WEEK 2

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 2

[It is again early morning when the train docks next. This time, however, the dock is not as busy. There are few trains to be seen, and even fewer people. Only a man stands at the dock, teeth sharp in his smile, scelera a deep gold as he stares beneath his fedora.

"Unexpected," he said with a smile. A two-dimensional dog with the head of a scribbled black cloud hops by, ignoring him. "But not unwanted. Do make yourselves comfortable."

This new place is known as Victoria's Chasm, named after an Empress. No, not that one. Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty is quite comfortable on her Throne, and rulled for much longer than 99 days, thank you very much.

In the distance, black begins to erupt like tendrils. Lightning flashes through the clouds. This is the land of monsters; tread carefully. And do not despair, whatever you do.


There are fifteen strangers left in this place.]

Comments

Dining Car, Level 1 Kitchen (Evening)

[notthebreakman]

[Surprisingly, Proto Man is busy at work in here, despite not needing to eat for obvious reasons. There's an open cookbook on the countertop, vegetables have been chopped, chicken has been shredded, dried herbs and spices have been added. All that prep work has led to a large vat of what will hopefully be nutritious, comforting chicken noodle soup simmering away on the stove.

Everyone (barring Ris and the Conductor) is likely to end up literally worrying themselves sick over this motive (it's already too late for Minato). They have no chance of finding a solution to this mess if they're all incapacitated, so Proto has taken it upon himself to keep everyone's strength up.]

[zackthekiller]

[Zack is healed, but he's fustrated and exhausted.

There is food.

Fuck it, Zack is gonna get himself some food.]

Hey. [He just walks right up to the counter and waits for some grub.]

[notthebreakman]

Hey. How are you feeling?

[Proto will go ahead and dish up some soup for Zack, because he's probably going to have to do it for a lot of people on this train and he may as well get used to it. At least he doesn't have to track Zack down.]

[zackthekiller]

[Zack's other adoptive sister is being held hostage in god-knows-where, he can't do shit about it, he's just recovered from being stabbed in the sides by the powerful being running the train, and to top it all off he just found out his new power is gross.]

What do you think? [And yet he accepts the soup. Because it is a food.]

[notthebreakman]

Alright, fair point. Good thing Eliza brewed so many potions earlier.

[Yes, good. Healing potions, like E Tanks, are great for emergencies, but Zack will probably still need calories and nutrients to make up for what he lost.]

[zackthekiller]

Mhm...

[So, he starts eating. How does this soup taste? Edible?]

[otherworldlyking]

[ That sure is the smell of some food.

He walks right in and gives a small yawn, waiting for some to be done so he can snatch it right up. ]

[notthebreakman]

[Oh, alright. McBurn can have some soup, too.

He doesn't seem to have been that badly shaken up by the motive, but...]

You holding up alright?

[otherworldlyking]

[ ... ]

I'm the last person you should be worrying about.

[ But also...ooh, soup. How delicious! ]

[notthebreakman]

No, the last person I need to worry about right now is Ris. How are you?

[It darn well better be delicious, after all the hard work Proto put into it!]

[otherworldlyking]

[ What a pain...at least the food's good. ]

I'm fine. Not like I care about who they grabbed, if you're going to bother asking. She'll be fine.

[notthebreakman]

[Riiiight, Proto definitely believes that, McBurn. Still, he knows when there's no sense in pushing further, so he'll let the matter go.]

Any idea why they want us to kill someone over this? Beyond "because the Empress said so?"

[otherworldlyking]

[ ...Well, he does seem to think about that at least. ]

I can't say I know or care. Maybe they think by forcing everyone to kill each other it'll help them find whatever answers or goal they're trying to achieve. [ ... ] To them, we're probably just a bunch of sacrifices.

But, if it has something to do with that "power"...then it'll be hardly a surprise.

[notthebreakman]

That makes sense. We aren't Imperial subjects, so naturally we wouldn't be entitled to the same rights and privileges bestowed on the people that "matter."

That's probably how they're spinning it to the common folk as well. "Oh, it's a shame that they had to die, but it was in the name of obtaining this 'power' for the continued glory of our nation," and so on.

[otherworldlyking]

It could be they're not even telling anyone much of anything.

[ Not even a hush hush explanation. ]