WEEK 2

[akudamods]

Saturday passes uneventfully save a little rain. It's on Sunday that you get a little notification of probation for new areas: Neo-Nipponbashi and Chuo. It'd be possible to investigate, to check out some anime, or to worship the defunct Shinkansen. But maybe it's hard to get excited about any of that when Friday’s events suggest that you have simply been provided some additional photogenic places to commit murder. Are you going to bother either overseer after their participation in some mockery of justice? Troll the internet? Get a bat out of Hyper Zone and just take out your frustration on everything?

Those of you who entered the pods will experience fewer “painful bursts of color” as your body is unaffected below the knees, though the same amount of “slight teleportation” glitches. Those of you who abstained from the pods will continue to experience all of the above as well as electric shock sensations occasionally when touching metal objects.

INTERNET | SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

((Internet investigations of any kind go here, and for all IRL areas, please use "investigate" in the subject line of your top-level comment, or link the thread to a moderator!))

Comments

TUESDAY

[akudamods]

MOTIVE

[akudamods]

[Bunny and Shark are playing hide-and-seek among the scenery of their puppet show.]

Hey, Sharkie.
Yeah Bunny?
What would you do without me?
I’d... look for you, of course?
[Is this the plot of Usasuke and Samemaru…?]
But what if you couldn’t find me?
That could be pretty hard. I’m so glad Cardinal added location shari—
Silly Sharkie, that can’t solve everything. I could be out of signal… I could be hiding really well, or I could even be dead! And what if I was someone you haven’t met yet, but just really wanted to meet? Would you still try to meet me? I mean - how far would you go?
Geez…. Bunny, you know I’d follow you no matter where, but I just don’t think that’d be possible for a little shark like me. I’m not some X-Class Akudama who can just murder another X-Class and get away with it. I could never do that, not even to find my best buddy! Besides, how would it work if you were dead anyway!?
I dunno, ever hear about quantum immortality?
Those are really big words… let’s save that lesson for after I find you!
Do your best to meet up! I’m waiting~ Tee hee hee.
UNTIL NEXT TIME!

[hunterandhunted]

[Oh?




Oh??

This might change everything.]

[your_best_friend]

[* Wait... what...? This isn't... This isn't what they said last week. Can they do this...?]

[* Hmm... Maybe it's time for a little talk...]

[fixingtodie]

[...oh.

The puppet's little act. Right from the very start, there's a knot in her stomach. She knows immediately what they're getting at. Compared to the last motive, there's a great deal more emotion in her eyes. It almost looks like... her eyes are wet.]

I will find him.

[It's broken and uncertain but.]

...I have to...

[mrfuckwit]

_{[ Akira is talking to himself when he sees this. ]}

What?

Does this mean we could see someone again even if they were dead?

Re: MOTIVE

[conways_retribution]

<sub>[...something built up in his throat, but he couldn't swallow.

He just had to let it out.]</sub>

You think you can keep doing this forever, you bastards?! _{[Even if no one hears him, he's doing to keep shouting at it with the courage Damian gave him last week.]} One way or another, you'll come to regret it!

[metamere]

How lucky for those who don't misplace people like socks! [ He's not even going to bother giving this incentive a score. ]

But if anyone takes them up on their totally legitimate offer, I'd like to hear more about this "quantum immortality" if you please.

[pr159]

[ just rolls his eyes and continues on his way ]

[osssuary]

[............ a pause and then an irritated sigh on his way elsewhere. Listening to these puppets always feels like such a waste of time, even if there is information there; just perhaps not information that's useful at this moment.]

[intimations]

[superstructure]

[ Hm.

Julius frowns, adjusting the sleeve on his left arm before moving on again. ]

[priori]

This is the only card they have to play, is it? Pitiful.

[ Not that he's surprised. Just going to keep moving because, whatever. ]

[thefifthchild]

[He stops as he listens to them, a grimace on his face.

Ignore them. You know you can't trust them.]

Piss off.

[inspiritus]

[ ...

Really? Honestly, Sephiroth would like to find out who is putting these things up to this because their voices are really grating on his nerves. ]

[woodeneye]

Ye mean we could see our friends again? If we...?

[ Ragetti remembers what happened last week. His hands bunch in the sides of his jacket. ]

[fixingtodie]

[In the Research Hospital lobby one of the tables has been emptied of it's tissues and sanitizer and replaced with three plush dolls. Not any that you'd be able to find in any of the stores around here. No... upon closer inspection they look to be carefully hand stitched.

That doesn't mean you can't recognize them. On the contrary. It would be hard to forget those faces so soon.

Each one of the dolls looks like one of the individuals that died last week. From the eyes, hair... even down to various metal bits gathered from cast away trash turned into what looks similar to Loremaster's robotic hands.

No need to look far for the creator either. Rachel sits in one of the nearby chairs, purse filled with bits of fabric and stuffing from a variety of Ani-Mart plush dolls. Thanks to yesterday's "incident", there's one more person to include. But this one is harder. She doesn't really have any memories of them at all. But she works hard to put it together correctly nonetheless.

As she works, she hums softly; steady hands making stitch after stitch.

There's another doll next to her on the chair. But this one doesn't look like anyone from here. But it seems very important to her-- more than the others that she's made.

Later in the day, she visits Book Bride to get some iced coffee and scan the shelves for books about technology. Following up on Loremaster's research means she should probably try to learn a thing or two while she's still alive.]

