itscurtains | [Meeting] You've got two lives down and one life left

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[Meeting] You've got two lives down and one life left

[So those who pass by the first floor bathrooms at any point during the day might be privvy to a strange sight: usually a hand sticking just out of the entrance, maybe waving a piece of paper around. Or if someone gets too close, that hand might grab them and pull them inside, only for them to be faced with Christine, who smirks, puts a finger to her lips, and holds out another scrap of paper. No matter how you get it, the words on these papers are the same:]

Bathrooms are the only place the Phantom can't see us, so we're meeting up in here from now on.
Come after 7. Girls bathroom, since there's more of us (sorry boys!) Try not to make it obvious, and stagger your entrances.
We can get out of here if we work together. I believe in us.

-Christine Canigula ღ ღ

[And sure enough, that evening, after a lot of sneaking around, Christine has set up a makeshift meeting space in the washroom, chairs and a little table set up. She also brought more of her Thai tea crinkles... if no one objects to snacking in the bathroom.

She also has a small cup of some sort of red liquid. It's been poured carefully into a water bottle so she can keep the cap on, but even having the bottle nearby seems to put her in a better mood.]

Good evening everyone! Let's get down to business and make some plans!

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[Christine is sitting in one of her pilfered chairs, binder balanced on her knees and a bright, encouraging smile on her face.]

Okay everyone! I have a couple orders of buisness I want to go through. First I wanted to talk about any encounters we've had with our friends on the other side. I've been leaving messages for them pretty regularly, and some of them have gotten in touch with me since. King Richard was actually the one who let me know it wasn't safe for us to meet outside. Has anyone else learned anything important from meeting with them? And uh, has anyone heard from you-know-who? I sent him a letter, but haven't heard back...

[There's a little pout, but Christine presses on.]

Second off, I think maybe we should talk about doing more thorough searches of the rooms here? We need to get information on this Evan person, and there might be other passageways we could get into. I was thinking we could talk about what rooms we haven't completely picked through, and we can divvy them up to investigate tomorrow?

Edited 2020-08-05 15:39 (UTC)

[Mephisto really thought about not going but. They have to get out one way or another, right? He shows up just a little late and hovers at the edge of the group.]

We communicated last night. [A pause.] The Phantom and I. The ghosts come and go sporadically.

[Though, now that he's thinking about it.] Riley was able to use the recording studio to speak with us.

[Christine is trying not to look too worried about the way Mephisto looks today. He probably just had a rough night or something. Surely he's still as focused on their promise as she was.

At least he has good information!]

You talked with Riley too? I definitely heard from her, but not her voice... I'm glad she was able to get in touch with you.

Did she have anything important to tell you?

[Mephisto's breath catches, just for a moment. There's a split second of weakness there. She'd had something extremely important to pass along, but... Not in terms of their situation here.]

Only... that they can verbally communicate through the equipment there.

[Christine's expression softens, and if he's close enough, she'll reach over to give his hand a small pat.]

That's still good to know. Richard communicated with me by using my hand to write, but the audio equipment might be easier to handle.

Right. [He accepts the pat and... shifts back into his looming in the shadows.]

We wrote a bit. He's still adamant that he's blameless. [Bitter, anyone? But-]

I've looked through the infirmary and the supply closet- even the laundry room, a few weeks ago. Nothing really stood out.

Oh! I actually wasn't talking about the Phantom, I was... talking about BJ. Since I think he's probably with the other people we've lost?

[You know, the guy whose name they can't say three times.]

I'd think the library and computer room would be the best places to check for information on Evan, but there's still some rooms I want to see more of. If only because they're so weird I don't know why they're here...

My mistake. [He doesn't get what the big deal about the guy is, okay?? Aside from that time the meeting went creepy but-]

I tried the computer room, but I couldn't hack my way on to the internet. [Stephen that's not how you use the word 'hack']

[ sorry stephen, cue santana laughing at you! it’s just a little laugh. she cannot believe a man with a phd doesn’t know how to use the term “hack.” then again, this is the scientist who blew himself up with a glass measuring cup, so maybe she shouldn’t be surprised. ]

[rude!!!!]

I... don't think you hack the internet? [There's a soft, bemused giggle.]

But maybe we should see if we can figure that out soon. Getting on the Internet wouldn't just give us information about Evan, but would let us maybe contact someone for help.

I'm open to other ideas on how to get on. [That may or may not involve hacking] Though- before I forget again, Claudine says she did what you asked in your letter.

Oh! You talked to her? I'm... I probably shouldn't be glad she helped me with that, but...

[She's just going to flush and look back down at her binder.]

We wrote. Do I want to know? [He looks a little amused]

I might have asked her to slap Jeremy for me again...

[You cannot claim it wasn't deserved!]

[He just snickers]

This probably won't work-- but has anyone tried asking The Phantom?

...I actually haven't even thought about asking him. I just assumed he wouldn't give us it. I mean, it's a way to get home.

