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[open mingle] I do my crosswords in pen

WHO: Constantine (

keepgodwaiting) & you!

WHAT: Metaplot deciphering!

WHERE: The Welcome Diner

WHEN: Early December

WARNINGS: Probable discussion of human experimentation

Another month, another weird new building, and Johanna has been thinking. If the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then they ought to try some new things, right?

Trying to stay away from the dorms at Halloween didn't work. Trying to escape the mall had mixed results. So maybe it's time to abandon the avoidant strategy and see what happens if they approach things a bit more head-on. Starting, in her case, with investigating every open door she could find in the Science Center until she found the director's office.

(Yes, she did just get told off by several friends for running into potentially dangerous situations with no backup; no, she did not alert anybody that she was going to do this; but hey, it was completely uneventful and therefore she has not broken any promises to anyone!)

The most interesting thing in there, by far, is the unlocked computer, and with a little digging she found a very interesting email. More carefully redacted notes. And she wonders ...

So one evening -- around dinner time, after sunset, in the hopes of being available to the most residents -- Johanna posts up in the welcome diner with a stack of notebooks, pens, and her phone. She's hand-copying the redacted file from her phone onto paper, with XXXXXs to indicate the number of characters in the redacted words. It's an arduous process, and every so often she straightens up from the work with a groan to crack her back. After she gets the whole thing copied down, she picks up her phone to make a network post:

Anyone good at crossword puzzles? I've got a doozy of one I'm working on in the diner and could use some help.

Anyone who cares to join her and try to decipher the redacted words, or make additional hard copies of the file to share out, is more than welcome to do so. Or just grab a cup of coffee and share theories with each other.

[ ooc: Feel free to treat this like an open mingle, converse with other characters, hop around, etc! I'll be making a top level with the text of the two redacted files from the newsletter, in which we can crowdsource guesses about what the missing words might be!

ETA: Feel free to put guesses in this document! ]

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[ Daniel didn't doubt that Kim would show up. The other guy was at the top of Daniel's mind when Robby decided to share this information with other people here - wanting to make sure that Kim would know about all of this in the first place, but also trusting Kim to take this as serious as it ought to be taken.

Seems like he was right on all counts, considering the other did show up and how seriously Kim is sitting there and copying the document. With so many people around the diner and Daniel's own head buzzing with all this new information, he's taken to at least serving some drinks to try and get the nervous energy out.

Kim being the last one - yes, even if he didn't ask for a drink, Daniel is just bringing him what he's had at the diner before anyway - as he puts down the drink and sits down opposite the other man. ]

It's.. concerning, isn't it? [ Please don't mind the way one of Daniel's hands keeps nervously tapping against the table, Kim. This is just A Lot. ] I mean, we already knew they had a lot of control over this place, but to see it to this extent..

This level of control isn't anything we didn't already know. It's just our first time seeing it so plainly.

[ If anything, it sounds as though Kim is trying to justify it to himself. He accepts the coffee with a muttered word of thanks and a polite nod, wrapping his gloved hands around it as though the heat from the porcelain cup could possibly warm the chill that has taken ahold of him. He's keeping his composure because that's the only thing he's got -- but he feels much more keenly than he lets on, some hidden truth of being monitored 24/7 cutting to the quick of him. It's horrifying.

After a moment, Kim sighs, taking off his glasses and pinching at the bridge of his nose. It's a little easier this way, the world suddenly cast in blurs and shadows, Daniel's face nothing more than a flesh coloured blob floating in front of him. ]

I don't know what to do about this information, [ he confesses plainly. ] We have a better idea about what's going on than ever before, but... to what end?

[ His initial answer - though Kim may not see it, with his glasses off and all - is for Daniel to tightly press his lips together. It's a little contemplative, but also a little helpless at the same time, since he's very inclined to agree with Kim's sentiment. Yes, it's technically good to have this information, but.. it doesn't feel like there's much they can do with it.

Other than to dread the inevitable. ]

Maybe it'll help us see the first signs.

[ That's the only positive lining he can think of, and even that feels like a stretch.

But Daniel knows. He knows that if he doesn't cling on to that faint bit of positivity, he'll drown in the swamp of despair that this information has left in its wake. And he can't do that when there's kids he cares for right now in this diner. He can't do that when he's sitting in front of someone he considers a friend, someone he wants to help be strong for.

And so he tries. ]

Judging by that report, they messed it up gradually. Now we know, maybe we can see anything bad that's happening before it spirals out of control.

