[LP CYOA] Spiral

[Jester]

C1 - big damn Hero, or Villain, or whatever we play.

 

[Ifeex]

Cx.

 

[Akkudakku]

D>A2 > C2

Wonder if we let her sleep if she will die like in night 1.

 

[Grimgravy]

C3

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

I'm going to gamble - big gamble - that surviving the night in D will let us retain some or all of our memories. Of course, then again, maybe exorcising every ghost here is the real objective. I think the charm Uehara stole might be the key to getting rid of the pool ghost. Even if it isn't, we need to find out what the deal is with her for next time. But then again, maybe we should go find whatever is left of Mitsuki. Hmm...

D>B2>C2

 

[oscar]

D

 

[Nyarmith]

D

 

[TOME]

C1

 

[treave]

Current tally:

A3 - 1
B1 - 1
C1 - 3
C2 - 1
C3 - 2
Cx - 1
D - 5

Post-flop:

A3 - 1
C1 - 4
C2 - 1
C3 - 2
D - 6

I'll probably close it in 24 hours or so.

 

[Nevill]

Oh, C options are counted separately?

Alright then.

C1>C2.

 

[Tigranes]

Hrm. We probably can't stay alive indefinitely in any incarnation without finding a solution, and we won't find out a lot by staying inside. (I mean, what do we expect will happen? Either nothing, or the evil forces somehow break Amano's imperfect barriers - are the most likely.)

But Amano clearly needs rest and if we move out on our own I very much doubt we will rendezvous again - we're asking for trouble with no real plan, no real info on Mitsuki's whereabouts, a bruised ankle.

I know we're not DISCUSS!'ing it much these days, but what's the reasoning for other people's votes? Maybe we can talk about this a little bit?

C3

 

[Nevill]

I know we're not DISCUSS!'ing it much these days, but what's the reasoning for other people's votes? Maybe we can talk about this a little bit?

Here is mine.

Mitsuki is important for some reason. Assuming it was Taketatsu who cut Mori in the first night (plausible, as he was the one with the knife), he might have attempted the same thing there (there is also a mention that he got his hands on a gun, and we know who has a gun). This is why Mori was telling us, of all people, to find Mitsuki and save her - we may have been the only other person left alive as far as he knew.

Mori knows something - at least more than we do, - and despite him being highly suspicious of us, we know him to be one of the 'good' guys, so following his lead may be not such a bad idea.

I have also commented on the fact that Mitsuki seems special, even considering the unique circumstances that brought all these people together.

I can't shake off the feeling that Mitsuki is one of the key figures here. She is the only child delivered to a place that has a history of preying on children. She also has a heightened spiritual connection, which separates her from the rest. Could it be that she is a sacrifice to appease the spirits of this place? Could it be that the treatment she receives from the hospital is not a treatment at all, but a preparation for something more sinister?

Compare it with:

After that I lugged her with me until I met up with that man, Taketatsu. He grabbed her from me, screaming something about using her as a gift. I… I couldn’t help, I guess.”

To me it suggests that tracking Mitsuki is not just a whim, but an attempt to uncover the plot. Then add to this that we have become her caretaker of sorts, and you will have both logical and emotional reasons to do so.

I assume - judging by the number of C votes - that most people feel that way, though we are of different opinions on how to do this.

I believe that time is of the essense, and the presence of two 'there is no rush' options implies to me that there is a rush, and that something will change if we do not hurry. Considering our situation, it probably won't be something we will like.

I have no illusions about it, though, this might well be a one-way ticket. This is fine by me.

I don't think we will see Amanozaki again with C1, but I also doubt we will see Mitsuki with C3, and that is what is important to me.

I think pushing both Amanozaki and ourselves to our limits may be the way to go, which means C2. Yes, she is even more likely to die in this scenario, but I am of the opinion that everyone will die in the next 40 minutes anyway.

 

[Baltika9]

Cx

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I know we're not DISCUSS!'ing it much these days, but what's the reasoning for other people's votes? Maybe we can talk about this a little bit?

Reasoning? I'm just taking the most stupid and suicidal seeming option possible.

Or I'm not, no fucking idea mang.

 

[TOME]

I want to survive one night at least. Only 45 minutes left so I think if we let her rest, it will be past midnight when we are ready to move. And then I want to go after Mitsuki.

 

[treave]

Final tally:

A3 - 1
B1 - 1
C1 - 3
C2 - 1
C3 - 3
Cx - 2
D - 5

Post-flop:

A3 - 1
C1 - 3
C2 - 1
C3 - 3
Cx - 2
D - 6

Alright, D it is.

 

[treave]

You decide to wait, and rest, and see. The dead are roaming the halls outside and so far this place has been safe: staying in here is likely a better bet than venturing out. You can’t save anyone if you are dead, after all. Surely someone will come looking for you sooner or later. Rubbing her arm, Amanozaki finds a comfortable place to curl up. “Wake me up if there’s… y’know… anything,” she mumbles. Her eyelids are already slipping shut. Soon, the constant drumming of the rain and the intermittent thunder are the only sounds that you hear in the darkened room. Perhaps the dawn will come soon, and with it safety…

***

You blink your eyes. It takes you a while before you notice the change in the atmosphere – the rain has stopped. Did I fall asleep? You are not sure, but you think it could not have been long. It is still dark outside. Wondering if Amanozaki is awake, you turn to her.

