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Post by Bad Player on Dec 27, 2021 3:31:40 GMT
"You're not my fucking mom. And I'm not some stupid kid!" Ari yelled. "Besides, how the hell can you protect me in here? You can't just pick me up and take me away from this place." At the mention of Argus' room, Ari paused, but shook her head. "I've already made up my mind. I'm going with Sato. I don't care if you don't trust him. I do. I'm going in this room without you, and you can't stop me." "I know I'm not your mom, but I'm still the one in charge of taking care of you!" Fen screamed back. "I don't know how I can protect you, but that's exactly why I need to go in the same room, because there's no way I can do anything if I'm locked in another room!" Fen paused, took a deep, quick breath, and turned to Elisha. "Elisha," she said in a perfectly calm tone, "Would you mind going into Argus' room so that I can go in Hakim's? I would really appreciate it if I could go in the same room as Ari. I know you were looking forward to catching up with Hakim, but... hopefully you can do that once we've all safely left this place."
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Post by Doctor Nanjo M.D. on Dec 27, 2021 4:28:31 GMT
“Of course Miss Fen, I won’t take any more convincing,” Elisha swishes her finger in the air, gesturing for them to swap places. “V, Argus, and I should make a well-balanced team to ride the coaster.”
Elisha waves to Hakim and makes her way over to Argus’s room.
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Post by Blinky on Dec 27, 2021 4:38:43 GMT
“H-Hey!” Ari attempted to protest. But there was nothing she could do. She muttered some more colorful words under her breath.
With an annoyed sigh. Ari shoved her hands back in her hands in her pockets. “Fine. Whatever. Not like you’d have listened to me anyways...”
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Post by Bad Player on Dec 27, 2021 4:48:07 GMT
"Thank you very much," Fen said to Elisha before walking over to Hakim's group, a satisfied grin on her face from her 'victory' over Ari.
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Post by Kachu on Dec 27, 2021 5:54:00 GMT
Coming to an agreement, the ten players scan their bracelets onto the Sefirot gates, putting a distance between the group as a whole.
After a short pause, each gate lets out an audible "Ding!" signifying that they'd be safe to pass through. Without any other options, their exploration of this strange place continues...
[Rooms have begun! Check your personal Role PM for your room topic. This part of the game shouldn't last longer than 2 days or so. Good luck!]
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Post by Kachu on Dec 29, 2021 21:10:10 GMT
After a long period, the area by the train is once again filled with people, each group joining one at a time.
Still shivering, Hakim’s group seems relieved to be back out here. Some of them still have their jackets zipped all the way up.
Wolfram looks the same as ever, but Charlotte lagging behind him seems visibly more shaken than before. Her hands and sleeves are stained dark red.
Argus and his group come last. Nothing about them seems odd, other than the axe Argus is holding next to him.
It seems like everyone has some things to talk about…
(The next day or so will be spent on a discussion about the rooms while I think about how to exactly set up the next part of the game. It shouldn’t take too long! Feel free to prod each other about what the heck they did. I might be in touch with some of you soon about the next part of the game, so keep your eyes on your role PMs.)
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Post by Panda on Dec 29, 2021 21:25:45 GMT
The others caught the tail end of a conversation as Argus's group returned. By the sounds of it, Elisha had asked him about V. "Honestly, not much I can tell. I was on some street somewhere, on my way back from a night shift job I'd been working. By chance V bumped into me then. I helped her out, gave her a place to stay for a short while until she found her footing."
Now that he'd drawn closer, the others could see that something was actually different after all: his left hand had been bandaged, covering up what must have been a bad wound given how red the bandages were. He didn't seem at all concerned about it, though.
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Rosa
Full Member
Newton. But where is Oldton?
Posts: 232
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Post by Rosa on Dec 29, 2021 21:27:27 GMT
"We found this in the morgue." Wolfram held up a red key. "I was under the impression this was for the door but it unlocked by itself, so perhaps it will be useful for something else."
As usual, he didn't elaborate beyond that, other than giving Charlotte a worried glance. He seemed suspicious of the axe Argus was holding as well as his wounds.
"Pray tell, what did the rest of you uncover?"
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Post by Planetbox on Dec 29, 2021 21:29:18 GMT
"Geez, what happened to you guys?" V said, staring in shock at the shivering and bleeding group. I guess we lucked out. We just had some loud, intimacy-starved robots to deal with. And I guess Argus lost his finger, but...he didn't seem to bothered."
"Do you still have that first-aid kit?" she asked, glancing back at Argus before moving on with her explanation.
"Anyway, the only useful-looking thing we found in there was a newspaper article," she continued, her tone a little too upbeat. "I hate to bring up old wounds but...mentioned something about a killer called The Phantom and a huge explosion—at the Honda family estate."
