theafflicted | 02

02 - week two

WEEK TWO

When the glitter settles and everyone returns to their dorms - or wherever they intend to sleep for the night, if you’re planning on sleeping at all - your first week of school officially ends. Perhaps it was better than you expected, perhaps it was worse.

Hopefully you learned a bit more about teamwork and school spirit.

Still, this course is going to run for longer than a full week, and come Sunday morning you’re still exactly as you were when you settled down for the night. Still in Estelline, still with that mark on your wrist, still connected to your partner. There are some changes, though. The bookstore has received quite a few books, and those of you who added to the bulletin board and pep rally tasks in the first week will find an envelope taped to their dorm door (or themselves, if they spent the night elsewhere). Inside of the envelope is some kind of voucher! Furthermore, the common area is covered in a bunch of glitter.

Also, there are a ton of eggs in the kitchen – at least 10 dozens.

Florence or Lorelei are still available, should you wish to speak to them.

Finally, you've got some new locations to explore.

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY

TASK LIST

CLUMSINESS AFFECT DETAILS (BEGINS TUESDAY ICLY)

W2 CYOA SIGNUPS
CYOA Signups for Week 2 close Sunday, May 29th at 6pm EST.

THREAD SURVEY
Google form for partner threads, due by Friday, June 3rd at 6pm EST. Optional.

W3 CYOA SIGNUPS
CYOA Signups for Week 3 close Friday, June 3rd at 6pm EST.

OOC NOTE

OOC: Anyone who performed in the Pep Rally (Sabo, Madara, Riku, Shizuku, Herlock, Idia, Flat, Miach) task will be able to redeem a voucher for a prize with one of the NPCs. This can be handwaved, and the prize selection is below.

-Single-serve coffee machine wither a selection of creamer. Comes with packs of coffee beans.
-Popcorn maker and kernels.
-High-quality tea kettle with a selection of just as high-quality tea.
-Carbonation machine (think Sodastream, etc) with flavored syrup.

Any coffee, tea, popcorn, etc. will last characters up to two weeks.

Anyone who participated in the Bulletin Board task will receive a voucher for your choice of two pairs colorful socks with cute animal designs. (Worry frog design available.)

FULL NAV

(CODE)

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[He... does not look convinced by that skin flaking argument, but he does fall silent at the other part, features morphing into something more pensive.

Lately, it feels like he's heard a lot of these very same things--more than enough, really. But even if he can acknowledge that Hien's not wrong about having plenty of free time on his hands, that didn't mean he was willing to waste that time with something he was completely disinterested in either.]

Then it doesn't have to be this in particular. If it's about doing something new, then something else should be fine.

[ Hien stares at him a little before putting the sheet masks back. ]

Alright. Though I feel that if I ask "then what new thing do you wanna do", I won't get a good answer.

[ So. ]

There are shooting games in the arcade. Let's play those.

[O ye of little faith...! Except he's not wrong, it probably would've been a boring answer. Either way, it's an acceptable enough compromise, so Shin seems to relax just the slightest bit.]

...All right.

[He'll look over and wait for Hien to move this time instead of trotting off by himself, so lead the way?!]

[ He's wondering if shooting games are okay because
1. It's a game
2. It involves shooting, so something Shin is familiar with?
3. maybe it's just a manly game for the kids to play

He doesn't know.

When they eventually step into the arcade, Hien immediately finds the shooting game. It has two guns, one on each side: red and blue. There's also a platform pedal to step on. It's for ducking/covering while you reload. Tilt your gun downward for a quick reload. Press button to change your weapon: gun, metal pipe, grenade.

Hien gives Shin the rundown in case he hasn't seen one of these before. ]

Wanna play co-op or versus?

[ He imagines that he doesn't need to explain what kind of gameplay those are. ]

[Gramps trying to understand what the kids are into these days...

Regardless of the actual reason is, it's enough to get Shin to pick up one of the plastic guns to examine as he seemingly ignores Hien's entire explanation.]

Either's fine.

[Co-op's the first option though, so he just arbitrarily clicks on that one because yolo!!]

[ Hien knows the real thing is very different from stimulation games like this, so he wonders how Shin's skills will carry over.

The game starts, and the two players land on the mission site: a beach with a bunch of stuff that they can hide behind. There are so many enemies...

Hien effortlessly shoots each one he can see on his screen. ]

[If nothing else, his reflexes and aim are exceptional, so shooting the enemies is simple enough. The unfamiliarity with the controls is what ends up getting to him though, and at some point he just swaps out to the metal pipe and starts meleeing everything because there's no need to reload there.

