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Post by Avery on Jun 21, 2017 19:53:12 GMT -5
Humans called the Cat many names. She responded to precisely none of them. Lilly. Clover. Daisy. Peony. (Humans really liked flowers, didn't they?) Others were more clever, or at very least more descriptive: Midnight (no doubt due to her coat-- inky black save for white tips on her toes); Socks (see previous); Wraith (she came and went a lot, moving like a ghost). And others still, well-- the Cat wasn't precisely sure, nor did she exactly care. The names weren't how she sorted the Humans in her mind, anyhow: most of the time, she hardly remembered who called her what. On the other hand-- The lady who lived in the blue house fed her the most delicious tuna; it was a good visit when she was hungry and kibble just wouldn't cut it. And usually the Tuna Lady didn't scold her for jumping on the counter, too, which was nice. Or there was the Ear Scritches Man-- he gave her the best scritches, the absolute best! Although the Ear Scritches Man was also complicated, because several times before he'd tried to put a collar on her, with a little jangly bell and a tag-- which she always slipped out of just as soon as she'd left him, but that didn't dissuade him from trying again down the road, and sometimes the Cat just didn't want to deal with such complications. Other Humans had similar drawbacks: the lady with the scary crackly radio she wore hooked on her chest let her drink water straight from the tap sometimes-- which was very exciting!-- but her big fluffy dog could be a bother; or there was the man who smelled like bacon-- such nice bacon!-- and had a very soft fur coat, which was snuggly and amazing. But he also tended to baby talk the Cat when he thought no one else could hear, which was very degrading. The Cat could only handle him in small doses. All in all, though, the Cat couldn't complain. How could she? Not when she had a rotating buffet of houses, and scritches, and cuddles and water streams and bacon smells. And if she had to deal with Humans' inanities to get this, well-- there were worse things. Collars could always be slipped. Dogs hissed at. Baby talk ignored. It was a good to be a Cat in Wrighton. *** The Cat wandered the lane outside City Hall, tail held high, eyes bright and gleaming. She'd been wandering about the city for hours now-- ever since her last nap, which had been a good one, beneath the shade of a sycamore tree-- and now that she was awake... she rather wished she'd stayed asleep. After all, the Humans were all in a tizzy today: noise and colour and nonsense everywhere she went. In an effort to escape the din, she'd tried to meow at the doors of several of her favorite haunts-- Tuna Lady! Scritches Man!-- but they hadn't been home. No one had let her in. Hmph. She really needed to add a few more hapless "owners" Food and Sleep Factories to her list. "Do you guys know what a cryptogram is? Or a cipher? I get the feeling if we put these all together with the missing bits, that's what we'll get- a message in code. For what purpose I can't say, but I think you're right, Cade, it's related to what's going on above our heads. Somehow. The timing is a little too convenient."As she approached City hall, the Cat's head snapped up at the familiar voice. Oh! It was Scary Radio Lady! ... And she did not look particularly pleased. And... Oh. Oh no. Scary Radio Lady was with Bacon Man. This was not good. She could not have her Humans' paths crossing - not at all, not at all - The Cat paused mid-stride and flattened herself, in an effort to become very, very small. After all, Humans could not see you if you were small! ... For good measure, she buried her face into the ground below, too. Eyes shielded. Now she was practically invisible. Check-mate. Humans outwitted again! Wrighton has a Cat who may be two-or-twenty-timing the residents in an effort to gain infinite noms, pets, and sleeping places. Two of these Humans are Fionn ( Celestial) and Holly ( Shinko). Which is a problem when the two of them are together, and the Cat arrives. ABORT MISSION, ABORT!
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Post by Rabbit ♠ on Jun 21, 2017 20:22:04 GMT -5
Fionn thought this could be a prank show? That seemed extremely farfetched. What sort of twisted prank would this be? And what sort of budget would they be working with? To put a dome over an entire town. That would be impressive it it was a prank, though that certainly didn’t seem to be the case at this point. She looked at everybody. Cade, Holly, and Fionn all seemed concerned. She could see why. All of this was too confusing. Then Ani looked down. She saw the two dogs and a cat, each not taking too much interest in her. Aw, that cat was cute. Ani didn’t take too much interest in the conversation, she wasn’t sure how to add anything. "Do you guys know what a cryptogram is? Or a cipher? I get the feeling if we put these all together with the missing bits, that's what we'll get- a message in code. For what purpose I can't say, but I think you're right, Cade, it's related to what's going on above our heads. Somehow. The timing is a little too convenient."Not until that was said. Ani’s eyes lit up. She wasn’t any good at codes or ciphers, but she happened to have a book on someone who was. If she remembered correctly, the codes that Ricardo Gacy used and how to use them were still in that book. Ani sat down on the sidewalk and reached for her book. She opened the book and looked for the part where his codes were mentioned. Yes! There was a lot of stuff on codes with tables and basic know how. Maybe the part on codes could help everyone. Ani knew it was a good idea to bring this book. So Ani grabbed her notebook and began writing. “ I know what they are, but I am not good at decoding them. However, I have a book from the library on Ricardo Gacy, someone who’s known for using codes. There’s a section on his codes and how to use them. Maybe we can see if any of those work. I don’t know if it can help, but it’s worth a try, right?” Ani stood up and held her notebook out to Holly with a smile on her face and her library book in her free hand. Ani doesn't know how to add to the conversation between Cade, Holly, and Fionn ( Kyn , Shinko , and Celestial ). She hears something about codes and ciphers and instantly thinks about Ricardo Gacy. She looks through the book (not before noticing a cute kitty ( Avery )) and sees that his codes were in the book. Ani suggests that they try to use something from there.
