07 - the final week

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FINAL WEEK

You returned safely from the island, with fresh fruit and plenty of seafood, and your Saturday comes to an end. There was much less betrayal, much less turmoil, this past lesson… but does that mean you’ll have time to relax?

The fog has pulled back, revealing the rest of the university’s campus. ... Actually, the fog is completely gone. Interesting, that. You'll also notice that at night, there are no orbs to be found. It looks like Lorelei was true to her word regarding Saturday's activity being the final orb.

There are also, occasionally, other figures that come into view when you look around. Other figures that look like...people. People you haven't seen before, roaming the streets. Some of them look like they're seeing Estelline for the first time in a long while. Others look like they're exhausted and seem to be making their way towards the Residential Area, presumably to rest. There aren't many of them, come Sunday...but they're here.

The end is finally near – and Lorelei confirms that with another 8am announcement on Sunday. She is also, notably, wearing a more visible set of earrings.

"Good morning, students. I would like to formally congratulate you on surviving these last few weeks. This week should be your last, and I will be dedicating it to your evaluations. I'm aware that you know the nature of this "course" by now, but you will be able to return home soon. Regardless, I thank you for your participation.

You are free to contact me through the phone booth for the next few days. Thank you."



SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY

FLORENCE / LORELEI

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

SUNDAY

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mild investigation in the last prompt!

[cheerfuldays]

( monday's a downer so it's sunday time. and sunday time means a bit of exploration! especially with the fog gone completely- wild. so! she's going to take a look around after grabbing a nice orange to take with her for a breakfast on the go.

first up? the library. by which i mean one may find her curled up somewhere with the tablet- how it's survived in her care for this long i don't know but it keeps getting high rolls- and a variety of books.

then she makes her way to the music room and oh goodness there's so much here! and thus here you can find shizuku practicing not just her instruments but singing as well- which isn't to say that she's been neglecting this, but it just sounds better in a room with good acoustics, you know?

but eventually... shizuku will see one of the other figures. at which point she will promptly run over to try and talk to them- )

Excuse me! Are you alright?

investigation

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[The person Shizuku approaches looks - well, tired would be a good word for it.]

I'm... fine?

[They don't sound or look very fine, and they look equal parts confused, wary, and touched by Shizuku's approach.]

[cheerfuldays]

Ah... do you need to sit down for a bit?

( they look exhausted. it makes her feel bad that she's inclined to press for information a little. but there's a bench nearby and if they're amicable to it, she'll gently guide them to it. )

I'm sorry. This must all be so strange.

music room

[goodfaiths]

Shizuku! There you are.

[ Riku waves her down and approaches her with a little wave. He's got something in his hands - a piece of paper. ]

Are you busy?

MONDAY

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[At noon on Monday, every student’s tablet starts to ring - someone is calling. Even if you decide not to answer, the call connects regardless. The voice coming across the speakers is loud and clear, no matter your volume settings - and it’s also entirely unfamiliar.]

Well, hello there. This is my first time getting to address you guys… and I have to say, I’m pretty underwhelmed. Lorelei had such high hopes for this little experiment of hers, and for what? Maybe she just picked the wrong test subjects, or maybe her idea really was just terrible! Well.

[The person on the other side of the line laughs.]

Calling it “her” idea might be generous, but who cares! The point is: you failed. I mean, I already knew that when I sent that guy… what was his name? Caleb? Out to check on things, and you decided to tie him up. He was so scared, but totally worth it! One of you guys did give him this fancy new tablet, after all…

[Wonder who that was…]

Anyways. You failed. Hard. You’re all worthless. All this has done is that prove that at the end of the day, people can’t be trusted to control themselves or their emotions - and they’ll bow to those emotions at the end.

We’ll be getting rid of you soon - and moving on with our next project. The one good thing this project did is show us how we can get infinite subjects without having to worry about any governments getting on us over pesky ethical violations - because who cares about people from other worlds? Your homes are all pretty fucked up, so you can thank me later for what happens in phase two.

[And the call ends.




Then it reconnects.]

Oh, and Lorelei can keep that Florence model. She totally ruined its coding and I can’t even touch it anymore, so now it’s worthless too. Bye bye!

[This time the call is over. Again. There’s no number or name or anything to tie the call to anyone - not that it’s much of a mystery as to who it could be - and there doesn’t seem to be any way to call back so you can yell at the guy, either.

But now you've finally got a bit of an idea of what's going to happen next, for better or worse.]

[imitationsoul]

[ If you're in the courtyard when this is playing you may hear Miach's sarcastic clapping. ]

Could've told you this from the start! Of course I'm as worthless to you as I am to my world! That's just how humans are!

