Welcome.

[trustharder]

You last remember feeling safe.

You don't know what caused that response, now that you think about it; you can't remember what you were doing before the warm, comfortable feeling came over you, a sensation somewhere between relief and the light contentment that comes with the knowledge that you're safe enough to sleep and god, are you ready to. It feels like you may have been sleeping for a while before this, even; your limbs are heavy in the memory, and you recall how difficult it was to open your eyes.

Turning your head is likewise difficult, it feels kind of like it's full of sand. Weighted-down by sleep. It's so much easier to remain still, and so you do, and before you haze out again you can vaguely hear a voice.

It's no one you recognize, and it sounds strange and vaguely distorted as you start to drift off again.

"Everything'll be fine."

There isn't an answer that you can hear; the voice speaks once more.

"...you ready?"

You don't remember what you wanted to say to that. Always, maybe. Or Ready for what? Or perhaps What's happened to me?

But none of it matters, because consciousness slips away from you too quickly for you to respond.

---

You wake up some time later; the comfortable, safe feeling from earlier certainly isn't dampened any by the bed you wake up in. Whether you like it soft as a cloud or firm enough to support the most finicky of spines, the bed you're in is nice, and it's pretty much exactly what you've been looking for in a mattress.

Shame the rest of the room is probably going to be a bit jarring when you wake up properly.

The room you're in is completely unfamiliar, all concrete and steel and almost nothing that makes it yours - but there's a trunk near the bed and there's what looks like a smartphone sitting on the trunk, and you might want to grab that before you leave the room. Trying to text or call out won't do anything for the time being, unfortunately, but it's something. A lifeline, maybe.

If you're looking to see if anyone is here with you, maybe you can find someone as you wander through the main corridor; after all, there are a few places to explore here, even if the bulk of the place is pretty much a straight shot down the center. If you're looking to gather, the dining hall is probably the best place for it, as it's large enough to accommodate all of you.

Wherever you choose to go, however, there are a set of rules posted in every room; the far wall of the dining hall, across from the entrances, also has a bulletin board with twenty-seven pictures, along with some...interesting information, posted on it. The board is large enough for all of you to look at it, but you might not want to try to get at anything posted there; just like the rules, there's glass in front of it, and it's looking to be extremely shatterproof.

Sorry about that.

There's one more thing you'll notice on your wanderings through the corridor – there are no windows, and there are no doors that can possibly lead outside.

Looks like you're trapped. Might as well get to know those that are here with you.

Comments

[wokeupdead]

[It's just her detective intuition thirsting for knowledge. Don't mind her.]

Then you wouldn't cover them up! [bending, looking, straining.] What do you have against blasters anyway? That sounds cool to me.

[penduli]

[ BLAS... ]

Casters, not blasters. [ Pause. ] I don't know, actually. I never wanted to be one, since I didn't think I'd be any good at it, but my parents were, so... and my family's always been part of them. I'm not really sure why I'd dislike them. [ but he does, apparently. ]

[wokeupdead]

You know real magicians?! [Because that's what casters means. Right.] Did you have a lot of rabbits and doves at home?

[penduli]

[ NN..nn... ]

Sheep, actually. My family kept sheep. [ .....LOOK......... ] They're not magicians. [ .......

........

.............. ]

Also, magic's a bunch of smoke and mirrors.

[wokeupdead]

Whoa- It must have been really hard to pull one of those out of a hat! No wonder you weren't too good at it.

[Look. This misunderstanding will just keep going if you let it.]

[penduli]

[ LYNNE NO ]

No, we just raised them, we didn't pull them out of hats. ...that's all a cheap trick, by the way. They always have the rabbit in a cage under the tablecloth, and there's a hole cut carefully into both the table and the hat, so they just reach in and pull a rabbit out that way. It's not magic.

[wokeupdead]

[YOU ARE DESTROYING DREAMS RIGHT NOW.]

But- But what about the doves?

[penduli]

[ SOMEONE STOP HIM ]

They're carefully tucked into the magician's sleeves, usually with a spring loader that launches them into the air. After that, it's a little confetti and misdirection for any other tricks he might want to do with them, like sneaking another bird out of his suit.

[wokeupdead]

[First murder: lynne's innocence.]

...It must be hard being raised by magicians.

[Magic isn't real and it's no wonder he's a gloomy child.]

[penduli]

Casters aren't magicians. ...my sister told me about all this when she got really interested in magic for a few weeks when we were younger.

[wokeupdead]

Why didn't you say that earlier then! [He did though. He literally did.] What do casters do then?

[penduli]

[ BUT HE DID. ]

I'm not really sure myself. My parents never really told us what they got up to when they went away on work... Maybe they keep the world safe?

[wokeupdead]

That's super cool if that's the case. I'd definitely want to grow up and follow their footsteps! [what kind of nerd wouldn't be into that?] Although I did just that by becoming a detective anyway.

[penduli]

You're an actual detective? [ like from books and stuff-- ahhh, wait ] Not that you don't look the part, I mean! Though you're a little more brightly-dressed than I thought a detective would be...

[wokeupdead]

Of course I am! I took the test and got promoted and everything! [She's wearing a badge and everything. Why does everyone sound surprised when they find out??]

Anyway, I'm not even the most outlandish person in the district. That'd be the special investigation unit.

[penduli]

[ Because she's wearing bright clothing! ...and has bright hair! ...and she's really, really bright! ]

Sorry, er Congratulations on that.

[ a sliiightly awkward pause. ]

So what's the special investigation unit like?

[ because like, if she's not outlandish............ ]

[wokeupdead]

[Just wait until he sees her in the vault provided jumpsuits-

Also she brightens up (even more) at that question.]

That's the unit headed by Cabanela! He's got this totally cool white coat and he's a natural. He's pretty light on his feet too! Dances everywhere he goes. He's the one that helped me with my exam.

[He also calls her baby and about twenty other weirder things but the cool coat is definitely the most important.]

[penduli]

He dances everywhere? Why? [ obviously the most important thing here. ...OK there's a lot of important things but one thing at a time guys. ]

[wokeupdead]

Because he wants to?

[Said in a confused tone of voice like this is completely normal and Black is the weird one for questioning it.]

[penduli]

[ But this isn't normal at all?? ]

Does the rest of his unit do the same thing?

[wokeupdead]

No! That'd just be silly.

[???? ????? I'm not sorry, Black.]

[penduli]

[ ??? ???? ????? ]

But him dancing everywhere in the first place isn't. Right. [ Right... ] Is the rest of your department like that?

[ you know

fuckin' weird as balls ]

[wokeupdead]

[Now you're getting it, Black.] Nah, they're really stuffy. Both all done up in super pressed suits and get all in a tizzy whenever someone of higher rank walks by.

[They also both have wife troubles but who cares about that?]