estoria | « 001 ⇢ INTERLUDE001.EXE »

Entry tags:

« 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

[who's calling who creepy, guy without any decency? the expression aimed at gintoki's back is anything but pleasant. it takes a lot to actually rile flynn up but that? that does it well enough.

he opens his mouth to start part 2 of lecturing but maya cuts him off. some of that anger diffuses as his eyes dart over at her. what a shame a smile won't be enough to kill the lecturing urge. icky as the plants are, someone out there still might use it for something. flynn gives a soft sigh as he moves over to them.]

Be that as it may, these plants are not ours and this greenhouse is not a playground. [a pointed glance at gintoki.] Or a public toilet.

[as for the door, well, no reason to not explore exists. his gazes shifts onto the 'storage' sign. they weren't told anything about going in or not. since no rules are being broken, no argument about the suggestion comes from the goody two shoes.]

And I don't see any reason why we can't go in.

. . . NEW FILE CREATED . . . CHECKPOINT #001.SAV . . .
. . . CONTINUING TOUR.EXE. . .

[ The door is unlocked; should they choose to open it, they will find themselves in a metallic hallway that does not in any way look as though it should be connected to a greenhouse.

Everything is incredibly dusty, as though this passageway has not been used for a very long time, and the floor is rather rusty; be careful not to put too much weight on it, or pieces of it may fall through.

And, more than anything, it's dark. ]

Where else should I have gone, huh? Do you see a bathroom nearby? Did you want me to hold it the whole time? Get real.

[after griping some more at Flynn, he'll turn his attention back to Maya.]

Hah? Did I get downgraded from protagonist so easily? A sidekick now. . . I guess that means you better do all the heroic stuff from now on, okay? I'll count on you.

. . . or we could just have that guy do it.

[He'll point at Flynn.]

I bet he'd do anything a woman asks him to do. He's that kind of guy. Come on goody-two-shoes, show us what's in there.

Maybe the storage room has a door control or something like that. [or maybe it's a bathroom somehow.]

Nah, it's okay. I'll take care of all the heroic, cool stuff! I need my sidekicks in tact so you guys can get me snacks once we get past the spooky, dramatic parts. Mr. Knight can hold my flower... whenever I find one.

[Maya feels along the falls and tests the floor brfore stepping forward and trying to peer further down the hallway]

Spooky secret passage... I totally called it! [And a pause.] You guys didn't see any flashlights or blowtorches back there, didya?

[He'll watch her for a minute, thoughtfully, a slightly sick-looking expression on his stomach. He wasn't scared. It was just something he ate making that flipping feeling in his stomach.

. . . the last thing he wanted to do was to walk through a dark, scary-looking hallway with a rotting floor. Was this tour trying to kill them? It was really just a horror movie waiting to happen, wasn't it, and it wasn't the first time he'd experienced something like this while in this place. He'll scratch at his head a little, then look absently over to Flynn, then back to Maya with some concern.

Watching something awful happen to her wasn't really something he'd be okay with, so he'll take a few steps into the passage. At her question, he'll give Flynn a glance, then take out his CereVice to see if it will provide a little light. He'd had to do it before, but it's not very bright. He'll look back to Maya.]

Don't. . . dont' go so far ahead, brat. You can't just walk off by yourself. You'll probably trip on your own feet or something.

Edited 2015-06-29 22:31 (UTC)

[flynn gives gintoki a flat line face. you know what? he will. he was planning on taking the lead any way. it takes him a second to get to that due to first pulling something out oh his pocket. let's see... you just click this button and it turns on right?

only once having double checked technology do his feet start moving. a small smile replaces that uphappy face as he quickly strolls over to maya trying to uptake her as the front. light suddenly illuminates the darkness as flynn turns on the mini flashlight he'd taken out. twice has darkness proven an annoying foe. third time won't be happening on his watch.]

I have one on me so please allow me to lead the way.

[despite the please, it's not something up for discussion. they have no idea what lies ahead and any proper knight puts himself in danger rather than allow anyone else to be harmed!! flynn shines the light around while stepping on ahead, all the rusting, dust and lack of stability of the bridge becoming nicely visible.]

