COMMENCE EXPERIMENT

[bathymetric]

Fun fact: Did you know that the Pacific Ocean has a surface area of 62.46 million miles? That's not even accounting for depth.

You awaken to a sharp jolt, like you've just hit the drop on a roller coaster. Then it passes, and you're in a bed, suddenly very clearly awake. Is that right? Were you asleep? Your memory is a little fuzzy as you come down off the adrenaline, but it puts itself into place soon enough. This is not, as one might say, your beautiful house. If you have a beautiful wife, she sure isn't here.

The positioning of the bed inside your new room gives you a very clear indication of where you are - or at least, where the building is. Above you is a decent-sized window looking out on... well, the ocean. But not in a fun beachside resort way, to say the least. Fish swim by pretty frequently, here to keep you company - but they cannot hear your screams, and do not seem particularly bothered if you tap on the glass unless they're right by it. It's thick, man.

On the bedside table, you'll find two things: a key card with a number between 1 and 25 on it (no points for guessing which one is on whose, unfortunately), and a small handheld device, a little like a smartphone but mostly like a blackberry? Remember those? Anyway, accessing it will reveal only a scarce few functions: a list of profiles, a map of the building, and a very ominous set of rules. You might try to ignore that last one! Unfortunately, you'll find them in a frame by your door. And in a frame somewhere in every room of the place, if you go out exploring at all. The tablet also has a message for you when you open it:

Greetings. Please take an hour to become accustomed to the facilities, then proceed to the meeting room north of your dormitories. Attendance is mandatory. - The Professor

But hey, it... it also lets you play Snake! Who doesn't love Snake, huh?

Anyway, head out into the halls! Make some new friends - or maybe enemies, wouldn't that be exciting? Look around a little! Just make sure to be back for whatever this meeting is - after all, you want a chance to face off with your captor, right?

Comments

south tunnel

[shieldsister]

[Aela doesn't seem bothered at all by the fact that you can apparently just walk through a glass tube underwater and somehow not die, but she is fascinated by the fish and... oh hi, what's that you said, Anna??]

What are you doing?

[...you're totally trying to use a spell on the fish or something, aren't you.]

[emberserker]

I can't sense anything. We were in the illusionary world, there should have been loads of -- and none of you people should have been there, either. Who are you?

[shieldsister]

[Those were a lot of words that explained nothing, okay.]

I am Aela the Huntress. [...yep, that's part of her name.] And you are...?

[emberserker]

Anna Fugo, of the esteemed Fugo family. I don't recognize a single one of you people. What is going on in here?

[shieldsister]

I don't recognize your family name either, which I imagine you find strange.

[Given the emphasis on how esteemed they are, apparently. Fugo doesn't really sound like a normal last name either...]

Where are you from?

[Definitely not Skyrim, that's for damn sure.]

[emberserker]

Germany. My family and I relocated to Japan last year, Lake Biwa specifically; on business, you could say. This certainly isn't either, and I'd recall going into the ocean.

[shieldsister]

[Wow, those sure were more words that meant nothing. But also that's definitely not a good thing, given how unfamiliar all those places sound. It's certainly possible that they're places outside of Skyrim, but...]

I'm unfamiliar with all of those locations. I don't have any recollection of leaving Whiterun, and we certainly aren't near the ocean.

[emberserker]

Wait, what? You don't know basic countries? What rock are you from that you dress like that and you mention --

[She starts to pale and clenches her fists at her sides.]

What is going on?

[shieldsister]

[Aela arches an eyebrow at the outburst, but she doesn't seem particularly bothered.]

I don't have an answer to that any more than you do. Our captor will surely know more, though I doubt anyone has run into them yet.

[emberserker]

Ugh...

[Anna pulls up the phone and clicks the message again.]

Mandatory meeting. They're obviously playing with us.

[shieldsister]

[????????]

What is that device? There was one in that room I awoke in, but I've never seen anything like it before.

[emberserker]

It looks like a tablet or cell phone, but a dated one. I didn't use the things often. The mundane world has never held my interest.

[shieldsister]

We don't have anything of the sort.

[But now that she's mentioned it, that does make one of her earlier remarks stand out...]

What do you mean by "the mundane world"?

[emberserker]

Not a literal world. You know, society. Then again, this may be a literal other world at this rate. Nothing about being here makes any sense.

[shieldsister]

[Another world... Well, it would explain quite a bit, but the idea is staggering and not one she wants to consider right now. Maybe they're just in a really weird plane of Oblivion. That would also make sense, right??]

I see. [She doesn't.] I agree that none of this makes any sense. Things that should be impossible clearly aren't, and it seems all sorts of strange people have been dragged here.

[emberserker]

Strange people is right. Have you seen some of them?

[shieldsister]

I have. I'm not certain what to make of the giant orange woman.

[There's a hint of humor in her voice but also that's absolutely true.]

[emberserker]

Aside from "infuriating." Honestly, accusing me of all people! And she never listens to reason! The stone in her face must protrude into her brain.

[shieldsister]

She did seem worked up about the situation.

[who wouldn't be though???]

There's hardly any sense in blaming each other for this. It's obvious we're all confused about this.

[emberserker]

Whoever this Professor is will hear it, that's for certain. Why capture people and bring them here anyway?

[shieldsister]

This is entirely too elaborate of a setup for a simple kidnapping. There is something they want out of this, though I'm not certain what it could be.

[emberserker]

Kidnapping and that murder business in the rules. That just raises more questions.

[shieldsister]

The rules refer to this as an "experiment", if I'm remembering them correctly. Perhaps that truly is the purpose of our confinement here.

[Which is just wild, but Aela can't even say that's out of the realm of possibility given everything else this place has decided to be.]

[emberserker]

If it is, it's ridiculous. What experiment studies murder, captivity, all these impossible conditions to get these people, and the ocean?

[shieldsister]

Scholars often study things most people find unimportant or useless. I could see a particularly insane one deciding to study something like this.