Baltika9
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2012
- Messages
- 9,611
So the old man is Dio, then?I said it was a prequel, didn't I?
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[LP CYOA] Spiral
- Thread starter treave
- Start date
a cut of domestic sheep prime
Guest
The old man is Cooper. Dio was created within Epic's storyline, not before it.So the old man is Dio, then?I said it was a prequel, didn't I?
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Yes.
First, it is a dimensional bond, not exactly a physical/emotional one which I assume is a separate thing.
Second, she is only as evil as we allow her to be. For now. If she becomes strong enough to dictate us terms, things may change, I guess.
I am more worried about if weakening the hospital does not make it easier for the old man to subjugate it.
Still... I guess we could skip a few feeding sessions from now on. Balance in all things etc.
First, it is a dimensional bond, not exactly a physical/emotional one which I assume is a separate thing.
Second, she is only as evil as we allow her to be. For now. If she becomes strong enough to dictate us terms, things may change, I guess.
I am more worried about if weakening the hospital does not make it easier for the old man to subjugate it.
Still... I guess we could skip a few feeding sessions from now on. Balance in all things etc.
Nevill
Arcane
- Joined
- Jun 6, 2009
- Messages
- 11,211
Alright. So I guess it is time for various unsubstantiated speculations again.
Scrap the sappy love story about Juuzo and some girl. Someone that ruthless probably has different priorities. What does he want, though?
We know from the latest update that Seika serves as a consciousness observing this world.
What would happen if we remove Seika from her place, or save her? Would the world collapse, or will it revert to its original and incomprehensible state? Is that state the Abyss of Souls? After all, we got there right after we left Seika's domain.
Regardless, it is implied she has some control over it, though it is a far cry from mastery. Perhaps it really is like a dream where you have control over little details but can't direct the narrative as you please.
We know that the pool ghost came to our aid even despite it thinking us his/her betrayer, and there are always notes and clues appearing throughout the nights. I do not know whom to attribute this interference to, but Seika looks like a good candidate in absense of a better explanation.
We also know that the old man wants to 'take control'. Assuming that this refers to the same thing, then the old man would have to displace Seika as an observer. To do that, he needs a path to her.
All I know is that we are treading dangerously close to the old man's plot. Now that Uehara searches for Seika, and we are bound by a similar goal (to rescue her, to prove our intentions to Shizuka or to get to the bottom of what happened here - it does not matter what our motive is), I bet the old man will be tailing our progress and trying to get a piggyback ride. We should be mindful of our own accomplishments so that they could not be used against us.
We probably should start subverting his influence on Uehara, too, regardless of how one feels about her. Someone who remembers everything is extremely valuable as an ally and just as dangerous as an enemy when you yourself do not.
What does the old man hope to achieve? Who knows? If it isn't the 'resurrection of all the dead', then my bet is on immortality. The man is powerful, he is wealthy, but he is old as well. What better purpose his power and wealth could find if not attaining dominion over the matters of life and death? Of course, it could be something less banal, but we don't know much about him except for him being a lead of two projects and being complicit in Kaimei schemes.
The obsession that baron Sakaguchi Kuroki had with Hermeticism might or might not be a clue to what this is about. Here is what it had to say about the fall of Man.
Seeking mastery over the astral world could be seen as an attempt to 'rise' again.
Although there is some passage that unsettles me, with all the mentions of experimenting on children.
Scrap the sappy love story about Juuzo and some girl. Someone that ruthless probably has different priorities. What does he want, though?
We know from the latest update that Seika serves as a consciousness observing this world.
To be an observer is to give the world form. That might explain why this place looks like a hospital, despite it being populated by ghosts who died long before it was even built.
What would happen if we remove Seika from her place, or save her? Would the world collapse, or will it revert to its original and incomprehensible state? Is that state the Abyss of Souls? After all, we got there right after we left Seika's domain.
Regardless, it is implied she has some control over it, though it is a far cry from mastery. Perhaps it really is like a dream where you have control over little details but can't direct the narrative as you please.
We know that the pool ghost came to our aid even despite it thinking us his/her betrayer, and there are always notes and clues appearing throughout the nights. I do not know whom to attribute this interference to, but Seika looks like a good candidate in absense of a better explanation.
We also know that the old man wants to 'take control'. Assuming that this refers to the same thing, then the old man would have to displace Seika as an observer. To do that, he needs a path to her.
It appears that he searched for such a path himself by collecting the pieces of Seika's essence, but after having failed for a few times he had changed his tactics. He let Uehara do his work for him. That means he can still profit off of it.
