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ZCKaiser posted:I suspect Gula is Lucille the bomber based on her reactions during that room--if she's also the principal's daughter, then we can figure that she bombed the school out of revenge for her innocent father getting arrested. I agree that Gula is almost certainly Lucille, but this room gave me the impression the school bombing occurred before his arrest - after all, it was one of the crimes he was accused of, it seems like. The principal being Lucille's father would fit with his name being B-something (Boisjoli was Lucille's last name), though. I could see the principal's daughter being the traitor since My Emptiness's crimes were the reason her innocent father was arrested, but Vidi is a good thought too. He seems to be an important character, given that we don't have his name yet despite him dying early on. I do feel like there's something doing on with Pandora/Cora being parts of a whole rather than Pandora just lying about her nickname. The fact that the game keeps referring to her as Ancora over Pandora makes me suspicious that it isn't as straightforward as we were led to believe initially. I also wonder what these keys that keep showing up will do. Maybe they unlock the helmets of those whose initials match their shape? But then, why would the mastermind have that available to find?
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Sep 23, 2021 17:30
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I wonder if we'll ever get to see the faces under the helmets at any point. Like at this point I'm getting real "Sean's head is the sphere, there is nothing under it, because he's a robot" vibes.
Junpei fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Sep 23, 2021 |
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Sep 23, 2021 17:51
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Re: Ancora and Cora, another possibility I'm wondering about: do we have a Jasmine and the twins situation? Maybe with added spectator mode when the actual Pandora takes over for the "final rites" sequences.
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Sep 23, 2021 19:45
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differentiating posted:I do feel like there's something doing on with Pandora/Cora being parts of a whole rather than Pandora just lying about her nickname. The fact that the game keeps referring to her as Ancora over Pandora makes me suspicious that it isn't as straightforward as we were led to believe initially. There's definitely something suspicious about the way Cora acts, as well. While she knows all the puzzles, she doesn't seem to know enough about the other players for someone setting up this kind of death game. Combine that with elements of the setup that no sane mastermind would implement. For example, why does she die when voted for? She already has a contingency that kills everyone but her when they run out of time--why not do that if they vote for her too? Surely seems better than dying. The loaded gun is also just a very, very bizarre thing to give players as part of a puzzle, especially when you make it clear that as long enough others die they'll get out just fine. If it's not a simulation where Cora is only given a limited amount of information as the mastermind's avatar/viewpoint, then I almost have to assume she's not the real mastermind.
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Sep 23, 2021 20:06
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What's weird is again Cora noted things aren't quite up to spec (like the ability to unlock the shotguns of dead players) but she never really dwells on it on or consider the fact it's likely sabotage - which should've been one of the first things that should pop into her head, that the game's compromised.
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Sep 23, 2021 20:39
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 BGM: Meridianus Superbia, Luxuria, and Ancora emerged into the hallway. The door did not lock up yet; it would not until the timer was done counting down. At a glance, it didn't look like any of the other teams were out yet.  She looked a little excited at how easy this room had been.  It doesn't matter to me. What matters is that we have our ME-cards now.She took hers out, looking at it for a brief moment. All of a sudden, Luxuria pointed at Ancora, having realized their little problem.  But Cora doesn't have one yet... All she has is that key. We need to find one, so we can vote at the consoles along with her! Yeah... Maybe we should split up, then. Let's do that while the others are still not done with their rooms.And thus, the search began anew. After convening to split up, Superbia went towards the closed doors, while Luxuria went back to the larger room, and Ancora went to the corner she and Luxuria had fetched Superbia from. When Ancora walked by the second door, she heard a small click. Next, the door came open, and just as quickly, out was Invidia.  Yeah. Where's Trist? Oh, he's coming. He wanted to examine the room a little bit more. It's not really my stuff, so I decided to leave earlier. I got a ME-card, and I guess your group found two, too. Right, I also got this key.He showed it to Ancora; the teeth had a strange shape, in the form of the letter I. With the first one I got, I can now create an AI! AI? Yeah, an Artificial Intelligence. I'm kidding, it's mostly because the first one looked like an A, and this one's like an I, you see...He scratched his jaw a little, pensive for a moment.  Yeah... that's a little far-fetched. I dunno if we'll get there for a while. I mean, some people can still barely use the internet without taking over their phone line... But more importantly, about the keys, what do you think they mean, anyway? They have letters on them, right? Whatever it is, it's not possible to solve without all the keys. But asking other people might tip me off about their knowledge of this “game”. Beats me. Okay, listen, this is going to sound a little random, but... Which one do you like most in the group? Huh? What do you mean? Who I... That's sudden! No, no, the group of keys! Which letter do you like most? Oh, you mean that! Um...Ancora chose after a second: she picked...  This choice, for the route we're taking, is not important, so we can pick any of them; I chose the I key for this one. Yeah, that one- the I key, that's the one I like most. It's like a little leg that sticks out from the handle, so it's kinda funny for a key. Hmm... weird, I thought you'd like the A key. You know, due to your name, Ancora? I'd like to trade it for your G key... Oh, well... I guess? I'm not sure what this all amounts to, but... Alright, sure.The two of them traded keys together. Ancora gave her G key away to Invidia, while he gave her his A key. I thought it might be fun, that's all. We don't have a lot of time, and I guess if you got the key then you might not have gotten a ME-card... Yeah, Lux and Bia got them, so we've split up to look for them now. I'll help, then. I'll go search in those side classrooms. You know, all the random ones that seem to be locked? I'm sure we can access some of them, otherwise why not block them? They're pretty much all empty. Sure, if you want! I'll go search in this corner area, then. See you later!And the two of them parted ways. Ancora resumed her trip to the other end of this hallway, this time without any other interruptions. When she arrived there, she heard a door coming open and closing. That was most likely Tristitia leaving the room. A few moments later again, she heard another door come open, this time in the far distance. Judging by the footsteps that followed, it looked like Avaritia and Gula both left their room. BGM: Metis So, everyone's out, then. We have to find that ME-card really quickly, or else... And I almost forgot, but someone needs to surrender their right to live right now, too. We're quickly running out of time. Yet, Ancora wasn't nearly so panicked. We've still got time. First, the ME-card. Or maybe this is a good spot to spy on some of the helmets...After she thought about it a little more, it became apparent that this choice was the right one. While thinking, Ancora had been investigating the nearby door, which unlocked thanks to her newly obtained key. Here we go! That was easy. I need to thank Vidi later. Really need to drop this habit of talking aloud to yourself there, Ancora. It was as if that door was nothing but a wall. There's a strange graffiti on one of the walls. No one can see it unless they walked in here... it says: “midair avionics” and nothing else. But what does it even mean?It likely was...  Believe it or not, the answer you choose here is a TRUST increase  Obviously, we assume it's an anagram. It's weird. If it's an anagram, it doesn't match anything that makes sense. I can't make heads or tails of it. I guess it's one of those things I'll have to keep in mind. It's going to bother me for a while, though. As soon as I get a hint as to what it really means... you can bet your bottom dollar I'm going to solve the crud out of this one. Well, this is as good a spot to spy onto other people as it can be. No one's going to stumble into here. The real question is... who's available for hacking?It was dependant on the frequencies currently displayed. It seemed as though there were four possible helmets to spy upon this time around. That's a jackpot! Let's see... I can hack Invidia, Superbia, Avaritia, or Gula. I want to hack Invidia, though. I have no idea why he was so insistent on trading the A key over for the G key. Bingo! Not even a puzzle this time... wait. Something's wrong. Why would there not be a puzzle this time? What is this? A blank screen? But the frequencies match! What does this mean? Maybe out of hacking range...? Well, one problem solved itself.BGM: ME Mori   Apologies for this abrupt call! It is very important, though. I must inform you that someone in your group has left the boundaries of the game. This is not currently allowed, so I have both good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first? Rhetorical. Everyone always wants to hear the bad news first, especially if they don't relate to them, which is the case here. That way, you can all feel sorry for what happened... And then you can celebrate with the good news. The bad news is that the one who is wearing the helmet that left the boundaries has now been removed from the game. That is right; they have surrendered their right to live. Of course, you can always trigger the vote early. Remember that only three of you will not surrender their right to live, so if the survivors number above that count, you better get to work. If you had any puzzle door left to solve, however, you'll have to do the vote first anyway. No vote, no progress. BGM: Metis And then the screens came back to normal. Ancora shuddered. Well, I know who's surrendered their right to live. It's clearly Invidia. That's actually a little bad, because he had two keys and he was quite helpful... But I guess we can worry over that later. Right now, I need to hack someone, especially because tensions will be at an all-time high due to someone surrendering their right to live. For now, I'll be hacking... We're going to be hacking Avaritia here.  BGM: Mens Metis  The solution for this puzzle is:  This one's a bit trickier to riddle out, but it becomes easier when you realize that the two halves require separate types of answers. The right side is obvious- E=MC2 is Einstein's theory of relativity, so that takes care of that half. The other half is looking for a different kind of equation- specifically, in this case, X and V are not letters but roman numerals. 10-5 is equal to 5. ...Yeah, I dunno.  I didn't make the puzzle, don't look at me. BGM: Metis  Avaritia and Luxuria were together. Thet wo were in the Crossroads, but they weren't far from Wing A. Luxuria was looking into an adjacent area containing some lockers, though she wasn't having any success. That still gives me the creeps...Next to them was a wall that was as empty as could be. It was made of large, rectangular metallic plates with other bits and pieces of metal shut tight against them. No matter how hard someone banged onto them, they didn't open.  What a shame. I wonder where Invidia went. Well, no point sticking around here.The two of them agreed, and left the area to go back into Wing A. They wandered into one side for a few moments, before realizing they were going back towards classrooms they'd explored.  What about the classrooms?They split up, looking at each door in turn, until they found one that unlocked. Avaritia turned the handle and stepped inside, while Luxuria waited outside. Why is she not going inside yet? Is she guarding the room?Nothing came of the strange behavior, and instead, Avaritia left the room and closed the door behind her. In her hand was a ME-card, clutched alongside her other one. You found one! Now Cora will be fine. Maybe. It would still do well to talk with others about... you know... our additional hour. It's kind of hard to believe he's gone, just like that. Yeah... I think I saw Bia going into the other hallway. Fine, then, let's go there. Even if I don't especially feel enthused about talking to her... BGM: Medius Oh, hey.At first, Superbia had tried to act like she didn't see them, but it became more and more impossible as the two of them closed the distance. Have you found anything so far?Superbia was clearly growing frustrated again.  I guess... but there's no point in rejoicing about it. What's the big deal, anyway? I want to be nice and whatever, but it's not like our predicament hasn't been weighing down my mind. We're still going to die if we don't vote in the next hour or so. And honestly, the earlier we vote, the better. Do you really want to be nice, or are you just saying that like that? I just... wanted to not be mean for those who are gone. What do they care, anyway? They're gone. It's not like they're going to walk up to me and slap me. No, but I can do that. And as a teacher... As a student, nobody gives a poo poo. In here, you're the same as everyone else. That means you're expendable, according to Pandora. E-expendable? Oh, you guys remember, yeah? Pandora is our leader. Or “leader”, I should say. Never seen her face. Still gave me directives. Hate that, hate it so much. Hate being told what to do. I'm my own girl. Yes. Vidi told you before he croaked? He did. How awfully nice of you, but I don't think you're going to find anything here. This is a waste.Luxuria had remained quiet for a while. Avaritia was going to ask for her input, but Superbia interrupted her just as she began talking. We should split back up. Good idea, for once. We can cover more ground that way. I'll see you two later.The teacher wandered off, leaving the two girls alone. What an idiot. Without Vidi, things are a little bit emptier. We already lost three people... No point delaying it, I guess I'll go to the voting machine. There's also no point sticking around here anymore.As she walked away, Superbia came into her vision again. She was going in the direction of Ancora's hiding spot. The key was still in the lock, so if she didn't act quickly, the rabbit was going to figure out this door could be opened, and then things would spiral out of control.  
