Week 1

[bathymetric]

Good morning, New Rapture. A new day is dawning.

There may not be much light to differentiate the days here, but the lights of the part of the city you're in change enough by the clock that you can almost believe there's a sun somewhere. It looks like Mayor Fontaine has no intention of going back on his deal, and for the time being? You're all stuck here. But there's plenty to do, and... maybe not plenty to see, but there's enough. There's something, at any rate.

Especially if you're willing to look beyond the surface.

And if you spend enough time around others, you might find something neat!

No matter what, it's time to start getting to know your fellow captives. You might be here a while.




MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to the first week of Unknown Seas Round 3! We're very excited to have you. Please make sure to mark any investigation toplevels accordingly, and you can reach either Mayor Fontaine or Eleanor for conversations! ]

Comments

THURSDAY

[bathymetric]

[hotpaprika]

[Early on Thursday morning, everyone will find a piece of paper slipped under the door of each suite (with exception of Suite 1, where it is placed on a table in the common room). It is written in neat caligraphy and it's clear that the person who wrote this took great effort to make this look as nice as possible.]

New Rapture's First Annual Garden Party
When: Friday, 5pm
Who: The new citizens of New Rapture
Where: The New Rapture Garden
What: As a celebration of the 25 new citizens of this fair undersea town, I am hosting a dinnertime party at the beautiful city garden. I invite everyone to enjoy refreshments and good company as we celebrate our new home together.

If you would like to contribute, please contact your host, Jonathan Harker. I would be more than happy to accept additional help and provide information about the event.

~Jonathan Harker

[Throughout the day, you will find Jonathan either at the Kitchen, mulling over menu options, or in the garden proper fretting over making sure everything looks nice. Ever once in awhile, you can see him sighing to himself, looking contemplative.

He really hoped this was a good idea.]

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy, who once again seems to misplaced some if not all of his brain cells for the umpteenth time, finds Jonathan in the kitchen. He stops abruptly to slam the piece of paper down on the closest piece of furniture that happens to be between them.]

Are there gonna be any hot girls at this party?

kitchen

[capreelcious]

[ Floyd peeks into the kitchen to see what's happening in here, and also he kind of wanted to get a little snack for himself. For as tall as he is, he's kind of quiet as he makes his way over, checking out the options too. ]

Whatcha thinkin' for the party?

Kitchen

[giddyundertaker]

[ The Undertaker has seen your invitation and has decided to join you in the kitchen. He's already removed his overcoat to better handle food, and is currently gathering ingredients from the shelves. Flour... Sugar... The eggs and butter he finds in the giant icebox thing... ]

... You don't happen to know if we have pastry cutters, do you?

garden

[visiblepattern]

[Seeing as the garden is one of the places Forrest has more or less staked out as a place he prefers being, he's here when Jonathan enters; he'd seen the invitation, surely, but it isn't until this exact moment that he remembers it. He rises from the bench he's been sitting on, the motion graceful, skirts swishing gently as he stands; he's smiling easily in greeting.]

Jonathan, hello - are you here with regards to the party tomorrow? I can help you with decorating the space, if you would like. Or...at least organizing it a little.

garden

[sastruga]

[After reading that paper, Mafuyu quickly sends out on her quest to find the man in question. A party, huh? She can certainly help with that.

The garden is, of course, the most obvious place to look for him. Lo and behold, Jonathan's gonna have an anime teen approaching.]

Oh, Harker-san! Just who I was hoping to see.

Are you still taking volunteers to help set up?

kitchen

[prompocalypse]

[Penelope is mildly peeved that he set this up before she did, it's normally her that hosts parties back home, but she's been a bit off her game. Still, instead of whining about that and being a total control freak, she decides to just come find him and ask to help him make his party cooler.]

It's a nice idea, the party. Do you need any help with hosting, like... keeping things modern and safe and all that? [She smiles.] It's a pretty unique circumstance to hold a party in.

garden

[timegazer]

[Well! Adaman has to admit, he's certainly interested in the idea of this party--Adaman usually comes into the garden early in the morning to pray now, but he'll flag Jonathan down when he sees the man hard at work.]

Hoo there, Jonathan! Are you accepting anymore hands to assist for your party?

garden

[honeyedtea]

[ ... Is now really the time for a party?

That's the thought that immediately pops into Mielle's head when she first reads the invitation. Then she reminds herself – it's the duty of a noble to hold their head high and act with grace and dignity no matter what situation they've found themselves in. She doesn't think Jonathan is a noble (though he knows how to mind his manners better than most of the nobles she knows) but maybe he's coming from a similar place.

