[ byleth successfully chooses the correct answer! you solved my puzzle wow cyoa over
anyway the elevator does start to move! the trip up isn't too fast or too slow - just a calm elevator trip, the music playing quietly in the background. as it rises, rises, and rises, that fluttering nervous excitement won't quite go away - in fact, it seems to crescendo as the elevator crests to a stop with a soft ding!
the doors open!
and the group is faced with a large office. this place is luxurious as hell - a massive couch curved around a huge table faces a desk and a plush looking chair. the room itself has a few full bookshelves, a glass case with what look like silver records inside of it. behind the desk is a floor to ceiling window that shows the view of a beautiful, brightly lit city - skyscrapers dot the skyline, and just at the very edge of the horizon, the group can see a concrete wall. it's nighttime, apparently - the moon hangs high in the sky from behind them. the office itself smells like cigarette smoke covered with a spicy scent that must be a man's cologne - it's especially strong in the couch area.
there are four boxes sitting on the desk - each one roughly five to six inches long, along with a few other things. a voice comes from behind them as they exit the elevator - female, the same automated one from the elevator. ] Please wait a moment. Your appointment will begin shortly. Feel free to have a seat.
[ and then the doors shut, and the only sound in the room is the elevator starting to move slowly back down the shaft.
except... it isn't? there's a beeping, coming from somewhere in this room. a steady, methodic beeping - and the longer the group stands still, the more they might begin to feel the twinge of a headache. it starts out easy to ignore, but increases in intensity with each moment held still.
well? sit nicely on the couch and wait? explore? what to do. ]
If this is anything like the journeys that the others went on, we may have little choice in when we can and can't run.
[with that said, she pops on to the balls of her feet, and in a swift movement, removes dimitri's hat, putting behind the couch instead. apparently that was important? she looks satisfied, and drifts over to gaze at the things in the bookshelves and glass cabinet. what titles we reading, my spicy male office owner?]
[Uh. Hmm. Well, he may be a fantasy, but he does know what a detonation device that deals psychic damage is, so this beeping and growing headache is starting to worry him.]
. . . We may need to find the source of that. But be careful what you touch.
[He's going to go over to the boxes on the desk first, take a look at them, inspect whatever hinge and latch there is on it carefully to see if anything looks dangerous, and then very carefully try to open one?
Is this making the beeping worse because it's clearly instructing them to sit down?]
[he'd normally be pretty worried about the growing headache, but the feeling of excitement is a distraction - and from his expression, he's pretty impressed by the interior of this room, too. while he does move carefully, looking around for anything that could be dangerous, he's heading towards the windows that show off the view of the skyline. softly:]
[ Unfortunately, after a moment of standing tensely in place, he goes to retrieve the hat, but he does put it away somewhere in his cloak.
And from there—there's a second he does get caught up in the skyline too, because he's never seen anything quite like it, but he quickly goes over to the desk as well, headache be damned. What else is there? ]
byleth finds a bunch of books! most of the titles are things along the lines of the art of war, lesbianism for newly single women, project E.R.A. and one called the age of H. if she opens the last book, a newspaper clipping falls out - just a headline, in big, bold letters, that reads THE DIRTY DAWG TAKE OVER JAPAN. interesting. nothing else of note though.
dimitri finds a photograph of a young boy with blue hair. he's in a school uniform and looks sort of petulant and unhappy, picking at his collar even in this school photo.
rupert... gets a nice view! good for him.
but caleb is the winner here. touching one of the four boxes gets the beeping to stop, rather suddenly - replaced with an ear piercing shriek noise? but that fades out to the ding of the elevator instead.
and outside of the elevator steps a a young man! he's holding a lollipop in his right hand, and his voice is chirpy and bright as he claps his hands together to get the attention of everyone in the room. ]
W~ow, you guys got really excited, huh? You know you're supposed to wait before you go touching the mics! You're gonna get 'em, but I'm glad you're so hype, hehe.
