[IC] Dear Gamer: Let's Seek Each Other Out

Did you know that people, mankind, started off as nearly brainless lugs that carried around clubs and had to hunt or be hunted? So when did they start to think for themselves? What triggered it? "Why...hardship and difficulties are what expanded our minds." A soft voice spoke into the large lab it looked overrun by plant life, but that wasn't the case, all the plants in her spacious lab were placed precisely to her wishes, although the plants weren't the draw of interest for an android that was walking around between twelve tables. No it was what was on the tables that was intriguing.

Laboratory

Scattered around on the twelve tables in her space were human bodies, very alive humans, they'd only been knocked unconcious by a drug a homemade specialty of hers, and taken over 8-12 hours from all their homes and brought to her. Her real name was Persephone Salude, every gamer she'd brought to her though knew her as Dungeon Master, Admin, or Game Master and her wish to bring them here was because she desired change. For better or worse, the monotony of living day to day behind a computer screen had worn on Persephone which is why those men and women were unconscious on tables in her lab. "Not for much longer though. I've got gifts for you~" She spoke cheerfully as she skipped between the tables, even though no one could hear her but her robots, but soon, soon, even if they were angry she'd have people to talk to! Okay and she might have been a little crazy but genius can go such a long way.

Smiling to herself she pulls a chip out of her pocket and hits a button on top of it, making it come to life with six crawling legs, she had 12 of them and they all wiggled and writhed, if they'd been awake she probably would have terrified them, but these microchips would protect them, from her androids and her security systems. Each chip was a designated color, their favorite color so when she dropped them on the unfortunate individual she stood beside; a man named Brent Young, when he woke he'd probably feel the crawling sensation all over his body. All the chips besides one scattered though, climbing to its designated target, she'd just needed a little DNA to program the chips. The green chip that was programmed to protect Brent Young stuck its little crawling legs into his stomach and attached itself there, firmly, impossible to remove except cutting your own stomach open...or if Persephone released the chip. The other eleven chips did the same thing, sticking and clinging to each individual, creating their protection and Persephone's ability to track them. "Now my sweet little androids take them to Vita Isle...We're just about to begin."

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Pairings: Elijah Vannwood x Gloria Wallace - They are known as Team Halloween, each of them has a USB in their pockets that's black and says 'Halloween' in orange on the USB.

Franklin Cense Goldman x Rowan Kennicot - they are Team Sky, each has a light blue USB with Sky engraved in white on their USB.

Akiko Darleenee x Alycia Demetria Roels - they are called Team Ocean, each individual has a USB in their pockets in the color purple with dark blue 'Ocean' engraved on the device.

Carina Rigel x Brent Young - known as Team Forest their USBs are forest green with the brown 'Forest' on their USB.

Diana Regalia x Tadei Ganhava - Royalty is their team name, a bright purple USB engraved with a red 'Royalty' is the indication of who their partner is meant to be.

Mackenzie Prang x Morgan Droud - called Team Night Flower, their USB is black with a soft purple engraved with 'Night Flower' on it.

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Scattered to the winds, far from their designated partner this game is called Seek Out! Once there are introductory posts Persephone will post again to tell the rules. For now, here are the places that you have been scattered to.

Franklin Cense Goldman is located outside the entrance to The Caves alongside Tadei Ganhava, remember the caves are long and winding but since they're in the middle of a mountain range with no other way down the only way to escape is by going through the caves. There are several exits and entrances, but some could drop you into the underground river, don't forget to watch your step but also don't forget there is a cave that leads to water you can safely dive into to get to the Underground River!

The Cave Entrance

Alycia Demetria Roels and Gloria Wallace are located within the Underground River, near a hole where water is pouring into the underground river and high high above them is where the river from the Deep Forest bleeds into the underground, a little closer to the ground but well out of reach is a cave 35 ft above them. The exit is at the end of the long underground river but the exit takes you to The Beach, where it's safer.

The Hole and the river itself

Carina Rigel and Morgan Droud are located on the Beach, the safest place on Vita Isle, and an ideal place to meet up with their partners there's nothing overly complex about the Beach, but there is a rather imposing cliff face to climb if you'd like to go to the Village.

The Beach

Brent Young and Akiko Darleenee are located within the Abandoned Hotel, it's only 3 stories high and is mostly intact...but be careful weather has made the boards weak and you could fall through, not to your death but definitely injury. Walk carefully and without loud noise. The Adandoned Hotel is located within The Deep Forest, which is closer to the Village and Beach than some of the other locations.

The Abandoned Hotel

Elijah Vannwood and Rowan Kennicot are at the Village, don't stay for too long or the dead will come to haunt you. The Village is outside of the deep forest, which is to its west but going east will take you to the Beach, although if you go that way you'll have to scale a cliff face to get to it. The Village itself is still intact, no one, not even Persephone knows how or why the villagers suddenly vanished but she has seen their ghosts or so she believes.

The Village

Diana Regalia and Mackenzie Prang are in the middle of the Deep Forest, the river can be heard disappearing into the Underground River, and the forest seems almost too quiet, it's also fairly dark, leaving shadows everywhere to hide the predators in this forest. Though most won't attack unless provoked or threatened it is best to be cautious in this area. Despite its scary nature the forest is quite beautiful but be cautious, it's best you figure out how to survive in your current environment quickly.

The Deep Forest

Every person has a bag upon the back. Their contents are as follows: 4 bottles of purified water
6 nutrient bars
1 box of matches
1 Pocket knife

[TaroAndSelia]

When Cense finally came to, he almost wished he hadn't. An unnatural grogginess was slowly clearing out of his head. It was uncomfortable, mildly irritating, and reminded him of exam day back in school. The man groaned and reached up to rub his head, wishing the external touch could do something to wipe away that internal fuzziness.

Deciding he would just have to bite the bullet, Cense sat up and reached for the glasses on his nightstand. His hand didn't find anything more than a cool, hard surface. Cense frowned behind his closed eyes, then lowered the hand on his head just a few inches to find the spectacles already resting on the bridge of his nose.

