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

[precognit]

Yes! Normally, a machine like that would have snacks or drinks in it...

[she holds up the bag of gummy fish.]

...which I guess this one does, too, but also just a lot of weird stuff.

[hardnosed]

[ Looks at the gummy fish... looks at the pile of coins in her hand... ]

So you put these circles in and it dispenses junk. [ Well, she's not wrong. But something else occurs to her. ] Did anyone enter my room this morning?

[precognit]

...Yeah, actually, that's about it. But you never know, it could actually spit out something useful!

[She frowns.]

I didn't hear anyone moving out in the hall all night, no.

[hardnosed]

[ Don't like that! Don't like that at all. ]

I wasn't in my room last night. If his little assistant dropped by to leave these, I should have seen her coming.

[precognit]

[Actually—]

I just assumed someone slipped into my room and put them there when I went out to find a new book from the library, but...

[Now she has Doubts.]

I really don't know how the ended up there.

[hardnosed]

Then there's got to be another way for her to access our quarters — or at least some kind of automation that places them there. [ Ugh. ] And if there's an entire room for the machine, this can't be the only time they're going to show up.

[precognit]

Well...at least if we have a hunch, we can keep an eye out for it. I don't sleep much [ever] so I can help keep watch. How's that sound?

[hardnosed]

Like a plan.

Gems never sleep. [ Wow, (ineffectual) brag. ] If we can predict when this is going to happen — once a pattern shows itself — I can wait for as long as we need.

[ In her room. Staring at the wall. For hours. ]

It'd be naive to think they couldn't enter all areas of their own base, but I still don't like it.

[precognit]

Wow. You're kinda... [what's the word here........] ...Intense, aren't you?

[hardnosed]

What would you call this farce?

[ She doesn't sound offended, though — or more offended than her general, base level of offense. Of course she's intense! Also extremely exhausting to be around. ]

[precognit]

[Alice tips her head side to side, considering.]

Also intense, but in a different way.

[hardnosed]

[ She sighs. ]

You want to know where they're coming from, don't? So do I. And Jaspers are driven. We don't stop until we get what we want. [ ... ] Probably not yours, but you know what I mean.

[precognit]

Of course I do.

[Alice smiles, a little bit.] He is, but maybe not as much as you.

[okay so she's saying there are multiple gems called Jasper.......confusing........]

If you need help...you can count me in.

[hardnosed]

Right.

[ God there are so MANY gems called Jasper... she is of course the only one who matters, but still! This apparently ambivalent statement is probably the closest thing to a "thanks" she's capable of. ]

I'll start tomorrow night. It took them this long to get started — doesn't seem likely they'll make it a daily thing.

[precognit]

You're probably right. I'm guessing there's some correlation between our actions and the amount we receive...I'm going to try and figure that out.

[hardnosed]

Huh. [ She opens her hand and counts the coins that rest in her palm. ] Thirteen. And you've got seven. I'll have to start keeping count.

[precognit]

And I'll ask around, see what other people have received!

[hardnosed]

[ She gives a quick nod, then stomps the rest of the way to the lounge door. ]

Well. Let's see what they've got. [ The skepticism is thick in her voice, but it's obvious where it's directed — and with another acknowledging jerk of her chin, she's out.

(then like ten minutes later she comes in with a whole ass sword and a book on parkour (and a rock), because this is normal as hell) ]

[precognit]

[Alice busies herself with, I don't know, picking at her nails, but when Jasper comes back her head jerks at the sight of—]

Jesus Christ, is that a sword? You got that out of the machine?

[hardnosed]

[ She was really hoping she wouldn't notice (thinks the eight foot tall, dayglo person, carrying a sword clearly meant for someone equally huge.) Alice isn't stupid, and the more people see this thing, the more likely it is that its existence will somehow get around to Rose. Even though the only possible outcome of that — Rose confronting her, or finally going on the physical offensive — is frankly one that Jasper relishes, she'd rather be the one to drop the information. ]

And some other garbage, [ she says, still walking to her room. ] I'm impressed. Didn't think anything that came out was going to be useful.

[precognit]

Well, I'd certainly call a sword 'useful' when people are trying to kill you. But...maybe keep that under wraps, Jasper. You don't want people thinking you're...planning something.

[hardnosed]

[ Oh, yeah! Murder. She casually rolls her eyes. ]

If that's all it takes, then they're already suspicious. [ And someone probably is! She's been pretty open about how much she hates everything here and how violent she acts as a matter of course, and she physically outclasses most of them. To be worried is the sensible move. ] I don't need a sword to take someone out.

[ Reassuring! ]

[precognit]

Maybe so, but still.

[Alice can't control her instinct to mother, okay!]

Just...keep it on the down-low, geez.

[hardnosed]

I wasn't planning on anything else.

[ This is a genuine statement, albeit for all the wrong reasons, and she punctuates it by stepping into her room without another word. She leans the sword on the wall, puts the rock and book on the same bedside table where the coins mysteriously appeared, and then steps out again and keeps talking like there was no pause in the conversation. ]

So how about you? [ She frankly doesn't get why Alice would bother warning her about this, unless she's trying to probe how likely Jasper is or isn't to commit a murder. ] Do you think I'm going to "try something"?

[precognit]

[Alice waits patiently, and then her eyebrows shoot toward her hairline at the question.]

No, I don't. Not particularly. But I do know what it's like...to have things misconstrued. Misunderstood.