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

[byanyother_name]

That's what I've been considering. Or whether there might be some other reason relevant to what is happening here for it to be in this state.

[That's how mysteries go, right? And she knows where to find Kurama if she wants his input. Though booze isn't his specialty.]

[incrediblystressedout]

This whole place is either abandoned or somehow populated by invisible people, so I'm gonna say abandoned.

[Please let her have this.]

Maybe whoever's keeping it here took it over suddenly?

[byanyother_name]

I'm inclined to say abandoned as well. Invisible people aren't generally incorporeal, as well, and no one has bumped into thin air.

[He is here to calm people down, not freak them out more. She can totally have this.]

That's certainly a possibility. In that case, there may be signs of who was here before.

[incrediblystressedout]

They were running a pretty upscale mall, if nothing else. Some of these stores are pretty high-end, and this is a lot of art for a business place.

[byanyother_name]

That's very true. Presumably it's in what was originally a good neighborhood. It's very clean, as well. Well-maintained outside of this supposed construction area.

[incrediblystressedout]

And honestly the construction makes sense if they were making enough money to add stuff like this, but then whatever happened here stopped them in the middle of it...

[byanyother_name]

That is a possibility. Though our captors have clearly already made adjustments to the mall. Why not do something about this?

Perhaps I'm simply paranoid, but in a situation like the one we're in, anomalies itch at me.

[incrediblystressedout]

Finding stuff that's out of place is kinda the basis of puzzle-solving. And scary as this stuff is, it's really kind of a big puzzle, when you think about it.

[byanyother_name]

It is. I like puzzles but I have to say I prefer them without the risk of death.

[That's not what he gets nine times out of ten, but he'd prefer it.]

[incrediblystressedout]

Wow, you too? That's exactly what I've been thinking for the last week. We should write a 'zine.

[byanyother_name]

One about puzzles or about avoiding the risk of death? [His tone is light and joking, eyes amused.]

[incrediblystressedout]

"Puzzle-solving for the death averse", maybe. We could get a deal with LucasArts.

...issue. Well, at least he didn't make the pun out LOUD.

[byanyother_name]

[He's more than willing to play along.] I must admit I'm not certain if that counts as a niche market or not. On the one hand, I would presume being death-averse to be the most common state of life. On the other, I think our situation of potentially deadly puzzles is less than common outside movie theaters.

[Or Makai. But that was a different issue.]

[incrediblystressedout]

Any puzzle can be pretty dangerous if something decides it doesn't like you while you're solving it.

[Jude.]

I think it could be useful.

[byanyother_name]

That...is very accurate. And rather insightful. [His voice is a quiet, resigned sigh, just for a moment. Kurama has run into enough like that.]

It would certainly be nice if we could save a few people from situations like our own.

[incrediblystressedout]

If we figure out how to do that, we're definitely writing it down.

[byanyother_name]

Given we are probably mostly from different worlds, at least we'll be assured widespread distribution.

[incrediblystressedout]

That's the theory everyone seems to be going with...are we sure about that, though? We're all from Earth, right? Different times definitely seems to be the case, but what does "different worlds" actually mean?

[byanyother_name]

'Parallel universes' would perhaps be a more apt description. There are definite differences in not just time period, but actual cosmology and I suspect to some extent physical laws.

[incrediblystressedout]

Physical laws?

Wait, is that why I have to carry everything around with my hands now? Because that's been slowly freaking me out, I just didn't want to say anything.

[byanyother_name]

[That actually manages to make him blink, congratulations, Joey.]

Well, we do have pockets? I take it you're used to a very different means of transporting items, however.

[incrediblystressedout]

Yeah, it's called a Sylladex. It's like a pocket you can put just about anything in. I assumed the people here just stole mine, but no one else seemed to be freaked out about it.

[It's one of those things she instinctively doesn't think about anyway, like how she can use ballet shoes and tap shoes without ever actually changing her footwear, or why giant monsters tend to take turns with her in a fight. Let's just not even get into that.]

[byanyother_name]

That sounds incredibly useful, to be honest. I'd be unhappy to have lost something of that sort, as well.

It's possible that they did take it, as they took our other belongings. I've never heard of anything like it that wasn't fictional, however.

[Every world has its little quirks, right?]

[incrediblystressedout]

It's pretty convenient, but I'm like 90% sure the whole "fetch modus" thing they're coming out with is going to ruin the things. Sorting is fine, but if I wanted to put all my stuff in a stack I'd just...put it in a stack.

[This Is Stupid.]

Anyway...what do you mean by "cosmology", exactly?

[byanyother_name]

I think that's the nature of business. Working to improve a good thing until you ruin it. Hopefully they'll realize it was a poor choice and rescind it.

[Sometimes stupid just happens.]

Ah... Well, where I come from, there are three worlds. Once there were four, in point of fact. I understand Ursula's home consists of only one world but it potentially includes a pocket dimension.