Week 2

[bathymetric]

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

It's now been a week since you were all captured. Perhaps you've already settled in. Perhaps you're already confident that you'll make it out of New Rapture alive. How serious about this could Mayor Fontaine possibly be, really?

While there still may not be much to do in your little hotel bubble, you've at least been granted a little more now - some kind of mysterious room and a sizeable library of all things. And in all the places you've looked so far, you've found valuable information, and even learned some of the story of New Rapture along the way.

Make sure to keep talking to the others! You want to keep those regain coins flowing, don't you?




SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to the second week of Unknown Seas Round 3! Please make sure to mark any investigation toplevels accordingly, and you can reach either Mayor Fontaine or Eleanor for conversations! ]

Comments

[onemillion]

Oh? What do you mean by that?

[Is he... from another world...????]

[onemillion]

[Listen, he's perfectly fine ignoring that elephant in the room right now!!!]

I suppose so, though I'm hardly the sort of person to "cut loose".

[He has no concept of fun. Look at him. This man is anti-fun.]

[onemillion]

...It isn't.

[Rossiu has always been a realist, and there's no way to look at a situation like this and cling to optimism.]

But we will do everything we can to keep moving. We have to. We cannot allow the Mayor to break us.

[It's far easier said than done, though.]

[onemillion]

[Oh... Right, yeah his profile does spell it out.]

I joined Simon in the fight against the Spiral King, yes. He piloted Lagann and I piloted Gurren; Gurren was damaged fairly early on in the fight so there wasn't much I could do beyond watch.

[...after he regained consciousness, anyway.........]

Simon was the one we all agreed should be the leader following the Spiral King's death. He was our first Supreme Commander. But due to... several factors, I inherited the position.

[That is the most bare-bones description of what happened that is only barely accurate, but he tried. Getting into it beyond that is... difficult and not something he's done, but given his gaze has gone back to Simon and he looks a bit unsure about the words, there's definitely more to it.]

[sixthnonsense]

[The pets are now accompanied by neck and ear scritches. It's also dawning on Hagakure in this moment that it's been so long since he's gotten to be around animals...and now there are so many wandering around! What they say about emotional support animals really is legit.]

And he's not gonna ever be bored, that's for sure! I bet everyone's gonna wanna play with him. We've hardly got anything else to do around here.

[sixthnonsense]

[That level of selflessness is a lot to process, to the point that he's not sure how to respond at first.]

Well... Um. Thanks.

[He feels very awkward right now. After rubbing the back of his head a little...]

Sorry for squeezing you. This whole thing is just...a lot. But you know that.

[sixthnonsense]

I think I get what you mean.

[He's obviously never been involved in a war, but he can imagine the stress has gotta be monumentally taxing. Life-changing, for sure.

...]

It's too bad the situation is what it is, though. 'cause we really do have a wide range of people here, huh? It's been pretty dang cool at the highest points.

[allatonce]

Entirely possible. In my experience, that sort of thing is what changes most between universes—something about the hundreds of little things that have to happen before someone starts a podcast or writes a book, maybe.

[inaclearing]

...and the Mayor or someone is from a universe where it exists and they hated it.

[.....]

Or where it's real.

[allatonce]

[She squints at the menu before punching in frenched drumsticks with some kind of mango habenero chutney. She would kill for some sriracha though. Rich people have such blah taste.]

It's habit. A lot of my job involves memorizing stuff, so I just thought it might be important to remember what's on the profiles.

[allatonce]

Did you know there's universes out there were humans have hot dogs instead of fingers?

[Just said. So casually.]

[allatonce]

But hey! We all make our own path, huh? And it doesn't really matter what other people think as long as you're being true to yourself.

[sixthnonsense]

[Hagakure lets out a long, shuddering breath. As the fog of red dissipates, he sees Dandy back down hard and only then does he realize how harshly he'd snapped at his friend in the moment.