Hospital Lobby

[conways_retribution]

...You're really talented at this. _{[He didn't have much of a place to be right now. He felt he might as well say something while he was here.]} Who's the mummy?

Book Bride

[hunterandhunted]

How curious.

[For a nearly 8ft tall man, Zenos has quietly approached Rachel from behind. Which is not concerning in the slightest. His attention, however, is on her iced coffee.]

The cuisine of this world has left much for wanting, pray tell me, is it any good?

hospital lobby...?

[dinnerdrone]

[ There's a slight whirring noise as Rachel is joined by a rather unusual guest: A single melon-shaped drone just waltzing (well, flying) into the room with her. It wobbles back and forth when it moves, occasionally dropping several inches or narrowly avoiding a wall.

The drone hovers in front of the lobby table and bobs up and down, as if looking at the new dolls. ]

Whoa, these are so thoughtfully made...

[ The voice from the drone is female, but tinny and occluded by static, occasionally garbling and glitching out. The drone turns to face Rachel at work in her chair and buzzes straight over, getting close to her face. ]

You made these? They're -- bBzZt! lovely!

investigation

[pr159]

[ Another week, another motive Rideaux couldn't possibly be less interested in. No complaints. Though he's been in a pretty shitty mood for most of his time here so far, maybe that's a little less noticeable today (at least for most of the day), if only in comparison to those who were shaken by that announcement. ]


Chuo Square

[ Early in the afternoon, he heads out to the shopping plaza at Chuo Square in hopes of finding some decent sunglasses. He'll try a few different pairs on, then try to see if he can do any searching online to figure out what brands these are supposed to be knockoffs of so he can pick the pair with the least egregiously fake logo. ]


Museum: Gems & Minerals Exhibit - investigation

[ Once he's gotten some acceptable shades added to his inventory, he'll swing by the museum to kill some time. He's curious to check out the history section too, but since that's being investigated elsewhere, we'll fast forward to when he gets to the gems and minerals exhibit in case there's anything interesting in there! As someone who uses certain kinds of fossils and some questionable maybe-minerals in his work in Elympios, he's curious to see what they're working with in this world. ]


Hospital - outside the pharmacy

[ If you happen to be passing by the pharmacy at the right (wrong?) time in the evening, you might catch Rideaux leaving the room with a bottle of medicine in his hand, looking back over his shoulder to address a pharmacy robot that apparently just read him a warning label he didn't appreciate. ]

Well, I have a medical license, and you're a hunk of scrap metal, so if I did plan to take it with alcohol, you wouldn't have any business stopping me, actually. Thanks.

Chuo Square

[your_best_friend]

The ones second from the bottom look the most stylish.

[* No, Flowey's not wearing sunglasses. His face has shapeshifted to look like as if he's wearing shades.]

Hospital

[hunterandhunted]

Such haughty machinery.

[Zenos' voice suddenly appears, and so does he—leaning against the wall just outside of the pharmacy that Rideaux has walked out of. That same, pleased smile is settled on his face.]

In my world, they obey the commands of men, regardless. Their insolence is tiring, is it not?

[fullswingkiss]

[ It is exhausting to pretend, even for a man who has spent his whole life acting out versions of himself to the public that do not exist in reality. If Ainosuke is entirely honest with himself, this world is too much for him. Mass murder, apocalypses, executions... all of this is above his pay grade, it's not the world he studied for. At home, he can be perfect. At home, he is a winner. Here he is, above all, lost.

He won't allow anybody else to see it though. He's a politician, always put together, and he is in control.

Sometime in morning he can be found at Book Bride, though right now he seems a lot more interested in the mascot than the books themselves. ]

Well, a marriage based on common hobbies certainly has the advantage, but the absence of her husband is still conspicuous... Or is the married to the books? Ah, that might be it. How amusing.

[ This is more thought than anybody should be putting into this, but he's certainly engrossed in his thoughts.

You might also find him at Ani-Mart, where he gives a conspiratory grin to anybody who is looking at the adult corner. ]

Don't worry, I won't tell anyone if you go in.

[ In the afternoon you can meet Adam at the Museum, looking at the exhibits detailing more recent history. For once, there is no smile. He looks entirely displeased. ]

This is just sick.

[priori]

book bride

[ To say Lucilius is interested in this world would be less of an overstatement and more of a blatant lie. Despite this, he finds himself flipping through the non-fiction section of the book store. The pickings are comically slim, at least compared to what he's used to. Not that comes as any surprise when his library was stacked with dense technical books on a myriad of subjects.

Every time he flips a page of one of these how-to books, he finds himself almost missing his office. And even the interruptions that used to come from having an open door and no office hours.

Which further drives home the point of how awful this world is. Irritably, Lucilius shoves a book back onto the shelf with a particularly hard thump. Thankfully, Lucilius lacks the physical strength to unintentionally knock the entire shelf over (and it's secured anyway, probably), but some of the books on the other side audibly fall to the floor.

Oops? Meh. Just turning to leave the store. ]

chuo square

[ The amount of shopping required in this busy world is among Lucilius' least favorite things about it. Which is, admittedly, saying very little when his least favorite thing about the world is a tie. One that boils down to "everything about it."

Yet here he is in the square anyway, staring in extreme disinterest at stands and occasionally picking up random items. Like... sunglasses, for instance. Sunglasses are apparently a popular item in this crowd, who knew. ]