[ the young man practically twirls past byleth and makes his way over to the desk, then sits down in the chair. he spins with a flourish, and puts his elbows on the desk, beaming at the four of them. ]
Soooo, you're... [ he points to each of the group, one by one. ] Dimitri, Byleth, Rupert and Caleb. I've got good news for the four of you! Your applications were ac~cep~ted. Yay! ★ That means these Hypnosis Mics are officiallyyyy yours!
Well! Almost. There's two teensy things. First, before I give these to you, I want you to tell me something really, really important, kay? You gotta figure out how your mic's gonna represent you. See, here's mine!
[ the pink haired man pulls out his hypnosis mic to show the group! ] Isn't it cute? I wanted it to match how fashionable I am, and match my aesthetic!
So, what is your mic gonna look like? You can pick the color, and the style, even the shape! Something that represents you! Think about it real~ly hard. ★ But not too hard, I don't wanna wait all day!
[ the group will have the feeling they cannot say no - even if they try. so you better think hard. ]
[even byleth jumps at the shrieking, her entire body swinging around to face caleb, and now the sword really is about to come out--
--when the elevator makes its pleasant ding!, and a? child? boy? lad? steps out? he does a little pirouette past byleth, and she opens her mouth—except he's already saying her name, and information just keeps coming.
shape? style? what the fuck is a microphone?
a little lost in everything, she just says the first thing that comes to mind:]
[Listen. What the fuck is happening. What's going on. He doesn't like any of it. However, when you ask him to customize his mic, he instantly switches tacks.]
Okay. So, it will be amber colored, and there will be a little Frumpkin head from which the top part emerges. [Like this but an orange stripey cat.] There will be a detail of flames going up the sides, and the cat mouth will open and shut and emit sparks as it is used.
[from his spot by the window, he visibly flinches as the noise starts, turning around immediately - but calming when he sees this boy entering the room, and waiting as he talks. then, with way too much excitement:]
Ooh, ooh! Can mine have little dragon wings coming out of both sides of the handle? Red ones. And, uh... [thinking!] Oh, Caleb, it's a thing that you talk into and it makes your voice really loud, Ichinose told me during that weird debate thing about cereal. Anyways, can mine have cloud shapes on it, too?
[ He grimaces at the noise, and just all of this. It's so suspicious, and he would like to shake this lad for answers, but instead his brain starts to think through... mic designs?
His aesthetic besides jet black and blue? Flatly: ]
The bones of my weapons, and my enemies. Also, I like lions.
the young man sticks his lollipop in his mouth for a moment, thoughtful, and then smiles, popping it out. ]
You came all the way here and signed up for one, and you don't know what a Hypnosis Mic is? Hahaha! You guys are funny, funny~!
A hypnosis mic's the weapon everyone in every division uses nowadays. No more guns! No more swords, the world's like, so much better this way. When you turn on a hypnosis mic, you use it to rap! And when you rap, you can use it like a weapon to hurt people who try and hurt you! Each mic has its own special unique power. Use em to protect yourselves, in this dangerous world! Gain back territory, make your division proud!
[ the young man puts his chin in his hands. ] Now then. There's one more thing... you each get a mic, but if you're gonna have one, you gotta have a MC name. Since I'm in charge in here, I'll make sure to give you a good one! My name's Ramuda, but you can call me Easy-R! Nice to meet you! [ and he winks at byleth ] But you, the most!
[
with that, ramuda takes the mic boxes, and hands them over, one by one. as he hands the mic to each person in succession, there's that same whoom of sound, and the mic transforms. ]
You first! [ pointing at byleth. ] Ei$ner. [ how'd he do that with his mouth. he hands her her microphone, which is now in the shape of a sword. neat. ]
You next! [ pointing to caleb. ] Big Frumpkin. [ and then frumpkin ] And Lil' Frumpkin! BF and LF! Hehe. [ he hands caleb a mic. it looks exactly like caleb described. there is also in the box, a tiny, tiny microphone with a chibi head of caleb on it with a clip, designed to be put on a cat collar. ]
And you! [ pointing to rupert. ] Rupp Dogg. [ and handing rupert his adorable microphone with its clouds and dragon wings. ]
Last but not least! [ pointing to dimitri, with a flourish. ] Ratman Slim! [ and hands him his mic, which has a big lion's head on the top, but the whole thing is made out of bones? there's an eagle painted on one of the bones and it's slashed through with a big red x. how weirdly specific.
ramuda claps his hands. ]
There you go! You're officially in Chuuoku's system. Congrats! All of you can get out of here now.