[Gintoki's reaction gets another grin out of her - ah yes, the grumpy old man routine. It's not like he cares or anything, right!]

What's the matter, old man, afraid you can't keep up?

[CHEEKINESS ASIDE, while Maya outwardly doesn't seem phased by.... well, any of this, she also doesn't argue with Flynn's insistence on going first, especially since he does indeed have a flashlight--]

Awesome! You got one!

[--and she's a scrawny, five foot nothing teenager. She'll follow pretty closely behind, though, glancing back every few seconds to check on Gintoki. (He doesn't seem to be doing to great with this, after all)]

Yeesh, this mysterious secret passage is really in need of some upkeep... you'd better watch your step too, Mr. Knight.

Edited 2015-06-30 06:24 (UTC)

[ While there are occasional doors on either side of them as they make their way down the passageway, they don't open; it isn't that they seem to be locked so much as that they're totally and completely rusted shut, opening mechanisms long sealed up by time.

It seems there's no way to go but to continue down.

And they are definitely going down. The floor slopes before them, slick in places where the water dripping from the ceiling has worn away any grips.

Furthermore, the further they go, the more overgrown it is; at some point, they'll probably have to start cutting away the plants that are getting in their way if they want to proceed further. ]

Oi oi, I'm not old. How old do you even think I am? [answer: it's a mystery. He'll ask her a few more times though, hoping she'll guess.]

You're just that kind of kid that likes to get into trouble, I can tell.

[He'll follow along closely enough, mostly because of the light that Mr. goody-goody has. Of course, he'd have a flashlight. Occasionally, he'll try to shine the light from his CeresVice behind them.

Not for any actual reason, though. He's not scared. He's not.

Once he starts seeing plants though, he'll scratch at his head some. ]

How the hell are there even plants growing down here, huh? We've been walking forever. Are we going out of the city? [Did they escape? Why did he have to escape with a couple of kids. . .]

[He'd be able to swing and take down the vegetation well enough with his wooden sword; he's surprisingly strong with it, strong enough to break some branches and vines. But that requires work, so first he'll look ahead to the 3rd member of the party. ]

Hey Sir goody-goody; don't you have a sword?

I'll be fine, you needn't worry.

[the concern, though appreciated, isn't necessary. caution might as well be flynn's middle name. each step taken holds precision to it and flynn makes sure to watch out for any spots on the bridge that might be risky to step on.

cue a lovely little eyeroll at the nickname as flynn tries to open yet another rusty door with no luck. you know what, this is still better than some of nicknames his best friend comes up with so not bothering to comment. not responding to them also tends to deter whoever came up with them more than correcting them.]

I didn't think I'd need it here so I left it at my place.

[hacking away a jungle of plants isn't something most tours involve so sorry for not thinking that far ahead. nice as an extra sword may be, flynn might have something better up his sleeve. he hums softly, judging both how much overgrowth there is and the stability of the bridge. if he aims right (which he will because mr perfect does not halfass things), most of this could be cleared in one go without damaging the structure.]

But I still should be able to clear most of this if you both stand back.

I dunno, old. You're ancient in your soul, that's all that counts. [Likes to look for trouble... riiight. Really, it's more like she can't escape trouble wherever she goes so she's given up and learned to play along.]

You're thinking of my helpless full-time sidekick! I always gotta bail that guy out... [Yeah, that's definitely how it is] ... so don't make me have to do the same with you two.

[Well, she's still got a gardening tool on her. For all the good that'd do]

[But Flynn seems to have it covered for now, so she obediently hops back a bit to give him space.]

Weren't you listening? This is typical horror movie stuff! There's probably a secret underground network of plants that got too intense for people to take care, so they abandoned it. And now it's going wild!

The point is, why do we have to walk into it. Even if you're really brave or whatever, I'd rather be home watching One Peel.

[Why did he even get up this morning, that's the real question Gintoki's asking himself right now.