"I left them on?" Cense wondered aloud. "Just what was I doing last night?" Try as he might, he couldn't quite remember. He had just sent out his next colonization fleet in War of the Worlds, then started chatting with that strange person. After that, he couldn't find any recollection.

"What time is it anyway?" Cense asked the stillness of his room. With some effort, he pulled one eye open to check his clock.

Bright light reflected off miles of stone attacked his retina.

Cense clamped the eye shut again quickly. "Gyah, I left the window open, too. It's way too..."

Cense pried his eye open again. His other eye popped open in complete shock. All around Cense were enormous boulders and looming pillars of stone. Beneath him was grass greener than could be possible in this day and age. Streams ran over and through the rocks, cascading into somewhere far below.

He might have called the scene beautiful if it hadn't just marked the beginning of the third worst day of his life.

He didn't have any trouble accepting the situation. It was obvious he was here and not in his home. Skipping right past denial, Cense's thoughts hit anger. His cheeks flushed, his pulse quickened, and adrenaline pushed the last of the grogginess away. He sucked in a deep breath, then screamed his rage. "MIRANDAAAAAA!!"

[Benzaiten]

---

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Alycia Demetria Roels

Interactions: @MissCapnCrunch's body

---

---

Alycia's deep sleep had slowly turned into a light slumber. She didn't know how long she slept for, but she knew she didn't wanna wake up yet. Something bugged her, a noise that clearly came from far away. But the noise got louder. She forced her eyes to remain closed and tried to blend it out. What was this? It was disturbing her sleep. Her back felt weird. She probably had slept in an unusual position again, the best mattress couldn't win against the positions her body liked to perform during her sleep. If only the noise would shut up...

Was this the bathroom? But the bathroom didn't sound like this. And it wasn't this loud, this close to her ear. Now it suddenly felt like the noise was right beside her and with a burst of panic her eyes flew open and she sat up. Her back hurt, but she ignored it as her eyes quickly worked on getting used to the new light.

And then her heart froze. It really felt like it froze, ice in her veins, closing around her heart. She felt cold. Where am I? Alycia was in denial for about thirty seconds, in which she didn't move a muscle or breathed. Then her lungs forced her to take a breath and she realized that this was either very real or a new game technology that sent the player straight into the game, making them forget that they're in a game during the usage of said technology. But that was... science-fiction, right? Such technology didn't exist yet. Of course technology existed that made your gaming experience more real. Weird glasses that showed you the environment of your game when sitting upon your nose. The best headphones that were so soft in your ears, you forgot they were in there. All those kind of things. But she had never heard of something that felt so real. She could feel the ground beneath her - it was hard and cold and rocky. And as she touched the ground she once again heard the noise, a noise that had woken her up, that had sounded so far away but really has been close all along.

Is that... a freaking waterfall? Alycia's eyes widened as panic rose in her chest. She forced herself to breathe and settle her emotions. Panic wouldn't help her in this situation. Panic wouldn't solve the problems. This can't be real. There is no way that a place like this exists. And if it does, there is no way a person could simply get into my home and want to put me right here in this place. It doesn't make sense. She remembered the person on the internet that had asked all those questions... about a game. It was the last memory she had about the day. How much time has passed anyway? And was this the game? Or was there never a game? Was this just a crazy kidnapper?

"And they used to say 'be careful on the Internet' so many years ago." Her voice was just a whisper. She stood up, her body felt a little weak but within a few minutes her legs had learned how to stand and walk again. She looked at the beautiful waterfall. Whoever took me here likes nature. Or maybe just waterfalls?

Alycia shook her head and attempted to look around her surroundings but then she saw a figure lying on the ground a couple feet away. How did she not notice her before? Alycia was quickly dropping next to her, she reached out and softly touched her arm. "Hello?" No response. "Hello?! Can you hear me?" The figure was a young female, almost still a child according to her looks. She brushed the hair out of the person's face and felt extremely weird doing it, but she needed to see if there was a reaction on the face. She wasn't dead... was she?

"Can you hear me? Please wake up." The woman started to panic again. Dead... Dead, she wasn't dead, was she? She grabbed her wrist and put two fingers onto a vein. In silence she concentrated on the heartbeat inside of the wrist. And there was a heartbeat. The girl was alive! Alycia wasn't sure what to do and she definitely didn't know how she got there, but she found herself holding her hands into the water beneath the waterfall and then walked back to the girl with some water pooling within the shells that she had formed with her hands. And then she dropped the water onto the girl's face, hopefully to wake her up. She was careful when doing so, she didn't want all of her hair to get wet with the water - it was supposed to land on her face after all.

Alycia watched the girl's face with worry as she waited for her to show any reaction. Please wake up. I can't do this alone. I don't wanna be alone in this situation.

[Zynros]

Players in vicinity: Carina Rigel @XxLyraxX

---

It was warm. Too warm.

Morgan always kept the apartment he lived in at exactly 70 degrees, for a variety of reasons. Right now though, it was far too hot, and he could feel the burning rays of the sun, something he only vaguely remembered from the few moments he was forced to go outside.

As he opened his eyes, he was met with a vast stretch of sand, and the roar of the ocean. He stared at the water for a moment before standing and moving back a bit, to the shade cast by a nearby tree. He spared a quick glance at a nearby cliff, before he noticed the proximity of a second individual, a girl lying nearby on the sand.

After thinking for a moment, he dragged her over to the shade as well.

He doubted she was dead, their current circumstances being a little too strange to have come about normally, and whatever was going on, be it a mass kidnapping, (He felt that was a little unlikely), an other world summoning, (a little less likely), a dream (no chance, but he felt it was best to go through all possible ideas), or something else entirely, he felt it was best to ensure all possible resources were available.

The tree did little to cool him down, but he preferred grass over sand, so he remained in its slightly less scorching shade as he collected his thoughts.