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Post by Gelquie on Jun 21, 2017 20:28:10 GMT -5
Alexis was attempting to navigate her bike through the crowds. 'Attempting' was the keyword. The festival was, by nature, crowded, to the point where Alexis would often have to stop and wait for extra space to bike slowly. (At least it wasn't so crowded that the street was basically gridlocked.) Though she wanted to move a little faster, it did facilitate her search for others with a scrap of paper. Or rather, it would if anyone with a scrap of paper was showing up. There were many people, and it was difficult to see everything through the crowd-- “Alexis! Alexis, wait! What is that?” Came a voice through the crowd. Alexis whirled her head around and saw the goth-looking woman from the other day, waving a scrap of paper above her head. ”Alexis!”Alexis blinked. She... she found someone with another scrap? Or rather, someone found her, but still. She hadn't actually fully expected to find anyone, especially not anyone she knew. ...Well, sort of knew. Alexis waved with her paper to acknowledge that she saw her and walked her bike over to the girl, a skip in her stride in expectation of something new. “You have one too!” Alexis exclaimed, peering at her paper. Sure enough, her message seemed to be written on similar paper, similarly torn, and similarly gibberish, although she noted that their messages were not quite the same. “Do you know how you got yours?” Alexis asked. “I found mine in my pocket, but I don't remember how it got there...” She held out her paper to allow the goth-looking girl to examine it. “I don't know for sure, and I don't know how we both got one... but maybe it could be from the same paper? Do you know anyone else who has one? Or at least how they got theirs? ...Maybe the rips from our paper fit together?” Alexis offered the paper for the goth-looking woman to compare. Then she looked up at her face once more. She was very distinct looking, to be sure. And before now, she might've been content to just know her as another face, an acquaintance she may not need to know the name of. But if for some odd reason they got the same paper... She may as well be able to call her something. “Oh, um, this is awkward, but...” Alexis shrunk a little bit. “I've seen you, but I never caught your name.” Alexis is shocked that she actually found someone with another slip of paper! (That someone being Liz ( Twillie).) She goes over and starts comparing the paper, wondering if they're from the same page and if there are others with one, and further theorizing. She wonders if their pieces connect, and offers hers to Liz to test. (Just to save you some time, these two pieces don't connect together in any way.) Then she asks Liz for her name so that she and I can stop calling her “the goth-looking woman”.
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Post by Lizica on Jun 21, 2017 20:33:25 GMT -5
(Well, this is kind of a monster post. xD I'm sorry. Remember you can just read the summary!) So bump your fist Up against mine There ain’t no tree or staircase We can’t climb Bro You get me, bro You get me, broHannah slapped a hand over to where the snooze button would be on her alarm clock at home. But the music kept playing. The snooze button was in a different place on this clock radio. Because she was not at home. Hannah Zhou was still in Wrighton. By all rights, if she’d been able to keep to her travel itinerary, Hannah should have not only made it to New Amesworth days ago, but she should have left New Amesworth by now. And she had tried. The morning after she’d taken her selfie at the cathedral, she’d awoken refreshed and--maybe not quite enthused about continuing her journey--but she’d been ready. So she had eaten a good breakfast, refilled her water bottles, shouldered her backpack, checked out of her room at Wright-Inn, and trundled off to the east side of town to walk onwards. She had passed through farmlands and some small intermittent woodland areas in between until she had come to a farm that looked peculiarly familiar: She remembered entering Wrighton the first day and having passed the same irrigation system that had a hot pink bumper sticker stuck to it that advertised a brand of bubble gum. And sure enough, as she kept walking, she found herself back in Wrighton. She’d consulted her map, of course, because she’d probably just accidentally veered too far to the right as she’d walked and made a circle back to town. So next time Hannah had pulled out her compass and carefully made sure she walked east the entire time. She had somehow-- still--found herself arriving back at the farmlands to the west of Wrighton, with the pink-stickered irrigation system. By that time, it had been too late to try again, so Hannah had checked in for another night at Wright-Inn and resolved to try again in the morning. And she had. ...That day, and the next day, and the next. And yet somehow-- SOMEHOW--every single time she had wound up right back at the west side of Wrighton. It was exasperating. What was wrong with her navigation tools? Sooner or later, the locals in this town were definitely going to suspect that Hannah had no idea what she was doing, and she couldn’t bear the thought of admitting to them that she hardly knew anything about backpacking. The manager of Wright-Inn, at the very least, was already probably getting fed up with Hannah’s now-consistent routine of checking out, not making any more reservations, and then returning the next night wanting a room again. Yesterday at the first day of the