WEEK TWO: MINGLE

[cluedin]

WEEK TWO

OCCUPANCY: 31

Rise and shine, little monsters. A new week is waiting just for you. The events of yesterday may have been hard to stomach, but time heals all wounds, after all. The damages the house has incurred over the last week have been reverted and the staff is hard at work fulfilling their roles in this mansion. A piping hot breakfast is served in the dining room promptly at 7am, every square inch of floor and furniture has been cleaned spotless, and Pumpkin is...probably around tending to the animals outside. As you exit your rooms on this lovely morning, guests will find that the barrier leading upstairs has diminished, and a new floor has been opened to explore.

For anyone who ventures into the ballroom, a new change may become apparent. Should you choose to look at the plaques long enough, two images will flicker and change sporadically. While Nia's portrait remains the same, on occasion it will change to an image of a headless young lady. Likewise, Asch's portrait looks just like himself, though if you blink you may miss it changing into the image of a young man mid-transformation into something with claws and scales. Finally, Michiru's portrait reveals a picture of a beautiful young lady, but every now and then it will reveal an image of a shriveled up, dried out siren. There is no rhyme and reason for the change...though perhaps it serves as a reminder to those who remain.

Additionally, the house rules have been moved from the ballroom and back into the hallway, mounted in the entryway as they were.

It's been some time now. Surely you've made some friends and perhaps even some enemies. Though you may not fully understand each other, they do say the best way to know someone is to walk a mile in their shoes. Starting today you'll find that you've been bound to one other guest by an invisible sort of string. Everything you feel, they will feel. Everything they experience, you will experience. Though the threads may change from time to time, the connection is strongest with only one person. How will you handle this bond?

Some of you may find this easy. For others, this may be a little stressful! The pressure may grow stronger and weigh down on you, an anger so strong you find yourself...howling in the night to express your anguish. Others still may find that the silver cutlery will cause them to break into a painful rash, and others still will find that an increase of hair begins to take over your head, your arms, and even places hidden beneath your clothes. Perhaps it's time to invest in a razor and stick to plastic utensils.

Not to mention that the ailments you experienced last week are still in effect, though they're much less than before. Do try to keep track of your body parts this week...though you've been absolved of your sins.

You may experience only some of these events. Then again, maybe you're unlucky and you're experiencing all of these events at different points in time. Time is of the essence, however, and come Monday at noon a rustling crackle of static can be heard from overhead. Try as you might, you won't be able to find the speakers but a message will play loud and clear for all.

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Comments

[hamaoned]

[ don't come off as too glum. ]

Not yet... [ a beat. ] If you don't mind the company, I can stay too. I'm curious as to what kind of sound this bell might make.

[ sure all bells might sound the same to some people but...there could be nuances!! that. he isn't familiar with. maybe. ]

[kazokun]

No, I don't mind the company.

[ He wasn't going to do anything but sit here and be boring anyways, but he finds a spot where he can see outside and dig a notebook out to place on his lap, flipped to a blank page. ]

What were you doing here? Just checking out the view?

[hamaoned]

[ well, since ayabe is making himself comfortable, ken will too. in a respectable amount of distance between the two of them. ]

Yes. [ he was going to leave it there but when he sees ayabe casually opening his notebook, well. being a little forthcoming isn't too bad. ] I was writing things down, too. Just notes of what has been going on.

[kazokun]

That's smart of you. Any leads or theories on those notes of yours, or just an account of what's been going on?

[ Most of what's been going on Ayabe has shoved to the back of his mind and refused to dwell on because HAHA EVERYTHING IS FREAKY AND HE HATES IT ]

I was mostly thinking about the rules, that I've talked to a couple of people about. If there's any loopholes we can exploit, if people have heard something or other from the staff here about them.

[hamaoned]

[ ken will want to know what ayabe has heard from other people, but he'll wait to question him about that after he's answered. ]

Just an account of everything that has happened here and...how people have died.

[ that'll cause ken to frown deeply. he's no good at this detective stuff but— ]

Do you think that we have all already been infected by what took over Nikki? Asch started to transform and he wasn't even the true killer...

[kazokun]

[ What a thing to have to remember and mull over. Ayabe stares down at his hands, folded over the blank pages of his notebook. ]

I don't think so... I have no proof either way, but... I'm still me. I haven't lost a grip on myself. I think whatever infected the two of them can't change more than one person at a time, otherwise we'd all be fighting each other by now, right?

[hamaoned]

[ sometimes you gotta be morbid. ]

I like to think I'm still myself, too, but... Maybe there's a trigger that sets us off on Thursday nights that causes us to do this.

[ ken slowly closes his eyes and tries to understand things. ]

Also, Nikki was like herself during the trial up until we figured out that she was responsible. It's like that saying of a wolf in sheep's skin.

