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[LP CYOA] Spiral
- Thread starter treave
- Start date
gentleman in this group.
Zwist
Learned
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2012
- Messages
- 236
CA
The feeling I got of the talk we had with Mori, is that he indeed knows us, and the way he treats us indicates that he knows us well.
Furthermore the person we were was far from what we are now. An equal at least, and by the way he acted, one to be very wary of.
The way he uses Rabbit-chan? Tried to get us to blow a fuse. What does that tell about the person he expects to talk to?
The feeling I got of the talk we had with Mori, is that he indeed knows us, and the way he treats us indicates that he knows us well.
Furthermore the person we were was far from what we are now. An equal at least, and by the way he acted, one to be very wary of.
The way he uses Rabbit-chan? Tried to get us to blow a fuse. What does that tell about the person he expects to talk to?
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
There might be a different interpretation.
We may indeed be different from what he might have expected, but currently we are a complete blank to him. He tries to find the buttons that move us, some stimuli to provoke a reaction of any kind, just to get a better idea of what we are.
It does not necessarily mean that he knew us well before, and the reason for his friendly warning might be that it is highly suspicious that we are hiding things just as this whole incomprehensible situation came to pass. The hospital is strange. We are strange. It is natural to try and connect us to the events.
Not that they need to try hard, what with doppelgangers running around and the name of the director invoking a pretty big reaction from us.
We may indeed be different from what he might have expected, but currently we are a complete blank to him. He tries to find the buttons that move us, some stimuli to provoke a reaction of any kind, just to get a better idea of what we are.
It does not necessarily mean that he knew us well before, and the reason for his friendly warning might be that it is highly suspicious that we are hiding things just as this whole incomprehensible situation came to pass. The hospital is strange. We are strange. It is natural to try and connect us to the events.
Not that they need to try hard, what with doppelgangers running around and the name of the director invoking a pretty big reaction from us.
Last edited:
Our guy's an introvert. Being sociable emotionally drains introverts, who regain energy from being in their own company.
This is about our guy staying on the top of his game, not going flaky around the edges before time.
This is about our guy staying on the top of his game, not going flaky around the edges before time.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
That's not the whole truth. I am an introvert, and I absolutely hate public events, but a small company of close-knit friends is manageable. I don't want to start talking to some random people, but maintaining contact with the first two kids we've met and got to know a little is a bit different.
Besides, alone time is good so far as you have something to think about and something to reflect on. We are a blank with no meaningful memories. I doubt we would find ourselves an enjoyable company.
Besides, alone time is good so far as you have something to think about and something to reflect on. We are a blank with no meaningful memories. I doubt we would find ourselves an enjoyable company.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 11,370
Nah, some are friendly, some are hostile, but ultimately they're all as good as random strangers to you at this point. It's only been three hours since you met.
Shinoseki's shown a willingness to engage in spite of his social anxiety but that doesn't mean he enjoys it thus far. Whether you think he can push a bit further, with the extra interaction being more beneficial than having some quiet alone time, is up to you.
Shinoseki's shown a willingness to engage in spite of his social anxiety but that doesn't mean he enjoys it thus far. Whether you think he can push a bit further, with the extra interaction being more beneficial than having some quiet alone time, is up to you.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 11,370
No to all of those. Imprinting? Maybe if Shinoseki ended up having the mental age of a child, or if this was an INT 1 playthrough, but that's not the case. The choice was made to be uncomfortable rather than to warm up instantly anyway.
If he were to assign relationship points based on who he feels most comfortable with at the moment...
Sakimura: 0/10
Kayano: 2/10
Uehara: 3/10
Sakaki: 1/10
Maeda: 0/10
Taketatsu: 1/10
Sawada: 0/10
Okuyama: 1/10
Tokigawa: 2/10
Mori: -10/10
Mitsuki: 4/10
Amanozaki: -8/10
Note: this does not show how they feel about Shinoseki in return.
If he were to assign relationship points based on who he feels most comfortable with at the moment...