Right. Typical horror-movie stuff. That's exactly what he was afraid of. Still, Gintoki just rolls his eyes a little, then moves back so that Sir goody-goody can do his thing. He's watching, but he's not super convinced that this will be impressive. ]

Edited 2015-06-30 17:03 (UTC)

[funny, flynn's been asking himself that same question. time would have been better spent arguing soap opera plot twists with yuri than dealing with public indecency nicknamer and girl with overly active imagination. it's why he says nothing about the whole sidekick debate, deciding it's better to focus on playing gardener than jumping in.

on the bright side, at least they listen well enough. as soon as the path's clear, he starts by closing his eyes and concentrating. seconds later, a casting circle pops up under him.]

Appear and become permanent from one side to extinguish the darkness...

[his eyes snap open, quickly double checking his own aim, before letting loose the spell.]

Divine Streak!

[AND BAM! INSTA LASER. say good-bye to a good chunk of those plants because they're now no more. not only does the attack slam right into them but does so without the attack ever touching the bridge. granted, this means anything closer to the bridge remains but it also means that the bridge won't likely collapse right under them. a good trade-off.]

[He'll draw back just a little, only because of surprise, then give Flynn a look. ]

OI oi, you didn't tell us you were a wizard. How many good personality traits can a character have, huh? Can't you just, you know, use some spell to take us all out of here?

Sir flamethrower has been holding out on us here.

[He's trying hard not to look impressed, but he definitely is.]

[Maya's not even going to try sounding unimpressed.]

That's sooo cool! Can you teach me how to do that?

[While Flynn does his thing, Maya clasps her hands together excitedly. One's a cranky old man complaining, the other's an overly excitable teenage girl... Flynn is caught in the middle of these shenanigans.]

[ With the plants taken care of, the path is reasonably smooth going to wherever they're going.

Almost too much smooth going. At some point, the incline of the path plus the persistent slickness of the water dripping overhead have basically turned the path into a slide -- and it may be hard to see that without much in the way of a light source.

The railings are broken and jagged, so grabbing onto those might be painful, but it may be a way to save yourselves.

Otherwise, prepare for a slippery trip downwards. ]

[oh huh they were impressed by that? it's just a little magic, nothing too impressive. flynn doesn't think it too impressive, anyway, with how some leftover plant growth remains. had his aim been better, he may have gotten closer to the bridge. memo to self, work on aim.

the fact that both gintoki and maya respond so favorably (well, the latter does, but gintoki's gets taken as an oddly phrased compliment) takes flynn by surprise. a blink comes before he shakes his head.]

No, it isn't that sort of magic and I'm not a wizard. I only know a few spells, with them all being either light based or healing.

[he then turns to maya.]

And I wouldn't mind teaching you, but this world doesn't have what you'd need to learn.

[no blastia here, thankfully. it might not be lucky for maya, but it's a good thing overall. enough with the magic talk for now, though. there's a freaky and creepy pathway to explore!! a smile gets sent their way.]

Let's continue forward.

[which is also a way of saying to save the magic talk for later. right as flynn makes to move, his foot happens to step in one of those slippery wet patches. luckily, he has good reflexes; unluckily, he catches himself right on a more jagged part of the railing. he winces.]

But be careful. The floor is slipperier than it appears.

Whaaaat? That's laam-- [She immediately pouts and huffs. Blastia, smastia, she wants to learn magic, man!]

--Woah!

[But her protests are short as said sloping happens and she slides and nearly loses balance herself, directly after Flynn. Her reflexes are surprisingly good as well, though she flails wildly before managing to grab hold of a railing - and brushes close to Flynn, tapping into his back, almost too close.]

[Luckily, she's pretty small, so lightly bumping against Flynn wouldn't knock him off. She breathes out a sigh of relief, then flinches in pain at the jagged railing.]

Whew.. that was close. We'd all better watch out steps.

[But it looks like they might be able to make it down without much incident at all.]

Edited 2015-07-01 04:22 (UTC)

[He's not really paying too much attention to the other two, only trying to look ahead at the light from the flashlight, trying to get a hint of what was in front of them.

At the moment he turns back around and shines his phone behind them -- paranoid much, definitely -- Flynn slips, then Maya slides into Flynn a bit, and that grabs his attention. He didn't see what happened, but his tone is questioning as he turns around.]

