WEEK TWO: MINGLE

[retellers]

WEEK TWO: MINGLE (37 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the start of a new week. To the participants, yesterday's events may seem distant now—albeit not as distant as their life before this. Whether or not they notice, they will have lost a memory upon waking up. The barrier to the north is down, and beyond the bridge lies new areas to explore. Strangely, what was there last week seems to have been replaced overnight. That's not the only thing that's different, either. The participants will find that their lodgings have changed, and new buildings within the town have been unlocked. Finally, should anyone check their PHS, Cater, Sharon, and Kano's profiles have been removed. Three Leaders can be found around the area, open (?) to approach. If participants want to speak to them more privately, or to an absent Leader, it looks like they'll have to go through another channel. Furthermore, it looks as though the rules have updated. If you break the current ninth rule, participants will get shocked. It will be a mild shock at first, but the longer they touch each other, the stronger it will get. On that note, if your character did not share a memory last week, please make sure to check your notifs! Participants may also find that their memories of the past few weeks are getting fuzzier... as though they can't recall some of the details without focusing. Finally, this week, every time a participant gets within one foot of someone, they will experience the emotions the other person is currently feeling and vice-versa. This will last for ten seconds even after they've stepped out of their personal bubble, after which the sharing itself might share, but the knowledge will not. Have fun!

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

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[soulus]

[Rufus reaches inside his shirt to pick off a leech or two. He drops them on the ground before stepping into the house.

What's this—coins?

While Hansa and Alex see to the bird, Rufus spends this time to familiarize himself with the items on the first floor. The stuffed monkey is suspect. Also, it won't do to crowd the stairs.]

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy grimaces, delicately grabbing a-- well, a skull to shove the leeches off. But then she nicely places it back and goes to hush up and look at the gumbo.

Just seems like a normal thing to do.

And Hansa and Alex can bond with the surely nice bird? ]

[retellers]

[ There's a few gold coins on the ground indeed, Rufus! They don't look like they fit the rest of this weird loot. How odd. The gumbo smells fucking delicious despite being in a bathtub.

The bird stares at Hansa and Alex. Then it throws up a sword which stabs Alex in the leg because Becks asked me nicely.

It goes "CAWWWW" loudly. ]

[robopriest]

...

[Hansa just. Stares for a long moment. Maybe he's just feeling some kind of euphoria from the crocodile wrestling, and he's just having this weird hallucination about a bird puking up an entire sword.]

[.......................This is not a hallucination.]

[And that sure is a sword in Alex's leg!]


[........]

[Hansa is just going to grab the bird by the beak and just whip the bird down with all his strength to try to smash it into the floor.]

[soulus]

[He picks the coins up, because they look out of place. It's definitely not because he's missed the sight or smell of money. Drawn by the commotion upstairs, Rufus then moves to join Hansa and a wounded Alex.

Well, that's something.]

[misstrust]

[ Okay, Dorothy's just going to whip off her pirate-y head scarf and go to help Alex unstabify herself and get that stab wound wrapped??

GOD. ]

Not a single nice animal in this place...

[ Dorothy can grumble because she is not the one who was stabbed. ]

[retellers]

[ Unfortunately for Hansa, he is still full of snakes, so the bird's reflex is to swallow one whole, like so. This causes all the other snakes that were, for some reason, STILL ON HIM, to attack the bird, which caws again. This time, four more birds like this one swoop in from the open windows and attack all three people left. The snakes are also fighting.

They leave Alex alone because she is already stabbed. ]

[robopriest]

[You know, sometimes you are a simple cyborg priest who wakes up, finds a town on fire, gathers some people to chase down some skeletons, get covered in snakes for your troubles, have leeches chase after you, wrestle a crocodile and have a great time, see a lady get stabbed by sword puked up by a bird that you're currently trying to fight, and then have the snakes that were on you fight the bird.]

[So basically, just a typical day for him! Maybe.]

...You guys do that?

[He? Says this to the snakes he's just. Going along with this? SNAKES ARE FRIENDS? He turns back to the others, shooting an extremely worried look at Alex - and then more birds fly in. Great! He bends down to punch birds even though there's a perfectly normal sword just laying on the ground. Also he's going to throw snakes now. This is happening.]

Ugh! Get upstairs if you can!

