, he's stood up, and raised his voice to just shy of a shout. He cuts himself off.]

Sorry. I just... it's not worth killing over, but if we could figure out how to do that, not being useless would be....

[earietale]

Jonathan...

[Okay, now to try and break it to him that the idea is ridiculous without breaking his spirit.]

While it's a good idea in theory, if we actually tried it...

[She shakes her head.]

I'm afraid of what would happen if we failed.

[She's already seen two people die at the hands of Marie's...metal people. She doesn't want to see him be the third.]

[losergod]

Everybody dies, Mister Morris.

[ He says it with a dark smile on his face. ]

It may not be by our hand that this occurs, is all. We may simply have to accept we need... alternatives to our situation.