theafflicted | 01.50 - week one, saturday

W1 SATURDAY

The first week of the Personal Enrichment Course draws to a close, which means it’s time for the first lesson. Hopefully by now you’ve gotten to know your classmates a bit better - but if you haven’t, that’s okay.

This first lesson is just going to be teamwork exercises, after all.

Bright and early Saturday morning, you wake up. Maybe you had a good night’s rest, or maybe you hardly got any sleep... Either way, the sun is shining, the day is beginning, and Lorelei's voice suddenly comes through everyone's tablets as well as the P.A. system on campus.

”Good morning. All students must report to the lecture hall by 8 o’clock for their first lesson. Lessons are mandatory. Please report to the classroom with its doors open.”

Which gives you about thirty minutes, so it’d be best to hurry. Do you want to be tardy? And if you think about bailing, well… you know what might happen if you fail the course.

When everyone gathers in the same hall they awoke in, Florence is there to greet you. They will gesture for everyone to take a seat, and once seated, the projector in the room turns on. Say hello to Lorelei and her usual cup of coffee.

“Good morning, everyone. Welcome to your first official exercise; today’s activities are designed to emphasize teamwork and cooperation so you are all more prepared for dealing with what’s yet to come. I have already split you into teams for the day, via raffle. There will be two activities total, and you will be completing them in the same teams. Regardless of whether you get along with your teammates or not, you’re going to have to figure out a way to finish each exercise successfully.”

She keeps that same calm, collected smile on her lips as she props up what appears to be a tablet of her own on her desk.

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Red.

describe the wires.

There's four going horizontally across the panel. From top to bottom they are

BLUE
YELLOW
GREEN
RED

they should be numbered, too. relay those.

The wires? There aren't any numbers on them.

then cut blue, red, yellow, green.

Where did you get that?

good that you ask. cut green then yellow actually.

it has instructions for serial numbers and if there aren't any it gives clues by order.

There's a string of symbols and numbers off to the far right of the bomb. Is that what they're considering a serial number?

that should be a later puzzle. there is three of them total.

ok

[ Then, looking at the bomb: ]

Green, then yellow?

[ He opens and closes his left hand a few times while he's looking. ]

[ Actually. ]

Please relay the string of numbers and symbols. I have a feeling we are indeed dealing with a serial number.

[ oh my god ]

Vertically:
?* ^429

Please cut in this order: Green, yellow, blue, red.

Are you sure?

[ SORRY HE'S. GOTTA ASK. ]

we are.

[ how could you doubt him. ]

Yes, I am. If you doubt me, then feel free to try a different order and see what happens.

[ Out loud, Bennett says: ] I can try it! The shocks won't bother me.

Might be easier if Rideaux does this one. [ Since he's got plenty of experience with surgery, which is clearly necessary for a kid's toy. Whatever.

It takes a second, but right before whoever actually goes and does it, a brief, all-too-familiar sharp of pain shoots up his left arm, causing him to let out a quiet hiss as he grabs his arm. ]

OK

[ But then, well. Despite being both a practiced surgeon and very used to constant background pain, the sudden sharp spike in pain in his left hand catches Rideaux off guard enough that he flinches right as he's getting ready to snip the yellow wire, and ends up slicing through the blue one instead.

And then gets a shock on top of everything, which is great.

Grabbing his hand, he shoots a glare at the person responsible, and has to hold back the urge to punch him since he's pretty sure he'd be stuck feeling that too. So he just swats his tablet onto the floor instead. ]

Damn it, Julius!