15strangers | (no subject)

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*round 6

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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.]

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[It’s 7:30 AM, it’s a beautiful day in the City, and the hosts are done with their morning jog.

What, is that not normal? They’ve been running around the pristine streets since emerging from the central building at 5:15, so over two hours now, not breaking a sweat. Now at half past seven it’s time for a leisurely breakfast in the cat cafe. While the rest of the cats wander around like strays, still free, Link has knelt down by one newly-void-eyed cat rolling a ball, in the same rhythm as Hiyori bats one other similarly grim cat’s paws.

They proceed to the library at 9, in separate areas; every 15 minutes, one gets up to inform the other of an interesting fact just read, which they chat about for three minutes, before the first returns to his own seat.

At 12 sharp, they head for the kitchen to grab pills, which put a distinct smile on their faces and a spring in their steps that carries all the way over to the dressing room, which they leave at 1 in gray golf shirts. The better to move around in as they take out weapons two at a time to compare and train with.

6 is dinnertime, the pills taken to be swallowed in the dining room this time. And then, they leave at a brisk pace, much more difficult to stop, heading for House 16; the door shuts at 7.

All in all an ordinary day during which nobody should worry about anything, because they’re happy and comfortable.]

Edited 2020-02-03 17:16 (UTC)

[True to their word, a certain commercial first airs on the televisions at 9:04 AM on Tuesday. There’s the silhouettes in two suits that leaves it easy enough to guess despite the display only using black and white. Hiyori and Link are standing in a studio.]

Welcome to the second Tuesday of your stay in the City. We notice that you continue to desire... Trips outside. Contact with loved ones. Pretty much anything besides acquiescing to our leader. So... we've decided to give you a chance at what you apparently want more than to be fifteen strangers alive and obedient! Anyone who kills and gets away with it could receive whatever! You! Desire! Tell them what they could win, Link!

[At the word ‘win’, they both blink, completely in sync.]

Weeeeell, Hiyori, there’s a wide variety of prizes that we have here, all designed to be exactly what you most want! [Various zany images ensue.] A new car! A house! Your boss’s head on a stick! A lifetime supply of pasta! A lifetime supply of donuts! A lifetime supply of pasta and wide variety of sauces! An all expenses paid trip to Fiji!

[The lights go out.]

Or… maybe something else?

[The voices ring out in a series of spotlit short cuts.]

Whatever you desire. Whatever you desire. Whatever it is you desire. Whatever your heart desires. Whatever you desire. Whatever you desire. Whatever you desire. Whatever it is you desire. Whatever your heart desires. Whatever you desire.

[The two hosts standing alone on the studio again.]

For any questions, please call the following toll-free number: 3-162-227-7660!

For any questions, please call the following toll-free number: 3-162-227-7661!

For any questions, please call the following toll-free numbe—

For any questions, please call—

—questions, please—

—free nu—

[The message repeats every 15 minutes from 9 AM to 7 PM. During the airing of the message at 1:19 PM, Hiyori and Link blink on the word “house” instead.]

Edited 2020-02-04 17:02 (UTC)

[Okay, Mr. Angel, you've had a week to hang out with your family and it's time to take a peek at time again. Would be nice if he knew if he was looking for the past or the future, though. Anything to see today?]

[Caleb heads out from his house around midday, bandages across his face, hands, arms, and slightly peeking out from under his shirt. He seems in alright spirits despite it, though.]

[Arriving at the central building he can be found in the dining hall, choking down some food despite the sandy taste, and then the dressing room where he looks at the men's coats with varying levels of annoyance.]

[Following that he can, of course, be found in the library. Where else would you expect a wizard to be?]

[The smell of turkey sandwiches and tea fills the air.

He's gotten him and his companion their lunches. Both of them have bubble tea, which he'd never had before, but then again, it had not been invented in his time. But this mall is at least fifty years into the future, compared to where he came from. He had already concluded that the people who had brought him and the 14 others here were quite powerful. Time, space, and possibly even other universes.