Some last step is required to open the gate to the core of this mess. Are we really the key, or could anyone serve as such? Is the sacrifice even a part of it? It is unlikely that Seika guided us to the talismans just so we could get ourselves killed, but what it the actual process involved?Uehara said:
All I know is that we are treading dangerously close to the old man's plot. Now that Uehara searches for Seika, and we are bound by a similar goal (to rescue her, to prove our intentions to Shizuka or to get to the bottom of what happened here - it does not matter what our motive is), I bet the old man will be tailing our progress and trying to get a piggyback ride. We should be mindful of our own accomplishments so that they could not be used against us.
We probably should start subverting his influence on Uehara, too, regardless of how one feels about her. Someone who remembers everything is extremely valuable as an ally and just as dangerous as an enemy when you yourself do not.
What does the old man hope to achieve? Who knows? If it isn't the 'resurrection of all the dead', then my bet is on immortality. The man is powerful, he is wealthy, but he is old as well. What better purpose his power and wealth could find if not attaining dominion over the matters of life and death? Of course, it could be something less banal, but we don't know much about him except for him being a lead of two projects and being complicit in Kaimei schemes.
The obsession that baron Sakaguchi Kuroki had with Hermeticism might or might not be a clue to what this is about. Here is what it had to say about the fall of Man.
The God then created androgynous man, in God's own image, and handed over his creation.
Man carefully observed the creation of nous and received from God man's authority over all creation. Man then rose up above the spheres' paths in order to better view creation. He then showed the form of the All to Nature. Nature fell in love with the All, and man, seeing his reflection in water, fell in love with Nature and wished to dwell in it. Immediately, man became one with Nature and became a slave to its limitations, such as gender and sleep. In this way, man became speechless (having lost "the Word") and he became "double", being mortal in body yet immortal in spirit, and having authority over all creation yet subject to destiny.
Man carefully observed the creation of nous and received from God man's authority over all creation. Man then rose up above the spheres' paths in order to better view creation. He then showed the form of the All to Nature. Nature fell in love with the All, and man, seeing his reflection in water, fell in love with Nature and wished to dwell in it. Immediately, man became one with Nature and became a slave to its limitations, such as gender and sleep. In this way, man became speechless (having lost "the Word") and he became "double", being mortal in body yet immortal in spirit, and having authority over all creation yet subject to destiny.
Although there is some passage that unsettles me, with all the mentions of experimenting on children.
What was that about? Could the old man be something else entirely?
Nevill
Arcane
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Next. I will have to concede that this scene makes much more sense if it is the recollection of our first meeting with Seika.
This is consistent with a strange and familiar sensation we got from touching Uehara's hand, and with his resurging memories in the 4th chapter.
Alright, so why did we have this vision if it is not in any way connected to the pool ghost? And who is it?
If the man in question is Seiji, then Amanozaki's explanation makes no sense. It certainly wasn't the ghost's memories that we were seeing. Still, if Seika and a pool ghost are connected (as evidenced by the ghost coming to our defence at the end of the fourth chapter), it may be within the realms of possibility that it was her who stayed the ghost's hand, and we got a flashback of Seika through the combination of their connection and our own suppressed memories. It is a convoluted theory, but I have nothing else on hand.
There may be a third element at play here. We may also share a connection with the pool ghost through one of the voices. It was implied that the ghost mistook us for another. The cause for that may have been an imprint of another person on our psyche that have confused her sense of spiritual 'smell'.
Who is the pool ghost, then? A random victim of the Kaimei group who tried to expose them? If it was Juuzo who killed her, does that mean we have a part of his psyche with us? We have suspected as much, yet it is still uncertain.
The note that talks about the victim, who wrote it?
At first, I attributed it to the director, but it is obviously not the case since now we know Maeda Keiji was the director - and we know for a fact that he did harm children. That only leaves Juuzo or an unknown suspect X. Given how tight is the cast, my bet is on Juuzo.
Could the pool ghost be Shinohara Madoka?
If we don't discard Amanozaki's rant in its entirety, we might have had our vision about Seika due to her and the ghost meeting before... but it would be impossible for an victim from the 70s and the latest descendants of Tendou family to know each other in life since one had to be dead while the other wasn't born yet. We are talking spiritual matters here, though, so they could probably meet in other ways.
The question might yet become relevant as the pool ghost looks like one of the bigger players in the game.
Next. There is a question of Shinohara Seiji's motivations and allegiances.
We know by now that he was head over heels for Seika and could not be the one who killed her - not willingly, at least. The credit for this probably goes to Juuzo. Our role in other events is much more murky, however.
Who called Amanozaki, Mori and Uehara here? For some reason I doubt Juuzo, who is by now one of the most powerful and influental people in society, would need to resort to typing out letters to unknown self-proclaimed psychics or sending messages from an unknown phone number to Seika's sister. That part of the plot looks like our doing.
