week 0 - training facility

[murdergame]

blood match week zero



week zero

When you first wake up in your room, an announcement will play on the television.

You’ll be spending your first week before the game officially starts at a vast facility that has been completely submerged underwater. This facility consists of a central hub surrounded by four smaller spherical buildings. You can get to each subsection by either taking a shuttle or walking across a long glass tunnel.

Setting
Competitors
Private Conversations

Comments

[cygni]

AKB0048. [ said patiently. ] The story's a little long, but I think it's short for a town called Akihabara.

Heh heh. I'm not much of a lyricist, sadly.

[cygni]

[ she bows ]

Thank you. I'm glad even in a place like this, I can still entertain.

[cygni]

[ She can sense it well enough, being quiet and reserved herself when singing isn't involved, so she makes sure to speak patiently. ]

"Heavy Rotation" is about falling in love and feeling light-hearted, mainly. "Korogare ni Ishi Nare"...is a bit more fitting to our situation, I think. Overcoming hardships no matter how much the world beats you down.

[existency]

That is... good.

[ There's not a hesitation in how he says it at least, but more like he's uncertain about expressing it at all. But he nods with more certainty. ]

I think bards sing about that a lot. Leiliana did. She doesn't anymore, but she used to. [ He knows that she won't know who that is, but he shakes his head lightly. ] It's wonderful, though. Songs soothe the hurt.

[onewith]

Give it... a try?

[Mayu repeats the words with an expression of slight concern, and her gaze flicks to the whip.] Is that really okay?

[onewith]

There will probably be rocks wherever we end up going, but I don't know if they'll give us twine...

[Only time will tell. Mayu, for her part, wants to learn to do this with as minimal a selection of tools as possible so that if something does happen to keep them from having more than the very basics, they'll still be okay.

She nods thoughtfully when she sees the spark, and holds out her hands.]

May I try it again? [Ideally, since they're partners, they'll stick together, but she doesn't want to get too dependent on him and wind up in a bad situation if he's not around for whatever reason.]

[onewith]

No, I haven't...

[She shakes her head and then frowns down at the trap.]

Did I do something wrong with it? [He sounds like he knows - or at least has more experience with traps than he does - so she'll defer to his experience here.] ...a lot of the things here, I'll be learning for the first time.

[onewith]

[Mayu isn't really sure what to make of that, and her expression makes that rather clear. She looks almost like she wants to ask about Holden's brother and his nickname, but before she can, he's already asking her a question.]

...not really. But, I'm sure... even if I don't see something, someone else might.

[onewith]

You'll... have the chance to get to know her better, now. That might also be a good thing, if she becomes a friend through all of this.

[Provided one or both of them don't, y'know, end up dead.]

[onewith]

[Reality, huh.]

You mean... that most of us are never going to go home again?

[AGAIN WITH THE CREEPY DEPRESSING SHIT, MAYU.]

[bloodvow]

I'm going on ahead, then. Finish your food. [It was easy to fall back into the patterns of things, already. Then again, Tokaku needed some space to organize her thoughts, as well.]

[itadakimayuyu]

How do you make people happy?

[cygni]

Ah, a friend? [ 'Bard'...she hasn't heard that term in the longest time. It was the sort of things you heard about in instructional classes: historic performers, long, long before the wars. Or if you wanted to sound silly and pretentious. She has a hunch it wasn't the latter, with this guy. ] If you don't mind me asking, why did she stop singing?

[ that's never a good thing!!! ]

Well, if there's anything else you'd like to hear, I think the DJ might grant me one or two more songs tonight.

[cygni]

[ She also nods.

Atsuko attempts to open her mouth and respond, but ultimately closes it around three times. Eventually she just smacks her hand on the table to bring herself back to her senses. ]

Maybe I should eat. What's the best they've got, here? [ mayu is the food connoisseur, after all ]

[cygni]

[ fittingly, she looks a little apprehensive ]

Are you sure that's a smart idea, Miss?

[itadakimayuyu]

[Mayu takes that moment to take a few more bites of her meal.]

Depends what you want. Looks like they'll make just about anything.

[She sighs, though.] It's not as good as back home.

[cygni]

Something light. Not too spicy.

[ the faintest of smiles ] You really adore Chef Papa's cooking, don't you?

[ as if that needed confirmation ]

[itadakimayuyu]

Just ask for something like that.

[There's a pause, but she smiles a bit at the question.] Who doesn't?

[existency]

[ He cants his head lightly as he lowers it, clearly thinking about the answer to her question, but it's not the question she's expecting, probably. Some of the people in the Inquisition were Cole's friends, like The Iron Bull, but Leliana was different. He's not sure how to answer that question, so he doesn't. ]

She didn't, not really. She still sings, sometimes, when it's needed, but mostly where she thinks no one can hear her. Softly, in the gardens, late at night so that no one wanders by to hear, and in the gardens so that her voice doesn't echo as much as it would in her tower. She thinks she's too busy, thinks that part of her life is over, since she has purpose now, because she is one of the hands—

[ But he cuts off abruptly, since he remembers what people have told him about his rambling, and here where there are so many strangers, he's trying to be mindful. It's like he had been lost in a thought, so he looks back up with an apologetic expression. ]

I am sorry.

[ People seemed to like it when he apologized for the weird things he said, at least. It's a bit hard to understand, since he was always just speaking the truth, but he's learning. ]

You should sing what makes you happiest. I would like to hear songs like that.

[onewith]

[Mayu enters the room with the intention of finding a book on first aid; the limp she walks with is a rather good indication of why. She shouldn't be surprised (this place is open to everyone else who's been spirited away here, after all) but seeing Kyouya look up as she enters still seems to catch her off-guard. She brings a hand up to muffle a slight gasp.]

Um— Am I... bothering you?

[cygni]

You don't need to apologize.

That's a shame, though. Someone thinking that singing isn't important anymore, because it was a silly thing that happened in the past, and they've got more significant things to do now [ ... ] Too many people seem to think that, nowadays.

[ a pause ]

Wise words, sir. Would you like to hear my favorite song, in that case?

[dramatist]

[Nodding in response, his attention drifts away from the food again. Apparently the roll is the only thing he wanted.]

I see! What country is that, exactly? The last person I spoke to forgot to mention it. [More like he was busy being a CONFUSED GRUMPY GRANDPA. Help Saitou Make Friends 2k15.

As for the question, his answer is pretty much immediate.]

The knowledge! —Well, the books are all a little dire and so are those instructional videos, but where I come from, we don't have easily accessible media or such advanced electronics. [Which is wording things very generously, considering he's from the 1700s and even a digital camera had been surprising the first time he had seen one.]

But the people that I've met so far have shown me a lot.

[dramatist]

Are there? I've only met one or two other Jacks in my time. [Looking impressed! It's not a very common name where he comes from, or maybe it's just because he has Main Characteritis.

But the question seems to garner his attention again succinctly. With a nod of "HELL YEAH":]

I do! Oh, but I'm not sure I would know how to play any of the ones here... Chess is a favorite, though!

[dramatist]

Ah— sorry, sorry!

[First and foremost since it's clear Cole took to that even worse than expected. POOR SKITTISH GHOST NERD... The question gets a nod shortly after, at least, and an affirmative:]

Mmhm! But I think everyone I've met here so far would.

[dramatist]

...Maybe you should try out some of that armor!