15strangers | WEE͠K ̸́4͝

W҉͘E͜͠͝E̕K̡̛͡ ̡͟4̸

[The blight is all-consuming.

Within days dozens are confirmed infected, and you and your unexpected new scientist friend find yourselves trying to work on a cure. If not a cure, a stopgap of some kind. Anything to prevent this thing from destroying everything. It's hard work. It's not going very well. Really, it feels like with every step forward, you're taking ten steps back. Discouraging is an understatement, to say the least.

A week passes, and the death toll rises. It's really starting to look bleak. You constantly second-guess yourself, and even get into a fistfight with your new ally one night. It's getting to the point where you are working on fumes.

Then, unexpectedly, you get a phone call. It's been a long night, and the sun is beginning to rise above the mountains, when it happens.

You and the scientist are not the only ones looking for a cure. In fact, there are at least a dozen others-and they think they may be close to a breakthrough.

But-and you can't believe you're hearing this, after all of the failure you'd experienced throughout this blight-they need your help.]

---

[To say that the end of last week sucked would be an understatement. To say that no one knows what this week will bring is not even in question. Yet even as you wake, you feel a cloud lift from your mind, as one of the truths you've been living with since the beginning has suddenly changed.]

[But is it possible to abide by this new truth? The Hosts, and IT beyond, seem intent on making that impossible. And the rat...well. Obviously the rat's not an ally. Let's not kid ourselves.

There's only one way to find out if more deaths can truly be prevented-and that's to keep going, and hoping that the new floor that has opened up will offer something in the way of an opportunity.

In the meantime.

There are 11 strangers left in this place.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[That's...a bit more heavy of a topic. Wow…]

Uh...what about it? I think it's...technically inevitable, though it shouldn't be happening anytime soon.

It was saying that was why it was making contracts. That the energy emitted by the birth of a witch was significant, and it is trying to use that energy to fight against entropy.

And it doesn't seem to care that the people who sign up to be a 'magical girl' don't know all the terms.

So...if I'm understanding this correctly, they're like the worst genies that do what they do to try and prevent what is going to happen, no matter what.

Unless an argument is about to be made in their favor, I'm still going to hate those things as much as possible.

Basically, yes.

[Gentle kickyfeet.]

Did you want to swim? I'm not exactly a fast swimmer, but I don't mind sharing the pool.

Sure. If it helps me cool down a bit, it might be for the best.

[He doesn’t want to have an aneurysm from stress and somehow have that labeled as a murder, so he’ll just push himself off the pool’s edge and into the water.]

I hope you’re alright with wet dog smell.

Have you seen my coat? I have been around worse.

Heh, I think you should be asking if I've smelled it. Not the worst, but not exactly the best.

[Again, he's a father. Of young pups. A smelly jacket isn't the worst thing he's had to deal with.]

True. Come on in here. It was... a little strange at first. I have not gone swimming in somewhere like this before.

I can understand that. Just a guess, but I'm going to say that your world doesn't usually have pools?

[And he'll swim a bit further away from the pool's edge.]

We have pools of water, but they do not smell like this.

Ah, yeah, chlorine is a bit weird until you get used to it. Most pools have it. I think it's supposed to help keep the water cleaner.

... Why do you need to be so concerned with keeping the water clean?

Let’s just say there’s lots of things that can be in water that you don’t want to swim in. More than just alligators or sharks or...monsters that attack people, generally.

... I'm not following.

On what else can be in the water? Mainly germs and other chemicals that aren’t as harmless as chlorine. Or are, but are incredibly gross to swim around in.

I’m assuming there are still sharks or alligators in your world?

There are, but what is a germ?

...I don’t know science well enough to give a proper explanation, so I’ll do it in simple terms. Basically a thing that’s so small you usually can’t see it, and it’s usually what makes people sick with anything, like a cold or the flu. Usually washing your hands can help with that.

[Hopefully that’s good enough??]

Interesting... so whatever's in here kills them?

Sometimes, not all the time. If it's something really bad, like...the black plague or something? That'll probably kill them. A cold won't kill anyone, though, as long as they have a normal immune system.

Oh, no, I meant the stuff in here kills them. Why is it not in all of the water, then?

Oh, yeah, it kills the germs. And it's usually not in all water because...I think it's not supposed to be swallowed? Can't remember for sure, but I know you're not supposed to drink the stuff.

Oh. Poisonous to ingest but not on the skin?

It's...not completely?

Okay, I'll be honest, I really don't know, I just know pools usually have chlorine in them, you're not supposed to drink the water, and it might help clean it in case of gross things getting dumped in it or something.

[He admits, his pool knowledge is low.]

Sorry, I do not mean to push you. I know that you cannot possibly know everything about the technology of the world you come from.

It's fine. I think it's just, after the train, I've gotten used to explaining things to people, and I jump to that instead of just saying I don't know.

[He got used to answering the questions, now he doesn't think to not answer them.]

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katzenpfote - 2020-02-22 17:43 (UTC) - Expand

unwittingking - 2020-02-22 17:48 (UTC) - Expand