Sakimura: 0/10
Kayano: 2/10
Uehara: 3/10
Sakaki: 1/10
Maeda: 0/10
Taketatsu: 1/10
Sawada: 0/10
Okuyama: 1/10
Tokigawa: 2/10
Mori: -10/10
Mitsuki: 4/10
Amanozaki: -8/10
Note: this does not show how they feel about Shinoseki in return.
Akkudakku
Arbiter
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2014
- Messages
- 1,125
:BRO:Forgot one guy.
Shinoseki: 5/10
He's only half comfortable with himself.
Oh wow, I almost choked laughing on that.
Ammendan votan: CA
While I would like to make a friend of Mori seems Shinoseki is too big of a pussy right now. This must be rectified!
Ifeex
Augur
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2013
- Messages
- 189
I like how our made up name can mean (depending on which kanji is used for "seki"):
"Product/connection/gateway/mark/loneliness/*other interesting words* of/from death"
Do note that I literally only know 3 kanji. Maybe 4. The internets might have lied to me.
"Product/connection/gateway/mark/loneliness/*other interesting words* of/from death"
Do note that I literally only know 3 kanji. Maybe 4. The internets might have lied to me.
- Joined
- Jul 6, 2008
- Messages
- 11,370
You walk over to where Uehara and Sakimura are, a feeling of apprehension in your exhausted heart. Although you would much prefer to rest, you feel that you have to try and establish some good relations with the others. Especially with Mori watching you like a hawk.
“Adachi-san!” Uehara smiles brightly at the sight of you. You respond with an awkward smile, tugging at your facial muscles to get them where you think they should be.
“Whoa,” she gasps. “W-what was that?”
“W… what was what?” you mumble.
“That face you made just now. It looked funny.”
“I… uh…”
“Was that a smile?” interrupts Sakimura, laughing. “Your facial features were, like… sliding all over the place, man.”
You can feel your ears turning red, but now that you are here you have no choice but to sit down. “W-well… maybe,” you mutter.
“Sorry! I was just a bit surprised, that’s all,” says Uehara. “You don’t smile often, do you?”
“No problem! I can teach you how to do it,” declares Sawada proudly. “I was voted Golden Smile of 2012, did you know that?”
You shake your head silently. You are not very sure how to deal with Sawada – he is even more outgoing than Uehara is. If you are to be uncharitable, you would call him flighty; the man does not give you any sense of reliability.
“Hush, you C-list celebrity,” complains Maeda. “What are you doing here anyway, you rabbit?”
“I’m… I was wondering what everyone was talking about.”
“Oh, is that so? I thought you were here to creep on Uehara. Your eyes have been practically glued to her,” she grins wickedly.
“W-what? I’d… I’d never…” Your flustered, desperate protests lack conviction and eloquence.
“Well… Adachi-san… uh, it’s better to have as many different friends as possible, don’t you think?” smiles Uehara apologetically, unsubtly backing away from you in an overly dramatic and feigned manner.
“I-I-I wasn’t…”
“Maeda-san, please stop picking on Shinoseki-san,” says Taketatsu quietly.
“Oh, you’re no fun, Shinichi.” Maeda stretches her arms, leaning back into an elegant poise.
“Ah, well, perhaps we should get back to what we were talking about before Shinoseki-san joined us?” asks Sakimura, trying to get the conversation started again after your sudden intrusion. “I think we were sharing theories about this place?”
“I still hope it’s some sort of prank show,” laughs Sawada. “That would be fun.”
Maeda snorts condescendingly – though she still manages to make her show of disapproval sound lady-like. “Lowborn minds can only conceive of lowborn theories. We know nothing about this place besides what we can sense… but is it right to follow our senses in the first place? It is only prudent that we never place complete confidence in that by which we have been deceived even once. Okuyama’s disappearance and reappearance prove that much at least. How can we say what is real and what is not?”