[ but then he stops, does another turn in the chair. ]
Actually. Byleth-onee-chan! You don't have to go with them, if you don't want to. Life in Chuuoku's pretty great, you know? I'm special, but otherwise, you know what the number one rule is here?
[ in turn, he points to rupert, dimitri and caleb with each word of his sentence. ] No - men - allowed. ★
So you three can stick together and travel outside of this building and outside of the walls of Chuuoku, or be escorted out as a group. Or you can go on your own, one on one! Kyaa, dangerous!
And Byleth-onee-chan can go if she wants, or she can stay here in Chuuoku, with women, in the nice city.
What do you guys think? Pick quickly! ~ How do you wanna travel ~?
[her heart flutters with excitement on receiving her lil swordmic. it's cute. she watches everyone receive their own mics, and feels really excited, for some reason. at last! the land of...
...microphone death! she runs a finger down the blunt blade, and looks pretty pleased, even as she's reflecting on this whole thing.
[He is so happy when he receives his little Frumpkin and his MC name. The real Frumpkin doesn't wear a collar, but. He will affix it to him somehow. There's an annoyed meow of protest when it happens.]
Thank you. Little Frumpkin will treasure it.
[But then as the explanation continues, he's just overwhelmed with the feeling that this is all. . . stupid. This world is stupid. This doesn't make sense.]
Let's please not get split up. [He says, nervously, about how stupid this is getting.]
[ That's very specific, but fitting. He doesn't seem to have any complaints as he turns the mic over in his palm. It's not like any weapons he's ever wielded.
Even the MC name doesn't seem to faze him much, but none of it improves his mood. ]
And we're simply supposed to go along with this...? [ This is ridiculous. But yes, he's staying near the group. ]
What, are you planning on attacking people? [ ramuda tilts his head at rupert! gosh! ] But oka ~y, if you guys really say so. You can head out of the building together.
[ at this point, ramuda hops up from behind his chair. ]
Byleth-onee-chan, I'm gonna miss you already! It's too bad, too bad! [ he will reach out to take byleth's free hand and give it a little squeeze, swinging it. ] Women don't have to take the back elevator, either. We'll take the glass one!
[ and he points to what is in fact a glass elevator, then looks at the other three. ] Byebye!
[ and before anyone can do anything, ramuda gives byleth a nudge off to the glass elevator, there's another horrible screech noise -- ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
I have no idea.
[ To Rupert, he narrows his eye. ]
Fleeing is not always on the table.
[ He absolutely sounds like he'd prefer to throw down? Anyway, the elevator is probably going to start moving now, so time to brace themselves... ]
no subject
anyway the elevator does start to move! the trip up isn't too fast or too slow - just a calm elevator trip, the music playing quietly in the background. as it rises, rises, and rises, that fluttering nervous excitement won't quite go away - in fact, it seems to crescendo as the elevator crests to a stop with a soft ding!
the doors open!
and the group is faced with a large office. this place is luxurious as hell - a massive couch curved around a huge table faces a desk and a plush looking chair. the room itself has a few full bookshelves, a glass case with what look like silver records inside of it. behind the desk is a floor to ceiling window that shows the view of a beautiful, brightly lit city - skyscrapers dot the skyline, and just at the very edge of the horizon, the group can see a concrete wall. it's nighttime, apparently - the moon hangs high in the sky from behind them. the office itself smells like cigarette smoke covered with a spicy scent that must be a man's cologne - it's especially strong in the couch area.
there are four boxes sitting on the desk - each one roughly five to six inches long, along with a few other things. a voice comes from behind them as they exit the elevator - female, the same automated one from the elevator. ] Please wait a moment. Your appointment will begin shortly. Feel free to have a seat.
