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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

So it's just a storage closet after all? That's so boring.

[Why would they even put a storage down here? Gardening tools in a computer room? That didn't make sense, not even to Maya.]

[In any case, the plot documents are what really draw her. Maya peers at the papers as Gintoki and Flynn read them, attempting to as well]

Hey, hey, this could be an important clue! Let's take 'em.

[As the other two come in, Gintoki will leave the documents with Flynn ~~mom~~ and keep looking for another door. Maybe there would be plenty of time to read those documents if they were trapped down here for awhile, and that just isn't what Gintoki wanted to do today. Still, he'll ask about them absently.]

Does it say anything important? Maybe someone was trying to get out of work down here.

Edited 2015-07-07 19:10 (UTC)

[ No other doors around, from the looks of things, just old metallic walls and the loud noises of something very very large approaching.

Oh, wait, that's not normal.

It seems the red light was a warning of some sort and if any of them has the presence of mind to look at the display for some bafflingly weird reason, there's a word:

B A R E

But that aside, probably of far greater concern is the giant subterranean monster that just came crashing through the wall.

At least there's another way out now? ]

[all those documents are happily taken in by the human file cabinet. huh. some of this stuff really is interesting. flynn keeps flipping through them, about to share the details with the others when--

the wall explodes and in comes a surprise guest!! congrats on being right about all this being a bad thing, gintoki. a quickly executed dodge to the side saves flynn from having a large chunk of debris nail him in the head. his gaze snaps toward the direction the debris came from and...

what the hell is that!?

aside from bad. really really bad. first thing first: the documents. there might still be useful information on them so he needs to save those. the papers get folded haphazardly in half and shoved down his shirt. pockets risk the papers falling out far too easily. now back on task: they need to find a way to escape and fast. think, flynn, think. you're a goddamn commandant now, you can think of a way to save at least the two of them. wait... the way the monster came in could work.]

We might be able to escape through the hole it made!!

[Maya shrieks loudly as the thing bursts through--]

[But she's quick to compose herself, even upon seeing exactly what it is they're dealing with. Oh boy. In a muttered aside:]<

I knew it, I knew there was a final boss coming....

[But Flynn's taken care of the documents, and so Maya commits the word "BARE" to memory (whatever... that means) grabs whatever else is in the room: the... fertilizer.... She nods to Flynn, (they definitely need to get out of here, and that hole might do the trick), then stares back at the huge monster with the gaping maw.]

M...Maybe we can talk to it? I know it never works in the movies, but...

Edited 2015-07-08 02:25 (UTC)

[Gintoki barely has time to register that he'd heard something loud before whatever it was came crashing through the wall. He'll take quick stock of the other two, and the enormous hole the creature had made as it came in.

While he hadn't ever seen one of these before, Gintoki was no stranger to large monsters, or large aliens. They were one and the same to him, and there was no doubt in his mind that this creature wanted to harm them. Talk to it? Yeah, right! He's already got his sword in hand, anyway, and did she even see how enormous that thing was? And all they were looking at right now was it's head! It was gigantic!]

The--the closet! Go back to the storage closet!

[maybe they can make it back to the closet before it really notices them, unless it already has thanks to the screams of a brave main character. Anyway, maybe it will have trouble with the door, unless it just decides to smash through it, too.]

Edited 2015-07-08 04:48 (UTC)

[ Yeah, it seems to be following those valiant, brave screams. At the very least, that means it leaves that hole unattended, so it would be a viable escape route if you can get past it.

Unfortunately, that also means that the monster is lunging forward facefirst, straight at Maya.

Probably don't try to talk to it, no. ]

[Why always her!!!]

[Well, hiding in the storage closet is no longer an option, Maya's no stranger to things or people trying to kill her, so while her eyes go cartoonishly wide, she's also reacting right away, throwing herself away from it as fast as she can possibly manage, shrieking (again), at the other two]

G-Go, guys!

[THROUGH THE HOLE.]