[soulus]

[Rufus grabs a bird by the beak and hurls it at a stair, then backhands another bird flapping annoyingly nearby. The sword belongs to Dorothy and Alex now. At Hansa's command, he dashes for the second floor, stepping on the first bird along the way.

It's fine if any of the birds manages to bite or peck him. He's going to lead if Dorothy wants to follow.]

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy lifts one arm to shield herself with a yelp, but she's already in motion, grabbing the sword off the floor just in case and sprinting after Rufus.

Please don't peck her, she's just following her demon homie. ]

Keep Alex safe!!

[ HANG IN THERE, HANSA. ]

[retellers]

[ On the second floor, the truth comes out .......

the skeletons left using the window and are STILL walking through the swamp with the fucking treasure chest, though they seem to have dropped some loot on the way. A few jewels... some more coins...

Why would you jump out a second story window? Well, they are now carrying shovels when they weren't earlier, so it looks like they just borrowed some shovels from this voodoo witch house. As you do.

All the birds are attacking the snakes. All the snakes are attacking the birds. Some birds are attacking Hansa too, but he's metal and that sucks. However, his clothes probably look like shit after all this. ]

[robopriest]

[He really needs another crocodile to wrestle to make up for all of this. He liked this pirate outfit. Now, with his clothes in shreds, all of China knows he's a cyborg.]

[Since Becks isn't here and I can do what I want, he'll just pick up Alex in a bridal carry to haul her upstairs since she probably won't be walking on that leg, and just happens to catch the sight of the skeletons leaving. Also Dorothy and Rufus, please don't look too hard at the weird metal under his clothes k thnx.]

Oh, really?!

[He looks like he's halfway to just jumping out of the window with Alex in tow PLEASE STOP HIM]

[soulus]

[First, he picks up any stray coins on the second floor.

Rufus then plants a foot on the sill of a window, cutting ahead of the jumping line, and looks over his shoulder. He doesn't bat an eyelash at Hansa's appearance.]

Hand me a shovel once I land.

[As soon as he finishes speaking, he jumps and rolls onto the walkway just below for a lithe landing. Hopefully Dorothy drops him a shovel, because once armed he shall reenter the swamp in the hopes of beheading a skeleton or two.]

[misstrust]

[ ... Dorothy looks like she's developing a headache. ]

This would be what motivates you...

[ But fine, she's grabbing a shovel and chucking it out the window, trusting Rufus can just nab it like some random cool dude. Still holding the sword with her free hand, she turns to Hansa and the poor injured woman he's zapping constantly. ]

I'm, ah... not as graceful or as physically capable as the majority here, so I'll take the stairs down and out.

[ Past the fighting animals. She'll probably be fine.

Back down she goes. ]

[retellers]

[ Dorothy is smart and does not jump straight down into a swamp. While the skeletons were fine and weigh nearly nothing, both Hansa and Rufus are not so lucky and start to sink in a seemingly bottomless pit. Especially Hansa, who is a robot and is holding a person.

But at least Rufus has a shovel.

Dorothy will probably have to help them out of the swamp pit that is slowly swallowing them. Luckily, there's a rope back in the house. There's also a bunch of snakes and birds still fighting, but they're really occupied with each other at this point. ]

[robopriest]

[ME FORGETTING ABOUT SPARKING THROUGH TOUCHING FOR THE 283837373TH TIME]

[Look. Its fine. He thinks he'll just let go of her right away when they jump down! And he does! And after he just freezes in severe pain momentarily from all those shocks, he's.......just going to sink.]

[Uh oh.]

H-hey! HEY! [I MISREAD AND THOUGHT IT WAS ALEX AND HANSA ONLY so. They're all having a good time. Hansa waves to Dorothy, his poor cyborg body just sinking down as he struggles to get out.] DOROTHY! Get Alex first! Then Rufus!

[Yeah he's actually panicking for the first time. The Bible sure didn't say anything about random swamp quicksand!]

[soulus]

[Rufus, on the other hand, is perfectly calm—just annoyed, because this is such a stupid waste of time and Hansa's panic isn't making this easier—as he leans back and moves his feet to gradually push himself free. At least he has a shovel to speed up the process if there's anything he can dig at to use as leverage.]

Stop panicking and lean back.

[Maybe the swamp mud will cover up that cyborg body and nobody will question Hansa's appearance once they return.

