welcome to the mansion

[airlockedmods]

[The Champions wake up not in a bed, but alone on a plush, velvet seat. Some may recognize the backseat of a limousine, while some may not, but the windows are tinted black inside and out, and there's no chauffeur. All are wearing expensive formalwear, no matter what they thought they were wearing before.

The door opens by an unseen hand and reveals a gravel drive with a red carpet and a lavish fountain. Others are already there, and more limousines continue to pull up afterward. The front doors are locked, and overhead curls a large protective glass dome, keeping the cold void of space at bay, but hey, there's also an unparalleled view of the stars.]

Hey there, Champions, welcome to the IGS Fantasy Sweet. I'm PAL, your onboard maintenance system for this location. Your Overseer will arrive shortly. Please be patient.

Comments

b

[getgood]

[so after that display she's not about to try and take her own P.I.P. off

it's the closest thing she has to a phone, anyway. But the sky is starting to get to her a little bit too, once she's made her way to that fountain: too many stars, the light is too sharp, and there was supposed to be a moon out tonight.]

It's too clear.

[misanthropicprinciple]

Huh? What?

[He starts a little and turns towards her; obviously, he's been thinking about something else. So far, nothing about this has been at all clear to him.]

The... water?

[getgood]

That sky. You looked like you saw it too. [This "kidnapping" thing is starting to make more sense every minute.]

[misanthropicprinciple]

[He blinks, then, more alarmed, looks skyward once more. After a moment, he says:]

Shit, you're right. I didn't even... [Junpei faces her once more, heart thudding with this discovery and the fact that he missed it.] I was looking for familiar constellations, but there aren't any.

[getgood]

It's like what you see in the middle of nowhere. You go camping and and it's just you and nature and the stars. [She shivers as if she's just suddenly feeling the cold, and her arms go to her bare shoulders.] But we can't be that far out.

[misanthropicprinciple]

...No, we could.

[Take his word for it.]

But it's also possible what we're seeing isn't what we think it is.

[getgood]

Planetarium theater kind of thing? Maybe.

[misanthropicprinciple]

Something like that. Can't rule it out, anyway, though you do get views like this in... say, Nevada.

[getgood]

We went out that far? I wouldn't be surprised. Palm Springs is only a couple hours, and...

[misanthropicprinciple]

Huh, really? Where were you before... [He waves a hand at their surroundings.] ...all this?

[getgood]

I was in LA, but it doesn't sound like anybody else was. What about you?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Nowhere near L.A., I can tell you that much. Right country, though. I've been living in the States for the last year.

[getgood]

...so you think we're still there? [She can't believe she's asking that question, but everyone else is questioning it and not everybody here can be cosplayers]

[misanthropicprinciple]

I don't know. If I can't get a look at it from the outside, I just plain don't have enough information to make a guess. I just know better than to assume what's we see isn't exactly what they want us to see.

[getgood]

So we could still go with planetarium.

[misanthropicprinciple]

Or something like it, at least. I don't know of any planetarium with a mansion inside...

[getgood]

A mansion with a planetarium outside? [look people have a lot of money and not a lot of sense sometimes]

[misanthropicprinciple]

I'm... uh, I'm not sure that's how planetarium construction works.

[getgood]

I'm not either, but how else would they change it?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Maybe they're not real stars at all. Humans have invented all kinds of ways to trick the eye.

[getgood]

...A lot of drones? They'd be like security, too.

[misanthropicprinciple]

...Yeah. It's possible.

[He starts to rub at his PIP, but then forces his hand away and clenches his jaw.]

Given everything else, I'm not comfortable ruling anything out.