[(She doubts they're going to listen, but... it's worth a shot)]

[shit! of course it'd go after the main character first! flynn almost makes a dash to tackle her out of the way, but that proves unnecessary. good reflexes.

a valiant shot at giving out orders, but one that fails. maya's stuck with idiot heroes and the blond one opts to, what else, serve as distraction. the instant maya moves out the way and no long has a chance at becoming monster chow, he starts casting and unleashes a nice holy lance at the bugger. pay attention to HIM and nobody else. please.]

You first two first! I'll follow.

[now will they listen to him? flynn can only dream.]

[Actually, Gintoki would probably listen to him, mostly because he knows how that hero thing works, and Flynn looked like he had some pretty impressive magic. One thing he does is go over to Maya, but then he's going to have to go back to the monster.

Flynn had all those documents they'd found, and he's either going to get them from the kid, or send him with Maya out of here.

And Gintoki's fast. Faster than someone would guess from a guy who's usually called lazy. He's strong, and he's skillful, and when he can get the leverage -- maybe from the wall, and from the computer terminal -- and get close enough, he's going to take an impressive leap and stab that monster right in the eye, holding on to his wooden sword for dear life if the strike is successful.

Because there was one thing the other two might be forgetting about monsters, and that was even if you got away, they were gonna follow you no matter what. All bets were off if it was just going to attack them for no reason. ]

The-the papers! Do you have the papers, goody-goody! Those damn papers, oi!

Edited 2015-07-09 07:13 (UTC)

[ With all three of them shouting now, the monster pauses, as if uncertain of where to strike next.

It seems as though it doesn't have eyes, and was depending on its hearing to track them.

But then there's that attack, and yeah, that does a pretty good job of distracting it; it grumbles, shakes off the damage, and lunges immediately for Flynn, leaving Maya and Gintoki safe and free to move. ]

[good boy/girl, monster. shame that you won't be getting any treats for obeying. he steels himself to time avoiding that attack just right. too soon gives it chance to follow up and swallow him while too slow means getting swallowed right off the bat. not too much room for error here.]

I've got them! Don't worry about that now and run!

[the shout comes as flynn dodges off to the side at the most perfectly timed last moment and very narrowly avoids those sharp teeth, though one of the spikes on the creature manages to cut open his leg mid-dodge. whoops, even a commandant can miscalculate. he grimaces at the semi-superficial wound (aside from being somewhat bloody, it isn't overly deep or too severe) but no other reaction comes.

knightly training and reflexes mean executing a nimble single-handed cartwheel to land back on his feet. immediately after landing, a very quick luminant scythe gets fired off. more distraction never hurts. run while the running's good, guys!!]

Edited (spelling whoops TIMES TWO.) 2015-07-10 02:49 (UTC)

[Well, Maya isn't about to throw herself back into the jaws of that thing, but leaving without Flynn is definitely out of the question. She's noticing something too - the way the monster keeps freezing up and picking its targets - it's like a mole, or something? Tracking by sound?]

[Also, Flynn is surprisingly cool--]

Hey! I think it's blind! We need to distract it somehow so we can all get out of here!

[So it didn't have any eyes. Gintoki stops before attacking the creature as Flynn calls out at them; yeah, it didn't really sit well with him to leave the kid behind. Also, and more importantly to him at the moment -- what was to stop the monster from following them? How were they supposed to get away from it in one piece when it had such good hearing? ]

I think you're right. Hey, why don't you give another one of those heroic screams you just gave? In a minute, and just be ready to move.

[Because the wheels are turning, and he has an idea. Something that would maybe make a sound, a sound for this creature to follow so they could get away. . .

Oh yeah. Yeah, that could work just fine. Or it could be a total mess. He'll make his way over to Flynn, first stopping by the closet first to grab a few of the flower pots.]

Oi hero, start screaming!

[He'll start yelling loudly at the monster while throwing one of the pots at it, then he'll yell at Flynn as he gets closer to him.]

Can't you get closer to the opening! Use your magic to make it think you're somewhere else, somewhere where you're not! We all gotta get closer to the opening! Hey Tommy, you asshole! Come here and we'll heal you right up!

