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« 001 ⇢ INTERLUDE001.EXE »

Who: Mosley and these unfortunate souls
When: OOC: 6/27, IC: 1/26
Where: CERES Research Tower
What: Mosley takes a few lucky souls on a tour of the CERES offices.
Rating/Warning: PG-13: Some violence, injuries and possible death.

▶ VIDEO.EXE | IC: 1/25

[ The broadcast comes bright and early for those paying attention to their CereVices; the man who appears on the screen is strikingly pale, white-haired and piercingly blue-eyed. He looks young, no more than nineteen or twenty and he's dressed in a crisp black and white suit. He stares into the screen for a long moment, long enough to be, frankly, just a bit uncomfortable.

And then white eyelashes blink and an awkward, unsure smile spreads across his face. He lifts a hand to fix his tie and speaks. ]

This is Mosley.

[ The smile drops, leaving him with a blank expression once again. ]

CERES has decided in a show of good faith to open our doors to you. I have been given the task of, [ He lifts his hands to emphasize with air quotes. ] "being your tour guide." If that is what I must do, so be it. The lazy worm does not get the apple, after all.

[ He looks down at the tablet on his desk, giving it a few taps and suddenly an icon appears on the bottom right hand of the video. ]

That link will bring you to a listing to make an appointment. You will be given a time. Show up promptly or do not, it is no matter to me. The tour will leave ten minutes after your given time and that will be that. Tours will only last a few hours so you needn't worry about the rest of your day. You will certainly return home in time to catch the latest episode of [ Air quotes again. ] "Banana is the New Black." I hear there's going to be a cliffhanger!

[ A pause and he looks oddly thoughtful. ]

I suppose you could also steal it off the internet? [ Blank again. ] Which would be wrong. Our lawyers will contact you if you do that. Do not.

[ And then another of those awkward smiles before quickly turning into something a bit startled and he taps his tablet again, ending the video. Replies to this feed have been disabled, unfortunately. Seems like someone isn't feeling very chatty. It's a miracle. ]

▶ ACTION.EXE | IC: 1/26

[ The next day, that Monday, those who take Mosley up on his offer will find that him standing there right in front of the main CERES office building, waiting. It’s with that same disconcerting smile that he unlocks the door and ushers them in.

Welcome, all of you, to our lovely CERES!

The group will find themselves standing in a lobby. Clean white walls and floors, a bright blue rug leading towards the elevators on the far wall, and a white reception counter. At the counter are two CERES robots answering calls and directing any visitors (though the lobby seems quite empty today) and on the wall behind them is a hologram of the CERES logo for all to see. Mosley stands in the center of the carpet in his usual suit and claps his hands together, putting on a smile. ]

Welcome to CERES.

[ And then the smile drops. Voice flat, he continues. ]

There has been... talk over the past few months that we at CERES have not been working 24/7 to help you, our clientele, return to your homes safely and soundly. There has also been... talk that we do not do anything. That this entire company is a farce, which is honestly quite hurtful to both me and the other hardworking staff at this company. Mr. Vincere had his way of running this place but Ms. Recreare is fond of a more hands on approach. We want to share that approach with you.

[ He spreads his hands to indicate to the building around them. ]

CERES has many fingers in many jars and they've all been sealed tight for a while. We would like to open those jars. So once again, welcome to CERES and please follow me.

[ After that, Mosley turns and begins to lead the group off. ]

▶ RUN.EXE | MOD NOTES

This is the event log for these sign-ups! Your groups have been sorted below; here are a few handy links for you:

Group 01 | OOC plotting
Group 02 | OOC plotting
Group 03 | OOC plotting
Group 04 | OOC plotting
Group 05 | OOC plotting
Group 06 | OOC plotting
Group 07 | OOC plotting
Group 08 | OOC plotting
Group 09 | OOC plotting
Group 10 | OOC plotting
There is no tagging order, so feel free to tag in whatever way works best for you as a group.

The tours will technically last 3 hours icly, but that may change as ic events happen; oocly, the threads will last as long as necessary, though Mosley will come and collect your characters if they are moseying around too long! There will be mod involvement in each of the tours.

If there are any questions, feel free to ask them here. You are welcome to plot with your groupmates by using the ooc top level comments linked above. Thank you!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

. . . LOADING AI THAO KHA.$$$ . . . LOADING AURA BLACKQUILL.$$$ . . .
. . . LOADING INTEGRA HELLSING.$$$ . . . LOADING LANCER.$$$ . . .
. . . LOADING PEARL FEY.$$$ . . . START TOUR.EXE. . .