spring festival (which she had not come to town for but now was definitely in town for), she had finally broken her resolve not to buy anything that might weigh her down, and she had bought a whole box of spools of red thread. I’ll be like Theseus in the labyrinth, she had thought brightly as she left a trail of thread behind her through the farmlands. ...Or Despereaux Tilling in The Tale of Despereaux, she had grimly amended her train of thought. But the thread hadn’t helped either. Exhausted and fuming, she even crossed Wrighton again just to see if her starting point thread had been left on the east side, but it had vanished without a trace. Just what was she doing wrong?In any case, if this kept up, soon she was going to actually have to take the advice she’d been given her first day here and use the campgrounds to sleep. She simply couldn’t afford to stay in a hotel every single evening. But the thread incident had worn her out so much that she had rationalized staying another night at the hotel. The hotel’s alarm clock, playing the local radio station, was finally finishing up playing the music. “Rise and shine, campers!” cried the chipper voice of one of the station’s DJs. “And don’t forget your sunscreen, ‘cause it’s the Spring Festival out there!”The second DJ piped up, his voice laced with something that sounded like--dismal panic? Hannah knew the feeling. “There’s also a GIANT DOME out there today!”...A what? “Leonard, everyone knows about the dome already.”
“Not everyone! Some people are just getting up! Some haven’t gone outside! Some aren’t even able to process the extent to which WE’RE ALL DOOMED.”
“Leonard, we’re on the air, we have no reason to panic, and there’s DEFINITELY no reason you should imply that our listeners need to panic en masse.”
“You’re right, Steve! Why IMPLY the need to panic when I should just be FORTHRIGHT and TELL EVERYONE TO PANIC?!”
“Leonard--Leonard--for the love of--we’re on the air-- Listeners, haha, please pay no mind no my co-host, he’s such a joker, haha, but listen. The Wrighton Times has released a thorough report on the dome, and we should NOT panic because we are NOT trapped in the dome, because we can--I quote--‘push against it, it lets you pass through with a kind of broioioioioing sound.’ ”
“It doesn’t matter! This is the end! The dome isn’t a threat, but an OMEN. Listeners, you’ve got to--”
“C.J., just cut the transmission. Cut the transmissio--”The radio program cut to a long bout of static for about 30 seconds until easy listening music started to air instead. ...Hannah was not entirely sure what to make of what she had just heard, but it definitely didn’t bode well for her trying to get to New Amesworth today, either. If anything, though, it made her all the more anxious to get going. Maybe she’d skip breakfast today. She still had some trail mix in her backpack. She’d be fine. She just needed to be able to leave Wrighton.She gathered her things, jammed her sun hat on over her black hair, threw on her backpack (with such abandon that she nearly fell over), and scurried downstairs. She left the room key and wordlessly blustered outdoors. She did not look up, and it wasn’t until she came to the farmlands that she realized that oh--it was definitely a literal dome that the radio DJs had been talking about. It was definitely literal. And definitely a dome. And definitely weird. Like a bubble curtain. But Hannah was anxious to leave, so she chose not to think too hard about it. She approached the edge of the dome and ruthlessly pushed against it as the newspaper and DJ had said. I’m leaving, I’m leaving, I’m continuing on, let me through, I can do this. There was a strange sort of stretchy resistance, almost like trying to ram through a waterfall of taffy, but then, indeed with a very emphatic broioioioioing, Hannah burst through to the other side of the barrier and fell to the ground, dirt in her face. Hannah hauled herself up, rebalanced herself and her backpack, took one last bewildered glance at the barrier, and then took off through the farmlands at a much more frenetic pace than she had before. About half an hour later, though, she would have screamed had she had any breath to spare. Ahead, there was a metal irrigation system with a hot pink bumper sticker advertising bubble gum. Behind her in the field, there was the dome barrier, as if she’d never even gone through it at all. Hannah staggered back into town and collapsed onto an open space of grass near the festival to catch her breath. “Okay,” she huffed pointedly to the sky, “now you’re just being obnoxious.” The shimmering dome above, of course, did not respond. She scowled at it. It still didn’t do anything. But then Hannah got another idea--what the idea was, she wasn’t sure, but she pulled out Gladys Skipping’s Guide to Riverside Towns and flipped to that one singularly unhelpful entry about Wrighton. She often filed little papers away in the guidebook according to their respective towns: tickets, receipts, brochures, business cards, notes. And now, tucked into the pages for Wrighton, she found a small slip of paper with gibberish scrawled across it. She didn’t remember putting it there, but then again, of course she would have put it there. And she was very glad that she had; otherwise, she might have lost it. Whatever it was. Before she could think too hard about it, however, a rush of wind and sparks passed, and a girl carrying a parcel sped by. One of the sparks singed the scrap of paper, and ordinarily, Hannah would have voiced something annoyed--but instead she caught sight of the girl’s