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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[god where the fuck even are the twins on this map. it's fine. sora's walking with clementine and he says this before they get to knockoff joshua.]

...Aerith gave him that. Not sure what it could be used for, but it's probably important to him somehow. [he realizes these are absolutely not the same versions of the people he knows but he doesn't even care anymore. instead, they get to this guy and sora blinks in surprise, taking the orb to put in his pocket with the other two they have.

anyway, it's always headaches and he frowns suddenly, squinting at the ground. why is cloud such a dick to everyone he knows? who the hell is that guy? why is everyone yelling?

it's probably fine. once that clears up, he thanks the monocled lad and he turns to clementine again.]

Well...that's that. Should we head to the bar? I'm sure the twins are fine. [they are avoiding their rat siblings for as long as possible.]

[ these sure are a lot of memories that clementine has no strong feelings about. wow wolf is so rude. but also what's that guy talking about. who cares. (i'm sorry she's like this.) ]

Yeah, sure. Bar it is.

[ good luck with your rat children, taako and lup. the human children will be at the bar. where... children belong...? ]

[ Wolf is paid to be an asshole, fun fact. Anyway! Taako pspsps to no avail except to get attention from ceiling rat, which scampers over to Taako's hiding place and drops down onto him straight from the ceiling. The grey tabby tries to jump on the rat to help but rolled REAL bad and so it is thrown off into a wall and badly wounded. LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO, ALLI.

Lup has her own baby rats! They are about the size of six month old kittens right now and there's like five of them. That's a lot of rats to gather. Anyway, she won't run into any more rats, at least until she gets to Taako who is currently being attacked. Some of the cats that have abandoned him from boxes peer up at Lup in interest over the baby rats, but they do not seem interested in going to fight a doom rat. That's what they're called. Doomrats.

Meanwhile, for Sora and Clem, there are three people in the bar! They don't have a quest mark over their head, but also, they're not Sephiroth, so, you win some, you lose some. They turn in surprise when they see the kids enter, because this is a bar, what the fuck. It's the chubby one who speaks up: ]

Uhh. Can we ... help you?

[Maybe Taako used his high Dex score to leap and grab that cat outta the air before the rat can launch it which is godmoding but I literally cannot deal with even fictional fake memory cats being injured I cannot I'm sorry I am crying real life tears I'm overriding it just kill Taako instead

anyway taakos screeching like a rat because a rat is just On Him. It's on him!]

[ she just shoves these baby rats into her hood and also her pockets. rat taxi.

she makes a pbhhhtlltlt sound at the cats as she passes them. she has a headache, get away from her... children, or whatever. and when she sees taako being tackled she just immediately yells: ]

Hey! Get off him! [ and makes as much noise as possible to get the thing to turn and face her so she can shoot it? can't believe lup's out here orphaning these rats. ]

[while all of that's going on, sora's busy thinking about the planet being in pain and even if that guy was busy yelling and being weird about it, it's something he can also kind of vaguely understand. even if he has no idea what mako is.

regardless, they enter this bar and there are people there? there are people he does not know, except he vaguely recognizes the girl from that previous memory and he thinks about what he knows about wolf and about their current situation.

which means it's probably time to lie.]

...hey! [good start.] We're, um...looking for Cloud. He might be going by Wolf? We have a job for him.

[clem please back him up, he's not great at this. all he remembers is that at least the girl probably knows wolf and that wolf is a mercenary, a guy who takes on any job and gets paid for it. it has taken him this long to remember that wolf told him this.]

[ yeah, she figures having a job for him probably sounds better than that they're? trying to rescue him? maybe? who knows. ]

We were told he might be here.

[ That's fine I'm not going to lie and pretend I didn't put all the other cats away so they wouldn't get hurt and also was planning to have the cat be mostly fine because I am also big baby for cats. Anyway! Taako rescues the grey tabby because they are best friends and now I have to find a way for him to keep this cat forever, and though he gets injured for his trouble it's lucky his

[looks at handwriting on hand] good friend lup

is here to shoot the rat in the face! This makes the rat babies cry for some reason. Trauma, or something. It's fine! The rat is dead, the cat is fine, and probably there were only two parents. The rat leaves behind some shotgun ammo (WHY) and a whole 200 gil. They can buy a potion with this.

Meanwhile, in the bar, the girl looks ecstatic as she whispers under her breath he's going by WHAT, but it's the other guy who answers with a shake of his head ]

A job, huh? He's not around here. Him and the others went... [ he has a blank look on his face for a second before he shakes it off ] Sector 5, right? I can get you a chocobo carriage ride to it if you really need him if you'll deliver something to him from me.

[ He’s still stuck under the dead rat until it fades away because he’s too weakarmed to move it. But yeah he’s best friends with this cat now. It’s his. Picking it up under the arms and carrying it with him. ]

Well. That was weird! Should we go turn this quest in?

Also I have a cool accessory now. Look!

Are you okay? [ D: her very good friend!!

she goes to help him up. and then... takes the shotgun ammo. she's still bleeding. maybe she should take a potion. her hood squeaks. ]

You - what does it do? [ squint. ] We should probably... turn the quest in and also find Sora and Clementine? Uh.

[ they've been gone for a bit huh ]

[he's not even sure what sector they're in, but he lights up a little at the prospect of going to find wolf.]

Sounds like a good idea to me. Two of our friends should be coming with us, but I think we have time for a delivery, too. Right? [maybe clementine doesn't want to go, he wants to give her the option.

the fuck is a chocobo though.]

[ what the actual fuck is a chocobo ]

I bet we can make it quick. We'll get more done than if we sit around waiting for them.