The guilt creeps in quickly, and he stammers:]

N-No, I'm sorry too. I- I just-

[He instinctively reaches up to try to wipe the tears in freefall down his cheeks, as if there's hiding any of the evidence at this point.]

I'm scared. She's all I got.

[sixthnonsense]

Hey, don't undersell yourself like that. You fought a dude with a... Wait, what's Gurren anyway? A mecha? Either way, that's hella cool.

[Anyway, he listens to the rest of Rossiu's story, and while he doesn't expect to get the full story, it's enough for him.

He directs his gaze back to Simon too.]

I mean, he's still your friend, right? I'm sure there's no hard feelings about it. You've definitely got the leader-y chops in my opinion.

[bootyhunter]

[Dandy blinks once or twice, the pain beneath his sternum worsening instantly. The ache suddenly thrums with a more frequent, stabbing intensity, as if a knife is being pulled out and then pushed deeper and deeper every time. That sensation then screams, much like a living entity with its own volition, clawing about, threatening to burst outwards.

Only it can't. His body can't be used to open portals to other dimensions anymore.

Dandy's power lies dormant.]

...Well, yeah.

[Dandy has no memory of own his mother, and it's debatable as to whether she ever existed in the first place. He holds no image of a nostalgically warm childhood home, but he does find himself yearning to return to the beaches of Hawaii now and again, despite not having been to Earth's surface in decades.
]

She's one of your people. They're important! They can be just about everything to ya, baby.

[His eyes and open and close slowly this time.]

No wonder you're so pissed off.

[onemillion]

A... very large robot, essentially.

[He doesn't know what a mecha is despite being from a mecha series. It's fine. But anyway, that...]

I am glad you think so. I've been doing what I can to assist our people in a time of crisis, so I have some experience.

[Which is... sort of putting it mildly. But the rest of that troubles him greatly, as evident in his expression.]

...I know he doesn't. He's told me as much himself. But I...

[Perhaps if Simon weren't there, acting like nothing's wrong despite the horrid situation, Rossiu would shut his mouth and go back to internalizing it, because it isn't something anyone else needs to hear. It isn't something anyone else should have to deal with.

But he does keep talking, because Simon is here, and he still hasn't processed everything that happened.]

He is an exceptional fighter, but he isn't cautious. His actions resulted in a large portion of the city being destroyed. I used that to my advantage; to take power for myself and blame him so the people would listen to me. I did it because someone needed to step up to guide them, but my actions were inexcusable. Unforgivable.

[His hands shake at his side, though his gaze remains firmly on Simon.]

...He chose to forgive me anyway.

[allatonce]

[???]

You... ohhhhh is this a present for Hina?

[It's big sister rights to bully him about his crush.]

[allatonce]

[Her brow furrows slightly.]

No... I don't think the vending machine is Fontaine's. It's weird.

[inaclearing]

...he did his best. But like he said, it's unpredictable. The best you can do is be prepared, and even then, you can't do everything on your own.

[That last part wasn't Howl, of course. His version of preparing for the worst never seemed to involve other people. It's the sort of thing you can only really see in hindsight, now that he's gone.]

[inaclearing]

Really? Why not?

[kninja]

In the meantime, this isn't the time or place, so she might have to endure some tough without the love. Understood, Lady Zinda. If this works, I got a boot with her name on it.

[kninja]

Don't kids sneak off to teach each other how to fistfight in other worlds?

[howveryglib]

[somewhat drily,]

I would imagine the only way to find a book where you agreed with everything in it would be to write one yourself.

In any case, I am doing well enough. The fact that we have made it through a week without any major conflicts is promising, I think.

[kninja]

I see.

I think there's a difference between reacting badly to a nasty sight and blinding yourself to the truth. We all have things we don't handle well, adult or not.

[howveryglib]

...hm. Yes, that is likely enough, yes.

[he thinks about it.]

Honestly, the majority of the youths here seem about the age where it is not abnormal for them to seek that sort of thing out, but I do have concerns that it may actually prove fatal to Mielle or... well, Jonathan, really.