15strangers | (no subject)

W̡͜E̶EK ̵̕2̕͠

[The blight would not stop.

The world's leading experts have been trying to find a cure, to no avail. Th blight keeps changing, keeps foiling all attempts at being fully understood. It's almost sentient, or at least more sentient than any disease that's been encountered before. People fear the disease jumping from what's left of the grapes into other plants, into animals, or even humans.

You can only watch as entire economies and ecosystems collapse. You can only bury your head in your hands as your own business comes to its end. The destruction of the clusters of grapes has not simply destroyed the wine industry, either-other businesses are being destroyed by the plague. Food, transport, retail, nothing is untouched.

You look on your own vineyard, its yield almost entirely blackened and dead.

This can't keep going on.

-

A week has passed since everyone's arrival. No one has died, yet. But surely no one is holding their breath to see if they would survive this unscathed. They are veterans of the game, and they must know that whoever it is that is in charge demands their pound of flesh. The question is when it will happen.

It is the second week, after all-and when the second week of the game comes, death is not far behind. Not even when you wake up, feeling something different in your mind as you remember the truths you originally woke up with, deep in your mind. You feel...lighter, somehow, when you realize there is a change.

Even so, there are 15 strangers left in this place.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Chin scritches!]

Oh, there you are... Kyuu! It's always nice to see you.

[He leans in quite close to give the pet a wave.]

Has Lala Hagoromo been taking good care of you? I'm so glad.

[Well! At least someone around here appreciates cute animals.]

You and Kyuu know each other-lun?

Mmmhmm! Almost ever since I joined up a year ago! You could even say part of the reason I came back around today was to see them!

[Ah... Clearly thinking it over for a second first, he leans over to give Kyuu a little pet around the left ear, the actual perky triangular part.]

Edited 2020-02-04 03:41 (UTC)

Oyo...

[This seems like an important piece of information, actually.]

"You could say"-lun?

Well, they're out here, and I've been on higher levels these past several days. So it's nice to get to see them.

But if I couldn't see Kyuu, that wouldn't be too much of a big deal, because I do have higher priority things to do...

Higher levels-lun? Like upstairs-lun?

Yep, exactly!

[He gestures in the appropriate direction-]

You know, up the elevator.

Oyo? I didn't know it worked-lun.

You're not wrong. For now, you and your friends don't have clearance. Link and I do, though.

...of course it's something like that-lun.

[Foiled by low rank again!]

Can we get clearance somehow-lun?

Spending more time here probably can't hurt...

[Hiyori tilts his head like he's just having this thought.]

You know, maybe Kyuu doesn't actually have the same clearance as you! What if they could go up the elevator?

Oyo...

[That's actually kind of plausible, if spending more time here makes a difference, but... Lala looks down at Kyuu.]

I don't know if I could get them to try it, though-lun.

Really? [Hiyori looks down at Kyuu also; with his broad shoulders, there's a sense he can't fathom the fickle little creature.] You seem to really have a way with Kyuu... But maybe there are some lures in the cat cafe if you want to go the extra mile. I'd recommend any round black ones. It's a visual contrast thing.