redactable | WEEK SEVEN: MINGLE

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mingle

WEEK SEVEN: MINGLE

WEEK SEVEN: MINGLE
(21 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.

As usual, the participants will find that their lodgings have changed, and should anyone check their PHS, Chiron, Ochako, Soo-won, and Dorothy's profiles have been removed. They may also find that they have difficulty recalling complete details of the past weeks.

Furthermore, it looks as though the rules have updated.

Not everything is the same as the previous pattern, though. The barrier to the north is back up, and once more, what lies beyond is an empty field. In contrast, however, participants may notice that they can finally access a place they haven't been able to before...

Additionally, it looks like the Leaders aren't around. No matter where the participants look, they're nowhere to be found. Should anyone try calling for them in the Planetarium, there will be no response—not even a message telling the participant that they're busy.

Finally, everything around the participants begins to... glitch? Buildings may suddenly blink out of existence and then back in, random items like chairs or cups may suddenly distort even while they're being used, and looking at any particular thing for too long may give someone a headache. It's worse than it was that one week, though: participants will find that it's happening to themselves as well. Body parts might suddenly glitch out of existence then back in, and there will be a shot of pain when it occurs. It'll happen randomly, but it also seems to occur more often if they're touching something or another person.

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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[ give her a second, she's reeling from all those memories, wow. she's like, very suddenly glad she shot sephiroth in the face? yeah. ]

... Ow. [ she mutters. but - she'll just follow taako's plan. she picks up the orange cat and drops it in taako's lap before... flanking, like she's told. she's going to catch this thing.

how many sets of twins does it take to steal a cat, that's the question. i'm glad sora and clementine are actually getting quests done. ]

[a lot happens all at once. the orb gets a cursory glance before it goes into his pocket, and suddenly there are memories? or, more specifically, there's a memory of his that he knows by heart because this isn't even one he forgot. this just happens to be a nice reminder of how he can never be in the same place as his friends, damn.

but then there's the memory of cloud and sephiroth in a way he's never seen before, and suddenly he remembers why sephiroth's an asshole.

kairi...gets a pang of emptiness that he immediately brushes off because now is not the time to think about that promise that he can't quite keep yet, and then the second memory is...one that he's seen before, actually. hello aerith?

the thing is that all of this happens and he just rubs his eyes a little, blinking sharply to focus before he wanders to the apartments and climbing the stairs to find clementine. they can tackle the third room together i guess because he just wordlessly slides into whatever room she's in.

he will absolutely take the cloud route right now and ignore just about everything.]

Need a hand?

[ clementine is just - sort of dazed at first, standing in front of the last sink. taking in those memories and fighting a headache is a lot, because she's trying to learn whatever she can about sora, and about wolf and sephiroth, and trying to figure out what the fuck it is they're supposed to be doing, here.

and she's also just warily trying to watch the guy on the bed because if he's dying she doesn't want to deal with that. when sora shows up she's mostly just grateful for another set of eyes. wow. ]

I think I've got it. Just - keep an eye on that guy?

[ while she finishes changing this last filter. ]

[ The grey and orange tabby are very pleased with this, and the white cat's ear twitches a little but it continues to snub Taako... it seems to work on the other cats, however, as soon Taako may find himself absolutely surrounded by a gang of about six cats, meowing and purring for attention as they leave cat fur all over his outfit.

The white cat does not seem to notice Lup flanking it, though! It is too busy making sure Taako knows how much it doesn't care by getting up and stretching without ever looking in his direction.

Clementine and Sora are changing a water filter, a task that does not take too long, though during it the man in the black cloak on the bed starts moaning, staggering up-- and suddenly the both of them will get a headache as they see it's not the broken man but Sephiroth, walking casually towards them with a smile on his face.

i should mention sephiroth is stupidly tall so this is funny because the both of them are so short ]

[The fur is fine he feels so popular and ignorant of Sephiroth threats right now! Laughing and covered in kitty cats! This is great. The headache is fine.]

Yes! Yes, I'm your ruler now! King Cat! King Cat!