My inclination would typically be to tamper with their study. I don't relish the idea of going along with what they've got planned. But... what they want and what we want are the same, as far as I can tell. We don't want undue violence, and we certainly don't want to be victims of a famine.

[ He puts his glasses back on and though he appears terribly, terribly calm, his foot is tapping a rampant tattoo underneath the table. It doesn't appear that he even notices that he's doing it. He considers joking that they can't even take themselves out of their misery, but decides against it. It will hit too close to home. ]

All right. [ He breathes out. ] All right. We don't know what will happen in the end. What will happen if we are a success story, if we're to be released back to our homes, or...

[ Don't think about it. ]

But we can deal with the short-term of what could happen to us. Create some sort of food preservation system while we still have the resources, ensure that conflict among our numbers doesn't escalate unduly. And we can see... here, that they're playing off of psychological trauma to encourage us to be our worse selves, I can only assume.

[ He and Daniel have spoken on that before, on psychiatric medication, on the lack of psychiatric professionals. ]

Safeguards against that are... more difficult, but possible with a more proactive approach. Warnings to newcomers as to what they can imagine, some sort of -- of buddy system so that there's some sort of buffer against spiraling in isolation?

[ He's grasping at straws, and he knows it. But they have to do something. ]

[ The nervous air that hangs above this conversation is a shared one, really. Even if it's - oddly enough, given the usual - more physically expressed by Kim in this moment, Daniel can feel it too.

It makes him glad for the other proposing some concrete things they can do. Even if it doesn't feel like it's enough. But then again, what more could they do in the face of what they just learned? What do you do about a situation where other people are determining the parameters rather than you? ]

I'll keep working on the latter.

[ His voice sounds heavy with the weight of the topic - especially the breath that he lets out before he speaks. ]

I've been making sure to get as many new people as possible to pass here through the diner first before they go out there. And if I see anyone who might be at risk for feeling bad or isolated, I'm making sure to stay in touch with them. [ He moves up a hand, pulling it through his hair. ] Though it'll be a problem if the same thing happens again as what's being described in that report. I can try to help people feel better all they want, but if they throw enough people in here who end up having malicious intentions..

[ Then what? ]

Good. That's good. Having people enter and immediately have the impression that they are a part of some sort of functioning community, even if that's not altogether the truth, will help matters. I don't love that I'm echoing what's in these reports - [ he taps his gloved fingers against the front folder of one three times in quick succession, rattatata ] - but there's nothing to be done for that. We work with what we've got.

[ If Kim had more clarity of vision, he would realize just how much this is like his home. Not being some part of some freakish experiment, potentially within some sort of twisted alternative-reality dimension, but having to labour alongside the very sources that seek to oppress him. It's a weighty, philosophical topic, and one he tries his best not to think about. ]

Typically, I would suggest some form of law enforcement. But considering the disparity between people here, I doubt anyone would be on-board with giving anyone that sort of authority, let alone agreeing upon some sort of standard moral code, let alone the fact that we have no court system at our disposal.

[ It would be slow, ineffective, ineffecient. ]

I suppose we could try to set up some sort of jail for anyone who poses an active threat to the community, [ he reasons, resting his chin on his knuckles. ] Though at this point, I'm less worried about the people here, and more worried about outside interference. Hunger will be a big one. Someone who has no reason to attack another person may feel driven to do so if they think they can get a meal out of it.

[ What are they doing, trying to solve these monumental problems? They're a used car salesman and a police officer, for gods sake. There has to be someone out there who knows what they're doing more than they do. But when Kim looks around the room and is greeted with far too many young faces, he has to grimly accept the fact that they can't wait around and let others try to tackle it first. ]

[ Judging by the look on Daniel's face when Kim starts about some sort of law enforcement, it's not exactly an option he feels very great about either.. Mostly for the same reasons as the other man brings up though. It would likely be so ineffective in this place that it would cause more trouble than it might solve. Especially since Daniel can only imagine how certain people might react to the idea of anyone trying to take charge in one way or another...

So thankfully they pass that station. Though the next station they arrive at feels just as complicated, and Daniel frowns, moving to support his head with a hand as he leans it to the side. ]

And the food supply keeps dwindling.

[ Something they've noticed for a long time now. Daniel has been pretty worried about it, though a little more passively worried in the face of all the actively horrific things he's had to deal with, both caused by this city and in the backstories revealed to him by the kids he's looking after.. ]

We could ration the food, but that might lead to the same problem. [ Of other people getting all worked up about it. Kim's right - cooperation is fine and all, but people will be much less inclined to it when they're hungry. The sort of thing that easily leads to dissatisfaction. ] Our only shot would be.. making sources of food ourselves, rather than relying on the city for it, I suppose.