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Sep 23, 2021 22:11
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Ok I’m betting Vidi’s not actually dead, and the A key somehow allowed him to fool the game into thinking he is. Also I came across a manga that it seems this game drew upon heavily, called Judge. It has a number of similarities, most notably that it involves a voting death game involving people in animal themed masks that are tied to their sins. It even turns out that the protagonist in both is one of the masterminds, who chose the people involved due to their connections from before the game.
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Sep 24, 2021 15:14
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Well at least Cora isn't being a complete idiot; the only reason for Vidi to want to trade is if he has some idea what the keys were for. We also have zero trust with him, so did he peace out because he decided we're not worth helping? (Another thing worth considering, if this is all a simulation of some kind, what does 'getting out' even mean?)
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Sep 24, 2021 19:18
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 BGM: Medius Superbia came by Ancora after the blond girl had left the corner in which she'd previously been exploring.  Ancora wasn't ready to go do the vote just yet. Deciding to extend the time towards when it would happen, she shook her head, despite having found a ME-card. No... this area was as empty as before. There's gotta be more, right? I bet there are a lot of ME-cards we just aren't seeing, because... You know how we need 39 ME-cards to finish this? If you calculate it like this, you get... Nine, eight, seven, six, five, and four. Together, they add up to 39. This accounts for six hours of votes... You're right. That means... we should've found eight this time around. Our total should be 17, but the rooms only gave us ME-cards until we reached 15... And I'd be fine with 15, since we're six left, but Vidi had one, and now he's gone. She took the lead, and Ancora followed behind. The duo made their way back through Wing A, with the goal of regrouping with the others in the Crossroads. You know... Ah, forget it. What was that all about? I don't know. I feel strange inside. Like I'm missing something... Maybe...The girl paused, stopping her movements near the puzzle door. Maybe you're missing Ira. You two were dating, right? And for all you keep saying, I think you needed him more than he needed you. No, please, stop. You're deceiving yourself. Look, just... figure out what it really meant to you- your companionship with him. Because if you don't figure that out for yourself, I think... you won't get a chance to. It's now or never.Superbia remained silent, and the two of them walked again. Soon, they arrived at the Crossroads proper. BGM: Metis  The group had been in a heated debate over who would be next on the chopping block. Luxuria apparently was making known her idea for the others to vote for her. Gula was supporting her choice, but Tristitia wasn't in agreement with it. Avaritia was staying on the sidelines. As Ancora and Superbia approached the survivors, the horse-masked boy's tone turned harsher.  You're one of the few I still trust, so it can't be you. You're also the lowest threat of the group. I refuse to vote for you, because there are better targets! What's going on? Why does Lux want to be voted out? She says she wants to be voted out because she's fine with it. She's trying to win cute points, and I don't agree with it. You can't be everyone's martyr, Lux. Well, I agree with her. To be honest, I don't actually care who gets voted for next, if it's not me... If they agree with it, then there's nothing to do about it... Indeed. My choice has already been made.Luxuria managed to gather three votes out of them all. Superbia, Gula, and herself together almost had majority already. All Ancora had to do was agree with it, and they would have four, giving them majority regardless of what the others would vote. But first, I want to know, Ancora, did you get a ME-card? You should've found one by now. We need to have everyone ready for the vote as soon as possible. Yes, I know we have another hour, shut up!Superbia was going to talk, but Tristitia cut her off as soon as she moved, which startled her enough to shut her up before she'd even said anything.  Where did that come from, you fat lardass? I know what you've done, so if you don't want me to tell everyone else, you better shut up.Superbia was quick to retreat to her rabbit hole. Without any more interruptions, Tristitia resumed his questioning. So, did you get a ME-card yet? Why are they even voting for Luxuria, anyway? Did she have some change of heart, or was this her plan from the beginning? She can't bring herself to vote for anyone else...?Avaritia stepped forward to say something, against all odds. But before she talked, Ancora nodded. Sorry, Bia. I lied because I didn't feel ready to vote. Not again. BGM: Membrana We can't keep bickering like this. We need a plan, and we need 39 ME-cards, or everyone dies!Reminding everyone of that fact, Tristitia caused a ripple of panic to spread across the group. Ancora found it a nice way to remind everyone of their current predicament. Ahh, you're right... we're going to die... Even bigger of a reason to begin at once. That's why we should get the vote over quickly! Just vote for me... Yeah, just, let's just vote, get this over with.BGM: Metis  You don't have to feel sorry for me. It was my choice. I'd much rather go that way.Even though Ancora couldn't see past Luxuria's helmet, she felt as though the girl was smiling. She wasn't going to die while panicking, she was picking her future. This might be a waste of a vote. I guess I still didn't figure out who was the traitor. I need to make that a priority for the next round.The group walked forward. There was no need to talk about it, there was no need to debate or argue. They would put in their vote for Luxuria, and then move onto the next set of doors as soon as possible. The final set of doors. Past that puzzle door... there are only 3 rooms left, and then all the ME-cards are accessible. I'm slightly worried, though... I wonder why we only found so few of them. We should have found at least 30 by now... Why do we only have around half that? This isn't how everything was placed. Someone's gone through the school in the minutes before this started... It was a little refreshing for things to be this simple. Ancora wished she could live in simplicity like that. The barrel of the shotgun in front of her brought her back to reality. Are we all ready? Yeah. By the way, thanks for your sacrifice. We'll figure out the traitor, kill them, and then get out of here. You better, for my sake. Okay, let's stop the waterworks. We have this vote to put in.No comments came from anyone else, and soon, everything was in place. Superbia pushed her vote in without hesitation, next came Luxuria's, Gula's, Tristitia's, and Avaritia's. Last was Ancora's vote. I have a bad feeling about this. For some reason, something's just... off. I can't get rid of the feeling that this time, the discussion was cut short. No. It didn't get cut short. It's almost like... Like it didn't happen at all. Everyone just... agreed. BGM: Mercedis Mellitus  The screens above the voting consoles settled onto Avaritia's symbol. It was clear what was to follow: it was her execution. Every shotgun but the victim's released their hold, leaving the participants to witness the macabre outcome.  Time slowed down. Eventually, everything froze. BGM: Memoria                                                         Lock #2 obtained. BGM: Mestitior This is not looking good. Much like before, the helmet the voted one wore exploded. The group took great care in not stepping too close to her, since none of them wanted to be caught in the blast. All it did was to char the neck some, leaving behind a splatter of disgusting head matter all over the floor. The sight alone was nauseating. We voted for Lux.Finally, Tristitia spoke. He stared at the small girl from the side, watching her like a hawk. Now that the reality of the situation was settling in, he seemed quite angry. Y-yes... I don't know what happened... this must be a trick... Pandora's trick... No, that's, not possible. When we voted for Ira, he was the one who got busted. Now we vote for you when you want to sacrifice yourself, and we kill Ava instead? Wait, maybe there's something wrong with the voting panels... A small flashback came upon Ancora. She did remember putting the ME-cards inside of the presumed bomb case alongside Luxuria. The girl had also been investigating the consoles at that point in time. Could it be...? Was it then that she modified them? I sure didn't see that one coming. Things will get bad now. Did you...? No, I didn't! I didn't change the portraits or rig the machines! Some of you are far more dangerous than meets the eye. I'm not going to be had by you twice in a row. Ava was a solid ally, and she might even have had the way to escape this hellhole. I'm not sure what he means by that. Probably just human mistake. BGM: Membrana *bang, bang* Out of nowhere, Tristitia pulled out a revolver. With two gunshots, Luxuria fell to the ground. The horse-themed boy had gotten her straight through the helmet. That one also suddenly exploded as well, adding to the corpses in the room. The small girl was no more. Trist! Why did... She's a threat. I'll remove every threat. First, it's Lux. Then, it's the murderer. And finally, I'll kill the mastermind. Didn't he just say he thought Ava had the way out? If he's saying he's going to kill the mastermind, though, this may not be good news. Just gotta be ready to react appropriately if he knows, somehow. So then, the murderer. Bia, do you have anything to say for yourself? Murderer? What do you even mean?! Don't play coy. Ever since Ira mentioned being an accomplice, how you both wandered around together like that... I'd been suspecting it. You're a cold woman, Bia. But this is where your killings end. Tristitia waited for a moment. Superbia was slowly gathering herself for what she had to explain. Just as it seemed like she was going to talk, she instead lunged at him. Everything happened very quickly. As soon as she landed over him, he shot her square in the heart; the bullet went so fast it pierced through her entire body and came out of the back to lodge itself into one of the metallic plates on the far wall. Then he shoved her off his own body. The entire fight would've been comical, if it didn't have drastic outcomes. After Tristitia stood back up, he executed her with a shot through the helmet. Once again, it exploded, leaving yet another splotch of red carnage onto the ground. Superbia, just like Luxuria, lay dead right next to the consoles. She's the reason why we're all here. We're here to expiate our sins. It's the entire ideology behind naming us these things. She was a murderer. Do you know who she killed? She killed that kid.Gula remained silent at those words. Instead, she brought her stare down to Superbia's dead body, watching it from afar. While she was thinking, Tristitia's attention was brought to Ancora. This is it, then, we're finished. We're three survivors, and six have been executed. Now open the way out, or you will die. Huh? So he does suspect something. That's very bad news. The way out...? I don't know what you mean. I'm...She swallowed, frightened by the circumstances. None of this had been possible to see coming before. I'm not the mastermind. I don't want to die. He began walking around while talking. While he was doing so, Ancora was speed thinking of a way out of this predicament, but nothing was coming to her. No one fits the bill! Not a single one of us could be the mastermind! But we all have sins! We all have an involvement in this larger picture. Superbia is the murderer, but that was just the catalyst. Everyone has an involvement- except you. I have no idea what your crime is. I don't know your name, and I don't even know what you look like, little girl. I don't even think you could organize all this, but I'm out of leads. Gula remained silent on the sidelines. She had the forethought of not saying a word to aggravate the situation for herself. That's cool and all, but there's gotta be a way out of this situation! I'm... not... the mastermind... Only you could be the mastermind! I don't know how, but you are! Now open the goddamn doors, or you're next!Ancora's hands balled up in fists. She couldn't hold it back anymore; her own rage was growing too fiercely. I'm no goddamn mastermind! I'm just a girl stuck like everyone else here! Are you going to kill me for that? Suddenly, Tristitia fell down, and a loud metallic noise rang out as a result of the collision from his body and the helmet onto the floor. What the hell?! Ula, stop!Ancora took the chance; she booked it. She ran down the stairs while a gunshot fired. That was his fifth one; he only had one more bullet in that six-chamber revolver. If he could only shoot Gula... or waste his shot... And that was where he shot her. BGM: Silence I really thought we were going somewhere with this. I guess it was inevitable when all heck breaks loose like this. Still, I can't go yet. I think there's more to do, but do I have a choice? I suppose I don't, unless a miracle happens.      