As per usual, there's little to no change in his expression even when enemies randomly pop out of nowhere in an ambush. He's also good enough at ducking to evade and finding cover when necessary, but he also seems to remain on the offensive at times even when it isn't always a good idea, especially with a melee weapon.]

[ Hien thinks he recognizes that way of fighting because he sometimes does something familiar. ]

Hey, grab that health pack to your left.

[ He'll try to cover for Shin. Good thing Hien is decent at this game, so he picks off enemies here and there while dealing with his own. ]

[Shin doesn't go for the health pack right away; in fact, with the way he continues on, it's almost like he didn't even pay attention to what Hien said at all. However, he does manage to snatch it up while Hien's covering for him--albeit at the last minute right before it vanished offscreen.

Still, once they clear that area and it becomes apparent that the next part involves holding off a large wave of enemies for a set time, Shin swaps back to the gun.]

Take the right side. I'll cover the left.

[Teamwork makes the dream work...?!]

Got it.

[ Hien feels pretty satisfied that Shin finally talked. He also knows that this is just a game and the options are limited, but seeing Shin's actions play out in the game speak volumes to Hien about his preferences and behavior. Small actions tell him a lot about others, so in a sense, it's like a study—A Study of the Human(?) Called Shinei Nouzen.

Anyway, he does well on his own side, glancing at Shin's side of then screen every now and then to make sure he's okay. ]

[Shin clears his side without much difficulty either, although he doesn't come out entirely unscathed--he eats a couple of hits when he flubs a reload. Still, it looks like they're getting close to the end of their little adventure here, so after sparing a glance to see that Hien's doing fine in terms of health, he'll return his attention to what's apparently some kind of boss battle.

The fight starts off pretty simple: it's one enemy with a health bar, but there's a gimmick where a swarm of bugs(?!) gets called periodically. The gun isn't really that effective against the swarm, so.]

Keep shooting at the main target. I'll handle the bugs. [And then he swaps over to the grenades and starts on that.]

Yeah.

[ Hien still has two grenades left, but he's pretty sure Shin will be able to get them. ]

You're pretty good at strategizing on the spot. Are you the leader of a squadron?

[ He misses his Denel NTW-20... let him snipe things. At least he has this game, so he keeps his attacks on the main target. ]

Yeah. [And he does, blowing the last few clusters of insects away with one grenade to spare. As he switches back to the gun to help Hien finish depleting whatever's left of the health bar, he shrugs slightly.]

We don't usually deploy without our Juggernauts, though.

[ Such youth. Much strategy. Very cool.

Hien thinks that's a pretty good accomplishment, but those sort of things often come with a price. Piloting big mechanical bodies as a young person makes Hien think Shin was in the military for even longer. ]

Yeah, I imagine. Going into the war zone without your main equipment and weapons is a dumb move. So I guess you trained for things like this just in case you have to eject.

[ Co-op round complete! Good work, team. Despite it being co-op there are individual scores at the top of each side of the screen. Shin's is much higher. ]

You operate on a "fight now, plan later" way of thinking? You're actually pretty reckless.

[Success?! Not that Shin pays any mind to the scores once it's apparent that the game has ended, so he just returns the plastic gun back to its holder.]

There isn't much room to plan ahead in this sort of game. The controls are limited, and we didn't have any information on the layout and the types of enemies we'd be encountering. And if we're outnumbered, I'd rather take the offensive and catch them off-guard before they have time to react.

[ Hien also returns the gun to its holder. ]

Has that way of thinking gotten you into trouble sometimes?

[He actually pauses here to think.]

...The maintenance crew's gotten angry at me before for straining the suspension on my rig.

[More than once.]

Did it work out?

[ Shin is probably the one soldier the maintenance people would probably hate to have, huh. ]

[A shrug.]

I'm not dead.

[The results speak for themselves! Clearly.]

Did it cause a loss?

[ He knows Shin isn't dead!! He's right here!! ]

[Another pause, and:]

We managed to force them to retreat, but there were casualties. That was probably the most we could hope for.

[ Hien just mentally closing his eyes. ]

I suppose... that's good enough.

[ War is complicated, so he gets it. ]

Anyway, what did you think of your arcade experience?

[ It was just one game!! ]

[A very legit reaction tbh.

As for arcade time, hm...]

All right, I suppose. It's nothing like a shooting range, but the different types of targets make it a change of pace.

[He didn't dislike it, at any rate.]

Would you come here again to try out other stuff too?

[ arcade playdate... ]

If there isn't anything else I have to do.

[Which, in fairness, is probably 90% of the time or more, so.]

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