Hansa's body may just be too heavy, but maximizing surface area is a start. Alex will also be fine if she doesn't flail. Really, the priority here for Dorothy is Hansa.]

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy is so Tired.

But Dorothy cannot rest, so as she hurries back down the stairs, she stops to grab a rope and makes a beeline for the swamp.

She opts not to say a word (yet), merely places the sword by her feet and flings the rope out into the swamp. Rufus is fine, he's calm. Alex is (hopefully) fine.

Hansa is sinking like a stone and so she grabs the end of the rope in both hands, says a silent prayer for her palms, and raises her voice to Authoritative Dorm Mother. ]

Hansa, you first. Do not even think about arguing, just do it. I'm pulling now and then I'm putting you on that wonderful duty.

[ Please let her rest after this. She's doing her best, she didn't get stabbed by a bird and she didn't jump out a window. ]

[retellers]

[ Rufus manages to dig himself out, and to be nice, Dorothy manages to pull Hansa's incredible weight out of the swamp. But he loses his shoes, because at this point, it's getting funnier to just undress him. Also they save Alex since she's already stabbed and shocked and Becks is still asleep. I can't kill her off.

The skeletons don't seem to have gone too far, though, because there's the sound of shoveling near them... Or, well, nearer than they started about seventeen hours ago. ]

[robopriest]

[He shoots a bit of a "WELL I'LL TRY THAT, THANKS FRIEND" exasperated look at Rufus, but he'll give it a try for now. He's going to be cleaning this stupid body for HOURS.]

[And Dorothy grabs his attention - he just nods dimly, glad that they're all out of this damn mud pit. Enjoy the cyborg feet everyone. They're literally just like. Metal shoes. Everything is great.]

Thanks, Dorothy. Thanks...Rufus. Ugh.

[He huffs. He's tired.]

I'll shatter their stupid bones, I will. [Hansa mutters to himself, determination coming to the forefront.] Rufus, Dorothy, Alex...let's go...

[STOMPING THROUGH THE SWAMP TO BEAT UP SOME SKELETONS, YEAH]

[soulus]

[With everyone freed and Alex secured, Rufus turns his attention to the sound of shoveling, ignoring the metal feet. His gaze slides past Hansa, and his emotions don't so much as flutter. He also doesn't have to be told twice as they start toward their destination; this time, they'll be warier of where they step.]

[misstrust]

[ Dorothy's own emotions also don't really waver as she glances down at Hansa's feet. But really, it might just be that She's Tired.

Or that she's gotten used to stranger things by now, so she offers a quick smile and follows them towards the sound of shoveling.

Woo-hoo. ]

[retellers]

[ The skeletons are out there digging a hole, and are far too preoccupied to notice Hansa and Rufus! Except for the third look out skeleton, who yells and throws a shovel at Dorothy, instantly knocking her out.

she's going to have SUCH a bruise on her noggin for strip check

This of course calls the other two to action, who drop their shovels and grab their swords, and all three skeletons run with a battle cry at Hansa and Rufus!! Leaving the treasure chest exposed next to the hole. ]

[robopriest]

[Oh, there goes Dorothy.]

[Hansa spares a glance towards her collapsing, but he can't look for long, not with the skeletons incoming.]

[He grins. No More Mr. Nice Cyborg. Not that he was ever nice, or particularly willing to be merciful, but...]

Let's do this, Rufus.

[And even though he's mud-covered, with his clothes all shredded, and no shoes, he doesn't care. It's skeleton murder time.]

[Hansa is just going to leap forward and just grab a skeleton by the sternum and will attempt to just YEET it at one of the others to just knock it down. Even if that isn't going to work, he's just going to be smashing and ripping and breaking whatever bones he can. It's time to get that treasure that they've fought off an entire swamp (and witch house) for.]

[soulus]

[Dorothy will be fine. She's breathing, and so is Alex.

All of them are coated in filthy swamp water. Rufus' entire back is coated in the stuff, and they've been made fools of more than enough times in their pursuit for him to exhale tightly through his nose.

Seeing as Hansa's got two skeletons to himself, that leaves one for Rufus, who deftly evades the first swing of a sword with a sidestep. He swings the shovel with all his controlled might, right at the skeleton's exposed neck. Whether it takes the head or not, he follows up with a kick to the torso. Then, once it's down, he attempts to pin the skeleton by sticking the shovel through its ribcage to the ground.

Who needs a sword?]