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Sep 25, 2021 18:48
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Seems like I was right in our lack of trust in Invidia playing a factor. Is this a unique case of the game telling how to proceed? Also my best guess regarding Marco is that he's the one Cora was referring to at the beginning that was helping set up the tech end of all this...though, assuming that's the same Marco as the previous game, that does beg the question of when this is taking place, as Marco was killed even in Ending A IIRC.
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Sep 27, 2021 15:11
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These plans to ask people to vote for you while switching the portraits around are simultaneously clever as they are short-sighted. Like, yes, delightfully devilish Luxuria, you sure tricked everyone that one time. What do you expect this gang of murderers and assorted criminals to do afterwards, once it's plain as day that you've tricked them? I can only assume that the driving factor here is wanting to see a particular player dead because you assume you're not gonna be making it anyway.
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Sep 27, 2021 16:08
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GimmickMan posted:These plans to ask people to vote for you while switching the portraits around are simultaneously clever as they are short-sighted. Like, yes, delightfully devilish Luxuria, you sure tricked everyone that one time. What do you expect this gang of murderers and assorted criminals to do afterwards, once it's plain as day that you've tricked them? Yeah - like I get Bia doing it in that one route because she was kind of out of options, but in this case, Luxuria was basically trading a guarantee of not dying this hour for a very high likelihood of being voted out next (or otherwise killed) when she didn't have to. Seems like, if anything, she should've swapped the portraits as a fail-safe but not called attention to it by volunteering herself as a "sacrifice". There was a decent chance she wouldn't be the person voted for, anyway.
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Sep 27, 2021 18:06
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differentiating posted:Yeah - like I get Bia doing it in that one route because she was kind of out of options, but in this case, Luxuria was basically trading a guarantee of not dying this hour for a very high likelihood of being voted out next (or otherwise killed) when she didn't have to. Seems like, if anything, she should've swapped the portraits as a fail-safe but not called attention to it by volunteering herself as a "sacrifice". There was a decent chance she wouldn't be the person voted for, anyway. Maybe Lux had some idea of who Ava was and had a personal grudge against her; there's also the possibility (albeit a remote one) that someone else switched the plates, though Cora noticing Lux tinkering around the voting system seems to suggest that is was indeed them. I neglected to mention this before, but Pandora not seeming to know fully who they are either is interesting. There's a lot that could be read into there, but I don't think we have enough info to do more than spitball guesses based on the running themes.
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Sep 27, 2021 19:46
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 It's time to actually use those directives we got in a previous update Starting from the beginning of the flowchart:Ancora 'wakes up' in the classroom, and after introducing herself, decides to keep talking to Invidia. After they solve the puzzle and leave the classroom, they run into Ira, Avaritia, and Tristitia, and Ancora introduces herself to Ira. Luxuria and Gula exit their room without the ninth person. ME explains some more of the rules, and after she's done, Ancora approaches Gula first to introduce herself. The group make their way into what was known as the Crossroads when the school was open, and in the process Superbia hits her helmet on the doorframe and is incapacitated. Ancora helps Ira with her. The group split up to search for more ME-cards so they can initiate the first voting session, and this gives Ancora the opportunity to hack into another person's helmet; she decides to hack Ira, which is how she learns that Ira and Superbia are a couple. She uses this to her advantage in the first voting session, goading a fight between Ira and Superbia which leads to Ira committing suicide by asking the group to vote him out in a show of defiance. The group complies, and Ira is executed. The group slowly leaves the Crossroads afterwards, but Ancora and Luxuria stay behind to put the used cards into the machine in the center. Luxuria floats the idea of forming a team with Superbia, who is shaken by Ira's death. After the door leading to the next batch of rooms is open, the group explores briefly before regrouping, at which point Luxuria brings up the fact she wishes to form a team with the rest of the participants... BGM: Meridianus They didn't have much time. The clock was ticking. A few seconds later, the other group joined back with them again, and the discussion about how to split up was delayed once more when Luxuria mentioned the possibility to form a voting group. No, that's not a good idea. People grouping up ahead of time to decide on voting others out would jeopardize the normal decision-making process.Someone needed to chip in, so after some consideration, Ancora...  This time, we're taking Luxuria's side. Maybe it would be good. If we all team up based on who we trust most, and decide who's the likeliest to betray us, we can avoid having scuffles later on. It would also save us time. But that's still unfair for the rest of the others who aren't part of it. It is like condemning them to die, no? That's a recipe for disaster if I've ever seen one. People can do really terrible things when they're backed into a corner. Precisely. That's probably just unfair on the rest, and it will lead nowhere. It will give a few of us a position of power over the rest.Luxuria and Ancora looked at the others. Avaritia, Tristitia, and Invidia were all nodding their heads. Gula didn't seem to be truly sharing their opinion, but all she could give was a slight shrug towards the two, considering she was outnumbered. At this point, Ancora has two options of who to team up with, but she decides to stick to the original suggested teams, and is partnered with Superbia and Lux. While walking towards the puzzle rooms, Tristitia begins acting strangely... BGM: Medius Hey, Trist. Something on your mind? Ah, no, not really... But I was thinking about epiphanies. You know what an epiphany is, right? Yeah, kind of. Had an idea? Maybe. I don't know if I can really talk about it yet, though. I'm a bit reticent for now, since it's still somewhat baseless. So he did have an idea, then?Ancora...  It might be important! We should hear what's on his mind. You just sound a little absent. Is it regarding what Lux said just now? I admit your pondering is now bothering me equally.Gula's sudden intervention surprised Ancora, since the girl momentarily came back just for this, making Avaritia wait on her. Tristitia hesitated a little while the teacher patiently crossed her arms, apparently glaring daggers at the group. No... Not really about Lux. It's about what ME said earlier. Something just doesn't quite add up. What is it? What?! Sorry, but it's just related to what I'm thinking about. Nothing personal. I'm sure he's just safeguarding himself from dying, because he knows if it came out that Invidia was the mastermind, he'd be voted next round. It's just insurance. Well, that's your choice, I guess. I can't really tell you to not distrust me, given our current situation, but we're also going to be exploring a room together, so we'd better not fight. How interesting.Gula's interest in the topic struck Ancora as odd once more, but she didn't pursue it. The more she thought about it, the more she figured Gula's words were tinted with sarcasm. Assuming her original interest was due to her being mentioned, why does Gula have such a keen interest in Luxuria?From here, the other groups enter their respective rooms, and Lux and Ancora go to retrieve Superbia. They do their best to convince Superbia to join them, and in the process even get her to agree to a vote team, despite the others shooting it down. The puzzle room they investigate is made to resemble the school principal's office, and the answer they need to find is what crime he is guilty of. After their investigation, the trio determine that he is, in fact, not guilty of any crime at all. The three escape their room, finding themselves the first to make it out, and decide to split up to look for a third ME-card so Ancora can vote. While heading in the direction she's chosen, Ancora encounters Invidia leaving his room; he shows her another old-fashioned key that they found, and asks her which of the keys is her favorite. When she chooses her answer (still not an important choice at this point ), he reveals the reason for asking is because he wanted to trade his A key for her G key; she accepts this trade, because (after he leaves) she uses said key to unlock the door leading to another stairwell in what previously was just a dead-end hallway. As she enters, a bit of graffiti on the wall strikes her as odd...BGM: Metis There's a strange graffiti on one of the walls. No one can see it unless they walked in here... it says: “midair avionics”, and nothing else. But what does it even mean?It likely was...  Our mistake last time was obviously thinking this was an anagram. It sounds like the name of a company. What would Midair Avionics have to do with anything? And also, I don't recall ever hearing of something like that. Maybe it's a prank. Someone sneaked in here and put this up as a joke. The place hasn't been on complete lockdown for a while, so it's possible it has nothing to do with anything.Ancora decides to take this bit of privacy while she can, and prepares to hack one of the other helmets. She is given the options of Invidia, Superbia, Avaritia, or Gula. She attempts to hack Invidia, but is unable to connect; shortly thereafter, ME appears unprompted and reveals that Invidia has been executed due to breaking the rules of the game and leaving the game's boundaries through some unintended way. This leaves Ancora with three options to choose from... Right now, I need to hack someone, especially because tensions will be at an all-time high due to someone surrendering their right to live. For now, I'll be hacking... Well, the directives were for Gula, so I guess we should hack her  BGM: Mens Metis  Just like before, the directives we received, “order by table”, are the directives needed to solve the puzzle. As for the solution...  