-Missing- IC Thread: RP Cast Filled

[Banshee]

It had felt like eternity since she had last played guitar, and though she knew for a fact that it had only been maybe a day or so, it didn't change the swathe of relief that went coursing through her body. It was the one thing truly familiar in this otherness. An anchor.

It was tempting to just take it out and just...play the time away, forget where she was and let the music take her where it would. But this place wasn't real. She couldn't...she couldn't stay here. It was all wrong. And the melody... It made her uneasy. It wasn't right. None of this was.

She looked at the mirror again into the other world presented before her and then down at the book sitting beside her. What did she do? She could try that thing she had done before, go through the door again, but...hadn't she just come in through it? This...This felt a lot like a dead-end...

But the book... It had answers, didn't it...?

Uncertainly, Alga reached out to crack it open again, at a loss on what to do.

Examine: Book (Again)

 

[ReedRGale]

ʞooq pɐǝɹ <== ɐƃl∀

Once more, the book seemed to open to a page that it intended. Once again, words appear in her mind, just from a glace at the page.

˙ǝɔuɐɹʇuǝ ɹǝɥʇouɐ puᴉɟ puɐ ǝɹǝɥʍ uo snɔoℲ ˙uǝdo ǝɹoɯ ǝɹǝɥʍǝɯoS ˙ǝslǝ ǝɹǝɥʍǝɯos oƃ ʇsnɯ noʎ ʇnq ˙ǝq oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ ǝɹǝɥʍ ǝɹɐ no⅄

Entrances. Where would there be entrances? Well, the door was already open, but maybe that would do. There was a window as well. But how could those help her.

But somewhere more open? What did that even mean? This was all so confusing...

Almost as if to answer, more words flooded her head.

˙lɐǝɹ ʇ,usᴉ ɥɔᴉɥʍ ʇɐɥʇ oʇ ʎllɐᴉɔǝdsƎ ˙lɐǝɹ ʇ,usᴉ ɥɔᴉɥʍ ʇɐɥʇ oʇ uǝʌǝ sǝlnɹ ǝɹɐ ǝɹǝɥ┴ ˙ǝlnɹ ǝɥʇ sᴉ ʇɐɥ┴ ˙oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ ǝɹǝɥʍ oƃ no⅄

What now?

 

[Banshee]

More open... Up to her? What...

She looked down at the book with a furrow in her brow, turning the words in her head. She had to focus and find somewhere more open, and it was up to her where... Was that right? Was it...actually up to her?

Alga looked at the mirror again disbelievingly, struggling to wrap her head around it. She...had wanted to go home, and she had been led here, although this definitely was not it. She would still very much like to go to her real home, in fact. But, she doubted she could. So, what she wanted wouldn't really matter in this...

Find them. Find somewhere more open. It's up to you. It didn't make much sense, but... Well, none of this did. Maybe she needed somewhere more open to find them...

Moving the guitar case so that it was laying on its side, Alga made to put the book inside before closing it up once more and reaching for the strap attached to it. She hefted it onto her back, looping the nylon from one shoulder to the opposite side of her waist and sighing with the familiar heavy weight before scooping up her flashlight and mirror. Despite how it might've looked, it felt less awkward than it had been a few minutes prior, and she was happy to finally have a bit of freedom of movement should something happen.

Moving towards the door, or where the mirror showed it to be, she came to a stop when she realized: what was more open that she could focus on? Moreover, how did she even do it? Squid, how open did it even have to be?

Her mind flipped through whatever might've been considered more open before, eventually, she settled on Inkopolis plaza. It was the most open one could probably get aside from her highschool gym, and she really didn't want to go back to school, especially in some weird place like this...

Focus on it, she thought. Just...think about it, right? Think about it very hard...

And that's what she did. Alga struggled to think of the plaza as vividly as she could remember it and, steeling herself, reached out to once again grasp at a nonexistent door.

Go To: Inkopolis Plaza

 

[ReedRGale]

ɐzɐlԀ sᴉlodoʞuI o┴ oפ

Watching through the mirror, Alga reached for the doorknob. The door was open already, which she thought might be a problem, but when she reached toward the door and to grab for nothing, her double pulled the guitar out of the frame and closed the door... then opened it again.

The amount of volition the fake showed was worrying. The portal of gentle light opened again, though. So, clenching her teeth, Alga walked through the door and focused.

The plaza. The plaza. The plaza.

Her eyes were shut tight as she waded into the light. She felt something hard clack against her shoes. She could feel a stale breeze. She was afraid to open her eyes, but knew that she had to confirm what her other senses told her.

1. 2. 3. Open.

She was in the plaza?

It looked as she remembered it except... well. Not really. No not at all. It was like a poor facsimile.

