WEEK 4

[bathymetric]

Another trial, another week, and still you're probably running lower on answers than you'd like. And on people - you lost three since last Sunday. By the end of this week, you'll have been here for nearly a full month, yet still the days crawl on.

You wake up Sunday, again with no memory of Saturday, but this time with a simple message on your devices: You may resume requesting items, if you like. Enjoy. Guess it really was just a stealth motive after all, but at least it's being communicated that it's over! That's something, at least.

And when you leave your rooms on Sunday, there's another new area to explore! This one is... certainly more ambitious in its construction than the last one, to say the least. But hey, you have a pretty neat place to host parties, if you feel so inclined! That's... fun...

Hey, you gotta find the fun in situations like this where you can! Silver linings, right?



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 4! Remember to turn in AC here, threads for regain coins here, and if you feel so inclined you can visit Angel's office hours over here! ]

Comments

[mouflon]

[ When Rin comes to the arcade after lunch, it's initially with the intent to investigate. After all, games hold no interest to someone like her. They're for babies! She's a mature adult, who has no childish hobbies whatsoever!!

...Anyway, long story short, she discovered a light gun machine. She's been trying to beat House of the Dead for the last 45 minutes.

In the evening, Rin can be found at the vending machine. Everything is going great, when suddenly, a skull drops out of the vending machine's chute. She expects plastic, but when she reaches down to retrieve it, two things happen in very close succession:

1.) She realizes this does, in fact, feel like real human bone.
2.) It begins to moan. Spookily.

Rin screams and throws it across the room.

...Other than that, though, it's a pretty typical haul! Most other items can be bartered for. ]

vending machine

[pimpplan]

Whoa!

[ Luckily, Zelos was only just barely paying enough attention to move out of the way before getting beaned in the face with... i-is that a skull? ]

Hey, watch where you're throwing things! You could've hit me in the face!

[mouflon]

Don't blame me! It's that thing's fault!

[ The words are a squeak as she jabs a finger in the direction of the skull. It seems unharmed but disgruntled. ]

[pimpplan]

[ He just gives her a weird look, before walking over to where the skull landed and just............. nudging it with the toe of his boot. ]

... is this thing alive?

[ He's fought tons of animated skeletons before, but... this is still really, really weird. ]

Arcade

[lovelikeyou]

Ooooh! What's that one?

[Rose isn't generally super invested in things like this, but she always likes to at least check out new human stuff.]

[mouflon]

[ Rin only spares a quick glance in Rose's direction. Abruptly, she becomes conscious of the fact that this is her third attempt at beating the game, and she awkwardly clears her throat. ]

It's... a shooting game. See?

[lovelikeyou]

What are you shooting?

arcade

[reallyhatesharks]

You trying to investigate or looking for something to play?

[Nova steps out from behind a machine. What was she doing back there? Unclear, but she does have a palette knife from the art room in her hands.]

[mouflon]

[ Have you ever seen someone reflexively tighten their grip on a light gun, only to remember that they're actually just holding a plastic toy?

Well, now you have. ]

I was j-just... exploring. [ Yes, definitely, she isn't interested in the machines at all— ] Why? What were you doing back there?

[reallyhatesharks]

Investigating. Well, it's more like taking stock - sometimes these cabinets are run on hardware that can be reprogrammed.

[Listen, she's not judging? But also chill, girl.]

vending machine;

[snackooed]

[ Rin's scream seems to have spooked her more than any moaning or rattling she might have heard, because it isn't long before she pokes her head into the room from across the hall-- ]

Rin, was that you? Are you okay? I heard a shriek...

[ She looks relieved that there isn't a body in here, at least. Come to think of it, they've been pretty tame with that, haven't they... ]

[mouflon]

[ askjdskfk ]

No. [ ... ] I mean, it was, but... Look, something just startled me, okay! You don't have to make such a big deal out of it!

[ She knows very well they have every reason to make a big deal out of it. ]

[snackooed]

Well, as long as you're not hurt, I'm not going to make a big deal out of anything. Some of the things that come out of this thing are a little creepy...

[ Is this skull the offender in question? It doesn't quite react just yet when Ema picks it up... ]

Alas, poor Horatio, I knew him well...

[ Butchered it. For shame. ]

vending machine

[bogwife]

[Oh, that sure is screaming from the vending machine room. Zerinda just happened to be wandering by to give Princess a walk on her little harness made of ribbons but when she hears Rin scream and then the thunk of something hitting the wall she figures it can't be anything good. She grabs the nug and sprints toward the room.]

What, what, did something happen?!

[mouflon]

[ The sight that immediately greets Zerinda is Rin, standing in the middle of the room with her face buried in her hands. ]

A skull came out of the vending machine...

[ She lets one hand drop away from her face, extending a finger in the direction said skull has been tossed. ]

[bogwife]

A skull-? [She whips around to look, briefly excited and then a little disappointed when she sees it.] Oh, that's not so-

[And then it moans and her interest is piqued tenfold.]

...They don't usually do that.

arcade

[nothingcanstop]

[ Hello, mature adult. Here's another mature--

GASP. ] House of the Dead? Ohhh I used to play this all the time as a kid!

[ ...Anyway. ]

[mouflon]

[ Rin jumps like she's just been caught in the act of something. ]

Eh, what? Really?

[ The idea of media crossing over between dimensions seems weird to Rin, for some reason! She'll realize it's because she's talking to a duck person in a minute or two. ]

[nothingcanstop]

[ What's the surprise for? Excuse her, Della's looking for a box or something to stand on, so she can see the cabinet screen better. ]

Yeah! I remember when this thing came out... Now, I've always been more partial to the big, sprawling RPGs, but I been known to rumble with the zombos, here or there! [ The worst part of this is she isn't trying to sound cool. This is just how she talks. ]

Arcade

[bolderfell]

[Therion watches her play silently for a long time before finally speaking up from behind her.]

So it's some kind of toy weapon, what you're playing with.

[HI HELLO]

[mouflon]

[ Rin is so absorbed in the game that she doesn't notice, at all! Which means that when Therion finally speaks up, he's treated to Rin squawking as she whirls around. ]

How long have you been standing there?!

[bolderfell]

...Not too long.

[He said. You know, like a liar.]

Vending Machine

[drladysounds]

[Thanks for almost hitting Shelley in the face with a weird moaning skull, Rin, you're such a pal. Shelley manages to dodge it, watching it fall to the ground and see it moan. With a shriek of her own, she kicks it to the other side of the place]

Who's been gravedigging around here?!

[In...haunted cemeteries, she guesses]

[mouflon]

The Professor, apparently! [ Rin watches the skull skid across the floor with a complaining sound, and takes an unnecessary hop to the left to get farther out of its path. ] It came out of the [ she jerks her thumb over her shoulder ] machine.

[drladysounds]

You don't think...maybe it was alive like those animals that were in the machine? And it got turned into a skull from waiting so long to be let out?

[It's an outlandish scenario and is giving Shelley the creeps]