theafflicted | 03.50 - week three, saturday

03.50 - week three, saturday

W3 SATURDAY

Another Saturday rolls around. Some of you had an… interesting night, perhaps, but that’s still no excuse to sit out on your lessons. There’s another announcement, another time to meet before your lessons start today. This time is just a bit different, though. This time you’re not meeting up at campus. You’re told to meet up at the park in the Museum District - and, as always, you’re expected to show up. How you get there is irrelevant, but you better try to be on time.

Florence is waiting at the park, and behind them is another dark, ominous orb. Even as far away as you are, you can hear its whispers. It’s calling to you with promises it can show you a new life, a better life, it can make you someone better… But then Florence is speaking, as if they cannot feel the hear the whispers.

“I will be accompanying you on this lesson, as I said in the brochure I handed out on Thursday. I will do my best to assist you.” There is a pause, though their face voice remains emotionless. “It is hard to say what it will be like inside - however, your goal for this lesson is to close this place for good. I may be unable to assist with that personally, so we are relying on you.”

They take a step back, turning towards the orb.

“I would advise you to do what is asked of you while you are in there - and a word of warning. Through our observations, we have noticed something strange. This seems capable of creating replications of those who enter it.” They let that information hang for a moment, before continuing. “We are unsure what these replications are truly capable of, but please be careful.”

Then Florence gestures for you to follow, and they’re stepping into the orb.

THE RINGMASTER

The inside is still the same park, but it has been transformed into a carnival. There are booths with games and food set up everywhere, a large ferris wheel, a tent. It will be a familiar carnival, to some of you, but all the lights are off and there are no people there. There’s a tug, a pull, that draws you towards the main tent - to center stage. Stepping inside you will be greeted by someone dressed as a ringmaster, whose voice is lively and energetic despite how hollow they seem on the outside:

“Hello and welcome! It’s time for your performance! And every good performer wants to do what the people want, don’t they? There’s a list on those little tablets of yours, and you need to do whatever’s asked of you!”

The ringmaster laughs brightly, and it echoes throughout the tent. “The more you do, the more we’ll all enjoy it, and the better chance you will get to stay you! But if you refuse… Well, that won’t be any good, right?”

The ringmaster makes a wide, sweeping gesture with their cane.

“We’re very generous here, though, and realize some things are easier to do with others! That’s why one refusal won’t be an instant loss. We’re assigning task cards, you see. Kinda like bingo cards! Each time you do a task for someone or someone does one for you, you get 50 points! The more you do, the higher the score, and once you reach 200 points, you're capped! But every time you refuse to do something people ask you to do, even if you're at 200 points… you lose 100 points ! And if you don’t do anything, well, you get no points and you lose automatically! You also can’t just sit around doing the same thing with the same person over and over again! Gotta spice it up! The same thing over and over again is just boring.”

There’s a click, and noise starts up outside of the tent. It sounds like the carnival’s come alive.

“Your little tablets will track your points. I really do recommend playing along, because if you fail… You’ll lose something. Something that makes you you! A memory, a precious item, something that makes you who you are and can’t be replaced so easily… Who knows what’s at risk, here! Though who am I kidding, it might be more fun to see what you'll lose. Don't ya think? Maybe you should just give up now and we can all laugh about it!

Anyways, all you gotta do is live until the timer runs out. The timer, by the way, is gonna be at the top of your tablet thingamajigs.”

There’s a tip of the ringmaster’s hat. The timer reads 90 minutes.

“That’s all for now! Go find that pesky little robot who’s been snooping around if you want more answers, because I am very busy.”

THE AUDIENCE

Once the ringmaster’s done with their speech, you’re free to travel around the carnival and explore it. It’s an eerie, quiet place, but… you’re not alone, and it won’t take you long to realize that. Those of you who had seen this carnival before - Miach, Shinei, Herlock, and Xingqiu - probably won’t be surprised when the doubles show up. They’re near perfect recreations of you - but near perfect doesn’t mean perfect. Their mannerisms might be odd, or their movements might be jerky and uncanny… but at a glance, it’s impossible to tell who is the real one and who isn’t.

And this is something that makes these doubles very, very angry.

They want you to fail, and they’ll do anything they can to ensure that happens. They’ll sabotage you - or your partner - all in an effort to make you lose points. They'll taunt you if it seems like you're ready to open up, they'll tell you about all the reasons why being honest is a bad idea. For physical prompts, they'll taunt you, call you a monster... They also seem to believe that if you fail, they’ll get to replace you. They will get a chance to get out of here and be the real one. They’re not always convincing, but they are dangerous, and there’s just as many of them as there are of you.

OOC NOTES

OOC: Here are some important things to note for today’s event:

- A simple breakdown of the rules is as follows:

You cap at 200 points, but you must maintain those 200 points until the timer runs out.
Mutual agreement on completing a task nets each person 50 points.
Getting turned down or refusing to do one makes you lose 100 points.
You cannot use the same person to complete all your tasks. You must have only one prompt per character that you cooperate with.

- The cards know, meaning that they'll know if something is not answered earnestly. Prompts that are answered falsely will not go away on your tablets. They will only go away if they are answered truthfully.