“Well, I don’t know about that, Maeda-san,” says Uehara. “We’re all sitting here, aren’t we?”
“Perhaps our minds are here, but our bodies can be a separate matter. It is possible that this is a shared dream, a mass hallucination that we are all experiencing together. If that is the case, any effort we make to escape is only a waste of time,” says Maeda dismissively, shaking her exquisitely manicured hand at Uehara. You have a feeling, somehow, that Maeda is only saying things for the sake of saying them, however – she does not really believe in her own words.
Her words are familiar to you, too.
“Descartes’ Meditations…” you mutter.
“Pardon?” Maeda’s dark blue eyes – are those contacts? – are drawn to you.
“W-well… that’s where you drew it from, right? But… Descartes used his philosophy of doubt as an argument that a God and the material world exist despite doubting his own senses… if you were to posit that we were trapped in a hallucination it would hardly be the act of God but a mighty demon as in the First Meditation… if that were truly the case, in the presence of supernatural evil, would it not be helpful to seek the aid of supernatural good to combat it… and that means it is not impossible to escape… besides, the concept of mind being non-corporeal is subject to debate as we cannot claim that before we know everything there is to know about our brains…” You mumble softly at length in a disorderly, rambling manner, keeping your eyes grounded on the floor. As your voice trails off, you notice that everyone is silent. You apologize. “S-sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything…”
“I… didn’t really catch any of that,” says Uehara, “Was it supposed to make sense?”
“I didn’t understand anything from the start, ahaha,” laughs Sakimura uneasily.
“You really like to mumble absolute garbage, don’t you?” Maeda peers at you, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “I’m not even going to bother refuting what you said. I-It’d only be a waste of my time.” She seems slightly uncertain in her tone.
“S-sorry, Maeda-san…” you apologize. “I was just… thinking out loud.”
Her expression changes slightly, muttering something inaudibly before shaking her head. When Maeda looks at you again, she asks, “Hey. Rabbit. Have you ever been a guest at our- I mean, Kaimei’s mansion in Yamanashi? About twelve… no, thirteen years ago?”
Kaimei… the name is familiar. It used to be one of the largest zaibatsus in the country, though you seem to recall that it fell on some very hard times about a decade ago, and are now a shadow of their former power and influence. You do not remember ever staying at their place, however… though that could easily be part of the memories that you have lost. It would be scary if you ever did; you, staying in a massive mansion? The very thought of it is laughable.
You shake your head. “I… I don’t think so.”
There is a complicated expression on her face that you cannot read. “Yes, that’s right. Of course you wouldn’t have…” Surprisingly, Maeda laughs out loud, tossing her hair back. “On second thought, you wouldn’t even get past the front gates with that impoverished, creepy mug of yours. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I was asking because I was interested in you or anything.”
“You should restrain yourself a bit, Maeda-san,” says Taketatsu as calmly as usual. “We are not in a situation suited for the usual... behaviour.”
“Sorry, Shinichi. I do need to release my stress every once in a while. It’s healthy. And Rabbit-san here is fine with it. Aren’t you?”
You do not respond.
“I’ve been wondering, Maeda-san. What’s your relationship with Taketatsu-san, actually? Are you two just business partners?” asks Sawada, attempting to change the topic.
“Oh, we’re engaged,” she says casually.
“We did not mean to hide it. It is just nothing important,” adds Taketatsu.
“Wow, really? Do you have a ring?” asks Uehara excitedly.
Maeda giggles and begins to flaunt it.
As the group begin talking at length about engagements and proposals – something that you have nothing to say about, you suddenly feel extremely weary, even more so than usual. I should probably get some rest, you think.
track: room
Sighing, you look to the side, glancing at the garbage bag in the corner. The black plastic stands out against the white tiles, white walls, and white ceiling of the room. Where other parts of the hospital had been strangely neat and tidy in the wake of everyone’s disappearance, here things are less ordered. The metal trolleys have been up-ended, leaving expensive medical equipment scattered ignominiously all over the floor. It looks like someone has gone on a rampage in here. The harsh, bright lights flicker and cycle, dimming and brightening over and over as a grating electrical hum pulsates deep into your ears. It digs in. And in. The sound irritates your mind so very much. You scratch at your temples.
