Week 5

[airlockedmods]

Week 5

[It's been five weeks (since you looked at me) and with the deaths of Shadow and Rukia, the group that was initially 20 strong has dwindled down to ten. Ten people in the span of a month and, even with the Overseers seeming increase in empathy for the remaining Champions, there is no end in sight for the Champion Excellence Program.

And again at 7 am on Sunday the mechanical woman's voice chimes to awaken the remaining champions on Sunday morning. After the initial wake-up call there is no new floor announcement this week.

And again the Champions are awakened they have regained one new memory from the ones they've lost. Starting again on Sunday, as well, Jamie and Bolton will be back to their usual office hours in their usual locations.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday


[ooc: welcome to week 5, everyone! Check-in has begun and don't forget to submit your memory regains!]

Comments

[voltrounds]

[Ricky's dressed differently than usual this morning. She's finally broken out the white turtleneck and black pants that turned up in her dumbwaiter a while back. They're both a little too big for her, with the sleeves constantly slipping down over her hands. She's also wearing a short cape for some reason.

And maybe a change of clothes was just what she needed, because her mood sure has improved a lot! She's out and about and back to her normal routine, and she's even smiling without the aid of people making themselves look ridiculous. Clearly there is no reason whatsoever to doubt that this is genuine and everything is fine now. Pay no attention to the icon choice behind the curtain.

So. The diner first thing in the morning, for strawberry pancakes which this time won't be interrupted by any murders, and then she's off to the gym to run some laps and maybe get a little bit faster.

After that she heads for the sewing room to give her Bear Repairs another shot... and has even more trouble than usual, because her sleeves are getting in her way. Hopefully she won't accidentally sew herself to anything...

One way or another, she manages to get through without serious injury, and can eventually be found playing that shooting game again in the arcade. At least her sleeves don't seem to impair her here.]

arcade

[ratherdoweddings]

[Yurika comes in with an armful of decorations and waves.] Hello, Ricky-chan! Wow, you got clothes? --Is that my cape?

[voltrounds]

Hi.

[...sorry, she's in the middle of a boss battle and only processed part of that.]

[ratherdoweddings]

...okay!

[Yurika shrugs, sets down the decorations on the Cruisin' World car seat, and goes over to stare at the screen.]

Zombies, huh...

[voltrounds]

Yeah. They're supposed to be.

[Oops, the incendiary rounds powerup just wore off. Now this unusually large and sturdy zombie will give her more trouble.]

[ratherdoweddings]

Hold on!

[Yurika grabs the second gun and hits start. She shoots inexpertly at the zombie, but seems to be studying the screen.]

So you reload like this, huh?

[voltrounds]

Right. Just shoot offscreen.

[This "yes, you know what to do, so I'll explain anyway" response brought to you by peripheral vision.]

[ratherdoweddings]

Got it. [Going for the head.] You must do this a lot.

[voltrounds]

It's the only way I can practice. [Maybe it reacts to having its legs shot? ...no, apparently not.]

[ratherdoweddings]

You do this for your job, right? [Just keeping at it -- okay, out of ammo again.] Its hitbox doesn't quite match the picture, does it?

[voltrounds]

Well, it's more like I do this so I can do my job. [Okay, switch to shooting at the big fireball it's preparing, to interrupt the attack. Not that it's clear why shooting a fireball would destroy it. Or why zombies would throw fireballs in the first place.] Yeah, and it doesn't really take injuries, either. This would be easier if I could disable its arms.

[ratherdoweddings]

That's true, it looks almost invulnerable. But there has to be something we can do either way. Nothing has no weakness.

[voltrounds]

Then again, its weakness might just be being shot over and over until it dies.

[Do zombies actually die, per se? Hmm.]

Arcade

[cyan_maid]

[Strange, how this is the first time Jane's ended up in here - or perhaps not so strange, when you think about it. If you've spent five months of your life living in a video game and hating it, are you going to want to go to a place full of video games? Survey says no, but Jane has no idea what to do with herself today, besides wander. And, wouldn't you know it, she wanders in here, drawn to where Ricky is by the noise and just...stops, and stares. And stares.]

[voltrounds]

[Hopefully she isn't waiting to be acknowledged, because Ricky is Focused(tm) on shooting these pixel zombies and is completely unaware that she isn't alone. She's doing really well! Okay that might be hard to tell without context, but her score has lots of digits and her health is staying pretty high.]

[cyan_maid]

[Not really - in fact it would be best if nobody noticed her at all - but when she makes to lean on a game cabinet nearby it rocks ominously.]

Augh-!

[NOISILY FLAILING AND TRYING NOT TO KNOCK OVER A GAME CABINET CAN PROBABLY BREAK YOUR CONCENTRATION RIGHT]

[voltrounds]

[To really understand what is about to happen here, it is important to note that Ricky is used to actually fighting using an actual gun, accompanied by various other people who fight in other ways. This is pretty different from that, but the whole reason she picked it up was that it was close enough to help keep her skills sharp, and it's also close enough that reflexes she's developed are able to kick in. So her immediate reaction to a sound like a distressed human is "one of my teammates is in trouble."

That is why Ricky shouts] Look out! [and turns to point the lightgun at the offending game cabinet.]

[cyan_maid]

[Thankfully, Jane has spent enough time fighting with other people - one of which, while inspiring a large chunk of conflicting emotions with her, still fought very well with dual pistols - to hear "Look out", and instinctively duck, bracing her back against the game cabinet, and not look offended or scared that a gun-like shape was being pointed in her general vicinity.

Still, the wide-eyed expression stays as the spike of adrenaline wears off.]

...Uh...

[voltrounds]

[...well. Now she feels ridiculous.]

...yeah.

[And embarrassing.

After a moment she just kind of lowers the gun.

Meanwhile, the game knows nothing of this interruption, aware only that Ricky isn't successfully fighting back anymore. It looks like she's going to be killed by zombies soon.]

[cyan_maid]

[That makes two of them.]

...Sorry. I was...just watching.

[voltrounds]

No, it's fine. [GAME OVER.] Are you all right?

[cyan_maid]

[It's not fine if you got a game over!] Um...I don't know. I think I'm just - you know, looking for something to...do.

[voltrounds]

[Ricky's gotten plenty of game overs! Etrian Odyssey has some seriously tough bosses--wait. Right, the other thing. But it's not like she can't just play again.]

...want to join?

[She could even play in two-player mode, apparently.]

[cyan_maid]

[Well in Sburb you die if you get a game over. That's it. You're completely fucked.]

...Um...sure. I'm not really a good shot, but, I guess...there's no harm in trying.

[voltrounds]

[See, then you just need someone to start the comic over and play it again from the beginning. Oh wait, Jane was the starting over, wasn't she?]

It's not like you can make it worse, unless you push me over or something.