Yeah, good loving luck solving this one without doing some Googling  What the directives mean by “table” is specifically the periodic table; each letter in this puzzle is also a symbol that corresponds to an element, and you have to sort them in the order they appear on the periodic table. Thus, the solution above. BGM: Metis  Gula and Tristitia were sitting together onto some benches in the Crossroads. After a few more seconds of this awkward silence, Gula had finally broken it, prompting Tristitia to reply, suddenly interested. So, what do you make of that? You seem to have spent a lot of time thinking about it before confronting me on that. Well... to be completely honest, I am entirely unable to understand your macabre interest on the subject of eternal darkness.Tristitia was going to answer, but at the last moment, he stood up. Following him, Gula did much of the same. The two of them began walking around the consoles with no clear goal in particular. Not gonna lie, I don't know. This weird... interest of mine, I don't know where it's from. I guess a part of me is just.... unable to stop thinking about life and death. Ever wondered what happens to you after you die? Perhaps, perhaps not. I deduced it won't truly be my concern once I've reached that outcome. I don't mean just about yourself. The world's a strange place, and so much of it is weird. What if our deaths affected it way more than we originally thought? I'm afraid you've lost me.Gula was tampering with the portraits on one of the machines. While she spoke with Tristitia, her hands were busying themselves, changing the Avaritia portrait with her own. Oh, she figured out that she could change the portraits, didn't she? No, wait. She was doing it on her own right off the bat. Someone most likely told her. But who? What is consciousness? What determines that I am something that sees and thinks? Are my thoughts not just the product of my experiences based on pattern recognition? It's not a question that can really be answered, I think. Life's... strange. Do we exist because the world let us exist, or does the world exist because we let it exist? In a moment of attention, Gula shrugged, before pointing over to the empty spot that once housed Ira's body. The irate entity which once resided in that very location has obtained the status of deceased, and I considered them as alive as you and I. Did their perspective matter? Does yours matter? Does mine matter? Who actually is the important life, here? Is there even an important life, or does the perception of reality constitute only a baseline element, and none of us actually matter...?Tristitia sighed, launching himself into a new monologue while Gula was busy with the consoles. As the horse-masked one spoke, the two of them moved around the room again, switching from console to console. Is she changing all of them to manipulate the vote? Take a video game for example. If we humans have created video games based on systems that can only exist in reality, then life isn't so different. If we die in a video game, we start back at the beginning. When we die then, does life restart? These concepts are... so alien to me, to you. To all of us who are still alive, in fact. I suppose you are not wrong on some level, but determining which elements are falsehoods and derisions, while ascertaining the truth, will prove to be more difficult then you can ever imagine.Gula was clearly not paying too much attention, considering the flowery vocabulary she used as part of her normal pattern was just vague enough. Even Tristitia noticed after a moment. At least it wouldn't kill you to listen to what I'm saying, Ula... Even if you don't believe in any of it, I think it's important to have different opinions on existence. Very well, in that case. What I believe is that time is a river, always flowing towards the same side. To suggest existence renews itself upon someone ceasing their biological activities is preposterous. Then how do you explain existence? How are we all even here? All of us can affect how the flow goes. Nobody can answer that question. This is all just a hypothesis... but if I had to guess, someone on the planet has the ability to keep the universe rolling. And the rest... they're all just non-playable characters, or NPCs. They exist, they think, they act, but it's just programming. They don't actually exist. All of this is a worrying thought. Based on that sordid thought, you have much higher chances to be an entity without free will, as the odds are not playing in your favor. Exactly that. Exactly that...After a short silence, Tristitia turned around and began walking towards the meeting spot. Gula took only a few moments before deciding to follow after him. BGM: Medius On another subject, who shall we be casting our ballot for? That's for the group to decide. This time, we're not pressed for time at all, so we can easily think about it. Some of the other voters will possibly organize themselves in a similar way. Tristitia scratched the back of his head, seemingly worried. I believe it originally was Lux's idea. Trist, we should vote for her this time. We'll see... but I do take this in consideration. Okay, that's enough information. Time's ticking.The feed cut at that moment, restoring vision to Ancora's helmet. From here, Ancora leaves the stairwell she was in, rounding the corner just in time to encounter Superbia. She lies about not having found a ME-card yet, and the two muse about why they've found so few despite needing a large amount to be able to successfully exit the game. Upon returning to the Crossroads, it is revealed that Lux has volunteered to be voted out- seemingly wishing to become a martyr rather than have to continue a game where they commit murder. Ancora confesses that she does, in fact, have a ME-card so she can vote, and lied to Superbia to delay the vote because she wasn't prepared yet. With this, the group prepares to begin the second voting round... BGM: Membrana We can't keep bickering like this. We need a plan, and we need 39 ME-cards, or everyone dies!Reminding everyone of that fact, Tristitia caused a ripple of panic to spread across the group. Ancora found it a nice way to remind everyone of their current predicament. Ahh, you're right... we're going to die... Even bigger of a reason to begin at once. That's why we should get the vote over quickly! Just vote for me... Yeah, just, let's just vote, get this over with. The portraits are all switched around. They need to be convinced of that fact. I have no idea why, but I feel like... this isn't correct. It's not the way to go. That is correct. It is our designated plan for the time being, unless you propose a change, which would be ludicrous at this stage of our debate.Ancora shook her head before walking over to the console. No, look, it's... it's not the same. We can't vote for Lux right now. I concur. Bia, you've been the biggest pain in the rear end since the start, and with what Ira told us, you don't exactly look like an angel... In fact, due to his involvement, I think you're more than just a prissy bunny girl. I think you're a decent candidate for the mastermind behind all this. No loving way. I'm not voting for myself, are you out of your goddamn mind? Ira was your accomplice. He felt guilty, so he sacrificed himself to atone. The only people rich enough to do everything we've seen here- all these replicated rooms, and the lockdown of the school- that's you, Superbia. No way, that's not me. It can't be me! I'm not rich!Her words caught Tristitia by surprise. My parents are rich, but I ain't touching a single bit of that goddamn money until they pass away, and as far as I remember, they are very well alive and healthy. I can't have made this whole poo poo here. I'm not any wealthier than anybody else. I very much doubt that statement. That's not what I meant, anyway. But it's good that those doubts were dispelled. What I meant was... look at the consoles.BGM: Memini Meminisse  What's so different? She's right. Something's off, I think.Gula made an exaggerated motion with her hands to catch everyone's attention. There is nothing different. You are all being misled by this little girl. I think she wants to buy some time for herself for some reason, so don't let her cloud your judgment. Wait a second; we can at least take a minute to hear what Tristitia has to say. We have plenty of time this session, so we should make use of it to its fullest. And Gula's speech has reverted to less flowery words, huh? I think she does that when she gets stressed out... which means she's walking on a tightrope. The ones that were switched were... I think they're Bia's and Cora's? Huh?! What does that mean, Cora? Explain yourself right now! You wanted to get me voted out by having people want to vote you dead, is that it? No, I wouldn't do that! Why would I change them, then bring attention to it? Does anyone remember what the layout looked like? What do you mean by that? If two portraits were switched, maybe they weren't the only ones. Is there a portrait that's in a different spot on every console now? Further examination showed that all of the consoles indeed had their portraits in the same spot. So it's not an attempt at manipulating a group to vote for someone, while the other would vote for someone else, and all votes would end up pointing to the same person... No, wait, no... something isn't adding up. There's more that was switched. I'm utterly convinced. I don't know why, but I'm convinced of that. It's because I saw it, of course. It's going to be very hard to get them to buy it, I'm aware.BGM: Metis And also... before that, earlier when Ira died... I had this weird vision, too... I was talking to him, and he- no, wait, I wasn't talking to him; it was like I was someone else talking to him... Surprise, Ancora tries to pull this off on this side of the flowchart, too! You aren't making any sense. What in God's name are you talking about? Vision this, vision that, portraits being switched... This is loving insane!The rest of the group watched, a little uneasy about the exchange. I don't think mine was changed, anyway... so just vote for me, I'm okay with it... Do you hear this, Cora? Lux is willing to go instead of you, despite the fact you're clearly off your rocker. BGM: Membrana Let's vote for Lux, then. Cora, I'm sorry to say, but you are being very... I don't know, I don't know if I can trust these “visions”. Better her than me! We could also vote for Bia, you know. What?! It's also a valid option. You've been a serious pain this whole time, mastermind or not. No, the one they have to vote for is...  It's possible to get to this point without seeing what happened last update, hence why they're giving you the ability to choose wrong here. That said, obviously, we know the right answer.... No, no. I understand now.BGM: Metis The girl walked towards a random console, bringing a finger to run along the portraits while pensive.  Wait. If you vote for anyone, you'll kill an innocent. Well, okay, maybe not for an innocent in the grand scheme of things, but you won't vote for the person you want dead. I know what's been switched now.All eyes were riveted on Ancora. The others who had been in a hurry to vote before were now considering her words, given their natural curiosity being piqued. The only one who wasn't interested to hear any of it was Gula. This is clearly a waste of time. It is not! It is a waste of time for you, yes, because you're the one who's got it all messed up! You're the one who changed the portraits. If everyone votes for Lux right now... Ava will die. The portraits were changed twice, in fact! I get it now, Bia's and mine were switched, then whoever did it also switched Lux and Ava's portraits. It's a triangle of switching! Avaritia shuddered slightly, uncertain. Are you absolutely sure of what you're saying? I don't especially feel... appeased to vote for myself, you know. If you don't, you'll die!BGM: Membrana *thunk*  I did not do any of this! Do you think you can get away with manipulating me?! That is not good, Ula... you can't do that kind of thing... You're taking her word over mine?! What is this world coming to? She's had “visions”, she's seen this, seen that, and she's got no proof at all! D'you think that's fine? Huh? Shut up, everyone! Ula... when you get stressed, you start talking strangely. Am not! I didn't put much mind to it before, but now it's clear. Ancora knew this, too. We should vote for Ava.Slowly, Ancora's vision was coming back. Next to her was Luxuria, who was checking on her. Near her was Gula, who was being held by Superbia and Avaritia. The hit probably came from her. Knocked me right off. Ugh, the reverberation that happens in this helmet when you get hit is really awful... Right? It's loving hell! Anyway... bring her to the console, and let's vote for Ava. Remember, vote for Ava. No! I'm not dying because of this! I have to get out of here! S-Sorry, Ula... BGM: Mercedis Mellitus  The group all voted almost in unison. Gula thrashed and screamed, but she couldn't get out of the hold. By the time the limit was almost up, Gula smashed her fist onto the console ona random portrait. Ancora also put in her vote. The screens above the voting consoles settled onto Gula's symbol. It was clear what was to follow: it was her execution. Every shotgun but the victim's released their hold, leaving the participants to witness the macabre outcome. BGM: Silence  Time slowed down. Eventually, everything froze. BGM: Memoria                                                                     Lock #3 obtained.