[ ... she jumps the white cat!

scoops it up and immediately wraps her robe sleeves around it so it can't scratch the shit out of her. and then gives taako a flat look. ]

All hail.

[well. this is now a 185 cm/6'1" man encroaching on two very short teenagers who get to not only deal with a headache but also don't exactly have the most room. except he's walking and he's immediately backing up, nudging for clementine to back up as well.]

Okay, well, my eye is on him and I'm seeing something we should probably bail on! [if only because he cannot fight him inside a room? he will fight outside.]

[ ugh, she really wants to finish this bullshit Task. but she is onboard with the backing up plan. she's not a huge fan of absurdly tall men walking towards her ominously. she draws her gun but - hesitates to actually shoot. ]

If I shoot him, is he just going to turn back into someone else?

[ Taako, ruler of cats who all love him and will now follow him around town like he is the pied piper of kitties who are all meowing and hungry, as well as Lup, have now gotten... one white cat! It is very pissed and complaining and fighting inside the sleeves. It's not having a great time, but it does seem trapped for now. Yay, cats! Also there are kittens now, because I can put cats in all my things. Everything is adorable and nothing hurts.

Unlike with Clem and Sora, because Sephiroth does not seem intimidated by gun, and their headache will only worsen the closer he gets. He is the worst? He is just, straight up, the worst. He doesn't seem to be doing much but advancing slowly with a creepy smile, at least? Isn't that something. ]

[Still totally ignorant of any Sephiroth threats to children, but he is covered in kittens! Nothing could be wrong. Actually standing up though once Lup grabs that white kitty.]

Guess we should go turn that in, right?

Yep. Think we're going to get anything useful?

[ off to turn in this cat quest! ] -- Hey, there's a rat problem, bring your cat hoard with you so we can get rid of them. Two sidequests with one... cat?

[ anyway she hands over the white cat when they get back to the quest marker. ]

[glad that the twins continue to have a good time as this unhinged asshole continues to take up so much space. but sora's shifting just enough to block her even as the headache grows worse.

does sephiroth actually have a weapon? sora's preparing just in case, hands moving just slightly.]

Don't risk it yet. You know how these places can be. Let's just finish the filter and get out of here. [she's almost done, right? they can get out in one piece and if sephiroth does something shitty between now and then sora can just fight him.]

[ she nods and goes back to fixing the filter as quickly as she can. the edges of the screen are probably turning red to indicate that she is running out of time. you know.

anyway she is ready to bail from this building as soon as she's done because Fuck This. ]

[ The little girl is so happy to see Lup and Taako and their cat army! The white cat also seems super happy to see the girl, considering it leaps for safety behind her and hisses at the twins. Can't win 'em all. The girl claps her hands. ]

Thank you so much for bringing my friend back! And all these other ones, too. Here!

[ she hands them a blue orb ... and a headache, it turns out, because everything pauses once more as memories fill their minds. This time, it starts out with two adorable baby elves at a food stall, arguing with a tall and old man about the price of the food. "It wasn't even that good, it can't be worth that much!"

And then it skips to... Wolf, in a bar. The bartender is a familiar face; it looks like a grown up version of the young girl from the city on fire. "So then, what can I get you?" Wolf's answer is matter of fact: "My money. I'm still waiting on it." It skips, though not to the twins again-- this time, it's him and the woman in one of those shitty apartments. "If there's anything else, we can always get it—" and Wolf interrupts. "There is one thing. My money. You guys still owe me two thousand, remember?"

But that's about it for this one. Minus the headache, at least nothing was TOO terrible?

Though for Sora and Clem, the headache on top of the headache was probably bad enough-- though in the flash between the memories and reality ("reality") ... did it seem like Sephiroth was back to being the guy in the cloak for a second? Hm. But he's still here, and though he doesn't seem to have a weapon, he's getting very close to Sora while Clem works ... ]

[Boy! Well. That's sure a cute and adorable memory! But also the headaches are getting to be a lot. Also, where are Sora and Clem? Hope they're doing okay.]