The tower stood in the same place. The buildings were where they were supposed to be. But the billboards were pure, monotone grey. The buildings had lost all texture and pigment, the depth was perceptible only its shading.

The shadows seemed wrong too. Perhaps it was the fact that the lamps all seemed to emit no light. Nor should have have needed to. The sun was missing from the sky. The sky, though, showed a perfect blue.

Perhaps the weirdest thing, though, was that every mildly reflective surface--windows, vending machine panes and the like--in the area were ǝʌᴉʇɔǝlɟǝɹ.

Alga could see herself in any mirrored-surface in sight, but each one was wrong in a different way. Some seemed to be smiling, some frowning, some crying. Others seemed to watch her, whether she looked at the mirror or not.

Longing to see the real Inkopolis and not this terrible joke, Alga looking into the handheld mirror. What she saw was devastation.

Just as her neighborhood was destroyed after the earthquake, the Square was littered in debris. It looked as it teams of people were helping to work together to clean up the rubble, but it was clear that the world she was in right now was a better representation of what the Square was supposed to be.

How ironic. Neither side felt like reality, but Alga wanted out of this other-world, at least.

What now?

 

[Banshee]

It was...she couldn't describe it. Unnerving. Unexpected and expected in the same breath. Like someone had decided to build a real-life dollhouse but had neglected to add anything beyond basic buildings and shapes. Fake.

But the worst part of it - the absolute worst - had to be the reflections of everything here. Wherever she looked, she saw caricatures of herself; expressions of happiness and smiles, scowls of irritation, tears and sorrow. And the ones that simply stared regardless of what she did... She felt a familiar sense of anxiety in her gut. She didn't want to be watched. She hated being watched, let alone by a reflection that wasn't supposed to be doing it in the first place.

Feeling like she might retch a little with the amount of unease twisting her stomach, Alga stared down at the mirror and fought to ignore the reflections staring at her, looking over the wreckage of the plaza with some surprise, but not much. She remembered the earthquake as plain as day. Of course the place would take a beating...

But despite the change in scenery and the new image the mirror gave her, it left her once again drifting with uncertainty. She was here now. She was in an open place, although she was growing more and more desperate to move herself away and into somewhere more secluded. What next?

With a trembling sigh, she kneeled and sat her guitar case down, cracking it open and bringing out the book before hesitating and tossing the flashlight in in its place and closing it once more. If she had to choose one positive thing about this area, it was that it was rather well lit and that the sky was a bright blue...

Once again resituated with the case on her back, Alga flipped the book open searchingly.

Examine: Book

 

[ReedRGale]

ʞooq :ǝuᴉɯɐxƎ <== ɐƃl∀

Once again, Alga opened the book: the one font of knowledge in this terrible, barren world. As clear as day, the book answered, opening to another page of unknowable knowledge.

˙sǝlnɹ ǝɥʇ ʞɐǝɹq ˙ɹoɹɹᴉɯ ɐ ʞɐǝɹq

Just that. Alga could feel the staring mirror leering back.

What now?

 

[Banshee]

Break...a...

She frowned and looked upwards back at the leering mirror images of herself, shivering almost automatically at the scene before swallowing and glancing around. Which one...? What did she use? What did this...even do? Breaking rules... That wasn't something she did. She'd always been something of a goody-two-shoes, too afraid of consquences to deviate from the fold. It sounded like a bad idea.

But... It wasn't like she had any other choice, did she? It was the only option she had; regardless of how much she wanted to go home, to do anything else, she couldn't. She was stuck here with just one possible way out.

She'd...have to take it.

Alga put her things away, not just one or the other this time, but everything. The book and the mirror were nestled into the guitar case and the case hefted in both hands before she slinked quietly, nervously to one of the reflective windows of the gear shops. It was one of those unnerving ones, the type which stared at her and never stopped.

She didn't deny feeling a bit of satisfaction when she swung her arms back and let the case collide with the image.

Break A Mirror

 

[ReedRGale]

ɹ̨̖̰̜̱o̺͉ɹɹ̰̰̳̦͓͢ᴉ̩͍͔̯̤W̫̬̘̘̺͈ͅ ̷̣̦̙̖̼ɐ͔̳͇͚̭̦̯ ̡͓̳͔̦̣ʞ̡̟̞̜̲ɐ͏̰̰̭̲ǝ̨̱ɹ̤̥͚͟q͈̙͓

The world shook when the glass shattered. It was as if the entire town were a model and a giant had begun to shake it. The sky flickered. The world flickered. Everything flickered between black nothingness and the fake town.

The mirror self, upon impact, screamed in pain as the mirror fragmented. As the glass shattered, the glass to some cafe in the street, the mirror was replaced by... a mirror.

