Round 4 graveyard

[foundationmods]

[When your character dies, however that may be, they will feel themselves floating. For a moment or two they will linger at the site of their death, hovering just above everyone, watching.

Then they will feel a pull and they will get tugged all the way to the studio, through a wall, through the hall, through a door.

The place they end up in looks to be a backstage area. There is an area for storing supplies, a coat rack full of empty prinny costumes, a lounge area, and a place to rest. All of these areas are marked by a green border between the described rooms and the doors that go elsewhere. You will see prinnies come and go, hurrying around as they do their work for the day. But within those borders, some of the prinnies will take off their suits, revealing the human souls within. Men, women, old, young, there is a large mix. They are all very dead, though, and seem used to being dead.

And among all of the dead is one living girl, one who seems to be running the show behind the set. She can be found giving instructions to prinnies and telling them where to put things, but she will always take time to give everyone who arrives the same warning:]

Hi there! I'm Marona, and this is the backstage area. There's a lot to do yet, so if you could help us out I would really appreciate it.

All the areas with the green on the floor are safe to be in as ghosts. Your souls won't get pulled away as long as you stay in the safe areas. If you want to go outside of there, though, you have to put on a prinny suit. And if you do that, you have to follow the rules of the prinnies: no killing anyone, follow the orders you're given by the living, and try not to blow up too much.

If you have any questions, I'll be here! But you can come and go as you like. Just don't give Mr. Dazai too much trouble, okay?

Comments

Week 3

[foundationmods]

SITE 4 EXPEDITION

[georgeous]

[ For this, George is even wearing a normal prinny suit instead of the custom white one. He loves his aesthetics, but he does not love risking his very existence for them. This is undercover. He's just a very normal helpful prinny friend making his way to Site 4...... Nothing to see here. ]

[foundationmods]

[That is probably a good idea, yes. Don't get caught George.

The first thing he's going to notice is that site 4 is a good 2-ish miles down the road, and with those stubby legs it's going to take nearly 45 minutes one way to walk there. And yes, there are other prinnies making the journey too. Some carrying things, others not.

The second thing he will notice is that site 4 is full of people, but mostly not the people George would have seen before, when he first arrived at site 4. The external guards, the security walking the halls, the lower-level agents taking care of anything that needs to be done to make the site run, they're all new. He is going to have to search the compound to find anyone familiar.

Luckily, since he is a normal prinny right now, nobody there is giving him a second look. There are plenty of prinnies around, and they are doing things like cleaning or making repairs to the building. It seems like prinnies are being used as manual labor here, so George can blend right in just fine. Just don't do anything too suspicious if someone is right there watching.]

[georgeous]

[ George is just going to join his prinny friends in working at the site right now. Specifically, he'll join the cleaning squad in the hopes of getting around the site.

There are three things that he hopes to maybe accomplish:

1. overhear interesting conversations while he cleans
2. get a glimpse of Mission Control
3. mmmmmaaaaaaybe look into some data if there is a situation where it is safe for him to do so, but he's very cautious and not at all counting on it.

He'll stay until evening. ]

[foundationmods]

[That is an excellent idea! None of the humans seem to notice that George isn't a normal prinny, and the prinnies treat him just like another prinny.

In his cleaning, he will hear some very interesting things:

1: Gabe has been locked away in a cell in a lower level of site 4. Most of the unnamed workers were either eliminated or are working under a very watchful eye right now.

2: The agent in charge is going by the title 'Boss' or 'Mission Control' right now. He acts very old, but he only looks to be in his mid-20s. He's a bit on the short side for an adult, and he has shoulder-length brown hair which is tied back in a ponytail.

3: The data seems to suggest that the mission is not going according to plan. Instead of becoming fearful of the 6350s, the agents (in general) are becoming more sympathetic to them, This has upset Mission Control, and he has already taken steps to contact Dazai about it.

4: Tensions are high because things are not going as planned, and they are questioning if intervention will be needed.

5: The people supervising the main room with cameras think that something big is going to happen on Wednesday. Possibly a lot of deaths.]

Tuesday

[georgeous]

[ After all of this, George scrambles out of his prinny suit and honestly just... drops to his ghosty knees, looking anguished. ]

Those... those... goddamn imbeciles... This is exactly why I don't trust them!

TRIAL

[foundationmods]

[For trial spectating!

Also, Marona will give everyone a warning:]

Don't interfere with the trial. If you give away the murderer, they'll know you're here. So play it safe, okay?

[georgeous]

Naturally. I'd love for the correct conviction to be made here, but I'd not love it enough to give my soul for it.

[ Big sigh. ]

At least all of this might help convince them of Dazai again.

[breadloaf]

George-chan, what do you want to do? You get to be our dead-senpai!

[georgeous]

[ George-chan................... alright. That's............ yeah okay, he'll just run with it. ]

Watch and see, for now. We don't really need to prevent a death here. It's unfortunate that more have to die, but it's better to keep up illusions of everything going as planned.

[genkigravekeeper]

As long as he doesn't overdo it, maybe.

[georgeous]

Well, so far his issue has been a severe amount of underdoing.

Silver :(

[arraignments]

[ He's been very quiet since he got to this side. To be frankie should be easy to tell he just... needs a moment? Not that Aqua's death exactly helped.

When Inaba mentions the names Akira and Sandalphon, he outright tenses - in the end, he says nothing. But...