[okay, that last one was still at the monster. He'll throw his other flowerpot at it, and then he's going to make a run for it, especially if the monster comes after him. He'll be running out of the room, back into the corridor they'd fallen into. Was he running away? Did he seriously just leave them?]

[ Flowerpots are expensive, guys!! That's incredibly rude.

But the monster is officially not sure if this is worth the trouble anymore; it thought they would be food, and now they're turning out to be troublesome meals indeed.

But you know, Gintoki's the one yelling last, and Gintoki's the one throwing flowerpots at it; despite Flynn and his magic, after a moment's indecision, the monster follows Gintoki, straight back into that corridor they'd come from.

It's eerily empty in the room now.

Meanwhile Gintoki had better run fast, because it seems to have decided that it intends to eat at least one troublesome meal before the night is through, and is rampaging forward with full force back down that hallway. ]

[Unfair! TOTALLY UNFAIR! HE'S CALLING A FOUL ON YOU MONSTER!]

OI OI, TIME OUT, TIME OUT YOU ASSHOLE!

[Gintoki's been running for his life, and while he didn't really plan for the monster to follow him, it did. The plan could still work, but it might be harder for him to escape now. He can only hope those kids don't make any more noise. As he's running, he's still fiddling with his Ceresvice; now, he wasn't any expert at technology, but Gintoki was clever, especially when it came to preserving his own life. And he at least knew how to open a voicemail.

Oh yeah, this was a long one. A good long one, though he can only spare a moment to wonder why he hadn't deleted it. If this worked, he may never complain about long, drunk voicemails from his friends again.

Now that he had something that could get the monster's attention, he just wasn't sure where to lead it. Right now, all he saw in front of him was more corridor, and so far none of the doors would open, despite his attempts to hit and kick at them; finally, he'll throw all of his weight against one. Maybe it'll open?]

[a swear comes under flynn's breath when the monster changes targets. that did NOT go as planned. two of them are fine, one of them gets attacked: not the best scenario no matter what.

distraction and then running away really does seem the best plan, but what can be used as a distraction? the glow of the cerevice catches his eye quickly enough and chances are that's all part of some plan (hopefully). he'll let gintoki do whatever he's planning to do before potentially jumping in and ruining that. instead, he's moving over toward maya.]

Are you all right?

[the monster had gone after her to begin with, after all.]

[ Throwing all of his weight against it works, but maybe not how Gintoki was expecting; the door doesn't open so much as crumbles, old and rusty metal shattering under the onslaught. There may be some jagged, rusty edges to content with there, but either way, he's through.

The hall he crashes into appears to be a central hub sort of place; it's a circular room, wider than the hall he came from, and there are two elevators to one side. There are consoles in the middle of the room, and chairs scattered everywhere, but otherwise it is empty.

The doors on the wall at the other end of the room are also metal, but look much more taken care of; there are keycard slots next to the doors, which seems to be the only way to get through them.

The monster loses sight of him for a moment, but it seems to be able to smell the blood; a few moments later, it's following again, crashing right through what parts of the door didn't come down before. ]

Edited 2015-07-14 23:46 (UTC)

[He'll get a few cuts, but Gintoki doesn't feel them too much as he's a little preoccupied with running from the monster. Still, a few drops of blood are going to trail behind him as he keeps going, realizing in a moment that he really picked the wrong door. He's stuck, unless the elevators work; he'll slam his hand against the buttons, hoping they'll do something as he draws his sword.

He'll turn and face the monster once it crashes into the room, sword ready if it decides to go for him.]

Y-Yeah, I'm fine, but....

[Many cuts and scrapes and bruises aside, she is fine. But she's also quite concerned with Gintoki's current predicament, giant monster and all. She doesn't want to risk her life unnecessarily but she's also not about to abandon him to it.]

[In conclusion: Gintoki isn't the only one chucking flowerpots. She's snagging one.]

--We can't leave him like this! We've all gotta get out!

[AND... running after the direction of Gintoki and monster, hurling the flowerpot] HEY! BACK OFF!

[Hopefully that will give Gintoki time to fight or run, or...]

