["Oh, no, no curses here," says the female voice. "We run a completely above-ground game here, all of this is-- well, it's exactly what it says on the tin."
"And of course you can just take the penalty if you don't like it," adds the male one. "Now, what should we do for this one, this is just the first round."
"Don't go too hard on them, we don't want to discourage anyone."
"I think I've got it," he says, and then continues on.
"Manwol- for rolling to give up an object, I'd say that phone is sort of important, isn't it? Not that it's doing you much good right now, anyway, this is-- it should be a pretty easy call.
Malik, you landed on... oh, now this is a fun one. You get to give up something that happened in your past, and normally this one would mean just a fight, but how about your initiation, instead?
Rita... Rita, Rita, Rita. Don't look like that, we're not going to just kill you here, we do want you to succeed! Skull just means that, at some point during your stay in Wonderland, you'll suffer from some pretty nasty luck.
And Taichi-- well, this one's not really my favorite, we see this one a lot, honestly. I'm not going to take an eye from you, not in round one, but how about we just... reduce your vision? You might need a little help in here afterward, but I think all of these are a fairly small price to pay. What do you all say?"]
[Manwol immediately looks upset, because even though her roll is technically the least bad out of everyone else's... She thinks of her phone, and more importantly, all of the pictures that are on it. Damn.
...She shouldn't care this much, but it bothers her all the same. Her phone truly is silly in comparison to everyone else's -- and yet]
You don't get to decide what's easy or not.
[she snaps, taking her phone out and holding it out. it doesn't matter, because they all need to make enough sacrifices to move on.]
[ normally, this might be something that required a bit more thought - this is too easy, isn't it? and nothing comes from free. malik learned that the last time he went on a trip. and yet... ]
Go ahead and take it.
[ he almost seems? hyped about it? as hyped as a moody teenager can be. ]
["Oh, feisty, aren't we? Don't be like that, we're giving you an opportunity, here!" says the male voice.
Manwol and Rita won't really feel much different-- the wheel absorbs Manwol's phone, and Rita feels no different after accepting her bad luck. Malik will find himself recalling the memory he gave up before it fades, and... well, he might find it's not just that memory, as any later memories that rely on the one he sacrificed are now affected. They're much fuzzier, if not gone completely. Taichi will find his vision blurring, like he definitely needs glasses, and this bright and colorful flashing room probably just got a little more disorienting.
The four red panels over the door have lit up, one by one, as the four of them accept their sacrifices, and the door slides open!
Through it, everything is dark again, and if they step through they will be able to see just a single point of light ahead of them.]
[There's something like a surge of -- pride? affection? Satisfaction? At hearing everyone else's answers. Manwol might have thought entering the game was a bad idea from the start, but there's something about everyone's attitudes that bolsters her.
(they're all probably going to regret it later, but they can at least have this.)
Manwol doesn't hesitate, she'll step through first, and head towards that point of light]
[ malik is still-- hype? the adrenaline is still there, but as his memories degrade around the one that he lost, a more concerned feeling starts to take root. there's no time to worry about that now, however, as they have things to do.
[okay! cool! he can do this. this isn't so bad? so the world's a little blurry and the door is...
...that way?
he starts to walk, but it's definitely slower and a little more cautious as he strains his eyes to focus on rita instead. the lights are bouncing off the walls and throwing shadows around in a way that's redirecting his line of vision, but having the other three ahead helps. he doesn't move that slow though, and he'll follow rita through the door without wasting much time.]
"Opportunity" is a little bit of a stretch, isn't it...?
["Of course not. We're offering you quite a lot here."
The voice feels a little like it's coming from ahead of you, now? And as you approach the point of light, it resolves into an object. It's a podium, cylindrical, with two buttons on top of it. A screen around the width of the cylinder shows pixelized versions of all your faces, and it begins to spin rapidly.
"Let's see which one of you gets to play this next game!" says the female voice, and the spinning begins to slow, before... Manwol's face stops on the front of it.