Wait. Why am I here again? Where is this place?
Wasn’t I sitting with Uehara and the rest just a moment ago?
Again there is a gap in your memories… an impenetrable wall that you are unable to surpass.
Suddenly, a single, powerful thought appears in your mind.
I… I was looking for something. Someone.
There is a light, rustling sound.
Your gaze hovers over the garbage bag that had been lying there. It is tied up and knotted with a blood-stained string. As you look at it, you gradually realize that the bag is moving slightly. The shiny black plastic rises and falls in a gentle pattern. The material appears to be expanding and contracting almost like a breathing, living being. Then, you notice the liquid pooling underneath the bag. At first glance it looks to be as black as the plastic itself, but beneath the slow cyclic strobing of the lights you catch a glint of a dark, deep crimson. It flows viscously, seeping into the lines between the tiles. Travelling along the channels, the liquid slowly creeps towards you bit by bit.
The garbage bag jerks visibly. The air seems to be getting thicker and heavier, weighing you down. Your limbs are rooted to the spot – try as you may, they refuse to obey you. Your breathing becomes shallow and fast, the pounding of your heart loud enough that you can feel the blood rushing through your neck.
Beneath the clean, white walls, a weathered, pale green surface begins to bleed through. The bright room before you ebbs away gradually as the lights flicker and begin going dark.
“Adachi-san?”
It’s Uehara’s voice. Behind you.
Reality snaps back, folding in on itself. The room returns to normal - how it was when you first realized you were here, at least.
Slowly, unsteadily, you turn around. Uehara is standing there in the open doorway, hands behind her back. You glance at her nervously. Why is she here?
“So this is where you are! We were worried! Something’s bad happened, Adachi-san, and… Uwaaa~, this place is a bit messy, isn’t it?” she chatters, stepping into the room without any hesitation.
“A-ah… it’s you, Uehara-san. Don’t you see anything weird in here?” you croak.
“Hm? No, nothing. It’s a wreck, but there’s otherwise there's nothing particularly weird at all,” she says cheerily, the pulsating lights and tedious electrical hum apparently escaping her notice.
There is a light, rustling sound.
At the limits of your peripheral vision, you can still see the black garbage bag, sitting in the corner. There… appears to be something else too. An indistinct shadow, slowly but surely squeezing its way out of the bag.
“Uehara-san!” you shout in a panic, still unable to move. “Don’t come in any further! T-there’s-“
“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat, Adachi-san! Look, there are no such things as ghosts,” she smiles. Uehara grabs your hand. Her warmth gently spreads into your palm, up your arm, and you find your legs loosening up. “Come on, let’s go. If this room is making you feel bad, you should just leave it.”
She pulls you and you stumble, staggering past her and outside the room.
Turning around, you call out. “Uehara-“
For some reason, her fingers have loosened its grip and let go of your hand. There’s a puzzled half-smile on her face as she looks at you. “Eh?”
You reach out to Uehara. The door swings shut gently in your face, cutting her away from your sight.
You place your hand against the cool surface of the door half a second too late, pushing against it half-heartedly. It creaks open slightly. “U…Uehara-san?”
A musty, metallic odor.
“Uehara!”
“Uehara-san! Where are you?”
“Shinoseki-san!”
Down the corridor, you hear the shouts of the others. Your hand falls away from the door and it closes again.
“There he is! It’s Shinoseki-san!”
Their footsteps rush down the hallway, surging towards your back. You turn around sluggishly to meet them. Your mind is filled with buzzing static.
Sakimura. Mori. Tokigawa. Okuyama. Maeda. Taketatsu. Sawada. Kayano. Sakaki. Even Mitsuki.