[ and then the doors shut, and the only sound in the room is the elevator starting to move slowly back down the shaft.
except... it isn't? there's a beeping, coming from somewhere in this room. a steady, methodic beeping - and the longer the group stands still, the more they might begin to feel the twinge of a headache. it starts out easy to ignore, but increases in intensity with each moment held still.
well? sit nicely on the couch and wait? explore? what to do. ]
no subject
If this is anything like the journeys that the others went on, we may have little choice in when we can and can't run.
[with that said, she pops on to the balls of her feet, and in a swift movement, removes dimitri's hat, putting behind the couch instead. apparently that was important? she looks satisfied, and drifts over to gaze at the things in the bookshelves and glass cabinet. what titles we reading, my spicy male office owner?]
no subject
. . . We may need to find the source of that. But be careful what you touch.
[He's going to go over to the boxes on the desk first, take a look at them, inspect whatever hinge and latch there is on it carefully to see if anything looks dangerous, and then very carefully try to open one?
Is this making the beeping worse because it's clearly instructing them to sit down?]
no subject
Wow...
no subject
And from there—there's a second he does get caught up in the skyline too, because he's never seen anything quite like it, but he quickly goes over to the desk as well, headache be damned. What else is there? ]
no subject
byleth finds a bunch of books! most of the titles are things along the lines of the art of war, lesbianism for newly single women, project E.R.A. and one called the age of H. if she opens the last book, a newspaper clipping falls out - just a headline, in big, bold letters, that reads THE DIRTY DAWG TAKE OVER JAPAN. interesting. nothing else of note though.
dimitri finds a photograph of a young boy with blue hair. he's in a school uniform and looks sort of petulant and unhappy, picking at his collar even in this school photo.
rupert... gets a nice view! good for him.
but caleb is the winner here. touching one of the four boxes gets the beeping to stop, rather suddenly - replaced with an ear piercing shriek noise? but that fades out to the ding of the elevator instead.
and outside of the elevator steps a a young man! he's holding a lollipop in his right hand, and his voice is chirpy and bright as he claps his hands together to get the attention of everyone in the room. ]
[ the young man practically twirls past byleth and makes his way over to the desk, then sits down in the chair. he spins with a flourish, and puts his elbows on the desk, beaming at the four of them. ]
Soooo, you're... [ he points to each of the group, one by one. ] Dimitri, Byleth, Rupert and Caleb. I've got good news for the four of you! Your applications were ac~cep~ted. Yay! ★ That means these Hypnosis Mics are officiallyyyy yours!
Well! Almost. There's two teensy things. First, before I give these to you, I want you to tell me something really, really important, kay? You gotta figure out how your mic's gonna represent you. See, here's mine!
[ the pink haired man pulls out his hypnosis mic to show the group! ] Isn't it cute? I wanted it to match how fashionable I am, and match my aesthetic!
So, what is your mic gonna look like? You can pick the color, and the style, even the shape! Something that represents you! Think about it real~ly hard. ★ But not too hard, I don't wanna wait all day!
[ the group will have the feeling they cannot say no - even if they try. so you better think hard. ]
no subject
--when the elevator makes its pleasant ding!, and a? child? boy? lad? steps out? he does a little pirouette past byleth, and she opens her mouth—except he's already saying her name, and information just keeps coming.
shape? style? what the fuck is a microphone?
a little lost in everything, she just says the first thing that comes to mind:]
I like swords.
no subject
Okay. So, it will be amber colored, and there will be a little Frumpkin head from which the top part emerges. [Like this but an orange stripey cat.] There will be a detail of flames going up the sides, and the cat mouth will open and shut and emit sparks as it is used.
[Anyway.]