[cheerfuldays]

( 'you can thank me later for what happens in phase two'. she

does not like those implications. especially not with knowledge of the suppression chips. and then the talk of florence, and- everything really-

shizuku's stomach is churning with anxiety and. oh. oh wow, is this what anger feels like? no thank you!! )

...

closed to hien

[partymagician]

[ Fai is out and about when the announcement comes and he feels panic at first because this feels very different than the simple knowledge of knowing their loved ones could be subjected to this after them and the threat from Lorelei. This feels... more real, more material.

But that panic eventually simmers into anger and frustration. It's the sort of anger that simmers low yet hot enough to burn. The feeling is unusual enough coming from Fai that it's probably a cause for concern.

When Hien comes to look for him, he'll eventually find Fai in the tea house, angrily brewing tea as he shoots a death glare at the kettle. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien brought the hammerspace bag with him. There's no way he could keep sleeping with these feelings, especially knowing they belonged to Fai and not him. That's why he goes to seek him out, eventually finding him in the teahouse. ]

... What'd that kettle ever do to you?

[catarou]

[ Quite frankly, Gentaro is not the least bit surprised at the message. There's a lot to unpack there. At first, he'd panicked, but quickly, the panic had burned away into a deep anger. He shows no actual indication of it, though, as he goes about his day. Worthless, they'd said. Not just about them, but about Florence, simply because of their emotions.

Worthless--

... Anyway. Gentaro makes a few stops at a few places after grabbing something to eat. It's still morning when he takes up a bit of space in the fine arts building. It looks like he's making some sort of small box. Huh.

Afterward, he heads back toward the shopping district where he spends some time in the tea house. It's comfortable here, close to what he'd frequented back home, and it gives him time to think. His ever-present notebook is on the table next to him, but you can catch him either writing or reading. Or, possible you've approached when he's lost in thought.

After that, later at night, he's in the arcade. Seems like he's taken up residence at a shooting game, and he isn't half bad. Should anyone approach-- ]

Would you like to join me?

arcade

[cheerfuldays]

Ah... I can give it a try, at least. I'm not good at this sort of thing, though.

( to be perfectly honest, she hadn't intended on coming into the arcade at all, but then she saw gentaro and had decided to check on him. from what it seemed, everyone's been... tense, since the call.

so... it's a shooter game? the gun feels awkward and heavy in her hands, to be honest. )

tea house

[goodfaiths]

Gentaro-san?

[ Riku peeks from around a corner. He has a cup of tea in his hands already, and he comes out from behind the wall to give Gentaro a warm smile. ]

Can I join you? There's something I wanted to tell you.

fine arts

[partymagician]

[ Fai is checking out the fine arts building in the morning when he spots Gentaro… making something?

Hm. ]

What are you making, Gentaro?

TUESDAY

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[ On Tuesday, Chongyun, Sabo, Marcus and Hien will go missing at 6am. When they return at 8am, they are back, safe and sound in their beds, with or without their weapons. What a restful sleep! ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien is so glad that he's back here, so he'll just keep sleeping--now with Fai in his snuggling hold.

zzz... ]

[cloudalike]

[ The party has disbanded and Chongyun's back? And wide awake clutching his weapon. The first thing he's going to do is wake Xingqiu up and tell him everything, though the veracity of his tale might be called into question. ]

[vivens]

[ was it really a restful sleep?

but suppose all's well that ends' well as hopefully ace didn't actually wake up when sabo suddenly vanishes from his side and leaves and empty space where he would be. may this be a good time for ace's "dead to the world" sleep to come in handy and if it isn't then, uh, oops?

regardless, sabo is very sore when he "shows back up" and now has his metal pipe in bed with him but it will only be for a few short moments as he'll knock it off onto the floor with a solid thump. the question then becomes if he wants to go back to sleep or if he wants to stay awake and until he decides, he'll just relax on the bed. ]

WEDNESDAY

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THURSDAY

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FRIDAY

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closed to madara

[cheerfuldays]

( by the time the raid team #2 returns, shizuku is waiting- so when madara opens the door to their room, she's waiting with her sparrow, a fresh cup of tea waiting on his desk, still steaming. the moment shizuku sees him, she perks up and jumps to her feet. )

I felt that you were angry earlier- so... I thought, this might help a little?

( she's... waiting, almost, for permission to hug. )

[festiverogue]

[She doesn't need to wait for permission. He definitely doesn't. He goes right to her without a word, stooping just enough that he can lift her up a little and hug her for a moment. He puts her immediately back down, but the hug lingers.]

Thought I was going to have to kill somebody, that's all. Still might have to. Somebody else might beat me to it.

[That's one hell of a way to start a conversation with your girlfriend.]