[ Mosley's going to lead them to the elevators now, pressing for one and watching as the numbers above slowly trickle down. ]

People always ask us "when will we see our worlds again" or "are you really working on restoring our worlds" or "when will I get my compensation over my world being destroyed." It's become rather tedious because as we have said many times before, we're working on it.

[ The elevator arrives with a ding and Mosley ushers everyone inside. He's a little more forceful to those who hesitate but eventually, everyone will be in. He presses for floor twelve. ]

For this tour, I have been instructed to show you exactly that.

[ The elevator doors close and they begin to move up slowly. Any attempt to engage Mosley in conversation will be ignored which actually makes this elevator ride slightly awkward. After a moment, a short jingle will begin to play and Mosley pulls a CereVice out of his jacket pocket and answers the call. ]

This is Mosley. [ . . . ] Oh. [ . . . ] That isn't going to work. [ . . . ] One would think so, yes. [ . . . ] I see. [ . . . ] Do you not have a daughter, Mr. Agao? Do you not care for her well-being? Her safety? If that is the case, then I do not see why you are failing on such a ... simple task. [ . . . ] I believe that is your fear talking, Mr. Agao. We at CERES do not tolerate fear, as you well know. [ . . . ] Ha. Ha. I will be in touch.

[ Mosley hangs up his CereVice and presses for floor ten a moment later, without looking towards the tour group. Eight... nine... ten. The doors open and Mosley steps off. He turns to the group. ]

Floor twelve will be of interest to you. Now if you'll excuse me, something's come up.

[ For some reason, the moment Mosley leaves the elevator, all of the lights on the numbers flicker off. There are only three lit up numbers on the elevator panel: 12, 22, and 40. Any attempts to press any other buttons won't cause anything to happen, and similarly, the doors refuse to open no matter what you attempt to do. ]

[O...Kay then.

She hadn't had a chance to talk to Mosley back when the new CEO announced herself. He seemed polite enough and hey, he was letting them take a look at the CERES facilities. It was a good a chance as any to see why the management has been letting things go to the dogs as it is... Aaaand of course thing start to go wrong the moment they stepped into the elevator (and probably even before that).

Ai looks around incredulously as the lights begin to flicker off.]

I'm usually more optimistic than this, but would it be too much to say that we're trapped?

We're not trapped, there's only...

[ Aura looks at the lit up buttons again. ]

Three buttons we can press. I don't like that.

[ She pulls out a tiny screwdriver from her pocket, makes her way to the panel and begins to unscrew it so that she can get to the inner computer in the elevator. ]

Ah, but Mr. Mosley did say that Floor 12 should be of interest to us so maybe we should--...

[Oh, hello screwdriver. Ai watches, unsettled.]

Er, do you know how to fix or operate elevators, m'am??

[YOU KNOW, JUST MAKING SURE]

Not an elevator per se, but this is nothing compared to what I normally work with.

[ She says, quickly getting to work unscrewing the panel, barely paying attention to Ai and whoever else in the elevator. ]

And my name's Aura Blackquill, "ma'am" makes me feel old.

[ The panel falls off to reveal a small screen, a keypad and loads of wiring. So far so good, the console looks pretty standard for a building here in Cerealia. ]

So maybe we should go to Floor 22 or 40?

[ Pearl watches Aura, not surprised the ~~lady who kidnaps magicians~~ roboticist is prepared for this. ]

Are elevators at all like robots, Ms Blackquill?

If it's a machine, I can do magic to it.

[ Now she's got herself fully engrossed in the elevator control panel. ]

You--

[ She waves her hands irritably towards the rest of her tour group. ]

-- decide which floor you want to go to.

[ As Aura starts to fiddle with the elevator control panel, this song begins to play instead of the softer, lighter elevator music.

The same three buttons are lit up.

But if they look behind them, with strange coincidental timing, Integra and Lancer start to flicker and then fade out, as if something is messing with their code. Whether Aura stops messing with the elevator or not, they're going to disappear from that elevator, leaving the three behind.

With three lit up buttons. ]

[ That causes Aura to look around the confined space in surprise, wondering what she had done to deserve to have... this on loop rather than the elevator music.

This doesn't look great. At all. What is going on? Her confusion manifests as a scowl on her face and when she turns round, she notices the elevator is now down a few people. ]

So we have to go to one of these three floors then.

[Ai stayed quiet for a while, allowing Aura (... Oh wait her last name sounds familiar...) to fiddle with the panel as she pleased-- She jumps slightly at the new and energetic music that plays as a result, glancing at the rest of the group to remark.]