Maeda could have been summoned by leaking a rumor that we are alive and are a coworker at one of the corporations involved in the research. I guess Sakaki could be lured here by a promise of a scoop or by an investigation into the fate of his colleague.
For a while I doubted that Taketatsu coming here is something we did. Do we have that sort of power over a man of his stature? Although...
This bit of information suggests some prior communication. He is probably someone we screwed over by a false promise... but of what? He does not look like someone who would enter here if he knew what he was getting into.
Though we have 9 hours crossed out during our first night. That is plenty of time for negotiating. Regardless of that, even if we didn't talk to him once before that, his arrival is still something we could have planned for.
As an aside, it is interesting to note the significance Taketatsu places on the number thirteen, as opposed to twelve which is 'normal'. Of course, by now we have seen nights with more than 13 people, so who knows what is and isn't normal anymore? Might be a rambling of a half-mad person.
So, if we agree that the plot or at least a part of the plot is our doing... what does that say about Shinohara Seiji?
Is he an anti-hero, or a straight up villain? Did he intend to throw these people under a bus to get what he wants, or did he use them as a last resort and planned to get everyone out of here safely? Is he motivated by love, or is there something else driving him?
I'd like to hope that he was a decent man, if only to prove Uehara wrong, but I am losing that faith fast. Our of the voices, not one was raised in Uehara's defence when her fate was being decided. If Seiji's was among them, it looks like she was invited here just as an unwitting pawn.
For the moment, the subplot looks like this: there is some goal that Juuzo tries to achieve, he has sacrificed a lot of people for that goal including our sweetheart (and presumably also her mother, and earlier, maybe his own wife), and we are trying to get back at him and get her back. We have also tried to pre-buff ourselves with the help of the Omoikane project only to lose our memories halfway through the process, making the whole clusterfuck that much more epic.
Except our memories are not really lost, but fragmented, and we are working on reassembling them. Could it have been a part of our original plan as well? What for, though?
Other subplots/themes:
- The evolution of the place and its connection with the supernatural: Yomiki village - Sakagutchi mansion - Nazi vault - Kaimei Hospital - Ikei Hospital. Presumably connected with Tendou family and Juuzo's search.
- The rise and fall of the Kaimei group and Maedas in particular and their displacement by the Shinoharas, presumably after the scandal with the fire.
I guess clarifying Juuzo's goal would go a long way to piecing it all together. That's some interesting projects he is backing.
A fall.
An empty pool.
Her skull feels strangely light. In front of her, blood – her blood – is seeping into the gaps between the blue tiles that are so unlike the polished marble of the hospital’s restaurant, where you are eating. He frowns at the girl interrupting your lunch, but it does not seem to work. She ties her long hair back, with no concern for your displeasure, and begins tucking in. The food at this university is way too expensive, she says, and she asks how he can afford to eat here every day. You don’t, and he has never paid for a single meal in his life. You wouldn’t know. Laughing, the girl introduces herself and stretches out her hand for a shake.
Her hand.
That was all he could reach.
With that memory, your chest burns and you realize with a start that the front pocket of your shirt has burst into blue flames.
An empty pool.
Her skull feels strangely light. In front of her, blood – her blood – is seeping into the gaps between the blue tiles that are so unlike the polished marble of the hospital’s restaurant, where you are eating. He frowns at the girl interrupting your lunch, but it does not seem to work. She ties her long hair back, with no concern for your displeasure, and begins tucking in. The food at this university is way too expensive, she says, and she asks how he can afford to eat here every day. You don’t, and he has never paid for a single meal in his life. You wouldn’t know. Laughing, the girl introduces herself and stretches out her hand for a shake.
Her hand.
That was all he could reach.
With that memory, your chest burns and you realize with a start that the front pocket of your shirt has burst into blue flames.
Alright, so why did we have this vision if it is not in any way connected to the pool ghost? And who is it?
When you finish, she sighs and says, “That’s not all too unusual. The dead, especially the powerful ones, are a mass of psychic energy that can easily imprint onto the living. That’s why you hear all those stories about seeing the ghost’s living memories, right? That’s probably what happened here: you saw its memories, from its perspective. I’m… not too sure about that girl,” – from the displeased tone in her voice, you know that she is talking about Uehara, “–but perhaps our ghost met her before. In terms of perspective you were never in Uehara’s spot, were you?”
“Well, no,” you admit. “I sometimes found myself in the man’s place.”
“Then the man is the ghost,” concludes Amanozaki. “Nothing complicated to see here.”
“But the ghost was female…”
“Well, I couldn’t tell whether it was a guy or not, with all those disgusting black stuff swimming around it” she snorts. “Are you sure it’s a woman?”
