week one: mingle

[cyclists]

Week One
30 in Competition

As the sun rises on Monday morning, all participants will find themselves awakening with a sense of purpose. Regardless of where they slept the night before, they’ll find themselves compelled to return to the main meeting hall first thing in the morning.

Approaching the hall, however, they will find a large, swirling mass grey in color looming near the sakura tree. This swirl cannot be approached just yet, but seems to be locked and waiting for something more.

As the last member of the village enters the hall, they will find Lune and Sol at the head of the room. Though they’re together, it’s Sol who speaks up first this time.

“Last night, Lune and I were finally able to get some answers. Or, at least, something we can do to help. The core’s still experiencing fluctuations and some instability, but we’ve figured out a place some of it might be coming from.”

They stop, excitedly holding up a scroll.

“This core is connected to several worlds out there. It’s the heart of the universe and everything that happens here can be affected by the outside, and can affect the worlds you come from. We found somewhere that seems to have a source of darkness lurking around…if we find it and clear the corruption, we can help stabilize the core a little more and help protect yourselves while you’re here.”

With that, they seem to lose steam just a little, looking back at Lune for a moment before nodding.

“So, uh…we were able to open a gateway for you to this world. Checking it out might help us pinpoint the source and get this done faster, so…leave whenever you’re ready. There’ll be another gate on the other side to bring you back here.”

That seems to be it, though Sol looks back to Lune again. “Anything else?”

"Look after one another," they repeat again. "And do not believe it is possible to be over-cautious."

The moment participants leave the hall, they will find that the gateway has changed from grey to white, the opening widening enough for multiple people to step through. The Signs will soon take their leave, and all will remain peaceful once more.

In addition, as the week goes on, partners will find that a simple touch (even accidental) may incite the bond between them to grow stronger for a moment. They will experience a swap of memories through their connection, taking a moment to see a piece of their partner's past without any control over what exactly is being shared.



Welcome to your week one mingle! Please note that as of this week, murder proposals are open. CYOA sign-ups are also live, and will close at Tuesday, 8 AM PST. They will be running on Tuesday afternoon and evening, so please be mindful of your own availability!

In addition, ensure that all of your week zero private conversations were reported on the page, and your week one private conversations are reported on that page. If you'll be taking anything from locations, please report that as well.

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Comments

[stillstands]

i. shrine/river

[ after everything in the meeting hall on the Monday, Miki immediately turns on her heel and seemingly vanishes for a while. when she finally reappears, she can be found by the shrine, sat along the bank of the river.

She's not paying much attention to anything around her - she's just gently placing bright yellow chrysanthemum blooms into the water, and watching as they bob away. ]

ii. gateway

[ Miki brought her shovel. Maybe it's best to just not question the shovel. She's hefted it on her shoulder, and looks -- not scared, but wary -- her footsteps are light and slow, and she stops at bends or blind spots to try and peer around to get a better view. and she seems to be listening quite intently the whole time.

So when she gets to the coffin, she stops completely, staring at the object in the middle of the room. And more importantly, she's leaning her head towards it - listening. ]

... Don't open it. Stay here a moment, please.

[ When she moves closer to the coffin, she reaches out with the flat of her shovel and... taps on the lid. A rhythm, not a random beat. Tap-tap-taptap. And then she takes a step back. ]

iii. outside the boutique

[ She's just.... sat there. Outside. People watching, apparently, and making notes in a notebook on her lap. Nothing to see here, folks. ]

ii

[omegathree]

[So this is the coffin that people are having Problems With in all sorts of different directions.

Val willingly listens to her and doesn't move any closer or further away.]

Do you hear something?

[stillstands]

[ The Problem Coffin. ]

I thought I heard a tapping noise.

[ She crouches down, and leans in just a little closer, listening. And then she jolts back when she hears a tapping sound, seemingly in response to her own tapping. ]

There's something in there, definitely.

[omegathree]

[Only his sense of smell is enhanced, and it's best for human blood. It's hard for him to really know what's there for certain.]

What do you want to do about it?

