WEEK 5

[bathymetric]

That's three murders now - and this last trial got more than slightly out of hand. It looks like you might be in for another tough week... or at least, maybe that's just the refusal of this place to change too much. You lose Saturday again, but maybe six-day weeks are starting to feel normal by now. Who knows? The cycle of day and night continues apace, changing so little.

Speaking of change, though, there's a new area to look through, the biggest and most complex yet. And the end of one wing of the facility, from the looks of it - though you can probably guess where more areas might start to open up.

And speaking of opening up (segues!), this week if you're out particularly late, you might sometimes see Angel out and about! So hey, maybe change is on the horizon.

Just gotta hope it's a change for the better, don't you?



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 5! 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! Or, if you want Angel to come to you, that's now an option! Simply put a prompt after lights-out into your toplevel and indicate you want Angel in the subject line, same as investigations! ]

Comments

MEETING

[fivestagegod]

[So. Can we all agree that "The Road Not Taken" was a shit poem, because clearly that's what we should be taken from this.

Anyway.

The motive certainly happened, shit poem or not, and a couple hours later Birkin can be found in the lounge.]

Hey. I imagine there's a good amount that we should be talking about, so it's good of you to be here.

[emberserker]

Precisely.

[She sets down a tiny scroll of paper and unrolls it. It reads "-124.508500."]

I'll assume this is part of the coordinates to where we are. Of course, we'll need the other half.

[mouflon]

[ oh, hey ]

I found a number like that in the gym showers a couple of weeks ago, actually.

[emberserker]

I see. We've got maps and we know this is some version of 2020 Earth, so putting them together should plot out a conclusion. Two, if we switch them around, and then we only need to determine which is which.

[ladygeryon]

Does anyone here know what "eridium" is? There's an empty space for it in the rock museum, but I couldn't find it in any of the library books. It does seem like that purple rock would fit in the empty space, though.

[nothingcanstop]

...It is that purple rock.

[ladygeryon]

Okay, good to know. So maybe someone moved it from the display case for some reason?

[snackooed]

I was doing some digging around in the garden before. Literally, but I'll get to that in a second. I found some Morse code that told me to press the button for the birdsong twelve times. When I did, a bottle fell in the pond with this note in it. You guys take a look.

[ In that red handwriting we've all come to love:

I HAVE NO WINgS BUT I STILL FLY
NO FUR BUT I aM KNOWN FOR TICKS
I DECIDE WHEN ALL MeN DIE
BUT IN EACH MOMENT LITTLE I dO STICKS ]

"Thyme," by the way. Found a telescope, for my trouble.

[ Showing here! ]

[bolderfell]

[Yessssss. Time to add that to his copy of all the weird red messages they've found:

BEHInD 17
NO SURvEILLAnCE IN HErE
WATCH FOR THaT SYMBoL
CHANNEl 42, 21:49
I HAVE NO WINgS BUT I STILL FLY
NO FUR BUT I aM KNOWN FOR TICKS
I DECIDE WHEN ALL MeN DIE
BUT IN EACH MOMENT LITTLE I dO STICKS

To the side, he adds: n v n r a o l g a e d.

...

And then he frowns and writes the same letters in a second row underneath.

'n v n r a o l g a e d'

And starts crossing a few letters out.]

[fivestagegod]

On my end, the first thing is that I found some academic research papers discussing why we can all understand each other, despite presumably speaking some different languages between us. Something about some sort of universal translation field that converts whatever we speak most fluently and naturally into something that can be understood by all of us. Basically, if you don't have to think too hard to speak it, we can all understand it. Presumably consciously forcing another language won't translate.

[...he got infodumped on the translation mechanic, in other words.]

The other thing is that I'm...working on getting us another resource. A direct line to the Professor. It's something that I think might prove valuable in the end. The more we can understand about the source of all this, the better a position we'll be in. But I need your help in securing it.

[nothingcanstop]

How?

[ Della's here and...pretty serious. ]

How can we help?

[bolderfell]

[!]

You are? ...What do you need?

[nothingcanstop]

[ Well, Della has...a document! That's the first thing. ]

I found it on the boat hanging from the cartography room. There was a...puzzle to get at it, but the rope isn't connected to it anymore, so getting back up there won't be easy. I noticed the maps in there, they're not just of one planet. There's my Earth, what I assume is some of yours, even Aela's Skyrim... And a planet called Pandora. That one was how I got up to the boat.

[mouflon]

[ let her take a look at that document— ]

"Subject Delta is being a great help at"... Did he use someone else he'd brought in to make some part of this place?

[emberserker]

"Rock" seems to be a common theme, doesn't it. ...Wait. [She pauses.] Are we sure that line's really referring to Piers? It's more and more likely, after all, that this is the second group of subjects.

[ladygeryon]

The rock section of the museum also has evolutionary stones from my world. And Therion recognized one of the poisonous plants in the garden.

[mouflon]

Therion and I were talking, and there was something he wanted me to ask about. Do any of us come from a world with a technology that can collect emotional energy in some way?

[snackooed]

Energy? Not as far as I know. I know of tech that analyzes someone's emotional response based on the sound of their voice...I've heard of it being used in court, actually, to aid in cross-examination. But it sounds pretty different from the kind of tech you're talking about.

[bolderfell]

[Just pulls his scarf further up, even though she told him she would do this. It's still embarrassing, god.]

[philoxenia]

I found a room, unlocked with the purple key I found when the art room appeared. There were... items in there that I didn't recognize, and grafitti. "Lab rats no more." It had a banner that was ripped, but said something about "Memories: Keepsakes of"... something. It-- You can still go there, but someone took the broken glass and banner from it. I took pictures, if anyone would like to see.

[ ... ]

Speaking of pictures, though, there was a torn up polaroid of something I assume used to be there. Just to warn you, it's a bit... horrible.

[ Which she'll assemble and lay out to see. ]

I don't suppose anyone recognizes this.

[nothingcanstop]

Keepsakes...

[ She's looking over it, from picture to picture. ]

Mira, did it look like a museum display?

[bolderfell]

The damage. How recent did it look? Was the glass on the floor dusty, like that bag Della found in the carpentry shop?

[bathymetric]

[ hey mira so fun fact when you place out that picture uh

there's what looks like a minor power surge in the lights of the whole facility ]

[emberserker]

That is the most hideous thing I have ever seen in my life.

[reallyhatesharks]

[Well, now that that's over!]

Mira, did you take pictures of the other . . . keepsakes, or whatever we want to call them? Maybe it'll help us identify who was here before us.