And if there's anything Mielle knows, it's how to throw a dignified party. So she makes her way down to the garden to find him and catches him mid-sigh. ]

Ah... Mister Harker? Are the preparations not going as planned?

[visiblepattern]

[So Forrest has spent a good amount of time somewhere between confused at and abjectly terrified of some elements of modern living, but by now he's gotten the gist of a lot of it; the restaurant is still kind a marvel and he isn't entirely sure how it works, but he seems to have just accepted that it does. So he's in there this morning, and he's got eggs that have been quite expertly poached, and there's parmesan foam and-

He just sort of sighs after a moment, though he doesn't push it away or anything.]

It feels strange to be doing this - I'm eating far better here than anyone ever does in my homeland. It seems wrong.

[...He'll probably be fine eventually. At the very least, even if it feels wrong to eat it, it feels moreso to waste it.

That said, with regards to the issues of modern living, there's still one machine that he has yet to figure out; thankfully, the vending machine seems like less of a total mystery when he remembers the coins he's found, and realizes that there's a slot. A quick run upstairs to get them and he's back, and it looks like Coin A does in fact go in Slot B, and it isn't long before he's inserting them and- ]

Eek!

[...Shrieking like something just bit him.]

Why are there worms in there? That's repulsive!

[...He seems to be paying no regard to the fact that he got an actual goddamn weapon from that thing, the main concern is the worms. After a moment of looking disgusted at them, he'll kind of soften a bit, though he's still clearly pretty grossed out; just the same, he'll...pick them up, gingerly... Back into the cup they go...

Of course, that just means he'll be in the garden later; outside of the fact that it's one of the few places here that he actually likes, he is, quite carefully, putting the worms in there, because where else do you put a bunch of worms.]

I honestly don't know where you came from, but hopefully you'll stay in there instead of inside the machine.

Garden

[kninja]

[Obi's running out of things to do inside. Granted, there's not much to do outside, either--as much as the area around the hotel counts as "outside" when it's still an enclosed bubble in the ocean--but it still feels a little more natural walking the paths than spinning his wheels indoors. It's not as big as he likes and he wishes the trees were taller, but the smell of green, growing things is comforting.

Oh, hey, that's one of the younger people he hasn't talked to yet. Obi pauses and then changes direction to see what Forrest's up to.]

Hey. Whatcha got there?

Garden

[pairtner]

[Well! Annelids aren't bugs at all, but it's something. Aiba finds herself kind of pleased about seeing them poured into the garden -- she has been lounging around among the plants. It's a good place to watch without being watched.

When Forrest does this, though, she decides she may as well talk. All of a sudden Aiba's projection appears beside Forrest]

Dendrobaena worms live under moist surface material. They'll have no reason to leave the soil here.

[She really seems pleased. What can she say, she was kind of disappointed about the lack of bugs and other life in this indoor garden]

vending machine

[sastruga]

[The shriek gets her attention immediately, and immediately Mafuyu drops what she's doing to hurry over. Hearing someone yell in a situation like this, uh... it's a little worrying.]

What's going--

...huh?

[Oh.

W...orms???]

Yard sard shennanigans

[giddyundertaker]

[ Did anyone else get random coins beside your bed? The Undertaker sure did, and he's decided to try them on that funny vending machine in the lobby.

What does he get? Oh, random things! By now he's pulled out a mask, a stuffed friend, a pad of fancy paper, some giant book containing text way too small for him to read, and cheap red bathrobe. Having set most of this stuff to the side of the machine for now, he puts the next coin in... ]

Wah! [ He stumbles back as literally a gallon of saltwater spews forth from the opening of the machine! It just spills out of the machine and pools onto the floor... And that's it.

This leaves him confused. He kneels closer and sticks his hand in the slot, feeling around the inside. ]

Huh? Where's the rest of it gone to?

[sastruga]

Ah--!

[It's a bit of a delayed yelp, as Mafuyu doesn't quite notice the water at first. But she hops back a little bit, narrowly avoiding slipping on the sudden water.]

Don't tell me we have a leak?

[withagun]

[ Just after he spends part of his day attempting to figure out how to get the vending machine to work, lo and behold, he receives...just these really weird coins? Well, he knows exactly where coins go.

Standing at the vending machine, he stares it down. ]

Okay. If it doesn't work... I stop after one.