- Failure is NOT a bad end! In fact, we have some plans in the instance where not enough people pass the exercise. If 5 or more people fail the exercise, that is considered a group failure. Those who failed individually will face the consequences of losing the important memory/item/etc.

- We are asking people to make their own task cards. Here is a list of prompts:
You may also add one custom prompt tailored to your character, if you wish.

Please toss the prompts into the textbox at the top of this site. Under "Configuration Options", the card size should be 3x3 and the center space should have Normal selected. All characters will get a total of 9 prompts on their cards. It is okay to have prompts that your character would not do; it would just increase their chances of failure.

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Looking over the card, Ace can see why the heads up note was slipped under the door. Some of the options aren't too bad, but some of them... Well, they're not great.

It's sure going to be a ride around here. No wonder they're at a carnival. ]

One hell of an event.

[ Fun stuff. ]

sabo - have someone kill your doppelganger
hien - break someone's bone
fai - kill someone's doppelganger

Edited 2022-06-11 17:26 (UTC)

It is, isn't it? Looks like this time they intend to get us to bare our souls one way or another.

[Which bothers Sholmes, he likes to not show what's under the surface, thanks. Buuuuuut what he may lose is pretty worrisome -- he doesn't want to lose any of what he has, so he decides to bite the bullet and confess a secret]

Care to listen to a secret I would have preferred not to ever mention?

Not interested in trading blows this week?

[ Ace is joking, of course. No reason not to keep it a bit lighthearted around here. Easier to do things. ]

But sure, I'd listen to what you've got to say.

[ They're all stuck in this mess together, after all. ]

My hand still aches from punching your face. I believe you fulfilled the lasting injury task one week too early, Mr. Ace!

[Hah, he's joking too but it did hurt quite a bit back then, thanks, natural 1 when punching, injuring one's hands when attacking]

Now, I don't need to remind you what I will tell you should not be divulged. This is the great detective's secret, after all!

[Steeling himself for saying it by delaying it a little bit. Even though he still keeps up the upbeat demeanor, to have to say this is admitting a side of himself he doesn't like, enough to consider it a shameful and deep secret]

Edited 2022-06-11 18:31 (UTC)

[ Ace can't help but give a bit of a laugh to that. And sometimes, rolls just be like that. Rude things. ]

Yeah, sure. Not like I care about spreading things around about people.

[ Gossip? Why bother. ]

[Alright, no gossip! Sholmes looks around and just...loses some of his usual energy when he says a certain line:]

Great detectives are wont to lie, my good fellow. That's something you would do well to remember.

[And he sure doesn't like he's great at doing that]

There's not one single person I know whom I haven't deceived in some manner. Even from people living in my own home, I have misdirected and gone great lengths to conceal from them events and information, for long periods of time. No matter how much they suffer from it, or if it involves something close to their hearts.

I do as much work burying certain truths, just as I do uncovering others. It's a fact I'm not proud of.

[And usually it works and goes well, until something happens that unveils them. That's always a rough time]

Edited 2022-06-11 19:20 (UTC)

[ He listens to this and doesn't change his expression from when Sholmes first started to talk. ]

Then why bother doing it?

[ Not that Ace has been flawless in what he does. And he really isn't planning to pry deeper if the detective doesn't want to say. But the question comes out without much thought behind it. ]

At times, you must get your hands dirty to get the results you need to get. I'm aware it's not right, but that doesn't stop me.

[This is a guy who does things like blackmail people to get out of hospitals and to delay trains. Still, at least he has several lines he doesn't want to cross, so that's good]

Edited 2022-06-12 01:51 (UTC)

I'm not going to say it's right or wrong.

[ That is good he has some lines he's drawn for himself! But Ace isn't about to throw stones at Sholmes for what he's done. ]

Is it really that bad?

[ He's a pirate, after all. He's got a hefty bounty. He'd done plenty of sketch stuff. ]

To put things lightly.

[ you can definitely bet that as soon as sabo sees his card that he's going to want to see what ace has, and well... he's not going to be thrilled when he sees what's written on it. no, he is more definitely not loving the choices but he's not going to test the waters and challenge if their threats are actually true.

there's pushing his luck and then there's doing something absolutely idiotic for the sake of things. ]

...have you given any thought in what you're going to plan on doing for some of these?

Plan? No, not really. Just going to go through this and help other people until I have the points needed.

[ the only "plan" he has it to take a break afterward and relax best he can. ]

[ it's a fair enough ""plan"" all things kind of considered but sabo has his eyes focused on one thing, especially when he feels his doppelganger observing the two of them with a smile that's more sinister than anything else. yeah, it's going to be very interested in seeing which one that sabo dares to do here. ]

And that one?

[ points to the "have someone kill your doppleganger". ]

It doesn't need to be done.

[ the fake!ace gives a nice laugh at that, mocking ace for dismissing it. ace completely ignores that laughing. ]

[ at ace's not quite rejection but dismissal, sabo's doppelganger will begin to take a step closer to the two of them. it will ignore ace's and instead will see how things go. ]

No, it doesn't but—

[ he looks to his card that reads "kill someone's doppelganger" for a moment then looks back to ace. ]

It doesn't mean it can't be done.