shirt, which read, New Amesworth High Cross Country Team. “New Amesworth!” Hannah shouted with a yelp, leaping up. The girl was already a ways away. “ How do you get to New Amesworth?!” Hannah shouldered her backpack, not even bothering to do up the buckles or put away her book and the lightly singed paper. Her backpack noisily bouncing, she breathlessly sped through the festival grounds after the girl in rollerblades, passing booths and events and people she’d seen the past several days but not spoken to. She almost lost the delivery girl several times, but finally, at last, Hannah tracked her down to a nice neighborhood. She was standing with a respectable-looking man. Hannah hobbled up to them, gasping for air. “Hi,” she said at last. “I’m Hannah. How do you get to New Amesworth, I’ve tried everything.” Hannah intended to leave Wrighton days ago, but for some reason, every day, her hiking path always leads her back. What even the heck?? Today, she hears the local radio station talking about the dome, and she hurries out of Wright-Inn ( Celestial), hoping that maybe today is finally the day she can leave Wrighton and continue her backpacking trip with New Amesworth as her next stop. She gets through the dome (broioioioioing sound and everything), but once again she finds herself back in Wrighton. Exhausted, she rests near the festival for a bit until removing a gibberish-ridden scrap of paper from her guidebook. Her confusion is interrupted, however, when Ari ( icon) rushes by, and Ari's New Amesworth shirt grabs Hannah's attention. Hannah runs after her and finally catches up while she's talking with Atif ( ♥ Azzie). (Hannah did run through town with her scrap of paper exposed, so if your character would like to notice and/or chase after her in turn, you can do that, too. xD)
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Post by June Scarlet on Jun 21, 2017 20:57:39 GMT -5
Beatrice pulled out her reporters notebook and starting jotting down notes to herself. "Harper Kulrarni? That spelled K-u-l-r-a-r-n-i? And ah, this is nothing, my hair's no trouble at all to me." She looked up as a person in a shimmery purple leather jacket tottered up to them, but didn't stop scribbling furiously. "Hey, is this yours? Thought it was a really weird way of noting down a number. Nothing happened between our cars last night, did it?""Where did you find that note?" Beatrice said, skipping all pleasantries and explanations and going straight to what she wanted to know. “I don’t have a car,” Harper offered. “...That’s a good question, though - whose message is this? I don’t remember writing this…”Beatrice kept writing, turning a page in her notepad. "Perhaps if we can piece together what it says, we can figure out who it's from." And without asking permission, she used one arm to clear to clear away an empty spot in the table, knocking over neat rows of packaged teas. Then she set her note on the table. "I think my piece goes on the righthand side, let's see where yours line up," looking back at the others. Beatrice starting jotting things down in her reporters notebook, asks Harper Tiger how to spell their last name, notices Ayo Liou and bluntly asks where they got the note, and ruins part of Anise's Elcie display to make tablespace to piece together the note. And, um, I am really super sorry at how rude and thoughtless Beatrice is being right now. She's a bit too focused on solving this mystery, and not enough on how she's treating the people around her. I don't agree with it, but it also just feels like how she'd react? Just super focused on this particular thing, and getting things done quickly.
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Post by Twillie on Jun 21, 2017 23:14:13 GMT -5
“ You have one too!” “Yeah,” Liz nodded, breathing a little heavy as she caught up to Alexis. “I’m surprised there’s even a ‘too,’ though. I just thought this was something I dropped and forgot, I found it on my floor.” As Alexis held her own paper out, Liz leaned in for a close examination of it. “ I don't know for sure, and I don't know how we both got one... but maybe it could be from the same paper? Do you know anyone else who has one? Or at least how they got theirs? ...Maybe the rips from our paper fit together?” “Doesn’t look like these two pieces fit, but it’s the same writing, I’m sure, so same note or code or whatever this is. Which tells me there’s other pieces out there, but hell if I’m gonna ask every stranger…” Liz swept her gaze across the crowd, perhaps hoping by some miracle that she’d spot another stranger that just happened to be holding any scrap of paper. The lines of stalls and their wares, however, pulled her out of the moment and back in reality, reminding her why she came in the first place. “I was actually gonna find a friend here and show this to her…” At this mention, Liz pulled out her phone to see if Ro had replied to her earlier text. “But it looks like she just might have something for us as well.” Liz waved for Alexis to follow her. “Come on, she’s got a stall nearby here. It’s the one I met you at the other day, she’s the one with the rabbit.” Alexis said something else, but in her haste, Liz didn’t immediately register what she actually asked. She instead strode forward, completely focused on pinpointing Ro’s stall among the crowd. “Oh.” She suddenly stopped, brain finally caught up. “Sorry, uh…” She walked back to Alexis. “Liz. Just call me that.” She then offered a small smile to the girl, both as a friendly gesture and apology for her rush, before turning back to find her friend.
