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

[ WHO'S A GOOD DOGGO... YOU'RE A GOOD DOGGO, YES YOU ARE!!!!

... yeah, no, he's seriously grinning and being very happy to love on new friend for a moment. ]

Thanks. It's... kind of useless at this point, but it was something I got while I was with Karma. So basically just nostalgic value, I guess?

[ He smiles faintly as he slides it into his pocket. ]

Basically things shaped like this are called Pins, and each comes with different patterns on it. Different Pins give different abilities.

[It's good to see the young man smiling. He's glad.]

I can understand that. What did that one do, if I may ask?

[ It's refreshing to have a reason to, to say the least. ]

It opened and closed the barriers in the Mall game.

[ Well... thinking on it, there is some curiosity now. He's glancing to the side, falling quiet. While he seriously doubts it would work on these, he can't help wondering. ]

Unfortunately most items seem to lose their power... but it's worth a try.

Yeah... That's fair. I'll talk to Kurama and Karma about it and see if they want to try it with me later.

They would be a better bet than I would, unfortunately.

Unfortunately the chunk of Hours hasn't shown up in the machine. I don't think it'd do anything here, either.