[Conscripts]

Tadei Ganhava

Player within vicinity: @TaroandSelia

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Darkness...

Is this heaven?

No.

Heaven isn't this dark. Then...

'Oh yeah.'

He remembered everything now. Everything leading up to this moment. He remembered the last day that his memory registered before being suddenly embraced by darkness. He remembered his hours using the violin and then playing games. Then reading and agreeing to that e-mail, then finally taking the interview. After that, nothing.

His senses began to come online once more, after...how long? Tadei eventually started to feel something was placed on his entire left body. No, more like he was placed on something. Something really hard, a rock maybe? Then his eyes beginning to catch light coming in from the outside. The radiating sunlight of the area started to trouble him. His sense of taste followed, his mouth bitter, dry from dehydration. And then finally...

"MIRANDAAAAAA!!"

His ears broken, by a scream.

Despite having a not very good hearings, he was still able to feel the shockwave of the scream coming from right next to him. His eyes lit open instantly, his body bolting up from the ground. For the first time, he was able to witness the magnificence of the scenic right in front of him: a vast mountain range decorated with only rocks and grasses, yet its combination was so artistically done that Tadei would have been in awe for such beauty. The only reason he didn't was because of the blonde man right next to him.

Normally, he would have asked him if something was wrong, but there were more questions about himself at the moment that require answers. Why was he here? Was this the game that that Dungeon Master mentioned? What was this bag that he was wearing on his back? This was just too confusing. But he would not allow himself to be panicking now. Something strange was definitely happening right now, and panicking wouldn't help. At all.

[GoodLuckTuck]

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Nearest Player: @Duoya

---

Kiki couldn't remember what had happened when she woke up on the landing of the stairs in some strange building. She woke up with a gasp, looking around at the dust floating in the sunlight and the wood of the railing. Wasn't she just in her apartment? She tried desperately to remember.

She had been about to go to bed when she had gotten that notification on her computer. And then she started answering all those questions.... The questions. Were they for a game of some kind? One that put her in it? She had known it was possible, but was the future that near? If so, what type of game even was this? She looked around again and froze for a moment. This place had a creepy vibe to it...this wasn't a horror game, was it?!

She stood up suddenly, putting out her hand to balance against the wall when the world went spinning. When had she eaten last? And how long had she been out for? How had she even fallen asleep? She was very confused.
"H-Hello?" she called out in a normal toned voice. That probably wasn't the best choice if this was a horror game of some sort. She felt something on her back and realized it was a pack. She took it off and looked inside at its contents.

Water, snack bars, a box of matches, and a pocket knife. She took out the pocket knife and left the rest inside. Perhaps there were levels to this game. Like hunger, thirst, and warmth. She looked around again, feeling a little safer with the knife in hand. She stepped down the stairs carefully, some of them occasionally creaking as she set foot on them. When she got to the bottom, she looked around once more.

[Duoya]

Brent Young

Nearest player: @GoodLuckTuck

---

Deep darkness permeated Brent's vision as he slowly began to awaken, his closed eyelids shading his surroundings in darkness. The air in his apartment felt far cooler, and his body was sore nearly everywhere. If that wasn't even enough, his bed was hard as stone, and he realized he may have fell onto the floor in his sleep. This seemed strange, but as his consciousness grew stronger, he soon began to remember details - he hadn't fallen to sleep. In fact, the last thing he remembered was being on his computer... Yes, he was filling out that strange email he received. Everything after that was fuzzy, almost nonexistent. Brent simply deduced that he must have spent the rest of the night grinding on one of the MMO's he played, eventually passing out from exhaustion. Brent immediately bolted upwards however, realizing that he hadn't woken up to his alarm - he woke up on his own. Today was a Wednesday, he had work... If he rushed, perhaps he could make it to work before he got chewed out. Upon rising from the hard surface he was laying against, Brent opened his eyes to see the world.

The walls were lined with shelves, upon which various cleaning supplies and miscellaneous objects sat, such as a mop that laid diagonally against the opposite corner. Everywhere in his vision, from the shelves to the disgusting floor he was sleeping on, was coated in a thick, oppressive dust. As if the room hadn't been touched in ages. The most mysterious part of it all was that their were no footprints that broke the dust - somehow, he was taken to this room, and he didn't even know how the culprit could have managed such a feat. The surroundings were unlike anything in his meager apartment, and the thought of being unable to show up to work was gone from his mind. The only thing that he was thinking of was the very real threat that he had been kidnapped, and was being held hostage. Looking down, Brent saw that he was completely unbound, a surprise considering he seemed to be kidnapped.

But that was not all - a pack laid at his feet, a quick investigation revealing it's contents - 4 plastic bottles of a clear liquid, presumably water. 6 bars in a bland white packaging, lacking even a nutrition table. A matchbox which had a large number of matches, somewhere between 30 and 50. The item at the bottom was a small pocket knife, not enough to defend oneself reliably in a fight, but a very nice tool. Finally, the bag itself was made of a Nylon fabric, and had far more space than was necessary to hold the meager supplies. Placing most of the items back into his bag, he zipped it up and slid the large bag onto his back. In his hand was the small knife, fingers resting against the blade and prepared to unfold it should he meet his assailant. The knife would surely be of little use considering it's small size, but any weapon was better than none. Shakily reaching his free hand towards the door, and giving a silent turn, the door appeared to be unlocked. The fact that the door was unlocked and he wasn't even bound up led Brent to a single conclusion - he most likely wasn't kidnapped, or at the very least, the kidnapper didn't intend to keep him in one location. He was nearly about to open the door when a small, barely audible voice managed to pierce the thick wooden door.

"H-Hello?"