[ And yet it definitely works! Honestly, shooting out cake first is the best way to get any teenager to throw away their money. And, the second best way is... ]

Rain!

[ A small meow and a jingling bell accompany his enthusiasm as he scoops up the small kitten that emerges from the vending machine's flap. The kitten mews again, reaching out his paws for Hodaka's face. ]

What were you doing in there, buddy...?! [ ...He draws the kitten—Rain—close and buries his face in his fur. ] What were you...doing in there...? It's so good to see you.

[ So now the day is solely dedicated to making his cat feel comfortable!! Literally fuck everything else- okay no he doesn't leave his junk in the lobby, though he may need some help shuttling it up to his room.

After that, however! It's All Cat, All The Time. Hodaka can be found in the restaurant looking over the menu with Rain tucked carefully in the crook of one elbow. This kitten must be ridiculously comfortable with him, because he is fine with it. Literally just melts against his human. ]

No... No... I think that one has breading... Sorry, Rain. If only we had Calorie-Mate...

[ Rain mews in response.

Eventually, where Hodaka settles is the garden, where he lets Rain wander and stretch his legs. The nisse he received serves as Rain's new toy, but largely the little kitten seems preoccupied with his own faint reflection on the dome of water. Perfectly unbothered, he starts pawing and playing with it, standing up on hind leg to try and be taller than the "other cat," who matches him perfectly. Hodaka watches, fondly. ]

Not a care in the world...

[ He sounds just a little envious.


*As a fun special note, Japanese characters or those who speak Japanese can hear Rain's name as Ame, the Japanese word for "rain," and I'm going to use the two interchangeably depending on who I'm threading with. It defaults to what you know, I'll write accordingly. For those bilingual folks, use either Ame or Rain at your discretion. ]

Restaurant

[kninja]

Oh?

[Obi pauses with fork halfway to his mouth, then straightens and puts his food down.]

Li'l Daka! Where'd you find a cat?

garden

[visiblepattern]

[Forrest is...doing better after getting Wormed At, and he's made sure to put them somewhere that he doesn't think they'll be too disturbed; just the same, he looks over when he hears that someone else has come in, and holy shit is that a cat it's so cute -

His first instinct is just to approach it, but he freezes up not long after he starts; his hands fly up over his mouth as though to forcibly keep himself quiet. He closes his eyes for a brief moment before reopening them and trying to make his way over as best he can.]

Where did you find this cat, Hodaka?

[It's said as gently as possible, though he's keeping an eye on the cat as he says it.]

vending machine

[specialyellthing]

... Did you just pull that puss outta that vending machine?

[dullshooter]

[Now with actual currency for it, Misfire makes another trip to the vending machine and comes out with more than just a blow to his ego. With the amount of crap it spits out, perhaps his days of painful boredom are over?

...At least for 24 hours.

First thing he does (after hauling all his collected garbage back to his room) is to prowl the building with his foam dart pistol in hand. Maybe you've spotted him pressed against the wall around a corner, looking very intense and quiet - or you've felt the light thwap of foam-to-skin impact. Or - most likely - you've seen the dart miss you completely.

After having his fun with acting like a literal child, Misfire, at some point in the evening, sets up a table in the restaurant. To his right, on one of the seats, sits his newly acquired plush penguin, dressed up in one of the complimentary bathrobes. The rest of his haul (barring the toy laser sword and gun) are sprawled out on the table with a hastily-scrawled sign that reads: SCAV SWAP.

In hindsight, he doesn't have much, but, hey - maybe someone really wants a lemon?]

[onemillion]

[It seems Rossiu has been blessed(?) with some of those silver coins. So naturally, after spending some time trying to figure out where they came from, he makes his way over to the vending machine. It's not particularly difficult to figure out how it works, and so now Rossiu's the proud owner of some... weird stuff. You can find him in here afterwards, where he's sorting through these items (after having moved them out of the way of the vending machine, of course). The books have his attention more than anything else, and you can find him flipping through the Trust Exercises one in particular, looking extremely baffled. It's almost like this is a reference to something he just doesn't get, huh...

Anyway, once he notices your presence, Rossiu looks up.]

Have you received some of those coins? Apparently this machine has some truly bizarre things in it.

[inaclearing]

[Brett wakes on Thursday to find a small pile of mysterious coins on his bedside table. After showering and dressing - unfortunately, in the tie-dye T-shirt and jeans today - he wanders out of his suite with them. Luckily, there's only so many things around here one could possibly do with coins; he goes straight for the mystery vending machine.

