WEEK THREE - MINGLE

[mayoiga]

RULEBOOK

STATUSES

PROFILES

LOCATIONS

FULL NAV

WEEK THREE - MINGLE

SURVIVORS: 12

Last week might've been the worst week some of you have ever had. From the hallucinations to losing five of your number yet again, things are looking rather bleak -- and yet, perhaps optimistic, given that you're so close to ending the game. Is it worth sacrificing one more person to end it, though? ... Only one way to find out.

You have time until then, though, to regroup and recollect yourself if you choose to. From Monday morning, after the rain that fell on Sunday, the weather, continues to be more overcast and stormy throughout the week - gray clouds swirl around the sky ominously, and the pleasantly balmy weather that you've come to expect gives way to passing showers with ominous thunder. Perhaps it's not a good time to go for a swim in the pool, but no one's stopping you if that's what you decide on doing. Your locations, likewise, have changed.

The end is almost here. There are only slightly over half your number still remaining. Do your best to survive.

PHOTOGRAPHS | THE MANAGER | BULLETIN BOARD
SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY
--
OOC: Welcome to your Week 3 log! There are a couple of new locations you should check out, and any other changes or small events will be marked out in the top-levels below. Murder proposals for this week are due by 12PM EST Monday, don't forget that this is the last week you have to do a murder! We will also be running a mini-exploration event this week - please see the link for more details!

Don't forget that Activity Check is due by Tuesday at 6PM EST!

Any questions, please contact your mods here or on Discord!

Comments

[mayoiga]

[ Don't worry, Alcina, the elevator before you is definitely more spacious than it was before. It's almost as if the one surviving elevator has swallowed up the remaining two elevators, so it's a small mercy that the three of them can all fit into the same elevator. There is also nothing dead or disturbing behind the elevator doors, it just looks empty.

There's something about the elevator, though - the decor looks a little more faded, a little more worn, like it's not quite right.

The doors will automatically close behind them once all three of them have entered the elevator.

There's only one button available to press - Floor 4. ]

[egeiro]

[ floor 4, huh? let's go. he presses the button with zero hesitation. ]

You can be the first to get off, too.

[mayoiga]

[ The elevator ascends. When it reaches Floor 4, it opens up to the familiar layout of rooms and a never-ending corridor. There's something strange and eerie about this floor, though, devoid of life or anyone familiar.

The button flickers - it now reads Floor 2. Perhaps you should press it. ]

[vinsangeros]

[Well at least she's not being forced to crouch over these two man-things. At the same time, she doesn't like the look of any of this...

Fortunately, Lucas being rude distracts her from her concern.]

How gentlemanly of you. But I think I'll pass. This isn't my stop.

[So with a sneer, she moves to press the button because she sure as hell isn't getting off here.]

[mayoiga]

[ And like clockwork, the lift moves towards Floor 2, and the only thing that accompanies them in the background is the ever present elevator music.

When the doors open on Floor 2 - it's the same situation: the floor looks empty, desolate almost, devoid of people and strangely quiet.

Your next destination: Floor 6. ]

[reshape_destiny]

[Guess it's his turn now.]

This is starting to remind me of a Night Springs episode. Too bad I'm not still writing for that...

[And pushing the button.]

[mayoiga]

[ Alan should be well acquainted by Floor 6 by now - except that when the doors open, it kind of opens to...

Something a little different.

While the rows of rooms look similar still, the decor looks decidedly sepia tainted, like it was pulled from an old photograph.

Perhaps this isn't where you should be getting off, but maybe, venture back to Floor 2? ]

[egeiro]

[ he has no idea what's going on. is all of this just another spooky scare tactic? she thinks he's going to be scared off by the color brown? please. ]

I thought you said ladies first. But fine, I'll get off first.

[ pressing the button again. ]

[mayoiga]

[ Floor 2 seems to be experiencing the same sepia toned situation, so there's definitely something spoopy going on here.

But what's probably the main indicator that something is wrong is the next button that they're supposed to press.

It's Floor 10.

(was there ever a floor 10?) ]

[vinsangeros]

[But floor 2 was just... Ugh. Why did this suddenly have to be the only working elevator?]

And it would have remained so, had the elevator decided to take me to where I actually wanted to go.

[Anyway, she looks down in hopes that it's back to normal...only for it to be anything but.]

Floor ten? Is this building suddenly adding floors to itself?

[Well, it's their only option, so... She'll press it.]

[mayoiga]

[ This elevator sure is leading them on a very specific journey of some sort, it seems like, because the elevator music starts to take on a more ominous tone, fading into music box sounds as it ascends smoothly to floor 10.

When the door opens at floor 10, it opens up to...

Nothing.

Literally. Instead of seeing any rooms or corridors when the doors open, all they will see is an expanse of pitch black.

In the distance, there is the faint outline of a window, and behind it the sky is red.

Two more stops to go - the next one on their journey is Floor 5. ]

[reshape_destiny]

... I don't know about anyone else, but this definitely isn't my stop.

[Oh, that darkness is uncomfortable-- not that he's going to say so out loud, but the tension in his shoulders gives what he's feeling away.

Ugh. Okay. Pressing that button now and hitting the "Door Close" button too for good measure.]

[mayoiga]

[ Floor 5 it is!

So far the elevator ride is going smoothly, with no mishap. The door closes, and the elevator moves slowly to Floor 5. When the door opens, the darkness seems to be a little bit more pervasive, clinging to the doors and the corridor of Floor 5.

