[open mingle] I do my crosswords in pen

[keepgodwaiting]

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! ]


 

Comments

[aceslow]

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.

[miyagimagic]

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. ]

[aceslow]

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.

[miyagimagic]

[ 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.