The voice nearly caused Brent to yell in surprise, but he managed to keep his voice muffled. Someone else was outside the door, and their voice, while very soft, was easy to tell the owner was a woman. Sliding the pocket knife into his pants pocket, he gently opened the door, prepared to pull the knife out should he need to. After all, he would probably be able to overpower her if she tried to attack him... Unless she was the culprit, and had a better weapon than a few inches of sharp metal. He swiftly made his way out of the closet, which he now recognized as a janitors closet - the area he was in appeared to be the ground level of a fabulous hotel. Or, a once fabulous hotel, as the entire place was coated in dust and dilapidated with age. Sunlight poked through many yellowed windows and the occasional holes in the walls, dust specking the rays of light. Despite his best efforts, stealth was an impossibility. The floors were creaky and did so at the slightest pressure, occasionally making a slight noise of their own volition. The rug was partially eaten, Brent praying that the large sections missing in the fabric were caused by moths rather than something... larger. Brent made his way to the desk before realizing that he didn't know where to go - the staircase further to the right seemed to be an option, but considering the disrepair of the place, climbing to higher floors was clearly not in his best interest. He could leave, but the barely transparent windows of the hotel revealed that the surroundings were unfamiliar - a dark forest, despite the rays of sun that poked through the windows. Hoping to avoid a more dangerous change of scenery, Brent realized his only course of action.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Calling out to the voice was a risky tactic, but it was the safest of his available ones. Worst case scenario, the woman reveals herself to be the culprit behind his awakening in this strange place and he may die. Best case scenario, she's a police officer looking for a Mr. Young who disappeared from his home, and he would be taken out of this nightmare. Either way, it's better than walking out into the forest unarmed.

[Seravee]

Mackenzie Prang

@Eklispe

---

She woke to light dancing across her face. Mackenzie blinked once, twice, then groaned as she moved to rub at her eyes. "Wh' time is it?" came her garbled question. But her cat, normally happy to wake her with licks of his sand-paper tongue, had no answer. That was the first indicator that something was amiss. "Yukon?" Mack rolled over, reaching out for the other side of her queen bed, where Yukon spent his nights. Instead of soft sheets and a throne of pillows, her fingertips kissed rough wood.

Her eyes cleared in an instant, surprise chasing the sleep from the wide blues. She found her hand resting on the thick root of a massive tree. It towered above her, the small slips of sunlight that permeated the thick canopy shifting with each cool breeze. The grass beneath her was thick and lush, and smelled like the most recent rainfall. She inhaled deeply, letting her lungs fill with the clean air. It worked to sharpen her mind, waking it further as she racked her memory. Why was she outside? It was summer vacation, and she spent most of her time in the state park, so her surroundings weren't entirely foreign. Still, she could not remember falling asleep there.

Mack climbed to her knees, fishing for her cell phone in her hoodie pocket. Plain gray hoodie, black exercise pants - both her hiking attire, and her bumming-around-the-house outfit, so it provided no clues. Regardless, she felt entirely naked without her cell. Again, surprise lit her features as her hand closed around something far smaller than an iPhone. "What?" she breathed, drawing a USB from her pocket. It was the color of lilacs, her favorite, but it did not belong to her. Neither did the bag that lay a few paces away, nestled in a cropping of long grass.

Slowly, hesitantly, Mack found her feet. Her gaze remained on the device in her palm, lips turned down in mixed parts confusion and frustration. While she could appreciate the beautiful design, and the color... Wait, hadn't she just told someone that this was her favorite color?

The USB flew from her hand, thrown to the ground as if it had burned her. That game. That weird questionnaire. The memory of snuggling into her over-sized chair with her laptop, Yukon draped across her feet, and then... nothing. Her hands trembled like the leaves overhead, and she clenched them at her sides in an attempt to steady herself. It wasn't right. None of it was right. Despite the beauty of the world around her, she could no longer bring herself to bask in it. It was wrong.

The USB lay where it was, as did the bag, while Mack stalked away. Her mind raced, trying to formulate a plan though there was no real material to work with. Nothing logical at least. She had thought she was signing up for some new MMORPG, in its alpha stage, if the advertisements were to be believed. She raked her hand through her hair, damp with sweat despite the chill in the air. She drew in a long breath and closed her eyes, blocking out all distractions so she could think. Her head filled with the sound of a river, babbling somewhere deeper in the woods. The leaves murmured far above her, whispering on the wind. But that was all. Mack heard no crunch of brush underfoot, no flap of wings, or buzz of insects. When she opened her eyes, the shadows that filled the forest seemed even darker than before. A dark sense of foreboding twisted her gut. "This is wrong," she said finally.

❀

[SpeakNoEvil]

Elijah Vannwood

Team Halloween

Nearest Player: Rowan Kennicot -- @Fabricant451

Location: Haunted Village

---

The first two things that Elijah instantly became aware of were the throbbing headache pounding in the back of his skull and the bright light filtering in through his closed eyelids. Dammit, did he forget to close his curtains last night? He had bought blackout shades for a reason. There were perks to being an insomniac but the flipside meant he also liked to sleep in well past sunrise once he was actually able to fall asleep.

As his foggy mind struggled to wake up, Elijah mused that he must've somehow fallen asleep on the floor of his apartment. That or he rolled off his bed in his sleep, which he had done before. Those were the only reasons his sleepy mind could come up with for the hard surface under his stomach. Groaning as he started becoming more conscious, Elijah sucked in a sharp breath as his headache intensified only to wake up immediately in a coughing fit upon sucking in a mouthful of dirt. He pulled himself to his knees and hacked out the particles in his throat until he could breathe properly again. Jesus, he really needed to clean his floor...

Slowly opening his pale green eyes, he blinked at the warm sun lighting up his studio apartment and moved to stand so he could close his curtains and go back to sleep. However, once his eyes completely took in his surroundings, they widened only for him to tightly shut them again and further rub the sleep out of them. When they were open again, Elijah realized he was in fact, not seeing things. Surrounding him wasn't the familiar furnishings of his modest flat but what looked like a ghost town; abandoned buildings, tumbleweeds, the works. Well, shit, that explained the dirt still coating the inside of his mouth and the feeling of rocks jabbing him in the stomach as he slept. Those facts alone guaranteed this wasn't another one of his vivid dreams.

