cyclists | CYOA

CYOA - WEEK 1

SEEK A WAY OUT...

Without warning, sometime on the evening of the second day of the first week, a large, black mass emerges and swallows you whole. Dragging you through a dark tunnel, you'll soon find yourself in a strangely dark room.

Thankfully, you aren't alone. There are three others with you as the dim lights cast an eerie glow on your surroundings. It's hard to really see what, precisely, is around but as you come into consciousness a radio crackles from above. A distorted voice speaks suddenly, breaking the silence.

Consider this a privilege. You are going to participate in a game…it is a game where you may emerge victorious, but a game where you will put your life on the line. The purpose of the game is simple. Leave this place alive and with purpose. It is hidden, but there is an exit to be found…seek a way out. You have three hours. At the end of your time, should you not succeed--

The words cut out. The radio goes silent and the light in the room disappears entirely. An alarm begins to ring out, loud and blaring and echoing through the room.

Hopefully you got a good look at the interior before the lights went out.

SEEK A WAY OUT.

The first step will be shining some light on the situation and disabling the alarm.

Best of luck to you.

In this CYOA, characters are tasked with venturing through locked rooms and solving puzzles to seek a way out of the facility they've been trapped in. They will each be faced with a variety of puzzles, clues, and traps that will help or hinder their progress. They will also be dealing with small manifestations of corruption that they will need to clear to proceed. In doing so, characters may earn items or hints toward the game's plot. Real time will pass, so all characters will be missing for a maximum of three hours…if they escape.

Proceed with caution.

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[Well. That sure did just happen.

She braces herself for an impact that never comes as Nana walks into the wall, but other than that—]

I can hear you. [Which is, uh, fucking disorientating.] You're in a room with four doors. One to the right, two to the left. The fourth looks like it's bolted shut.

[... Anyway, Akane can do whatever she wants. But North is going to carefully move forward now that she knows the darkness is safe(???) to pass through. Hm.]

[ Yeah, Akane will trust that a brightly lit room is where she would rather be, so she's also just going to head into the darkness and trust that instinct.

But also she hasn't complained in a while, so she groans loudly. ]

This is nauseating...!

[ Four expected something awful, hideous, or nasty, but when there's nothing, she's pleasantly surprised. She's beyond relieved. The breath she releases expels some of her stress. ]

It's that way for all of us.

[ Say something that's news, Akane? ]

A door, did you say...?

[ Four inches her way to the left. Make her run into anything you want. ]

[So. Joke's on both North and Akane because who the hell said they can go anywhere? They try to walk through the darkness and find themselves being pushed backwards into the hall, effectively separating them from Nana and Four.

A few things happen:

Four can fumble her way along the left side, finding the first of two doors and she will find that the door is locked.

Nana, on the other hand, stumbles to the right and crashes into the wall, also crashing into the door on the right that swings open as it's unlocked.

The room that Nana finds herself in appears to be a small office. Please don't let her trip straight into the desk. There are three mirrors along the wall opposite of the desk, a telephone on said-desk, drawers attached to the desk, and a filing cabinet. There are also two chairs.]

[Wow okay so Nana just got to experience the darkness yeeting Akane backwards, that's disorienting.

And then apparently her uncoordinated wanderings have taken her through a door. Convenient! Also frustrating because she has no idea where she's going. Thankfully she knows well enough to stop in the middle of the office instead of clamoring forward, and after a second of quiet thought:]

North-san? ... You can see what I'm seeing, right?

I think you have to guide me through this.

[Yeah, uh. She's gotten the hint.

Time to evoke the power of teamwork and friendship to get the job done]

Akane-chan, you'll have to guide Four-san as well, I assume.

[NO EXCUSES, LADIES.]

[The power of friendship and teamwork is gross. :/// Keep it away from her, wtf.

Being shoved back takes her by surprise, though, and she's pretty much stumbling backwards before promptly falling on her ass. Here's to hoping Akane wasn't right behind her, because she may be getting an elbow to the face otherwise.

BITTERLY:] Right.

[Guess the floor is her home now.]

You're in an office. [Descriptive.] There's a desk in front of you. Telephone on top of the desk. Two chairs around it. Three mirrors on the wall opposite to it. A filing cabinet, too.

[A beat.]

Take two steps forward so I can measure your stride.

[ While North is talking, Akane tries her best to head back over... Towards the bunny skeletons? But that's pretty difficult to do by touch, so she's not making much headway on her own.

She's quiet, waiting for North to finish, and then a moment longer because she figures it may take a little more time to actually follow the instructions. Once she thinks there's been enough pause for that, she speaks up with her own instructions: ]

There are two doors on the left and one on the right. You're already at the first door on the left, but it looks like it's locked, so just move forward and check the second one.

[ That's not super helpful, but Akane figures Four can figure out dragging her hand along the door/wall herself. And Akane has already forgotten about the key Four has, so she's more interested in checking the second door, oops. ]

[ North falling makes her flinch. The discrepancy between what she sees and what she's doing is still difficult to reconcile. Four goes along with what Akane wants because she wants to see if the other door is locked, too. ]

All right. Please mention if I'm about to run into anything.

[ She jiggles the knob one more time, as if that will magically unlock it before moving on.

She places her left hand along the wall like it's a maze and starts feeling for the next wall. ]

[If Nana takes two strides forward, she'll find that everything is actually close together and she'll be at the edge of the desk. Turning her head toward the desk, North will be able to get a more clear picture. The desk is covered with dust, though there's a thin, clear line where the dust doesn't touch right next to the phone. As for the phone itself, the 2, 3 and 4 keys appear to be a little well-worn and run down.

As Four's out in the hall, she'll find that the door is still locked but walking toward the second door means she'll have better luck. This door swings open, allowing her to enter a waiting room of sorts. Three magazine racks line the wall, little couches low to the ground (two of them) and a large fish tank on the wall opposite of the door. There are also two fake plants in the corners by the fish tank with trees in them, but other foliage spills from the pots.]

[... Was there something where that thin line is? Hm. She commits the shape to memory before Nana inevitably disturbs the dust feeling her way around. How long is the thin line? Does it run from one side of the desk to the other, or is it around the same length as the phone? If that makes sense.

Either way, assume she gives Nana instructions on how far to move before—]

... The 2, 3 and 4 keys on the phone seem more worn down than the others. Is there a dial tone coming out of the handset?

[Or, like, anything at all.]

[Resisting the urge to close her eyes again like it might clear her vision -- it's not gonna help, and North will shout at her :c -- Nana will paw her hands towards the front of her until they rest on the desk. Say goodbye to that line because, yeah.

She rubs her hands right over it, trying to reach the phone. Dust goes flying everywhere.]

Mmm... Let's see...

[Groping around until she feels the handle of the phone and puts it to her ear]

Hello?

[... Force of habit]

Okay, there's... It's like a waiting room, with magazines and stuff? There's a fish tank and some potted plants, but...

[ Honestly she kind of wants to look at the magazines more than anything else, but doesn't think that would go over well and she's pretty sure these people already hate her. ]

It doesn't seem like there's anything in here, unless there's something hidden in to pots or in the fish tank. Get a little closer? [ And Akane also gives some somewhat-useful vague directions on how to do so, but idk how to word it bc idk the relative location of these things it's fine it's fine it's fine it's fine. ]

[ it's totally and completely fine

Four follows these instructions because she doesn't know what a magazine is anyway? But she can get the gist of fish tank and potted plants. ]

Understood.

[ She heads closer to the plants first, taking very careful steps.

If Akane wants some magazines, Four can grab some for her if she asks. She doesn't know shit, so anything is free game for possibly inventory (that's just how it works in her bitch of a video game world). ]

[Goodbye line!! It's fine though because, weirdly, it was actually the length of the phone? Almost like the phone itself had been moved…wild! As Nana smears the dust everywhere and reaches for the phone, she'll also be able to pick up the phone. The radio voice returns:]

Truth had gone, truth had gone, and truth had gone…now truth is asleep in the darkness of the sinister hand.

[The 2, 3, and 4 numbers of the phone also appear to be a little loose, now that she's looking at the phone.

Meanwhile on the other side of this big space, Four will fumble her way through to the plants. Will she grab magazines anyway? As she approaches the plants, she'll find that the foliage…is a bunch of four-leaf clovers. They seem to simply be covering something up, not really planted in there.

So. What next?]

Edited 2019-06-14 01:34 (UTC)

[... Uh.

She stills as the voice returns, tense.]

... Truth?

[The fuck does that mean.

Now that Nana is close enough for North to take a proper look at the keys, she's absolutely taking note of the keys.]

The 2, 3 and 4 keys are looking loose... [She'll explain their relative position on the keypad if she has to.] Check them out.

[Nana really hopes Truth isn't a person because it doesn't sound like they had a good time.]

Okay.

[Reluctant to put the phone down (just in case the voice decides to serenade her with more creepy hot takes), Nana moves her free hand to fiddle with the keypad. Assuming it's the same as on a cell phone, she'll be able to find them without too much trouble.]

Maybe I can pull them off...?

[She's going to try that, and if it doesn't work, she'll settle for pressing them repeatedly with extreme prejudice. Please do something, she still has a headache from staring into the darkness void from akane's perspective]

... I think there's something in the plants, under the clovers.