But no, no quite. This mirror held the facsimile of Alga which she knew she had been working with through the antique mirror. She grinned. A calm, gentle, caring, relaxing grin. She beckoned Alga forward.

The world she was in was the real one. There were busy people, but they didn't seem to pay the double any mind. Or her, for any matter.

Alga put her hand to the reflective surface longingly, not sure what to expect. The surface rippled, like water. Her double smiled, urging her forward, not even attempting to mime her actions. She put a finger through. It didn't hurt. It was gentle. And warm. Like the light. But she pulled back.

The double walked up to the liquid mirror with an understanding gaze. She fogged the glass, then wrote:

ʎɹɹoʍ ʇuop

Then she stepped back, and sat down on the dirty asphalt of the real Inkopolis. Waiting. Just waiting.

What now?

 

[Banshee]

Emotions warred. Sudden terror clashed with an encroaching sense of calm, terrible anxiety knotted her stomach time and time again only for those knots to be soothed in a mild semblance of peace. So many things were happening, so many things she couldn't put a name to. What was happening? What was happening?

She stared with a conflicted expression and looked around herself at the fake world with its drab, textureless buildings and grey features before turning to look back at the real world before her. The fake her was smiling, offering silent honest comfort and understanding she could only remember her grandparents offering. She wanted to ask them things. Who were they? What were they? Didn't she have to speak to them?

What was the point of all of this?

She found herself speaking before she quite realized it. "Who...a-are you...?"

Talk: ¿¿¿

 

[Rustic]

The footsteps, while not entirely rousing Canchi from his stupor, had given some ground for his reality. But was it even his? What was his?

He was six feet under some random hallway in who-knows-where, with a revolting collection of many, many unfortunate people kept in glass jars above him. It reminded him about how his Mom told him about the butterflies she caught when she was little, except this was a twisted version of it. A lot more twisted...

"They're not real," It said, still insisting on its own reality.

"Nonononono, it's all real, I know it. I know it," he answered, "I saw them before..., IdidIknowitIknowIsawthemtheywerethereinsideoftheglassjarsand..."

His attention slowly drifted upward. So, without anything else to do and with what little strength he could summon. He crawled up to the hallway he had previously been in, planning to find the Squid Sisters again and convince this stupid thing that they were real. But he thought back to those footsteps he had heard above him, and what that could've meant.

Big trouble for them.

[Examine: the Hallway]

 

[ReedRGale]

Canchi ==> Examine the Hallway

The footsteps were gone, and with them their source. Canchi willed himself upwards, floating into the main hallway. It seemed mostly empty.

Then, partially because he willed it, but mostly because he didn't fully control what was going on, he returned to reality. His self, more gently than he expected, fell back to the steel grating. It seemed he had some more time, though. No one was in this area.

The Bellerophon room stood, looming, closed. Sealed. Speaking of 'sealed' there was the unmarked door. Besides that, there was the Containment Room. He'd show him.

What first, though?

 

[Aykorn]

It all changed to purple. ...Well, another shade of purple.

Wade blinked a few times, shocked at the ease of the drill's chromatic transition. It was ink based so it made sense that it had to be able to change colors. Just... it hadn't even occurred to him that it would be like that. The bio-tentacles didn't even need to go anywhere, they just stayed and switched ink, basically at the press of a button. Like a machine, made of ink. Which it was!

That's crazy, Wade thought, a spark of fascination showing on his face.

But the drill was off now... Being able to hear his own thoughts was welcome, but Jax was right. If anyone cared about this drill, they'd come in and check on it sooner than later. Maybe those people a bit ahead were on their way now.

How cool would it be to send the drill down the tunnel, right on those people? It'd create a fantastic roadblock, even better than the broken down drill from earlier. They could sneak away unscathed, maybe even wreck some havoc down the tunnel, or follow the drill and while jotting down the rest of the symbols.

It didn't sound like it would be feasible, unless they wanted to do another group effort operation to swivel the drill around, never mind how they were going start the drill again. So there probably wasn't a point in checking for if the drill insides revealed anything else.

Wade reached for the beating heart anyway.

Was it saying something? Wade wanted to hear for himself.

Examine Poke: the Heart

 

[ReedRGale]

Wade ==> Poke: the Heart

What was it saying? Wade wanted to know before casting a vote if there was anything to glean from the drill.

> Operate Living Device (Charismatics + Savvy)
> Modifiers: First Time/ No Instruction -2; Natural +4
> Base Pool 7 ==> Dice Pool 9
> 4 Successes

The first surprise was that the ideas simply formed in his mind. They weren't words per se. More... ideas and thoughts that came in a stream. Status updates on the various parts of the drill. In it, Wade saw how to move the drill and operate it. But more than that, he knew that the panel removal released a locking mechanism on the heart. It could be removed if he wanted.