--- It didn’t take long for the two of them to reach Ro’s stall, but Liz still cursed herself for still not remembering its exact location. “Mmrg, stupid directions…” she grumbled to herself, “Not nearly as good… could use that right now…” Someone else was already there at the stall, although whether a customer or not, Liz couldn’t tell. Ro seemed to shy away from him. Time for some backup, then. I got you, girl…“Hey, Ro-Ro,” Liz greeted, leaning against the stall’s table, “Who’s this?” Liz and Alexis ( Gelquie ) compare their scraps, concluding that while they don't fit, they must be from the same paper. Liz suddenly remembers that she came to the festival to find Ro ( Mostly Harmless (flufflepuff) ), and after reading her text, suspects that she might also have a piece of the note. After a quick introduction, Liz takes Alexis to find Ro's stall. They soon reach it, but find Ro acting strange towards some man ( Moni ), so Liz throws her a lifeline.
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Post by Draco on Jun 22, 2017 1:09:49 GMT -5
Edward Fox woke up around the Old Town Wall in an alley way like he sometimes did. Like normal he woke up with new clean clothes. Today he was wearing a blue frock and yellow trim. He was never one to question where the new clothes came from, or how he just woke up wearing it... His normal routine was to check his pockets for any goodies of interest. Yesterday he found a sandwich. "What's this?" He pulls out a odd piece of paper with some writing on it. He stares at it for a minute then shrugs, and puts it back in his pocket. He then pulls out a bag of chips from another pocket, along with a little money for more food later. "Good days for Mr. Fox today!" He opens the bag of chips and walks around eating. While looking around he stares at the sky, noticing something was different, but he couldn't put his finger on it. It sort of reminded him of the time he wore tried to wear a fish bowl on his head... That only lasted about a minute before he realized it didn't fit, and would be no match against the park trees. Mr. Fox wakes up to find himself wearing new clean clothes, a pocket of chips, money, and a mysterious piece of paper.
He walks around noticing the dome, sort of.
(he's wandering around near the old town wall area, so if anyone wants to interact, he's around.)
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Post by Kyn on Jun 22, 2017 1:47:09 GMT -5
"Fionn! You're here as well?" Cade exclaimed in surprise. "You're not in trouble with the law, I hope?" It was no secret that a police officer was regularly called in to haul Fionn Colby's arse out of some establishment, and many times that officer had been Holly O'Rourke. Fionn's next remark, however, both reassured Cade that this was not an arse-hauling occasion as well as added to his perplexity. "Four different people received the same kind of notes at the same time?" He wasn't familiar with the fourth person, but would probably hear her speak in due time. (xD) Cade took out his smartphone and commanded the virtual assistant to open a new note in his note-taking app. Plugging in his left earphone so that he could better hear his screen reader read out characters as he typed them, he asked, "Can someone read out the letters on each note so that I can type them down? Not only is this the only way I can access them, but it's a good idea to keep additional copies. If the original notes somehow get lost or damaged, at least we have backups to refer to. Also, has anyone checked whether these four notes match together?" Cade is surprised to hear Fionn ( Celestial ) but glad that he hasn't fallen afoul of Holly ( Shinko ) so far. He knows there is a fourth member of their group ( Rabbit ♠ ) but is unfamiliar with that person. He asks someone to read out the notes so that he can record their contents in his smartphone, both for his accessibility and for backup purposes. He asks whether the notes match in any way. Note: Rabbit and Shinko's scraps fit right next to each other, but Celes's and my scraps are unconnected.
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Post by Shinko on Jun 22, 2017 2:13:58 GMT -5
Holly blinked a bit at Ani's suggestion that the cipher on the sheets was in a code used by a famed serial killer. "Um. I guess we can't rule out anything yet, but it's a bit far-fetched that any particular one existent code would be the one on the sheets. We can try of course but..." At request, the police woman parroted her own note's letters, and realizing that the mute girl wouldn't be able to communicate them, added, "Miss ah... I didn't catch your name, sorry, but our friend here doesn't seem able to speak. Her letters are-" Leaving it to Fionn to answer for himself, she inspected the piece Ani was still holding. It appeared to be the top-left corner of the page. Fionn's from what Holly could see, was a center piece, shredded on all four sides. Caden's was a bottom-left, and her own was a piece on the top, but not connected to a corner. After a bit of experimentation, she said, "It looks like neither your piece nor Fionn's connect anywhere, but mine and our friend's do. So... we're clearly missing quite a bit of this." While the humans were talking, Dunkin was getting bored. Normally Holly left him in her patrol car when he wasn't needed, but today they hadn't gotten in the car at all- and even though Peaches was here, they were both Working and Dunkin knew neither of them could play while they were Working. He was looking around, sniffing curiously at the distant scents of the festival, when he noticed a small inky smudge on the pavement nearby. It was The Cat- the one that Holly let inside sometimes to eat sliced ham and drink from the faucet. He wagged his tail, padding up to the smaller animal with a curious sniff. Was the cat playing a game? It is really hard to keep a conversation going with five people and maintain any degree of coherent chronology, especially when one of them talks only in notes which another can't read. XD So I apologize if this reply is a bit scattered. Holly talks to Ani ( Rabbit ♠), parrots nonsense letters to Caden ( Kyn), and lets Fionn ( Celestial) handle his own interactions, ahaha. Dunkin, meanwhile, wanders a bit to sniff a cat ( Avery) in the absense of anything more productive to do. I assumed everybody would just connect the pieces without a fuss to speed things along, no need to pause to write that in, ahaha. If that's a problem lemme know