[ ... not that Four knew they were clovers until now, but. ]

Feel around and check for me.

[ She looks back towards the door with her eyes narrowed for a second before turning back to the plants.

She will check for herself, thanks. She'll check for all of them. She hopes whatever's here is useful.

Her hands go for the clovers and what's underneath. ]

[A few things happen:

a.) Nana pulls off the numbers one by one and will find small, red lights on the bottoms of them, kind of like LED lights? The bulbs appear to be mishapen however and the light projects at a weird angle.

b.) Four will be able to search through both of the pots and find two U-shaped magnets. One is painted red, the other is painted blue.

And c.) the darkness locking up North and Akane will begin to stretch toward them, the shadow-esque hands beginning to reach for them again. Some of these hands, however, appear to be closed fists as though they're about to hit them.

Hm…is it hot in here, or is it just them? While Four and Nana are fine, North and Akane will also begin to feel a steady climb in the temperature of the confinement space they're in.]

[Well. That's lovely.

Completely oblivious to the steadily approaching darkness, North does nothing to move away from the hands creeping towards her.]

I can see LEDs where the keys used to be, but there's... something off about them. [She's not sure how to describe them in a way Nana would understand, right now.] Keep the numbers. And check under the phone. I saw something weird in the dust before you got your hands all over the desk.

[A beat. The heat is presumably more noticeable now, so.]

... Hey, you two. Is it getting hot over there?

[Even with her attention focused on following North's instructions, it is incredibly hard to miss darkness hands winding up for the punch, wtf.]

-- North-san, Akane-chan! Move back, the darkness is trying to -- to punch you...??

[Jesus wept what is going over there. And now Nana has to scramble to comply with North's order like she's on a time limit, clumsily turning the bulk of the phone over. Please let there be a miracle under there]

[ Akane had started to shrug off her hoodie to combat the heat, but at the mention of having to combat The Darkness™ instead she just?? drops down to crouch?? Maybe the darkness cannot hit her if she's lower to the ground. Also aren't you supposed to stay low when there's a fire?

Not... That there's any smoke to be keeping under. Oh well! Whatever! She sounds a little distressed, but tries to keep being useful despite it. ]

Those are - magnets? There's red and blue. Hold one in each hand so I can tell you which is which.

[ She picks up the red in her left and the blue in her right hand. ]

It's not getting hot over here, but— Nana is right. They're trying to both grab you and... fight with you? That doesn't make sense.

[ But Four does think she should run through this room faster.

To the fish tank....!. ]

If I destroy something in here, do you think that will open up this space to you two?

[You’re doing great kids. So while Nana turns over the phone, she’ll find something taped to the underside of it. It appears to be another chart, similar to the chart with the Morse code on it. In looking at it, she will find that the pattern is exactly the same, but there’s an overlay space as if some of the letters are missing. Think of it like a fill in the blank sort of deal.

North is going to have to be the star here, and she will notice that there are a grand total of eight letters missing. The LED lights, upon closer inspection, also appear to be set into lines like they’d cast a reflection that lines up with something else.

Nana will also find that when she turns the phone upside down, the whole front comes out and what appears to be a watch falls out.

The time is set to: 1:27.

It looks more like there’s an interface on this watch, too, that means that the bracelet can be scanned by something else.

On Four’s end of things, as she goes to check the fish tank, she’ll find that the tank itself has a bolted lid. Fun! The bolted lid can be opened, but inside the tank are two fish; one red and one blue. There are also two treasure chests and a little fishy castle. As four approaches the tank with her magnets, the chests fly open and the fish scatter closer to her.

Oh. So not real fish then, but mechanical ones whose backs seem to be engraved with some sort of divert that will fit into something in particular.

Examine closer?]

Edited 2019-06-14 03:07 (UTC)

[i, kyuu, hate this so much]

—Shit. [The darkness is feeling punchy. Got it. She braces herself for a fight, glancing around even though she knows it won't do her any good. Sorry for the view, Four.] Where— The darkness. How close is it?

[CONCEAL... Don't feel. She's low key panicking, which is... fine. Maybe. Everything is fine. She'll punch the darkness if she has to?? There's a lot to process here, either way. So it takes her a moment to address Nana again, trying to work out how to proceed from here.]

There's a piece of paper taped to the underside of the phone. Remove it, hold it up to your face, and then pocket it. [Does it say the same thing as the other morse code? Hm.] A watch fell out of the phone when you flipped it over, too. Take it with you.

[Let! Nana! Steal!]

... Now, you're going to need to get to the mirrors. So do exactly as I say.

[And— insert exact directions here, so Nana can get close to the mirrors without walking into shit on the way there. Time to shine, shine, shine a light?? Or something.]

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