She looked at Sato expectantly.
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Post by Blinky on Dec 29, 2021 21:46:52 GMT
"We had to recreate the four seasons to make some plant grow, and we needed to turn the furnace off for winter. Except that it took forever and we didn't have any other way to keep warm except for maybe the coffee machine." Ari tugged her parka tighter around herself. "I'm not sure if we really found anything, though. Sato read some papers about something called "miasma", but we had to burn those. Oh, and I also got trapped in a laser maze for a while."
The mention of the Honda family made Ari tense up for a moment. She glanced back at Sato, before turning her glare on V, as if mentioning it had somehow been her fault.
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Post by Panda on Dec 29, 2021 22:23:02 GMT
"One of the contraptions wouldn't let us past without a 'sacrifice'. I want to get this all done with asap, so I lopped off one of my fingers. Didn't need it much anyway," Argus elaborated unconcernedly. "I'm more concerned with what happened in the morgue right now." He raised the first aid kit he was carrying. "Anything need tending?"
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Post by Joker on Dec 29, 2021 23:01:58 GMT
Sato tensed up at the mention of the explosion.
"...Did our kidnapper throw that newspaper in there just to reopen old wounds?" He asked, frowning. "That explosion was years ago. There's no way it's relevant now."
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Post by Doctor Nanjo M.D. on Dec 29, 2021 23:14:15 GMT
The others caught the tail end of a conversation as Argus's group returned. By the sounds of it, Elisha had asked him about V. "Honestly, not much I can tell. I was on some street somewhere, on my way back from a night shift job I'd been working. By chance V bumped into me then. I helped her out, gave her a place to stay for a short while until she found her footing." "And she was just as she is now? Or..." Elisha realizes that her conversation is being interrupted by the others and lets go of her thoughts. She looked at Sato expectantly. She clear her throat to get V's attention, "That article on the Honda family bombing gave us was pretty thorough. What is it that you really want to know? We might not even have to bother Sato about it if I know the answer."
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Post by dootdoot on Dec 29, 2021 23:24:22 GMT
"Cutting off a finger? Are you sure you're alright?" Yesod looked more concerned about it than the person in question. Actually, he looked shaken up in general, fidgeting with his sleeves and occasionally trying to touch his face. "Well, what happened in the morgue seems tame by comparison. To progress we had to... Cut a woman's heart out. Er, not Charlotte, not her! Well, she did do the cutting, but it was a dead woman. A corpse from the morgue. There were a lot of those there..."
He tried to steady himself before continuing. "There was a row of named coffins there. Some with more corpses, some empty. They were..."
[#spoiler]"E. Cain" (Empty) "S. Desroches" (Badly burned corpse of a young woman) "A. Marshall" (Empty) "F. Ling" (Empty) "B. Laurier" (Headless corpse of a young man holding the red key)
"C. Laurier" (Empty, but opening it seemed to also unlock the door)[/spoiler]
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Post by Joker on Dec 30, 2021 0:10:41 GMT
She clear her throat to get V's attention, "That article on the Honda family bombing gave us was pretty thorough. What is it that you really want to know? We might not even have to bother Sato about it if I know the answer." "...It's alright Elisha." Sato said. "If it's relevant, I'll answer it if I can. If not then we're dropping this conversation." He looked at V as he spoke. "Cutting off a finger? Are you sure you're alright?" Yesod looked more concerned about it than the person in question. Actually, he looked shaken up in general, fidgeting with his sleeves and occasionally trying to touch his face. "Well, what happened in the morgue seems tame by comparison. To progress we had to... Cut a woman's heart out. Er, not Charlotte, not her! Well, she did do the cutting, but it was a dead woman. A corpse from the morgue. There were a lot of those there..." He tried to steady himself before continuing. "There was a row of named coffins there. Some with more corpses, some empty. They were..." [#spoiler]"E. Cain" (Empty) "S. Desroches" (Badly burned corpse of a young woman) "A. Marshall" (Empty) "F. Ling" (Empty) "B. Laurier" (Headless corpse of a young man holding the red key) "C. Laurier" (Empty, but opening it seemed to also unlock the door) [/spoiler] At the mention of the Desroches coffin, Sato turned to face Yesod, then quickly turned his attention back to Elisha. He wanted to say something to her but seemed to be at a loss for words.
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Post by Panda on Dec 30, 2021 0:19:57 GMT
"Cutting off a finger? Are you sure you're alright?" Yesod looked more concerned about it than the person in question. "It's just a finger. I've been through worse, this is nothing, really," Argus replied, returning the first aid kit to his side. "Thanks for the concern, but you don't need to worry about me! Save it for the others." He threw a sympathetic glance towards Charlotte. "Those are some pretty significant names. Everette Cain, I assume; a relative of Elisha's, perhaps; and... well, Fen Ling? Obviously she's standing right there, but the coffin's empty. I imagine some of the other names on that list are people's relatives, too." He said all of this rather bluntly.