It certainly felt that way, but…
“Well, no,” you admit. “I sometimes found myself in the man’s place.”
“Then the man is the ghost,” concludes Amanozaki. “Nothing complicated to see here.”
“But the ghost was female…”
“Well, I couldn’t tell whether it was a guy or not, with all those disgusting black stuff swimming around it” she snorts. “Are you sure it’s a woman?”
It certainly felt that way, but…
There may be a third element at play here. We may also share a connection with the pool ghost through one of the voices. It was implied that the ghost mistook us for another. The cause for that may have been an imprint of another person on our psyche that have confused her sense of spiritual 'smell'.
Who is the pool ghost, then? A random victim of the Kaimei group who tried to expose them? If it was Juuzo who killed her, does that mean we have a part of his psyche with us? We have suspected as much, yet it is still uncertain.
The note that talks about the victim, who wrote it?
Fool girl. Foolish girl. If only she would have listened to me. I never hurt the children at all. I need to hide her, but where? Ah, Maeda can help me. Yes, we can shut down the pool. Isn’t that right? Shino
So
I need to store my thoughts somewhere
my memories keep slipping away like fish through a broken net
So
I need to store my thoughts somewhere
my memories keep slipping away like fish through a broken net
Could the pool ghost be Shinohara Madoka?
If we don't discard Amanozaki's rant in its entirety, we might have had our vision about Seika due to her and the ghost meeting before... but it would be impossible for an victim from the 70s and the latest descendants of Tendou family to know each other in life since one had to be dead while the other wasn't born yet. We are talking spiritual matters here, though, so they could probably meet in other ways.
The question might yet become relevant as the pool ghost looks like one of the bigger players in the game.
Next. There is a question of Shinohara Seiji's motivations and allegiances.
We know by now that he was head over heels for Seika and could not be the one who killed her - not willingly, at least. The credit for this probably goes to Juuzo. Our role in other events is much more murky, however.
Who called Amanozaki, Mori and Uehara here? For some reason I doubt Juuzo, who is by now one of the most powerful and influental people in society, would need to resort to typing out letters to unknown self-proclaimed psychics or sending messages from an unknown phone number to Seika's sister. That part of the plot looks like our doing.
Maeda could have been summoned by leaking a rumor that we are alive and are a coworker at one of the corporations involved in the research. I guess Sakaki could be lured here by a promise of a scoop or by an investigation into the fate of his colleague.
For a while I doubted that Taketatsu coming here is something we did. Do we have that sort of power over a man of his stature? Although...
“We’re all going to die. Everyone else is already dead. But I won’t die here. I’ll sacrifice what is needed. You understand, right? There are thirteen of us. Of course you understand.”
You shake your head, taking one step closer.
“Ah. Ah, ah,” Taketatsu shakes his head manicly. “Careful, Shinoseki Adachi-san. Just wait. After I take care of this woman we’ll be free. You promised me that we would.”
You shake your head, taking one step closer.
“Ah. Ah, ah,” Taketatsu shakes his head manicly. “Careful, Shinoseki Adachi-san. Just wait. After I take care of this woman we’ll be free. You promised me that we would.”
Though we have 9 hours crossed out during our first night. That is plenty of time for negotiating. Regardless of that, even if we didn't talk to him once before that, his arrival is still something we could have planned for.
As an aside, it is interesting to note the significance Taketatsu places on the number thirteen, as opposed to twelve which is 'normal'. Of course, by now we have seen nights with more than 13 people, so who knows what is and isn't normal anymore? Might be a rambling of a half-mad person.
So, if we agree that the plot or at least a part of the plot is our doing... what does that say about Shinohara Seiji?
Is he an anti-hero, or a straight up villain? Did he intend to throw these people under a bus to get what he wants, or did he use them as a last resort and planned to get everyone out of here safely? Is he motivated by love, or is there something else driving him?
I'd like to hope that he was a decent man, if only to prove Uehara wrong, but I am losing that faith fast. Our of the voices, not one was raised in Uehara's defence when her fate was being decided. If Seiji's was among them, it looks like she was invited here just as an unwitting pawn.
For the moment, the subplot looks like this: there is some goal that Juuzo tries to achieve, he has sacrificed a lot of people for that goal including our sweetheart (and presumably also her mother, and earlier, maybe his own wife), and we are trying to get back at him and get her back. We have also tried to pre-buff ourselves with the help of the Omoikane project only to lose our memories halfway through the process, making the whole clusterfuck that much more epic.
Except our memories are not really lost, but fragmented, and we are working on reassembling them. Could it have been a part of our original plan as well? What for, though?