Be careful of wha--aah-

[THUMP. He easily slips on the slanted pathway, landing flat on his back and getting the wind knocked out of him. He can't even yell at the other two as he starts slipping down the passageway, just like if he'd fallen on a pretty slippery, wet slide.

He'll try to turn over and grasp at any of the railings he can to stop himself from slipping and try to get up, but for now it's a little late, and he'll crash into the other two before he manages to grasp a rough railing.

He'll wheeze a little painfully, trying to tell them to grab on to something.]

[ There's another pathway across from them, clearly where the original path used to lead; it's rusty, and hard to see in the scant light, but it is there if they can make the jump.

Or they can trust their luck and drop down below.

Either way, they'll have to act fast, because the railing was never meant to take this much weight. It creaks ominously, clearly starting to break down. ]

[the slip and slide fiasco going on behind happens before flynn could properly react. there's a sigh of relief when maya JUST brushes him. oh thank go--

and suddenly he finds himself eating bridge face down courtesy of gintoki with the flashlight rolling out of his hand and effectively illuminating the other pathway. ow ow ow. that probably scratched up his face something good. rather than worry about himself or complain, all thoughts jump toward the other two.]

Are both of you al--

[he pauses and frowns heavily. there's a noise. it's... something creaking. his eyes widen. the bridge. damn. the noise is likely its warning before it finally gives out.

no time to waste. ignoring the scratches on his face and the bloody hand, flynn forces himself to his feet. as he grabs for the fallen light source, his eyes notice the other path. it's a jump, definitely, but... another creak makes it clear that jumping might end up being the only choice. the flashlight remains on that path as he grabs it and stands.]

This bridge might not last much longer. Can both of you make that jump?

[He'll work on pulling himself to his feet; if one of them was at least standing, maybe the railing wouldn't break while they were holding on to it. Once he's shakily on his feet, he'll reach a hand out to Maya if she's nearby, looking up to see what Flynn was talking about.

He'll reply, though his voice is hoarse as he still tries to catch his breath.]

There's no other way to go, I guess.

What do you think, main character? Your sidekick is starting to outshine you.

[He'll frown a bit at flynn.]

. . . you sure you don't have a spell for that either? Maybe, like, a flying spell?

[Well, Maya prefers the sandwich she gets to eat, not getting crushed in between two guys (and one in armor, no less), so when Gintoki tumbles into them, she lets out a rather undignified squeak. They're lucky their collective slip-ups haven't sent them careening off into the unknown. Yet.]

-Aaaah!

[Ow, ow, ow. This whole adventure is going to leave a bruise or five and she's probably bleeding too. But the urgency is quick to get her back on her feet, no hand from Gintoki necessary. Though, she is looking worriedly in between the two of them (Yes, it seems they're all more concerned about each other than themselves, typical and the other end of the bridge. There's only one way to go]

There's only one way to find out! C'mon, sidekicks, let's see your jumping powers!

[She'll outshine them when they're not all about to fall to their probable imminent deaths. ....Probably.]

[right now it's flynn's flashlight that's outshining them all. he makes sure to light up the path as well as possible for them to make the jump go as smoothly as possible. main characters and old men first. a wry smile gets sent gintoki's way.]

I'm not nearly that handy. [hence why he's not an actual protag and just a sidekick.] But I can at least light up the path while you two go first.

[not like he plans on heroically dying or anything but just in case it's better to let them go first. jumping is a lot easier when you can see where you're jumping to, too.]

[Once he's steady on his feet, Gintoki gives Flynn a vague frown, then tucks his phone away safely. He's had his sword in hand the whole time, ever since the plants at least, and luckily he didn't drop it. He'll make the jump pretty easily with a running step or two, although it's slippery as hell on the other side, and he grabs on to whatever he can to stay on his feet.

And then he'll look in front of them some more, turning on his phone to shine some light on the path ahead. It was pretty useless; he'll turn around and wait.]

If either of you fall I'm not gonna go get you.

[lies. he probably would, after complaining about it for a little while.]

no subject

▶ CHECKPOINT ONE.SAV

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject