Week 1: Slumber Party Mingle

[whirlingmace]

[ After getting permission on the staff, they take over the lounge. Futons, blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows are all dragged out into the middle of the room. Time to build a fort, guys!

Or come to the Lounge to find it made and everyone chilling out. There's hot chocolate and snacks! ]

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[latebluemer]

[Blue Angel is not in her pajamas this time for some reason, but has changed into her full Blue Angel outfit -- and since they're in the lounge, they can disturb passersby as well as deal with the people who are actually here for the forts and the sleepovers and everything else. She's holding steaming hot chocolate in a brightly-colored golden mug, and furiously tapping away at her tablet with the other. Also sitting on top of one of the couches. Because that's how you sit when half of them are taken up by blanket forts and whatnot.

Eventually, once enough people have wandered by or into the lounge, she'll put down her mug on the nearest flat surface and tap twice at the floral-framed screen strapped to her wrist. The little AI voice that some may have heard gets pretty decently amplified, so there's just this great big sonorous HEY.]

So, some of you know this, but Nanashi and I have been working on a project. It's a card game from back home, from Link VRAINS -- it's called Duel Monsters, and we've imported a more basic and streamlined version directly into the tablets. It's not the full game, or the full inventory of cards, because we're only working off the data that I already have.

[And probably the staff are 'helping' with their own knock-offs, who knows. Go wild here.]

But it's good enough, and we can transfer it to any one of your tablets. More importantly--

[And here she straightens a little, wings and all.]

Some of you decided to go punch a wall, or each other, or whatever after everything that's happened this weekend. Fine. It happens. But we all have better things to do. [not to mention a reduced amount of people to patch y'all up??] So try this: I'll duel anyone who thinks they can take me on, for the rest of the time we're here. I guarantee you it'll be more interesting than trying to hit something. I can't guarantee you'll win, though. How about it?

[rosebridled]

[ ... ]

This is the kind of dueling you like.

[latebluemer]

[She looks extremely confused for a split-second, but of course she's looked over her own profile enough times. It just never occurred to her -- card games enthusiast that she is -- how easy it would be to misunderstand 'dueling' based on just that. She hasn't been shy about explaining it, after all.]

Oh. Oh. I thought-- [that since Anthy seemed like someone who knew how technology worked, that she wouldn't go to the more archaic forms of it] But yeah, this is the kind of dueling I've always done. No swords, or guns, or anything. I wouldn't propose something like that here.

[Or anywhere, we beat up each other's duel monsters like civilized people here.]

[rosebridled]

[ "Knew how technology worked"... She has basic knowledge of how to use a 90s-era computer and stuff, but CLEARLY you missed how fucking bad she was at Tetris.

Anyway, she's no stranger to card games herself, they're just. Oldschool games with actual playing cards. ]

So it's a game, and you're just playing for the satisfaction of winning?

[ SHE JUST... really does not think "duel" is the appropriate verb here, even if it's in the game title... ]

[latebluemer]

[She definitely missed how bad she was at Tetris! They haven't done any Tetris tournaments and that's a crying shame. I don't know how Tetris tournaments work.

Blue Angel thinks that over for a moment and then gives a quick nod. There's something somehow wry in it.]

That's the way it's meant to be. You're supposed to enjoy it, especially if you're a beginner at the game. There are people who play at higher levels than that, in the virtual world.

[Let's keep the shadier stuff on the downlow, since it isn't relevant here, especially when she's trying to sell the game to a demoralized public. Also Anthy pls chill.]

[wrongtiming]

[Immediately, because he is a Nerd (TM):]

I'm in!

[latebluemer]

[HELLO HUNTER it is time to obtain your card game badge of nerditude. But first off:]

Great! So, you know how to work the tablet and everything by now, right? I just need that so we can transfer the game.

[wrongtiming]

Yeah, definitely.

[He hands it over without much ado, offering a grin.]

How'd you get it onto the tablets in the first place?

[latebluemer]

[It only takes a few moments, because these are decent tablets and while it's a big program due to all the card and process data, all they really have to do is let it load. Nanashi's done a bang-up job.]

Oh, Nanashi built it from the ground up for this. Well, like I said, we also used base data that was already in my duel disk. But this way, more people can play. It's always been a multiplayer game.

[theycallhimmrpchan]

A card game?

[He rubs his chin, looking at Aoi, then at his own tablet, which didn't seem to be any more damaged than the first day]

I'm not sure if it'd be a good substitute for sparring, but I guess I can try it.

[latebluemer]

Hmm. It looks like you've figured out how to work with your tablet by now, Hibiki-kun.

[She sounds pleased by the fact that he's actually listened. This is more than some other people have done! So here's her holding out her hand for that tablet.]

It's a little basic for now, but I'll do my best to make it interesting. Let me see that, and I'll get it installed properly.

