trustfell | Welcome.

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Do I get a prize for my powerfull skills of observation?

[Wow.]

No. Not even if I had something to offer.

You're a pretty generous guy, huh?

[ As expected, Yuri looks hardly bothered seeing as he's just messing around ... ]

Anyway, all of that aside, what do you think about them putting our stuff up here like this?

[ Finally, a semi-serious question. ]

[Rideaux doesn't say anything to the first bit, but he does scoff a little bit in response.]

I'm not sure what to make of it. I'd like to know how they even got this information. Better yet, how they got us.

I'm thinking they nabbed us when we went to bed. There's no way they could've gotten away with what they did in broad daylight.

[ It's not much, really, but it's the only thing he's got. ]

The information thing might've been from someone creepily stalking us beforehand. But that'd take a lot of effort -- or I'd think so, anyway. So that part might've been done by a guild.

That would have to be the case. I am not so easily surprised.

[He is also on board for the stalker theory, but...]

A guild? So, what, some kind of organized shady operation?

[It's Yuri's occupation too, so Rideaux's not sure what that says about him.]

[ Wow. It's fine, Yuri takes doing shady things in stride. ]

Actually, it depends on the people running it.

A guild does jobs or services in a special category of their choosing. Usually, anyway.

For example, there's guilds that deal with selling items or take on jobs with hunting monsters. Stuff like that.

[You know what? As he should. Revel in it.]

I see. [He wonders if this is a Rieze Maxia thing.] I am familiar with job boards that break tasks down in a similar manner, but there aren't really groups dedicated to one such task.

What sort of work does yours do?

[ He gives a bit of a shrug. ]

We haven't really settled on doing anything specialized just yet. We just take on jobs that come in whatever way to us, as long as it's something that's not malicious and falls in line with the guild's rules.

Malicious like kidnapping people and forcing them into enrolling in murderschool? Got it.

[The way Yuri describes his guild, it's like a group of debtors trying to load up on any sort of job to pay back their loans. Which, hey. At least they're doing something.]

But there are guilds who do this sort of dirty work?

Pretty much. Don't think we'd be able to do that to 35 people anyway.

[ Honestly, they should probably charge more for their services, but that wouldn't be the Brave Vesperian way. ]

Yeah, there's probably a few guilds who'd take up dirty enough work if the pay's good.

[ Like, you know, Leviathan's Claw, for one. ]

[He crosses his arms as he considers this.]

So they could potentially be the ones who were sent out to fetch us, though are not necessarily the ones running it. It might not be a bad idea to keep that possibility in mind, then.

They might have the manpower to be involved in this, yeah. Guess we'll have to wait and see on that, though.

[ ... ]

So...a Doctor and [ He pauses to make sure he's reading the profiles right because uh. That is an "interesting" occupation. ] Director of Dimensional Affairs? Sounds like a tough job.

[Ah. He keeps getting asked about that and it's kind of inconvenient since it's supposed to be classified...

He takes it in stride though, smirking a little bit.]

It is. It takes a very specific set of qualifications, and I was actually just promoted to the position before I was so rudely brought here.

[ People being recently promoted and then brought here - hmmm there must be a connection. Or probably not. ]

Guess you're going to have a lot of paperwork to sort through when you get home, huh?

Ugh. Yes. I was actually out on a mission when I was taken, so no doubt I'll have a lot to explain for as well.

[He hasn't even begun to consider what he'll say to the CEO.]

... See, this is why I'm glad I've never been granted a job like that. Too much paperwork.

[ Like, no thanks. ]

[He gives a light laugh at that.]

Most of my time is spent out on the field, so it's not as bad as it could be. We department directors do have secretaries to handle the heaviest amount of paperwork.

Wow.

[ Yuri wouldn't want to be Rideaux's secretary, but somehow that is kind of funny to him. ]

That sounds rather devious, you know.

Does it.

[It doesn't sound like he agrees. He works hard, okay!!]

It totally does.

[ It's okay Rideaux, it's okay.

Yuri of course sees this as a good moment to start the teasing. ]

[SHRUG.]

I'm the one risking my life, anyway. My job involves combat.

Welcome.

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