Ninth.

[trustfellows]

Friday morning dawns like the rest of the week before it, with the chiming of the clock and the doors to the kitchen unlocking; it seems incredibly likely that the timer does seem to have been turned off, as Jericho had said it would be, because there's no announcement from him to wake you up today – nothing informing you that someone has been dragged out of bed due to random selection, nothing urging you to come to the foyer because there's some sort of problem or "something going on." Of course, you've spent enough time in this place to know that that isn't a guarantee that nothing happened during the night – a lack of incentive doesn't necessarily mean anything in this place, given how many people have ignored them entirely in favor of acting in their own self-interest or desire to escape. So maybe this is a good sign. Maybe it isn't. Anyone exploring this morning will find that there's nothing amiss on most of the floors; it's fairly easy to check the lower ones, after all. The ones up higher, though... Well, maybe there's something waiting for you after all. Explore?

Comments

[perpend]

[In that case, Cabanela will take it!]

Thank you, Elda.

[notaccurate]

[LUCA IS HERE TOO just being quiet in the back for now because 3 more hours of work to go sob ]

[hesperos]

[ Annnnd don't mind if he slips right in here. ]

[evilfrenzy]

[Looks like the numbers are filling in nicely. Rideaux is here as well. With so few people left, catching pretty much everyone at the stairs is pretty noticeable.]

What's this, now?

[Of course it was simply just too quiet without the timer looming over them.]

[heritrix]

A conga line, apparently.

[Which Rin places herself at the end of. Thank heck this is a stairwell, Rideaux, or she wouldn't be able to count everyone ahead of her. Actually if it weren't for the lighter, even then she'd have trouble.]

Is this all of us? I can hear some of the others fussing around ahead.

[evilfrenzy]

Thank you for pointing out the obvious.

[But no, it actually is rather strange, isn't it? A new floor, now of all times?

Rideaux glances up the stairs.]

Just about. It's probably for the best that we are doing this as a group, too... I'm not quite sure what to expect, honestly. Why give us a new floor now?

[trustfellows]

[Heading up, then, guys?]

[bloodisthicker]

[WE SURE ARE

he's gonna be so mad if this door's locked.]

[trustfellows]

[...I'd ask if you really think I'd be that much of an asshole but the answer is in fact yes. Yes, I would.

That said, the door is not locked! It opens easily, pressing open into a large, open room - one that's both fully-furnished and well-decorated.

There's a sitting area to the left where the chairs and sofas are decorated in a deep purple color; they're soft and plush and actually don't seem designed for form over function, they're entirely comfortable. There's a billiards table set up to the right, and the wall is lined with bookshelves that...unfortunately have more books in that weird language that nobody here can read, but it's the thought that counts.

Perhaps most importantly, however, are the windows.

They're lining the far wall, across from the door, and the glass continues up into the ceiling, allowing a full view of the sky above. And the view really is beautiful; it seems that the sun isn't out, despite the hour, and going over to the windows will reveal a large cityscape a good distance away, across what's either a particularly large lake or a particularly narrow strip of ocean, full of lights and tall, modern buildings, all done up in glass and steel. There's a light snowfall happening outside, gentle and peaceful; it's too overcast to see stars for the time being, but you'll have a good view of them if the snow stops anytime soon and you look up.]

[perpend]

[...Well that's. Weird.]

It's dark out. The time seems an odd thing to lie about, doesn't it?

[bloodisthicker]

Hm.

[He kind of cocks his head a bit.]

Well, in the winter in the Northern Water Tribe, there are some places where it's dark for months at a time.

[perpend]

You think we're at one of the poles?

[That... hmm. Well. It would explain the snow.]

[heritrix]

The snow seems too light for that...

[Gosh it really is beautiful though. It's been so long since she's seen a sky. Any sky.]

[perpend]

One would certainly think so.

[bloodisthicker]

It's not always a blizzard up north, you know.

[squint...]

I'm not entirely sure if I can see whether body of water's frozen or not, though.

[perpend]

I can't tell, either. It's too dark, and we're probably too far away to tell for certain.

[bloodisthicker]

Indeed. Well, regardless of where we are, this is definitely a far nicer location than basically anywhere else in the building.

[hesperos]

...Yeah. And it'd be kinda a pain to be somewhere so cold.

[ Never mind he went somewhere just as cold in the game in what he's wearing and was just fine temp wise bc JPRG. ]

[matchbreaker]

I'm grateful for not burning up or going blind, personally.

[ She says as she goes immediately to the windows? She's going to be looking out on the horizon here. It's... not what she's used to, but it's a very nice change of scenery. ]

[hesperos]

[ He'll be checking out the billiards table after taking a long glance over at the sky from the windows and of course the buildings. ]

Man, feels like it's been forever since I've seen anything outside.

[evilfrenzy]

Since any of us have.

[Rideaux joins everyone up at the windows, studying the skyline. It's...such a weird feeling to see the outside after so long.]

If it weren't for the snow, I would wonder if we were near Trigleph.

[...and the lack of the incredibly obvious Spirius Corporation tower, he supposes. Still, it's hard not to be reminded of where he once resided.]

[hesperos]

...Yeah.

[ It'd be a surprise if any of them had, anyway. Which reminds him of something silly he asked one week but he shakes his head with a smile.

He'll finally tear himself away from the mesmerizing scenery in front of him. ]

This look a little bit like home to you?

[evilfrenzy]

[Rideaux keeps his eyes on the outside.]

It does, actually. Trigleph is large, sprawling, and full of skyscrapers. It also borders the ocean on one side...quite similarly to this.

[Though he can't tell if that's the ocean out there, the similarity is still the same. His expression is...rather unreadable as he speaks about all of this.]

[hesperos]

[ Yuri's eyes follow along Rideaux's gaze to back outside, and for a moment, he seems pretty silent, but instead he's contemplative. It really is peaceful and tranquil watching for them to just the snow fall, and though he thinks it's nice, a part of him thinks it is too bad that they're seeing this when they're in such a shitty situation. But, he supposes that they really should take what they can get before they're able to really do more about it.

He easily recalls a conversation a week ago, and it makes him cast his gaze back over at Rideaux. From what he can tell, his expression is still and difficult to discern. But he has a feeling he is having a difficult moment right now. ]

... Hey, Rideaux.

[ ... ]

If it's bothering you and you wanna talk about it somewhere else, just let me know, alright? In the meanwhile, I'll be right here by your side, and I'm not gonna go anywhere anytime soon.

[ Yuri would have gone a little more into detail here and such if there wasn't a crowd in here. But, yeah, he was just kind of concerned here and so... ]

[evilfrenzy]

[Rideaux finally turns away from the window when Yuri addresses him, and...

...oh.

His eyes widen slightly in surprise. To say that Yuri caught him off guard with that is a bit of an understatement. Was he that obvious with his conflicted feelings on their newfound outside view? Moreover though, those words...]

Yuri...

[His voice is a low murmur, having leaked out in surprise. Crossing his arms, he quickly works to recompose himself. He almost looks a little embarrassed. Not because of what Yuri said, but because of his own reaction. Everyone else is here, and...

Well. Time to deflect for now.]

Don't tell me you're worried about me? I'll be fine.

[Not here. Not now.]