WEEK 2

[bathymetric]

So far, good news! You've managed to avoid killing! A week has passed in the facility, but how many more are there to go until one of you tries out Rule Seven? I mean.... we know, but.

No new areas just yet, it remains you guys and yours here for now. Well, and Angel, but again - you don't exactly see her unless you want to. It's more than a little lonely... maybe someone ought to shake things up.



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 2, your first case week! Remember to turn in regains here, your AC for last week here, and if you like, come visit Angel's office hours here!

Comments

[fivestagegod]

[You'll notice a couple of signs as you're out and about the facility today! The first is in the lounge, where Birkin is currently not but a giant ominous sign bearing his shitty handwriting is, near the door.

MEETING TOMORROW - 2:00 PM, IN HERE
ATTENDANCE NOT MANDATORY BUT APPRECIATED
WE SHOULD PROBABLY DISCUSS WHAT WE'VE LEARNED SO FAR
...That said, putting that up is about the extent of his usefulness today, because he is...rather suddenly distracted by something he got out of the machine; if you are in the south tunnel today, you may notice one of these repulsive-ass things clinging squelchily to the glass. It doesn't seem to be doing much, mind you, it's just kind of oozing its way slowly and wetly up the wall of the tunnel and being way larger than it has the right to be. Like a goddamn deflated football.

Birkin is nearby, obviously keeping an eye on it, and while he's definitely talking to the thing in question it's the sort of thing that doesn't expect an answer and is only being done because doing otherwise feels stupid.]

I have no idea what you were doing in there. I suppose it's for the best that you didn't die in there...

[Nice people saying wonderful things.

...That said, there's going to be a second sign up in the room with the vending machine that night, um.

IF ANYONE FINDS ANY MASSIVE LEECHES
OR OTHER LIVING THINGS THAT APPEAR EITHER DISEASED
OR JUST DEEPLY UNHOLY
PLEASE LET ME KNOW IMMEDIATELY
- WILLIAM BIRKIN
...yep.]

south tunnel

[philoxenia]

[ You know what doesn't give a shit about how horrible something is, and will just go right the fuck up to it to check it out and make friends?

The dog that is currently doing just that. Mira isn't far behind, but when she sees Daisy trying to get all up in the slug's business, she rushes over to pick up the corgi. ]

You shouldn't run off like that, you know... What if you'd gotten into trouble?

[fivestagegod]

[Oh no, baby.

...The leech does not seem particularly pleased with this turn of events, but does not seem capable of doing much about it because it is in fact a simple organism that can't do much in general. It can, however, apparently slide a couple of inches further down toward the floor. All that progress undone. Sad.

That said, Birkin will absolutely look up to see whose dog this is, and it only follows a couple of seconds later that it's weird to have a dog in here at all? What the- ]

Is that yours? ...Did the Professor give it to you?

[philoxenia]

[ Yeah, it's sure fuckin' weird, ain't it.

Either way, she nods, holding the dog close... who's trying very hard to get to the curse of a creature. ]

She, um. Came out of the vending machine. [ She looks extremely disturbed as she says it, which like. Who can blame her. ] She's actually mine.

[fivestagegod]

...Of course.

[Dog in the vending machine. Why not. At this point, why wouldn't there be a dog in the vending machine.]

I wouldn't let her eat that, incidentally. We're going to have a lot of problems on our hands if she does.

south tunnel

[hardnosed]

What is that.

[ Nice people! Wonderful things! ]

[fivestagegod]

[Oh, hey Jasper. For what it's worth, the leech seems to give not a fuck and is just kind of oozing its way up the glass. Slowly. This is new and confusing and it is a simple leech.]

It's a leech. Sort of.

[how is something only "sort of" a leech- ]

It's something my employers were running tests on. I have no idea why it's here, but it's definitely one of theirs.

[hardnosed]

[ She leans in a little to check said simple leech out up close, scowling (or that's just her face), and prods at it with her index finger. ]

Your employers — they're the ones in charge of your directives. Is everyone you work under a researcher of [ yuck ] things like this?