How did he end up here? He hadn't started sleepwalking had he? No, he lived in the city. There was no way he had zombied his way to an abandoned village. Were there even any of those near where he lived? He didn't think so... The last thing he remembered was answering that ridiculous questionnaire before booting up the newest horror survival game he just finished downloading. Although Elijah couldn't recall actually starting to play. His memory went blank after answering the last question...

"Shit, what the hell..." he muttered out loud as he rubbed his throbbing head.

Elijah then became aware of a weight on his back that his earlier shock had failed to register until now. Pulling the item from his back he noticed it was a black nondescript backpack that he didn't recognize as his own. He unzipped it, not even thinking that it may belong to someone else. Inside were a couple water bottles, a handful of what looked like meal replacement bars, a matchbox, and a tiny pocket knife. Reaching inside, Elijah was about to grab one of the bottles to help alleviate the dryness of his dirt coated mouth but thought better of it. If his hours of grinding survival games had taught him anything, it was that he would need these later when dehydration started to settle in. So instead he grabbed the matchbox and shook it, confirming that it was full. Next he grabbed the knife and removed it, zipping the backpack back up and replacing it on his back.

Flicking it out, he ran his thumb over the blade to test its edge. It was definitely sharp but too small to really do much damage. At most it would probably serve as a tool around camp. He shoved it into the pocket of his khaki shorts only to notice another small item already in his pocket. Releasing the knife into his pocket, Elijah's hand closed around the other item and pulled it out, recognizing it as a black USB drive. Halloween was written upon it in an ornate script. Odd... This definitely wasn't his. The idea of someone he most likely didn't know putting something in his pocket while he slept made him feel uncomfortable. He decided to put it back in his pocket for now, but shoved it into the opposite pocket from the knife. If he really needed the knife in a hurry, he didn't want to grab the USB first by accident.

Dusting the dirt off the front of his plain black tank, Elijah decided to start investigating some of the abandoned buildings. He still didn't know what in the name of sanity was going on but might as well keep a cool head and deal with it until he found answers. He would start with searching for more supplies but Elijah wanted to be quick about it. There was something about this village that gave him the creeps, the tingling feeling of being watched causing a shiver to run down his spine. Starting with the building closest to where he woke up, he stopped dead in his tracks once he crossed the threshold. There slumped in a wooden chair was a young girl that seemed to be close to his age wearing an identical backpack to the one on his own back. That couldn't be coincidence. This was just getting ridiculous. What the hell was going on?! Rushing over, Elijah knelt down in front of her and gently started shaking her.

"Miss? Excuse me, miss? Wake up."

[Eklispe]

Diana Regalia

@Seravee

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"Mrghh." Several things came to Diana's attention as soon as she woke up. First of all she hadn't woken up to her alarm. A very rare thing. Secondly Diana was on something that was no conceivable piece of furniture she owned due to the odd texture. Further more, Diana didn't wear her glasses to bed, as she could tell when her slight head movement caused her glasses to bump into something rigid. "Eh?" She opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to regain vision and was greeted by decidedly foreign colors. This combination of warning signs prompted a more vigorous investigation. Diana appeared to be on some strange sort of tex- oh my god was that a tr- tree? Were those trees? Yes they were definitely trees!

Diana practically drank in the scenery around her, There were trees EVERYWHERE, and on the ground there were all sorts of tiny green plants of various sorts that Diana had no idea what they were called. Not to mention there was one of those ri-, stre-, bro-, water things! She sat up from where she was, that is to say perched right were a tree split about a foot or two above the ground. Something on Diana's back came to rest against the tree tru.. trun.. base. Diana became aware of a weight on her back and straps around herself. She carefully removed them and set the... knapsack in front of her and opened the flap peering inside. It looked like... some sort of food?

Some bottles with water in them, a box, which upon closer inspection had red some red tipped twi- sticks inside. There was also a small kni-knife. However the most interesting thing was what Diana had felt in the big pockets of her sweats, which she pulled out now. She hardly needed to look at it to know it was a USB, though it was rather fancifully decorated. Royalty was engraved in a pleasing shade of red along a purple background, making her thing of some king bundled in fine clothing.

Which was of course a far cry from herself, wearing her plain gray sweats, a baggy dull blue shirt, the only patches of color being her scarf she hadn't bothered taken off from when she'd had to go outside earlier... yesterday? And the purple that colored both ribbon that held her hair and the rim of her glasses. AH! Diana had figured it out. This must be the game Admin had been talking about. There had been that strange interview and she had fallen asleep or something and now she was here. Some sort of virtual reality probably. Augmented reality? Simu- simulat- fake island survival. Ah it must be with other people which would be the reason for some of the other questions. The USBs probably had to be turned in somewhere to end the game. As if to confirm her suspicions she heard a voice nearby.

"This is wrong,"

Hm? Diana awkwardly re-equipped her knapsack and stretched one leg to the ground to make contact before fully landing. Then she proceeded to carefully step forward through soft ground and made her way around a tree to find a taller women, with longer hair than Diana's own and was probably older as well, though with relatively similar clothing. She seemed unhappy and was probably the reason Diana had woken up in the first place. Diana stared for a bit before tentatively raising her hand it what could generously be called a wave. "H-hi?"

[Fabricant451]

Rowan couldn't remember the last time she had a decent dream. There was once a period in her life where she had dreams so pleasant and whimsical that it was depressing to wake up and be back among the living. What was better? Being able to fly and be the center of attention or shuffling along the bus to school every morning with a cup of yogurt as breakfast and not so much as a 'have a good day' from who were technically parents. Dreams were spaces where anything could happen.