[theycallhimmrpchan]

[He'll hand the tablet over]

Took a bit to figure out how sensitive they are to touch.

[latebluemer]

Yeah, depending on the setting, you almost don't even have to be touching them for them to respond. Just let me know if your settings feel off and I can adjust them. But for now...

[For now, you are getting Duel Monsters: SCP Edition. Maybe there are knock-off cards with supernatural bullshit on them? We're kind of playing it by ear here. The loading is going to take a bit, so she'll hand the tablet back while they wait.]

I think there are tutorials, but it might be easier if I explain it.

[enter_the_darkness]

[ There's a glance over in her direction when she starts the announcement, and then he's looking away, probably giving a good impression of boredom...

... But, not too long after it's done, he's shifting in his seat, black eye facing towards her as he lifts his eyebrows a bit. ]

A guarantee? Really?

[ She doesn't seem like she has much experience in anything related to physical fighting, so he's curious to know how she could make such a bold promise. To him, it just sounds like a lot of arrogance regarding some... card game. He's never... so much as touched one of those things? So he's clueless, here. ]

What's so fun about these cards?

[latebluemer]

[He's giving a good impression of a cat, is what he's doing, and Blue Angel just bemusedly waits for him to complete his pretend circling of the topic.]

A guarantee. It might still need some tweaking, and...

[Hmm. Of course she knows that it's not a perfect solution to the sheer amount of frustration, cabin fever and likely fear that's going to build up this week and throughout coming weeks if they stay trapped here. That's not how people work (even if it is a little bit how she works, go coping mechanisms).

She falls silent for a moment, contemplative, seems to come to several conclusions and breaks into a small smile.]

It's a game of strategy, and there's an almost infinite number of ways to build a deck. Like I said, this is a smaller and more basic version of the game than we have back home, but it's not too big for beginners to get.

[enter_the_darkness]

[ A game of strategy, huh...

Briefly, a glint enters his gaze. He looks at her for a moment, and then to the side. ]

... No promises that there won't be any sparring [ he's already... kind of promised that Iwai guy about the fighting part, anyway, SIGH ] but I guess I could see, firsthand, what it's about.

[ Not like he has to keep at it, or anything, anyway. ]

[latebluemer]

[She sees that glint and meets it with a raised eyebrow and mildly challenging gaze of her own. It's not a front -- she's basically raring to go, it really is good stress relief for her. She's got some faith in her ability to convince others of that, or at least to give them some alternatives to The Great Wall.]

Well, I wasn't expecting anyone to promise not to spar. Think of this as more... of a different kind of challenge. As long as enough people are willing to give it a chance, we've got a good thing going.

[There's a satisfied curl to her smile. They do have a decent starting userbase!]

You have your tablet, right?

[jumpedtheshark]

Duel Monsters?

[She recognizes the game, but Link VRAINS is new. Still.. this sounds like a good distraction. Tsumugi pulls her tablet out.]

Umm... what kind of decks can you build in it right now?

[latebluemer]

[There's a small quirk of an eyebrow -- Tsumugi's the first one who's seemed to have any familiarity with this type of game, even if she doesn't seem to have experience playing it, perhaps? But that also saves a little time, so she'll launch right into it.]

Since it's based on my decks and the decks that I've encountered, and some other basic and acquired data... And some odds and ends. [AKA strange things the staff may have inserted, discount knock-off cards, whatever else] You can build a pretty wide variety of customized decks.

Have you played this sort of game before, Shirogane-san?

[jumpedtheshark]

Yeah, but I'm just a plain player. I could probably add in more cards though...

[Read: She's seen some of the various anime-- excluding VRAINS-- and read some of the manga, but never actually played it much herself. She spent most of her money on merchandise for other series. Do you really want to let Tsumugi have access to it though? Do you want her to add in Blue Eyes White Dragons and other stuff?]]

[latebluemer]

Hmm. I still look forward to what kind of deck you can build.

[The deck almost always manages to reflect the character of the builder eventually -- no matter how much they pretend otherwise or, in Tsumugi's case, try to characterize all decks that enter their hands as 'plain'. It's another step in their own little duel.

Honestly, the program probably has all the dragons up to VRAINS. Now, how they're extracted and how players can get their hands on the rarer cards is handwave material because technicalities.]

Oh, and the main summoning method is going to be Link Summoning. I can probably explain that, or any other detailed basics you might not know.

[diesifkilled]

[Well, that's weird. And fancy.]

I'll pass.

[latebluemer]

[Quit being a 50-year-old man in your kokoro, Debbie.]

What, you're not even going to give it a chance? Nanashi and I worked all week on this. He even got webbed into his room for this.

[She is absolutely not above mild guilt-tripping, they worked hard!!]

[diesifkilled]

[Never. It is his true form.]

I'm not really into card games, sorry.

[latebluemer]

Shirou-kun... What kinds of card games have you played?