[LP CYOA] Spiral

[oscar]

BB

Let's get buff. Alternatively it might awaken climbing memories meaning we can finally get down from the rooftop next respawn.

 

[Ifeex]

It's okay. We have perfect teeth. Our smile shall outshine theirs (provided that we will remember how to smile)!

We do remember how. We just need to shoot someone.

 

[Jester]

BA

 

[Nyarmith]

BA

 

[treave]

Final tally:

A - 7
B - 5

A - 3
B - 2
C - 7

 

[treave]

Silvery moonlight filters in from the large windows set into the walls and ceiling. That is the only source of illumination you have to see by down here. An acrid, sterile smell – chlorine – permeates the air. The tiles surrounding the pool are wet and slightly stained with the colour of rust. Close up, the large swimming pool seems murkier than you had thought it was. The water is a little cloudy – a possible sign that it has not been filtered in a very long while, which is strange for such a well-maintained hospital. You can still make out the object resting at the bottom of the pool. It appears to be a large metal key of some sort. Underneath it, the tiles seem to be more lightly coloured and newer in comparison to the surrounding ones. There does not appear to be anyone else around here.

“Is it me, or does the place look… older?” mumbles Kozaka as he scratches his chin.

You adjust your spectacles, taking a closer look at the architecture. Was it always like this? The floor and walls look to be more dated and weathered than the other parts of the hospital. It could just be your imagination playing tricks on you, of course.

“Who cares? That’s a key, isn’t it?” chirps Shiba. “I wonder what it opens?”

“Well, only one way to find out!” Sakimura cracks his knuckles obligingly.

He can’t be talking about diving into the water, can he? Given that the pool is also used for platform diving – as evidenced by the tall, 10 metre-high platform towering over it – the water must be at least 5 meters deep. Regardless, it is not your place to say anything. Besides, there is probably no other way of retrieving it from that depth short of draining the pool. Mitsuki tugs on your hand. “I’m not very good at swimming,” she whispers.

“A-ah, thank you for the information.” You bow your head, wondering if anyone else here is bad at it. You know for certain that swimming is one of the skills that you have. At least it is a more socially acceptable practice than lockpicking. In the meantime, Amanozaki seems to be entirely unconcerned about the water. She has found a chair to sit on, and is even now flipping through her tome while sneaking unhappy glances at Uehara.

Uehara, on her part, is ignoring the psychic. “Hey, I don’t think we should go into the water,” she calls out. She seems to be somewhat pensive. It is not surprising – given the atmosphere of this place, it would take a fearless fool to remain in high spirits.

Sakimura laughs. “What’s the matter, scared to get wet, Uehara?”

Wet schoolgirls, you think, and to your utmost chagrin, unbidden mental images begin to surface in your mind uncontrollably. Uehara in a swimsuit, her long, wet hair hanging fetchingly over her shoulders. You shake your head. No good. Distractions are no good at all. Think of something else.

***

A. Wet Amanozaki.

B. Wet Shiba.

C. Wet Mitsuki.

D. Wet Sakimura.

E. Wet Kozaka.

F. Wet fat man.

G. Yourself, soaking wet.

H. I… I can’t think of anything else.

I. This is… stupid. You focus yourself, attempting to exert self-control and empty your mind.

***

“It’s okay, Shizuka-chan. I’m in the swimming club, you know?” grins Shiba confidently while shaking off her shoes. Before her friend can make any further protests, she leaps into the water with an easy grace and very little splash to complain about.

“Hey, no fair! I was going to go get it!” complains Sakimura as he jogs along the side of the pool.

Uehara bites her lower lip, watching on worriedly as Shiba kicks her way towards the key. It’s less about the swimming, and more about the water looking cloudy, you think. You wouldn’t be that eager to jump headlong into such a pool for something you aren't even sure is important.

“Ah, leaping right into murky water. Classic Shiba. Idiots do as idiots will,” murmurs Kozaka, agreeing with your unspoken thoughts in sentiment, though in a markedly more insulting way.

Shiba closes in on the key, reaching for it. Is it your imagination, or is the water even cloudier now?

Uehara cries out suddenly. “Tsukimi!”

There is a large splash in the water above Shiba. Did… something… fall into the pool? You glance upwards, at the empty diving platform – if someone had jumped from there…

In the dark water, you can only see Shiba’s arms thrashing and churning around but little else. She does not seem to be coming up for air.

***

01:21

A. You quickly dive in to get Shiba. You may not remember much else, but you are confident in your swimming ability at least.

B. You try to find a life preserver to throw to Shiba. Perhaps she suffered a cramp, preventing her from being able to swim.

C. You rush to the maintenance room downstairs. If the drain pump does not require electricity to operate, you can try to remove the water that way.

D. You ask Amanozaki to help out. She may know a ritual or two that can save someone from drowning.

E. You wait and watch for a while more. You are not alone here – someone will go to help her if you don’t anyway.

 

[Nevill]

Uehara in a swimsuit is a damn nice thing to think about. I approve. 1H. Better than thinking of fat corpses and emptying your mind (not that it has much to work with in the first place), that's for sure.

Wait, long hair? Didn't she have a pageboy-style haircut? Unless we are fantasizing about her hairdo already. Must be love at first sight.

Well, we didn't remember how to swim for nothing. Go get her. 2A.

Throwing her a life jacket might be of no use, as it won't dive after her. Maintenance room is an option, but the last time someone in a haunted building tried to do that, they got the rescuee sucked into the drain. It was not pretty.

