WEEK 1

[bathymetric]

Well, you've now met the brains of the operation, as well as the shockingly nice-looking young lady in charge of day-to-day business. Now all that's left is to get used to your accommodations - there's 24 other people in similar shoes to yours to meet in this building, you know! And who knows how much longer you might have them...

The daily routine in the facility quickly becomes obvious - the only way to tell time moment to moment is to check the strange device The Professor gave you, but at the same time every day the lights in and out of the facility go up, and at the same time every night they go down. Otherwise, it's almost maddening sometimes, how little happens in here. At least you have a few rooms with enough to hopefully keep you occupied. Who knows what secrets they might hold? And there's always that vending machine, if you can find something that fits in the coin slot...





MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Peace Week! Enjoy it while it lasts. Remember, office hours for The Professor's Assistant are over here if you're interested, while regains can be deposited over here! ]

Comments

[mouflon]

[ Given her working theories, Rin intends to start the day with a much more thorough investigation of the facility than she managed in the time that was afforded to her yesterday. She starts in the lounge — and, more specifically, with the television. It's... an overt piece of electronics, even if she doubts it's all that useful, so she may as well. And who knows? Maybe it'll actually pick something up that will help them figure out where in time and space this place is located.

Predictably, she's supremely disappointed when she finds channel after channel of dead air. And, also predictably, that disappointment grows into frustration as it mounts. By the time she finds the one working channel, it's about ready to burst. Her heart leaps with the sudden light and sound that blooms across the screen, and then...

And then it's just mocks her with nature photos and jazz music. Like they want to see this when they're imprisoned underwater?! The rapid swing between hope and insult is enough to finally push her over the edge, and with an audible snarl of frustration, she surges to her feet and punches the television as hard as she can.

Anyway, after this, Rin relocates to the library. Apparently, though, it isn't to read; the books go ignored while she sits with her handheld device in front of her. There's a scowl on her face, half concentration and half frustration, and it begins to edge toward the latter the longer she... does whatever it is she's trying to do. After a point, she starts checking the device for seams, looking for a way she might be able to pop the back off of it. ]

lounge

[fivestagegod]

[...Okay, girl from before is now punching the electronics, that's probably fine.]

Like it owes you money. Not here for jazz, I take it.

[mouflon]

It's not like I have anything against jazz. I just needed the stress relief.

[ Just look at that smile! She's feeling great now, clearly. ]

[fivestagegod]

I've no idea what the television did to stress you out, but I'll assume you showed it who's boss.

[Dude.]

So. What'd you think of our host yesterday?

[mouflon]

[ Oh. That's a better topic than the television. Some of her lingering tension disperses, taut posture easing as she thinks. ]

He tells us he wants to see what we do with the options available to us, but then he turns around and says things like, "Oh, it's so interesting how many of you assume the point is for you to kill each other!" like there are any other means of escape he's presented to us. I think... Either there has to be some other condition we need to discover ourselves, or he just gets his kicks from being duplicitous. Or both, I guess.

But... If you mean the read I get on him personally, I get the sense that he has a personal stake in this somehow, even if he acts all detached. When I tried to ask about his motives, not just what the point of the experiment is but why he's doing this in the first place, he mentioned that there are things that mean a lot to him but would be meaningless to us.

...Anyway, that's about it. I'm more used to dealing with people with enough money and privilege that they think they can get away with whatever they want, not the evil genius mad scientist type, sorry.

lounge

[onefuture]

[...This device is just going to take abuse from literally everyone, isn't it. Lif won't be surprised if the damn thing breaks from the amount of times people wind up punching it.

It's what sees him come up shortly after Rin gives the television a good punch, shaking his head a little bit in response.]

I take it you didn't find anything useful with that device either? [That much seems pretty obvious, at least.] I'm surprised no one's managed to tear it apart in frustration.

[mouflon]

Not in the slightest. I guess that was too much to hope for, though.

[ She's smiling, but it doesn't look particularly genuine. She glances back to the television again, and then she sighs. ]

It wouldn't be hard to smash it, but it's not worth the effort.

[onefuture]

I wouldn't be surprised if that managed to set off the Professor. Or if we simply wouldn't be getting a replacement.

[Lif contemplates that for a bit, though...]

It's a shame we don't have much to work with, here. Jasper mistook this as some sort of communication device...I wonder if it could possibly be made into something like that, with the proper materials.