What is a Hypnosis Mic? What is a mic.
no subject
Ooh, ooh! Can mine have little dragon wings coming out of both sides of the handle? Red ones. And, uh... [thinking!] Oh, Caleb, it's a thing that you talk into and it makes your voice really loud, Ichinose told me during that weird debate thing about cereal. Anyways, can mine have cloud shapes on it, too?
no subject
His aesthetic besides jet black and blue? Flatly: ]
The bones of my weapons, and my enemies. Also, I like lions.
no subject
the young man sticks his lollipop in his mouth for a moment, thoughtful, and then smiles, popping it out. ]
A hypnosis mic's the weapon everyone in every division uses nowadays. No more guns! No more swords, the world's like, so much better this way. When you turn on a hypnosis mic, you use it to rap! And when you rap, you can use it like a weapon to hurt people who try and hurt you! Each mic has its own special unique power. Use em to protect yourselves, in this dangerous world! Gain back territory, make your division proud!
[ the young man puts his chin in his hands. ] Now then. There's one more thing... you each get a mic, but if you're gonna have one, you gotta have a MC name. Since I'm in charge in here, I'll make sure to give you a good one! My name's Ramuda, but you can call me Easy-R! Nice to meet you! [ and he winks at byleth ] But you, the most!
[
with that, ramuda takes the mic boxes, and hands them over, one by one. as he hands the mic to each person in succession, there's that same whoom of sound, and the mic transforms. ]
You first! [ pointing at byleth. ] Ei$ner. [ how'd he do that with his mouth. he hands her her microphone, which is now in the shape of a sword. neat. ]
You next! [ pointing to caleb. ] Big Frumpkin. [ and then frumpkin ] And Lil' Frumpkin! BF and LF! Hehe. [ he hands caleb a mic. it looks exactly like caleb described. there is also in the box, a tiny, tiny microphone with a chibi head of caleb on it with a clip, designed to be put on a cat collar. ]
And you! [ pointing to rupert. ] Rupp Dogg. [ and handing rupert his adorable microphone with its clouds and dragon wings. ]
Last but not least! [ pointing to dimitri, with a flourish. ] Ratman Slim! [ and hands him his mic, which has a big lion's head on the top, but the whole thing is made out of bones? there's an eagle painted on one of the bones and it's slashed through with a big red x. how weirdly specific.
ramuda claps his hands. ]
There you go! You're officially in Chuuoku's system. Congrats! All of you can get out of here now.
[ but then he stops, does another turn in the chair. ]
[ in turn, he points to rupert, dimitri and caleb with each word of his sentence. ] No - men - allowed. ★
So you three can stick together and travel outside of this building and outside of the walls of Chuuoku, or be escorted out as a group. Or you can go on your own, one on one! Kyaa, dangerous!
And Byleth-onee-chan can go if she wants, or she can stay here in Chuuoku, with women, in the nice city.
What do you guys think? Pick quickly! ~ How do you wanna travel ~?
no subject
[her heart flutters with excitement on receiving her lil swordmic. it's cute. she watches everyone receive their own mics, and feels really excited, for some reason. at last! the land of...
...microphone death! she runs a finger down the blunt blade, and looks pretty pleased, even as she's reflecting on this whole thing.
...]
I want to stay with them.
no subject
Thank you. Little Frumpkin will treasure it.
[But then as the explanation continues, he's just overwhelmed with the feeling that this is all. . . stupid. This world is stupid. This doesn't make sense.]
Let's please not get split up. [He says, nervously, about how stupid this is getting.]
no subject
—Wait, this is a weapon? [frowning.] Also, uh, rude? But yeah, we shouldn't split up.
no subject
Even the MC name doesn't seem to faze him much, but none of it improves his mood. ]
And we're simply supposed to go along with this...? [ This is ridiculous. But yes, he's staying near the group. ]
no subject
[ at this point, ramuda hops up from behind his chair. ]
Byleth-onee-chan, I'm gonna miss you already! It's too bad, too bad! [ he will reach out to take byleth's free hand and give it a little squeeze, swinging it. ] Women don't have to take the back elevator, either. We'll take the glass one!
[ and he points to what is in fact a glass elevator, then looks at the other three. ] Byebye!
[ and before anyone can do anything, ramuda gives byleth a nudge off to the glass elevator, there's another horrible screech noise -- ]
rupert | caleb | dimitri (and byleth...?)
[
so much for not being separated. ]