At... this? He's whispering a response he knows will go unheard by the ones he's talking to. ]

It's hard... I know...

[ Both arms wrap around him. He lets out a tired, wry laugh and shakes his head. ]

Don't give up... Please.

[genkigravekeeper]

[She's going to place a hand on his arm. It's okay Goro, cry all you want.]

[arraignments]

[ He's determined not to cry, but he does give her a small, tired kind of smile. There's appreciation in his gaze. ]

I... think I should...

[ Sorry, he's taking a moment to rub his hands over his face. It's after that, he manages a smile. A very forced smile - the kind someone wears when they're just absolu-fucking-lutely determined not to break down. ]

Go do some household chores for the living, after this. Maybe they could use a hand with... whatever "party" they end up throwing.

[ There's a dimming of his expression for a moment. Ah... he always... had a hand in those, didn't he?

Fuuuuuck emotions...... ]

[merirut]

[It's a novelty in some ways, this thing about death. As a primal beast fated to be immortal, he's used to the idea of falling into a deep repose the moment his body is damaged beyond repair. Even if it hasn't happened to him yet in two thousand years and even if he knows the rules are different here, there's a part of him that's expecting pitch-black oblivion instead of this set-up. White wings blink out of existence when he confirms their undamaged state and a hand goes to his neck as he continues to stand there, lost in thought.]

How ironic...

[He's not really moving or doing anything at the moment, so feel free to bother him or yell at him or something.

And then sometime later, he'll be wandering off to wherever they take the corpses, standing in front of his own body. He crouches to strip off all the armor and a large, violet sword manifests directly beside him, tip pointed at the torso.

...It's honestly not a pretty sight to watch, but after about ten minutes of investigating his own body, he stands back up, looking disconcerted.]

It's not there...

[arraignments]

[ He's quiet, hanging back from Sandalphon for a while... ]

What isn't there?

[merirut]

My core. [He's just about to leave it at that, but. Even he gets how terrible that description is.] I suppose you could consider it comparable to a vital organ, like your heart or brain.

Sunday Infoswap!

[arraignments]

[ He'll be going around to gather everyone up.

Once everyone is present and/or accounted for, Goro will take a deep breath and look around the group. He manages a tired smile. ]

So, it would seem we're forming quite the group on this side, after all...

[ One hand brushes through his bangs as he looks to the floor for a moment. ]

I'm sure, for some, this doesn't help with keeping hope and motivation to push forward, but... at least nobody is alone here. We have each other.

[ It might be obvious he's forcing these words out with every ounce of motivation he has. ]

So, why don't we start from the top? Let's all share everything we know, so far.

[ He looks to George. ]

Would you like to start?

[genkigravekeeper]

[Marona is here too!]

I'll help with what I can! I know a lot, but I'm not sure what all is useful?

[breadloaf]

Marona-chan, why are you here? Did you... save our souls?

[merirut]

[Okay, this is not really topical at all but he's been wondering.]

You mentioned that we had certain rules to follow while wearing those suits. So what happens when someone violates them?

[georgeous]

[ A nod from George. ]

Yes, thank you.

From the beginning, this test was going to be about what the Foundation will do with our kind. In an effort to rig it in our favor, the real 'Osamu Dazai' has been replaced with an imposer and Marona here has been brought to the site in secret to hold on to our souls. This was also known to people at Site 4. Gabriel Reyes, for example, was in on the plan.

The plan has now been compromised and Reyes is locked up on a lower level of the site. A person called Mission Control has taken over with his men. I don't know Mission Control's real identity, but he is a short young adult male with a short brown ponytail. Mission Control wants our annihilation. His goal is to prove to the world that we are monsters. Currently public opinion is in our favor, he aims to change it.

Further interference with the mission from his end is more than possible. He's in contact with Dazai about his goals and he commands him. There is only so much Dazai can do without arousing suspicion.

From all of this follows a Rule Nr. 1 for us: Do not let Mission Control know you're still here. If Marona is found, our souls are doomed. If the camera picks up on us identifying ourselves or on any of the living mentioning us, it is over. Never forget this.

My next conclusion is that further death isn't necessarily a bad thing, as long as the group remains in a sympathetic light. Rather, people should die, because everything else will call suspicion onto Dazai and thus limit his power.

Questions?

[merirut]

You mean that more should die in the games, correct?

[There's a small, thin smile as he says that, although none of it reaches his eyes at all. It slips off his face easily as he moves on to his real question.]

So what course of action have you plotted out in response to all this?

Palace Recap

[arraignments]

[ He's quiet for a moment... ]

Mission Control - Akira and I went into his Palace. Originally, we had been planning to go into the Palace of the one posing as Dazai... but were guided to that one with the false Dazai's help.

Its keywords - essentially, the password for getting into those places - wound up being secure, contain, and protect. Unsurprising, even if it went against the norm for Palaces.

The Palace took the form of a regular house. There was the smell of smoke inside, and then we were surrounded by cartoon-like flames. In the end, we came to a young child - a black-haired boy with glasses who was crying. There was... what felt like power emitting from him.

When we got there, Akira and I could hear two voices holding a conversation; they talked about how the little boy had some power from "that person", and how the boy had already burned down a neighborhood. They discussed killing the child, because they apparently needed to erase all of this mystery person's power from the world.

Once it was all over, we were left with a yellow daisy that felt like it held some power within it.