probe | WEEK 5: CYOA

What in the world...?

[well. this is new.

shi qingxuan manages to resist the urge to sleep, but not the urge to stay in bed. with a yawn, she glances at the crumpled-up note in her hand, then opens it up and smooths it out. what's it say?]

[ aoi snuggles up to Endorsi Specifically.

just kind of. half-flopped on top of her, actually. yes we've barely talked, yes endorsi is her current favorite person here. she will also take a look at the note she's holding! ]

[she blinks awake, and for a few seconds everything seems normal enough - until she realizes sqx and aoi are here, and that this isn’t her room.]

Where are we...?

[she pushes herself up on the bed with a yawn (rudely pushing aoi off her in the process, sorry aoi) and looks at the note in her hand, too.]

[ Medb rubs her eyes as she wakes, yawning. Once she realizes who all is here, that startles her enough to roll off the bed, as sleepy as she still is.

She gets on her knees and also looks at the note. ]

Nowhere good, probably.

[thud, goes medb, to the very metal ground.

they all look at their notes! the notes read:

TO DO:
- collect toe tags
- update mini integrated life forms
- recalibrate [REDACTED]

it seems to be written in their own handwriting. each note also has a few bloodstains smudged into the edges but that's probably nothing to worry about.]

[well, that note is weird enough that she fights the urge to go back to sleep and gets up from the bed. hm! she's got a bad feeling about this.]

...let's be careful.

[she tucks the note into her sleeve for safekeeping and... heads over to the desk? she doesn't know what a toe tag is. maybe there's some on the desk to collect? she'll look at the surface and try opening any drawers she finds.]

[ aoi rolls from being pushed by endorsi and then just pops up like it didn't happen. it's fine! ]

Aoi will check the bookshelf for easter eggs.

[ you don't? have to announce it? anyway aoi is going to check out the bookshelf! do any of these books give a clue about what these instructions mean? because she is still unclear! ]

[She's offering Medb a hand as she moves off the bed, glancing around before looking towards the closet. She doesn't like this, especially given the bloodstains on the notes, so she looks towards her before she heads that way.]

Come with me? We should stick close.

[Either way, she'll move towards the closet and try to (carefully) open it up. To Aoi, though:]

Shi Qingxuan is right... Be careful.

[ Medb takes Endorsi's hand with a smile and gets to her feet. ]

I'll stay close, but I think the more we find, the quicker the better. This to do list... doesn't sound great.

[ She rifles through the bed, looking under the blankets, pillows, and under and around it to see if there's anything strange since that's where they all woke up. ]

[sqx doesn't find anything on the desk surface itself, but in the drawer is a set of notes. these notes are written in a report style, and seem to detail someone's frustration over someone else not doing their job properly. the end of the report suggests tossing that person out of the airlock, or feeding them to whatever large rat is in the vents.

aoi looks through the bookshelves - all of the books are by chuck tingle. every single one.

the closet is... locked. weirdly enough. why is it locked. it's a closet.

medb checks the blankets and pillows! she finds a tag - the kind you might attach to a corpse's foot. it reads NAME OF DECEASED: MATTHIAS HELVAR. the other information is scratched out, but under CAUSE OF DEATH: it reads TORN APART BY WOLVES.]

[

she sighs and tucks the notes into her sleeve, too.]

Be careful of the vent - apparently, there's a rat in them large enough to eat people.

[she'll check the drawer to see if there's, like, a hidden bottom in it or something, but assuming there's not... time to go check out the couch! so much shit can be lost in a couch, and if they're supposed to be finding tags, maybe she can find something under it, or between or under the cushions.]

Big vents.

[ aoi checks behind the books just in case? and takes a copy of Dr. Chuck Tingle's Complete Guide To The Void and slips that into her inventory.

just kidding she doesn't have an inventory here, so she's just holding it in one hand. ]

[Does the closet have a visible lock that looks like it could be opened with a key, or is it just closed and refuses to open? Either way, she'll shake it a little to see if it'll give, and then glance around to see if there's a key laying around anywhere in the room that might open it up.

Just in case, to the other three:]

The closet's locked, so if anyone finds a key, let me know.

A rat? Okay, I'll look out for a key.

[ i rolled for modern knowledge for medb and got a 20 so she knows what a toe tag is :pensive:

Anyway, rats are no great, and this tag is not great! Torn apart by wolves is, uhhh, not on her list of ways to die. Wow, Medb doesn't like this at all. She picks it up. ]

I found a toe tag already.

[ Is there anything under the bed? ]

[i'm proud of aoi every day of my life. she's holding a book now. something falls out of the book when she picks it up and clatters to the floor.

there's no hidden bottom in the drawer but that's one of those things where i'm like wow i need to remember to do that next cyoa. anyway, she goes through the cushions - and finds what looks to be a key! waow!

the closet does have a visible lock.

and yes! there's a skull under the bed.]

[waow indeed!]

Oh! Speaking of a key...

[found one!! that was good timing. she walks over to the closet to hand it to endorsi.]

Boop boop.

[ meanwhile aoi picks up whatever this was that fell from her book. what is it? ]

[Nice! She takes the key from SQX with a nod and then turns back to the closet. If it fits the lock, she'll carefully open up the closet door, though she does give Aoi a strange look at 'boop boop'.]

[ Medb glances over when SQX hands over the key and when something clatters on the floor from Aoi's book but goes back to staring at her find. ]

There's a skull under the bed.

[ She sounds more displeased than anything else.

No inventory but phone means she has to debate touching this skull herself but at least her outfit has gloves.

Ugh.

Medb tries to slowly but carefully fish the skull out from under the bed. ]

[it was good timing, probably. the key fits into the lock, and - well, two things. first, it doesn't turn, so this probably isn't the right key, and second, it shocks the fuck out of endorsi and leaves an electric burn on her palm.

aoi finds another key! yaaaay.

medb now has a skull. it's kind of wet and has... chew marks on it? herugh.]

[...UH?!]

E-Endorsi...?!

[reaches out to. try and help her? yikes?]

Are you okay?

[ oh concerning!

aoi doesn't want anyone else to get shocked testing this new key, so while sqx checks on endorsi, aoi will try her own key on the closet door! ]

[SHRIEKS but more out of surprise than pain. probably. though the pain is definitely there. after a second:]

I'm fine, I'm fine... Ow.

[she's so busy shaking her hand out that she does not notice aoi trying her key, and as such doesn't try to stop her.]

[ Medb looks up in concern when Endorsi shrieks. And walks over with her skull and dog tag, yeah. Haha. Gross.

She forgot how gross it was because of the shriek. ]

Endorsi? Are you sure?

[ Her worry for Endorsi also makes her miss Aoi trying the key on the closet. ]

[you guys are responsible for this water bottle and you're just letting her open up random shock closets, huh?

it's fine this time because the book key seems to be the correct key! the closet lock clicks and falls off the closet. it is now able to be opened.]

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