Except that when the doors open, after another moment, there seems to be another invisible presence in the elevator with them. ]

[reshape_destiny]

[Oh hell no

For about two seconds, Alan is torn on whether to make a grab for his camera or his flashlight. Fortunately the camera wins out, and he pulls it out to aim it in the general direction of where he feels that presence seems to be and take a photo.

It won't be the most well-aimed or focused photo ever, but hopefully it will serve its purpose.]

[egeiro]

[ it's weird to sense stuff like this again, but if only he could see it. he turns his head to where he thinks the presence is. ]

... If the thing in here with us is a lady, we should let it go first.

[ but it's a good thing alan brought the camera. lucas nods at him. ]

[vinsangeros]

[So! While she's definitely not letting it show, she's more than glad to leave the tenth floor and never look back. And though this was going to be her actual stop...she remains where she is. Something is still off about this, and it's not just the presence.

Also Lucas is still pissing her off.]

I suggest you stop testing me, man-thing.

[She will yeet you into the spoopy corridor.

Anyway, she looks to Alan.]

Who or what is it?

[mayoiga]

[ It's good enough that the photo develops relatively quickly into a photo that isn't too blurry.

Might want to keep your reaction under wraps, though, because that sure is a picture of Alice.

And if he wants to pass it around, strangely, Lucas will see an image of Athanasia, and Alcina will see the image shift between her three daughters in the photograph. ]

[reshape_destiny]

[... oh he hates this. At least if there's one thing his experiences back in Bright Falls have taught him, it's that the mind is easily manipulated... but that knowledge still isn't enough to keep an angry scowl off his face as he thrusts the photo in Lady D's direction without so much as a word, in part just because he wants to get it out of his hands before his emotions end up getting the better of him.]

[egeiro]

[ as alan hands over the photo to lady d, the flash of blonde hair - that beautiful, familiar mess - is all he needs to glimpse at to know who it is. her again.

any thought of antagonizing lady d further vanishes, replaced by a cold fury that stills his expression and makes his eyes burn red. even though he knows - he knows with everything he has that athanasia cannot possibly be here. she has so many layers of protection on her, etched into her very soul that there's no way this place could have caught her. still, that they would dare entertain the very thought - tch.

he mutters something about how this place would have had better luck imitating his idiotic old master and turns his eyes to the elevator panel again. where the fuck to next? ]

cw alluding to the hallucinations

[vinsangeros]

[The look on Alan's face isn't a good sign, but she handled seeing a member of their dead in a photograph well enough. she can handle whatever this...is...

Well, Alan can at least say his reaction was more subdued than Alcina's. She lets out a horrified gasp and drops the photo for someone below her to catch. That horror quickly turns into rage.]

That- That bitch told me they were--!

[But before she can punch a hole into the elevator, she forces herself to stop and breathe.]

This is another nasty trick, isn't it. As if we haven't seen enough at this point.

[Is the presence still there after its photo was taken? And has the elevator changed at all?]

[mayoiga]

[ If it helps, they look relatively fine in the photograph. Other than some weird glitchy, staticky edges which tends to be the de-facto sign that something is not quite right here.

And to answer the question-- Yup. The presence is still there.

And it's about to make its presence known, because suddenly, in the almost deathly quiet of the elevator after Alcina's outburst, there's a high pitched, layered female voice that asks:

"Where are you going?"

And immediately after that - without waiting for an answer...

The lights fizz out.

Plunged into sudden darkness other than the light of the suddenly ominous "B" button that's on the panel, the elevator drops. ]

[reshape_destiny]

[Once again, Alan came (unintentionally) prepared: when the lights go out, he's reaching into his pocket for his ever-present flashlight, both to give them something to see with and also just in case he needs to use it to bludgeon something, such as their unexpected new companion.]

Show yourself!

[A futile gesture if this happens to be another ghost, most likely, but one never knows. Supernatural presences can be quite bold sometimes...

... but that's all he gets out before the floor suddenly drops beneath him and his shocked mind registers the sensation of falling...]

[egeiro]

[ he stumbles back at the sudden drop, blindly reaching out for the elevator handrails, still blinking away the flash of alan's flashlight. his other hand reaches out to brace one of the others - probably alan - to stop them from slamming into the wall.

ugh, this is why he wanted seats in these elevators. ]

What the heck? She didn't mean to show us the other stuff or what? Why's she so angry now?

[vinsangeros]

[Oh, lovely.

Though Alcina is able to avoid being blinded by the sudden flash of light in the darkness, her height makes grabbing something for stability difficult. After the initial cry of shock, she backs herself into a corner and presses her hands hard against the walls.]

As if we chose to traipse through this nonsense!

[As she searches through the chaos, her eyes land on the "B" button.]

The basement- brace yourselves!

[mayoiga]

[ Surprisingly, for how fast the drop is, the landing is... much more subdued.

The lights flicker back on, but instead of its former bright light, the lights of the elevator are now a muted red glow, and even if any other kind of magical sensing has been nerfed, it's hard not to notice the almost oppressive feel that pervades the space that they find themselves in.

The door slides open - beyond, a corridor awaits, bathed in the same red glow.

There's only one way out, after all - by the time they head to the end of it, ominously, there is only one door. The DISPOSAL ROOM.

> Enter? ]