How many wrinkles would that be, if it worked in the same way as back home? Multiple. More than multiple.

He of course had his suspicions as to who or what was behind all of it, but of course, the girl who was their Life Coach was being quite cagey about why murder was so important to achieving their goals. Then again, he suspected that the Life Coach wasn't quite as alive as she advertised herself to be. He couldn't explain how he knew-just that he knew. He could just feel it.

He'd been getting a lot of feelings since he arrived here, actually. Biggest was that deep-bone fear he'd felt when he been in that place, mere weeks before in his time. He didn't like what feeling that might have implied, aside from it meaning nothing good in is experience. He had few people to talk to here about it. Not like back home, where he had someone who he knew back and forth; she always listened to him no matter how impossible it might have seemed to her.

Then there was Rachel. She was his age, or at least seemed to be. There was more to her than she let on. He at least could speak to her, and that was exactly what he was doing.]

So, what's your universe like, Cha-

[Suddenly, everything pauses. He blinks, and--

Arthur is once more separated. It's the same boy as before looking at him, sipping a cup of bubble tea.]

You again? I'd offer you something, but...well, I can't say I know exactly the when of your location through this, and I don't know if you'd like this anyways. I'm thinking about this moment, you see. This moment of my past.

[A pause. He looks over to the girl. who is blonde, with gold eyes, wearing a black hoodie.]

I made a very big mistake, right here. I told this girl too much, and now...well, now you're the ones paying for it.

[He slowly puts his cup down.]

I can't keep you here in this moment too long lest someone use this connection to manipulate you. But know this-where you are...I've been there. I know what is in that blackness that ravages the clusters.

That is where the enemy of everyone is, and where this evil blight began...

[He opens his mouth to say more, but his eyes widen, and he turns his head. There is a stencil monster there.]

Taboo Noise. I'm sorry, I need to cut you off-

[And indeed, that is what happens as Arthur almost seems to slam back down into his body.]

[After waking up Vita will be going around to all the houses except house 7 and leaving notes on the doors. Each note will say the following in neat feminine handwriting.

Do not drink the milk. One of the library books called ARE YOU DEVIATING? FIVE WAYS YOU CAN GET BACK ON SCHEDULE, gives drink your milk as a way to get back on schedule.

Anyone with animals should also take care that their animals do not drink the milk.

She doesn't sign it to be safe. If they are less inclined to trust, she named the book and they can look for themselves to confirm it. Feel free to run into her as she's doing this or just assume your character found the note.]

[Later on Vita will be looking for McBurn to give him his clothes back. She'll also be leaving the other items she found, minus the waiter's outfit and lock of hair, in the dining room again. Since there are no potentially dangerous objects this time, she's just going to grab some food afterwards and leave.]

Edited 2020-02-02 22:39 (UTC)

[The lighter mood settles into Eric's head as the cat mental image that's been stuck in his head shifts from threatening to encouraging - it's a switch that flips rather logically since he and Caleb managed to rescue the cats without removal, he's only a little surprised that it brightens his mood in general. Help did come for the kitties. Maybe more help will be on the way now that that curse is gone.... although, with all of his other (manufactured) doubts, it's still difficult to believe it would make any difference. He's still stuck here and it's getting way past the point where he can re-wear this default outfit without a washing machine around. And thus, he starts his day out at the dressing room getting himself a new outfit from the pickings there. It's the kind of outfit that looks surprisingly fashionable at a distance, until you get closer and realize the faded jeans are actually bell-bottoms and the t-shirt under the jacket is some kind of ping pong jersey. The orange parka is pretty nice though, and the boots are probably the most expensive looking footwear he's ever seen in his life that he's wearing for the sheer novelty of it. Getting put in a death game is not worth it for thousand-dollar shoes but he might as well take them if they're here. After he showers (do you want to run into him in the shower??? probably not, he's nothing much to look at) he puts this on and goes to his next stop, redeeming the socks and taking them back to the cul-de-sac.

