WEEK 6 CYOA - TAICHI, MALIK, RITA, MANWOL

[dormheads]

Comments

[ambiography]

[As they approach the light... well, they've seen this before. Seen the podium before, with their faces on it that begin to rotate like a slot machine.

"Ready for another round?" says the female voice. "You know the rules here, so let's just see who gets to play this time!"

And the rotating screen stops on... Malik. Looks like it's his turn to make the decision; the same two buttons are on the podium, Trust or Forsake.]

[lifeless]

[thank you taichi for helping ur blind friends out. manwol squints at the letters but the setup is familiar enough that she immediately knows what this is.

...she's thinking of who the opposite group apparently consists of -- while also knowing that they have to be fake, because why would Beau hang out with her worst enemy? then again, she also remembers what cam said]

You said we should always hit forsake?

[addressing cam,]

[godcards]

[ it takes a second for malik to orient himself. if he were in taichi's position, he'd rely on color-coding, but that doesn't work here, so he wants to make extra sure he knows which button is which. ]

I'm hitting Forsake.

[ sorry guys you don't even get any input. unless someone stops him, he's hitting that button. ]

[overlimit]

[taichi gets a lingering look of concern as they advance, but before long they've made it here, and... yeah, this is exactly what she figured malik would do.]

... It wasn't the other field trip team after all. So...

[kind of a resigned gesture. like, sure, maybe all of this is bullshit and they might as well take the easy route.]

[goalsides]

Wait, are we sure there's only one group wandering around and playing right now? [uh? guys??? but okay, malik's hitting the button before they can even stop him, so that's cool.]

[ambiography]

["Yeah," Cam says, "Forsake gives you the best odds. Could be a little bit harder, but you could skip, and no chance of the worst case scenario."

Malik's made his choice already, though, and as he hits the button, the male voice speaks up again.

"Oh, taking a different route this time, huh? Let's see how that goes for you!"

On the wall across from them, a screen displays:

YOUR CHOICE: FORSAKE.

THEIR CHOICE: TRUST.

Confetti falls from the ceiling, as that voice laughs. "Oh, congratulations! Since your opponents picked Trust, you don't have to face the next challenge at all! You can move on whenever all of you are ready."]

[lifeless]

[This feels like something they should be celebrating, but Manwol's already ready to hurry up and move on to whatever freakish torture challenge is ahead. She touches her forehead, tries to squint at the blurry letters before her.

Confetti lands in her hair and she brushes it off.]

Let's go.

[godcards]

[ that's ok malik will celebrate enough for all four of them. he is feeling very, very smug right now. ]

I told you all. I told you!

[ wait shit which blurry blob is which, who is what, where is the door, where are they going. ]

[overlimit]

[rita gives an uncertain look to manwol and taichi (can they see it? can anybody but her see anything? GOD.) but there's nothing to do but move forward, so she does.

she'll be nice and brush some confetti off cam as well as herself as they move.]

[goalsides]

[dislikedislikedislikedislikedislikedislikedislikedislikedislikedislikedislike.

he's still very tense as they move forward, bringing up the rear to make sure manwol and malik are heading in the right direction...wherever that is. where are they moving on to? onward and forward. he does nothing to brush off the confetti so that can just live in his hair now i guess.]

[ambiography]

[Off you all go! The next room you step into is full of more ominous-looking machinery than the last factory, with open, bubbling pools on the floor, a whiff of noxious fumes as they enter.

"Oh, no, this isn't-- pardon our mess, you skipped this!"

It all fades into darkness, then reforms into a hallway with three doors ahead of them.

"Instead, you're lucky enough to have earned a bonus round! Now, you can pick one of these three doors to enter, and you'll play whichever type of game is listed on that door."

Words appear on each: HEALING GAME, ESCAPE GAME, RECOVERY GAME.

Cam looks at these, and he speaks up to say, "Guys, listen, I know you're gonna want out but the Escape Game-- that's how I got trapped here in the first place. Only one person gets to leave, in that one. I didn't want to take the deal, but... she did."]

[lifeless]

[i have decided that manwol cannot read, she just squints at all three names. she was about to jump straight out of her skin at the BUBBLING POOLS OF NOXIOUS FUMES but then it disappears just like that? very nice FAKE OUT, VOICES!!!

She looks at the doors.]

What does it say.

[godcards]

I think we'll have to rely on Rita for that one.

[ he's not going to embarrass himself by pressing his face all up on the doors. ]

[overlimit]

How blind are you guys right now...!?

[guys????

she sighs.]

"Healing Game, Escape Game, Recovery Game."

If we're taking Cam's word on this, the Escape Game sounds like garbage, so that's out. [looking down at the head.] Know anything about the other two?

[goalsides]

You don't really wanna know the answer to that. [stubborn. but he hums to himself as he thinks of the other options.]

What's the difference between healing and recovery anyway? Wouldn't that be the same?

[ambiography]

["Definitely garbage. Sure, it'll get one of you out, but the rest of you are gonna be stuck here basically forever."

As for Taichi's question, his brow furrows as he thinks.

"I mean, healing usually doesn't work in here? It's one of the rules. So however that goes, it's gonna be their way. But if they're separate things, then Recovery probably means, like, recovering something else."]

[lifeless]

Why do they all have to be games...

[manwol can't resist saying, despite the black WISPS that will probably APPEAR from her. She squints at what she's hoping is the recovery game door]

We'll all have to play something in order to get whatever it is, and we've all lost a lot so far. My vote's on recovery.

[godcards]

...I actually agree this time. Even if it's only one of us that gets something back, it's better than where we are right now.

[ also if they survive surely there is enough people who will heal them upon return. ]

[overlimit]

[silly taichi doesn't know the difference between healing and recovery, what a doofus, thinks the only rpg character in here.]

I was thinking that one, too.

[goalsides]

[rude. but...there's a nod. at least they can all agree? wow.]

Okay. Then recovery game it is.

[ambiography]

["Well, we're glad to see you're all so excited to stay!" says the female voice, as the RECOVERY GAME door slides open. Also, yes, Manwol is correct, there's more black smoke.

Inside this room, there's a pedestal for each person to stand on, each with four buttons; on each button there's a picture of each participant's face.

"Now, for this," the male voice says, "you have the opportunity to fix any losses you think you might have made a mistake about. Use your own button, and you can regain something you gave up, but you're going to have to offer to lose something else important to you in order to trade out. If we think it's fair, we'll make that trade for you... but we are pretty deep into the game now, so you might want to factor that into any losses you propose. Better make them good!"

The female voice continues, "If you press someone else's button, you can take on one of their losses. For example, one of you three with reduced vision could help clear up someone else's eyesight... but you'd go blind doing it."]

[lifeless]

No one is clearing my vision. I can still see just fine.

[FIRST OFF, JUST TO GET THAT OUT OF THE WAY!!! Manwol looks at her pedestal. She assumes that the blob there is her face, and glances at the other pedestals. namely, rita's]

...What if we don't press the button? Do we get a penalty?

[what if they're actually just fine like this?]

[godcards]

[ malik doesn't say anything. he's lost in thought, trying to sort himself out-- but before someone can make a decision without him, he pipes up: ]

How long does this game go on for?

[ he doesn't know where cam is so the voices are welcome to answer too i guess ]

[overlimit]

... So someone who doesn't use magic could take that loss from me?

[... that sounds like a win-win? which is why she's unsure.]

[goalsides]

...we should get your magic back if we're not done here. Your spells were pretty helpful in that first chamber. [and then to the voices:]

None of us can use magic, so what would be the exchange? Or is that something we figure out ourselves?