(ROLE) CULT 5.0

[dormheads]

cult.

On Monday at 10 PM, Otome, Luxanna, Dimitri, and Manwol 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

WEEK 5

[dormheads]

[Hugo is leaning against a wall near the door.

On a desk is a thin vase of wildflowers (fresh; that is, not the same as last week's), along with a makeshift grave markers with the names of the dead.]

CHOICE: TARGET

[dormheads]

[A crystal ball on a desk reveals the names of the potential doomed this week: Yamato Ishida, Tsuyukusa, Leo Valdez. Please reply to this comment with the name of the character they will be killing before Tuesday 3pm PST/6pm EST!]

[illuminance]

[ Lux and Manwol are going to kill Leo. ]

CHOICE: RECRUIT

[dormheads]

[Please provide a list of at least 4 people, ideally maximum 8, you want to recruit before Sunday at 1pm EST! The mods will then respond as soon as possible with the chosen recruit, at which point you may invite them with no consequence (unless they blab to someone else, of course).]

[repress]

Maya, Beau, Alphinaud, Denji, Rita, Nier, Ichiro

[dormheads]

[They can recruit Ichiro.]

CHAD

[inaccordant]

[He's here if you have any questions—though after the disaster that was last week, he'll speak up preemptively.]

... I don't know if things will escalate, now that the world has taken notice. I haven't seen any further signs, at least.

At this point, the assimilation is likely a means to an end, rather than its ultimate goal. So, it's possible that the world is choosing not to exert energy on stopping us directly, but instead to focus on different matters.

[lifeless]

You were here before the rest of us, weren't you? How exactly did you find out about this?

[inaccordant]

Given some level of "before you". Kaoruko and I essentially found out together.

[but he gestures to the. cult items. if manwol touches the crystal ball, she'll basically be filled with the info summarized on the board.]

This world isn't all-powerful and omnipotent. It has its own logic that it must follow, and which tries to correct its actions. For instance, the things you've been finding on Thursday are likely part of that umbrella—a means to defy what the world is trying to force, even if still probably influenced by the world's intentions since it's not necessarily a separate force.

This would be the same.

[illuminance]

Does that mean it does not see us as a threat...? That makes it sound like we aren't making any true progress.

[inaccordant]

I don't think we're meant to be the ones to make progress, as so much we're preventing what we can from getting worse.

But a true resolution is likely something that everyone will have to work towards.

[repress]

Hopefully that means we are making progress elsewhere...

Are these 'trials' an attempt to purge us? I'm still not certain what the point is, otherwise.

[inaccordant]

I think it's more... [how to put this] You've seen the scripts, correct? I believe that they shouldn't be interpreted too specifically, but it's probably accurate that a story of some kind is being weaved, and the assimilation was meant to help with that. If people are basically brainwashed, they're free to control at will until they're drained.

Most likely, the world didn't have quite the level of sentience needed to realize the pattern behind the choice of victims. At the start, it simply saw a murder, figured Kaoruko had her own reasons, and decided it could use that for the story it wanted to tell.

[until last week, where the real motive for the kills were openly revealed.]

[momming]

What do you think it's focusing on, specifically? The thing I purchased from Annie said "finish the story" on the back, but...

[inaccordant]

... That hint is probably what we want to consider. My guess then would be that it wants to focus on the "plot", even if it may no longer be able to obtain the assimilated puppets it wants.

TALK TO EACH OTHER

[dormheads]

[illuminance]

Not Yamato.

[ this is not up for debate. ]

[momming]

Agreed.

[illuminance]

[ just so that this thread and exchange exists IC somewhere, lux glances over at the others. ]

Does anyone have any vouchers to spare? I'm sorry to ask this, but if I have just two more, I'll be much... Safer.

[lifeless]

[manwol carries all of her vouchers with her, so she'll take two out of her little pocketbook and hand them over to Lux]

Here. Is two really all you need?

[she can make it rain]

[repress]

[ recruitment... ]

At this stage, I do not know. Maya, I suppose.

[illuminance]

Beau or Alphinaud.

Thursday W5

[momming]

[ well now that we've all had some time to scream, it's time for tea. Otome maybe also has a bottle of alcohol if tea is Not Enough, but for now she's just staring down at her cup.

HUGO IS INVITED TOO. ]

Well, at least I think that... caught their attention, with Leo.

[illuminance]

I wonder if that will be... A good or a bad thing, for their emotional reaction.

thursday W5

[lifeless]

[Manwol's going to use her sensory deprivation coupon!! im writing this tag so that i have something to link]

This definitely feels like I'm jinxing it, but.

[whatever it's gonna disappear and maybe they can use it to pin the crime on her instead of lux HAH]