It wasn't as if Rowan was sleeping any worse. She might've been sleeping less but it wasn't restless. Just dreamless. If she were the concerning type, she might've tried uncovering the reason why. There was no real reason to over-analyze it, but shortly after Rowan lost herself in the realms of the massive and online, so too did she lose the capacity to dream. After all, when there was a place to fly and be the center of attention and get validation for it...who needed dreams? While being awake she could be stuck in the world of her dreams.

This world was a place where anything could happen.

Over time, Rowan hadn't even missed dreaming. Sleeping was just a thing she did to recharge rather than a thing she looked forward to and cherished. Changing so many habits resulted in sleep coming to her even without a bed; which was a roundabout way of teaching herself to sleep while sitting, as uncomfortable as it might be. Countless nights sleeping with a small puddle of drool next to her keyboard. Nights where she wound up on the floor because her legs wouldn't move another step. Where once sleep and dreams were desired, now sleep had become a nuisance.

So when Rowan found herself waking up in an awkward position, she wasn't exactly surprised. She wasn't even initially surprised when it was physical contact that stirred her awake; her roommates had a tendency to make sure she wasn't dead in the morning by poking her with a yardstick as a joke and as an alarm clock. "Fuck off, Barb," Rowan slurred out, still locked in the sleepy haze with eyes barely open and blurry. "Fuck off!" She repeated herself, her voice surly, annoyed, sleepy.

"Idontgotwork" Another muttered response as her eyes shut again. Back to sleep. Yet to dream. She was alive, though. And that was usually enough to get Barb and her husband off of Rowan's back.

[Jiatsu Hoshido]

@Fabricant451@Eklispe@SpeakNoEvil@Seravee@Duoya@GoodLuckTuck@Conscripts@Zynros@KahleenCuthald@TaroAndSelia

Sadly neither Carina Rigel or Gloria Wallace awakens from the drug that Persephone had used, they were in comas which greatly annoyed the black haired beauty who had been watching the screens Elijah Vaanwood and Brent Young had lost their partners. Well she'd take care of that in a moment. Two drones were sent out to collect the bodies of Carina and Gloria, they fled with the bodies quickly preventing anyone from grabbing hold of them. Persephone sighs sofktky under her breath before standing straight and activating several small cameras which show a 3D rendering of herself to her participants. "Hello there! It's a pleasure to meet you all, though I doubt it's a pleasure to meet me. You all know me, or I would hope you remember me. I interviewed you a day or so ago. So to get this out of the way I'll throw my sins out there now. Yes, I've kidnapped you." The render was very good, one could see Persephone's hair of blue black as if sunlight a finally reflected from it as well as her brilliant almost unnatural green eyes and her gothic style of dress. She was smiling as she addressed everyone before holding up her hand.

With a dangerous light in her eyes she smirks at her players, "For those of you who just saw those two those two women get taken away, do not fear they're not dead, they simply wouldn't awaken just yet. You shouldn't worry about them though. It's time I explain what's going on...You see human psychology intrigues me a great deal, but everyone is so reliant on technology that they've lost sight of survival instinct. I would like to hone that back to a sharper point so here's the reason you're all here. You have no choice but to participate in my games and you're not the only ones, you're just my experimental batch, I've got several other vicimts stored in my facilities. I digress though. You need important information right now." She smiles again humming a little and rocking back and forth on her heels and the balls of her feet, whatever was going on Persephone, or Dungeon Master known to the people before her, seemed excited and giddy, even though she was endangering the lives of others. It wasn't that she didn't care, she cared too much.

Lime green eyes open slowly, lighting up with dark intent, "Rules are as follows.

1. Do not try to cheat, or escape, you'll die trying to get away from my islands.

2. Do not try and take the chips on your stomachs out. For two reasons, they're embedded, deeply. Ripping it out would probably spill your guts honestly. And if you survived that my security system would see you as a threat and end your existence.

3. Do not try and commit suicide to change my minds, I've got machines all over that can prevent that, not to mention the chips in your stomachs can inject you with a paralysis agent. So don't do it.

4. I've an indeterminate amount of games for you to play. You're my guinea pigs, do not forget.

5. For the first game, which is called Seek Out your goal is to find your partner. Sadly Forest and Halloween, but your partners are disabled so I'd like it if you two worked together, not that you have much choice honestly if you want to live. I'll recalibrate your USB drives once the first game is complete.

Well there you go, it's simple here on my islands. Now I'm sure you've all noticed your packs of supplies right? It's enough to last you for 3 days, which is your deadline for Seek Out. Your mission is to find the person who matches your USB drive. I'll be scoring you on 4 subjects for this. Though I'll only tell you 3 of those subjects, the fourth is secret. The 1st 3 will apply to all games, maybe write it down. Speed: whoever completes the task I set forth fastest. Creativity: How outside the box you think when dealing with stressful situations. Lastly is, Cooperation: How well you work together with your partner and other teams. These are important and don't worry there are prizes for beating my games. Now I know it's not the best situation but please do try to have fun, grow a little appreciation for the world around you. Interact with people outside of a screen. Honestly it's the saddest thing to me seeing the way people handle one another, show me humanity has a chance to keep going...please." It was an odd plea and Persephone's smile was only sad, so very sad, she prayed they'd do as she needed, she prayed they'd live up to her expectations. Angry at her at the end of the games or not she'd take the wrath due later for now though, the 3D rendering vanished from before the people, leaving some of them in lonely and terrifying silence with only the sounds of nature to keep them company.

With all that out of the way Persephone settled into her chair before her many many many screens and watched over their interactions and their responses to each other. Surely need to survive would take precedent.

(Remember each day is 5 pages long and after this post from me it's all you and your interactions, don't leave anyone behind but don't hesitate either. If big events happen during a day I'll post about it. But as players you have nigh total control of the environment surrounding your character.)

