unknownseas | plan all your moves in advance (week 5 meeting)

[ So, it's Wednesday, and we're having a meeting in the bathroom of the bowling alley.

Jonathan is the one who initially attempts to set said meeting up, and perhaps that's how you found out about this! But while he's putting the gathering together, his efforts come up against (read: are viciously hijacked by) several other people's similar ideas, and, somehow, this ends up organically manifesting itself. No invitations are sent; word of mouth serves instead. If you aren't given warning ahead of time, by Wednesday afternoon, it's kind of a gimme; many of the people still alive are suddenly absent, and of those who remain, at least two are actively suggesting everyone else head over to the bowling alley bathroom. Zinda's methods are probably less Like This, but Nandor's... ]

Bathroom safety meeting! Bathroom safety meeting, everyone! Follow me, please, we are having it in a more amenable space.

[ And he will absolutely not take no for an answer and keep following people around until they comply, so unless you slam the suite door in his face (valid), the path of least resistance is probably just going! The bathroom, once you show up, is a far cry from the garden party or even the changing room get-together on week 3. Dandy and Misfire (?) have instruments, which they are playing annoyingly, but that seems to be about it as far as outside preparations go. ]

Good; that is all of us, and now we can begin. [ Whether this is actually all of them or not is irrelevant! He clears his throat. ] As you may have realized... there is no bathroom safety meeting. That was but a ruse, crafted to conceal our secret meeting, and now we are going to discuss what we have discovered over the past two weeks and how we will go about unleashing utter destruction on Fontaine.

[ You also might simply be in the bowling alley already and need to use the restroom. That is entirely possible, and if so, tough luck. ]

So, uh, what have we got?

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It's like there's some sort of...

[Brett doesn't really look like he even wants to say this, but:]

...Manchurian Candidate thing about it. As if it was the trigger for knocking us out, or...whatever happened.

That seems likely -- the human mind can be conditioned to act in one way or another to certain stimuli. Unfortunately, I am the same -- I'm certain the Mayor was able to program me to shut down whenever that song begins.

[It's not like Aiba needs sleep or food from the restaurant, after all. She's sure the Mayor tampered with her enough to make her vulnerable to his tricks, though]

Then... would simply not hearing it change anything...?

It's worth a try. Some of you all should try it.

[No promises it'll work but honestly that sounds like a plan! Simple solutions sometimes are the right ones!

Still, Aiba is pretty sure she won't be able to do the same because the Mayor could easily have a failsafe specifically against her. The woes of being AI is that you're vulnerable if your programming is breached!]

I was thinking of trying that and maybe...trying to barricade myself in my room, or something like that. Anything that might leave a trace of what happened while I was out. God, I wish I had my recording equipment...

Maybe we should all try something different. See what the results are.

If nothing else, we should learn something.

We should! It would be more efficient than one of us trying something new every week.

Then, we'll need everyone to decide what to try. Maybe we should make a list?

In my case, I'll probably try to counter it with music of my own. If it's loud enough, maybe that'll do it.

Did somebody say music, baby?

Well if you need a deeper voice to pump up the bass a notch, I could be of service.

Only if you find yourself in need of a little extra Dandy oomph.

It doesn't do much good if you're knocked out the same time as everyone else, now does it?

[Perhaps a little too hopefully (butt moreso, hoefully):]

Are you offerin' to knock me out?

If I do that, it'll be because you deserve it, Dandy.

[ so, yes. ]

Nice.

I tried to make backups of my memories into my portable radio, to attempt to figure this mystery out. I successfully created a vessel for these backups, but...when I examined them last Sunday none of them are about Saturday.

Either I forgot to save memories in that radio last Saturday, or the Mayor figured out what I was doing and took measures to stop it.

[So, that didn't work, despite her ingenuity]

You can do that? That was a really good idea...I wonder if he'll just clean up after whatever any of us try to do.

[Though it's still worth making the attempt, he thinks!]

Overwhelming the Mayor with different methods at once might increase the odds one or more of them will yield results of some kind.

[The good ol' method of throwing spaghetti to the wall and see what sticks!]

[...for once, Brett manages a grin.]

Who wants to volunteer to be tied up somewhere?

[he's not saying anything but that sounds fun actually]

[dandy if you want to volunteer just say aye nobody will judge*

*no promises]

[he'd feel like he was cheating on his dead bf...

butt brett is welcome 2 notice dandy's expression perk up at that]

[Oh no......Brett's face falls. His joke has immediately backfired on him!

Come on, Brett. It's for the good of the group. He sighs.]

Do you want me to tie you up somewhere.

[SAID NERVOUSLY:]

Those were your words...!!!

N-not mine, pal!

[He is visibly sweating.]

But if ya need a Dandy-sized guinea pig, uh, sure! Why the hell not.

I'm married, remember? It's an entirely platonic tying up.

(no subject)

bootyhunter - 2022-07-14 02:13 (UTC) - Expand

inaclearing - 2022-07-14 02:28 (UTC) - Expand

bootyhunter - 2022-07-14 02:55 (UTC) - Expand

At the very least, we know the probable worst that happens. So it's worth a shot.

In my experience, there are powerful spells and programs that need singing in order to be able to execute them, so it's not entirely out of the question.