Just tell him we want it to use tinder! [anne still doesn't understand tinder]

Uh... isn't Tinder kinda inappropriate...?

Is it?

You just swipe, and meet, ja?

Well, if you swipe right! That means then that... you, um, want to hook up. And maybe not just for a date, you know?

Also people can send you pictures of um... their genitals.

[GASP]

I thought it was for looking for mates, dates, and a British Monarch to secure the line of succession!

That's maybe what it's advertised as, but it's really gone sort of downhill, since men think they're entitled to harass girls the minute they show the slightest bit of interest in them.

[Huffs. Honestly, she is so tired of men.]

[ Santana is perched atop the sink, playing with her hair, and snacking on a tea crinkle every so often. ]

I checked out that refrigerator room. There’s a hidden passage on the far wall that takes you to the library.

Oh, cool! Looks like there's a couple random shortcuts around here like that. It's good to know where they are at least, in case we ever need to make a quick escape...

[From what, though? There's not going to be any murders! Aha...]

[Anne's perched on the other side of the sinks, just slurping at her slushie from the merch booth.]

It's probably a good idea, to split things up and investigate further. I haven't found anything too weird-- but we have fog machines! If there's anything we're worried about You Know Who seeing, we could use that!

Huh! That is worth a shot... but if we make the fog thick enough, wouldn't it be hard to breathe?

[ Nana's here with the notes she cross examined the other day and she waits until there's a moment to talk before speaking up. ]

Um, I'd like to talk about the Phantom's notes for a moment because I... think I discovered something potentially huge but...

First I'd like to ask: has anyone gotten any notes from the Phantom before where it, or even part of it, had hand writing that was... sloppier than how he usually writes? And if so, can I see them after this?

Not that I can think of.

Oh! I have! Just the once, when I made him some cookies. The second time around, he didn't leave a note about them... but he was a little more cooperative?

[He did give her the Red she asked for, but there was no thank you note...]

When you made him some cookies huh...

[ HMMM....... ]

The reason I ask is because... I'm starting to believe that we might not JUST be getting notes from the Phantom, but that someone else may be writing as well.

Like whom?...the Wizard?

Maybe? I'm not really sure but...

[ She pulls out the notes she brought with her. One is the "Happy Birthday" she got with her cupcake, and another is the one from Sunday saying "Keep moving forward!", but she's also brought a letter and this unsigned one. ]

On Sunday there was a cup of hot chocolate waiting for me in the refreshments room with a banana shape in the foam. It came with this note and at first I thought it was from our friends, but then the more I looked at it the more I recognized the handwriting from the other note I got on my birthday.

I... had asked the Phantom before if he was the one who gave me that cupcake, so I could thank him for it, and that's when I got this one [ she motions to the unsigned one ] in reply. I didn't think anything of the handwriting at the time because you can see the other letter has some of it at the end but...

[ The more she thinks about it, and her other letters to the Phantom lately, the more she wonders if she ever really got through to him at all. If instead it was someone else that appreciated the baked goods she was always leaving. ]

The more I look at them... the more something doesn't look right. Like it's less like the Phantom is being sloppy and more like... someone is trying to match him? And also I... honestly don't know why the Phantom would do something like that to cheer me up anymore.

Edited 2020-08-06 02:00 (UTC)

So... maybe someone is sneaking around behind the scenes, pretending to be him? That's weird. But it makes sense? The one time his writing got messier, I tried to write back to him acknowledging it, and he was back to being cold. Maybe he was like that because he hadn't sent that message at all...

[She frowns. If that's the case, then did the Phantom actually take pity on her and give her the Red, or was it someone else?]

Maybe we can try to send a letter specifically for this person? And ask them for help? Like with the wi-fi password.

It's worth a shot.

Mmm... I wonder how to do it though...

[ ...though the common denominator seems to be baked goods... HMMMM. ]

I can try coming up with something. Whoever it is seems to like me, so maybe... they'll actually respond if I try.

You've got this, Banana! You're too cute not to help.

[At least, Christine's opinion is that she's cute and likeable, so surely that counts for something.]

I don't think so? I'll check over what I've gotten for him, but I haven't noticed any difference in the writing.

[The bracketed text didn't seem to indicate as such, anyway.]

So- has anyone who's met the Phantom face to face touched him at all? Could you tell if he was- you know, actually there?

["The Phantom is literally a phantom" seems kind of unlikely, but might as well explore the possibilities.]

[It should also be noted that Steven is very carefully looking upward the entire time they're in here. It's a girls' bathroom, he's trying to be respectful.]

Not me. Nana and I didn't get a chance to touch him before he threw us out, and when I met him in the kitchen, he mainly just talked to me through the walls. You think maybe it's some sort of stage magic?

Or stage effects!

Right, exactly! I thought everything he was doing with those stupid motives was stage effects, but apparently, people have seen him doing real magic.

He stayed behind the mirror, in my case. I wasn't expecting him to come out, though.

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[Meeting] You've got two lives down and one life left

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