“A-“ You pause, hesitant. Why is she sleeping with a cloth over her face? She is laid out on the floor, her hands by her side, and you are rather certain that the position is not how she went to sleep.

track: whimper

The candles go out, plunging the entire room into a stifling blackness.

Slowly, gradually, you begin to hear a woman's croaking whimper, in between the sounds of your own breathing.

Although soft, it seeps into your ears like a worm wriggling into the deepest depths of your brain.

Amanozaki? No… it does not really sound like her.

The pitch is different – breathier – and the hoarse, hissing rattle sounds like someone trying to cry out with their throat cut. There is a faint scuttling accompanying it. As if someone – or something – is crawling about the room. You stare into the darkness, sweat gathering in your palms. Is there movement in the gloom? Or is it just your imagination? Has Amanozaki’s barrier failed? Or…

Your fingers bite into the palms of your hands as you tense yourself up, wondering if you should call out to Amanozaki.

A sudden banging at the door gives you a jolt.

Shinoseki! Shinoseki, are you in there?

A faint voice can be heard from the other side.

Amanozaki’s voice?

You look around in confusion. It is too dark to make anything out clearly, but surely Amanozaki was still asleep in here before the candles went out? You did see her, did you not? You can barely perceive the outline of her sleeping form.

Shinoseki, get out of the room now! Quickly! There’s not much time!

The voice shouts frantically, even as the whimpering croak grows louder in your ears, drawing closer and closer.

***

23:59

A. You make a frantic dash for the door. It is not Amanozaki in here with you.

B. You hesitantly try to wake up the Amanozaki inside the room. The one outside could be an impostor.

C. You don’t know what to believe anymore; you close your eyes, shut your ears, and try to block everything out as you rock on your haunches.

 

[Nevill]

*sigh* Goddamit, bros.

A.

 

[LWC1996]

Wow. More life and death decisions... Hmmm....

B.

Choosing this coz Amanozaki said to wake her up if anything happens. And this qualifies as "anything happening."

IMHO the whatever/whoever outside calling is an imposter, trying to lure us out of the protection of the room. I sure as hell am not gonna fall for the horror movie cliche by leaving the safety of the room!

 

[Nevill]

'Safety', he says.

I won't pretend to know what is happening, but there are things to consider.

- Normally, when the lights in the room go out and weird shit starts happening, it indicates that whatever hostile presence there is is already inside. That suggests to me that the barriers have failed.
- There were hints that Uehara was dead during the first night by the time we've met with her. I am wondering if we haven't experienced the same phenomenon with Amanozaki, and if it wasn't her corpse here all along. That would still raise a question of who is calling us from the other side of the door, however.
- Amanozaki have mentioned that the ghosts may 'imprint' themselves on the living. Given that our perspective is not the most reliable (seeing how we are constantly spacing out for half a day), this may be a trap crafted for us. Granted, the 'imprinting' we've experienced didn't exactly work that way.
- The ghosts we've seen never tried to communicate with us, much less speak to us. Not Amanozaki's corpse in the first night, nor the entity who killed Mitsuki, nor the director, nor the pool ghost before Amanozaki's charm affected her. They were all malicious, but none of them were cunning or even intelligent. Was that because there was no point in subtlety before, or is the voice from behind the door different from them?

My take is that Amanozaki is dead and something tries to warn us, though of course I can't be sure. If I had to guess, when we walk out we won't find Amanozaki outside, but we will leave the room at least.

Or it might be a trick targeting us as the most unstable individual here, and Amanozaki may be able to fix the breach in the defences once we wake her up. Only one way to find out.


Wait, I have only just noticed...

You begin telling Amanozaki about what you saw when the black woman grabbed you: the empty swimming pool, the fatal fall, and the girl that looked like Uehara.

First time we hear that the girl looked like Uehara. I mean, I speculated that the girl in the vision might have been her family, but nothing in the text ever commented on her appearance before now.

 

[Grimgravy]

A

 

[Nyarmith]

A Oh shit.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

C!

 

[oscar]

A

 

[LWC1996]

Don't you guys think though how Shinoseki is being conveniently interrupted whenever he's thinking about waking Amanozaki? And that whatever/whoever may be trying to get us to leave the room before the clock runs out?

The haunting is almost identical to the scene in the first chapter, including the cloth over her face, and that hasn't really happened thus far in the LP. It cud be a fake out, you guys. But that's just MHO.

And our ghostly bruise? It usually hurts more when there's a spirit around, doesn't it? Kinda like Spiderman's spider senses tingling when there's danger. Aaaannnddd... it did stop hurting once we entered the Barrier Room. So if it didn't act up again, it should mean that the barrier is still intact.