[Duoya]

Brent Young

Nearest player: @GoodLuckTuck

---

Barely seconds had passed - the words had barely managed to escape his lips when he simply couldn't take it. This hell hole was terrifying. He was in a hotel that he didn't recognize in the slightest, what looked like a forest was just outside the broken door, and he had enough food for maybe 3 days. and even then, the water situation was far worse. It didn't matter who the hell this lady was - any human interaction, any chance to find out what the hell was happening - that was all that he needed. He walked swiftly, holding the pocket knife in his pocket while trying to look calm. He turned to face the stairway, and found her.

She was white haired, fair skinned, significantly shorter than Brent. He honestly couldn't care less. As the seconds ticked by, he grew more and more paranoid, fearful of the situation they were in. She was standing, looked unhurt, and had a similar pack like Brent had. He kept his hand in his pocket, thankful there was another human but not willing to leave himself open. She must have had a knife, just like him.

"...Do you know where the hell we ar-"

Before he could finish, a mysterious blue light began to emanate from the eye holes of a picture, hanging crooked against the wall. The blue light caused Brent to jump, flinging the pocket knife down the stairs by accident. He nearly dove for it, before the light took the form of the woman, and began to speak. Not from the hologram, of course - there were no speakers there. The voice came from behind that same picture frame, sounding crisp and mocking. Brent probably would have thought of it as a joke had he not been in literally the middle of nowhere, lost and with apparently 3 days worth of supplies. Several things poked out to him, such as the second and third rule... Why did she discourage taking the chip out by threatening death, then immediately say that suicide was impossible? There was no drawback for a suicidal person to dig out the chip - either they successfully do it and bleed out, or they are paralyzed and the machines kill them. Of course... Brent wasn't suicidal in the slightest. He was nearly pissing himself how afraid he was, in all honesty. He hadn't even noticed there was a USB with the supplies - it must have been too dark. In his peripheral vision, however, he saw his knife glinting in the sun, right next to the USB - he must have taken it out accidentally along with the knife.

Eventually, the hologram vanished, and Brent slowly made his way to his knife, being sure to keep the girl in sight. If this "Persephone" was to be believed, then killing a participant was perfectly allowed - in fact, that would be encouraged - you just got 3 more days of extra supplies, a bag, and a new knife. He sure as hell wouldn't do it, but he wasn't about to trust some random girl he met in a broken down hotel... Eventually, he made it to the bottom and, as he bent down to pick up the USB, he noticed the color wasn't black - Just an incredibly dark Green, with brown, barely visible text across the side reading Forest. He placed both objects into his pocket, and got back to his feet. The joy he had felt earlier at meeting another person had now turned to a burning sense of fear. He had to find this mysterious "Halloween" in three days time, or else... what? He'd lose? What did that entail? If it meant going back home, he'd do it in a heartbeat, but considering this monster kidnapped him from his goddamn home and had the audacity to make him play in her little game, he highly doubted that it'd be that easy. He turned back around, and spoke out.

"So... I'm Brent. I'm gonna... Well, I'm gonna head on out, look for this "Halloween" guy that she talked about. I don't want to know what will happen if I run out of time, so... If you wanna come along and look for your partner too, that's cool."

He sounded a hell of a lot calmer than he felt. To be honest, he really wanted her to come - she could help him look for Halloween, and if they needed to sleep, they could do it in shifts. He didn't want to be outside with all the forest animals in the dark, but he'd feel a hell-of a lot safer with another person. Hell, he didn't even want to look for this Halloween guy - the only reason he was ready to drop everything and start searching was because the faster he found this guy, the quicker he got out of this hell hole and could report this psycho to the police. Brent turned already began to make his way towards the door. He already wasted enough time, and they could walk and talk. He began to make his way towards the door, moving at a steady, if slightly fast pace. Unfortunately, he didn't even notice that he never asked the girl for her name, or even what color her USB was.

[Zynros]

"Night Flower. The name's decent."

After the hologram disappeared, Morgan took a moment to think over what the girl had said. He had just noticed the flash drive in his pocket a few seconds before the drone arrived, and since the girl's hologram seemed to be sharing important information, he carefully noted what she had said.

So I'm supposed to find someone I've never met before on this island of indeterminable size, and I only have three days to do it?

Sighing, he stood from his seat beneath the tree and, dusting the sand from his clothes, set off down the beach muttering to himself.

"I really hate search quests."

[GoodLuckTuck]

---

Nearest Player: @Duoya

---

And suddenly there was another person here before her. A man, taller than her and wearing glasses. Probably about her age as well. She gripped the handle of the pocket knife that was hidden in her hand a little tighter, looking over the man. He spoke.
"...Do you know where the hell we ar-"
And was suddenly cut off as a blue light appeared in the eyes of a painting. While he flung his own pocket knife at it, which he had been hiding in his pocket, Kiki let out a small yelp and hung on to the railing of the stairs. He watched as he almost went for the knife he had let go of before a hologram appeared and a voice spoke.
"Yes, I've kidnapped you."
K-Kidnapped?! Kiki lets go of the railing she was holding on to so tightly. Why would anyone kidnap her? She didn't have any enemies. Most people quite liked her. This was the same person that had interviewed her... so this was an experiment then. She was just a lab rat, a guinea pig, a test subject.
"Do not try and take the chips on your stomachs out."
Chip in her stomach?! She lifted her sweater to look at her stomach and around it, and found a scar. She dropped it, raising her hands to her mouth to stop a sob from coming out.
She could barely even hear what else this woman had to say, but she did hear it, as she found herself sitting on the ground with her back to the stairs. She stared at the ground in front of her, trying to register it all. Her knife had fallen on the ground beside her.
"So... I'm Brent. I'm gonna... Well, I'm gonna head on out, look for this "Halloween" guy that she talked about. I don't want to know what will happen if I run out of time, so... If you wanna come along and look for your partner too, that's cool."