Other subplots/themes:
- The evolution of the place and its connection with the supernatural: Yomiki village - Sakagutchi mansion - Nazi vault - Kaimei Hospital - Ikei Hospital. Presumably connected with Tendou family and Juuzo's search.
- The rise and fall of the Kaimei group and Maedas in particular and their displacement by the Shinoharas, presumably after the scandal with the fire.
I guess clarifying Juuzo's goal would go a long way to piecing it all together. That's some interesting projects he is backing.
Last edited:
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- Jul 6, 2008
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Public Announcement
You move away from Uehara and Sakimura, and seat yourself on one of the old couches. The dusty leather squeaks noisily under your weight. As you wait for the others to arrive, Sakimura gives you a hostile glance. “What are you doing there?”
“Sitting. Waiting. This is not a bad couch, Sakimura-san. Why don’t you have a seat?” you ask, patting the empty space besides you and sending up a small cloud of dust. You are not in the mood to entertain his tantrums, not after he interrupted your attempt to gather information from Uehara. Sakimura seems quite annoyed by the grain of condescension you carefully buried in the shell of polite words, but before he can say anything else, the rest of the people from the lobby arrive.
Kayano is at their forefront, her make-up starting to run from the beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks. “Shinoseki-san, so here you are! And I see that Uehara-san is well and fine, which is good. Really, I think splitting off from the group is a bad idea, both of you,” she lectures. You catch her eyes darting towards you more often than not, trying to see if you are concealing anything on your body. She peeks in vain, however, as the book is not on your person. You don’t know where exactly it is located, either, only that you can continue to feel a connection with Ei, and that she will come when you call.
As the others begin filing into the room, muttering and peering around in curiosity, Sakimura speaks up. “Alright, everyone. I think we need to figure some things out about this place, and in order to do that, we need a leader.” It looks like he has decided to take charge of the situation. In the absence of people like Mori or Tokigawa – those who have a presence that people naturally follow – Sakimura is now embracing responsibility instead of shying away from it. Although half of the people in the room are older than him, he presses on. “Running around like headless chickens isn’t going to help matters any, are we all agreed on that?”
There are a few nods, here and there.
“So,” Sakimura continues, “I think if we organize ourselves well, it will be easier for us to escape. A leader is absolutely necessary for that.”
“If we’re nominating a leader,” says Sawada, flashing his model grin, “I’m going for Shin-chan over there. I hope that this will make up for abandoning you earlier, man.”
“Shin-chan? Me?” You stare at his pointing finger.
“Yeah, why not?” he shrugs, still grinning. “Honestly, you seem like a pretty stand-up guy, who doesn’t get scared easily, and can keep a calm head when everything is going wrong. That’s it, let’s make you the leader, alright?”
Oh, how wrong he is. Everything about this place frightens you, has always frightened you, right from the start. Still, if he is offering you the responsibility – the power to guide them towards survival – then maybe…
“Sawada-san, we should put it to a vote,” interrupts Shiba. “I’m voting for Yuuki-san.” She nods at Sakimura, smiling attentively in the way young girls do when they want to get their crush’s attention.
“If that’s the case, I’ll vote for Yuuki too,” says Kozaka quickly. Though he seems to be playing it off coolly, you note the single glance he gave Shiba when she cast her vote.
“Thanks, I’ll try my best!” Sakimura grins, waving at them. Then, he turns to look at Uehara. “Who are you voting for, Uehara?”
Of course, he’s interested in her as usual, you think. As you remember the second night, you recall the clues that hinted towards this situation. What a mess. Between the four of them it seems like things could shape up to be… Interesting, is it not? Is it not the sort of group we would like to place under extreme stress, to see how the dependent variables react? No. No. Of course not. People can’t be reduced to variables. You shake your head, trying to get your thoughts under control.
“I haven’t decided yet. Sorry.” Uehara smiles apologetically, and you catch her looking at you. You wonder if she’s waiting to see what you will do.
“Oh, alright.” Sakimura begins to give off the air of a dejected puppy.
Kayano speaks up next, “I think I would rather have Murano-san be the leader.” She nods at the security guard, who seems to be surprised at the nomination.
“B-But…”
“Murano-san, you’re a guard. You know security and safety protocols better than any one of us here, I’m sure. Who better to lead?” says Kayano persuasively.
“I’ll go with Rina-san’s choice,” says the girl in the maid uniform, her hand rising in approval. “A vote for Mr. Guard it is.”
“Alright,” Murano blushes awkwardly as he rubs the back of his head. “I-If that’s the case, I’ll vote for myself too.”