What had Jax meant? Talking? This wasn't talking. This was feeling. This was so simple. All of it was right there.

To test, Wade playfully imagined: okay, move that tentacle, there. He looked at it. Felt its movement, naturally like an arm or a leg. And it moved.

He knew then. He could also let go and leave it with commands.

At this point, Max and Jax were staring at him. Wade said, 'look!' and let go of the heart. The drill began to spin, turning as it had before, but without the drill's grinding away. It was funny and grotesque at the same time, watching the huge tool twirling around as before, the only sound being that of the tentacles grasping at the walls for fortification.

He could work this. He could work this!

What now?

 

[Hesoca]

Between his daily endeavors and nightly heroism, Max often found himself a witness to the strangeness of evil. Stories of victims trapped in unusual locations haunted his memory, as did images of criminals flitting through the darkness with corrupted grins. Yet in spite of everything Max had seen, nothing was as suspicious nor as horrifying as the scene playing out before him.

Silenced by his horror, he stared at the drill flailing about in front of him, his breath held tight, trying desperately to keep himself from smashing the machine where it stood. Every movement of that beast pulsed with Octarian infection, squishing with those rotting juices he'd touched only moments before. Shell, he could still feel it on him, a corrosive presence burning at his skin. It was disgusting. He felt disgusting.

All the while, the kid stood there with a stupid smile on his face, completely oblivious to the corruption he was toying with.

Don't make it do that. He tried to shout. Something akin to a grunt of dismissal escaped him instead. He felt himself shaking. Somehow, that kid had connected himself to it. He didn't know how. He didn't want to know how. All he knew was that it was wrong, and that the thought of what could possibly be going on between that kid and the drill made him sick.

Slowly, he willed himself to breathe, his gaze stateless. By the kid, the heart beat with color equal to their own. It was baffling. Why would that device take on the kid's color, and not corrupt him with its ink? The technology was different. The Octarians using it were different. It shouldn't have been possible for the kid to control.

He scowled, preparing his voice. Silence wasn't going to fix the situation.

"Cute trick, kid." He spoke with an air of dismissiveness meant to deflect from his own panic, "Bet our Deepview friends'll think so, too, once their done pickin' our ink off the walls."

He sneered. "As much as we'd all love to waste time watching your little pet dance, we've got bigger fish to fry. Someone's gonna notice this drill isn't breakin' their ears, and when they do" - and he pointed at the heart, "they're gonna know who we are by our ink alone.

"If we're staying here, we need to prepare. Not play with some Octarian's toys."

Vote: Screw the Drill, Prepare For Battle

 

[Aykorn]

Wade put his hand on the drill heart, relaying another command for the machine to stop twirling around. Fine. No more tricks.

But he was getting really tired of Max's superiority shtick.

Kid this, kid that. 'Bigger fish to fry...'

Uhm, hello?! The biggest 'fish' in the room was a drill, to anyone who had eyes. And Wade had some sort of influence on it.

The whole point of this tunnel exploration was to get out with information before Deepview could lay a finger on them. So fighting them head on? Not even considering that they could turn their own drill on them?

This was ridiculous. Max was ridiculous. Wade had figured out how to work this massive piece of Octarian technology, and it was being dismissed as a parlor trick, and worse, not even considered.

Why?? Was Mr. Vigilante that sure he could beat down anyone who came at him? Was there something Wade was missing? Could he at least say to Wade's face, that he didn't think it would work? Maybe without being talked down to? What was Max's problem?!

"Really?" Wade shot back.

"What we could do is send this drill down the tunnel and make an opening," he started listing. "We could barricade off the tunnel, and run. We could restart the drill and hide. We could sic this on them, fight whoever comes down here on our own terms."

"We could do literally anything besides sit here!" he seethed.

Wade gnashed his beak, ready to continue but stopped. He spoke again, but this time, Wade turned to Jax.

"We can move the drill into the main tunnel, block it off, stop the drill and leave easy," Wade said. With how easy the drill was to toy with, he was certain he could get it to do that.

He tacked on a possibility: "We could even force our way down the rest of the path. That might leave the symbols open to record." Find whatever else lay at the end of the tunnel.

Wade steeled himself for whatever decision, hoping desperately for something intelligent. "We have options here."

Vote: Use the Drill, Get Away if need be

 

[ReedRGale]

@Aykorn and @Hesoca

​

Spoiler: Wade Arroyo and Maximillian de Re

Wade and Max ==> Vote

> Max:
> Persuasion Roll (Charismatics + Savvy)
> Mods: Unreasonable (-1); Weak Argument (-2)
> Base Pool 6 ==> Dice Pool 3
> 1 Success

> Wade:
> Persuasion Roll (Charismatics + Savvy)
> Mods: Opening up to Possibilities (+1)
> Base Pool 7 ==> Dice Pool 8
> 2 Successes (Pffhahahaha)

Jax looked to both, incredulously. Then, turned to Wade. “Could you turn the drill parallel to create a moving wall? I have a suspicion.”

