W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[strangerpeople]

W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[The national council just announced the blight to the country.

There was no sugarcoating it anymore. This was a critical time. Saving all of the vines is paramount, but what does one do when the blight hits? It keeps encroaching on the grapes, day by day. Entire clusters, entire bunches, dead and rotting, while allowing the blight to spread, and the leading botanists and viticulturists cannot identify the origin or the cause. They can't even successfully isolate the culprit in their labs; it seems to disappear like air no matter the precautions taken.

It is a catastrophe that seems to be beyond science, and it will result in the complete collapse of the entire country's wine industry. Already, embargoes on this year's crop have forced other grape-growers to close shop for the year after they'd sold their previous stock; it is all too possible that no grapes might ever be grown here again if a cure cannot be found. The tourists have stopped coming. The towns have grown silent.

You, meanwhile, are devastated. With the way your business is going, it will be on the brink of bankruptcy within the year. You will soon have no choice but to close shop and let every grapevine die, let the land go fallow. There must be a cure for this, there must be. Yet everything that can go wrong is.

Then, as you watch the news, it happens. Breaking news. The blight has been found in another country.

It is a pandemic-and it is only getting worse.


-

Well. This is...what else can can anyone say? You all know the deal. You all know what situation you're in. All that is left is to figure out what you can do about it. If there's anything that can be done.

You still feel that compulsion to distrust. To know you cannot win. To know that only the hosts have your best interests in mind. It would be easy to just do all that. But would it be the right thing to do? You can't be completely sure. Indeed, nothing is certain here, except for that damned ticking sound. If only you could stop it.

But you can't stop it. It is inevitable.


There are 15 strangers in this place.]

Comments

[strangerpeople]

[The experiment is a dud. Nothing happens.

As for the the door of the unknown building, it opens easily. Come on in!]

[touchsensors]

Oyo...

[Wow, she, uh... she was kind of expecting to have to get a little more creative there.

What do we have in here? Or to be a little more specific, does it look more or less like house 3 inside, or does something immediately stand out as Different?]

[strangerpeople]

[It does look more or less like Lala's house, on first glance.

As she looks, though, she might spot something interesting on the bed.]

[touchsensors]

[Oh, what have we here? (It's not a small cute animal, is it?)]

[strangerpeople]

[No. But it looks like there's a small strands of fur that look like it could belong to a small cute animal on the blankets.]

[touchsensors]

[Oho. Wouldn't happen to match her little friend, would it?]

[strangerpeople]

[It does.]

[touchsensors]

[Let's make a mental note of that, then!

And take another look around. Anything else stand out in here?]

[strangerpeople]

[One of the clothing drawers seem to be a bit ajar.]

[touchsensors]

[Seems like a good thing to open up and rummage through, then.]

[strangerpeople]

[The clothing is all the same or similar-black sleeveless hoodies. All of them are small and child-sized, maybe a little larger. But on one save maybe King would be able to fit in them normally.]

[touchsensors]

[Any signs of usage? A conspicuous empty space where it looks like there should be one more, for instance?]

[strangerpeople]

[Yes, to that instance.]

[touchsensors]

[Aha.

In that case, surely it won't be a problem if Lala takes another one. Not that she has any idea yet what, if anything, she's going to do with it.]

[strangerpeople]

[Go right ahead!]

[touchsensors]

[Let's look around for anything else of interest. If there's nothing else in the bedroom, maybe the office?]

[strangerpeople]

[There doesn't seem to be anything of particular interest in the office, unfortunately.]

[touchsensors]

[How about the kitchen? Any signs of habitation? Unwashed dishes in the sink, maybe?]

[strangerpeople]

[There are some signed someone has been eating in this place. There is a single unwashed plate in the sink, and food in the refrigerator.]

[touchsensors]

[Same kinds of food she has in her own fridge?]

[strangerpeople]

[Yup.]

[touchsensors]

[Well, she might as well check the bathroom while she's here, but it's starting to seem like there's not much else to be found at the moment.]

[strangerpeople]

[Unfortunately not, there's nothing in the bathroom other than the indication that someone lives here.]

[touchsensors]

[Well, it's a bathroom, so maybe that's for the best.

She'll take a look over the living room, too, but it seems like there's not much else to find here for now.]