luministi | ❧ ...Until someone loses an eye

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❧ ...Until someone loses an eye

[randomly in the southern lawn of the town square, a silver view finder appears. pretty innocent looking, isn't it? and in actuality, it really is! only...what it shows might not be so innocent... nonetheless, observers will notice that the remaining residents who haven't been turned into dolls yet walk past it without noticing it at all. how odd.

a few minutes after its appearance, an unregistered CAT device sends an audio message to only the new residents, but those with keen ears will notice that the voice distortion is pitched a bit higher than normal. strange. the message goes as follows:]

Things are falling apart faster than I expected, so I can finally utilize this device while everyone is distracted. Use those prizes I gave you to get a glimpse of the truth! Thought you'd also like to know that he is safe and at home with his family far, far away from here. But please keep each other safe and beware R--

[the message, unfortunately, cuts off there...]

[ooc: Remember those gold coins embossed with the image of a lion and a sun? It seems someone has had something planned for them this entire time. Good thing you can recover it with your stolen item! Of course, there are some residents who can get one coin and others with two. Those with two will be able to use the view finder twice. Oddly enough, the view finder only will let you look at things in the four cardinal directions, and once you pick the direction, you can't move the view finder. So! Comment here ICly with the direction you wish to look at. Those of you with two coins can comment twice so we can let you know what you will see with your second choice. If you wish to comment/ask a question OOCly, you can as well!

Oh, and as a note, after you have used your coin(s) and return home, you will find that the lion paperweight has moved to a different location in your townhome. How or why that happened, well...you'll see soon enough...]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Prizes? [to anyone who might be listening] What prizes do they mean? Beware who? [And what in the world is going on here?]

[Fuu is a touch surprised to see yet another new person on her CAT (where are they coming from?), but she replies with a bright smile and a bow.]

Hello! My name is Fuu Hououji. You must have just arrived here? Because in that case, I'm afraid it might take a while to answer your questions.

[another voice? How many people use these, anyway? …but she sounds helpful, and not as if she's about to stop talking, so he tucks his hair out of his face and smiles.] Yeah, just today. I'm Hawk. It's a pleasure to meet someone as lovely as yourself~ [winks]

Maybe we could find somewhere to sit down and talk, then.

[Fuu blinks and blushes at the compliment and the wink! She's not so sure about that, particularly as she's had so many transformations befall her... But still, she puts on a smile. Mister Hawk doesn't know the danger he's in yet.]

A pleasure to meet you, Mister Hawk. Yes, meeting in person would be best.
If you could please make your way to the center of the Town Square, I'll meet you here.

Now, as you leave your apartment, you will be asked a question about yourself. Please do your best to answer quickly and truthfully. Don't enter any other buildings. I'll explain everything when you come - well, as much as we know about everything.

[it's partly habit, partly he's thinking that perhaps that's some kind of distortion in the image, partly he's sure she is lovely when not looking like that.]

The Town Square? All right, I'll see you there shortly. [he flashes her another smile before slipping the CAT into a pocket and taking off. Fuu might be able to hear rustling cloth, and Hawk answering the door's question- the Wing Kingdom Rolante, in response to 'which Kingdom did Navarre invade?', and he hasn't quite shaken off the tension from that by the time he reaches the square.]

[Fuu stands from where she was sitting on a bench as he approaches and offers a bow.]

A pleasure to meet you in person. Please, let's have a seat. [She gestures to the bench, then seats herself again.]

Are you doing all right with using the CAT? I'd recommend that you first check the directory to see if there is someone else here that you happen to know.

And the same here! [somewhat startled that she's bowing to him, but from her name, it sounded as though she came from somewhere else. He offers a smile and a raised hand before sitting down on the bench.]

This thing, right? [takes it out again, and flips it over a couple of times] I caught most of what it said about operating it, but I'm not all that used to these. I'd appreciate any tips you might have.

Certainly!

[Fuu walks him through looking up the directory and map, sending messages, library downloads, and how to record voice. (All her favourite things.) She also fixes the date on his CAT.]

Now I'll have you go back into the resident directory. Do you recognize anyone?

Thanks. Say… that's odd, with the date. Why would they have the wrong one put in…? [he looks at it for a moment, then moves it back to the directory and goes through the list of residents.]

…no, I don't recognise any of these people. [said with somewhat mixed feelings- at least there'll be someone going after Bigieu and Jessica, but a familiar face (depending on who it was) might have been reassuring.] Has everyone here arrived from different places?

Mmm, I'm sure that Mister Braxiatel would have a dozen theories on that one. I think it was just to mess with our minds. Throw us off balance.

I'm sorry that you don't know anyone here. But yes, we're all from completely different worlds. Some are even from the same world, but with different... history. Rules. Magic, even. [shrugs and grins] The people brought here are as ecliptic as the decor!

As though coming to a strange place without any warning wouldn't throw us off enough! [Hawk, irritated? Whyever would that be?]

There are worlds without magic? [a little surprised by that- the Guild might not use a lot of magic, but Mana- the basic force for magic- has always been somewhere in the background, and probably connected to the desert's oases.] Are you from one of those worlds?

[Fuu smiles and nods - isn't that the truth!]

