Round 2 Test Drive Meme

[strangerpeople]

15 STRANGERS ROUND 2 TEST DRIVE There are 15 strangers in this place. Someone knows why. And its clear the odds are stacked against you. 1. ARRIVAL You're here, in the Mall. Wherever the Mall might be, right? And what happened to your powers? Your memories? Who else has been so unlucky as to be brought in with you? Also, why are the rules littered with emojis!? 2. POWER You have been, er, "blessed" with a power. Its not a power you want or care for, but its yours now. You might want to try an control it, lest you hurt someone else. That is...unless you want to. Just don't blow up any public property while you're at it! 3. HOME So now you live in a mall! All right! Modern conveniences galore! And hey, there's a cat cafe and a bar! Maybe living here forever won't be so bad. Unless you're looking for a way out, but surely, you wouldn't do that, right? 4. MINIGAME The Life Coach has decided to do 'games'. Those who win the games will get prizes, the Life Coach has promised. The Test Drive Meme's minigame: a costume contest! The best costume made in five hours wins! Work alone, or in teams - the Life Coach is ok with either~! 5. MOTIVE The Life Coach has announced the motive for the week. Clearly someone really wants to give you a reason to kill someone. How will you react? Will you stand against such an insult and help others to fight the temptation? Or perhaps, you yourself are tempted...? 6. DEATH One of your own has died - no, been killed. The Inquisition has started. The body lies before you, and now you must discern the truth from the clues before you. But can you when you mourn? Or, perhaps you don't mourn the dead. Perhaps you're only playing along because you know more than you let on. 7. TRIAL Well, it looks like the Life Coach wasn't kidding when they said there would be a trial. So now you're here, looking to condemn the responsible killer. If you do, they die. If you don't, you die. Whatever happens, you have to figure out what happened. Can you? 8. WILDCARD Anything not mentioned above. Go wild!

Comments

[theirmagic]

I suppose you remind me of my students somewhat... though, I care about everyone stuck here right now. I would like everyone to remain amicable if at all possible. So if I can do anything to help you, please, let me know, okay? And of course, you can come to me if there's something you might need advice on!

[ She drops her hand, here. ]

... Only if you want to, naturally...

[foolishjustice]

Well, I am a student, so it's not much of a surprise that I remind you of yours.

I'll keep your offer in mind, but it should go both ways. I might be young, but I am experienced in dealing with mysteries and dangerous situations. So, please feel free to talk to me if you ever want a second pair of eyes to examine something...or simply need help coping.

[theirmagic]

I'll keep that in mind. Thank you. Maybe I'll be able to find something to help me make a potion or two around here... I'm sure it would be helpful.

[ A restoration potion, for example, would be really useful. ]

[foolishjustice]

Do such things really work? I hope I don't come across as condescending, but...where I'm from, the supernatural exists only as the subject of legend and a few unconfirmed urban myths.

[It's a dirty lie, but there's no sign of it in his expression or voice.]

[theirmagic]

Of course! It's completely understandable you might think that, though... these days, faith in magic is dwindling quite a bit, unfortunately... it's not like the old days in the Golden Age of Magic, where everyone was using it and it was common.

[ She sighs a little sadly. ]

I would love to demonstrate something, but as you can see, I don't have my wand.

[foolishjustice]

I would love to see a demonstration, if we can manage to recover your wand. It may seem a little odd for a detective to say, but despite the lack of empirical evidence, I've occasionally found myself wishing magic was real.

Well, and there is that...one case, but as I said, supernatural involvement is still unconfirmed.

[theirmagic]

... A demonstration, huh? I-I would be happy to... show you something simple.

[ She gives a slightly uneasy chuckle. The performer in her... really wants to make it grand, but she has to reel herself in. She's not Shiny Chariot.

She's Ursula Callistis. And no one can know otherwise. ]

Hmm... maybe a star reading. I'm the Magical Astronomy teacher, after all.

[foolishjustice]

Astronomy...that's star signs and predicting someone's future based on when they were born, correct?

[theirmagic]

Yes. Used in conjunction with magic, it's an incredibly effective way to tell the future. Of course, the user has to understand what they're doing. It takes a lot of study.

[ Ursula smiles; she loves the subject very dearly. ]

[foolishjustice]

I see. I had always wondered if there might actually be something to it. Many of the personality traits associated with my astrological sign are very accurate.

[theirmagic]

Well... they're not always accurate if a normal person reads them. Many normal people read signs incorrectly. You need magic to fully understand someone's astrological sign, especially the stars they were born under. It helps a lot! It's why some people see those silly zodiac things in the newspaper and think it's not like them in the least.