[kazokun]

[ Thursday nights, something that sets them apart. He can't think of what that might be, but the flip is on Thursday... ]

She really couldn't remember anything, right? I don't... want to believe she is capable of putting on an act, to that extent. Towards the end, it was like she had a split personality.

[ Like a Shadow, but P3 unfortunately doesn't touch upon Shadows much at all to make a useful connection. ]

[hamaoned]

Maybe it was the monster inside of her. Asch... [ he'll take a moment to pause because. oh boy. ] What happened to Asch showed us just what could be happening inside all of us unknowingly.

[ P3 might not have dealt with shadows like other versions but the idea of the invasion of the body snatchers isn't too far off from this kid's mind. who said all of that tv would rot his brain! ]

Maybe that's why we can't remember how we ended up here or about accepting the invitation.

[kazokun]

[ Ken

makes a good point, which is absolutely terrible because that means everybody is liable to turn into rats or dragons or whatever and there's no cure. Even if they get out of here, wouldn't they still harbor the curse? TPK is the only option. ]

That could be it. Ling, last week, he was eating raw steak before he snapped out of it, and couldn't remember doing so. He didn't transform or anything, but the memory loss is a part of it, isn't it?

[hamaoned]

[ well.

that's a lot to unpack right there and ken is going to take a moment to digest what he just heard because, well, who eats a steak raw in a daze??? ]

Yeah, or at least, what looks to be like memory loss. I'm sure the monster remembers everything even if they don't.

[ quickly— ]

...but it doesn't mean we should go around and start suspecting everyone. [ even though there's still a murderer (of both horse and human) among the lot of them. no need for witch hunts!! ] We shouldn't be working against one another. It would only make things worse for us if we didn't.

[kazokun]

Right- I'm not saying he's a monster or killed anybody.

[ He's quick to say this, because despite all damning evidence, Ayabe is unfortunately biased towards people he likes. ]

...but if people are suspicious, it's worth being aware of it. Maybe there's a way to ...exorcise them.

[ Do you exorcise demons? Ayabe doesn't watch enough movies or play enough games to know how to drive our monsters or ghosts or those sorts of things. ]

[hamaoned]

I’m sure he has killed somebody, but just not anyone here. [ he cannot confirm but call it a hunch, and when ayabe brings up the idea of exorcising the monsters out of people—that’s not a bad idea? or, sounds like a good thing to at least try. ] …I know someone who claims to be a monk…in training.

Do you think it might be worthwhile to ask him?

[ despite coming up with the suggestion, ken’s voice is deadpan. he. there is…some inner conflict here. ]

[kazokun]

You think Jin Ling's killed somebody?

[ The shouty brat who mouths off anybody he gets the chance? Ayabe doesn't think so, but he's also aware that the only reason he thinks so is because Jin Ling is younger than him and kids don't kill. Ken would never kill. No way he would even think about murdering for any reason whatsoever, unless something happened to Missile, maybe. ]

I might be worthwhile to ask your monk friend, though. At this point, anything would help... unless you have reservations about it.

[hamaoned]

No, I wasn't implying that.

[ he wanted to avoid the whole witch-hunting business!! but at the same time...if it gave them all something to work with—they should certainly explore those options right? they won't know anything until they try.

...try things that are not going to result in people being murdered, though. ]

But's not really reservations but I just don't know if he's really serious about any of this. [ HEAVY SIGH. ] Or if he's even telling me the truth.

[kazokun]

If it's something that helps somebody else, they should have no reason to lie about it, right? A monk, even.

[ A monk wouldn't lie? They shouldn't. Either way, Ayabe looks displeased about it. ]

Things are complicated enough without having to parse through lies.

[hamaoned]

That's what I thought, but now I'm not so sure.

[ ken is very. perplexed. and....

well. ]

Have you heard of a monk being in a visual kei band?

[ sure this is unrelated but also??? ]

[kazokun]

Uh.

[ The answer on his face is a very clear "no" and also "what the fuck" but ]

It wouldn't be impossible?

[hamaoned]

But you've never heard of it right?

[ please validate him ayabe. ]

You wouldn't think of a monk to do something like that.

[kazokun]

I mean... No, I don't think so. But it's also not impossible.

[ Maybe Ken's protag told him about the nightclub monk, these sorts of things aren't impossible. ]

Is that what he told you? That he's in a visual kei band?

[hamaoned]

[ even then....... the things he has been told..!!!

aren't monks supposed to be role models!!! also that monk from the bar got himself...better. ]

He told me that his brother was in a visual kei band.

[kazokun]

That's slightly more plausible, isn't it? That brother doesn't have to be a monk, necessarily.

[ Maybe said brother got disowned and now he's out there living the life ]