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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[ 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.]

[The only reason Nana doesn't put up a fuss about taking the watch is because the darkness is trying to punch her friends so now it has lost favor in her eyes.

You messed up, Darkness. We could've had it all.]

You have a couple of moments before the hands reach you.

[Moments might be seconds but who knows? Listen Nana is just trying not to panic, and quickly snatches both the watch and the paper before stumbling over to where North directs her. Probably skinned her knees on the desk at some point but THE THINGS WE DO FOR THE PEOPLE WE JUST MET BUT STILL CARE FOR.

And once she's finally at the mirror:]

Okay, what next...?

[Gonna... hold up both the watch and the phone like that will magically help a girl out.]

There are two mechanical fish in the tank--you can control them with those magnets.

They've got... Something on them. I think we need them. The lid's bolted, but you can open it.

[ So first, Akane is going to give Four directions to use the magnets to, like, guide the fishies closer to her just so Akane can get a quick look at them? But she won't spend long on that--next she'll just tell Four to magnet them up towards the lid so she can grab them easier.

Maybe there's something with those chests and the house but trying to trial-and-error that with darkness coming to beat her up sounds like a hassle, so, nah. ]

[ Four does as instructed, opening the lid and using the magnets. There's no time to mess around. She just does, but even so, it's hard to guide magnetic things when you can't really see them, so there might be some mistakes of missing a fish a time or two before getting it right.

She absolutely grabs anything she can get her hands on. ]

The darkness is still moving. I'm getting worried.

[As the darkness continues to get really friendly with North and Akane, Nana will be able to see all three of the mirrors. These, too, are a little dusty but there seems to be some sort of weird grime on them? Might want to shine a light on that.

For Four, the little fishies are a little harder to get out of the tank since the magnets are opposing magnets, but eventually she’ll be able to pull them up and out of the lid. She’ll come to find that one fishie tail looks like the end of a wrench and the other looks like a screwdriver. Wonder what those could be for.

Meanwhile, as the hall North and Akane are in grows unbearably hot, the darkness snakes forward. The hands are comin’, and as they approach, Nana and Four will both see that the hands balled into fist only have nine fingers. They draw closer, almost ready to blind them.

You might want to do something about that.]

Nana, point the keys you took from the phone at the mirrors. The side with the lights imbedded on them.

[Well. Guess they're going to get murdered by the darkness. It's been a good run, y'all! She'll lash out at anything that touches her, should the darkness get close enough, but otherwise... Time to gently ignore her steadily rising system temperature.]

The keys? Okay.

[Meaning she'll swap the watch and paper into her pocket so she can do as told, holding the keys up to the mirrors.]

Do you see anything now?

[ Akane just curls in on herself protectively? This is all she can think to do, sorry. Her voice is shaky, laced with desperation and fear--for probably the first time since they came to this stupid village she actually sounds scared and helpless. She sounds like she might cry.

... But is still only communicating useful information? What else would she do, complain more?

Don't answer that. ]

They're like a wrench and screwdriver, so--look around, is there anything to use those on?

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