Spoiler

There is a high probability that the key is near the drain as well simply because that is how physics work. I am unsure whether or not I want to risk it.

And we are also screwed if it does require electricity.

Amanozaki is utterly useless - ah, sorry, underprepared - and waiting will do no one any good. Though we might actually survive that one.

Be bold, be brave, and maybe you'll get to see wet Uehara one day.

 

[Azira]

Is it time to die already?

HC

 

[Nevill]

The way I see it, we kind of picked a stance when we told Mori what we felt after Uehara's death and chose to check the basement when we've heard the scream.

You head down the stairs. It could be Maeda, Okuyama or Kayano… they might need your help. You don’t think you want to see anyone else die.

Since then, we have tried to protect Maeda (well, more like 'thought about'), intervened on Mitsuki's behalf, and generally assumed the role of the guardian.

It also helps that among the present company, we are the eldest.

I think it would fit nicely with our character to take a direct action. And hopefully, we will never again experience another fit of hesitation in a critical moment like we did with Taketatsu. Still mad about that one.

 

[Elfberserker]

The twisted and chaotic inner lulz demands me to vote for fat man, but I think I go for one of girls option here.

As for the pool situation...I wouldn't be surprised, if Sakimura dived after her, being heroic action lad he is and throwing life preserve might actually be helpful when they surface.
Of course this is my personal theory and everyone who dives in the pool dies horrible drowing death as far as story is concerted and I would like to survive till end of this night. Besides I am worried that we might be physically unfit to do such rescue operation.

HB>HC

 

[Nevill]

I am more worried about forcibly draining the water than about diving in. Just google 'drain safety' to see that that is an actual concern and how many people get injured or die due to this. The force with which the water is sucked in makes it hard to break away. If they won't get maimed, they might just drown by the time the water recedes.

We did not hear weird sounds or the lights go wild that would signify the presence of a corpse or some other majorly weird occurence, so I am not too afraid - unless, of course, that is what happened with the whole building:

You adjust your spectacles, taking a closer look at the architecture. Was it always like this? The floor and walls look to be more dated and weathered than the other parts of the hospital. It could just be your imagination playing tricks on you, of course.

Judging by the architecture, we may be in the Kaimei hospital now.

You can still make out the object resting at the bottom of the pool. It appears to be a large metal key of some sort. Underneath it, the tiles seem to be more lightly coloured and newer in comparison to the surrounding ones. There does not appear to be anyone else around here.

The tiles are newer. Could it be an indication of a sectet stash? Considering that the bodyparts of the girl from 40 years ago were found all around the hospital, it might be one of these places. The tiles might have been pried and then put back. As we've seen with Uehara, those places are dangerousб though for some reason not always directly to us.

 

[Elfberserker]

That's true.
This however brings up a possible terrible situation.

What, if the hospital turns on the drain suddenly? I just thought that the girl could be a simple bait here, even if killing people with machinery is something it hasn't done yet, but I feel it posses the intelligence to do so.
It might be just my paranoidia, but the water itself could be playing tricks.

Sure, we might missed someone climping on that diving platform or there was some sort of invicible demon there.
But if electronics can go on and off as they please then not why water? That darkening water is creepy as hell and water splashing by itself wouldn't be strangest thing around here.

 

[Kz3r0]

I. E.

I think that jumping in the water is a very bad idea.

 

[Nevill]

What, if the hospital turns on the drain suddenly?

Only one person can get stuck in it. Whatever happens, one of us survives, and it seems like Shiba's chances are worse than ours already.

It can't kill both of us (at least that way), so what would be the purpose of the bait?

Alternatively, she might already be caught in the drain. In that case, she would require subtlety instead of brute force to get her out. You roll them off the drain instead of pulling them up. I do not want to trust Sakimura, who is not the sharpest tool in the shed, with this one.

But if electronics can go on and off as they please then not why water? That darkening water is creepy as hell and water splashing by itself wouldn't be strangest thing around here.

It did not do so by itself. There is some weird overlap going on. We might have seen a ghost from a time long past dive into the water. So what?

We do not feel that weird feeling we get when something dangerous happens. Flickering light, moaning sounds, electrical hum - none of these happened here. Thus I think the kind of danger we are facing here is different from the one we've encountered before, and this is why I am not afraid of a direct intervention.

I think that jumping in the water is a very bad idea.

Please, don't tell me that we are the water.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I,B

 

[LWC1996]

I, E.

Plenty of white knight wannabes in the team.

 

[Rex Feral]

Where's the wet Maeda option?

 

[Nevill]

Or wet Mori?

Hm, I guess we weren't introduced properly in the current timeline.

 

[treave]

You haven't met them.

 

[Rex Feral]

IA > IE

We're never friends with the cool people

C is surely gonna backfire on us like Nevill said.

 

[a bear named spigot]

thinking about being wet will give us a boost in the pool, i'm sure of this; GA

 

[Nevill]

...and as the only person who has anything to do with medicine in the room, we will be tasked with doing a mouth-to-mouth CPR.

I concede my point. The biology is not a useless subject, after all.

 

[Elfberserker]

Nah, we are too much of nervous wreck to do it.
But we can watch when Uehara or Amanozaki does it.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

thinking about being wet will give us a boost in the pool, i'm sure of this; GA

Or it could lead to drowning.

 

[Baltika9]

AA