robowest | [ WEEK ONE

Entry tags:

game: start

[ WEEK ONE – ARRIVAL ]

ARRIVAL

It's a surprisingly quiet ride. The passenger cart is nothing more than wood and a bit of cotton to cushion the seats but for some reason, even as the train hurtles along down the track, the cart remains silent. It only starts filling with noise when the passengers begin to stir.

There isn't any indication on how you got here. No grogginess, no injuries -- in fact, those who arrive with injuries might find them healed up completely (of course there are others who won't be so lucky) -- but in one blink and the next, you are here, on this train. Maybe you're even sitting next to a friend. Maybe a stranger.

Won't be any time to talk either, the train suddenly slowing down with enough of a jerk to throw its passengers back into their seats. A few seconds later, it comes to a complete stop and with a whistle, the doors open and a voice calls from outside. It's male, with a slight mechanical twang behind it and anyone who looks out the window towards the station can just about spot the portly man out on the platform.

"You might as well come on out, folks. You won't be getting any answers on the train."

Once everyone is out on the platform, the man stands before them taking an assessing look at each person. There is something very off about him, though he looks human enough -- but his eyes are too white, his skin too dry, and his hair is doesn't shine quite right. He is dressed in a flannel shirt, suspenders, and jeans, a cowboy hat atop his head and a badge pinned to his shirt that reads "Sheriff". After a moment, he gives a gruff nod and speaks again.

"Howdy. Real happy to see all of you. Explanations will come... Sunday morning, yeah. Give y'all a bit of time to meet each other. Settle in. Keys are on the table over there, hat and pistol in your room. Don't, er... Don't shoot each other right away but if you do, my office is over there. Go get some dinner, sun's about to set. Wouldn't want any coyote trouble."

And that seems to be... it. The Sheriff tips his hat and turns to head to the building with the large "Sheriff" sign on the front. There is a table nearby, keys neatly laid out for everyone with nametags attached to each one. An owl hoots in the distance and a breeze passes through the group. It's quiet again.

Welcome to game start! Characters will find their items in their hotel rooms and anyone who goes to visit the Sheriff after he leaves will find the station empty. On top of that, rulebooks will not be available to find until later. The Sheriff might be forcing it a little but it seems like the intent here really is to get everyone to interact with each other. If there are any questions, PM or hit up the plurk at

robowest!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

... Hasn't Australia been swallowed up by labyrinths?

[??? Percy, why don't you know basic recent history...]

Probably. It shouldn't be a huge secret in most cases.

What? [Okay look he only knows of one labyrinth and last time he checked Australia was fine. He'll get back to the "where are you from" thing in a second because really, what?]

... The Labyrinth Disease?

[DOESN'T THIS RING ANY BELLS]

[Just. A blank look?? WHAT ARE YOU EVEN TALKING ABOUT MAN.]

The Labyrinth's done a lot of things, but I don't know anything about a disease that swallowed Australia.

[What are you talking about, man.]

... Okay, either you've been living under a rock, or something's going on here, because there's no way you can't have heard of the Labyrinth Disease. Girls turning into labyrinths, swallowing up the world, etc.?

None of that makes any sense from the Labyrinth I know about, especially since it was never a person. [...okay, let's try something.] You said you were from Tokyo, right? Maybe your disease is only taking over the eastern half of the world.

I'm from Tokyo, but even I know Japan's not the center of the world. The disease has hit America and Europe too. It's a world-wide calamity, so like I said, you'd have to be pretty damn sheltered not to know about it.

[He's also travelled all over the world and seen these things for his own eyes, but that, he keeps to himself. The less personal details he gives, the better.]

The latest news that I mentioned earlier? It was America planning to go to war with Japan over labyrinth-related matters. Have you heard anything about that?

[None of that sounds familiar but his eyes light up at the word "Europe." That sounds a little better and actually...he's thinking again. There might be an explanation but he can't confirm without more information.]

I was a little busy back home. But maybe I've heard something about it in passing. How do girls turn into labyrinths though? Anybody figure that out? [Where's the disease coming from?]

Busy for the last ten years?

[Shinnosuke doesn't look impressed because seriously. So much of this should be common knowledge??]

Nope. A lot of it is still a mystery.

The last five, actually. [But whatever, details.] Do you know what these labyrinths look like at least?

Yes and no.

[He pauses, before elaborating, as he shrugs.]

That's a worthless question to ask, for the record. Each labyrinth can look wildly different from one another. A school, a tower, a forest, etc.—the structure varies.

... You seriously don't know any of this?

Not a clue. The labyrinth I know can change paths and everything but it was man-made. [This is bad.] So...what do you make of that?

... While there's been some human experimentation to deliberately trigger the Labyrinth Disease in subjects—which, I should add, I have nothing to do with, even as shitty of a person as I am—I'm pretty sure we're not thinking of the same thing.

The Labyrinth Disease is the worst disaster in history. You could live your life pretending it doesn't exist, sure, but there's no way you could've avoided hearing about it completely unless you were sheltered beyond belief. This is just too weird.

[Because that disclaimer isn't suspicious at all...but at least Percy has something else to worry about.]

I can assure you that we don't have anything like that where I'm from. We would have heard about it by now. I don't know how that's possible unless you're, like, from the future or something. [That apparently makes more sense than "other worlds".]

[Excuse you, how dare you doubt his disclaimer.]

... So on top of the geographical mess we've got going on, we're adding the possibility of time travel? This just gets better and better.

Though if, against all odds, I am from your future, then sorry to say but the future sucks.

[#dealwithit]

Why not? The town itself looks like it was stuck in a time warp. [He makes a face.] Besides, who says the present doesn't already kind of suck? [Because things definitely suck for Percy and he just kind of accepts it by now hoping for the best.] If we are dealing with time travel then why this time period? I have a lot of questions for the Sheriff.

Don't we all? Unfortunately, it looks like he's nowhere to be found, so we could very well be stuck waiting for Sunday morning.

[Shinnosuke even trashed his station and the guy didn't come out?? So rude.]

Unless you've miraculously found a lead, in which case do tell.

Not yet, but I'm not good at waiting around for stuff either. If we're really stuck here I'll keep looking around. There's no way he could have gone far. [Unless he was never here which is also possible. Gods, why.]

[and thus begins the sheriff conspiracy theories]

Well, he did kind of disappear into nowhere. Maybe he's watching us all from hidden cameras right now.

If there's hidden cameras then how are they being powered? [Conspiracy theories are better than nothing.]

Whoever's behind this managed to abduct all of us, possibly with time travel or teleportation or whatever involved, and you feel the need to question that?

Yeah. [...everything else could be explained as far as he's concerned.] That's the thing. This is too clean and without any kind of explanation. It's always one small problem that unravels the whole thing.

Maybe, but as someone from the potential future I can tell you that you need higher standards for what counts as fancy tech.

It's not about standards. [Rude?] You don't need high standards, that's what people are expecting. Aren't we all kind of in agreement this place is weird because it's so outdated?

[...also tech is still something they try to stay away from unless there's an emergency, so sue him.]

Yeah, but it could just be aesthetics, which means any kind of technology is fair game, isn't it?

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