a. Initiation: An A-maze-ing Heist Investigation [closed to Kokichi] [He was tired...so tired. Even though he'd just spent nearly a day (or was it several days? or maybe just a few hours? he dimly remembers the announcements playing but...it's so hard to be sure now...) lying in bed and doing absolutely nothing, he felt more tired than he ever had in his life.]
[Or maybe it's just the weight of the truth that made him feel that way.]
[He'd thought perhaps he was dreaming when he'd heard that stern-yet-gentle voice speaking to him. Or maybe hallucinating, when he'd seen her hand reaching out to him from a darkness somehow so much denser than normal. But he's come to realize now that it was neither of those things. It really had happened, despite all logic.]
[Under normal circumstances, he'd probably be more curious about the weird interference affecting the speech of the strange woman before him. Not to mention the fact that he's suddenly in the middle of a park he's never seen before in his life. But he's not. He's not curious about either of those things, or anything else for that matter. He just doesn't have it in him any more. What's the point to any of this? And so, he stares at her with unfixed eyes, barely taking in a word she says or registering just how many other people are there with him. Everything is just so hazy and unclear...]
[And then he'd been led away with a few other strangers, down into a dark chamber where a bard had sung words he'd only dimly registered. And when he was handed a glass of incredibly questionable black ichor, he hadn't protested or questioned it. He didn't care enough to be suspicious, and so he'd decided to take the bard’s advice and drink it. It’s not like he had anything to lose by drinking it. Their world had been destroyed centuries ago...all life had been wiped out, save for sixteen students who had now become seven thanks to the atrocious killing gam-- oh dear god that is definitely the most disgusting thing he's ever tasted in his life. And taking it on a day's empty stomach had made it even worse. But as he threw up in his mouth a little bit, some of the haziness started to go away. As the bard said it would, the more static haziness that had been affecting him since he’d arrived here (wherever "here" is) disappeared, leaving behind only the blurriness that had followed him here from his dorm room. The blurriness that he could only call despair. A despair that dulled his sense of wonder, surprise, and shock so much that he couldn't really react to the sudden appearance of a giant jellyfish in the formerly empty tank before him. He just stares at it, as unable to take his eyes off of it as he is to name the emotion stirring feebly in his chest at the sight of it.]
[He hadn't even realized he was being led away a second time until he'd found himself standing in the middle of a gladiator’s arena. Once again, people had been talking, but he'd barely understood a word. Something about a test; about simulators and a partner, how it would be "his turn soon" (they really should have taken them down to the voidfish in even-numbered groups, whose genius idea was it to take only three at once when the simulation requires pairs!!)...it had all been little more than meaningless buzzing to Shuichi. So he stands vacantly in the arena, waiting for something else to happen...]
b. Whalecome to the Moonbase [closed to Kaede] [He...should have been paying more attention to everything that was said before he took his test. Or at least tried, even though his despair-fogged brain really hadn't wanted to. Because now that it's over, he doesn't have a clue what he's supposed to do next. He manages to find his way back to the quad, but he's not sure where he's supposed to go from there. There's nobody to guide him to his next objective, whatever it is.]
[He glances nervously around the quad, clutching the small plush killer whale he'd received after his test to his stomach. He has...no idea why they gave him this but he's not really complaining. He was oddly fond of Yacchi, hence why he'd kept it for himself after receiving it from the MonoMono Machine instead of giving it to one of his classmates. And it was nice to have SOMETHING familiar in the face of all this confusion and uncertainty. He really wishes Kokichi hadn't disappeared on him after their test, but he's not really surprised, given how things had gone in the maze (plus Kokichi's pressing need to obtain pants that WEREN'T covered in dried blood and a shirt so that he could give Shuichi his jacket back). But still...it would have been nice not to be alone right now.]
[He's just going to have to find someone to ask, that's really all there is to it. He's definitely not the only person in the quad, so it won't even be much of a search. Though...working up the nerve to approach a complete stranger is another matter entirely. He's gonna need a few minutes for that.]
c. Investigation Start! [Kaede may have filled him in on the details of this place as much as she was able to, but Shuichi doesn't want to over-rely on her. He needs to see and do things for himself, so as not to be a burden. So once he's had a shower and good night's sleep and is feeling a bit more like himself, he heads out to explore the base.]
[For anyone who might have caught a glimpse of him during their arrival, they'll notice that Shuichi seems more cognizant of what's going on around him, rather than moving around like a despair-filled zombie. Gone is the dead to the world look in his eyes, and so is the pinstriped jacket he was wearing when he got here. Kokichi still has that...he needs to keep a look out for him as long as he's out investigating. Surely, the leader has had enough time to get a shirt of his own by now.]