Oh-- Uh, that's-- Huh.

. . . Should we take the cat parade on the road? Where are we going?

[ weird. the memory gets her to reach out for his hand for a second, frowning. ]

Uh... [ hold on. wow, her head hurts. she kneads at her eye with the butt of her palm, trying to stay focused. ] Was that...

[ hm. never mind. must've been two other elves. ]

There were - uh, rats. Come on. [ she'll lead the way towards the abandoned factory, but - she is a little worried about her kids?? ] I hope Sora and Clementine aren't getting into trouble. It's too quiet.

[why is it headaches? why can't it be something he can deal with better like a stab wound or something? that is not permission to stab him right now, but rather clementine's working and he waits just long enough for her to finish before he--

--well. he's not sure what is and isn't real so the next best thing he can do is see clementine's finished attaching the filter before turning and shoving both of his hands into sephiroth's torso to push him back as hard as he can toward the bed, turning toward clementine.]

Ready? [they should go! let us go! sure hope that doesn't backfire.]

[ okay, she's got the filter on there and - look, if it's a little loose they can tighten it themselves, god. her head hurts too much for this bullshit. ]

Yeah, let's go.

[ she'll be right behind when they bolt; she's just used to being the last one to go. ]

[ The cat parade will follow Lup and Taako pretty much anywhere they wanna go, although the factory seems to be behind a locked gate, for some reason. Some doofuses in stupid helmets are guarding the gate.

Sora pushes Sephiroth, and I mean they can absolutely bolt right after but Sephiroth vanishes, and the poor man in the cloak falls almost to the bed with a broken moan. Off they go after bullying this man in his own home. That's what he gets for giving them a headache, honestly, it's deserved.

The old lady is waiting for them at the exit, just hanging out and living here. ]

Everything go alright in there? You look spooked. I know the smell isn't great, but that's what the filters are for.

'Scuse me, 'scuse me, we've got authority to be here. Rat patrol! We're the, uh, Rat Patrol--

[He digs in his pockets, and finds a Sherriff's badge there, and flashes it real quick. Like it's like. A real police badge or something. Not long enough they can actually see what it says, but it sure is gold and shiny!]

Got some rats to patrol! We gotta, um, we gotta get in!

[ lup scoops up a cat and holds it. ]

Better not make him wait. He hates waiting. [ she says, petting her cat. a beat. she reaches into her robe sleeve, and pulls out a sparkler? why does she have a sparkler still.

anyway she hands it to one of the guards. ]

For protection. You guys are the last stand between the townspeople and the rats. If we fail, it's up to you.

[well. he has half a mind to turn around and actually go back and help the guy and the only reason he doesn't is because clementine's right behind him and kind of blocking his path...as she should. still, they'll head to the quest mark and he doesn't seem to have much to say to this woman, a hand to his head while he's trying to ward off the double-headache.

clem can answer for both of them, it's fine.]

Seemed like a guy was dying in there.

[ or something. probably easier not to explain the ominous memory apparitions to people who are also weird memory apparitions. ]

But I changed the filters.

[ ... The grunts look at each other and then back at the twins. Their eyes are covered but their faces look very concerned. The first one speaks: ]

Uh... Are you with the neighborhood watch? This is private ShinRa property. We assure you, there's no ... um, rat problem. [ the second one adds: ] Are the cats going to help?

[ he gets hit in the side by the other one for that. These guys are great guards and even better liars. The proof is that there's a rat-like silhouette off in the distance near the entrance of the factory.

On Clem and Sora's side, the woman shakes her head. ]

Don't worry about him. He's harmless, poor thing. But thank you for your help, dear.

[ she gives clem her own green sphere! as well as one hundred gil, which is a gold coin. this would be great if they still needed to buy a potion. although, it does not look like this triggers a memory this time! lame. ]

If you're looking for more work, there's always the bar.

Nope, I'm from ShinRat, the ShinRa division focused on Rat Elimination! Seriously I'm on a deadline, can you just move aside or not shoot us or whatever.

[What if. he just matches in. what if he just does that.]

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