Oh, the short answer is yes. My world has no magic. So I take it that you are from one with?

[folds his arms and grumps a little before sitting up properly again.]

Yes, that's right. It's used most in the Magic Kingdom Altena, up north, maybe with the elves, too, but there isn't really anywhere without some Mana in the background.

So what's the deal with the buildings? Are they all asking questions?

[Brightly~!] Elves, Magic Kingdom, elves and Mana? Sounds like a RPG!
[Suddenly realizing that that might not sound proper, she waves her hands.]

I'm sorry. I mean to say that we have games in my world that sound like that. But it's your reality. [And she can appreciate how difficult that reality might be.]

I'm afraid that they are. Every doorway that you go in or out of, you'll be asked a question. To get into your apartment it will be a question about yourself, but otherwise... well, it could be anything.

If you're going to go through a door, I'd suggest that you have your CAT on and ready so that someone else here can - hopefully - help you with the question. Because if you're wrong, well...

[She rolls up the sleeve of her blouse to show that her left arm is felt.]

Like a game? [a little puzzled. And why did she say that about reality?] Your world sounds very different. There's nothing like that at all?

Well, things have been getting tough of late. But we can handle it.

How inconvenient. I wonder if there's some way around it… Has it always been like this?

[he reaches out to touch her arm lightly, frowning.] Does it hurt?

Nothing at all like that for my world!

[She smiles. That's the spirit!]

It has only been like this for -oh, a week. But it seems that events of this type keep happening frequently here.

[Shakes her head] No. It's an... odd sensation, but it doesn't hurt. Doesn't feel much like anything.

I suppose that's something, but it doesn't seem right for this sort of thing to be happening. And… this is only one such event? What else has been going on?

[Fuu nods solemnly and proceeds to briefly describe the events - weather bubbles, the botanical garden, the alivened statues, the party and the poisoning, the murders, the amnesia and the stolen items, ending with the current situation. (Feel free to interject at any point!)]

[Hawk listens, one hand holding up his chin, a deep frown on his face.] The statues couldn't be hurt at all? What kind of rules could they have been working under? [because he knows of enemies like statues that wake up when you get too close to them back home, but they take damage like any other enemy.]

Poisoned by little machines?

That's a good question. It seems like this place is running with rules with which each individual 'new resident' is familiar with, plus rules of its own, all at the same time. But none of us could find a way to defeat the statues, and there was that time we all fell asleep. It would appear that Luministi's rules trump ours.

Yes, I'm afraid so. [Fuu shudders a tiny bit. She hated the very idea of there possibly being little machines left over in her body.]

Again, it poisoned all of us, even though we're all from different worlds and certainly have different physiology - different bodies.

It's possible that the rules of this place are the strongest, since it's where we actually are… Do you know anything about what could be causing those things? What about the people who've lived here from the start?

[he's fairly disturbed by the idea himself, and reaches out to pat her shoulder, offering a smile.] We'll have to look out for each other as much as we can, then.

[She's surprised at the gesture (we've just met!), but smiles kindly in return.]

That's the spirit. We were asked to keep each other safe, so I'll do my best to that end.

As for what's causing all this, we really still only have guesses. The most suspicious person among the regular residents is doctor Resarci, but he's gone missing. Most of the residents behave... well, rather blandly, to be honest. Only a few seem to be really involved with the happenings of the town. Here, let me show you.

[She opens the video from the Mayor (http://luministimods.livejournal.com/1268.html?thread=42228) on her CAT and points out the relevant people at the end. (The Mayor, Verita, Audrey, Miss Osculia, and Resarci, as well as Andre, Bruno the butcher, Sheriff Teger.)]

Asked? [it strikes him as odd, but he supposes not everyone grew up learning to watch out for the rest of the team when needed. And Jessica…] Good! Couldn't ask for more.

[he nods, and pays intent attention to the video.] …A Revival Program? It sounds as though there was something wrong before we got here. [frowns]

So what do these people do in town?

[Since he didn't ask for a further explanation about the 'asked' right then-and-there, Fuu will tell him details about it later.]

Yes. I feel like we were summoned, perhaps to help with whatever it was, but they gave us no reason, no mission, no task. Unless you count "enjoy the town."

[Fuu then proceeds to tell Mister Hawk a bit about the prominent residents, as well as the murders. Seeing as three of those men are now dead, and one is suspect.]

Summoned, huh… A little difficult with all that's gone on, don't you think?

[he's almost completely still as Fuu tells him about the murders, though he interrupts to ask for an explanation of 'sheriff', and takes a few moments to think this through once she's done.] So there's another side to this place… A traitor to what, exactly? The town? Or- if these people were trying to help us, it could be the program. [he sighs, and taps against the bench lightly] The sheriff, the butcher, and the bartender… they're all people who do things for the town, aren't they?

…you think it was Doctor Resarci, rather than Drew. [this said as statement rather than anything else, though he might sound a little odd, and he's laced his fingers together underneath his chin.] Why would the Deputy take the consequences?

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(oh, Fuu is always listening XD)

(heh.)

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(answering *all* the questions this time)

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(oh, I like you, asking all the hard questions XD)

(waah o///o too kind!)

(-^.^-)

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(answering all the questions this time)