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Post by Killix on Jun 22, 2017 4:48:35 GMT -5
*bloop*Velia jumped forward in her seat. The cute animation of her pet dragon cheerfully chewing on a slab of meat had suddenly been replaced by a blank screen, and then the "low battery" warning image. With a pout, she slid her chair towards the back of the tent and leaned down to check her belongings. Surely she had remembered to bring a portable charger? A quick glance at the mostly-empty cases revealed no such luck. She dug into her pockets next, but only a small crumpled paper ball was retrieved. What was this, project notes? A shopping list? She un-crumpled it a little, revealing a set of scrambled letters. Oh, wait! It's that thing!Earlier that morning is when she'd initially found the strange scrap of paper, tucked innocently under the pot of her mint plant. Exactly where it should be, her mind told her. It was familiar yet unfamiliar. Velia just couldn't remember what it was for, or where it came from... and yet something in the back of her mind insisted that it was an important scrap of mysterious paper. It wasn't something she had written, and the message didn't even make sense to her. It looked like a bunch of random gibberish - incomplete gibberish, even - with a good portion of the text vanishing off the edges. There had to be more to it. Whatever that was had to wait, though. She had been so preoccupied with preparation for another day at the Spring Festival that instead of trying to solve the Mystery of the Cryptic Scrap Paper, she had just shoved it into her pocket as she hurried out the door. But now... Velia powered off her Pixcom and clipped it back onto her lanyard. Carefully she unfolded the scrap of paper, patting it flat against the table. It was maybe just a liiittle more crinkled than before, but still readable and just as strange as ever. She plucked it from the table, and held it up towards the sun, squinting. Nope, no invisible ink there. She flipped it over. It was blank on the other side. Well, I'm all out of ideas, she frowned, staring at the note as if merely looking at it for long enough would make her remember what it was. Hay guyz, Velia has mystery paper, too! However, she's not very good at solving puzzles.
Feel free to spot her flailing it around in the air. She's not being discreet at all.
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Post by RielCZ on Jun 22, 2017 8:08:05 GMT -5
Mak Moreno awoke groggily from the bed in his rusted camper van/tour bus. Well, the show last night had happened. It was time to move onto the next performance. Mak sat up and switched on the radio, listening in case there was any relevant news. Maybe about how his show had went? The comic chuckled a little nervously. “There’s also a GIANT DOME out there today!”
“Leonard, everyone knows about the dome already.”
“Not everyone! Some people are just getting up! Some haven’t gone outside! Some aren’t even able to process the extent to which WE’RE ALL DOOMED.”With a blink, Mak flipped the radio off. Well... this wasn't good. He left his vehicle to go out to see what sort of dome all the citizens were in frenzied fuss about, and scanned the horizon for a dome. He wasn't sure what he should be looking for, but-- And then he realized he was inside the dome -- that the trailer park was inside the dome. That it appeared the city was inside the dome. "Huh," Mak said absently to no-one in particular. He pulled out his cell phone and tried calling a few people, but all calls failed. Welp. If he a missed a few shows in other places in the next few days that wouldn't be too detrimental, right? "If a dome goes up over home, is it home sweet home or dome sweet dome?" Mak asked the air before flashing his characteristic grin. ...Eh, maybe that joke needed some work. He noticed then a paper stuck to his windshield -- it was a copy of the Wrighton Times, a sticky note attached near CARS SUSPENDED -- scrawled on the note was, "Please be advised not to drive, thanks, the management." "What!?" Mak exclaimed as he tore off the note and skimmed the newspaper... OK, he wasn't trapped, even though he technically couldn't leave at least by his tour bus. Oh, and onomatopoeia was a big thing here. He'd have to remember that for future shows in this dome-forsaken city. Well, maybe it was time to get ready and go out. Go meet some people here. Tell them about a great comedian named Professor Snatch. Mak giggled and pushed his horn-rimmed glasses further up the bridge of his nose. *** "Good days for Mr. Fox today!" Why, there looked like a clean-shaven, richly-dressed, fine-upstanding gentleman! "Excuse me, sir," Mak asked him, "do you know what sort of fun things there are to do in Wrighton? Or the things people here like doing? Or... anything about this place?" He grinned. He wasn't sure when his next show here would be, but given he wasn't sure when he was going to leave Wrighton... well, a little reconnaissance to tailor his routine for the locals was never a bad thing. Mak's show yesterday went! After hearing the radio ( Lizica) and reading the paper, he leaves his camper van/tour bus at the trailer park area of Wrighton and makes his way to mingle in the main part of the city. On his way, he sees the finely dressed (and therefore totally knowledgeable) Mr. Fox ( Draco), and asks him about Wrighton.
