WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[You now know why you're here, Titled. The question now is, is there a way to get out of here without invoking the rules? What will those who brought you here do to get you to kill?

Time will tell.

There are fifteen strangers in this place.]

Comments

[theirmagic]

... Fractured memories?

[ THIS IS THE FIRST SHE'S HEARING OF THIS??? ]

E-excuse me, detective, but... what?

[foolishjustice]

Ah, you haven't noticed? Everyone I've spoken to thus far has mentioned reason to believe they're missing portions of their memory. Even myself, there are...events that don't follow properly, as though I had simply paid so little attention to what I was doing that I couldn't commit it to long-term memory despite something significant clearly having happened.

And, before you make the obvious suggestion, I've never touched alcohol in my life.

[theirmagic]

Well, I was going to say I hope so, seeing as you seem a bit too young to be drinking.

[ Anyway. ]

Professor Croix and myself do not seem to have anything like this going on, though. All of our memories match up perfectly fine, and I can remember everything that's happened in my life recently with perfect clarity. Croix, do you have anything you feel is off?

[ She turns to ask her friend. ]

[scienceofmagic]

...........When I woke up, I wasn't in any clothes I recognized wearing. Likewise...

[ She'll gesture to your hair. ]

I thought it a little odd at the time, but now...

[theirmagic]

... Your clothes?

[ WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? HER? HAIR? HAS BEEN BLUE THIS WHOLE TIME, definitely, ahahahahahaha.. ]

Oh... that's right. Weren't you wearing that odd ensemble? It's very... not what I recall you wearing at all when you came back to Luna Nova. You were rather grandiose.

[foolishjustice]

Yes, it's not all in blanks. There's more minor inconsistencies...both in memories of clothing, and profile details.

[theirmagic]

... That's... very strange. I was definitely wearing what I always wear. My teacher's uniform. But Croix... she doesn't exactly adhere to dress code at Luna Nova, and they kind of... well, let her. You'd know the outfit if you saw it, believe me, she had a cape.

[foolishjustice]

[The way his eyebrows lift at the mention of a cape doesn't exactly seem...judgmental. More like he'd have loved to see it.]

Have you noticed anything in your profile that seems unusual?

[theirmagic]

Ah... well, let me think about it...

[ She'll pull out her phone again, read it, and then shake her head. ]

... No, it's all fairly correct...

[foolishjustice]

Then either you've somehow managed to escape the memory alteration, or very little has changed in the time you've forgotten. Given it would break the pattern with no established reason, I'm afraid Occam's Razor suggests the latter...

[theirmagic]

... I don't know. That... concerns me. Oh, if only I'd spoken with Professor Woodward for longer, or read the stars more before coming here...

[ She sighs. ]

[foolishjustice]

It's of concern to me, as well. I have reason to doubt all of my missing memories are before what I currently remember, and the idea that I could have forgotten vital events that occur after the date I believe it to be is...not one I'm pleased to consider.

[theirmagic]

... If I had my wand, I could try to restore our memories. I know a spell or two, at least. Croix certainly does as well.

[ The glance she gives Croix as she says this is... strange. Like something is unsaid, but she doesn't say anything else. ]

[foolishjustice]

Which means it would be a major oversight for them to leave it with you. They confiscated my sidearm, as well...given the fact that firearms are seemingly the only weapons unavailable here, I'm left to wonder if they might fear we could use such things against them.

[theirmagic]

... I must probably seem very weak, but I assure you that when it comes to my spell-work, I am one of the best teachers for it at Luna Nova. If they were foolish enough to leave me my wand, I would have already found a weakness in their keeping us captive here.

Of course, I don't mean to sound like a braggart, or anything of the sort, it's simply... you don't get to be a teacher without mastering your subject.

[steelmagnolias]

[ Well, he's managed to parse enough from this exchange to bring up this point. ]

I brought this up at the meeting with Coach-chan yesterday, but...my profile said I was a few years older than I actually was.

I thought at first that was a mistake, but I woke up wearing this.

[ Once again, gonna flash that ring. ]

[theirmagic]

... That is most definitely a wedding ring.

[ Frown. ]

You must have a partner, then. A wife or a husband... do you remember anything at all?

[steelmagnolias]

I remember I was on a plane, but that was definitely for a business trip.

[ Nothing that comes to mind about where he could have met any actual partners. ]

[theirmagic]

Oh, dear... well... perhaps the trip was after your wedding and they removed the memory? In which case... why do Professor Croix and I happen to be the only ones without these gaps?

[steelmagnolias]

Or before. I still remember most of what happened then...

Maybe you just haven't realized what yours are yet.

[theirmagic]

... Or they're from after what we both recall.

[ She's positing a theory, here. ]

Perhaps... it's the future we're missing, instead of the past. At least, that's my best guess.

[scienceofmagic]

I prefer that right now--the more dramatic clothing. But this wasn't that. So it's very strange...

[ Now she's thinking. ]

[theirmagic]

... So why weren't you wearing it? It's certainly unlike our dramatic Professor Croix to not be wearing her harness and cape.

[scienceofmagic]

I don't know. I think Akechi's theory about missing memories is correct.

[ ...Which fills her with dread, but she's hiding it very well. She knows what she was working on, what she was doing... ]

[theirmagic]

... If it is, Croix...

[ She tugs a bit at her hair for a moment, then chews her lip. She'd assumed it was because her glamour wasn't active, here, but what if--

What if there was another reason?

What reason could she POSSIBLY have to want to openly be Chariot again? ]

... I'm worried...