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Sep 27, 2021 22:30
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Well, that confirms it: Gula is the principal's daughter and the terrorist. Okay, names so far: Ira: Alex Saville Luxuria: Nico Superbia: Annie Sansoucy Avaritia: Erelle Webber Gula: Lucille Boisjoli Which just leaves Ancora, Pandora, Invidia, and Tristitia's names to be uncovered.
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Sep 28, 2021 01:43
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So, I want to bring something up that's been rattling around in my mind for a bit now. In the very first update we found a note that said "A FAKE WITH PIGTAILS", but no real context for it. There are three characters with visible pigtails in the game: Bia, Ula, and Lux. Everyone in the game acts "fake" to some extent (they're all criminals in a death game, after all) so I kind of doubt it's just referring to any of them being liars generally, and all three are two-faced to some extent to be sure, but I suspect the specific accusation in play here is that one of them is fake in a way relating to pigtails--that is, they're pretending to be a girl when they aren't. This really only makes sense for Lux for obvious reasons. Also, check out Lux's profile in the second post. To be clear, given the nature of the game I'm assuming/hoping that this is a case of a deliberate deception and not the game being transphobic.
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Sep 28, 2021 16:06
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I don't comment on theories/speculation (and this isn't a comment on yours, just so we're clear ), but I will say outright that to the best of my knowledge, there is not and will not be any transphobia at any point in this game (and as far as upcoming updates I've already prepared, there hasn't been). Granted, I'm not infalliable, and even though im nb myself that doesn't mean I'll always catch everything, so if something DOES come across that way at any point and I didn't catch it, just tell me and I'll edit the update with a content warning (for this or any other game I LP). 
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Sep 28, 2021 18:04
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Junpei posted:Which just leaves Ancora, Pandora, Invidia, and Tristitia's names to be uncovered. Midair Avionics is definitely an anagram for Invidia is Marco, which I guess is a character from the first game?
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Sep 28, 2021 18:59
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For no reason whatsoever I'm going to link to the Head AS Code LP that just went up on the archive, by Mix. no less! If you want. The dev is clear that you can play them in any order, and I originally played BMC first; in hindsight I think HAC->BMC is the better order, but it's not super critical.
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Sep 28, 2021 19:58
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mycelia posted:For no reason whatsoever I'm going to link to the Head AS Code LP that just went up on the archive, by Mix. no less! If you want. The dev is clear that you can play them in any order, and I originally played BMC first; in hindsight I think HAC->BMC is the better order, but it's not super critical. It's also in the OP, but thank you And yeah, I view it as the same thing as like, how Uchikoshi was like 'well you dont HAVE to play 999 before you play VLR' and then you very clearly don't get the full context for references if you do that lol
Mix. fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Sep 28, 2021 |
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Sep 28, 2021 20:17
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Mix. posted:It's also in the OP, but thank you The more links the better...! I mean, who reads OPs these days?
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Sep 28, 2021 20:34
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Mix. posted:Uchikoshi was like 'well you dont HAVE to play 999 before you play VLR' and then you very clearly don't get the full context for references if you do that lol
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Sep 28, 2021 20:38
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 BGM: Mestitior The room came back into view after that vision, which had taken only but a split moment to play out. Back to our senses, now. Let's see the aftermath of the earlier altercation. The girl's sight was completely filled with nothing but the fuming remains of what was once Gula, the cow-themed girl. Where her head had been was instead a charred mark, joining the other a little further away; Ira's mark. Her head had already exploded by the time Ancora realized what happened. She so, so hated having deaths like these. But this one... it seems very possible it might have been the traitor.This time, the silence lasted longer. They were down to five people. Still far from enough ME-cards to escape this place alive. No traces of Invidia's body, either. The group seemed to be at a loss, but the way forward through the puzzle door was now open.  I don't know... What I think is that... we didn't. Ula was manipulated into doing what she was doing. If the portraits were changed in the triangle, as we suspected, which voting for Ava proved... Then someone else changed two other portraits.BGM: Silence He grabbed Luxuria by the arm and pulled her against him. BGM: Membrana  This is the mastermind. The other portraits that were switched in that triangle were Ava's... and Lux's. No! It's not me, I'm not the mastermind! I'm not Pandora! Listen, the others too.. Bia and Cora's portraits were switched, too! That's also true. Hmm...No one dared to move as Tristitia contemplated the issue under a new angle. Finally, he released the girl and threw her away, then put the gun back in his pocket. BGM: Metis  He gave a tap of his hand against his pocket, making it clear the revolver wasn't just for show. Uhh, where did you get that, anyway? I found it in the room I explored last, and it's staying with me. I can't trust anyone here, not entirely anyway. Right, that reminds me, I have other things to share...No one dared to interrupt him, now that he had the gun and made it known. Something weird is going on here. Specifically, about ME... Do you remember what she said after Ira died, but before we solved the puzzle?Ancora thought about it, forcing herself to remember the final lines that she said to them back then.  From now on, I will only appear to give you each room's subject as you enter them. I wish all seven of you good luck, and don't forget... I'll see you later. Me said seven, even if by all accounts we should have been eight. That's... actually interesting. Those messages aren't recorded. They're spoken in real-time, and I can only assume this means that the mastermind among us is someone who's been proficient at retaining their speech without getting flustered. So it was Ula...? No, it wasn't. She loses her speech as soon as she gets flustered or embarrassed; therefore, the cow cannot be the culprit. I didn't hear any stuttering, so the lion is also out. So far, we've got two innocents killed. Well... innocent of being Pandora, at least. Really smart. He's probably going to live to the end, but it's also definitely someone I'd want to get rid of as soon as possible, as much as I can help it. Whichever it is, there must be a good reason why the mastermind thought it was more interesting to actually be in the group. I doubt they'd just up and leave if that's the case... so I'm willing to currently rule out Vidi. I'm not ruling out the possibility of them being in a room somewhere, though. For the purposes of this one, there are cameras in the Crossroads, and they could have spied on us, maybe. Anyway, I have other questions too...He walked forward, specifically stepping towards Ancora until the two of them were talking face to face, so to say. How did you know Ula changed the portraits? I don't... I have no idea. I just sort of knew... it's like the information reached me from elsewhere. I didn't know, and then in the next moment, it came to me... So like an epiphany, then? Maybe. This is looking like a death sentence so far. Let's hope there's a way out. The first one is that you can spy on people using cameras. This would make you the mastermind. However, it doesn't make any sense, because you tried to tell us about the change in portraits. You wouldn't give yourself away like that. I don't see the point in switching the victim of the vote unless it was you, and it didn't seem like it was going that way. Not to mention, to begin with, there are no cameras anywhere as far as I can see except in the Crossroads.BGM: Silence  BGM: Mereo Mentis A what, me? Good stuff! A psychic, as if those exist. Entertaining his false idea is probably for the best. A psychic. You get to know things we don't, by using psychic abilities. There have been rumors of psychic usage before to explain things such as...He was looking for an example. Soon, he pointed at Luxuria. Turn around. W-Why...? Turn around or I shoot.Before he grabbed the revolver, the small girl did as told and turned around, exposing the back of her helmet.  This symbol, for example, has been drawn all over the world in various places. It's impossible that each person who drew this was told how to do it by someone else. This trend predates the internet, too. There's been a theory that the Cool S was a mark of psychic abilities. That one day, someone, somewhere, used their psychic abilities without meaning to, and grabbed the knowledge on how to draw a Cool S from someone else. That might also explain this epiphany. You know what an epiphany is- we spoke about it earlier. You mentioned something about talking to dead people, right? Yeah, I remember the epiphany. A moment of clear lucidity, or an idea that comes out of nowhere... For that... I do actually have no explanation whatsoever. ...maybe he's right? No, it's still far too loopy to be considered true. Why do I talk to dead people? Maybe in moments of extreme stress, you pull information from the world itself. I've played games that dealt with things like that... and the world is formed of what we know, isn't it? It's possible what's happening here... is the same as those games. That's gonna be a really tough sell for me, you morons.BGM: Meridianus Superbia interjected in her usual fashion.  You're right. We have to solve the puzzle.He stepped to the side, watching everyone. No one else seemed to want to walk away from the consoles. By then, everyone had forgotten Gula was dead not too far away. Well, take the lead. You've got the gun. That's exactly why I can't do it. You all go, I'll follow. I'm not getting shot in the back! You can either go, or I can kill you right now.His tone was much less friendly. The horse was making it clear he was not joking around.  Superbia walked towards the hallway into Wing A, followed by Avaritia and Ancora. Luxuria went after them, and finally, Tristitia walked to close the line. Something's not matching with the countdown, either. There are 30 minutes left before the next vote is required, but with the time it'll take to solve the puzzle and the next rooms... It's not looking good. Once again, someone has to die, or they need to start hurrying up. Let Ancora solve it. So far she's been the fastest to do this, and it's like Bia said. We don't have a lot of time.Approaching the panel, the girl readied herself to solve it, as she'd done before.  BGM: Mens Metis  The solution for this puzzle is...  This one's actually really straightforward- the rows and columns have to be the same. That's it! So the top row is ATOM, and the first column is also ATOM, second row/column is TIME, etc.  BGM: Meridianus The doors unlocked after the puzzle was dealt with.  You mean, survive or get killed by you one by one? Despite what it looks like, I do want to make it out alive, and I also want as many of you to survive as possible. But I'm not against making sacrifices for it. Now go check what's further down this hallway, before I lose my patience.Superbia shrugged and walked off, figuring this wasn't her problem. Avaritia and Luxuria accompanied her too, but when Ancora began walking away, Tristitia grabbed her wrist.  I wonder what that's all about. Doesn't sound too good... To put it simply, I want you to think about Vidi. You're a psychic, and I want you to try and communicate with him. I think that's a little bit crazy...*click*  She agreed very quickly after he reached for the revolver again. There was no negotiating with him in this state. She tried, and tried, and tried. Thinking about Vidi... thinking about Vidi... but there was no result. Sorry, I can't... do it. Maybe he's not dead, then. No, like... I don't know if I'm a psychic, but every time I could hear about a dead person, they sort of 'spoke' to me right after they died. This isn't a case where I can control it. Hmm... I have an idea, then. But I can't do it just yet. Go explore with the others, I'll be right back.The boy left her alone. The blond girl was as dumbfounded as before. It wouldn't kill him to say what's on his mind before the grand events he's orchestrating. After a brief cursory check, gaining her a ME-card which she pocketed in one of her boots, Ancora was startled by Avaritia suddenly slipping into the room behind her. What's this? It was locked before, wasn't it? I used this key to get in... like earlier. I thought maybe you guys couldn't unlock it...She showed the key to the teacher. We found keys like that, too, but... they didn't work in these locks. I guess only the A key works. That reminds me... I haven't thanked you yet for saving me, have I?Ancora shook her head. It's okay, I don't want anyone to die... but I also don't want anyone to get tricked into dying. It's probably the worst... Everyone looks to the teacher for support, but so very few understand that she's in the same boat as everyone else. It's easy for me to get things I want given my age. I'm older, more experienced, more knowledgeable... But here, I'm stuck. Vulnerable, fighting against impending doom... I'm the same as you all. So thanks for helping me, and if you need my help later, I will gladly lend it. I don't know how genuine that is. But it seems genuine enough. I can't see her lying like that because, as she said it herself, her life was saved. Oh, um... thanks. The first thing I need is probably more ME-cards... Scouring the rooms next to this one, I found one. Maybe the other classrooms here will have some. Okay, I'll go check them too. Let's meet back at the doors.Ancora agreed, and the two parted ways. However, there was only one hallway leading inward. After Ancora left the corner room, she walked in the same direction as Avaritia, despite the two of them having given their farewells. This is terribly awkward. For the bear-themed helmet wearer, the destination was simple: the other corner room. All of the corner rooms contained a ME-card, after all, and there was only one of them left to investigate. Looking into the nearby classrooms, Ancora noticed Superbia was searching in one, and another was being searched by Luxuria. Past them, she arrived at the corner and unlocked the door.  That makes... three. With five people remaining, we're almost there.
