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

[shieldsister]

[Ah, she was close!! Greatsword, battleaxe, both are two-handed weapons!!]

I see. You do look like you'd make for a fierce opponent in battle.

[That is a very high compliment coming from her.]

I prefer a bow; ranged combat suits me better, though I can and will wield a sword or dagger when necessary.

[onefuture]

[Lif can't exactly smile given his current state of being, but he does at least seem amused by the assertion. She's not wrong, at any rate; he's worked to become a fearsome general so he could do what he has to, after all.

At any rate, he listens as Aela speaks about her own fighting style, and...huh.]

So you're proficient at long range combat, and close range as well... [Honestly, having a hidden sword isn't exactly how he expected Close Counter to work, but you won't find him complaining in the slightest.] You sound much the same. I'm certain that if we were to fight, it would prove to be a rather close battle.

[Not that sparring sounds like a good idea in a place like this, but at any rate, he does sound impressed.

Though if anything, she sounds like she'd be a hassle to kill. Though, he's certain if Hel got wind of this place, she'd...

No, it's best not to think about that now.]

[shieldsister]

Should you locate any weapons, come find me. I would like to have a match with you to see where we stand.

[Sparring isn't really her preferred form of combat, but it's better than nothing and Lif seems like he'll be at least as strong as Farkas and Vilkas. A worthy opponent, in other words.]

I'm surprised we weren't left with our weapons, given that the rules do seem to suggest that we should kill one another.

[thanks aela.]

[onefuture]

I'll take you up on that, when the time should come.

[And Lif does mean that much, too. Sure it's dangerous, but it's not like anyone's listening in on their conversation except this Professor, probably so it's totally fine and probably a good plan for--

Let's not think about that. Aela's statement gets a bit of a snort from Lif, at any rate.]

You're not the only one. If he wanted us to kill one another so badly, that would have been the easiest way to facilitate it.

It seems more like he wants to see how fast we'll lose our minds.

[shieldsister]

That seems likely. Given that this is some sort of "experiment", perhaps the purpose of it is to determine how quickly he can break us.

[She sounds mildly irritated by it, but Aela shakes her head once that's out there.]

I won't give him the satisfaction.

[onefuture]

That's rather likely, yes.

[He's not surprised that Aela is so determined, though.]

That determination isn't a bad thing to have in this situation. [And Lif at least sounds like he genuinely means it, when he says that much.] Perhaps it'll be us who forces him to break first.

[shieldsister]

That's my hope. The most we can do for the time being is get accustomed to our situation and learn what we can from what we have here at out disposal. There's no sense in getting too worked up just yet.

[onefuture]

[Lif nods his head in agreement.]

Getting worked up is likely just what he'll want. If we give into it, we'll lose sight of our goal to get out of here, and many of us will likely die.

[Lif states that much in a bit of a matter of fact manner; like, people are gonna die here, that's a certainty. But maybe there is a way to limit casualties.

...At least for now.]

[shieldsister]

Precisely. I cannot say that everyone here will be able to keep their wits about them, but I'm pleased I'm not alone in seeing the need to remain calm.

[onefuture]

Doing otherwise will likely only be to our detri--

[Oh hey, there's the sound of the laundry being done! It's actually enough to startle Lif, who's looking at the damn thing like if he had his sword, he'd cut it down for the slight.

...Man, he hasn't had a heart in years, and it feels like he was just given a heart attack. Gods above.]

...detriment. [Let him just. Fish out his stupid cloak and--wow, this is damp. It's not as damp as it could be, but it looks...cleaner, he supposes.] ...At any rate, as long as we keep that in mind, there should be few problems.

[please don't comment about the jumping]

[shieldsister]

[Oh don't worry, she won't, if only because the moment the sound happens, Aela has her phone raised like maybe she can use it as a blunt weapon to smash into the laundry machine for daring to make a noise at her.

Um. Anyway.]

Of course. We do still have much to learn about this place.

[Including the fact that machines will make noise at us and startle us both terribly but that's fine, we'll just ignore that.]

[onefuture]

We do.

[...]

I'm never trusting another one of these demon machines for as long as I live.

[LIKE HE'S NOT ALONG IN KIND OF WANTING TO TAKE BACK EVERY NICE WORD HE'S SAID ABOUT THESE SHITS, RIGHT]

[shieldsister]

They're horrible and should be destroyed.

[YOU GET HER]

At least your cape survived the ordeal, I suppose.

[the one silver lining here......]

[onefuture]

Agreed. If I had Sökkvabekkr with me, this machine would be naught but the metal it was made with.

[FUCK THIS STUPID MACHINE

Ugh, now he hates that his cape is damp, this isn't gonna be dry by the time this stupid meeting starts...]

It did, but it's going to need some time to dry. I suppose I'll just have to hang this in my room until it does...

[uuuuuugh, this suuuuucks, he's not gonna be able to keep his aestheeeeetic...]

[shieldsister]

A shame, but it did teach us something important. Now we know never to deal with these horrid things again.

[oh my god you overdramatic dumbasses]

At least your cape will dry eventually.

[onefuture]

I suppose so. I can't say I'm fond of being without it with this newfound humanity that I've been given.

[oh my god just put on a shirt you big baby, you can go without your security blanket for a few hours]

[shieldsister]

"Newfound humanity"...?

[..........so that isn't armor, that's just your chest wow okay then.]

What are you?

[It's blunt, sure, but she's not trying to be rude. It's curiosity more than anything, she isn't really bothered at all that Lif isn't human.]

[onefuture]

Essentially? A zombie. A more intelligent kind than Hel's usual, but one none the less.

[Honestly, he's gotten so used to all the weird questioning today that the bluntness doesn't even phase him. It's fine...this is just his life now...]

I haven't been human in quite a while. It's...interesting to get used to it again.

[shieldsister]

[oh no here we go—]

What is a zombie? I've never heard that term before.

[onefuture]

[Oh. You know, of all the people he expected to not know what it was, Aela was pretty low on the list...]

A living corpse, essentially. Something that's neither fully alive, nor fully dead.

[shieldsister]

Ah, a draugr.

[don't worry my dude, we've got zombies, they just aren't called zombies.]

I imagine things work a bit differently for you than it does for them. As far as I'm aware, no one actually knows how draugr are created; they're believed to be the remains of those who served the dragons when they ruled over Skyrim. A punishment for their decision to choose such cruel masters, or something like that.

[So. Probably not applicable to Lif.]

I won't ask any more about it if you don't want to share. It changes nothing anyway.

[She's still going to want to smack you with a weapon once we find them, okay!!!]

[onefuture]

["A punishment for their decision to choose such cruel masters, or something like that."

...You know, he has to close his eyes briefly at that. He's lucky that most of his face is unreadable, because he doesn't even want to imagine the expression he'd be making were he more human. But whoof. It's not entirely applicable, but there's definitely something about it that rings true.

Never the less, the expression doesn't last for long.]

Your world sounds like an interesting place; I may have to ask you more about it, at some point.

[But, with an expression that almost seems vaguely positive--]

You have my thanks; I'll be looking forward to our match, when we have proper weaponry to utilize. For now...I'm going to take care of this, and take my leave.

Stay well, Aela.

[Lif will be off shortly after, though.]

[shieldsister]

Of course, Lif. You as well.

[rip lif's cape, you suffered so much.........]