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

[bolderfell]

What does that mean? [Wait.] Oh. Is it because there's no magic in this world? That extends to your... projection, too?

[He may be starting from zero, here, knowledge-wise, but at least he can pick up some of the things people put down.

Also things people don't put down. Sometimes he'll "pick up" things that are still in their pockets, but hey. It's a skill!]

[hardnosed]

Did the brat scream that at you too?

[ Hey, he's getting it! ]

I don't know what makes her so certain that's what's behind it all. If her body was altered, she probably just can't see it. He gets the same results either way.

[bolderfell]

Altered. [Wow, okay.] That's not worrying. You think that's what happened to us?

[hardnosed]

He said as much on the first day. [ to the extremely normal and human Alice, actually! which is something she's not thought about in real detail before, hmmmmmmmm ] Gems are magic. If it were just a matter of the world around us, nothing would have changed. I'd still be able to shapeshift.

[bolderfell]

[Gross. Gross and icky.]

Right. He said he did it to... even things out, right? But it's still not as though we're all reduced to the same level of capability.

[hardnosed]

Obviously not. If he wanted an even playing field, he crafted it wrong — most of you lot wouldn't even be interesting for me to demolish.

[ Maybe that's why she and Rose are both here, as countermeasures to each other. She really doesn't like that idea! ]

So it's got to be something else.

[bolderfell]

...It'd have to be whatever he couldn't deal with, if we were to turn it against him. Spells or abilities that would upset his experiment. He must be reasonably sure he can counter or withstand anything we're left with, and we're free to pit our remaining skills against one another.

[He plays absently with his scarf as he thinks.]

So he can't fight magic. Or... shape-shifting.

[hardnosed]

Or it's his way of going easy on us. If he can make us this weak, who says this is the worst he can do?

[bolderfell]

Going easy on us... Guess the point of that would be to scare us. Get us to do what he wants before we lose more than we already have.

[hardnosed]

Well, we'll know for certain the second someone breaks one of his precious rules. He wasn't too happy about the windows, but those already have safeguards. Attacking his assistant, though...

[bolderfell]

...You tried something on the windows?

[hardnosed]

Obviously. They're the easiest way out of here — I wasn't going to just leave them alone.

[bolderfell]

So what happened? What do these safeguards do?

[hardnosed]

They absorb the force you exert on them — and if you keep it up, they redirect it in reverse. At you.

And they turn green. I don't know what that's about.

[bolderfell]

...

Weird.

[Weird.]

And the Professor said something to you?

[hardnosed]

Wrote something. On our ridiculous little communicators. From what he told me, the longer you try, the worse it'll get.

[ He also said "you'll break before the window does", but that just reminds her of her weakness and makes her even angrier so she's not going to mention it. ]

And your kind can take a lot less rebound than I can.

[bolderfell]

Yeah. We can be pretty fragile. Just means we'll have to be... inventive about getting out.