"Manwol, how exciting! Now, please step up to the podium and we'll explain the rules of this game."
The buttons illuminate; one reads TRUST. One reads FORSAKE.
"Now, you aren't the only ones making your way through Wonderland right now. At this moment, in an identical chamber, another group is playing this very same game-- you can consider this something of a... competitive mode," the male voice says. "Beyond this room is a deadly challenge the four of you will have to overcome in order to proceed, but based on your decisions here, you can improve your fate in the next."
"These challenges aren't ones that most people can walk away from," adds the female voice. "They're designed to push you to your limits, to a breaking point. But, choose well, and you might not have to face it at all!"
"If both of you select Trust, each team faces the challenge as it was originally designed, which means one you may not survive... but not facing it is what the Forsake button is for. If you both get greedy and choose Forsake, though, you both get a more difficult version of the trial, and the resulting challenge will almost certainly kill you. If you choose Forsake and they choose Trust, on the other hand... that's the best outcome for you! You get to skip the challenge, and your opponents face a nearly impossible version instead."
"You can discuss this if you... really think you need to, I guess, but-- Manwol, you're the one making this particular call."
-- There's another group?! And you mention this to us now?!
[because the first thought Manwol thinks when she hears "another group" is that. another group. just like the way sieghart's group had spilled out of the forest moments after her own group had staggered out. is it like that? are they people from wiwaldi?
no -- they could be lying. her own adventure had nothing to do with sakyou's, and yet. her eyes flick to the others, her hand hovering over the space between both buttons.]
[ just because some of his other memories have been affected doesn't mean that malik is unaware of how this is going to come across, so before he can get yelled at, he explains: ]
We're going to face a difficult trial either way if both groups end up picking the same option, both described as deadly... That's a 50% chance of a lethal trial. 25% we get to skip it completely, and another 25%... I would assume if the roles were reversed - if we pick Trust and they choose Forsake - we get stuck with the impossible challenge. So we're looking at lethal odds regardless, but with a higher chance of failure if we pick Trust.
...[he considers this, squinting a little at the group. all of that sounds bad, but.]
There's no guarantee the other group is our friends. But I don't want to hit forsake on strangers either. There's four of us. If we're hit with a challenge, we can get through it. We just have to be smart about it. We don't even know what the challenge is.
[frowning though.] I'm not good with forsake, but...it's up to you, Manwol. You know our answers.
[...wait, he will yell at the disembodied voices.]
Hey! Can we get a confirmation that the same is true in reverse if we pick trust and they pick forsake?
["Oh, there are plenty of people here! Wonderland is a popular place for those bold enough to seek its rewards."
The female voice then adds, "But yes, that's correct. If you pick trust and you're forsaken by the other team... well. We don't think you're going to make it very far in here!"]
[It's not as if Manwol doesn't understand Malik's reasoning. It's math, and it makes sense. This would be much easier of Manwol didn't care, and if she didn't pretend that she didn't all this time. She grits her teeth and looks down at both buttons.
This is more than just putting her life in someone else's hands. This is about putting everyone's -- and as much as Manwol likes to think that she doesn't care -- Taichi was right, in that conversation they had before. At this point, they've all started to care. Even Malik, who might not care about anyone, but who's someone that Manwol cares about. Ugh.]
...We don't have any idea what these trials are like. I'm choosing Trust.
[and she'll hit the trust button unless someone shouts her down]
[ he rolls his eyes. he knows it was futile to argue. it always is. but here's hoping that he can get the laugh and rub it in their faces that he told them the right choice and they ignored it-- this is of course banking on the fact that they all survive whatever this mysterious trial may be.
yeah, he's kind of annoyed for being the odd man out, but he's not so dedicated to being an asshole that he's going to try to further dissuade anyone. ]
[that other group... it's on sight... that or there's no group at all, and all of this is a game with cards stacked against them. exactly like wiwaldi,
well, Manwol hit the button, so she'll step off the podium and head towards the Darkness Waiting Beyond]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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[but he spins! and his lands on eye. considering who lost an eye on one of these, he looks extremely wary suddenly.]