Max grumbled something but Wade complied. Turning the drill revealed more tunnel. Just as with the broken drill, this seemed to be polishing an existing route. The ground beyond wasn’t as smooth or circular as what they were treading before, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t impassable.

“Wade,” Jax said, quietly, “if you could turn the drill toward the enemy and have it start walking toward them, they shouldn’t have access to the heart’s controls to change its instructions. That gives us an escape route they can’t follow.

“How does that sound?” he finished.

Footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway. Lots of them. “We have no more time to vote. I’m going. Max, if you wish to fight today and lose, honor that feeling. If you wish to fight tomorrow, with a hope of winning, follow me. I will not humor a fool’s errand.”

What now?

@Banshee

Spoiler: Alga Sargasso

Alga ==> Talk

"Who...a-are you...?" Alga asked, quietly.

The being responded almost immediately. Getting up and dusting off her butt. She thought long and hard before finally fogging up the glass and writing, "pɹoM ɐ ǝɯ llɐɔ oʇ ǝʇɐɹnɔɔɐ ʇsoɯ ǝq plnoʍ ʇᴉ sdɐɥɹǝԀ ˙pǝʇɐɔᴉldɯoɔ sᴉ ǝɯɐu ɐ"

"...A word...?" Her brow furrowed and she looked the other over uncertainly. That didn't offer an explanation. "I-I don't...get it..."


"˙pɹoM ɐ ɯɐ I ˙ǝɟᴉl uǝʌᴉƃ ɐǝpᴉ uɐ ɯɐ I ˙puᴉɯ lɐʇɹoɯ ɐ oʇuᴉ pǝʇuɐld pǝǝs ∀ ˙ɹǝpɹo ʇsǝɥƃᴉɥ ɟo ƃuᴉǝq ʇsǝʇɐǝɹƃ ǝɥʇ ɟo ʎuǝƃoɹd ǝɥ┴ ˙ɹoɥʇn∀ ʎɯ ɟo plᴉɥƆ ∀ ˙ʞooq ɐ uᴉ pɹoM ɐ ɯɐ I ˙sǝlʇᴉʇ ʎldɯᴉs ǝɹɐ sǝɯɐN"

The Word seemed to giggle at Alga. It... no. It seemed to understand that she... no she didn't understand. It didn't seem frustrated though. Bemused. Not frustrated.

"˙sƃuᴉuɐǝɯ ,spɹoʍ spuɐʇsɹǝpun ʎlnɹʇ ǝuo oN ˙ǝlqɐpuɐʇsɹǝpun sᴉ sᴉɥ┴ ˙ǝɯ puɐʇsɹǝpun ʇ,uop no⅄ ˙ǝɯ pɐǝɹ no⅄"

She listened to the other as they wrote, taking them in with curiosity and a small sense of skepticism. Of course, she had no right to any sense of skepticism with everything she had been through just now, but still. It just seemed...unbelievable. Progeny of the greatest beings of the highest orders... An idea given life...?

The book entered her mind, and almost idly her mind flickered towards a vague idea that she immediately discarded. Of course not. That was stupid. Those were just myths...right?

The way things had been, she honestly didn't know.

Alga moved on to her next question before she could let her thoughts wander any further. "A-And what...did you want with me? What was the p-point of...all of this...?" Surely not to just scare her. She'd lost count of how many times she had nearly had heart attacks…

Now the being seemed quizzical.

"˙ǝɯoɥ ǝɹɐ no⅄ ˙noʎ ʇɥƃnɐʇ I oS ˙ǝɯoɥ oƃ oʇ pǝʇuɐʍ no⅄ ˙ǝɯ pɐǝɹ no⅄ ˙ɯǝɥʇ ǝɥʇ uᴉ pǝʌǝᴉlǝq no⅄"

The being walked to an unfogged part of the large window. It looked at Alga.

"¿ǝɹᴉnbuᴉ noʎ op ʎɥM ˙lɐoƃ ɹnoʎ ʇou ɯɐ I ˙ǝʇɐʇᴉsǝɥ no⅄"

A few things began to click in her mind. The first was that this was...well, the book. The book given life, in a strange way. Given life by others who they had mentioned were "of the highest order."

She believed them...? How? It had been--...She had never considered herself religious - not many did nowadays - but she had liked reading about them at least, wondering, thinking... Is that was believing them meant?

This was asinine.