At first, you can find him standing in front of it with a modest pile of items on the floor. There's some kind of odd plastic doll in his hands; it's got a large head and round black eyes, and it looks like a girl wearing a red hoodie. A little weird, but not that scary, as dolls go. Still, his hands are shaking slightly.]

This is...what is this?

[Later on, you can find him with a larger pile of items, getting completely bowled over by a dog! He's laughing a little, letting it lick his face, but also:]

How the hell did you just come out of there, buddy?

Small Investigation

[sixthnonsense]

[Though this situation is nothing new to Hagakure, having gone from such a small group of survivors to a full group of 25 has certainly been a lot to readjust to. In addition, knowing what will likely become of this group only makes him even more uneasy. So while he's not currently going through the crisis that he was on day one, his mind is definitely elsewhere at times.

That is, until boredom begins to creep back in. He had so much to work with in Hope's Peak! But here? Nothing aside from maybe the garden to chill in! He's not one for working out and breaking a sweat, and the pool is a no-go, so things are certainly dire. There's apparently going to be a party later, but what is he supposed to do until then?

Eh, fuck it, maybe he can try to get the TV working. So early in the afternoon, Hagakure can be found in suite 2, fiddling with the TV in there and seeing if he can get any kind of signal that isn't just endless static.

When he goes to flop on his bed after the TV nonsense, he comes across some coins! Where the hell did they come from? He has no idea, but he's not going to question it. Going off of a hunch, he tests them at the vending machine. His regret is almost instantaneous as a gush of seawater is the first thing to come out, splashing all over his pants and feet.]

Oh, come on. Seriously?!

[That should have been a sign from the fates to not continue, but he does anyway. And he ends up with some stuff! One of those things looks uncomfortably familiar...but maybe he's just imagining things.]

Huh. Where the heck do I put all of this?

[Sorry suite 2, most of it is getting dumped in the living area for now. But hey, free stuff maybe? He stashes the alcohol in his room for now, and changes into the hideous kigurumi while his pants dry.

Once he's entertained himself as much as he can with his new goods, Hagakure makes his way to the garden for a little meditation. However, that meditation eventually turns to him lying on a bed of grass with his arms behind his head and his eyelids drooping dangerously into nap territory. Maybe someone should shake him out of that before he gets punished for sleeping in public.]

[pairtner]

[These have been some interesting days. Being her, she doesn't really feel any boredom. When you spend around twenty hours a day stuck in someone's eyesocket, you can't be impatient. Still, Aiba needed some stimulation anyway. That was part of the reason why sometimes she would sneak around and do mischief in Date's apartment, doing things like leaving bags of flour inside his glove box. Other times she would use her internet access to scour databases, and other times to do 'research'. She liked to indulge in stuff from time to time.

Here, though, she didn't have WiFi, and the situation was too serious for her usual brand of mischief. She didn't know these people all that well yet, and one mistake could turn the situation unbearable. So she sought other ways to keep herself busy and entertained.

Restaurant

Ah, look at something that was left here on the table! It seems to be a diagram of the pneumo machines that deliver food. It's a highly technical diagram, showing every bit of the mechanics behind this machine. Every coil, every hidraulic tube, every inch of it was sketched. It was partly speculation, but most of it was what she could see with her X-ray vision.

Where is its author, though? Nowhere to be seen for a moment. Well, actually, she was trying once again to open it up, and hides whenever someone comes to the restaurant. If somebody comes close to the diagram, Aiba's projection appears, though. It's great to be able to project this from a distance away!]

Be careful. The ink is wet.

[Figuring the pneumo out is of no use...or maybe it can be. Aiba has been toying with the idea of maybe sneaking in there to reach other areas of this city, but without a certainty it's safe...better not risk it, she decided. Oh well.

Garden

You know, Aiba likes insects. Where there are plants, it's very likely there will be bugs of some sort. She has seen so many houseplants with insects, and it's easy to encounter ants and the such anywhere. But here, in this city, there's no such thing. She would know! She has been running around, using her small size to have a little adventure among the plants.

And...nope, no life other than plants. Oh well.

If you come to the garden and are passing by perhaps you'll feel yourself watched. If you're especially sharp-eyed, maybe you'll see a small, rodent-like form for a brief moment]

A large garden and not an insect in sight. This is a poor example of an ecosystem.

[She awards 0/10 to this garden]