[and of course maya gives chase. someone needs to put bells on these two or something. okay, flynn can't just stand by and watch his groupmates become an evening meal so that means doing something! the question is what? using magic risks accidentally hitting gintoki or maya right now. the last closest flower pot got snatched up by the main character so what does this leave flynn with? very few choices.

let's think this out. what needs to be done right now is get the monster to focus elsewhere. maya has a good idea with throwing something, but what else can be thrown? there's his cerevice, which is a no since it never hurts to keep, then there's his flashl-- no wait, that died a painful death a little earlier, his... shoes?

...it... it could work. they can serve as projectile weapons and they could aid in drawing attention away from gintoki. if one fails then there is always a back up, too. logic like that cannot be denied. ...why the hell not? it's not like many choices exist about what to throw. this is why he darts off a little to the side, enough so that maya wouldn't be directly in front, and quickly takes off one boot before chucking it with all his strength at the creature. the amount of strength in throw isn't anything to laugh it, either. it'll be painful stinky hit.]

[ It is an incredibly stinky hit, that's so very rude, Flynn. Between the boot and the flowerpot and the yelling, the monster pauses, puzzled for a distinct moment.

After what seems like ages, the button works, the elevator dings, and the door slides open.

But it seems the elevator is occupied.

A familiar face steps out of the elevator, and Mosley waves even as he does so; as soon as the monster catches the scent of him, it recoils abruptly, turns, and heads down the other part of the hallway fast. Seems it doesn't much like the smell of Mosley very much. He watches it run away for a second before sighing and holding out a sleeve to whoever is closest (it's Maya). ]

That was incredibly rude. I don't smell. Smell me, I smell fine.

[ He smells like pistachios, light rain, and the briefest whiff of motor oil. ]

I smell great. Anyway, come on. Let's not hold the elevator up!

[ Then he steps back inside, beckoning them in. There's an awkward pause once they're all in the elevator before Mosley looks to Maya and smiles. ]

Oh good, you found the flower pots.

[He can hear, vaguely, Maya and Flynn yelling at the monster, and he'll be a little relieved when whatever they're doing has it pausing rather than trying to eat him. He's still standing ready, sword in hand, when the elevator arrives with a stupidly normal-sounding chime. Gintoki moves quickly towards it, only to stop in surprise as he sees Mosley.

. . . and he's just going to stand there, staring at the guy, though when the monster leaves, he'll pass it a hesitating glance before looking back to Mosley. There's blood slowly running down his shoulder and arm, down onto his sword, falling in some droplets on the floor, and he's still breathing a little hard in the quiet that now suddenly comes over everything, now that the monster was gone.]

Oi. . . hold on. . [cough]

Wait just a minute here. Wait just a minute! You abandoned us! You locked us in the greenhouse and then you left! What the hell are you doing, showing up here so casually! And we know you did it on purpose, so don't try to deny it you bastard!

[...seriously? flynn's initial surprise at seeing their group leader quickly shifts into anger. so then they were being watched. a poor innocent shoe and flashlight lost for possibly nothing. oh and there's also the little fact, you know, that all of them could have easily died. yeah, he's DEFINITELY not giving this tour a 10/10.

his gaze darts over at gintoki, who looks more beat up than expected. a note gets made to offer up healing services in just moment, after having a quick q&a session with stinky. oh whoops, he means mosley.]

Calm down, Gintoki.

[it's said sternly, but with some of flynn's own anger coming out. if the monster was THAT scared of the guy, getting on his shit list this quick is a bad idea. granted, flynn himself wants to give the guy a black eye to add a nice little touch to his outfit for waltzing in here and proving they were all being watched.

he takes a breath before speaking as he walks over toward the elevator, his gaze hard but unwavering. his tone of voice holds a controlled anger behind it, but comes out in an even tone. dealing with asshole authority is something wonderboy knows how to do far too well.]

Mr. Mosley, what was the point of all this? You cannot deny you planned this considering your entrance and how you [scared the shit out of] subdued that beast.

Edited 2015-07-17 01:53 (UTC)

(no subject)

feytality - 2015-07-17 02:43 (UTC) - Expand

▶ END TOUR.EXE

complices - 2015-07-20 17:35 (UTC) - Expand

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