“Shinoseki! You’re here!” shouts Sakimura, reaching you first. “Where did you go off to at this time? Have you seen Uehara? She ran off looking for you!”
“I…”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Shinoseki.” Mori is staring at you intently. His voice is colder and calmer than usual. “Did Uehara meet up with you?”
Your head freezes between a nod and a shake.
***
12:05
A. You tell the whole truth about what you saw in the room, and how Uehara was shut inside. You don’t know whether they will believe you or not, but there’s nothing else you can say at this point.
B. You pretend that you never saw her. It’s not your fault anyway, right? She’s not your responsibility. You told her not to come in. She didn’t have to pull you. You didn’t ask her to. Just pretend nothing happened.
“Adachi-san!” Uehara smiles brightly at the sight of you. You respond with an awkward smile, tugging at your facial muscles to get them where you think they should be.
“Whoa,” she gasps. “W-what was that?”
“W… what was what?” you mumble.
“That face you made just now. It looked funny.”
“I… uh…”
“Was that a smile?” interrupts Sakimura, laughing. “Your facial features were, like… sliding all over the place, man.”
You can feel your ears turning red, but now that you are here you have no choice but to sit down. “W-well… maybe,” you mutter.
“Sorry! I was just a bit surprised, that’s all,” says Uehara. “You don’t smile often, do you?”
“No problem! I can teach you how to do it,” declares Sawada proudly. “I was voted Golden Smile of 2012, did you know that?”
You shake your head silently. You are not very sure how to deal with Sawada – he is even more outgoing than Uehara is. If you are to be uncharitable, you would call him flighty; the man does not give you any sense of reliability.
“Hush, you C-list celebrity,” complains Maeda. “What are you doing here anyway, you rabbit?”
“I’m… I was wondering what everyone was talking about.”
“Oh, is that so? I thought you were here to creep on Uehara. Your eyes have been practically glued to her,” she grins wickedly.
“W-what? I’d… I’d never…” Your flustered, desperate protests lack conviction and eloquence.
“Well… Adachi-san… uh, it’s better to have as many different friends as possible, don’t you think?” smiles Uehara apologetically, unsubtly backing away from you in an overly dramatic and feigned manner.
“I-I-I wasn’t…”
“Maeda-san, please stop picking on Shinoseki-san,” says Taketatsu quietly.
“Oh, you’re no fun, Shinichi.” Maeda stretches her arms, leaning back into an elegant poise.
“Ah, well, perhaps we should get back to what we were talking about before Shinoseki-san joined us?” asks Sakimura, trying to get the conversation started again after your sudden intrusion. “I think we were sharing theories about this place?”
“I still hope it’s some sort of prank show,” laughs Sawada. “That would be fun.”
Maeda snorts condescendingly – though she still manages to make her show of disapproval sound lady-like. “Lowborn minds can only conceive of lowborn theories. We know nothing about this place besides what we can sense… but is it right to follow our senses in the first place? It is only prudent that we never place complete confidence in that by which we have been deceived even once. Okuyama’s disappearance and reappearance prove that much at least. How can we say what is real and what is not?”
“Well, I don’t know about that, Maeda-san,” says Uehara. “We’re all sitting here, aren’t we?”
“Perhaps our minds are here, but our bodies can be a separate matter. It is possible that this is a shared dream, a mass hallucination that we are all experiencing together. If that is the case, any effort we make to escape is only a waste of time,” says Maeda dismissively, shaking her exquisitely manicured hand at Uehara. You have a feeling, somehow, that Maeda is only saying things for the sake of saying them, however – she does not really believe in her own words.
Her words are familiar to you, too.
“Descartes’ Meditations…” you mutter.
“Pardon?” Maeda’s dark blue eyes – are those contacts? – are drawn to you.