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Post by Doctor Nanjo M.D. on Dec 30, 2021 1:23:04 GMT
"Well, what happened in the morgue seems tame by comparison. To progress we had to... Cut a woman's heart out." "And the corpse you three hacked into was that of S. Desroches? Ha!" Elisha's laugh comes out a pitch or two higher than expected, and she chokes back running her mouth further. "Well, it ain't news that she's dead if that's what everyone is wondering," she clarifies. "And I suppose there's no use crying over a spilled heart. I'm shook that someone was holding onto her though. That's the part that makes me upset."
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Post by Planetbox on Dec 30, 2021 2:07:47 GMT
“I’m not sure I had anything specific in mind. I just noticed the names matched up,” V replied. “But I’m wondering if the incident was connected to our kidnapper? Maybe they’re this mysterious Phantom? And if so, I was wondering if you were there, and might have even seen this ‘Phantom.’”
“I guess while we’re on the subject, I’m curious if this bomber was ever caught.”
She crossed her arms and looked away in contemplation, humming quietly to herself.
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Post by Joker on Dec 30, 2021 2:39:37 GMT
"Unless our kidnapper's the Phantom, then I don't think they're connected." Sato answered.
"But the bomber was the Phantom himself, I'm sure of it. I only caught a glimpse of him, unfortunately. The only thing I could make out through the fog was that he was wearing some kind of cloak."
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Post by Doctor Nanjo M.D. on Dec 30, 2021 2:47:22 GMT
"I'm thinking that there's a few people here who can answer those questions. From my perspective though I'll say the following;" Elisha holds up three fingers in front of V, showing off a silver band on her left ring finger.
"For your first question, I would say that our kidnapper has both sought to kidnap at least a few people familiar with the Phantom and has brought our attention to the Phantom through this article. And in these two ways I would say that at the very least our kidnapper has interest in the Phantom," she says as she presses down the first finger.
"For your inquiries about The Phantom, all I can say is that he was usually described as a man in a mask and a cloak, and he's a serial killer in London who used the fog to hide himself. As you've heard, Sato's testimony doesn't buy us much in addition."
"And... as you might be able to tell already, the Phantom is still at large, and no retribution has been brought down upon him," Elisha drops her hand down having gone through everything she had to say.
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Post by wintercoat on Dec 30, 2021 4:12:18 GMT
Charlotte seemed a little happy that everyone was okay, but turned to Elisha to correct her. “No… we didn’t find the Desroches coffin until after I… cut—ripped the heart out. I have no idea who that woman was…”
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Post by Doctor Nanjo M.D. on Dec 30, 2021 4:29:03 GMT
Elisha's mood brightens a little, "Oh! Thank you, Miss Charlotte. That is quite the relief to hear."
"For the benefit of the groups from the other two rooms, here's the article we found:"
[#spoiler=Newspaper Article]An old newspaper detailing an incident on the Honda's family estate, describing how despite there being an explosion of some sort, only two victims were reported dead. One being Graham Porter, an Enforcer sent to be a surveillance guard, and Honda Yuuki, the young heir of the family and its fortune. The head of the family, Honda Daichi, commented on how any association with London's notorious serial killer, the Phantom, is nonsense, but several eyewitnesses have testified about seeing his iconic mask.[/spoiler]
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Post by Blinky on Dec 30, 2021 4:48:53 GMT
Ari read the newspaper Elisha shared. Something about it definitely seemed to upset her, as she tensed up and shoved her hands deeper into her pockets. She muttered something under her breath, too quiet for anyone to hear. It was probably something vulgar anyways.
As she stood there, clearly uncomfortable with this entire situation, she suddenly remembered something. "Hey, hang on. You guys in the morgue got a red key, right? I think our room might've had a place where we could put that. Don't know why I didn't realize it until now. But I mean, it was the last thing we saw, and by that point I just really, really wanted to get the fuck out of there."
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Post by Bad Player on Dec 30, 2021 5:38:08 GMT
"Those are some pretty significant names. Everette Cain, I assume; a relative of Elisha's, perhaps; and... well, Fen Ling? Obviously she's standing right there, but the coffin's empty. I imagine some of the other names on that list are people's relatives, too." He said all of this rather bluntly. Fen slightly paled hearing about the corpse apparently meant for her. "I certainly don't intend to end up in there. I hope none of us end up there, either." She glanced at Charlotte. Ari read the newspaper Elisha shared. Something about definitely seemed to upset her, as she tensed up and shoved her hands deeper into her pockets. She muttered something under her breath, too quiet for anyone to hear. It was probably something vulgar anyways. "Are you okay?" Fen quietly asked Ari. She moved over to the girl when they started discussing the Phantom and the explosion. It seemed she had anticipated this sort of reaction from Ari.