Not that I would expect the Professor to hand out such things.

[mouflon]

It's a television, so calling it a communication device isn't necessarily far off. It's just that it's typically used for one-way communication. As you can see, [ she says, drily, ] it can pick up signals, even if it can't send them out.

[ She shrugs as she moves to turn the television off again, apparently not in the mood to listen to the irritatingly relaxed music that's playing. ]

The rules make it sound like he doesn't care about property damage as long as we don't touch the windows, but I'm willing to bet he wouldn't replace it. You know, just to be petty.

library

[emberserker]

[Anna's scanning the shelves when she notices Rin. She turns to her with a frown.]

What are you trying to do, use it for parts?

[mouflon]

[ Rin shakes her head, and there's a second where she does nothing but look sourly down at the device in her hand. ]

Hey, Fugo. You said you couldn't sense any magical energy here, but have you actually tried to use any sort of magic yourself?

[emberserker]

I should be able to if there's anything to draw from, since as things are, I don't need to worry about having a magic stone to channel it with. Let me see.

[Anna reaches out a hand, aimed at one of the books on a nearby table, and focuses. She stands there in silence, nothing happening, until her eyes start to twitch. Even when blood vessels start to become visible in her eyes, as if she'd been crying, nothing happens to the book.]

Ugh! Nothing!

[She storms over the few steps to snatch up the book and throws it across the library out of spite.]

[mouflon]

Same here.

[ Rin holds up the handheld device. ]

I have a couple of specialties. One of them is using magecraft to manipulate technology. I can't do anything to this thing at all, and I'm pretty sure I'd get the same result if I tried it with any of the other electronics we have access to. When I try to use my magic circuits, there's just... nothing.

What I'm saying is, what if there is magical energy here? What if we just can't feel it, because our ability to has been shut off somehow?

lounge

[blackmass]

That's terribly inelegant of you, Rin.

[why are you two like this]

[mouflon]

[ oh well speak of the devil ]

And since when have I given a damn about that, Overseer?

[blackmass]

Oh? How unlike you. Am I to interpret this change in demeanor as what they call 'an act of teenage rebellion', along with having bleached your hair?

[mouflon]

My hair isn't bleached.

[ She squints. Why isn't his profile more helpful? Hers practically blows everything about her right into the open. Ugh!! ]

Sorry, it sounds like you're mistaking me for someone else.

library

[baitless]

[Seteth passes by Rin a few times as he goes to pick up books, and... hm. Eventually, he finds himself getting curious enough to draw a bit closer and ask.]

Have you found out anything interesting about these... "tablets?" I'll admit, I am not terribly familiar with them, so I cannot say if there's anything out of the ordinary about them.

[mouflon]

Nothing in particular, but that wasn't really the point.

[ She sighs. ]

But I have noticed that there aren't any manufacturer labels, either on the casing or within the OS. [ She is, unfortunately, half thinking aloud, so she doesn't stop to consider that he has no idea what she's talking about. ] I guess that's not anything too unexpected, but still, that would imply that these were developed and manufactured specifically for this experiment. That's a lot easier to do than the rest of this, but... Still, aren't the lengths they gone to crazy? Just install an intercom.

[baitless]

I... see. Well, there are plenty of things that have certainly gone too far here, but... I will admit, I have never seen even the more readily available versions of these things before.

[he sounds a little bit sheepish about that.]

[mouflon]

Not something you have where you come from? Hey, it's fine. There are a lot of things a lot of us don't know. I have no idea what the Church of Seiros is, other than that it has an Archbishop and you're her advisor, so we're even.

library

[nothingcanstop]

[ In the midst of her library investigation, Della takes a break at some point, noticing Rin doing her tinkering. ]

Any luck with getting it open? Spare parts sound nice about now.

[mouflon]

[ Rin frowns, still looking down at the device as she answers. ]

If you want spare parts, use your own. [ She tries to force the corner of her nail into the space between the screen and the rest of the casing, but of course, even there there isn't much give. ] Not that I'm having any luck anyway.

[nothingcanstop]

[ Della holds up two feathered hands in a show of innocence. ]

Of course, I wouldn't touch your hard-earned tinkering. Just knowing if there was a real way to break into them...without, you know, a tool.

[mouflon]

I can't even find how you'd open one up if you needed to repair it or install a new battery or something. I guess the Professor isn't planning on recycling them when he's done with us...