[fivestagegod]

[It squishes a little! There is nothing hard about this thing, like, at all. Just wiggles.]

We study diseases, actually. This thing just happens to thrive when we infect it with something that kills a lot of people, and we want to know why. It's not all disgusting, I promise.

south tunnel

[onefuture]

[You know. There are a lot of things that Lif expects to see around this place by now, but some-fucking-how the leech actually manages to get Lif to pause while he walks around, and. Um.]

What is-- [Wait, wait, he's read about these before, but they're not supposed to be this big???] Is that supposed to be a leech?

[WILLIAM EXPLAIN]

[fivestagegod]

Ostensibly. That is ostensibly still a leech.

[It's gross! And just kinda wiggling its way up the glass squelchily like it does not have a single damn to give today, probably because it doesn't.]

It's something my employers were running tests on. No idea why it's here.

[onefuture]

...I see. Your employers were certainly...creative, at any rate.

[...That's not exactly confidence inspiring...]

What exactly is it supposed to be able to do?

[Lif's eyes just kind of...stay on the leech. Watch it just go about it's 'no thoughts, head empty' life, probably. But you know, he'll bite. Maybe it won't be like opening Pandora's Box, or it'll just be a lot of 'congratulations, it's fucking nothing'!]

[fivestagegod]

It's not supposed to be able to do anything, I'm pretty sure. We run tests on things like this sometimes if we suspect they're spreading disease. Or if they're immune to certain diseases, like this thing is, we analyze them to try to figure out why that might be.

[...Sort of, anyway.]

Basically, it's great at fighting off something that's killing a lot of people. It just absorbs the illness and adapts to it instead of getting sick, so there's something in it that we want to try to understand.

[...]

Granted, that particular virus also makes them huge. We're...not sure why it does that, either.

Vending Machine

[drladysounds]

[While that second sign is being placed, Shelley approches, hoping to use her coins. Ooooh that sure is a sign]

Tell me 'massive leeches' is a metaphor for something. Tell me it's a twisted way of saying 'harmless rodents'.

[Last thing they need is diseased leeches! This is an enclosed space!]

[fivestagegod]

[Hey, Shelley.]

No, it's... I got a leech out of there. For some reason. At least it was a familiar leech, I guess?

[drladysounds]

...if it's familiar does it mean it came from a laboratory you know?

[At least she didn't say 'your laboratory', because she wants to give the benefit of doubt]

south tunnel

[shieldsister]

[Okay. This is happening.]

Did you get that thing out of the machine?

[fivestagegod]

Damn right I did.

[The leech, meanwhile, does not seem to care about anything that's happening here. It's just going to keep slowly oozing its way to what it probably assumes is freedom up there, because it is a simple leech.]

[shieldsister]

...I see.

[SHE DOES NOT SEE.]

What is it?

[It looks kinda like a leech but like. A big gross one. Which is. Mildly horrifying.]

South Tunnel

[lovelikeyou]

[Well, there's at least one person here who will genuinely like the leech.]

Oh! Look at it! [Rose seems about as delighted as she did about the pretty, harmless fish.] What is it?

[fivestagegod]

[Hey there, Rose.]

That is a leech. Allegedly. I'm pretty sure it's still mostly that.

[lovelikeyou]

I've seen leeches before, but never any like this!

[She reaches out - oh lord she's about to let it crawl onto her arm huh]

South Tunnel

[ladygeryon]

[Nira doesn't look too bothered about the giant leech. Hey, there's weirder Pokemon.]

Is that one of your companions?

[fivestagegod]

[Oh, hey Nira.]

Well, since it fell out of the machine and it's familiar to me, I guess it is now. It's not something I really kept as a pet or anything, but I worked with it for a while.

[ladygeryon]

Worked with? What do you mean by that? [She comes a little closer to get a better look at the blobby leech boy.]