[WEEK 3: Thursday afternoon, room 112; Dirk]

[nowyouseeit]

[AT SOME POINT on Thursday, Kaito flags Dirk down for a little talk, all the way back at room 112. it's not abnormal for him to want to chat with people privately, but what probably is abnormal is the fact that his right arm is now in a sling. there are bandages poking out from underneath the collar of his shirt, too. uh. oops? what the fuck did this kid do]

[not that he's talking about those, because he has something more pressing to ask]

Oi. Did you wake up this morning and discover something. . . er. Different?

Comments

[splinten]

[...Kaito what DID you do. Dirk glances at these CLEAR MISTAKES and his arms fold because clearly he is going to be asking about that.]

That's ominously vague. No, I didn't. What happened?

[nowyouseeit]

[maybe Dave wasn't the only person in room 112 with a sense of adventure!!]

S'not as ominous as it sounds, I promise. Look--

[since his right arm is indisposed, he lifts his left and catches his sleeve in his teeth, tugging it down with. . . well okay, the motion is awkward, but whatever it works. after rolling down his sleeve, Dirk will be able to see a message written on the back of his arm, in red ballpoint pen]

["We're ok. Try not to join us too soon."]

[splinten]

[Dirk goes totally still. He immediately understands what it is. He feels lightheaded; the blood washes from his face, leaving him ghost-wan and unsteady.]

So they... they have a way to talk to us... A little at least.

[nowyouseeit]

[Kaito nods, then yanks his sleeve back up with a jerk of his head]

. . . so you understand why I showed this to you, huh.

[good. because his first guess was that the message had come form Dave, which is why Dirk is the first person he sought out after discovering it. he shakes his head]

It wasn't there yesterday. Whoever wrote it did it while I was asleep last night. And how someone who is s'posed to be dead can leave a message like this on my arm is beyond me.

[splinten]

Maybe the Medium could help them or... somethin'. Or maybe the boundaries between life and death aren't as strong here.

[It's red. Red is Dave's colour.

He chokes back his jealousy—no, not jealousy. Something worse. Envy, not of the bitter kind that hates Kaito, but the painful sick variety as he remembers that he will never have what he wants, not even in this fraction that it was given to someone else, and that he doesn't deserve it. He doesn't deserve to hear from Dave ever again.

He glances away.]

You have all the keys to your room, and we know the Convict's key is a non-issue now. The Ghost is very likely not who did it, all things considered. Unless it's some kind of trick, it seems most likely to me that the dead have a limited ability to interfere with this world. Probably to move objects, given the abundance of red pens in your room.

It means we stand a chance at communicating with them even without the Medium. There might be limits on what they can say.

[nowyouseeit]

[he lifts a hand to rub the back of his head, brows furrowing]

The existence of the Medium role always made me think that those who have died are hangin' around here somewhere. I've tried my best to find the Medium too, so we can talk with 'em, but. . .

[he shakes his head. no luck]

If they can move objects, then they're like. . . ghosts, y'know?

[and if they can interact with the world around them, if not the people directly, then maybe there's a way to pass messages back and forth without the Medium's aid]

[splinten]

Yeah. [So. Hm.] You could try leaving a note out for Dave and Jason. See if either of them notice it and respond to it.

Of course, it could be a malicious spirit tricking you into thinking it's them, so a certain amount of caution is warranted. But it's a path worth pursuing.

[nowyouseeit]

Maybe, but there are probably ways we can determine whether the person writing is the real Dave, or just a spirit trying to cause trouble.

[at any rate]

I'm gonna try to leave a message tonight. See what happens. But I don't wanna be the only one, in case there are restrictions on how many times they can contact the same person, y'know?

[splinten]

[A stillness flickers over Dirk. Quietly,] I'll ask some people he was close to to try leaving something for him. I'll tell them I got a message so your role in it will be hidden.

[nowyouseeit]

[that. . . wasn't quite what Kaito meant, but]

That's okay; because I'd definitely rather keep my part in this a secret for now. But. . .

[. . .]

You don't wanna try yourself?

[splinten]

He won't come to me. [He's quiet and tired, resigned with something heavy in his gut. He nods towards Kaito's arm (the NOT BROKEN ONE seriously he has follow-up questions about that).] That's proof enough. If he wanted to talk to me, he would have.

[nowyouseeit]

[he's quiet for a moment, but in the end, he nods. he knows Dirk cares, and he knows Dave's feelings are. . . complicated. so he doesn't want to push. if Dirk doesn't think Dave will respond if he reached out to him, then that is that]

All right.

I'll let you know if I hear anything else, okay?

[splinten]

Thanks. I'll let you know if anyone else sees somethin'.

[Also. He points to Kaito's broken arm.] You gonna explain that one?

[nowyouseeit]

[opens mouth]

[closes it again]

[has the decency to look sheepish]

Well, I found out the locked building in town was a library.

[lifts a hand to gently touch his right shoulder]

And it's more my shoulder than my arm.

[just. his shoulder injury prevents him from moving said arm]

[splinten]

[...]

Did you try to go in.

[nowyouseeit]

[. . .]

Maybe.

[yes]

[splinten]

So did you bust your arm on the door, or did you actually make it in?

[nowyouseeit]

[sighs]

I made it in. Found a giant monster sleeping. Its name was Fluffy.

[why]

The door shut behind me before I could escape, so I tried to creep around without waking it up. Thaaaaat didn't work.

[as Dirk can. evidently see]

[splinten]

[Oh... my God....]

If you could get in without the convict's key, we definitely need to warn people off of that building. Did you kill—Fluffy? [Wait.] How did you know its name? Did it have a collar?