It doesn't need to be done by you, Sabo.

[ what the hell is he thinking? why is he so set on this square itself. his eyes focus hard on sabo, trying to figure this out.

meanwhile, his own doppelganger is watching the scene, including sabo's own counterpart. ]

[ yeah, well, as ace focuses his eyes on sabo, he'll casually look away from him and instead focus his attention onto ace's double. it would almost seem to be bunch of staring and smirking (from the doubles), except that sabo's double starts to laugh after a moment. it'll cross their arms and will come off as not wanting to interfere. looks like someone doubts the resolve present.

which may be true as sabo tries to think of a good way to respond to ace about this. not that there's a good way to respond to this. ]

It'll be fine.

[ lies, of course, because it will absolutely not be fine. also he knows damn well he can't say he'll be fine. ...yet he will be fine? kind of. ]

Like hell it would be.

[ he's reaching out to grab sabo's arm, glaring at him for this suggestion. ]

Why do you want to do this?

[ the ace double laughs again, gaze set right on sabo. ]

You want to punish yourself? Why not enjoy yourself, instead. We can all relax. Forget about things. Bet we could have an eating contest here. Play games like we're kids again.

[ whether sabo momentarily flinches because of ace grabbing a hold of him or the double's words about how he wants to punish himself can be up in the air for debate. one thing that's definitely true is how sabo's double continues to laugh at the scene that's playing out. though, now that ace's double has said the first words, they don't want to be left out.

"Because he's such a noble person, of course. Get it? Only a noble would best know how to be a noble person."

their voice saccharine and mocking; words that immediately crawl under sabo's skin and nearly get a visceral reaction out of him. it doesn't, ultimately, but he does grit is teeth. his double chuckling as sabo doubles down and places a hand over ace's. ]

Don't make this any more complicated than it has to be.

[ this is not an answer and he knows it. ]

Edited (looks down) 2022-06-11 20:01 (UTC)

Who are you saying that to?

[ in his opinion, sabo was already making things more difficult than they had to be. the doubles didn't need to be dealt with and they could have done other things for each other.

but no. of course not. this is the way sabo had to do things. ]

Who do you think? I'm not talking to anyone else here.

[ and sabo would say that the doubles completely do need to be dealt with given the prompts that they have. especially since sabo's double is going to keep laughing at the fact that it doesn't have to lift a single finger. it has complete faith that sabo is going to fail to do this and it's all because ace. it will gleefully cheer on ace as he's doing all of the work for it. ]

Let go, Ace.

[ he'll give his arm a tug. give it back. ]

[ he tightens his jaw. the last thing he wants to do is let go. this seems like the worst idea, but also sabo seems so dead set on doing this. he rally, really cannot understand it. even with the prompts. there's so many more on the list. ]

Wouldn't this give you more regrets?

[ he's trying to dodge this without giving an actual refusal, but also. it's probably far too late to back out now because of this. shouldn't it be the other way around? sabo trying to talk ace out of doing something like this?

his own doppelganger is also looking pleased that ace isn't letting things going through like sabo plans. of course, he doesn't plan to let things go easily, if sabo ultimately wins over ace. ]

[ there sure is a task that's completely and utterly wholesome and would better be suited for someone who wouldn't be able to get their hands dirty. besides, it's not like sabo needs to listen to ace say something nice about him. though, in a way, sabo is succeeding on fulfilling another one of ace's squares but it's not the one he wants.

he gives another tug of his arm as he glares at ace. regrets—he really had to bring up his regrets. ace, the source of so many of his regrets, bringing it up is really not fair. ]

No.

[ he says like a liar but before he can have a moment to decide about clarifying, his double speaks up again, gleefully:

"Why would I ever regret something like this? I'd be doing myself a favor. Isn't that right? Should I tell him? I bet he'd love to know."

and with that, fine. if ace doesn't want to give up his arm, then he'll take a step closer to ace and look him dead in the eye. it's not meant to challenge him but to block out his double from interrupting them. ...and he kind of hopes that maybe ace will pick up why. ]

It'll just me being selfish.

[ he stares directly at sabo, searching for what answer he's trying to give. sorry, but he's not sure he fully gets what sabo is trying to express and the only meaning behind that "selfish" part that he can think up is... ]

You don't want anyone else doing it?

[ not that he'd want to let anyone else do it, either. but he doesn't want sabo to have to suffer it, too. for now, he's keeping his hand tighten on sabo's arm, not wanting to release him until he fully understands the meaning behind this. ]

[ there we go.

the relief that sabo feels for ace picking up on some of the reason why he wants to do this is heartening, but it doesn't change the subject matter. he doubts that even if ace understands where sabo is coming from he would allow sabo to still do this. nevertheless, he ignores the giggling from his double and nods. ]

I want to say goodbye on my own terms.

[ yes, he's aware that ace is standing before him right now ( he will continue to stand before him for as long as he can help it ) and that the double isn't ace and will likely disappear after this "lesson" concludes.

but the point still stands. ]

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