Alga looked down and gave a long, shaky sigh. "I just...want to understand. I-It's all so...different...? I-I wanted to know w-why I was here. Why you w-wanted me. ...D-Didn't think it was because I had belief in gods..."

And she wasn't certain she would get the opportunity to ask them again if she went through immediately.

"˙xopɐɹɐd ǝɥʇ uᴉ sᴉ ʎʇnɐǝq ǝɥ┴ ˙ǝlqᴉssodɯᴉ sᴉ puɐʇsɹǝpun o┴ ˙lɐoƃ ǝlqou ɐ sᴉ puɐʇsɹǝpun o┴"

Alga looked at Alga. One looked confused. The other looked quizzical. They were a reflection once more before the other decided to break the 'silence.'

"˙op I ʇɐɥʍ pᴉp I ˙ɟlǝsɹnoʎ noʎ pǝʍoɥs ʇsnɾ I ˙ǝɯoɥ ɟlǝsɹnoʎ ǝʌɐƃ no⅄ ˙ǝɯoɥ pǝʇuɐʍ no⅄ ˙noʎ ɥʇᴉʍ noʎ pǝɹɐɥs I ˙op I ǝsnɐɔǝq pᴉp I ˙ǝɹɐ noʎ ǝsnɐɔǝq pᴉp I"

Alga looked at their words, felt the beginnings of frustration bubble in her mind, and stamped down on it hard before sighing. Asking more questions wouldn't help, despite how they burned. She at least knew what they were now.

"...Okay. Okay... I-I guess I'm ready now..."

With little else that could be done, Alga stepped a bit closer to the mirror and reached her hand out, ghosting it through the warmth of the surface experimentally. She wondered if she was going to hear this being again. Likely not.

She looked concerned.

"¿ʇuɐʍ noʎ ʇɐɥʍ ʇou sᴉɥʇ sI ¿pǝʇɐʇᴉɹɹᴉ noʎ ǝɹɐ ʎɥM"

Alga stared. She knew? How, exactly? It had only been a little flash, and it hadn't lasted but a few seconds anyway. Surely she hadn't shown it.

"H-How do you know about that...?"

"˙pǝsɹǝdsıp ʇı ǝɹoɟǝq pǝsɹǝʌuoɔ ǝʍ ˙ɐǝpı uɐ ɯɐ ı ˙ɐǝpı uɐ sɐʍ ʇı"

The Word in the mirror smiled. It seemed truly and genuinely happy.

"˙ǝʌʇısınbuı ʎɹǝʌ ǝɹɐ noʎ"

That...didn't quite make sense, but Alga squirmed in growing embarrassment when she realized that this being was, for all intents and purposes, reading her mind. Now that she thought about it, it...had always sort of been that way, hadn't it? Back in her fake room, back in the illusion of the room at the Octolings' base, she had thoughts things and received answers. She wondered how she hadn't noticed before...

There was also a sense of embarrassment with their next words as well, and she nodded tentatively after a moment. "...S-Sorry."

"˙ןɐɯɹouqɐ sı sı ǝuo ɯoɹɟ ʎןʇuǝɹǝɟɟıp ǝq oʇ ˙noʎ ǝʞıן ʇou ɯɐ ı ˙ʇuǝɹǝɟɟıp ɯɐ ı"

The being giggled. It was funny, Alga had never seen herself act so cute, but here was another 'her' in a mirror, claiming to be a Word and acting girlish.

"¿ǝsuǝs ǝʞɐɯ sıɥʇ sǝop ˙ɯɐ ı ʍoɥ osןɐ sı ʇɐɥʇ ˙noʎ ʍouʞ oʇ noʎ ʇuɐʍ ı ˙puɐʇsɹǝpun oʇ ʇuɐʍ noʎ ʎɥʍ puɐʇsɹǝpun oʇ ʇuɐʍ ı ˙ɯɐ ı ʇɐɥʍ sı ʇɐɥʇ ˙puɐʇsɹǝpun oʇ ʇuɐʍ ı"

Alga couldn't help cracking a tiny smile at their open expression, feeling a small sense of ease with the gesture. Whatever they were, Word or not, they seemed...well, just like any other person. Cryptic, speaking in riddles, but still...well, mortal.

"I...think so. A little." It sounded as if this was starting to extend beyond simply wanting to know why Alga was asking about their motives in bringing here, though. "But...I don't know if I'd have the answers myself..."