[Shuichi's investigation will take him all over the moon base. You may come across him 1. in the greenhouse, walking around and looking at all the plants. Occasionally, he stops to look at a plant more closely, crouching down if necessary. The longer he looks at the plant, the more surprised (and vaguely unnerved) his expression becomes. Or perhaps you come across him later, when he's made his way to the 2. art studio, where he looks curiously through the supplies and at any works in progress that may have been left out. There's a weirdly melancholy look in his expression as he does so, though that's replaced with one of slightly judgmental dubiousness when he looks over the class schedule.]
[Eventually, he'll leave the quad and take his investigations to the 3. voidfish tank. As he expected, there isn't much to investigate here but he still spends quite a bit of time in the room. Once again, he can't seem to take his eyes off the jellyfish, though he can somewhat better identify the feeling that bubbles up in his chest at the sight of it than he could yesterday.]
d. un: Shuichi Well...I don't have a "most" favorite thing about myself, or even just a regular favorite. So I don't really have a "least favorite", either. Or maybe that just means my least favorite thing is everything? Maybe I'm overthinking it. Hm...
The fact that I'm so weak, I guess? I don't completely understand how this is team building, though. Can you elaborate on that?
[Give it a minute...]
e. A different kind of search: a research [It doesn't take Shuichi long to decide which location in the moonbase is his favorite. That is, without a doubt, the Artificer's office. It's with great restraint that he keeps his initial investigation of the place very brief. He had an entire base to explore on that second day, after all, he couldn't afford to spend more time than necessary in any one location. But every day thereafter, he returns to the library for hours at a time.]
[Some days, he'll disappear into one of the quiet rooms to work on homework from his academy classes. (who else is taking that new class on logic and puzzles? This boy sure is.) On other days, he'll stay out in the main library itself, taking a seat at a table and surrounding himself with a small mountain of books. It always takes him several trips to build up this mountain, as he never seems able to carry more than three or four books at a time, depending upon thickness. But once he takes a seat, he pretty much doesn't get back up except when he's decided it's time to leave (after putting all the books away, of course), spending hours at a time flipping through tomes and occasionally scribbling something down in a notebook.]
f. wildcard [ooc: Shuichi will be all over the base in his c. prompt so feel free to use one of the other public locations if you want. I had to force myself to stop at three for brevity's sake otherwise there would have been sub-prompts for half the alphabet. Hit me up on plurk (robokatar) if you want to plot something specific. I'm open to whatever.]
Shuichi Saihara | ota unless otherwise specified
[He was tired...so tired. Even though he'd just spent nearly a day (or was it several days? or maybe just a few hours? he dimly remembers the announcements playing but...it's so hard to be sure now...) lying in bed and doing absolutely nothing, he felt more tired than he ever had in his life.]
[Or maybe it's just the weight of the truth that made him feel that way.]
[He'd thought perhaps he was dreaming when he'd heard that stern-yet-gentle voice speaking to him. Or maybe hallucinating, when he'd seen her hand reaching out to him from a darkness somehow so much denser than normal. But he's come to realize now that it was neither of those things. It really had happened, despite all logic.]
[Under normal circumstances, he'd probably be more curious about the weird interference affecting the speech of the strange woman before him. Not to mention the fact that he's suddenly in the middle of a park he's never seen before in his life. But he's not. He's not curious about either of those things, or anything else for that matter. He just doesn't have it in him any more. What's the point to any of this? And so, he stares at her with unfixed eyes, barely taking in a word she says or registering just how many other people are there with him. Everything is just so hazy and unclear...]
[And then he'd been led away with a few other strangers, down into a dark chamber where a bard had sung words he'd only dimly registered. And when he was handed a glass of incredibly questionable black ichor, he hadn't protested or questioned it. He didn't care enough to be suspicious, and so he'd decided to take the bard’s advice and drink it. It’s not like he had anything to lose by drinking it. Their world had been destroyed centuries ago...all life had been wiped out, save for sixteen students who had now become seven thanks to the atrocious killing gam-- oh dear god that is definitely the most disgusting thing he's ever tasted in his life. And taking it on a day's empty stomach had made it even worse. But as he threw up in his mouth a little bit, some of the haziness started to go away. As the bard said it would, the more static haziness that had been affecting him since he’d arrived here (wherever "here" is) disappeared, leaving behind only the blurriness that had followed him here from his dorm room. The blurriness that he could only call despair. A despair that dulled his sense of wonder, surprise, and shock so much that he couldn't really react to the sudden appearance of a giant jellyfish in the formerly empty tank before him. He just stares at it, as unable to take his eyes off of it as he is to name the emotion stirring feebly in his chest at the sight of it.]