[stillstands]

...

[ She taps the coffin with her shovel again, a little louder. After a moment, she hears another tap, mimicking the noise she made on the surface of the coffin. ]

I don't know. Whatever it is has the mental capacity to copy sounds, at least. But that doesn't tell us if it's a dangerous something, or a helpless something.

iii

[compendiem]

[ Minato pauses on his way to the boutique. People watching is a hobby of his too, but not so blatantly that he has a notebook out while doing it. ]

...Getting your thoughts in order?

[ Or is that a diary and Minato's being incredibly rude trying to lean forward and read it. ]

[stillstands]

[ Wow, Minato. Hopefully he enjoys having a book snapped shut almost on his own face because that's what's happenin'.

SNAP SNAP. ]

Not quite. More like I'm trying to get out of my own head.

[compendiem]

[ Minato squeezes his eyes shut, but doesn't pull back or otherwise move when Miki shuts the book in his face, until she speaks and he straightens back up again. ]

Easier to get out of your head when you're active. Want a distraction?

[stillstands]

[ Take that. ]

... What sort of distraction?

[ She's not against the idea, honestly. Anything to keep her mind from wandering too far down its own personal rabbit hole. ]

iii

[coastal]

[ . . . ]

What are you even doing?

[stillstands]

[ . . . . . . . . . ]

I'm writing.

[ Excellent. ]

[coastal]

[jesus christ]

Obviously. Don't feign stupidity when you're obviously better than that.

[stillstands]

You're being rather nosy, you know.

[ she gently shuts the notebook and looks up at lili. ]

I'm just making some observations, nothing major. It's something to keep my mind occupied.

gateway

[moonprisonpower]

[ saix does as instructed -- partially because he also wants to observe. ]

What are you looking for?

[ he's keeping a bit of distance as they speak, but his eyes are flickering between her and the coffin. ]

[stillstands]

Some sign of intelligence.

[ she tap a rhythm on the coffin -- not a mindless tapping, but something with a specific pattern. Tap tap tap-tap-tap.]

Even if it's just a little.

[ There's a pause, and then from the inside of the coffin: Tap tap tap-tap-tap. ]

-- Ah.

[moonprisonpower]

It's mimicking your pattern. Are you satisfied?

[ saix is now gonna examine the coffin and make a tap of his own. ]

If you can hear me, tap twice for yes.

[ tap tap. ]

[stillstands]

Somewhat.

[ She leans in and listens? And, ah. That's a good sign? They can understand what's happening. ]

So, we need to crack this thing open and get them out. [ She shifts to look at the lock pad. ] Do we just start randomly keying things in and see if we get struck by inspiration?

i

[globs]

You're supposed to send those lights down the river, not flowers.

[ cinnabar is being helpful. Even with their poison inert, they keep a generous swath of distance between themself and Miki, standing a good ways back. ]

[stillstands]

[ is he though. is he? ]

I know.

[ she lets another one go, and watches it as it bobs along slowly. ]

I don't have anything to say, but I don't want to not do anything.

[globs]

[ ... ]

So this is about the little one.

[ their guess. They'd assumed she was trying to contact one of their mysterious overseers at first. ]

[stillstands]

Tsurumaru-san as well. For both of them.

[ It’s her way of commemorating, when doing something like writing a message on a lantern would have felt fake. She didn’t know them well enough to do something so personal, but to not do anything felt too cold. ]

Gateway

[liversandhyenas]

Are you trying to communicate with whatever's inside?

[It's knocking from inside, Miki is knocking from outside. It has to make sense]

[stillstands]

I'm trying to see if whatever's in there has the intelligence to pick up and copy a pattern.

[ Turns out the answer is yes. ]

If it was just mindless tapping or scrabbling, I'd have left.

[liversandhyenas]

The lack of air could make them delirious and not even know what's going on outside.

[That's the only flaw she sees in this plan]

[stillstands]

Not enough that they couldn't tap back.

[ She circles the coffin once, before crouching by the lock pad. ]

I guess we need to get this open then.