"˙ɹǝpɹo ɟo ʎʇnɐǝq ɹǝɥʇouɐ ˙ןɐɔıxopɐɹɐd puɐ uǝʞoɹqun sǝnuıʇuoɔ ǝןɔʎɔ ǝɥʇ ˙sɹǝʍsuɐ ɟo ʎuǝƃoɹd ǝɥʇ ǝɹɐ suoıʇsǝnb ˙suoıʇsǝnb ɟo ʎuǝƃoɹd ǝɥʇ ǝɹɐ sɹǝʍsuɐ ˙sɹǝʍsuɐ sɐɥ ʎןnɹʇ ǝuo ou"

"I...guess that makes sense."

Alga was quiet for a long minute after that, looking into the mirror at the ruins of the real world's Inkopolis. She should really be heading back, now. As calm as she now was, this fake world still creeped her out. It would be nice to go home...

...Huh. She had wanted to go home, and now there it was. Maybe that was what all of this was, in the end. Just...a shortcut home and a talk with a double. Or, well, a Word.

Alga chewed her lip, and then smiled, this time with a little more confidence. "Uhm... Thanks for, um...bringing me home, I-I guess. It was kind of scary, but...you know. Thanks..."

The double just grinned and stepped aside, making a motion for her to usher through the mirror.

"˙ʇǝƃɹoɟ ɹǝʌǝu ˙sɹnoʎ sı sıɥʇ ˙ɟןǝsɹnoʎ sı pןɹoʍ sıɥʇ ˙ɟןǝsɹnoʎ ʇǝƃɹoɟ ɹǝʌǝu"

"I...won't. I-I'll try not to, anyway. Thanks." She paused. "A-And um. Goodbye, I guess..."

As Alga moved to step through the mirror with her hand tight on her guitar case, she wondered in the back of her mind what was going to happen to that double of hers if she stepped through, and whether or not she might even see or hear them again. It was pretty unlikely, but... Well, she just didn't like permanent farewells.

Warmth enveloped her, and she was leaving the mirror world behind before she could ponder it any further.

A shattering noise split Alga’s ears as she pulled through the liquid barrier. She had broken the surface, returning to the world. The real world.

No one seemed to notice she had just appeared here. But she was here. Guitar case and all. She stood in Inkopolis Plaza on a cool afternoon. The sun had returned. Branding bombarded her from every which way.

Even in devastation, the subliminal marketing remained. And yet, that was home.

But well… not entirely.

In every reflective surface, Alga saw that other-world, each one reflecting a false version of her, and the dead-looking Inkopolis. Twisted caricatures. They weren’t her. That wasn’t home. Deep breath. Home.

How was Lili now, she wondered, trying to ignore the mirrors. It was something to get her mind off things. However, as she pondered, the reflections changed.

Every reflective surface, however mild, changed to show Lili, tied to a slab. If this were a movie, it would be a bad one. It looked too theatrical, with hooded figures chanting, daggers held in the air. With Lili crying. With one cultist preparing a downward swing.

Surely Felix had this. Surely Germana and Brutus were on their way. Surely.

The images changed. They were in position to attack the figures. They could probably break through. It depended on how focused the cultist hanging over Lili was. If they could just distract them for a little bit…

But what if they didn’t? Lili would… well, she’d probably be fine. She’d respawn. Right? ...right?

"˙ou"

The thought appeared in her head. Foreign. The Word.

Her breathing quickened. Could she even go there? Why could she see this? What was happening? This wasn’t her problem. This was...

"˙ɟןǝsɹnoʎ noʎ pǝʍoɥs ı ˙ǝɹɐ noʎ oɥʍ sı sıɥʇ"

...What now?

@VeryButter

Spoiler: Magabelle Yyouni

Mag ==> Go To: Magabelle's Bedroom

Mag walked up to her room. She was determined to find this guitar teacher. Determined to find her dad.

But also pretty tuckered out, so maybe tomorrow.

When she got to her room, she ruminated on her stone. A beautiful, blue egg. Picking it up, she examined it closer. This had saved her life today. Curious. Simply curious. It had been just a bedside curio before, but now…

A knock on the door. No, a pounding on the door.

Someone. Downstairs, was someone. Mag was on edge. Who could it be?

You’re in danger.

Her heart began to beat. Seems today wasn’t quite over yet.

[You Get 5 Quick Actions this Week]

((Have any questions? Did I misrepresent your character? Contact me via PM or Discord. Otherwise, please mind the deadline.))

Reminders:

Posts are Due: Friday
Gm Post will be Made: Saturday--you guys know the drill.

