And with the sweat of your brow...

[bathymetric]

Fun Fact: Did you know that if the multiverse is real, there could be an almost infinite square mileage of completely unexplored ocean out there?

No reason.

...

You wake in one of 25 rooms with a sense of unease that doesn't quite track with how nice the accommodations are. Maybe it has something to do with the giant window leading out to the sea. The temperature is low, which might make you wish you had woken up under the luxurious covers instead of atop them. The lights, too, are low. But next to your bed is a small personal radio, and it's playing a song for you. There's also a small note printed on folded cardstock next to it.

Dear Prospective Citizen,

Welcome to the Helios Suites at New Rapture. The time should currently be 12:00 PM. Please take a moment to get your bearings and become acquainted with your new environment, then meet in the hotel lobby at 1:30 PM sharp for an orientation with Mayor Fontaine.

With only that for guidance, there's only the one thing to do: get out there and start exploring... well, it's hardly a full city, but it's something! And in the halls (or on the wall of your suite or the lobby), you very well may find up to 24 other captives.

What you do until your meeting with Mayor Fontaine, well... that's up to you. Every room certainly gives you something to talk about.

Comments

[onemillion]

That's... I never would have imagined such a thing could happen to begin with, let alone twice.

[yikes. you really do have it rough, buddy.]

Was the place you were in similar to this one?

[sixthnonsense]

Big freakin' same! I wouldn't believe it if I didn't go through it myself!

[Maybe in a manga or video game premise, but in real life? Hell no! And yet...]

No, it was the school I was supposed to attend: Hope's Peak Academy. It got taken over though, and only the kids from my class were left in there when we woke up. I dunno if whoever is runnin' this is in league with any of that, but I gotta wonder... The phrasing's almost exactly the same!

[Graduating via murder...]

[onemillion]

It does seem like too much of a coincidence, particularly with similar wording. Perhaps once our captor has made an appearance this will make more sense.

[turns out mayor fontaine's just monobear.]

[sixthnonsense]

[muffled upupupupu in the distance]

Yeah, I guess we're just gonna have to wait and see. I'm really not looking forward to it though, 'specially if this really is what it's starting to seem like.

[He lets out a suffering sigh.]

Uggggh, I don't wanna do this again! It was hard surviving one of these things!

[onemillion]

There's still a chance that this was merely meant to unnerve us. It's too early for us to say one way or another just yet.

[lmao yeah sure rossiu, this definitely isn't a murdergame..........]

[sixthnonsense]

[If Hagakure hadn't just endured a murdergame for himself, he would absolutely fall into this line of thinking too. Unfortunately...]

That's what I thought the first time around! Then people actually started dying for real! We're so friggin' screwed, man...

[onemillion]

[rip poor hagakure...]

I understand your concern, and I sincerely hope we can avoid any deaths - but for now, we need to try to remain calm. Panicking won't help any. If we can work together, surely we can find a way to solve this without violence.

[sixthnonsense]

[Hopefully not literal rip at any point.

That seems to pull Hagakure out of his little funk, if only somewhat. This is the kind of optimism he'd come to expect from Naegi, so it's something he can get behind...]

I sure hope you're right, 'cause it sure didn't go like that the first time around. We managed to get out, but we lost a lot of people along the way.

[onemillion]

[hagakure for survivor pool r2]

I truly am sorry. I can only imagine what it must have been like.

[And boy does that sound like it would've sucked a lot!!!]

We'll see what we can do to make it through this. As long as we can work together, I have faith we'll find a way to overcome.

[sixthnonsense]

[The survivor pool does not deserve that.]

You definitely sound just like my friend who survived the game with me. He had the same views, and I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have made it out at all if we didn't believe him.

[So this is reassuring!]

I'm Hagakure, by the way.

[onemillion]

[Oh, that is quite flattering...]

Rossiu. It's a pleasure to meet you... well, as much as it can be in this situation, anyway.

I cannot promise I'll be quite as effective as your friend, but I intend to find a way for us all to return home as soon as possible.

[sixthnonsense]

Same here, killing games aside.

Well, at least I can maybe offer advice if you ever need it... Not that I like having experience with killing games.

[onemillion]

Certainly not. I do hope that the rule is just a poor attempt at a joke... but we'll see soon enough.

[Hopefully. If their captor leaves them alone with no answers then things will go very poorly!!!]

[sixthnonsense]

[Narrator: Things were going to go poorly either way.]

Gods, I'd love for it to be a joke, you have noooo idea. [Ah.] Well, yeah you do, actually. But you know what I mean.

Seriously though, everything about this is so weird already. They've actually got an underwater city and it's not even Atlantis! Maybe. I'm still not convinced that it's not Atlantis.

[onemillion]

Atlantis? What is that?

[oh no here we go]

[sixthnonsense]

[Imagine him doing the junkos.jpg pose here.]

It's an ancient magical city that sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean aaages ago and no one's been able to find it since. Or so they say. But what if someone actually did find it and repurposed it into this place? Pretty mind-blowing to think about, right?

[onemillion]

Fascinating. I can't imagine there are many underwater cities, so perhaps you're right.

[i am so sorry but this is so goddamn funny]

[sixthnonsense]

[Hagakure is so excited to have someone going along with this nonsense.]

Exactly! There's like, two, and Atlantis is the more well-known one so naturally this Fontaine guy was gonna go for that.

[onemillion]

That does make sense, if it's an immediately recognizable place to some people, that might instill a sense of fear - if this Fontaine can reclaim Atlantis, what else is he capable of?

[This is a very sound train of logic and not a wild conspiracy theory, idk what you're talking about.]

[sixthnonsense]

Oh my gods, thank you. You wouldn't believe how many people called bullcrap when I said this, but you get it!

[Yes, he wants to feel triumphant about this even though the overall premise is horrifying. He likes to be right.]

[onemillion]

...Why would people doubt you?

[this is the most innocent question. he'll understand when hagakure starts going on about ghosts later.]

[sixthnonsense]

[WHAT IS SO BAD ABOUT THE GHOST TALK--]

Don't ask me. They're the ones who don't believe Atlantis exists.

[onemillion]

[it's SHENANIGANS, hagakure. NO FUN ALLOWED.]

I suppose they would change their minds after seeing something like this.

[sixthnonsense]

[Okay but ghosts aren't fun!!!]

You'd think, but the people in my suite don't even believe it!

[onemillion]

Really? I wouldn't have thought...

[...Okay, actually.]

Never mind. There are plenty of people here I could see lacking any common sense.

[this is going to be HILARIOUS in hindsight.]