[He hadn't even realized he was being led away a second time until he'd found himself standing in the middle of a gladiator’s arena. Once again, people had been talking, but he'd barely understood a word. Something about a test; about simulators and a partner, how it would be "his turn soon" (they really should have taken them down to the voidfish in even-numbered groups, whose genius idea was it to take only three at once when the simulation requires pairs!!)...it had all been little more than meaningless buzzing to Shuichi. So he stands vacantly in the arena, waiting for something else to happen...]
b. Whalecome to the Moonbase [closed to Kaede]
[He...should have been paying more attention to everything that was said before he took his test. Or at least tried, even though his despair-fogged brain really hadn't wanted to. Because now that it's over, he doesn't have a clue what he's supposed to do next. He manages to find his way back to the quad, but he's not sure where he's supposed to go from there. There's nobody to guide him to his next objective, whatever it is.]
[He glances nervously around the quad, clutching the small plush killer whale he'd received after his test to his stomach. He has...no idea why they gave him this but he's not really complaining. He was oddly fond of Yacchi, hence why he'd kept it for himself after receiving it from the MonoMono Machine instead of giving it to one of his classmates. And it was nice to have SOMETHING familiar in the face of all this confusion and uncertainty. He really wishes Kokichi hadn't disappeared on him after their test, but he's not really surprised, given how things had gone in the maze (plus Kokichi's pressing need to obtain pants that WEREN'T covered in dried blood and a shirt so that he could give Shuichi his jacket back). But still...it would have been nice not to be alone right now.]
[He's just going to have to find someone to ask, that's really all there is to it. He's definitely not the only person in the quad, so it won't even be much of a search. Though...working up the nerve to approach a complete stranger is another matter entirely. He's gonna need a few minutes for that.]
c. Investigation Start!
[Kaede may have filled him in on the details of this place as much as she was able to, but Shuichi doesn't want to over-rely on her. He needs to see and do things for himself, so as not to be a burden. So once he's had a shower and good night's sleep and is feeling a bit more like himself, he heads out to explore the base.]
[For anyone who might have caught a glimpse of him during their arrival, they'll notice that Shuichi seems more cognizant of what's going on around him, rather than moving around like a despair-filled zombie. Gone is the dead to the world look in his eyes, and so is the pinstriped jacket he was wearing when he got here. Kokichi still has that...he needs to keep a look out for him as long as he's out investigating. Surely, the leader has had enough time to get a shirt of his own by now.]
[Shuichi's investigation will take him all over the moon base. You may come across him 1. in the greenhouse, walking around and looking at all the plants. Occasionally, he stops to look at a plant more closely, crouching down if necessary. The longer he looks at the plant, the more surprised (and vaguely unnerved) his expression becomes. Or perhaps you come across him later, when he's made his way to the 2. art studio, where he looks curiously through the supplies and at any works in progress that may have been left out. There's a weirdly melancholy look in his expression as he does so, though that's replaced with one of slightly judgmental dubiousness when he looks over the class schedule.]
[Eventually, he'll leave the quad and take his investigations to the 3. voidfish tank. As he expected, there isn't much to investigate here but he still spends quite a bit of time in the room. Once again, he can't seem to take his eyes off the jellyfish, though he can somewhat better identify the feeling that bubbles up in his chest at the sight of it than he could yesterday.]
d. un: Shuichi
Well...I don't have a "most" favorite thing about myself, or even just a regular favorite. So I don't really have a "least favorite", either.
Or maybe that just means my least favorite thing is everything?
Maybe I'm overthinking it. Hm...
The fact that I'm so weak, I guess?
I don't completely understand how this is team building, though. Can you elaborate on that?
[Give it a minute...]
e. A different kind of search: a research
[It doesn't take Shuichi long to decide which location in the moonbase is his favorite. That is, without a doubt, the Artificer's office. It's with great restraint that he keeps his initial investigation of the place very brief. He had an entire base to explore on that second day, after all, he couldn't afford to spend more time than necessary in any one location. But every day thereafter, he returns to the library for hours at a time.]
[Some days, he'll disappear into one of the quiet rooms to work on homework from his academy classes. (who else is taking that new class on logic and puzzles? This boy sure is.) On other days, he'll stay out in the main library itself, taking a seat at a table and surrounding himself with a small mountain of books. It always takes him several trips to build up this mountain, as he never seems able to carry more than three or four books at a time, depending upon thickness. But once he takes a seat, he pretty much doesn't get back up except when he's decided it's time to leave (after putting all the books away, of course), spending hours at a time flipping through tomes and occasionally scribbling something down in a notebook.]
f. wildcard
[ooc: Shuichi will be all over the base in his c. prompt so feel free to use one of the other public locations if you want. I had to force myself to stop at three for brevity's sake otherwise there would have been sub-prompts for half the alphabet. Hit me up on plurk (