Spoiler: Available Actions Reminder

Will be Responded to in GM Post:
Do Nothing [sit back and let the story happen; useful when it would be dangerous to do things]
Talk [use on people you want to start a conversation with]
Shadow [use this to try to stealthily follow a target. I'll make rolls on whether you succeed or not]
Ink / Go To ______ [use this to travel from one place to another relatively quickly; ink if it's something specific, like a kettle, Go To if it's a general area]
Call [use on a person that you want to call (talk, but when not in the area)--or a item that has a number on it to contact someone you don't know]
Research [some topic; need to be in a library or have access to a computer--shellphones don't count]
Sleep [use this when there's nothing left you can do, logically, in the day]
Follow [use this to just keep together with a party member or let an NPC take the lead]

Will be Responded to Immediately:
Conceal [use this action on something you intend to hide on your person]
Pick Up [use this action on something you want to hold onto]
Examine/Observe [use on things that you want more details on]
Use [use on things that you intend to use in some way--please specify how you're using it]
Attack [use on people or objects you intend to hurt or break, specify any weapons you might be using]
Search For [use like examine but for things that may or may not be there]
Hide [Insert Applicable Preposition] [use to conceal oneself, usually for a short amount of time]

 

[VeryButter]

At this point, Magabelle was unable to not consider the person pounding on her door a threat. She supposed she'd had enough time to rest by the standards of something like a video game or a roleplay, but that didn't stop anger from bubbling up inside her. One hour. One hour to rest and get her thoughts in order. One hour of goddamned peace—was that too much to ask?

Looking at the egg-shaped respawn stone, a spike of panic pierced through Magabelle's head like a bullet. If she was really in danger—if these stupid suit people were really at her house—then who's to say her respawn stone wasn't in danger too? Both her and her dad loved the damned thing; to hell she goes if she wasn't going to at least give it a chance. She briefly looked at her bed and, grabbing the orange pillowed nest her stone usually rested on too, she stuffed her respawn stone into her pillow case and under the pillow itself. And in another moment, Magabelle slipped onto her knees and swiped the pistol she had slid semi-carelessly under the bed before, knowing that she'll need it and despite not having a method of concealing it on her person this time.

Hide/Conceal: Respawn Stone, Pick Up: Ink Pistol

 

[ReedRGale]

Hide/Conceal: Respawn Stone (Picking up the pistol doesn't use up an action)

> Rolling for Conceal (Savvy + Charismatics)
> Difficulty Set

Mag hid her stone hastily, then prepared her gun. There was only one thing that could be at the door. But she'd be ready this time.

What's the plan, stan?

 

[Banshee]

The smell of asphalt and the sounds of construction work were a welcome assault on the senses, but she hadn't had time to enjoy them before the difference in her reflections everywhere she looked became alarmingly prevalent, sending a cold shiver down her spine. Of course she couldn't just...pretend nothing had ever happened. Of course she couldn't simply go home and resume her life. She couldn't ever be lucky enough for that.

The shifting of the reflections as her thoughts shifted could have come as a respite even despite the surprise that momentarily took hold of her, but the scene she now bore witness to didn't make things much better. Only made it worse, really.

Alga wasn't certain if she could believe it. She stared wide eyed as the scene played out before her, wondering if it might have been perhaps a trick of the light in the plaza or if maybe her mind was finally just going a bit looney with an overactive imagination. The presence of the Word was unmistakable though, and she felt her heart speed up with oncoming panic as she watched the knife raise over Lili's restrained form.

What...What did she did she do? She could pass through mirrors, maybe, if what happened in the other world still applied here, but what then? Felix had been right; she wasn't in a position to help them. She didn't have a weapon, she was no good at fighting, she was scared--

Alga saw the knife shift and prepare to descend, and with a small cry forcing itself from her throat, she put her hands over her eyes and squeezed them shut without a thought more.

Do Nothing

 

[Hesoca]

Max met Jax's words with a scowl sharp enough to cut steel. Did... did he think he could call him, a fryin' hero, some kind of fool? Him, the only one in this damn place who had the gall to stand for justice? Oh, he had names for that speck. Coward. Liar. Traitor.

Yet the only sound that escaped Max was a feeble grumble.

He swallowed bitterly. Instinct demanded that he reprimand cowardice, yet the panic from before still clawed at his throat. Pah. What was he so afraid of? Being alone, surrounded on all fronts by Deepview agents wishing to destroy him, entrapped by some O-Octarian machine that would threaten to o-overtake him i-if he didn't move fast e-enough...?

In the distance, the sounds grew louder by the second. He swallowed again, quieter this time.

"F-fine." He grumbled. "Whatever. I'm going."

Ugh. Saying that left a soap-like aftertaste in his mouth. Still, nothing was as bad as that drill and his partners' plans to put it to use.

He turned. To his disappointment, the kid was still standing within dangerous distance of the device, fearless to the poisonousous cloud that seemed to engulf it. Shell, was he really that stupid? Didn't he know what he was doing to himself?

Didn't he know what he was going to become?

Feeling his concern leaking into his expression, Max turned, and, with a disgruntled sigh, ran to meet Jax's pace.

Follow: Jax