“Kukuku… has it come to shine the light of revelation on the destined one?” Amanozaki giggles in a low voice. She closes her eyes and raises her arms, rocking back and forth. “The strings of fate will guide my heart and finger. Mark my words, whoever I pick is the choice of the heavens, the warrior that will battle the influence of the evil gods… and I choose…” Her eyes snap open behind those thick glasses, her index finger jabs forward dramatically. “…you! Shinoseki Adachi-san! Kukuku… rejoice! For we knew each other in a past life, and that allowed me to see the potential residing within you…”
As she continues to cackle away, and you wonder if she actually knows something, or is just bullshitting, Uehara speaks up, a caustic edge coming back into her words. “Oh, if you’re so confident, Amanozaki-san, I’ll vote for the same person. If he fails at leading, that also means your fortune-telling has failed, right?”
"My fortune telling never fails!" declares an offended Amanozaki, although this fails to dissuade Uehara.
“U-Uehara, are you sure?” asks Sakimura.
“I’m always sure,” she smiles sweetly.
Sawada scratches his head and laughs. “I think we’re tied at three each, aren’t we? Sakimura-san, Shiba-san and Kozaka-san are in one bloc, Murano-san, Kayano-san and Maid-san are in another, and finally Uehara-san, Amanozaki-san and I are voting for Shinoseki-san… who hasn’t voted yet.”
You raise your eyebrows. It looks like you are the tie-breaker.
***
A. You vote for Sakimura.
B. You vote for yourself.
C. You vote for Murano.
***
You cast your vote, deciding the leader.
Track: PA
Then, just as you have finished speaking, a strange, discordant sound fills the room. It is a mad jangling of bells and chimes, a distorted melody that sounds like it was birthed from the chaotic mind of a tone-deaf, demented musician. The song hammers your ears, and for an instant you feel as if your consciousness, your self, your idea of being, is about to be torn into fragments and scattered into the wind.
You do so, clutching your chest, and summoning up a tremendous effort of will just to stay upright. The others do not notice your momentary weakness – all of their attention is taken up by the noise flooding their ears.
“W-What the hell is that?” shouts Murano.
You glance up.
The speakers. The song is coming from the public announcement system, through the speakers that dot the rooms and hallways of the hospital.
The harmonics of the tune twist and entwine themselves through bursts of static, contorting into screeches and shrieks and mad laughter – whether these are noise artifacts from the distortion, or actual screams, you do not know.
Through the noise, you hear a matronly female voice begin to speak, with no hint of emotion.
“The curfew is now in effect. All patients are to return to their rooms. Patients must not linger in the corridors. Wardens will now be patrolling the corridors. Patients must not linger in the corridors. All patients are to return to their rooms. The curfew is now in effect.”
The message, threading through the static, is repeated twice more before it stops. The strange music, too, winds down to a halt, and an unnerving silence once again falls across the lounge. Everyone is still staring at the ceiling, their composure rattled by the announcement.
Something has changed after that announcement, as Ei says. Your skin tingles slightly. The air seems different – its flow seems to have changed in almost imperceptible ways. Right before the voice spoke, there was a sense of wrongness, as if the world was writhing and wriggling for a single instant, right under your feet. You walk towards the door.
“Where… where are you going, Shinoseki-san?” asks Kayano, her voice trembling.
“Just taking a look,” you respond.
You open the door, and peer into the gloom. You turn your head to the left, and to the right, and – breathing in deeply, perplexed by what lies before your eyes – you ask the others a question. “Wasn’t this room on the ground floor?” As the others rush towards the door, and see what you see, they gasp. In front of them, the hallway stretches on so far that you cannot see its end, while to their left and right are stairs: one leading up, and one leading down. It is not the corridor that you passed through to get to this room, not anymore.
In the distance, a bell tolls, to ring in the coming of a new night.
---CHAPTER END---
You move away from Uehara and Sakimura, and seat yourself on one of the old couches. The dusty leather squeaks noisily under your weight. As you wait for the others to arrive, Sakimura gives you a hostile glance. “What are you doing there?”
“Sitting. Waiting. This is not a bad couch, Sakimura-san. Why don’t you have a seat?” you ask, patting the empty space besides you and sending up a small cloud of dust. You are not in the mood to entertain his tantrums, not after he interrupted your attempt to gather information from Uehara. Sakimura seems quite annoyed by the grain of condescension you carefully buried in the shell of polite words, but before he can say anything else, the rest of the people from the lobby arrive.
Kayano is at their forefront, her make-up starting to run from the beads of sweat rolling down her cheeks. “Shinoseki-san, so here you are! And I see that Uehara-san is well and fine, which is good. Really, I think splitting off from the group is a bad idea, both of you,” she lectures. You catch her eyes darting towards you more often than not, trying to see if you are concealing anything on your body. She peeks in vain, however, as the book is not on your person. You don’t know where exactly it is located, either, only that you can continue to feel a connection with Ei, and that she will come when you call.