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Rosa
Full Member
Newton. But where is Oldton?
Posts: 232
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Post by Rosa on Dec 30, 2021 7:34:23 GMT
Charlotte seemed a little happy that everyone was okay, but turned to Elisha to correct her. “No… we didn’t find the Desroches coffin until after I… cut—ripped the heart out. I have no idea who that woman was…” " The only thing about that woman that stood out other than that was that she wore a ring on her left ring finger." Wolfram clarified. " Beyond that, who she was is a mystery to us. I cannot say if there is a connection to the coffins we found, but we know that not all of them have to belong to people who are dead. I have not heard of Everett Cain's passing on at all, and obviously Miss Ling is alive and well with us still." He tensed up when the Phantom got brought up, and then spoke coldly. " Miss Elisha is correct. I do not think our kidnapper is the Phantom, but they are clearly aware of them and deem our knowledge of the killer important enough for this 'game'. A bombing committed by them is not something I was aware of, but I cannot put it past them. We must stay wary of this, just in case." " ...Oh, I almost forgot." The hateful look on his face disappeared as he recalled something. " Regarding the kidnapper, I believe we found something interesting in the morgue. There was a monitor which showed all eleven Sefirot and a small image of each next to them. Ten of the segments were lit green, with "ALIVE" printed underneath them, but Keter's cell was... different. It had no image of the Sefirot, only displaying a question mark, and... its cell was red. According to the monitor, Keter was "DEAD"." He paused to let this sink in. " I am unsure as to the implications of this, but it is something to consider. Though it could also just be our kidnapper messing with our minds." Seeing Ari bring up the place for the red key, he nodded. " I see... Well, at least we now know where our next destination will be after this. Was our room the only one with such a key, though? Well, I suppose your room at least had the place to use it in. Was there really nothing worthwhile in the coaster other than the newspaper, then?"
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Post by Doctor Nanjo M.D. on Dec 30, 2021 8:09:20 GMT
Fen slightly paled hearing about the corpse apparently meant for her. "I certainly don't intend to end up in there. I hope none of us end up there, either." She glanced at Charlotte. "Forgive me for being cynical, though I can't help but feel that more of you have coffins in there than just Miss Fen," Elisha gestures toward the people who didn't give their full names, such as Ari, Yesod, V, Argus, and Charlotte. "Also, did you folks say decapitated? Sounds like this B. Laurier young man was murdered barbarically," she points out. A bombing committed by them is not something I was aware of, but I cannot put it past them. "Are you perhaps familiar with this Phantom's other works? Perhaps they've been to your neighborhood?" she prompts the priest, as always, hunting for more information.
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Rosa
Full Member
Newton. But where is Oldton?
Posts: 232
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Post by Rosa on Dec 30, 2021 9:20:00 GMT
"I can't tell you anything about them that would help you particularly much." Wolfram pursed his lips and closed his eyes. It was hard to tell whether he was collecting his thoughts or trying to calm himself down. Either way, in typical fashion he simply didn't elaborate further than that. He truly was a man of few words.
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Post by Panda on Dec 30, 2021 11:10:13 GMT
Seeing Ari bring up the place for the red key, he nodded. " I see... Well, at least we now know where our next destination will be after this. Was our room the only one with such a key, though? Well, I suppose your room at least had the place to use it in. Was there really nothing worthwhile in the coaster other than the newspaper, then?" "Ours had the first aid kit, and V got her first roller coaster ride! Plenty of value to be had," Argus answered cheerily. "I'm really not sure what to make of those DEAD and ALIVE indicators though. Our kidnapper, the person with the red light, is most definitely alive," he then said. "What's the deal with that glowy thing, anyway? I suppose it's for lighting the way through the fog? Speaking of which, I assume the papers on 'miasma' were related to that."
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Post by wintercoat on Dec 30, 2021 14:24:40 GMT
Charlotte looked away from Fen and lightly scratched at her bandages. She forgot her arms were still covered in blood from the body in the morgue. “Oh… God, what a mess…”
All she could think about was the headless body.
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Rosa
Full Member
Newton. But where is Oldton?
Posts: 232
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Post by Rosa on Dec 30, 2021 15:33:22 GMT
"Red light? You mean...?" Wolfram got confused, thinking Argus was referring to his eye instead of the kidnappers. "This is unrelated to our kidnapper, I've had to wear this for years now. It is bionic- a replacement for what there once was."
Seeing Charlotte scratch at her bandages again, his attention became focused on her once more. "Do not think about it further", he warned. "Cleanse yourself now and forget it ever happened. Could somebody lend us something to clean with?" He asked the others.
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