(ROLE) CULT 4.0

[dormheads]

cult.

On Monday at 10 PM, Otome, Byleth, Luxanna, and Dimitri receive an encrypted e-mail.

d4rkness@Wiwaldi.edu

Come to classroom 1304; see attached map.

No one is in the halls as they creep to the abandoned classroom circled on the map. The normally locked door opens, revealing the room inside.

There are no windows and the lights are off, leaving the room cast in near darkness. Only a handful of candles, in what's probably a fire hazard, keep it illuminated; the fog being emitted from a personal fog machine doesn't help with visibility. What was once the teacher's desk has been pushed to the center of the room, with chairs seated around it. For some reason, there are cat decorations everywhere, mixed in with various (garish) occult items and patterns.

As of Week 3, a lamp has been added to the room to give it some light.

There is a cat-shaped bulletin board hanging on the wall, which reads:

» This world is trying to assimilate all of you, who started this year, into its setting. If it succeeds, you'll remain trapped in this school, your souls drained until you cease to exist.

» Each week, this place will make active efforts on a few select students. Once the weekend hits, they'll all be beyond saving. However, if any one of them is killed before then, they'll all be freed from the link, at least for the remainder of the week.

» Death isn't necessarily permanent. Those who died can potentially be saved. However, no such option exists for the fully assimilated.

» At the start of the week you'll be informed if you may recruit one person to join the cult. Provide a list of 4-8 people you want to recruit and you'll be told which one of them is approved. If you extend an invitation and they accept, they will join the cult the following week.

» Preventing the assimilation aside, even the original cult was meant to be a secret, so it's important that word doesn't spread. If anyone else learns about your involvement in the cult or your task, whether from your mouth or another's, this world may enact consequences. No guarantee on who they might affect, so it's up to you to decide if risking harm upon another is worth it.

As of Week 3, more notes have been added.

A summary of what the others were told previously:

» This world is forced to act according to an internal logic. It isn't always aware of everything going on, and it can't break whatever rules it wishes. This would presumably be why you all arrived here with your minds intact, rather than already assimilated; it's possible that this defence mechanism has manifested in other ways as well, to try and correct things to how they should be.

Comments

CHAD (?)

[inaccordant]

[He's here if you have any questions.]

[momming]

[ She goes straight to him because-- ]

Hugo?

[inaccordant]

Thankfully, yes. That's who I am.

[momming]

Did this also happen yesterday? It's a pleasure to meet you properly.

[inaccordant]

[he nods.]

I'd had momentary breakthroughs before, but this is the longest it's lasted.

[momming]

That's promising, I think...

I'd also heard that we ourselves can't do much when it comes to bringing the dead back. Do you know if that's true, and if we really still need to be killing to prevent assimilation?

[inaccordant]

If finding the principal's keys is what will allow them to return, I wouldn't be surprised if the keys are on their side, leaving it up to them.

[...]

Unfortunately, none of this is necessarily an indication that there's any other way. What happened to me and the other Dorm Heads seems similar, but I wouldn't consider it to be the same thing being done to the rest of you. So as much as I'd like to take this incident as a sign... it's likely that it's separate from the assimilation.

[i.e. the dorm heads breaking free, whether permanently or just for now, doesn't mean the non-dorm heads could do the same.]

I don't know what would happen if someone became fully assimilated and then died afterwards, either.

[illuminance]

[ hmm. after overhearing otome's question! ]

A pleasure to meet you, I think?

Do you know if the information in our lockers is true? That "A random person can be compelled to murder on Thursday night without any warning whatsoever."

[inaccordant]

... I don't know anything concrete about that. But based off things I've heard from people, it's a likely theory for what happened to Sieghart.

[illuminance]

I see. Thank you, that's... Good to know.

Though it doesn't change anything, for us.

[inaccordant]

... Unfortunately, no. And Byleth isn't in a good position now, either.

[illuminance]

... I don't want her to become a back-up vote if we catch no one else, and I don't want her targeted herself. We'll just do what we can.

It doesn't mean she isn't in danger, but she is well liked. That works to our favor.

[inaccordant]

Mm. We'll see how this week goes, I suppose.

[repress]

...Hugo?

[ hm. ]

Are you the contact the others mentioned?

[inaccordant]

[hi.]

Unless they're talking to someone else and I don't know about it, presumably.

[repress]

[ hi..... ]

Ah. Are you the only one that knows about this place? [ of the dorm heads ]

[inaccordant]

As far as I'm aware, the other Dorm Heads don't know. [a beat] Well, it's possible they might know about the existence of... [tiredly] ... the secret cat cult in general, but not that it's now serving a different purpose.

[repress]

The secret... cat cult...

[ just. ]

Iris doesn't seem to know—it must be difficult for them as well. [ to see their own die for apparently no reason. ] And for you as well.

[inaccordant]

That wasn't my decision, for the record. [HE WILL NOT TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THAT] I think it was intended to just be that, but when Kaoruko and I were made to join, we learned about the assimilation.

[and then they repurposed it into a murder group instead, whoops.]

... There are others you should be focusing on.

[does dimitri get the sense he has had this conversation with hugo before]

[divineimpulse]

Hugo.

It's good to see you've woken up, too.

[inaccordant]

We'll see if it lasts.

[divineimpulse]

I hope my confession didn't cause any problems for the system overall?

[inaccordant]

I haven't noticed anything yet. Most likely, it's just being interpreted as a killer who didn't see a point in lying once she was caught.

[divineimpulse]

That's good.

[...]

Are we able to reveal what we're doing to the other dormitory leaders?

[inaccordant]

As far as I know, they're not aware. I wouldn't risk it.