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Post by Elcie on Jun 22, 2017 14:15:36 GMT -5
Anise looked up, startled and slightly intimidated, at the fashionable (if slightly disheveled) stranger who'd approached them. They... they had a note, too. "I'm sorry, no," she told them, looking from their note back to hers. "But... you mean you don't remember getting this, either?" The others - Harper and Beatrice - seemed just as intrigued. "Perhaps if we can piece together what it says, we can figure out who it's from," Beatrice said, and then swept aside some of Anise's careful rows of coffee to make room to spread out their papers. Anise jumped to catch a couple bags that nearly fell to the ground, but otherwise didn't protest. She wanted to see this solved as much as anyone. "Looks like mine might go on the left," she said, setting it down. "And there's an apostrophe - that might make it easier to figure out what word that is, right?" She paused, realizing she was the only one - aside from the glamorous newcomer wearing sunglasses - who hadn't introduced themself. "Ah, by the way, sorry, my name is Anise." The sign on her stand had the name "Calico Coffee," but not her own name - maybe that had been a mistake. But then, this wasn't exactly the kind of socializing she'd expected when she set it up. Turning her attention back to the messages, she frowned. "But there's probably more-- ah!" Suddenly, pain and noise exploded in her head, and Anise bent over the table, clutching her head. There were words, loud and agonizing and inescapable. She couldn't think, couldn't begin to guess at what was happening, only wanted it to stop. She couldn't tell if she'd cried out aloud or not, because she couldn't even hear her own thoughts right now-- --And just as suddenly, it was gone. Anise slumped back onto her chair, shaking. "What- what was that?" She stared, wild-eyed, at the others. "You heard that, right? Some kind of - some kind of loudspeaker?" It wasn't a loudspeaker; she knew that perfectly well, but still found herself stubbornly clinging to an explanation that made sense. Because the alternative, the loud, inescapable words inside her head, was too strange and unpleasant to contemplate. Anise suddenly, desperately wanted everything to be normal. No more dome, or notes, or words in her head that made no sense. One of the cats under the table hissed and actually backed away from her; all of them seemed unsettled, as if they knew, and missed normalcy as much as she did. All the same, she found herself writing the words down on a scrap piece of paper at the table. She didn't want to forget what they'd said - even though right now, with the words still pounding in her memory, that seemed impossible. 0010 THE GREAT MARVELS OF EXISTENCEAnise is perfectly ready to start puzzle-solving with Harper @tiger and Beatrice June Scarlet and maybe Ayo Liou but is interrupted by... words. Loud words inside her head that give her a brief but skull-splitting headache. She has no idea what this means and hopes her companions heard the same thing... if they didn't, she probably looks a little crazy right now.
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Post by Liou on Jun 22, 2017 17:16:43 GMT -5
The bluenette seemed particularly eager to decipher the notes. Ayo had not even considered that there might be some meaning behind them. "Just found it in my car's glove box this morning," they muttered in response to Beatrice's question. asked the cute coffeemonger. "I don't remember much of last night, to be honest," they said with a sheepish grin. Then the girl introduced herself as Anise - too cute - I can't even - and Ayo nearly mentioned their own name and their current craving for coffee, but their heart skipped a beat and their throat clenched, and everyone was focusing on the notes anyway. They pulled off their sunglasses and rubbed at their eyes - smudging their makeup even more - before leaning in. Now more awake, they took a closer look at the notes, the texture and colour of the paper, the writing. "So there could be that many more pieces...Do you think they could be anonymous letters? They don't look really insulting or anything, but sometimes it turns out that a really dangerous person was sending this sort of note. You haven't noticed anyone... looking at you weird, or hanging around you, before finding the papers?" Their worried gaze stopped on Harper. They were abruptly distracted by Anise doubling over, her face screwed up in pain. They glanced quickly around them for anything that might look like a first-aid stand, but the fit stopped as quickly as it had started. They shook their head. "No. I heard nothing." Anise was already scribbling something else. She didn't look much better. Very cautiously, they reached down and set a hand on her shoulder. "Take it easy, hon." With their other hand, they rummaged in their handbag and withdrew a little pack of headache medication. "I got these, if you need to take something." Ayo chewed on one side of their sunglasses for a moment, before addressing the bluenette again. "Hey. Could you not touch the papers too much? In case they need to get, you know, checked for fingerprints. The handwriting should be analysed, anyway - I say we bring all four of these to a cop." Ayo is finally waking up a bit and thinking about the weird papers with Elcie and Tiger and June Scarlet - who gives me an opportunity to use the word "bluenette" so thank you very much. They worry about Anise and suggest bringing the notes to the police, which might allow this group to go and meet the nearest cop. =o
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Post by Celestial on Jun 22, 2017 17:27:49 GMT -5
