subdivided | week one: mingle

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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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He makes a face.]

Are you making any progress?

[ Well, not to brag, but - ]

I train every day.

[ It's not like there's much better to do, anyway. ]

...those two things aren't always mutually exclusive, are they? [Look some people can train a lot and still be bad at stuff. See: Haruhi and gym class.]

[ He shrugs. ]

If you work hard enough, and you want to improve, you will.

[ Maybe not fast, but he believes what he's saying here. To Kara, it's that simple. ]

[It makes sense in theory. On the other hand there's a lot that he wants and thinks he works for and doesn't get yet, but it's a start.]

Are you also one of those people who believe you can always improve no matter your skill level? [It's a bit of a dry tone, but he's genuinely interested in Kara's thoughts.]

Yes.

[ Though clearly Kaoru doesn't agree... or maybe he's just lazy. Either way, it's a little annoying. ]

Just checking. [Good to know.] I've been trying to find at least any sort of connection for why any of us were brought here. It seems other people share that same sentiment.

You think they wanted us for something like that?

[ As far as Kara's concerned, the most they all have in common is that the majority of people here are damn fools, so. This is a new way of looking at it. ]

I don't believe we were all brought here out of convenience, no. That would make this far too easy. But to remove all of us from different worlds and times and points in time...they would have done research early and found a common factor. That's generally the case when people are brought together.

[ Didn't one of their so-called guides say they were just as trapped as the rest of them? Not that Kara has any reason to believe that, of course, but... the kid's logic makes sense, in a way. If it's true, it could help them figure out what to do here.

The problem is that they have no way of knowing for sure, so what's the point in wasting time thinking about it? ]

You'd be better with your magic if you spent less time on things you can't prove.

Maybe that's true. [They can agree on that, not practicing is sort of a waste of time and potential.] But I also don't expect to get answers if I'm only practicing. So I try to talk to people when I can and see what I can find out.

[And another reason he practices out in the open. It means a conversation point and an excuse.]

Besides, we couldn't immediately prove our magic wasn't a fluke. Were we supposed to spend less time on that because we couldn't prove it right away as well?

[ Ookurikara hates it when people use his own logic against him. ]

And what do you plan to do when you get your answers?

[ So far it seems like they can't do anything, so why bother? ]

[Sorry Kara sometimes it just be like that.]

When I have those answers, I can start answering other questions to lead us to a way out of here. Everything can be answered if you dig far enough. It's just about doing so in the first place.

[ So he's trying to scout... okay. +1 respect for the kid, then. ]

How long until you get them, then?

[ Because if it takes too long, it's still useless. ]

Not too long, I imagine. There's something to be said about outsourcing and finding others to help me with the research. Combined, it should be sooner than later.

[i.e. "fuck if I know, my guy, but I'm impatient and will make it so."]

[ ... ]

So you don't know.

[ Why is he even surprised. ]

Give it two weeks and I'll make something happen. That's all the time anyone needs to get some sort of results. [Is he bullshitting? Yes, probably.]

And if you don't?

[ What if you don't have two weeks? What then? ]

[Maybe Kaoru will be dead by then, we don't know.]

Then one of my other plans will come to fruition. The key is to be running multiple operations simultaneously so that something is always in effect.

[ that's

really suspicious?? ]

...I don't know what you think you can accomplish, in these circumstances.

[There's a considering little look.]

Why should that stop me from trying? I'd rather die trying than do nothing but wait to get better at only one thing. [This is a poor time to actually try to be catty, but it's happening.] It's a little too early for me to close other avenues.

Talking hasn't gotten us anywhere so far.

[ Kaoru seems more like a talker than anything. Maybe that would be good, if they could get any useful information out of Lune and Sol, but since they can't... ]

You don't think so? [He would beg to differ here, all things considered.] I think talking to people and learning about them is perhaps the most valuable skill we can have here.

[Because it means learning people's secrets. It's a thought, anyway.]

[ He just doesn't like to talk to people, and it shows in the annoyed look he gives Kaoru. ]

If none of us know anything, there's no point.

You're only assuming none of us know anything. And I'm assuming that's incorrect, or we wouldn't be where we are right now. That's all.

(no subject)

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