Yes, I've been thinking about that. I've started a small plot in the greenhouse, but -- we simply don't have the space or the time to create any actual farming initiative. Or the know-how, for that matter. But what we can do is begin a preservation effort, preferably by cleaning out our food sources prior to them being replenished.

[ He taps the tips of his fingers against the table, clearly glad to move onto a subject that's actually actionable. ]

I don't know much about that area either, [ he confesses. ] But it's something we can learn, and most importantly, something we can actually overcome. Even better if we can get more people on board. This will be a long, laborious process. There exist the same threats of people sabotaging our efforts, or stealing from the stores, of course.

[ He grimaces. Can he imagine anyone here doing it? Not anyone he knows personally, no. But if things get worse, if people are going hungry, if someone's hurting for a fight -- who knows how bad things could get? ]

With diversified storage, [ he decides. ] No one person could sabotage them all at once. And a surveillance system would be useful too, I think. Preservation won't last us forever, but it'll at least give us a shot.

As much as I hate the idea of someone actively trying to sabotage our efforts to stay alive here.. I agree with you that we should take the possibility into account.

[ With the examples Kim provided, for example. Storing it in various locations seems like the best option to Daniel - especially if there are people they trust nearby each location, so if something happens to one of them, it'd be easy to alert the others before all of it could be destroyed or stolen..

Daniel's thoughts go over that for a moment, but then the man groans, hands practically buried in his hair. ]

.. god, how did we get here, Kim?

[ It's a thought much like the one that passed the other's mind a moment ago.

They're just normal people. Two extremely normal men, who had to deal with very little supernatural or outright impossible things for now. And here they're sitting there talking like they're prepping for the apocalypse - which is exactly what seems to be hanging over their heads, like an inevitable fate. ]

All of this feels insane.

[ Expressing that doesn't help a thing. It isn't a solution.

But at least it's a sentiment they can share, Daniel is sure. If he trusts anyone with that thought, it's Kim. It's much harder with the kids, where Daniel feels like he has to force himself to be brave for their sakes. ]

I thought this was insane when I thought we were only magically transported to an alternate dimension, [ Kim says, leaning back in his seat and crossing his arms across the chest. In a way, it's nice to hear it expressed out loud. Kim's been coping with this the same way that he copes with everything; by putting his nose to the grindstone and working, pretending like nothing is wrong, that the nature of his life hasn't gone counter to what he had always dreamed of. But there's a vast difference between having to do that back home, when all he had to deal with was increasingly difficult moral quandaries in the wake of an enduring post-war depression, and this, something straight out of a science-fiction novel. ]

I thought it was insane when I first met people who were -- non-humans, blessed with magical powers, or when resources started appearing out of nowhere, or when we were thrust into a world without any concept of currency.

This, I'm afraid is a step beyond that.

[ His voice is sympathetic, if not a little defeated. ]

Part of me is still waiting to wake up, only I know my imagination is nowhere near this colourful.

[ It's a sentiment Daniel can understand. Somehow he's wrapped his mind around it at this point, just deciding to do his best to live with it, since it's not like he can spend every single waking moment completely confused about everything around him.. But it's still so weird. It's still all out of the ordinary compared to the life he used to live back home.

At least that seems to be something he and Kim thankfully share.

.. right alongside that attitude. Sympathetic to each other's pain, but also hopefully lost in the depths of this situation. ]

At least accepting all that felt free from consequence. [ He looks down at his hands, nervously fretting, like he can't keep his hands still. ] You know? Yeah, it's weird, but it's not going to do something bad to me or anyone else that I'm surrounded by people who seem to have come straight from TV series.

[ He lets out an exhale of breath, more a puff. ]

But all of this is-- Like you say, it's a step beyond. If all of this is true, then we're in so much danger. And I.. [ The freeting grows a little faster. Agitated, restless, growing with the emotion slipping into Daniel's tone. ] I don't want to imagine it. All these kids here getting hurt, Robby getting hurt.. You getting hurt.

[ Sorry, Kim.

Daniel cares about you enough that you're included in this, apparently. He even looks right over at Kim as he says it, that sad worry in his eyes so visible. ]

It's terrifying.

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[open mingle] I do my crosswords in pen

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