As they all spoke, Fionn noticed the cat out of the corner of his eye. Though normally he was not as fond of cats, this one had caught his attention after Maggie chased it out of the hotel with violent shrieks and swats of her arms. He had taken pity on it then and always endeavoured to feed it scraps of whatever he could find when Maggie's attention was turned. In this case, however, even if he had food, the cat could probably wait. Ani had written something in her notebook again and Fionn bent over to take a look. Once he had read the message, he beamed widely. "Hey, that's good thinking! It's probably is a code of some kind, like that Ricardo guy, whoever he is, used," he gave her a slap on the back, maybe a bit too enthusiastically given that she was smaller than him. Once Cade took out his phone, Fionn did as he was asked: he saw no reason to aruge it. Besides, the note was small and if the young woman he saw was any indication, easy to lose. Meanwhile, they fiddled with their pieces of paper, trying to slot them this way and that to make the writing match up but to no avail. There were clearly a lot more of these little notes in the pockets of people wandering around town. "We need to ask around! Go to the festival and see if we can find anyone else who has these weird notes!" Fionn exclaimed. Hitching up his coat to allow it to sit more comfortably on his elbows, he lifted up his arm holding the piece of paper and began to walk forward. Taking a deep breath, he yelled out across the square. "Hey, who else has got the weird notes with the gibberish writing on them?! Come on out, don't be shy! We've got some too!" he gestured around to the group consisting of Holly, Ani, Cade and himself. Fionn notices the cat( Avery) but he has no time to really go up and pet it or any treats to give it. He commends Ani( Rabbit ♠) on her thinking and allows Cade( Kyn) to write his note up in his phone. After some experimentation, Fionn decides it is time to ask around. He does this very unsubtly by going in the general direction of the festival and asking very loudly if anybody has any notes like they do, gesturing to himself, Holly( Shinko), Ani and Cade.
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Post by Tiger on Jun 22, 2017 19:13:02 GMT -5
"Harper Kulrarni? That spelled K-u-l-r-a-r-n-i? And ah, this is nothing, my hair's no trouble at all to me." “Uh - wait, no, it’s not Kulrani - Kulkarni,” Harper repeated, enunciating the individual sounds, the second 'k' especially. Standing on tiptoe to try and read Beatrice’s notes, they added, “I think it’s like what you’ve got, except a ‘k’ instead of the ‘r’?” They weren’t sure the reporter noticed Harper’s helpful and certainly in no way vague corrections, though, thanks to the purple-jacketed newcomer’s dramatic arrival. Speaking of, they had a question - ”You haven't noticed anyone... looking at you weird, or hanging around you, before finding the papers?” Harper considered. “Nope, not me. But I was helping my mom at our stand - “ they motioned to the stall in question - “so I guess someone could’ve been watching without us noticing? ...Ick. That’s creepy.” Anise started arranging the papers - after Beatrice...enthusiastically made space, which made Harper wince and be grateful they weren’t at the Kulkarni stand right now - and while it looked like they were short...a lot of pieces, a whole lot of pieces, maybe like...twelve, as a rough estimate, the coffeshop owner was making some good points, like about the apostrophe, and - Harper jumped a little when Anise suddenly dropped her head to the table - they looked around, but didn’t see anything like...like what? A projectile? A vibrantly flashing sign? Harper reached into their pocket for their phone - before they had even gotten it out, however, she was sitting up again, looking a little panicked but not in medical distress. ...Necessarily. Harper remembered stuff about shock from health class. "What- what was that? You heard that, right? Some kind of - some kind of loudspeaker?" “I..I didn’t hear anything,” Harper said. Their free hand drifted to their wrist, running over the edges of their bracelet, circling the buttons nervously. “...What’d it sound like? ...What’re you writing?” They leaned forward a little to see, only twitching away slightly when a cat startled them with a hiss. They caught sight of one word - MARVELS before the still-unnamed member of their party inadvertently blocked their view. They had headache medicine - hopefully that would help, though Harper was still wondering if they should be calling someone doctor-y. "Hey. Could you not touch the papers too much? In case they need to get, you know, checked for fingerprints. The handwriting should be analysed, anyway - I say we bring all four of these to a cop.” They weren’t really talking to Harper, but Harper nodded in agreement anyway. Probably the cops would be better at decoding it, anyway, didn’t cops have to do that sort of thing sometimes? And maybe if we find cops, we’ll find more letters, and we can put the message together! The satisfaction of getting the pieces together was oddly thrilling - like this was much more important than it would seem. ...Maybe it was a side effect of the dome; being literally a problem you couldn’t solve probably made you more appreciative of the things you maybe could do something about. Uhm...Harper continues to talk with Anise ( Elcie), Beatrice ( June Scarlet) and Ayo ( Liou) about the puzzle. I think the most important thing here is that they ask Anise what she heard and what she’s writing (Harper also sees one of the words Anise wrote down (Elcie if that’s not cool with you, just give me a shout and I’ll change it accordingly ^^ )
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