Well, it can't get any... Ah!!

[When she sees Integra and Lancer flicker in and out until they disappear.]

What the?! Where... How...? [Is she panicking a little, maybe.]

Could... Maybe they were transported to another floor? One of those three?? If so we might as well go to the one Mr. Mosley spoke of.

[ She's just going to energetically press the button for the 12th floor, because why not. It's not like they had any other options at this point anyway.

The sooner they can get out of this elevator, the better.

And for the record, none of this was her fault. ]

[ How do people just disappear like that?? ]

Maybe that's where they went, to-- to encourage us to go there? I guess we can see if we can find them there!

[ Instead of standing here enjoying the princess of pop's hit single. ]

Just seeing those two disappear like that... I almost forgot that we're just...

[That they're information. Code. Extracted, from god knows what, the explanation seems so far away since Ai first arrived.]

Whatever happens from here on out, let's try and see if there's anything we can take away from this.

[ Aura turns round to the two girls in the elevator with her as it continues to ascend. ]

As I said, I'm Aura Blackquill. I specialise in robotics, namely engineering and a bit of programming. Just a bit.

[ She pauses and turns to Pearl. ]

You're... one of Wright's people. Fey. So you probably can do something.

[ Then she turns to Ai. ]

And I don't know who you are or what you can do.

I'm Pearl Fey, I'm a spirit medium... I also sell things at the party supplies store and do fortune telling!

[ Which is all clearly very useful in this situation. ]

I remember when you kidnapped Trucy. [ To Aura, and then to Ai. ] And you were at Athena's slumber party a while back, I think?

Um. Yes! I'm Ai Thao Kha. And yes, I'm friends with Miss Athena Cykes. Pleased to make both of your acquaintances.

[She bows her head towards the other two politely.]

I'm an esper for a better lack of the term. My abilities are rather broad, but I'm able to heal wounds, move objects, and generate electricity, all to a certain degree.

Okay, so a spirit medium, an esper and a roboticist walk into CERES headquarters not knowing what's going to happen to them.

[ She rubbed her temples, trying to ignore the potential mess that awaited them on the 12th floor. ]

I don't trust CERES, which is why I wanted to go on this tour. Knowing their track record, something's going to go down.

Edited 2015-06-30 03:28 (UTC)

[ and up they go to the 12th floor! The elevator moves smoothly, and soon enough, it opens with a cheerful ding!

This floor looks perfectly normal.

In fact, it almost looks like an office space. There are cubicles everywhere, and even more than that, there are people everywhere, android and humanoid alike, busily working at their terminals and computers and cubicles.

There is a picture on the wall even ]

[Ai Thao looks around and takes one cautious step outside to examine the floor.]

Oh... It's not as bad as I thought it was going to be.

[And that cat picture? That's unnervingly cute, but she feels that that might not be an appropriate comment to be making right now.]

What do you suppose everyone's doing here?

[ Pearl cautiously pokes her head out before practically bouncing out of the elevator. ]

This isn't so bad at all! And that's such a cute cat picture! [ Apparently Pearl has no qualms on whether such a comment is appropriate right now. ]

Hm... it looks like they're doing... office-work. Maybe we should ask them what they do?

Hang in there...?

[ What a picture. What could it all mean? Aura's going to snap a picture of it for posterity. ]

Hopefully they know that they're expecting visitors.

[ And still cautiously looking about, Aura approaches one of the nearer office workers. ]

What department is this?

[ It takes a few moments for the office worker to look up, and when he finally does, he looks grumpy. ]

What do you want?

[ A pause, as he takes in their appearances. ]

Wait, who are you people? You shouldn't be here. You don't have clearance.

[ Well, that's less than friendly. ]

[Ai holds up her hands as if making a, "We're safe!" gesture.]

O-Oh, we're part of the tour groups! Mr. Mosley said that this floor would of interest to us. He's left us to our own devices though so... I mean, he seemed busy with something else and left us.

[ Wow, so rude! Maybe they should have been wearing visitors badges stating they can go wherever. ]

That's right! So we have the best clearance of all, don't we? So you should, um... give us a tour of this department!

[ DEMANDS... politely. ]

Oh, that guy. [ That doesn't seem to have made them any sweeter towards the ladies, it seems... ]

Always stealing our coffee and putting up stupid cat pictures on the walls, no matter how often we take them down. He's a pest, and so're you.

[ Wow, who made them so grumpy today.... ]

This is the Code Technician floor, you know? We don't have the time to waste on you people.

▶ GROUP TWO.EXE

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