ZERO;

[crashout]

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[crashout]

[--no, wait, hold on, this is funnier.]

Bad time? [Obviously.] You didn't strike me as the type to do the dishes.

[fleuris]

[ hey, no, she's the only one who gets to mock other people. >:( no mocking Zero allowed! as a punishment, Junpei gets (clean) dishwater splashed at him. ]

I'm not. I just need- I dropped something, that's all.

[ oh yeah, she's totally smooth. ]

What do you want?

[crashout]

[Ha, ha, ha. But he backs away when the water's flung at him and he makes a face.]

Is that any greeting for someone who wanted to share some information with you? I thought we almost had something special.

[And this is how Junpei Tenmyouji died. He's becoming a little less convinced this Zero is the mastermind of this game, but he can appreciate being on the same wavelength.]

[fleuris]

[ hm, can't believe Zero became a w0 murderer in another dimension.

... well, actually I can. but in this one, she just pulls a face right back and finally pulls her arm out of the water. ah, that's a clamshell clutched between her fingers. hm. ]

Then it's a trade - I've got something for you too. [ ... ] You can go first.

[ how magnanimous of her. ]

[crashout]

[Oh. Wild, he didn't think that'd work but maybe it does pay to make some contacts. He doesn't say anything regarding the clamshell but he does move to grab a dish towel to hand her. Dry your shell.]

Fine. I got an update about the blackout from yesterday. Turns out two people managed to get another door open. The little one next to the break room. Pretty sure it can't be opened again, but it's a subsidiary electrical room. It controls the power in this place including the lights and everything.

[He's not bothering to ask if Zero knows how it all works. Moving on.] They found a couple of things. Do you want the good things first, or the bad ones?

[fleuris]

[ oh. uh, thanks. she accepts the towel silently to wipe her shell down while Junpei talks. man, good thing she doesn't need to dunk it in rice or anything, because she wouldn't. ]

I doubt there's really anything good here, so isn't it all the same? [ hm! morbid! unhelpful! moving on! ] But maybe I'll be surprised - give me the bad first.

[crashout]

Right. When they were exploring the room, they found some scratch marks on the floor near the door. Human ones, blood mixed in. You know, like someone who tried to escape. They also found a notebook...most of the pages couldn't be read, but there was a ciphered message they managed to decode.

"Hard to look at him in the eyes knowing it might be there. It's a reminder: don't trust anyone. Sorry my friend."

[So that's probably fine.] The lightbulb was blinking an SOS--a distress signal. When they tried to access the breaker box though the whole thing blew and that caused our blackout. Kind of explains a lot, actually.

[fleuris]

[ everything is Just Fine. ]

I take it the "SOS" isn't working anymore? [ if the whole thing got blown up, the distress signal shouldn't work anymore, right? ]

Did your friend say which way the scratches were going? Someone getting dragged back in here is one thing, but getting dragged somewhere else could give us a trail to follow.

[crashout]

Yeah, I think it's dead. And it might've been too hard to tell but I can ask. But it does support the idea we weren't the first ones here. Makes our broadcast a little more real.

[fleuris]

And yet, that asshole couldn't bother to tell us anything useful, could he?

[ Jeff Goldblum is the worst ]

Alright. So what's the good news?

[crashout]

Of course not. Did you hear? We haven't earned it. [Not quite the same, but sure.]

The good news is some of the breakers in the room were labeled. The other two rooms on the first floor are apparently a ballroom and something called a gift shop. Better to know that now before we get the doors open.

[fleuris]

The only thing he's earned is my foot up his ass.

[ moving on, the ballroom sounds as stupidly extravagant as the rest of this place, but gift shop? it's obviously a store for gifts of some kind but what... ]

It's going to be more sex shit isn't it. I guess that's how tokens get used...

Any other places labeled? We know there's a basement and a third floor after all.

[crashout]

Maybe, maybe not. Seems weird that it'd be more sex stuff when they've been giving it to us for free so far.

Nothing else was labeled as far as I heard. Might be there are other breaker rooms on the different floors we don't have access to yet, but that's all they got.

[fleuris]

Maybe.

[ oh, that makes it her turn, doesn't it? judging by that non-response just now though... ]

You might already know this, but we get paid for the sex we have here. Some kind of token, according to this thing.

[ she holds up the clamshell, the source of all woes. ]

[crashout]

[...huh. So he was right about that and someone definitely owes him!!! GOD!!!! His face provides no tells, but he cants his head just slightly.]

Tokens. [There's a slight nod.] Could be the currency of this place, sure. But how do you keep track of how many you have? [He's eyeing the shell. Is there a bank account on there what the fuck.]

[fleuris]

The same way you do, I imagine.

[ what do you mean you didn't fuck, junpei ]

I guess you could just keep a running total, if you really need to.

[crashout]

[This does not help.] As long as your shell's not damaged, sure. You might wanna check that.

[...curiosity's going to kill the Junpei, but he's gotta ask.] And how many do you have so far? [He just wants to see what she'll say, it's fine.]

[fleuris]

It's fine - I threw it against the wall and into the sink and it still wouldn't shut up. And it's not hard to remember I've only got one.

[ she's so casual abt it? ]

[crashout]

["Nicely done, Zero." ]

Fair enough. [But... ] Wonder if that means these things are indestructible. Guess you got a mission, too? ...in the kitchen.

[fleuris]

[ the mention of the mission makes her scowl. ]

Ugh, don't remind me. What the fuck kind of ghosts wants a cake?

[ and if you look to your right, Junpei will get a glimpse of said cake. said... tit-fucking cake... god that must be awkward. ]

[crashout]

A what? [Like. He just asks that on instinct because for a moment he thinks he's misheard her. But no, he sees it out of the corner of his eye and stares long enough to try and figure out what in the fuck.]

What in the fuck were you guys told to do? Baking a cake seems really, really easy.

[fleuris]

Do I look like a goddamn baker? Cooking was Two's thing, not mine.

[ baking is hard when you just steal other people's food ok ]

This stupid shell started screaming at us to "do it by the book" - why, what'd yours want?

[crashout]

Alright, alright. [Duly noted.] Ours wanted us to play follow the leader for a while until it was satisfied with everything. No big deal.

[He's skimping on the details but it's fine. No one needs to know. ]

[fleuris]

[ ok zero's stupid but she's not that stupid. ]

Ours wanted a tit-fucking cake. Judging by those broadcasts earlier, I'd say another group had to have some really bad sex. There's no way it was just follow the leader.

[crashout]

Weirdly specific. [He's back to eyeing the cake again. Hm. Also he could 100% just not tell her, but:] Today I learned that I'm apparently bad at giving lapdances. Bullshit, right?

[If he pretends to huff and fuss about it maybe it'll be less annoying and embarrassing.]