Ei reminds you strongly, in no uncertain terms; your telepathic communication with her is undiminished.
As the others begin filing into the room, muttering and peering around in curiosity, Sakimura speaks up. “Alright, everyone. I think we need to figure some things out about this place, and in order to do that, we need a leader.” It looks like he has decided to take charge of the situation. In the absence of people like Mori or Tokigawa – those who have a presence that people naturally follow – Sakimura is now embracing responsibility instead of shying away from it. Although half of the people in the room are older than him, he presses on. “Running around like headless chickens isn’t going to help matters any, are we all agreed on that?”
There are a few nods, here and there.
“So,” Sakimura continues, “I think if we organize ourselves well, it will be easier for us to escape. A leader is absolutely necessary for that.”
“If we’re nominating a leader,” says Sawada, flashing his model grin, “I’m going for Shin-chan over there. I hope that this will make up for abandoning you earlier, man.”
“Shin-chan? Me?” You stare at his pointing finger.
“Yeah, why not?” he shrugs, still grinning. “Honestly, you seem like a pretty stand-up guy, who doesn’t get scared easily, and can keep a calm head when everything is going wrong. That’s it, let’s make you the leader, alright?”
Oh, how wrong he is. Everything about this place frightens you, has always frightened you, right from the start. Still, if he is offering you the responsibility – the power to guide them towards survival – then maybe…
“Sawada-san, we should put it to a vote,” interrupts Shiba. “I’m voting for Yuuki-san.” She nods at Sakimura, smiling attentively in the way young girls do when they want to get their crush’s attention.
“If that’s the case, I’ll vote for Yuuki too,” says Kozaka quickly. Though he seems to be playing it off coolly, you note the single glance he gave Shiba when she cast her vote.
“Thanks, I’ll try my best!” Sakimura grins, waving at them. Then, he turns to look at Uehara. “Who are you voting for, Uehara?”
Of course, he’s interested in her as usual, you think. As you remember the second night, you recall the clues that hinted towards this situation. What a mess. Between the four of them it seems like things could shape up to be… Interesting, is it not? Is it not the sort of group we would like to place under extreme stress, to see how the dependent variables react? No. No. Of course not. People can’t be reduced to variables. You shake your head, trying to get your thoughts under control.
“I haven’t decided yet. Sorry.” Uehara smiles apologetically, and you catch her looking at you. You wonder if she’s waiting to see what you will do.
“Oh, alright.” Sakimura begins to give off the air of a dejected puppy.
Kayano speaks up next, “I think I would rather have Murano-san be the leader.” She nods at the security guard, who seems to be surprised at the nomination.
“B-But…”
“Murano-san, you’re a guard. You know security and safety protocols better than any one of us here, I’m sure. Who better to lead?” says Kayano persuasively.
“I’ll go with Rina-san’s choice,” says the girl in the maid uniform, her hand rising in approval. “A vote for Mr. Guard it is.”
“Alright,” Murano blushes awkwardly as he rubs the back of his head. “I-If that’s the case, I’ll vote for myself too.”
“Kukuku… has it come to shine the light of revelation on the destined one?” Amanozaki giggles in a low voice. She closes her eyes and raises her arms, rocking back and forth. “The strings of fate will guide my heart and finger. Mark my words, whoever I pick is the choice of the heavens, the warrior that will battle the influence of the evil gods… and I choose…” Her eyes snap open behind those thick glasses, her index finger jabs forward dramatically. “…you! Shinoseki Adachi-san! Kukuku… rejoice! For we knew each other in a past life, and that allowed me to see the potential residing within you…”
As she continues to cackle away, and you wonder if she actually knows something, or is just bullshitting, Uehara speaks up, a caustic edge coming back into her words. “Oh, if you’re so confident, Amanozaki-san, I’ll vote for the same person. If he fails at leading, that also means your fortune-telling has failed, right?”
"My fortune telling never fails!" declares an offended Amanozaki, although this fails to dissuade Uehara.
“U-Uehara, are you sure?” asks Sakimura.
“I’m always sure,” she smiles sweetly.
Sawada scratches his head and laughs. “I think we’re tied at three each, aren’t we? Sakimura-san, Shiba-san and Kozaka-san are in one bloc, Murano-san, Kayano-san and Maid-san are in another, and finally Uehara-san, Amanozaki-san and I are voting for Shinoseki-san… who hasn’t voted yet.”
You raise your eyebrows. It looks like you are the tie-breaker.
***
A. You vote for Sakimura.
B. You vote for yourself.
C. You vote for Murano.
***
You cast your vote, deciding the leader.