Mix. fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Sep 29, 2021 |
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Sep 29, 2021 21:29
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have you guys heard about the morphogenetic field
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Sep 29, 2021 21:47
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He is totally about to murder someone just to see if Cora can talk to them.
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Sep 29, 2021 21:57
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So Gula's crime was terrorism, Bia's was murder, Ira's was being a drug... dealer? distributor?
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Sep 29, 2021 22:01
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So, if Ancora's truly psychic (I'm not ruling it out in this case, especially given all of the thinly-veiled morphogenetic field references), is it possible she's truly just Ancora and her (partial) knowledge of being the mastermind is secondary to Pandora (in an appropriate panda helmet) dying early on and her psychic abilities allowing her to gain some of that knowledge? That could explain why she's so bad at the mastermind part of things, and why she's so confused about ME correctly identifying that an additional person was dead - it's not actually her. Though that does beg the question of why her interaction with Pandora would be different from the others. I also think there was something off about the prior update - was I the only one confused about the avatar switching until the end? Ancora kept talking about a triangle of switching, but only mentioned swaps between Lux-Ava and Bia-Cora. I assume she meant to say Gula-Ava were switched and then, to complete the triangle, Lux-Ava were then switched? Leaving Bia-Cora as the mystery switch Trist was wondering about afterward? That would fit with the results we've gotten thus far, but for some reason, Cora presents the situation in the most incoherent manner possible. I'm also still confused about the timeline with the Boisjolis. If Lucille bombed the school after her father was arrested, why was he then accused of the crime? He was in jail at the time. Lucille does make the most sense for the traitor, given her grudge for her father and her crimes being committed in response to (and in revenge for) his false arrest, but if she dies this early I doubt it's truly her.
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Oct 1, 2021 21:24
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 BGM: Meridianus  Did you find anything? We couldn't unlock these doors, so how'd you manage it? I think that's the key... look, the teeth look like a letter, like the others we found in the deduction rooms.Ancora still held the A key clutched in her hand. That's right. I found a ME-card inside, and the other corner had one too. That's two... And Ava had one from earlier, too. Huh... that means our total was 17 before the vote... And we found one more. That means we can almost do the next vote without even exploring any of these puzzle rooms yet. Are we all agreed on who to vote for?BGM: Metis  A death's needed soon. It's around the 45 minute mark... the hour is coming. Right. We need to catch back with the others, see what our haul was. There are some rooms left here, too... I'll take care of them, whatever. You two run off to the others and consolidate the cards. What says you won't keep one or two for yourself? You crazy or what? We only need five, and we already have four right now. Not only that, but we're running out of time soon. Just go. I don't have the time or desire to conceal anything at this point.  What's this all about? I wanted to have a little talk... There's something I've been meaning to tell you and all. It's about before... I wanted to thank you for saving my life. Ula's manipulation could've gotten me killed, too...Ancora shrugged as though she wasn't too concerned. Saving the nice little girl was just as much a thing she was aiming to do than saving Avaritia, too. It's all good, don't worry! Did you have something else on your mind...?Luxuria hesitated. It's about Trist... he's clearly dangerous. What should we do...? I don't think he'd go willingly into a vote like this. If the hour comes by, he'll probably shoot someone in the group. But I don't think we can feasibly take him down, either... unless it's by surprise. On one hand, Ancora wanted to get rid of him. On the other, he could be a great tool to figure out what Ancora wanted to figure out. If she'd only let him go onto that trail, he could do all the work for her... BGM: Memini Meminisse We don't have a choice, then. We'll have to have him make a choice. What do you mean...? When the time flips to the next hour, we'll die. That means he'll look for the most promising and easiest target to kill. We can use that to our advantage.Ancora explained her plan to Luxuria. The gist of it was to have the guy make a choice between two targets, and while he's unsure, Ancora would jump him and take the revolver from him. If we slam him on the helmet, he'll completely lose balance and focus. He might even blackout. In that moment, I need you, Ava, and Superbia to grab him and carry him over to the vote booth. Then we have to get him stuck there so we can vote. There was a slight reticence in Luxuria's words. Ancora reassured her, understanding what she was afraid of. Don't worry, you won't be a target. I think Trist is very focused on the idea that Bia is still a danger, so I'll lure him over while Bia is still busy, then I'll do something to look threatening. That's when he'll be confused. If I time it right when Superbia comes out, he won't know what to do. That's when you come behind him and give him a good smack. You think I can do it? It also works if we get Ava to do it, I guess, but you have a good spot from here. Okay, I think it'll work. Yeah, I'm a lot more confident now!She looked like she was pumping herself up to pull it off. Ancora thought about it for a moment longer. You should stay in this classroom. Just peek out when we're going to pass by, and then you can get him at my signal. I'll make a V with my fingers, okay? Be sure to get him on the helmet. The resonance from it is insane and could easily knock someone out. Ancora sneaked back out of the classroom to go and meet up with Trist. There was no time to waste while Superbia was still busy, or else she'd miss her window. …... BGM: Metis  I'll take care of her.Now that the boy had given himself a self-imposed “peacemaking” mission, it was easy to get him on the warpath. Ancora led him to the hallway where Superbia was still searching, but she stopped near the entrance of a classroom. The entrance to “that” classroom, specifically- let's hope Luxuria is ready.BGM: Membrana  This made her jump back, causing her to step onto Avaritia's feet, who had just come out of another classroom, behind Ancora. Thankfully, the teacher didn't cause a ruckus, but she did grab the girl so she wouldn't fall. You okay, Cora?She noticed Superbia was out. Oh, Bia's here!Calling out the rabbit's presence, the woman caused Tristitia to turn around with his gun taken out. The revolver was aimed right at Superbia. Uh oh, this wasn't part of the plan. Now there's no one to take out Tristitia! What the gently caress is happening?!Ancora only had a split moment to act. She could let things take their course and leave Superbia to die... which wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing, since she was one of the weakest links of the group... Or she could shove the girl out of the way of the bullet to protect her. And so, Ancora...  It should go without saying that this is an important decision; however (unfortunately for Superbia) for this route, we're not going to do anything to protect her. BGM: Mestitior Ancora did not act. The gunshot was nigh-instantaneous, and a hole appeared in Superbia's helmet near the middle of her symbol. Almost immediately, her body crumpled down. The tall bunny girl's helmet exploded, causing everyone to step back in the midst of the dust. Her headless body remained among the group, against the wall onto its knees, like a macabre result of Ancora's inaction. What... what, what?! Ahh!Only Ancora didn't react to it, far too shocked to do anything about it. Instead, her body crumbled much like Superbia's, right into Avaritia's arms which weren't there to hold her anymore. The teacher had taken a step back in fright, which meant Ancora hit the cold, hard floor. She pulled herself up with her arms almost immediately after giving a howl of pain. While sat up, her gaze, through the helmet's cameras, was fixated upon the corpse of the confrontational girl. The dead body would haunt her thoughts for the next hours- perhaps even days or weeks. It was a thing, no longer a person. Tristitia looked at the group, and then stored the gun back into his pants.  It took a moment for the whole group to regain their senses. By then, it was already five past the hour. They only had 55 more minutes before everyone would surrender their right to live. We need to reform the teams. We have rooms to explore now, are you all aware of this? But you just shot her dead! That was the plan, yes.Luxuria looked over at Ancora, who had risen back to her feet. She replied with a slight shrug; a little like an apology for failing to carry out the plan exactly as convened. I don't think we can solve the rest of the rooms on our own, though. I guess we'd need to split up the group like... Ancora alone, myself alone, and you two others together. That's the only way to have a fighting chance in what's coming, I think.BGM: Silence  BGM: Metis Out of nowhere, Invidia's voice rang. He was in the hallway with them, walking in from the direction of the Crossroads. Vidi?!She finally spoke up, the shock of seeing him again fully pulling her out of her stupor. Everyone reacted as surprised by his appearance as she was. I don't have a lot of time to explain just yet. First, we need to form groups to explore rooms. We're all still looking for ME-cards, right? I still have mine. No, I don't know where the rest are. Yes, I know how to escape now. Yes, ME made a mistake. Well, I can't just behead him now. It would look too suspicious. I wonder why it didn't work earlier? He noticed the dead body on the ground. He didn't settle on it too much, despite clearly being none too happy about it. Three rooms. Five people left instead of four. We can make it work by having two groups of two. I know I can solve rooms alone, so who's going to be in each team?All of them pondered on it for a very short time. With Invidia's sudden return, they forgot about the clock again. It was soon going to hit the ten minute mark past the hour. If a room took them the full 39 minutes to solve, they had to move soon. And there needs to be two deaths this time. Only three survivors, no more than that. This is what the game has been set up to be. I can't change the rules this far in. The next deaths must include the traitor. Avariutia and Luxuria took a glance at Tristitia, torn between leaving while the teams were in their favor, and asking Invidia for details instead. No one wants to be grouped with the killer, huh? That's hilarious, coming from them both...The latter option won, and Avaritia demanded some explanations. Okay, but first, what were you doing, Vidi? No time. I'll take the room furthest down the hallway. We're very soon at the six hours mark, and we need to find way more ME-cards still. If we don't find them, we all die. I get that, but... at least a little answering wouldn't hurt? You're not dead even if ME said you would be! What did you do? We can all do it, and never suffer punishment! If you really want to know... I found the exit. But we can't take it until we have all of those nine strange keys.He showed one of his own- it was the key Ancora traded to him before. There's a metal plate you can open by pressing in specific spots, next to the stairs leading to the voting mechanisms. Behind that is a room that's seemingly cut off from radio and mechanism interference. The moment I made it through, I was cut off from all communication. If we go there, we're no longer reachable, but I don't think we were supposed to know that place existed until we put all the ME-cards in. Is it a problem...? If we go in there, then we can't get beheaded like...She pushed her foot towards Bia's corpse. The first time was a random chance, Lux. I stumbled onto it, and Pandora must've not seen me. Now, Pandora knows. Whatever's monitoring that place will be looked at much more closely.BGM: Meridianus  After the two were gone, Invidia spoke about his departure again to expand on one of his thoughts before the three would split up. What baffles me the most is this...He pulled out a second ME-card. There was a ME-card in that room. I think we're supposed to figure it out early, somehow, even though it's clearly off-limits. I don't understand what the mastermind is thinking. Anyway, we have our groups ready, right? Cora, you're with Trist? I guess that's... fine by me. Scared? I don't have any reason to shoot anymore. Not yet, anyway, until the vote.A sudden thought caused him to pause in the middle of his speech.  Well, if we fulfill all the conditions by six, this means six of us must die. But if you don't fulfill the conditions, then it doesn't matter. Nobody else has to die then, the fact the bomb's going to kill us all notwithstanding. Right, well, we should hurry anyway. Let's talk about this after we're still alive in 40 minutes. 39 minutes. He waved, departing from the two of them shortly thereafter. Tristitia and Ancora remained alone. Deciding to not waste any time, the horse wearer walked towards the other nearest door, as Invidia had gone for the one farthest away. I wonder if he's really going to be fine doing it alone. If he doesn't leave, everyone's in deep mud.