“W-well… that’s where you drew it from, right? But… Descartes used his philosophy of doubt as an argument that a God and the material world exist despite doubting his own senses… if you were to posit that we were trapped in a hallucination it would hardly be the act of God but a mighty demon as in the First Meditation… if that were truly the case, in the presence of supernatural evil, would it not be helpful to seek the aid of supernatural good to combat it… and that means it is not impossible to escape… besides, the concept of mind being non-corporeal is subject to debate as we cannot claim that before we know everything there is to know about our brains…” You mumble softly at length in a disorderly, rambling manner, keeping your eyes grounded on the floor. As your voice trails off, you notice that everyone is silent. You apologize. “S-sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything…”
“I… didn’t really catch any of that,” says Uehara, “Was it supposed to make sense?”
“I didn’t understand anything from the start, ahaha,” laughs Sakimura uneasily.
“You really like to mumble absolute garbage, don’t you?” Maeda peers at you, clicking her tongue in annoyance. “I’m not even going to bother refuting what you said. I-It’d only be a waste of my time.” She seems slightly uncertain in her tone.
“S-sorry, Maeda-san…” you apologize. “I was just… thinking out loud.”
Her expression changes slightly, muttering something inaudibly before shaking her head. When Maeda looks at you again, she asks, “Hey. Rabbit. Have you ever been a guest at our- I mean, Kaimei’s mansion in Yamanashi? About twelve… no, thirteen years ago?”
Kaimei… the name is familiar. It used to be one of the largest zaibatsus in the country, though you seem to recall that it fell on some very hard times about a decade ago, and are now a shadow of their former power and influence. You do not remember ever staying at their place, however… though that could easily be part of the memories that you have lost. It would be scary if you ever did; you, staying in a massive mansion? The very thought of it is laughable.
You shake your head. “I… I don’t think so.”
There is a complicated expression on her face that you cannot read. “Yes, that’s right. Of course you wouldn’t have…” Surprisingly, Maeda laughs out loud, tossing her hair back. “On second thought, you wouldn’t even get past the front gates with that impoverished, creepy mug of yours. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like I was asking because I was interested in you or anything.”
“You should restrain yourself a bit, Maeda-san,” says Taketatsu as calmly as usual. “We are not in a situation suited for the usual... behaviour.”
“Sorry, Shinichi. I do need to release my stress every once in a while. It’s healthy. And Rabbit-san here is fine with it. Aren’t you?”
You do not respond.
“I’ve been wondering, Maeda-san. What’s your relationship with Taketatsu-san, actually? Are you two just business partners?” asks Sawada, attempting to change the topic.
“Oh, we’re engaged,” she says casually.
“We did not mean to hide it. It is just nothing important,” adds Taketatsu.
“Wow, really? Do you have a ring?” asks Uehara excitedly.
Maeda giggles and begins to flaunt it.
As the group begin talking at length about engagements and proposals – something that you have nothing to say about, you suddenly feel extremely weary, even more so than usual. I should probably get some rest, you think.
track: room
Sighing, you look to the side, glancing at the garbage bag in the corner. The black plastic stands out against the white tiles, white walls, and white ceiling of the room. Where other parts of the hospital had been strangely neat and tidy in the wake of everyone’s disappearance, here things are less ordered. The metal trolleys have been up-ended, leaving expensive medical equipment scattered ignominiously all over the floor. It looks like someone has gone on a rampage in here. The harsh, bright lights flicker and cycle, dimming and brightening over and over as a grating electrical hum pulsates deep into your ears. It digs in. And in. The sound irritates your mind so very much. You scratch at your temples.
Wait. Why am I here again? Where is this place?
Wasn’t I sitting with Uehara and the rest just a moment ago?
Again there is a gap in your memories… an impenetrable wall that you are unable to surpass.
Suddenly, a single, powerful thought appears in your mind.
I… I was looking for something. Someone.
There is a light, rustling sound.