[nowyouseeit]

All I had to do was pick the lock. And, all things considered, it was a really easy lock to pick.

[he straightens and nods]

Yep.

Saw the collar as it was dangling me above its mouth with one of its many gross tentacles. [MAKES A FACE. . .] . . . Fluffy's dead, though.

[splinten]

[...Ew.]

Okay, I feel like I'm owed a real story here. You broke in .. last night? Or today. Usin' lockpickin' skills, so that's helpful. Fluffy had a fuckin' nametag, which means it was someone's pet and was supposed to be in there. It also has tentacles, which is cool. Like, super thematic. And you killed it?

[Ooh.]

Is there anythin' else dangerous in the library?

[nowyouseeit]

Tuesday evening. I slept all day yesterday.

[because he was in PAIN]

There were also giant spiders and weird. . . uh. Rats that kinda looked like men? And the voice of a woman, and the smell of lavender. Those last two weren't really dangerous, though.

[splinten]

[Wait a second.] Rats with the faces of humans? The giant spiders are new, but Jake found those in the sewers. The smell of lavender and a woman's voice are also what he and Andersen heard right before the so-called Sewer Goddess went after them.

[nowyouseeit]

[ah]

Seriously? Andersen left that little part outta our conversation.

[a scowl]

Maybe the voice belonged to the Sewer Goddess?

[is that what they're calling her now]

[splinten]

Maybe he didn't want to give you details about his hot new fling.

[jk we all know Jake's the one going for the Sewer Goddess.]

What did she say to you? [...] Was Fluffy her pet horrorterror?

[nowyouseeit]

[Jake why]

She called me a nimrod.

[he says flatly]

I think Fluffy might've been hers, but my memory's a li'l fuzzy. I was sorta passing out at that point. Y'know. . .

[gestures. at his shoulder]

Since Fluffy had impaled me in the shoulder 'n all.

[splinten]

[Yikes.]

Reasonable. Did you find anythin' interesting in there?

[nowyouseeit]

Didn't exactly have time to look, and some of that interesting stuff might've been destroyed by the creature.

[small sigh]

. . . the spiders and rat men might still be there, but there could be something important in that library. Y'know?

[splinten]

Spiders and rat men I can handle. [....Maybe? Who knows.] I'm also really fuckin' good at movin' quietly.

[nowyouseeit]

So am I.

The acoustics in that building are terrible.

[HE SOUNDS SO BITTER]

[splinten]

[Kaito...]

Okay, so we go in better armed. You should probably just do the lockpick and stay back. [He's trying to think of who he can bring with him and he is honestly blanking. Jake's missing a leg, Dave is—a thought Dirk can't bear to finish. Who else could he trust? Velvet, maybe?]

[nowyouseeit]

[HE'S A GOOD THIEF DAMN IT THE ACOUSTICS RUINED HIS INFILTRATION]

As long as you aren't the only one going inside. I'm tellin' ya, there were a lot of spiders and rats.

[and even if Fluffy is dead, he's pretty sure those things could easily overpower Dirk just by their sheer amount of numbers]

[splinten]

Not sure who to take. Who do you trust here with knowing we can get into the library? I trust Jake more than anyone, but he's going to be a while learnin' how to fight with what he has.

[nowyouseeit]

[he. has to think about that, because his mind goes straight to Dave and Dirk and Andersen]

. . . Velvet? Dave trusted her, right? And I think she's over wanting to kill everyone.

[splinten]

Yeah. Now she's on side about wreckin' all of these bastards.

[Dirk doesn't believe Velvet is playing a long con on it either. The rage was too sincere.]

Those spiders wouldn't be a damn problem if I had my katana. [It's an irritated after note. None of the weapons here were right. He could fight but he didn't have the reach and strength that he needs on his best of days.]

If you trust Velvet, then we can go in with her. I'd want to decide what we were lookin' for first.

[nowyouseeit]

I don't know if I'd say I trust her, but. . .

[Dave did, and that's enough for him]

If she's angry enough, and wants to wreck this place enough, then she'll be a good ally.

[splinten]

[Well.] That reasoning checks out for me. Only so much trust is required for this, anyway.

What do we want to get out of the library? [god he misses his sylladex HE JUST WANTS TO SHOVE BOOKS IN IT let him steal books]

[nowyouseeit]

'M not exactly sure. Books?

[OBVIOUSLY. . .]

Any kind of information on this town, or this creator god Perc and the others talked about the other day.

[splinten]

So we'd want to get to the history section, and probably religious studies. I'd prioritize religious studies, personally, since there might not be as much on the founding.

[nowyouseeit]

Agreed. This whole game seems to be some sort of religious sacrifice anyway, if what Quer said is true.

[splinten]

[a quick nod] Did you manage to find a layout for the library? Somethin' that tells you where all the sections are. Having a planned route would help.

[nowyouseeit]

Nope.

We did find a reference desk, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was destroyed during Fluffy's rampage.

[splinten]

We can check it again for something. If not, I'll just... guess. [Ugh.] We can probably get a lead on where to go from book covers.

[nowyouseeit]

Right. Since books in libraries are usually arranged by subject.

If the spiders and rat men are still there, you'll have to be careful to not let 'em destroy anything else.

[splinten]

We might be able to turn them on each other. Giant spiders would probably eat rat dudes. When Dave and me broke into the burned building that used to be a pet shop, I was able to distract some weird frog things by throwing a flashlight, so it seems like a lot of the creatures behave in a way that makes some sense relative to what they're warped from.