Welcome.

[trustfellows]

Rise and shine. There are a few things that matter right now - the fact that you're waking up in an unfamiliar but decently comfortable bed, the fact that you don't recognize the room you're in, the fact that you seem to have some sort of headache... Nothing severe, mind. Just the sort of odd, heavy fuzziness that comes with having slept far too long. You don't really remember where you were immediately before this, not upon waking. Something will come to you eventually if you think long enough, however - a couple of seconds of consideration will bring to mind a place, a memory, a recollection of where you were and what you were doing. It probably wasn't anything that would result in you being here, though. Welcome to Graceside Preparatory Academy. You may want to pick up the key to your room before you leave the room, but don't worry too much - your door won't lock automatically, so you won't be locked out if you've forgotten to pick it up. It seems you're not alone, either; the hallway outside your room is most likely full of other confused people by now, and should you turn around to look at the door of the room you just left, you'll find a nameplate with your name printed on it. There's a single word underneath it with no explanation. This is your title, but don't worry about that right now. Depending on when you left your room there may be a clock chiming in the foyer up ahead. It seems like it's seven, though it's difficult to tell if it's seven in the morning or seven at night. There aren't any windows, after all. Should you venture into the room with the clock, you'll find that the only exit is closed - there's absolutely no way to break down that steel bulkhead. It looks like you're not getting out of here anytime soon. The foyer also holds some very interesting information. There's a bulletin board with thirty-five pictures on it. Beside each picture is some very specific and very familiar information. Feel free to examine it. The bulletin board is large enough for plenty of you to gather around and gawk. Don't try to get at it though, that glass in front of it is very thick. If you try to break it, you'll find out the hard way that it's shatterproof. Sorry about that. Perhaps even more of a concern than the glass is the list beside the profiles. It looks like a set of rules. You might want to examine those, though they're not providing much of an explanation for why you're here or how you got here. So relax and get to know your fellow Participants. You might be stuck here for awhile.

Comments

[gorira]

Well, I've done more than my fair share of geography studies. Not only is there no such country as Amestria, let alone one that houses an Amestrian military? The idea of a Republic City is sort of oxymoronic. At that point, it'd be more of a city-state. Which, I guess, it being kind of pedantic, but...

[ Still enough to scrutinize. ]

As for Monomania, I had assumed it was more of a title, rather than a place name...

[heritrix]

Can manic obsessiveness be considered a full-time job?

[Because that's the alternative, and boy doesn't that paint a lovely picture of one of their fellow participants.]

[gorira]

If it can, I think I know someone who might be able to give her a run for her money.

[ If this girl is the Queen, Tachibana could be the Empress, in her own right. But that doesn't help too much. ]

But I can't imagine what a country called Monomania would be like. A kingdom, no less. It sounds like it's straight out of Wonderland.

[heritrix]

Her outfit's showy too.

[...maybe she's a Servant?]

[gorira]

I'm more concerned with the mask, personally. You think she wears that thing all the time? How does she see without stumbling into walls?

[heritrix]

I was including that. It's like she's dressed for a masquerade. Maybe there's eye holes, or possess a supernatural sixth sense.

[Rin adds the last part jokingly, but she actually means it. The mask is what made her draw the Servant comparison, as Rider wore something similar.]

[gorira]

What, you mean like, some Stevie Wonder thing?

[ Why on Earth was that her first thought-- ]

Maybe she's trying to pull off some kind of punk Cinderella vibe. It does say she likes love stories.

This feels kind of like gossip, though, doesn't it?

[heritrix]

Ahh, you're right, I should pull back. [Rin shakes her head, looking a mix of apologetic and amused.] It's unseemly to talk behind someone's back, let alone before you've even exchanged words.

[gorira]

Well, it's not like we're talking about anything we wouldn't necessarily ask to her face. I'm pretty damn awful with small talk, so I'd probably end up asking about it just out of nerves, to keep a conversation going, embarrassing as that is...

[ When it comes to strangers, awkward silences tend to stretch, with her. And she doesn't exactly look...proud to admit it, but, here we are. ]

[heritrix]

You're the type to say the first thing that pops into your head, huh?

[gorira]

So you do understand!

[ Read her like a goshdarn book, Rin. Cover to cover. ]

When I'm nervous, it's like my mouth has a mind of its own, and I just blurt out whatever without even thinking about it!

[ In other words, she's an awful liar-- ]

[heritrix]

I used to have that problem when I was younger, though in my case it happened when I was frustrated.

[No Rin, you still have that problem—]

Thinking of something else, or occupying myself with a different problem for a little while usually helped.

[gorira]

Oh, no, don't worry, it happens to me when I'm frustrated, too, trust me! It used to be a lot worse than it is now, but it's still just the worst!

[ She's relieved to have found solidarity, though! ]

It's easy to do that in retrospect, but when you're in the moment, it's hard to, like, slam on the brake and step aside...

[heritrix]

Do you feel calmer for letting off some of that steam now?

[gorira]

To sort of air everything out and get it all in the open, that's a relief like you have no idea.

[ When the rage just kind of churns in her gut, she can't help herself. It just builds and builds. She's got a short temper, and she knows it.

But she's been trying to keep it under control, for the past year or two, now. And results have been decisively mixed. ]

Otherwise, it all just sort of swells up.

[heritrix]

Mm, that's why I asked. [And specified the "now".] Our situation is probably only going to get more frustrating from here.

[gorira]

Probably. There are a lot of factors at work here...

[ She's had a bit of time to digest it. There's no logical outcome where this is going to be a smooth scenario, in the short-term or in the long-term. 35 people given an incentive to take a life for a shot at freedom, it's just naive to assume one of them won't at least consider acting on it. The seed's been planted, so to speak.

But it's not a sure-fire guarantee that someone's going to try it, let alone succeed. And as long as that's the case, the chance they can make it out of here with everyone alive is distinctly non-zero. That's how she's been trying to look at it. ]

...I have no doubt people are gonna do stupid things, while they're in here.

[ But hopefully murder isn't on that list. ]

[heritrix]

Unless an exit is found quickly, I agree, but our captors have covered their bases well.

[gorira]

There's no getting through that huge bulkhead anytime soon, that much is true. And the other door isn't gonna come down with brute force alone.

[ With a tone that says, "Believe me, I've tried." ]

But we're being encouraged to poke around with no restriction. In other words, it's almost like they're hoping we'll find something.

[ Otherwise, why even mention it? ]

[heritrix]

It did say this is a training exercise... There can be multiple criteria to meet.

[gorira]

Not only that, rules can be added at the discretion of the Coordinators. Maybe that's a gateway towards us getting an alternate win condition, one way or another.

[heritrix]

I don't know. Usually you add rules to increase difficulty, or as a warning.