notasstrange | Round 2 Test Drive Meme

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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!

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.

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?

It would be troubling if none of us recognized the stars, but telling in its own right, I suppose.

I doubt we would be left with a means to access the roof. From there, it would be too easy to escape...it would be more reasonable to search for windows. Malls aren't precisely known for their wonderful views of the outdoors, but it's possible there might be something.

There has to be something. We can't give up until we try!

[ She's pumped now, LET'S GO LOOK AKECHI. Come on she's gonna drag you. ]

[She might be surprised at Akechi's reaction to being dragged, as he immediately tenses on feeling her try to pull his sleeve. On instinct, he sets his feet and pulls his arm back, his expression one of panic. For a brief moment, he entirely forgets who he's with, before he closes his eyes and shakes his head. This is...Ursula. She wouldn't hurt a fly, much less a person.]

Ah...

[He swallows, suddenly awkward after his kneejerk reaction.]

M-my apologies, but...I prefer to walk at my own pace.

[ Oh, you can bet she catches that. She lets go of him immediately when she feels him tense up, and then stops and blinks a few times. You can practically see the gears in her head moving. All she can think of is the countless students she's had, some of them with incredibly difficult lives.

A girl with a demon sealed inside of her. A girl abandoned by her own parents, searching for any connection to them, the last vestige she could find. A girl who couldn't speak, whose literal soul companion was a small robot. And... a girl whose magic had been stolen from her at an early age, making her unable to ride a broom. There were even more of them than that; not every student had a good past. Not every student came from a happy, if somewhat poor witching family like her own.

She knew about the pasts of most of Luna Nova's students. And Akechi can't help but remind her of them.

So her expression softens significantly, and her hand falls to her side. It's worth noting she never tries to do anything with her left hand or arm, at least, nothing significant. In fact, she's holding that arm now. ]

... Akechi. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want. We can take it slowly. If you still want to come with me, would you mind if I told you a story?

[Akechi, meanwhile, is very clearly left handed, though he seems to habitually accommodate for others' handedness when directly interacting. Ursula might have also noticed that, despite his strongly negative reaction to being pulled, he shows no hesitation in standing close to people. Especially one person in particular, but he generally has no qualms about walking close enough that he could reach out and touch someone, or hovering over their shoulder, or even resting a hand on a shoulder or back in comfort.

Now, however, his body language is more withdrawn, and his usual aura of confidence is gone. He no longer looks scared, but rather distinctly uncomfortable.]

I wouldn't mind it, no.

[ She sees that, and she's glad he's still willing to come with her. They can look for some windows while they talk, but her focus is definitely largely on him. She's not going to push at him, no. Instead... ]

When I was younger... a friend of mine--her name was Chariot du Nord... she was given an incredibly difficult magical task. An impossibly difficult task. "Revive the seven lost words of Arcturus. Restore the fading magic of the world." But something like that doesn't happen overnight, right?

... The first Word she learned...

[ She messes with her hair a bit, stopping to poke her head into one of the stores. Maybe there's a window in here? ]

"Noctu Orfei Aude Fraetor".

[ ... It's obviously Celtic. But she's curious if Akechi might know what they mean. He seems well-read. ]

... Would you like to know what it means?

Round 2 Test Drive Meme

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

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

Goro Callistis, actually. Akechi is his surname.

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

Possibly because nobody ever calls him Goro in the entire game?

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TW: implications of child abuse

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