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Oct 1, 2021 22:11
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differentiating posted:I also think there was something off about the prior update - was I the only one confused about the avatar switching until the end? Ancora kept talking about a triangle of switching, but only mentioned swaps between Lux-Ava and Bia-Cora. I assume she meant to say Gula-Ava were switched and then, to complete the triangle, Lux-Ava were then switched? Leaving Bia-Cora as the mystery switch Trist was wondering about afterward? That would fit with the results we've gotten thus far, but for some reason, Cora presents the situation in the most incoherent manner possible. You got it right, it's that the three of them were switched together with Bia and Cora only being switched with each other. It's just very, very weirdly phrased
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Oct 1, 2021 22:15
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Whoops, I forgot to bookmark this thread. Lemme catch up.
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Oct 3, 2021 01:24
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Well, I'm caught up. My wild speculation: what if the traitor is Cora? And something really weird is going on with her memories? That's my best guess.
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Oct 3, 2021 07:27
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My most batshit prediction is that everyone is Cora, and this is all happening inside her mind and everyone else is a splintered fragment of her personality: Trist is Cora's paranoia, Ira is her fear, Bia is her anger, etc.
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Oct 3, 2021 07:40
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Junpei posted:My most batshit prediction is that everyone is Cora, and this is all happening inside her mind and everyone else is a splintered fragment of her personality: Trist is Cora's paranoia, Ira is her fear, Bia is her anger, etc. That seems... potentially plausible, tbh. Has literally anyone else solved a puzzle yet?
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Oct 3, 2021 08:33
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If it weren't for the fact that Cora obviously has access to the abilities of the mastermind, such as hacking into helmets, I'd suspect they were trying to pull a ZE-like switch and have Pandora be a separate mastermind watching Cora via her helmet feed and commenting on things from afar. I don't know if I fully trust Vidi's account of things, but the idea of all the keys being needed to escape makes sense. Why else have the keys in the first place, if they weren't gatekeeping the group's progress?
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Oct 3, 2021 11:41
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Bonus theoryboggling: I think the keys are the first initials of everyone's 'names'. Pandora Ira Gula Tristitia Avaritia Invidia Luxuria Superbia ...Ancora Wait, hold on. The first letters of everyone's name spells 'PIGTAILS'. Except Ancora, of course*. A fake with pigtails, indeed!  *or Avaritia
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Oct 3, 2021 11:44
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Quackles posted:Bonus theoryboggling: I was thinking this as well, but didn't catch the PIGTAILS connection. Nice one! Though it's unclear if it's just mentioning that there's a traitor at all, then, or if it's pointing out someone in particular (Ava/Cora vs Lux/Gula/Bia).
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Oct 3, 2021 11:55
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Quackles posted:Has literally anyone else solved a puzzle yet? I guess you could argue that it's possible everybody else is simultaneously lying about that, but that seems very unlikely.
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Oct 3, 2021 12:57
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MagusofStars posted:Not in a room where Cora's been, but there's puzzles in the rooms the other teams go into when we split into teams. OK, fair, fair. But we've never seen anyone else solve a puzzle where Cora's been, and we've only been able to infer puzzles were solved in other rooms. So, how do we know for sure anyone else has solved a puzzle? I think something weird is going on.
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Oct 3, 2021 21:11
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 BGM: Meridianus  It was very spacious, and it had two large cylinders spanning floor to ceiling. They were both adorned of a lot of mechanisms and cogs, as well as a long wire connecting to them. Smaller cylinders guarded the entire room alongside them. Due to the strange nature of the room, the two people in it barely had any time to take in its weird appearance before ME appeared to them again. At exactly 39 seconds, on the dot, both their visions were taken by her, while the door locked itself. BGM: ME Mori  The question you will have to answer in this room, however, is for you and you alone. If you give the answer to anyone outside of this room, you will immediately surrender your right to live. Do you understand? This knowledge is for your group, and no one else. There is a true enemy which opposes me, you, and everyone else. All of you here have been gathered for a specific reason. No, it's not to kill that enemy, which you won't be able to do, ever. Figuring out that true enemy is part of the deal, too, even if you will never be able to fight it. Not now, or ever. That is because while it is your true enemy, it is not one you are meant to oppose. Even though we must oppose it, otherwise our end spells doom for the entire world. I'll see you later.BGM: Metis The entire speech was as short as the previous one. The two in the room decided to ignore the cryptic words as they had to hurry, with Tristitia taking the lead despite his apparent uneasiness. Let's go, then. This looks like some kind of reactor. How can you tell? Just a hunch. It's probably a fake, anyway. What is there to power in here? Dunno... but I wonder a lot more about what ME meant by “true enemy”... I don't remember setting this up. The true enemy is the traitor, no? BGM: Mendosus  Only one companion this time! We can still ask if he has any thoughts on the reactor, though, so let's get that taken care of. Did you find anything of note? I know you already said this was probably a fake reactor, but let's say it's not... what do you think it's used for? And why have this here? We're still in the school, right? Like what is all this? If I knew, I'd tell you. All I can think of is... We have classrooms, we have hallways, even the bathrooms look the same... but these rooms are not always as we'd expect them to be. Who could do such a thing? It's not like anyone can just walk in and build this... Maybe it's the government. If it's not, then they have to be really rich, or really determined. It has to be some kind of organization, but what even would warrant putting this much effort in making all this...? Killing us off one by one? I don't believe in “madman who just likes to watch people die”, everyone has a reason for doing what they're doing. But this...He paused, uncertain of how he wanted to word it. Perhaps he was even uncertain if he wanted to continue down that line of thought, too.  What could warrant all this...? At first, it was only to find out the traitor, but now... this room is definitely nothing I know. Something else is going on, and I'm also wondering about what could warrant all this. Did the traitor turn usurper? All the more a reason to find them. At this point, maybe it's preferable if they all died to make sure I've got the right one... Since we're only two, let's not waste too much time. Alright, that's fair for now. Back to work.And now it's time to investigate. There's not a ton to do in this starting room, but let's start with the cable hanging down from the ceiling and go from there.  Tristitia didn't bite, no matter how much Ancora willed him to. No one wants to talk about ladders, let's just stop that entirely and focus. There's no helping it when the situation becomes this dire.Ancora still had to find some more information. A keypad on the ceiling took four digits, and some numbers were left undiscovered yet. How about the familiar looking vats on the wall? These tubes look really high tech. This makes me wonder if we're still in the present... because it's sure starting to look like we're hundreds of years in the future right now! He shoved his hand against the side of one of the tubes. The mechanism pushed up, sinking against the wall some. See? It's really not heavy. Sure looks like it from here...Ancora tried to do much of the same with another one, but that one wasn't having any of it. The annoyance she felt due to her failure in lifting this fake object made Tristitia laugh. Hey, don't be mean like that! Sorry, sorry. Didn't mean it that way. I guess you're still a girl, huh? What does that even mean...? I guess I just have more muscle mass, that's all. Hey, hey, who's the mean one now? Anyway, let's take a look at the giant pillar in the center of the room, I guess. This is a big thing with a lot to see on it. What should I investigate? Well, no point in not looking at everything! Starting at the top:-The status The indication says “status: stable”, as if it could go haywire if you mishandled it or something. We'd have cause for concern if it was real, but, as we already established, it's not. It's good to decieve yourself like that, Tristitia, but don't hide from the truth. This reactor looks like a fake, but so far it's pretty real. Still, makes me wonder how this came to be.-The number  Or the number of minutes we have to explore these rooms. Or the numbers 30 and 9 put together. Or the letters C and I together, if you take them as being 3 and 9 mashed together. Or... is there anything else it could represent? Well, in Japanese, the numbers 3 and 9 are “san” and “kyu”, which sort of sounds like “thank you” when put together like that. That one's the most ridiculous of the bunch.-The machinery There's this panel with a bunch of gears inside, but it's missing one. Nothing's spinning. Let's find it and come back, then.-Left panel This is some circular opening. Maybe a tube goes in here or something. Or it's an output? Let's be on the lookout for a tube, then.-Right panel This looks broken. No, it doesn't just look broken; I'm pretty sure it's broken. Something's missing inside, and I can't screw the panel back onto it. Let's come back after we find whatever it is that's missing, and something to screw the panel back on. I don't think whatever it does will work unless it's fixed. Not to mention the console on the ceiling needs to be properly operated first, too.And that's all we can look at right now. Next, the green tube.  The side of the cylinder has an output. Guess we need to find something to suck all of that acid out. I wonder how that part inside isn't melting right out. It's probably just... not acid for real. More evidence towards the fact this is all a fake contraption.Lastly, the stacks of boxes on the left. Lots of boxes that make me think of tic-tac-toe. I don't think we're supposed to use them for that, though. There's stuff inside. Various objects. A lot of trash, too. Yeah, these are ripped squares of cloth... duct tape... a copy of Avril Lavigne's newest album... Which one is that? Uhh, “Let Go”, yeah. Oh, I already have that one... Hey! I like it! None of my business, anyway. There's a lot of stuff in here... One thing stands out. In one of the boxes is a metal gear. A metal gear?! Seems like the kind of thing we'd need in a room like this. Let's carry it. There's also a key in the same box... Good thing I took this gear, or I would've never seen it.He removed the key, showing it to Ancora. That's the key to access the second room. There's nothing else here it would unlock.Tristitia put it in their inventory until its use would come up. Well, that use is right now, because we're moving into the second room.  