An hour later, most of these things are sitting carelessly on his porch, save for the moon shoes which are on his feet, which are dangling off the roof of his house, because he was a fool and did not respect the bounce. "It'll just be a laugh," he thought. "It probably doesn't go that high," he thought. Now he's stretched across the surface staring into the weird sky as if to think 'any minute now, help cat'. Spike the tuxedo cat, down on the lawn and wearing the little red scarf, is weaving around in circles and meowing up at him to remind him he's dumb.]

Haaaah.... why do I even try to do anything?

[Vita's bird helpfully lands on the roof by Eric and just looks at him like he's amused by human on roof. Vita herself noticed the cat and stuff on the porch and sees a very familiar fan. She's about to try and find Eric when she hears Grianoas up on the roof since the bird decided to make a sound to alert Vita to look up.]

My, I didn't know there was a ladder here to get up to the roof! Where did you put it?

[Eric sits up in surprise when Grianos touches down - it's very large and he's skittish. At least it's not getting in his face though, so he'll just side eye it until it calls down to Vita and he notices she's there too. He suspects she already knows there isn't a ladder, so he huffs a bit and kicks off the shoes (his Nice Shoes are still on underneath them since the part that attaches it to the trampoline part is kinda like a sandal.) They fall to the ground and bounce lightly. Not like they were going to help him climb down, though.]

Here you go! Knock yourself out.

[Yes, she knows she hasn't seen a ladder around so how Eric got up there is beyond her until the shoes come down and she sees how they bounce. She figured that was a more polite way to tease him because it is kind of funny. One would think having a ladder or rope on hand before testing something like that would be a good idea.]

I see. Just sit tight and I'll see if I can find a ladder or a rope or something to help. [Or she could find her husband and have him use one of his doubles to do it. However, at least Eric will be relieved of Grianos' company as Vita signals him to come down to her since she may need him to fly up a rope.]

Edited 2020-02-03 00:09 (UTC)

[Maybe Arthur should've gone back into House 2 to do this. He wasn't expecting any violence, and there wasn't any, not really. Except for how violently he gets sent back to his present. He shouts, short and alarmed, and he tips backward. The back of his head hits the side of the house and once he's on the ground he stays there. Flat on his back, staring upward at the empty sky, shaking a bit. He's had worse. He's definitely had worse. But what the hell is going on?]

[He blinks a couple times. (eyelids and lights.) Vita is a blessing, but Eric's so used to being the butt monkey it's almost more suspicious that she's being nice... he'll take it though]

Oh, well, thank you.

[He is relieved that the bird is away, but he can appreciate its beauty as it's flying away. And it comes when she calls too. He's impressed!]

Wow, it's pretty smart.

[So this has been bothering Lala since Thursday, and it's finally bothering her enough to actually look into it. When she wakes up Sunday morning, she's going to look around for her Kyuubey buddy.]

[It is on her bed, sleeping peacefully.]

[...

Okay even if it is some kind of soul-ruining monster it looks very cute right now and Lala cannot bring herself to wake it up.

Maybe she'll just. Wait a while?]

[Eventually, the creature wakes up.]

kyuu?

Good morning-lun.

[She gives it a gentle pet.]

If you could talk, would you tell me-lun?

[...of course, if the answer is "no," this won't have any useful effect, but it's worth a try, right?]

[The creature responds by trying to chase its own tail.]

Kyuuuukyuu...

[Hmm.]

I guess that was a silly question-lun.

[And an equally silly "answer" which she watches.]

That's going to make it hard to find out what you were doing in that other house-lun.

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SUNDAY

INVESTIGATION

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

O̢n̛̛͜ ͡S̸c͝ḩ͠éd́͘ú͘l̵̴͘e̛͏

MO̷͜T̡I̢͝V̴̨̀E͢:́ ͢͠You͜͠r͏͝ ͜͡G҉re̢at͏͜è͞s͘͢t D̶̨e͏sir͘͞e̴͘

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His Uncanny Way

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✧ Eric goes shopping ✧

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house 3 I guess? this only barely qualifies as investigation

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