Kiki looked back up at him, gathering herself now. She picked up her knife and stored it in her pocket, and found something else there too. Something she hadn't noticed before. She pulled it out. It was a purple USB, with the word Ocean engraved on it in a nice blue colour.
She stood up, nodding as she put the USB back in the pocket that didn't contain her knife.
"Okay, Brent. Let's go find our 'partner', however hard that'll be," she stated. "She mentioned islands. How big, I wonder." She was just speaking out loud, happy to have another beside her so she wouldn't be talking to herself.

[TaroAndSelia]

The hologram blinked off, leaving Cense staring at empty air in stunned disbelief. It had never seemed possible that someone could be crazier than his sister, but the kidnapped gentleman knew he had just seen the image of one who was. Granted, Miranda might have kidnapped him in the middle of the night to make him "get out more," but their insane captor had targeted complete strangers. To play her game. Cense didn't study psychology, but it was clear this lady was a psychopath.

Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Cense twisted his torso to face his new partner-in-captivity. "Sorry. About the yell." It certainly didn't make for a smooth introduction--but then, nothing could in such a bizarre situation. "I didn't realize I wasn't alone. Do you happen to know anything more about how I got here? I can only recall sitting at my desk, then waking up here." He didn't really hope this young... man? Woman? Was there even a polite way to ask that question?--He didn't expect this person to have an answer, but maybe he...she...zhe would say something that would jog his own thoughts.

_@Conscripts

[Conscripts]

Cense Goldman and Tadei Ganhava

Current location: The starting cave

@TaroAndSelia

---

"Good...morning."

Was it even morning? It certainly looked so.

'Is this...reality.'

No, something is amiss. Strange.

This place definitely did not exist on Earth. Not anywhere Tadei knew. This had to have some sort of relations with his sudden lost of consciousness.

"I don't know, I'm not sure how I ended up here as well. Though I did remember the last thing before coming here was me sitting next to a computer screen, taking some sort of interview. By the way, I am Tadei, Tadei Ganhava."

Tadei took a glance at the man before him. He certainly didn't look like a bad guy.

"Cense Goldman," the blonde answered, extending his hand for a shake. "I remember that interview. There were weird questions, right? Like favorite color, emotional trauma, a romantic interest..." His voice trailed off as a contemplative look came over his face. Cense looked down at the collared shirt he wore--a uniform blue with white buttons--then slowly undid the button over his stomach. Pulling the cloth to each side, he could see the bright color of a cyan chip embedded in the pale flesh. "Bloody... How much of what I said is she going to use?"

"Wait...that."

Tadei unbuttoned his own shirt as well, as he could feel something on his left waist ticking him, dully and slightly painfully.

"Seems like everyone has it." He then buttoned it again as he checked the surroundings and his own belongings. She did mention his objective was to find someone else here with a USB that had the same color. In Tadei's case, it was a purple one, with a beautifully engraved word 'Royalty'.

"Well..." The musician sighed heavily. "I guess we'll have to go with what she has. I'm sure you are as dissatisfied as much as I do, but we have to play with it, since we have no choice. What color do you have?" Tadei showed him his own USB.

Cense's hand disappeared into the pocket of his khakis, rummaged for a moment in their depths, then emerged with a pale blue memory stick. "Sky," he read aloud. With a sigh, the man returned his... key, shall he call it?--returned his key back to his pocket and surveyed the area once more. "You're right, she didn't leave any other promising options. And if she is a megalomaniac savoring her power spree, I'm going to bet that big, obvious cave entrance over there is our only path out of here, too. But you know what? I'm going to look around anyway." With a heave and a grunt, Cense pushed himself to his feet. Then he turned to offer his companion a hand up.

"Thanks..." The musician gladly took Cense's hand. While the long haired blonde went looking around, Tadei took a few moments dusting himself.

"I guess I'll examine the cave. Just the outside, to see if there's any danger." Tadei said as he walked towards the said location. The cave was indeed big, probably a dozen meters in height, dwarfing the two men by its sheer size. But judging by the first step into it, it was considerably wet and humid. Slippery was the first potential danger, not to mention the coldness when you get deeper, since sunlight could not reach that inner level of the cave. Nevertheless, it appeared that there were no danger of collapse or anything, so that part it self was a relief. Who knows what would happen if we die in this world?

It was only a few minutes before Cense returned, his somber frown telling everything before his words could. "Nothing but stone, grass, and water. It looks like we're going this way." The man sighed heavily in resignation, looking deep into the tunnel. "Any guess on what kind of game this is? I don't think it's going to be a city builder," he said wryly. He tried to force a smile, but even that came out grim.

"I am not very sure, but considering she gave us supplies for 3 days of survival may have implied this is a survival game."

Stakes were very high, but he couldn't say that he was 100% sure until it was confirmed. Despite how certain Tadei was, everything was all assumption until confirmed.

It didn't take long for Tadei to realize the grim atmosphere around him. And who else was the source?

Tadei looked at Cense, as his forced smile failed to convince the musician of his mood. He knew, knew that it would come to this eventually. The fact that Cense was thrown into all of this without any consideration or acceptance or preparation was a big shock to not just him, but everyone. Even Tadei himself couldn't say that he was not at all shuddered by it. But in order to overcome this...'game' of hers, he must remain strong.

"Hey...it's alright. It's not like the end of the world for us. I believe that for every problems there are always solutions. So...cheer up!" He tried to lighten up the mood, with uncertain degree of success.

It looked, for a moment, like Cense was going to comment--or perhaps counter-comment--on that; his mouth even started to part. But a second, then three, ticked by without a word. When he did speak, all the man said was, "Right." Then he looked away, down into the cave once more. "I'll go first then, shall I?" Tentatively, he took one step. Then another. And sucking in a deep breath, he began descending into the Earth at a slow, measured pace.

Watching as his new friend dived into the cave slowly and steadily, trying his best not to trip over a wet cliff or stumble over a pebble, Tadei's only course of action was to imitate every trace of his footstep, and every inches of his movements. The cave was certainly large enough, but that only made travelling a lot more difficult. If you trip, you risk dying. But he had no choice here, but to move forward.