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

[specialdog]

Hmm...

I don't think it means anything. I think it's just here to scare us. [ what a boring explanation, akane... but she looks at him expectantly. ] So? Did you find any clues before almost turning yourself into the corpse?

[compendiem]

[ Is it just here to scare them... He could think of ways to make it scarier, like having the main hall be flooded with blood instead of water. ]

Well... nothing conclusive. The people here are rich. [ obviously, seeing the size of the place ] And they're American. Are rich Americans evil?

[ Does that give any clue as to what the darkness is???? ]

[specialdog]

[ No, that would be too easy. It would be cheap and tacky to just put blood everywhere! Akane... Considers. ]

I think so. They're usually villains on TV, right?

[ The darkness... is capitalism. ]

[compendiem]

[ We solved it. The darkness is capitalism ]

Hm, that's right. How do we defeat evil rich Americans without a mecha?

[specialdog]

Hmm... That depends on how far along we are... If they're an early enemy, we probably defeat them with the power of friendship or something stupid like that.

But when it comes to a final boss - you just have to kill them.

[compendiem]

[ The way things are progressing, it still feels like early season 1 to him; they've only just gotten the first real conflict, after all. ]

I wonder if we've powered up enough to be able to kill them? I think I'm pretty good with my nailbat, but that doesn't work on everything.

[specialdog]

I'm totally unarmed, and I've never had to fight before, myself. If it comes down to fighting, I'll probably get killed.

[compendiem]

[ Hopefully it won't come down to a final boss battle, but Minato can't deny that it'd be so much simpler to just fight the boss, rather than run around playing this "game."

On the other hand, the "game" involves fighting too, if their shared dream about Tsuru was any indication of the dangers here. ]

...If we're together, I can handle anything we'd need to fight. Milla is strong, and so are Ookurikara and Shess. They'd be good people to rely on too, I think.

[specialdog]

None of us can really rely on each other at all. When we're possessed we aren't ourselves, and can't even remember what we've done.

Besides, I don't know any of those people that well... [ not that she knows Minato that well either, but... ]

[compendiem]

[ It's a warning Minato's been told before, and he hasn't found a good answer for it yet. He looks down at the ground for a moment, and then back up at Akane. ]

That's true... There's a lot of us, though, so the chances I've been possessed is pretty low. Dunno if you want to take that chance, but at least... I'll look after you, when I'm myself?

[specialdog]

Hmm... [ she considers. or... pretends to consider. ]

Promise?

[compendiem]

I promise.

[ He holds out his hand, pinkie extended. It's a pinkie promise, the most sacred, after a blood pact. ]

[specialdog]

[ she stares... at his pinky for a long moment... ]

I haven't had to pinky swear since I was really little!

[ ... but she does it. ]

[compendiem]

I've never had anybody to pinkie swear with, before coming here.

[ So it's a first for him too, making promises and having people to make promises with. He squeezes her pinkie tightly, then lets go, sliding his hands back into his pants pockets. ]

[specialdog]

You don't have friends?

[ that's so!! sad!!! ]

[compendiem]

[ afsdlkjh ]

............It's a work in progress.

[ He has no friends ]

[specialdog]

... That sounds lonely.

[ :) :) :) ]

[compendiem]

I'm working on it...............

[ why is he being bullied ]

[specialdog]

[ whaaaaat, noooo, she's being nice!!! ]

That's good. You have friends already here, don't you?

[compendiem]

[ Does he have friends here? ...He wants to believe so. There are people he really likes- lots of them, actually, but making assumptions always makes him a little nervous. ]

...You and I are friends... right?

[specialdog]

[ for a girl who hesitated to answer for so long, she sure sounds confused about why he would need to ask??? ]

Of course we are.

[compendiem]

[ Because she's bullying him?????? To be fair, though, his teammates and classmates also bully him, so it's nothing new. ]

I'm glad.

[ Relieved, really. Sort of happy.

He touches the cat ears on his head, that were absolutely here the entire time. ]

You still don't want to wear yours?

[ That's what friends do, right? Be matchy-matchy. ]

[specialdog]

[ whaaaaaaaaat?? noo. whaaat????

... she's being more sincere than usual when she says: ]

It's still just... A little embarrassing, you know? Why do you even want me to wear them?

[compendiem]

[ "Because I made them especially for you" sounds selfish, so all Minato does is shrug. ]

Because you look cute in them.

[ Because nobody would kill a cute girl in cat ears?? how to say this ]

[specialdog]

[ Akane considers. And takes her time getting them out from... I don't know a purse or something, whatever. She fiddles with the headband, turning it over in her fingers. ]

... How cute?