Track: PA
Then, just as you have finished speaking, a strange, discordant sound fills the room. It is a mad jangling of bells and chimes, a distorted melody that sounds like it was birthed from the chaotic mind of a tone-deaf, demented musician. The song hammers your ears, and for an instant you feel as if your consciousness, your self, your idea of being, is about to be torn into fragments and scattered into the wind.
You do so, clutching your chest, and summoning up a tremendous effort of will just to stay upright. The others do not notice your momentary weakness – all of their attention is taken up by the noise flooding their ears.
“W-What the hell is that?” shouts Murano.
You glance up.
The speakers. The song is coming from the public announcement system, through the speakers that dot the rooms and hallways of the hospital.
The harmonics of the tune twist and entwine themselves through bursts of static, contorting into screeches and shrieks and mad laughter – whether these are noise artifacts from the distortion, or actual screams, you do not know.
Through the noise, you hear a matronly female voice begin to speak, with no hint of emotion.
“The curfew is now in effect. All patients are to return to their rooms. Patients must not linger in the corridors. Wardens will now be patrolling the corridors. Patients must not linger in the corridors. All patients are to return to their rooms. The curfew is now in effect.”
The message, threading through the static, is repeated twice more before it stops. The strange music, too, winds down to a halt, and an unnerving silence once again falls across the lounge. Everyone is still staring at the ceiling, their composure rattled by the announcement.
Something has changed after that announcement, as Ei says. Your skin tingles slightly. The air seems different – its flow seems to have changed in almost imperceptible ways. Right before the voice spoke, there was a sense of wrongness, as if the world was writhing and wriggling for a single instant, right under your feet. You walk towards the door.
“Where… where are you going, Shinoseki-san?” asks Kayano, her voice trembling.
“Just taking a look,” you respond.
You open the door, and peer into the gloom. You turn your head to the left, and to the right, and – breathing in deeply, perplexed by what lies before your eyes – you ask the others a question. “Wasn’t this room on the ground floor?” As the others rush towards the door, and see what you see, they gasp. In front of them, the hallway stretches on so far that you cannot see its end, while to their left and right are stairs: one leading up, and one leading down. It is not the corridor that you passed through to get to this room, not anymore.
In the distance, a bell tolls, to ring in the coming of a new night.
---CHAPTER END---
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Nevill
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Jesus Christ, what the hell is with this guy's priorities? Everything is a popularity contest to him.
We are not a leader and are not supposed to be. We are going to place a lot of pressure on ourselves and get a lot of stares if we go that road. Still, there are two waifus casting their votes of confidense for us. Can we disappoint them?
And Juni-S.
Sakimura might as well be Uehara. Whatever the girl wants, the guy is going to do it. Given that the other two voting for him are his school buddies, they have a voting block going and we are not a part of it. Might get troublesome down the road.
Murano is a dark horse. We know nothing of him, except that he appeared during the third night and that Kayano Rina is pushing for him. Which raises all sorts of alarms in my head. Uehara might plot against us, but she still has a survival of the group in mind. I have no idea what goes through Rina's mind and why she became so obsessed with the book we have.
I guess I am fine with either, though I'd prefer us to try and lead ourselves just for the kicks of seeing Uehara trying to undermine us.
It's like the tolling of a great bell.
The Frat Bros might be here somewhere.
Wait, what? Why? I don't understand...
What about the hospital? Where are the others? What would have happened if we wandered off alone?
It's a rather abrupt ending for a chapter. And come to think of it, for the night as well. How much time have passed since we entered? Two hours? Three?
The scene refers to 'her' when describing 'her' death at the pool, and the note also refers to a body of a girl that is buried there. Besides, it can't be Shinohara Seiji's body since we are kinda wearing it now. Unless cloning is a thing.treave said:
Still does not make sense.
Edit:
Oh! Wasn't there before...
That settles it, then. We will lead the party to GLORY. Amanozaki wills so. B.
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Like the others voting for you, he wants to be your waifu.
Right where they were at the last sentence.
It was a tranny joke.
Nevill
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As long as it allows us to level our pimping skill.treave said:Like the others voting for you, he wants to be your waifu.
So basically, Amanozaki has nothing useful to tell on the subject. Of ghosts, I mean.treave said:
And here I thought she would know.
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No, I was making the joke.
Baltika9
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A
The guy is popular enough and has some actual backbone, so he will make an effective leader. And it will be interesting to play the devil on his shoulder versus Uehara's angel.
Unless, of course, Amanozaki Unleashed is an option, in which case I vote for her.
The guy is popular enough and has some actual backbone, so he will make an effective leader. And it will be interesting to play the devil on his shoulder versus Uehara's angel.
Unless, of course, Amanozaki Unleashed is an option, in which case I vote for her.
Baltika9
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a cut of domestic sheep prime
Guest
B
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