And now, we can move further in. Well, that's a bit anticlimactic. I guess we should start with the strange item on the ground. Look, it's a big tube. We can take it between the rooms as needed. Think you can carry it? I feel like we should just leave it there until we find a purpose for it. It's a little cumbersome. Alright, then. Now we know its here, at least.The other set of familiar vats?  Two reactors? Maybe one's a fake, and the other's real? Or maybe they're both fakes. I still don't think this is a real reactor. I've seen this place before, you know, and it's not here. Where did you see it? Somewhere my father worked at. They had this large red cross-like emblem affixed above the door, and there were a bunch of gruff guys doing experiments. He took me there once on their yearly bring-your-kid-to-work day. He doesn't work there anymore, though. He'd been working there for a long time before that, and I still don't know why he left. The pay was apparently really, really good. Difference of interests? Maybe a clash of morals? Science can sometimes be a little... you know. Maybe. Not that I'll know even if I asked him now.Ancora had a bad feeling about it. She decided to change the subject, figuring that he was dead, or something like that. Anybody who quits from something as shady as that probably ends up dead. Yeah. I'd only seen it through a window, but I remember it mesmerized me. It marked me, and I would know what this is even after another twenty years without seeing it. These things were in constant movement, though. Now they're not moving. The reactor is a lot less monstrous than my memories, but it's because it's a fake and, thus, not active.He gave a light shove onto one of the strange, metallic structures. Something broke from it and rolled away onto the ground. See? It's falling apart on its own. Wait, that's not part of the mechanism.Ancora reached for it, finding that it was a coin. Maybe this is useful. Let's keep it with us. Who knows if we'll need it here? And if we don't, then we're just a little richer... And risk losing your head? I wouldn't take anything out of these rooms unless they're from the safes that contain our ME-cards. Yeah, that's probably a better idea. Turns out there's no tricking him into doing it and eliminating him that way, huh?The green tube in this room has nothing of note to look at or interact with... it's just a tube. As for the reactor... Yeah, it's a little too complex for me to mess with anyway. I think it's in our best interests if we left it alone....they refuse to even examine it! Great work guys. We'll be out of here in no time. Guess that leaves the boxes. I have to wonder why there are these boxes strewn about. They don't contain much of anything in general, just random knick-knacks.He addressed Ancora as she approached the boxes. Some of them were open, others were still shut tight. From what she could see of each, he wasn't wrong; they didn't contain anything spectacular. You'd think these things would be used to carry dangerous stuff. Like what? Like a gun? Maybe, if you wanna believe that. No, I don't wanna. Speaking of, what are you going to do with... yours?Tristitia still had the gun in his pocket. Ancora could see the handle sticking out the whole time.  Well... okay then. But that reminded me, about the word “emergency”... What about it? It makes me think of “emergence”, even though both of them have nothing to do with each other. Specifically, “emergence” is when two things interacting together have something neither have alone. Uh... you lost me a little. I just wanted to talk about the emergency exits. What do you mean?Ancora was starting to wonder if all of this was truly needed, but at this point she just had to pursue the topic. Otherwise, she could be seen as impolite or testing his patience. And it's not like she wanted to test a guy who held a gun. I don't think he'd shoot over it... It's safer this way, I guess. Take a person and a bicycle. The person can run, but there's no smooth forward movement. Meanwhile, the bicycle can provide that movement, but it can't do it on its own. Hence, the “emergence” happens when both combine and fulfill that. There are other examples out there, but this is the simplest one to digest I think. It's a little like how a pencil can write, but only if your body, which can't write without a tool, makes use of it. Or when wind creates waves onto the surface of water... So a little like these helmets, since they display what's outside of them? No, not like the helmets. We can see without the helmets. You're right. Well, that was interesting, but we have to get moving I think. Sure, and, by the way, I found a clipboard between two of these boxes.He quickly checked what was written on it. Something about... experiments? Something about pairs. The number 2 is all over this thing. Two reactors... And it says to multiply all three numbers together. What could that mean? Maybe it's for some code or another?They kept it with them for convenience's sake. And that is, uh, literally it! Really not a ton of inventory stuff to deal with this time around. With this, we're heading back into the previous reactor room. There's an immediate thing we know to do just from comparing the two rooms- use the tube from the second room in the strange circular slot on the reactor.  After connectng the both of them together, the transparent cylinder drained itself of its acid. All of it was sucked out through the tube into the reactor's shell. The only thing left in the tube after another minute of wait was a weird part. Think it's safe to get it? Just let it leak out for a few, and come back to it later.…. It's probably fine to take now.Having waited a few, the two of them disconnected the tube and the strange piece of hardware came out, seemingly undamaged from the acid it was drowning inside prior.  Probably not. Couldn't take any chances, anyway.After the two of them reconnected the tube with the cylinder, the “acid” was pumped back into it in order to revert it to its previous state. Then, they pocketed the item and discarded the tube back to the other room, no longer having any use for it. That's not the only thing here we can interact with; we found that gear that still needs a place to go. Looks like the gear we found goes in here. Let's put it in. Careful, there's a grid over it. We have to open it first...But Ancora just jammed her hand into it, yanking it out afterwards. The grid hadn't been electrocuted or anything, and it very easily came off, at the expense of Ancora's hand which was now bleeding a little. Ouch! He shook his head, sliding the gear inside and attaching it to the pole. Soon, the gears began spinning together. What they did wasn't clear. Got anything for this cut? One of the boxes in the back has some. You're in luck. Too much luck.The two of them left the reactor alone to go patch up Ancora's hand. You really ought to be more careful. We're dealing with potentially dangerous hardware here. Not that it's really a reactor, since I believe it's a fake... But a fake can still hurt. Hey, I'll be fine. It's just a tiny cut... Out of anyone, I feel like Tristitia has the least amount of rights to speak about being cautious. He held it up to her. Ancora read it aloud. “But we're missing 15 of them.” Fifteen of what? What's missing? I'm not sure. I think this number may be important though.With that taken care of, we should re-examine the ceiling panels, as we still haven't found a use for them... Too bad we don't have a ladder. Maybe we have to climb using the cable...With only a slight look at Tristitia, one could deduce he wouldn't be any use climbing a cable this small. It might even cause it to snap, and render it unusable. I can try, but I'm not a good climber. Good one. But stop being distracted, please. If there's a joke here, it went over my head.Upon trying, Ancora found it a lot easier than she might've assumed. All she had to do was use both her hands and legs to hold onto the cable, and before long, she had managed to bring herself to the top. What does the box do? It's... settings. Um, I don't know what we should put them on! It's taking four numbers from 0 to 9, but I don't know the combination. Just put them on whatever you want, I guess. I doubt this will do anything until the cable is plugged somewhere anyway. The solution has to do with the numbers we found, no doubt. Look, there's no point in even spoilering this, it's literally just basic multiplication. You multiply 2 (from the clipboard), 15 (from the note), and 39 (from the reactor) together to get the solution. No puzzle here.  There you go. The answer is 1170, since they multiply together.After putting in the four numbers, Ancora came down from the box, sliding along the cable until she was back to the ground. The machine was now giving a low hum. Hey... wait a second- you weren't looking, were you? Looking at what? My underwear! Oh, no, I don't have any interest in that. Not sure if he meant it that way, or if it's a veiled insult. ANYWAY, now we can examine the other panel on the reactor, which is where the part we found in the acid can be inserted. And the part goes here... A small light lit up, as if confirming it was done correctly. Wow, that was pretty good. I'm impressed. Don't be. I just know a lot about computers, because I spend a lot of time on one. You do remember I have that website, right? It's just one of many I own. I'd like to actually get up and do stuff, though. That's why a guy named Marco started giving me tutoring on engineering. He came by my home often, so I would get off my chair and do some menial work. You... want to exercise, then? Yeah. I'm kind of tired of being the fat boy. No matter what I try, though, I don't get slimmer.The shaking of his head was full of sorrow and denial.  This one? That's right.He connected the cable to the panel. I knew they'd go together. It looked too suspicious. There's still a lot of slack, though, and I can't make heads or tails of why... maybe it's not important. But it's... really... stuck... hard...!He'd tried taking it out to show, but the panel wasn't having any of it. It was very well stuck there, and since that was where it had to go... Something's happening! What do you think that means? I don't know... Looks like a small compartment opened on this side, too.He reached inside, taking out a ME-card and a weird key with the letter T attached to it. Here, take that key.He lobbed it at her. Ancora did her best to catch it, but it fell to the ground. She went over to take it, adding it to the rest of her stuff.  Beats me. Does it mean we're done here? But what's our answer? Don't we normally get some piece of paper to help us? I think it's pretty obvious. I'll let you think about it, then just come with me to the door. I think you just don't know the answer. Who knows? Not him, apparently. Nothin else to check out, so let's get out of here Here we are, then, ready to leave. And not that much time passed, either. Definitely good. And about the answer... Do you still not know it? No, I know it. No, I know it.Ancora looked at her hands in slight contemplation. After a minute or so, Tristitia nudged her with an elbow.  Something like that. You know how we die if we get it wrong... Well, the answer is t- No, stop, it's fine! I know the answer! A girl's got her own pride to uphold. Let ME out! Our true enemy is... It should be obvious what the answer is here, but I'll spoiler it anyway just for the sake of consistency.  Time!With a click, the lock came undone. Now they could leave this room. Ancora looked at Tristitia who returned the gaze, but soon he left with the bowls and the ME-card, having nothing else to do here. He was, also, quite eager to leave this place. Ancora also had enough of this reactor, so she stepped out, clutching the key she'd found in here. That was now not just one, but two keys obtained. Key with the letter A and key with the letter T acquired. It's not looking good for ME-cards, though. Oh well, it'll be time to worry over that later.
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Oct 4, 2021 01:44
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 18:12 |
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Now why is the answer 'time' super double classified, exactly?
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Oct 4, 2021 02:45
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