Your gaze hovers over the garbage bag that had been lying there. It is tied up and knotted with a blood-stained string. As you look at it, you gradually realize that the bag is moving slightly. The shiny black plastic rises and falls in a gentle pattern. The material appears to be expanding and contracting almost like a breathing, living being. Then, you notice the liquid pooling underneath the bag. At first glance it looks to be as black as the plastic itself, but beneath the slow cyclic strobing of the lights you catch a glint of a dark, deep crimson. It flows viscously, seeping into the lines between the tiles. Travelling along the channels, the liquid slowly creeps towards you bit by bit.
The garbage bag jerks visibly. The air seems to be getting thicker and heavier, weighing you down. Your limbs are rooted to the spot – try as you may, they refuse to obey you. Your breathing becomes shallow and fast, the pounding of your heart loud enough that you can feel the blood rushing through your neck.
Beneath the clean, white walls, a weathered, pale green surface begins to bleed through. The bright room before you ebbs away gradually as the lights flicker and begin going dark.
“Adachi-san?”
It’s Uehara’s voice. Behind you.
Reality snaps back, folding in on itself. The room returns to normal - how it was when you first realized you were here, at least.
Slowly, unsteadily, you turn around. Uehara is standing there in the open doorway, hands behind her back. You glance at her nervously. Why is she here?
“So this is where you are! We were worried! Something’s bad happened, Adachi-san, and… Uwaaa~, this place is a bit messy, isn’t it?” she chatters, stepping into the room without any hesitation.
“A-ah… it’s you, Uehara-san. Don’t you see anything weird in here?” you croak.
“Hm? No, nothing. It’s a wreck, but there’s otherwise there's nothing particularly weird at all,” she says cheerily, the pulsating lights and tedious electrical hum apparently escaping her notice.
There is a light, rustling sound.
At the limits of your peripheral vision, you can still see the black garbage bag, sitting in the corner. There… appears to be something else too. An indistinct shadow, slowly but surely squeezing its way out of the bag.
“Uehara-san!” you shout in a panic, still unable to move. “Don’t come in any further! T-there’s-“
“Don’t be such a scaredy-cat, Adachi-san! Look, there are no such things as ghosts,” she smiles. Uehara grabs your hand. Her warmth gently spreads into your palm, up your arm, and you find your legs loosening up. “Come on, let’s go. If this room is making you feel bad, you should just leave it.”
She pulls you and you stumble, staggering past her and outside the room.
Turning around, you call out. “Uehara-“
For some reason, her fingers have loosened its grip and let go of your hand. There’s a puzzled half-smile on her face as she looks at you. “Eh?”
You reach out to Uehara. The door swings shut gently in your face, cutting her away from your sight.
You place your hand against the cool surface of the door half a second too late, pushing against it half-heartedly. It creaks open slightly. “U…Uehara-san?”
A musty, metallic odor.
“Uehara!”
“Uehara-san! Where are you?”
“Shinoseki-san!”
Down the corridor, you hear the shouts of the others. Your hand falls away from the door and it closes again.
“There he is! It’s Shinoseki-san!”
Their footsteps rush down the hallway, surging towards your back. You turn around sluggishly to meet them. Your mind is filled with buzzing static.
Sakimura. Mori. Tokigawa. Okuyama. Maeda. Taketatsu. Sawada. Kayano. Sakaki. Even Mitsuki.
“Shinoseki! You’re here!” shouts Sakimura, reaching you first. “Where did you go off to at this time? Have you seen Uehara? She ran off looking for you!”
“I…”
“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Shinoseki.” Mori is staring at you intently. His voice is colder and calmer than usual. “Did Uehara meet up with you?”
Your head freezes between a nod and a shake.
***
12:05
A. You tell the whole truth about what you saw in the room, and how Uehara was shut inside. You don’t know whether they will believe you or not, but there’s nothing else you can say at this point.
B. You pretend that you never saw her. It’s not your fault anyway, right? She’s not your responsibility. You told her not to come in. She didn’t have to pull you. You didn’t ask her to. Just pretend nothing happened.
Last edited:
a bear named spigot
Arcane
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2012
- Messages
- 784
nearly nine hours gone, that's a good solid sleep
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