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"And of course you can just take the penalty if you don't like it," adds the male one. "Now, what should we do for this one, this is just the first round."
"Don't go too hard on them, we don't want to discourage anyone."
"I think I've got it," he says, and then continues on.
"Manwol- for rolling to give up an object, I'd say that phone is sort of important, isn't it? Not that it's doing you much good right now, anyway, this is-- it should be a pretty easy call.
Malik, you landed on... oh, now this is a fun one. You get to give up something that happened in your past, and normally this one would mean just a fight, but how about your initiation, instead?
Rita... Rita, Rita, Rita. Don't look like that, we're not going to just kill you here, we do want you to succeed! Skull just means that, at some point during your stay in Wonderland, you'll suffer from some pretty nasty luck.
And Taichi-- well, this one's not really my favorite, we see this one a lot, honestly. I'm not going to take an eye from you, not in round one, but how about we just... reduce your vision? You might need a little help in here afterward, but I think all of these are a fairly small price to pay. What do you all say?"]
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...She shouldn't care this much, but it bothers her all the same. Her phone truly is silly in comparison to everyone else's -- and yet]
You don't get to decide what's easy or not.
[she snaps, taking her phone out and holding it out. it doesn't matter, because they all need to make enough sacrifices to move on.]
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Go ahead and take it.
[ he almost seems? hyped about it? as hyped as a moody teenager can be. ]
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Hmph. I'm not in the habit of relying on luck, and I'm not about to start.
Do what you want.
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How generous. [flatly. but he frowns in thought.] ...but okay. If it's just a reduction, I can probably still get around okay.
I guess we're all in agreement here.
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Manwol and Rita won't really feel much different-- the wheel absorbs Manwol's phone, and Rita feels no different after accepting her bad luck. Malik will find himself recalling the memory he gave up before it fades, and... well, he might find it's not just that memory, as any later memories that rely on the one he sacrificed are now affected. They're much fuzzier, if not gone completely. Taichi will find his vision blurring, like he definitely needs glasses, and this bright and colorful flashing room probably just got a little more disorienting.
The four red panels over the door have lit up, one by one, as the four of them accept their sacrifices, and the door slides open!
Through it, everything is dark again, and if they step through they will be able to see just a single point of light ahead of them.]
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(they're all probably going to regret it later, but they can at least have this.)
Manwol doesn't hesitate, she'll step through first, and head towards that point of light]
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he follows manwol through the door. ]
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rather than march forward, like she's inclined to, she'll wait a second and walk with him to the door and beyond.]
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...that way?
he starts to walk, but it's definitely slower and a little more cautious as he strains his eyes to focus on rita instead. the lights are bouncing off the walls and throwing shadows around in a way that's redirecting his line of vision, but having the other three ahead helps. he doesn't move that slow though, and he'll follow rita through the door without wasting much time.]
"Opportunity" is a little bit of a stretch, isn't it...?
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The voice feels a little like it's coming from ahead of you, now? And as you approach the point of light, it resolves into an object. It's a podium, cylindrical, with two buttons on top of it. A screen around the width of the cylinder shows pixelized versions of all your faces, and it begins to spin rapidly.
"Let's see which one of you gets to play this next game!" says the female voice, and the spinning begins to slow, before... Manwol's face stops on the front of it.
"Manwol, how exciting! Now, please step up to the podium and we'll explain the rules of this game."
The buttons illuminate; one reads TRUST. One reads FORSAKE.
"Now, you aren't the only ones making your way through Wonderland right now. At this moment, in an identical chamber, another group is playing this very same game-- you can consider this something of a... competitive mode," the male voice says. "Beyond this room is a deadly challenge the four of you will have to overcome in order to proceed, but based on your decisions here, you can improve your fate in the next."