[ The cat will climb Taako's shoulder and hang out there. Taako has a cute cat and Lup has five rats. The real loot was the friends they made along the way. Anyway, they can get out of the factory now while Sora and Clem talk about abandoning them.

Either way, the man gestures for them to follow him out and leads them to a yellow sign with some kind of bird on it? ]

Alright. All you gotta do is deliver this to him from me, alright?

[ He reaches out and ruffles Sora's hair, a little--

And then everyone gets a new memory, somewhere high up. That same man is sitting against a wall, bleeding out, Wolf kneeling next to him. He's saying something, wheezing a bit like every word is pulled out by force. "Lemme guess... not a fan of kids?" Wolf answers in the negative, and the man seems amused. "But you have... so much in common." He raises his hand to pat Wolf on the head weakly--

And then there's a different man in his place, bleeding out in a different location, and he says Don't be afraid--

and then they're back! the man seems normal and not bleeding out. Also guess what it's time for headache o'clock. ]

You wanna wait for your friends?

These-- These memories are getting way worse! Just terrible. Go back to the one where I was adorable!

[Anyway, wandering back out. He doesn't know who assigned the rat quest, but Lup does so she can lead the way.]

Oh, uh-- It holds orbs.

[ oh, wow, these memories suck? these memories suck. taako comments on them, but lup is quiet, frowning. she makes an absent noise of confirming at him as they walk - and also a few of her body parts just randomly glitch out.

... she'll lead them back to turn in the quest. she hides the rats? in fact, she mutters to them: ] Shh. Be cool.

[ before telling the quest marker that they've valiantly destroyed the rats. yeaaaah.

... to taako: ] You uh, you think we're done with this chapter yet?

[things that are bad: people dying! things that are even worse: people's memories! because he can sort of figure out that this man isn't someone wolf knows, but...

well. this is bad regardless. headaches are also bad, but he accepts the hair ruffle prior and doesn't try to pull away. the bird sign goes noticed but he doesn't comment, blinking slowly to try and focus as he nods even with a slight frown.]

Yeah. They shouldn't be long now, and then we'll head to Sector 5. Thank you. I'll...be sure to give him the message. [except now he's looking at clementine warily to gauge her reaction to things.]

Lee...

[ clementine squeezes sora's hand when she sees the memory of lee. were they still holding hands? doesn't matter, they are for at least that moment.

i'm really glad she forgot her fire/raid trauma because otherwise this would be a 3 for 3 trauma parade for clem. but 2 for 3 is still a lot. that memory jars her more than any of the others have. personal involvement will do that.

she brings a hand up to hold her head, wincing as her hand glitches out for a second. great. more pain. cool. she is looking predictably miserable. ]

...

[ Unfortunately, the lady is a make believe quest character and thus can Tell that not all the rats have been dealt with. Fortunately, you probably did not need to completely finish five quests, so it's up to the twins to decide if they want to argue for loot or go to Sora and Clem right away? Either way, the man will have called their carriage already.

It's got a bird with it. They can pet the bird as they wait. ]

What the hell! We removed all the rats from the premises! That should count as taking care of them! The rats aren't a problem anymore. They're traumatized now. That should be enough rat vengeance. I don't have enough orbs for my thing. I want my orb, lady.

[lup can drag him away if she wants]

[ what the fuck this npc lady is heartless ]

I'm taking the rats with me! They're dead to you, what's the problem! [ she will not drag taako away, she wants her loot? she got mauled by a doomrat, lady, she deserves a reward!! give us!! the orb!!

don't make me kill these rats i love them :( ]

[unaware of the fact that the twins are trying to get more loot, sora's keeping on hand clasped tightly to one of clementine's. they were probably holding hands, it's fine, and when she says lee's name it clicks what, exactly he was watching.

"he died because of me."

...ouch. well. his free hand will pet the chocobo because petting animals is very therapeutic and also he doesn't quite know what to do here.]

...it's okay. [he's not sure if he means it's okay because it's just a memory or it's okay if she's upset about it. possibly both. i hope this bird has lots of patience.]

[ thank god for this therapy bird. she also gives it a very brief pet because. well, they're here. what else is she going to do. ]

... Yeah. I know.

[ guess who does not want to talk about this. ]

Really think the twins are okay? [ and not, like, failing their sidequests because they adopted several rats? ]

I'm not paying you in full for a job half-done!

[ But at least she will, like, pay them? Since she has decided arguing with them over this is too exhausting and they did take care of some of the rats and remove the other. She does call them ungrateful brats before yeeting another purple orb at them.

This one does not trigger a memory? Thank god. They all need a pause from their headache. Either way the twins will be able to find Sora and Clem with the chocobo, which is very soft and going "kweh". Kweh sounds like a weird whistle call, do not ask me how. The man has gone back inside bar, though I lied a little about memory triggers, since Sora and Clem will have a flash of the bar destroyed with flames around it.

But that doesn't give them a headache and happens in a singular second so it's fiiine. ]

Yeet!

[Since that orb doesn't do the memory thing I assume it doesn't fit in his cool new accessory.

Anyway, wandering over to in front of the bar that is definitely not experiencing any glitches, since Taako just has an innate sense of when the Uber has been called and it's time to move the party on.]

Okay, can we get the fuck out of here? Ready for a main quest I think. Or at least a distraction from the horrible sad memories!

[ she wanted that orb!! hell YEAH.

anyway if it doesn't go in taako's cool belt, she's stealing it. but yes, she follows after taako towards the bar, coming to a stop in front of the chocobo and just giving it this look? big bird. give her twenty. can they set things on fire? that'd be the only way this thing would be better. ]

-- Hey, where'd you get the bird? You two totally got the better stick! [ she's bleeding and also her pockets are squeaking. adventure! ]

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