FINAL INVESTIGATION

[foundationmods]

FINAL INVESTIGATION

Everyone's time is running out - but on friday, the lights return back to normal light, and the rats squeak loudly, clawing at the plastic of their little closed off areas.

Something is happening - and it seems the time has come for action.

Comments

GROUP THREE

[foundationmods]

[Hello everyone, it's time for rat party!!!

The rats are around again, and they're trying to get people's attention. Come see what they want!]

[whirlingmace]

[ She's here ]

Hello, what are you guys up to?

[ Let's see what they want. ]

[latebluemer]

[She's apparently gotten to the point in her life where a rat party is a positive thing.

So. That's a thing. Duckless and rockless and so on it is. They are full furry highlander up in here. Aoi's going to crouch down and examine the rats...?]

Yes...? Did you find something interesting?

[jumpedtheshark]

They seem plain excited about something.

[Tsumugi hums in thought.]

Maybe it's like the hamster in Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box and they're pointing out a hint coin?

[foundationmods]

[THIS REMINDS ME OF A PUZZLE!

Okay no not really. The rats are leading the group right to the third floor storage room.]

[whirlingmace]

[ Wow Rats. You couldn't even start out with a meal before whisking girls away?

But okay. Let's go. She's snagging Moogie's and Aoi's arms! ]

Maybe! One way to find out. Let's motor, girls!

[ To adventure ]

[latebluemer]

I don't know if it's the time to motor, Cinque.

[But it's more dry than anything. It's obvious that the rats have been hard at work and she is curious to see where ADVENTURE leads them this time. To the storage room, apparently--]

[jumpedtheshark]

I don't think we need to speed run through all this...

[Glancing down at the rats.]

We don't want to step on anyone or knock anything over, right?

[Or pull a Shirou and destroy evidence.]

[foundationmods]

[ADVENTURE leads them to a trapdoor in the storage room. It seems like someone has already unlocked the door, so you all can climb right down if you want!]

[whirlingmace]

[ Letting them go, and giving a smile. ]

Hehe... I won't step on any friends.

[ Nothing about knocking anything over. Also she sees it's opened. Giving a grin at other two before jumping into the hole. ]

Wee!

[latebluemer]

Cinque-- This isn't--

[It's not Alice in Wonderland or something?? Did she even look down before she did that??

Aoi's not going to pause, she's diving down after and summoning her D-board on the way down just in case. There they both go, sorry Tsumugi. What's climbing.]

[jumpedtheshark]

C-cinque what are you-!?

[There's a shout of suprise at Cinque's bold method of going down, and then a noise of frustration as Aoi goes down and Tsumugi realizes that she's the only one stuck climbing.]

Aaah....! Guys, wait for me!

[There's some irritated hair lashing and curling as Tsumugi climbs down after the two. Unlike the others, Tsumugi looks down and around herself as she goes down, not wanting to dive headfirst into this situation.]

[foundationmods]

[It's not quite Alice in Wonderland, but Cinque does get down safely. Aoi and Tsumugi can join her shortly after as well. There is no danger at the bottom of the ladder, but they seem to have been deposited into a hallway of some sort.

There's light above them in the form of flickering lights, just like synapses connecting. Blah blah brain stuff, it's the brain, you guys get it by now.

The hallway is a very long one, but eventually they will come to the end of it and reach a door. It is the same style door as on all of the rooms here at the resort.]

[whirlingmace]

I'm okay! I'm always okay.

[ She waits until the other two catch up before walking down the hall to the door. ]

Let's see if it's unlocked.

[ Just going to try to open it \o/ ]

[latebluemer]

[She grumbles something that sounds suspiciously like maybe you are under her breath while putting away her D-board, but it comes out on a sigh. They're just getting started, and might as well get limbered up for all the surprises no doubt coming their way.

Maybe they should knock, but also maybe they shouldn't. She'll ready her whip just in case the door grows teeth or whatever. You never know with the doors around here.]

[jumpedtheshark]

[Tsumugi sighs as she sees Cinque continue to go on ahead, and readies her hair to use as whips, just in case. It looks like she'll be taking up the rear.]

[foundationmods]

[The door is unlocked! And when it is opened, they will be able to walk into the lobby. But it looks...off? More like a replica than the real thing.

And then, a memory plays.]

This is seen from eye-level of someone standing at the check-in desk in the lobby.

The door opens, letting in a gust of cold air and some drifting snow. Two figures walk in: a man in his 50s, and a teenage boy. Both are dressed for the weather, and carrying a couple duffel bags each.

The viewpoint character seems to regard them closely before turning to a person to their left. “Guests?” the person asks.

The other individual to their left- a staff member in their recognizable uniform, nods. “Guests,” they say back.

The viewpoint character looks back to the front door. The man has continued to walk towards the check-in desk, but the boy has stopped to close the front door. Once it’s closed he runs a bit, taking a few quick steps to catch up with the man.

“Welcome to The Hotel,” the viewpoint character says cheerfully, “Just two today?”

“Yeah,” the man says, “Make it separate rooms too, but close to each other.”

“That can be arranged,” the viewpoint character says. They gesture to the two, and a couple individuals step forward to take the bags from these two new guests. The man accepts it, but the boy puts up a couple seconds of struggle before giving up the bags and looking a bit off-put. This gets the man to snicker.

“They’re not gonna steal anything, kid,” the man says.

The boy just scowls and looks away.

Then the staff members go for their coats. This is when the man finally seems annoyed by the attention. “At least let me unzip it first!”

[whirlingmace]

Whoa! Did you see that?

[ She looks back at the other two. Someone else can try to take lead before she goes ahead again.]

[latebluemer]

... Two new guests at the Resort.

[And we're going to guess one of them is a redhead, even though probably they've never appeared before their group! Huh, weird.]

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

[jumpedtheshark]

Y-yeah, I saw it too!

[Tsumugi is looking around for any cause for these sudden memories.]

I think so.... but how did we see it?

[foundationmods]

[MAGIC~

But yes, there is another door on the other side of the lobby. Head to it, or explore the lobby for a bit?]

[whirlingmace]

That it's Appy and the Outsider?

[ While the door is adoorable, let's explore. Is there anything in the lobby to check out? Anything to see around the couches? ]

[latebluemer]

Yeah... They should look familiar, right?

[Given that Doppelling must have been here in some form if they have their timelines correct, even if the humans might have been specks of dust on the wall for all they knew. She's going to check out a different section of the lobby while they discuss this. Maybe she can have a look at the front desk?]

Maybe this is a special place in the Resort...?

[It sure isn't a movie theater.]

[jumpedtheshark]

Right. I mean... if it's not them I'm not sure who else it could be.

[Tsumugi is going to check the drawers of the desk in the lobby if there are any. She'll leave the top of it to Aoi.]

[foundationmods]

[DoppelCinque will definitely be able to tell that this is how the Resort looked previously, before everything started to go Weird. It's like this is a memory of how things used to be.

The front desk has the guest book from before. This time, the names that had been scribbled out before are plainly readable as "Gabriel Reyes" and "Kurosaki Ichigo". Ichigo's is written in Kanji, and Gabe's is written in English.

The drawers are, shockingly, empty. No keys, no supplies, nothing. Which is strange, because there should be something in there, right? But nada. It's almost as if items are immediately spawned as needed.]