[ Very matter-of-fact. ]

[foolishjustice]

And what about those of us with the opposite experience? I often find comments about the thought patterns and behaviors of my sign quite relatable.

[theirmagic]

Hmm... well, it's not always wrong. I could probably give you some basic information even without magic. The basics are something anyone can do. Like I said, it's just down to whether or not the person interprets it right. So you're probably finding someone who was interpreting it correctly, in that case.

[ At least, in her experience. ]

[foolishjustice]

I suppose I'm just lucky in that regard, then. Well, it's not like it tells me anything I haven't already noticed about myself, but it's always interesting to read something that indicates others share your thought processes. Don't you agree?

[Especially his ridiculous Gemini thought processes. Slow down brain, jeeze.]

[theirmagic]

[ A small chuckle. ]

Naturally, it's always nice to know you're not the only person the way you are. I remember the first time I read my own astrological sign, it was very illuminating, if perhaps a bit embarrassing, because it made me realize just how much room I still had to grow as a person.

[foolishjustice]

Mm...knowing there are others like you...it's an important feeling.

[For a brief moment, he seems oddly serious...before his cheerful smile picks back up.]

Well, I doubt there's anyone who doesn't have room to grow. In fact, I'd think such a person would be quite boring. Someone who had nothing to learn and no reason to change would quickly become predictable.

[theirmagic]

... Yes, they would become... quite boring. [ Her smile doesn't meet her eyes, and for a moment, she looks to the side. No room to grow... that's probably her. She's worthless now, simply all she can do is try to help Akko and others like her. Shiny Chariot. What a foolish name she'd taken up, thinking she could change the world with a stage performance. ] But some people are comfortable in their situations. Sometimes people simply... settle down.

[foolishjustice]

[While his smiles before just seemed like those of a generally cheefrul and energetic young man, the look he gives Ursula as he rests a hand on her shoulder somehow looks more personal, warmer.]

Just because someone's settled down doesn't mean they don't still learn new things. Seeing as it's impossible to know everything, the only way to stop learning entirely is to decide you don't want to accept any new lessons.

[theirmagic]

[ That actually gets her to smile quite genuinely. He's right, of course. ] You're right. As long as one believes they can change, there will always be some capacity to grow. "Believing in yourself is your magic." [ ... Her smile is quite soft when she says that. Those words, they're a mantra to her. ] A friend of mine was fond of saying that. I think it applies to this situation too, of course. As long as all of us work together and believe, we'll get through it.

This is adorable...

[foolishjustice]

That's the spirit.

[He moves his hand from her shoulder and holds up one finger.]

They can't keep this up forever. As long as we don't give in to their incentives, I'm certain well eventually find something to use against our captors.

WELCOME TO LWA

[theirmagic]

... All right! I'm going to do my best to help keep us all together, then. I say that we try to meet daily and do something as a group! If we do group activities, we're definitely all going to get closer! [ She's already thinking like a teacher. How can she help everyone the most...? ] You mentioned astrology... I'm really good at star charts, perhaps I could do a reading or two to start with? Something with the basic materials?

Plus Akechi's naturally adorkable when he's not being awful...

[foolishjustice]

That sounds as if it could be interesting. If nothing else...some sense of normalcy in this situation would be nice.

Can you really do astrological readings without knowing where we are, or when it actually is, though? Between our missing memories and conflicting accounts of the dates, I would think anything related to reading stars would be impossible.

he really is... sorry Akechi she's adopting you, you're Akechi Callistis now--

[theirmagic]

I don't know, but there surely has to be stars out here, and if there are, I can try--no, I will read them! [ She seems pretty pumped about the idea. ] Especially if our memories are missing, getting an accurate reading of the stars here might provide some crucial clues!

Goro Callistis, actually. Akechi is his surname.

[foolishjustice]

I'm more concerned with whether or not you'll be able to get a good view of the stars at all. If we could, it could potentially tell us both the time of year and our location, even with mundane techniques. Both of those details could be of great value to us.

... man i was tired last night, how did mix them up

[theirmagic]

Hmm... if I can get a view outside, at least. As far as I'm aware the exits are locked, but if there's a window or a roof...

[ She is thinking. ]

You're correct in that assumption. Even a little information on our location from the celestial bodies above would be incredibly helpful. Although, there's the possibility it could be nothing any of us recognize... even so, I might still be able to discern something, so I have to try.

Perhaps we should go looking for a view of the outside?