"These challenges aren't ones that most people can walk away from," adds the female voice. "They're designed to push you to your limits, to a breaking point. But, choose well, and you might not have to face it at all!"
"If both of you select Trust, each team faces the challenge as it was originally designed, which means one you may not survive... but not facing it is what the Forsake button is for. If you both get greedy and choose Forsake, though, you both get a more difficult version of the trial, and the resulting challenge will almost certainly kill you. If you choose Forsake and they choose Trust, on the other hand... that's the best outcome for you! You get to skip the challenge, and your opponents face a nearly impossible version instead."
"You can discuss this if you... really think you need to, I guess, but-- Manwol, you're the one making this particular call."
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-- There's another group?! And you mention this to us now?!
[because the first thought Manwol thinks when she hears "another group" is that. another group. just like the way sieghart's group had spilled out of the forest moments after her own group had staggered out. is it like that? are they people from wiwaldi?
no -- they could be lying. her own adventure had nothing to do with sakyou's, and yet. her eyes flick to the others, her hand hovering over the space between both buttons.]
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[ just because some of his other memories have been affected doesn't mean that malik is unaware of how this is going to come across, so before he can get yelled at, he explains: ]
We're going to face a difficult trial either way if both groups end up picking the same option, both described as deadly... That's a 50% chance of a lethal trial. 25% we get to skip it completely, and another 25%... I would assume if the roles were reversed - if we pick Trust and they choose Forsake - we get stuck with the impossible challenge. So we're looking at lethal odds regardless, but with a higher chance of failure if we pick Trust.
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[yeah, rita's thinking the same as manwol. and she gives malik kind of a tired look.]
Those might be the odds if we were choosing blindly, but Malik, I think you're the only one here who's enough of an asshole to pick "Forsake."
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There's no guarantee the other group is our friends. But I don't want to hit forsake on strangers either. There's four of us. If we're hit with a challenge, we can get through it. We just have to be smart about it. We don't even know what the challenge is.
[frowning though.] I'm not good with forsake, but...it's up to you, Manwol. You know our answers.
[...wait, he will yell at the disembodied voices.]
Hey! Can we get a confirmation that the same is true in reverse if we pick trust and they pick forsake?
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The female voice then adds, "But yes, that's correct. If you pick trust and you're forsaken by the other team... well. We don't think you're going to make it very far in here!"]
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This is more than just putting her life in someone else's hands. This is about putting everyone's -- and as much as Manwol likes to think that she doesn't care -- Taichi was right, in that conversation they had before. At this point, they've all started to care. Even Malik, who might not care about anyone, but who's someone that Manwol cares about. Ugh.]
...We don't have any idea what these trials are like. I'm choosing Trust.
[and she'll hit the trust button unless someone shouts her down]
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[ he rolls his eyes. he knows it was futile to argue. it always is. but here's hoping that he can get the laugh and rub it in their faces that he told them the right choice and they ignored it-- this is of course banking on the fact that they all survive whatever this mysterious trial may be.
yeah, he's kind of annoyed for being the odd man out, but he's not so dedicated to being an asshole that he's going to try to further dissuade anyone. ]
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rita just stands back, crosses her arms, and lets manwol make her choice.]
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The walls in this room all light up white, becoming screens, and on the far wall across from you everyone sees the following words.
YOUR DECISION: appears, and then in big green letters, TRUST.
THEIR DECISION: appears on an adjacent wall, and then in big red letters, it says... FORSAKE.
"Ooh, tough luck," says the female voice, sympathetically. "Let's hope Taichi was right about strength in numbers, shall we?"
And the door across from you opens, again with only darkness beyond it.]
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well, Manwol hit the button, so she'll step off the podium and head towards the Darkness Waiting Beyond]
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he follows manwol again into the darkness. ]
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... Whatever it is, we'll handle it.
[and she follows them into the darkness.]
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