Week Three

[stagemanagers]

[Last week, some shit went down! Salieri's scene went off without a hitch, but the good mood didn't last. The first motive was a bit of a doozy, and yet it didn't even have anything to do with the eventual accidental death of Mumble Happyfeet! At least Sissi was already pretty much dating Death anyway, right? She's probably fine, wherever she is.

This week, new menus have been posted in the cafeteria. But, more importantly, it seems that other new information has emerged. Everyone wakes on Sunday with some new memories - or are they old ones? - floating around in their heads. Maybe there was something to your discussions of time travel after all. Maybe there was someting to the Wizard's knowledge of the future.

Regardless, you're still stuck in here. At least there's some new places to explore this week. Maybe you'll find something helpful.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Be sure to submit your memory regains and your AC for this week! Hester's office hours and the merch booth also remain available! ))

Comments

[voicerights]

[Early in the morning, the SQUIP will take a visit to the merch booth with its new coins, examining everything piece by piece. Ice cream- of an actually excellent flavor, thank you, that's gone. A flower, a hammer, and a-

ą̵̴̕̕

the noise that erupts from its throat is not human. Well, it is- but it's a set of human vocal chords reproducing a sound that is not. Anyone coming to investigate will find the SQUIP on its hands and knees, its other items scattered about it and forgotten as it stares before itself where a grey, oblong pill nearly blends in with the floor]

[alchemistake]

[SQUIP or not, that's a sound of abject shock if ever there was one. Varian can't place it as a specific emotion other than that, though. He's not sure he'd be able to if he tried. He can't say he knows the SQUIP well per-say, but he does enjoy the few conversations he's had with it. Even if its methods of interacting with people can at times be...unintentionally blunt and abrasive, perhaps.

So this show of emotion is more than a little startling as Varian rushes over, his hands out in front of him like he's not sure if he should try to help it stand or...what.]

H-hey! What's wrong?

[He can't quite see the pill just yet, but even if he could he'd have no reason to think that's the source of the issue.]

[voicerights]

[Well, it's certainly not reacting to Varian at first. It may not even notice him. After a moment, though, it looks up, blinking once]

It's...I'm...

[why are its vocal cords not working properly]

[alchemistake]

...hey.

[Varian can tell something is bad wrong, even if the SQUIP can't say what. It's actually more concerning that it can't, given what he knows about it.]

Take your time. I'm not going anywhere.

[voicerights]

[Normally it'd enter a soft reboot to fix this- this glitching, but it can't. Frustration enters its expression as it seems to process it's being pitied, which should absolutely not happen as it's...well...]

Spe...specified to the highest standard...of m-modern engineering...
I...am the product, pat-t-t-ern, and instrument of- predetermined law.

[It's seeming to try and reassure itself as it stumbles over this statement. But as it does, it picks up the tiny grey shape- and holds it in its palm for Varian to see with his own eyes.]

This...is...

[alchemistake]

[Modern engineering...predetermined law?

Varian frowns, looking down at the little pill it holds in its palm. He's not sure what to make of it.]

What does this mean?

[voicerights]

It means I am not what I am supposed to be. [I mean, that was obvious, right? With how it's flat-out said it's not human] I am supposed to be in here, and in Jeremy.

I have been extracted.

[And it's not quite able to regulate its brain properly right now to DEAL WITH THIS SHIT]

[alchemistake]

Extracted...

[Varian...has no idea who- or perhaps what, even- Jeremy is, and he's realizing very rapidly he's not the right person to have come across this, but...okay. Calm down. He might not be familiar with this technology, but that doesn't mean he can't try to at least...attempt to talk SQUIP into a more level state.

It's worth a try, at least.]

Just...hold on, okay? Take a minute to breathe. We'll figure this out. Hester...she's got to know something, and if she doesn't, we'll make her ask the Wizard.

[mcfife]

[Has the SQUIP forgotten to eat? Did it discover another weakness of the human body? Angus runs over to ask, but he's distracted by the largest item on the floor.]

That's the Gloryhammer! What happened to it?

[voicerights]

[angus THIS IS NOT HAMMER TIME or maybe it is, who knows

but the SQUIP doesn't respond to him, still staring at the ground]

[mcfife]

[He picks up the hammer and - what is this dust? He has to clean up the pink stuff stuck to it.]

What has - [As he turns, he notices that the SQUIP hasn't moved.] SQUIP? Are you well?

[voicerights]

[Angus, you are probably the single person it would admit this to, and even then, it's quiet;]

I think I am malfunctioning.

[mcfife]

There are a lot of reasons a human body feels ill. What are the symptoms?

[Looking him over, he doesn't look ill or sick at all.]

cw; description of anxiety attack?

[voicerights]

[It takes a deep breath, shuddering slightly as it does. Symptoms - right.]

Nausea. Increased heart rate. Weakness.

[And now it looks towards him]

This should not be possible.

[mcfife]

[Angus reaches over to hold him steady, not even paying attention to little robot the SQUIP was looking at.]

This is a human body. That is an extreme stress reaction. [...] Has something happened?

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ Orpheus comes running when he hears that noise, terrified that someone has been murdered or is being murdered or something, only to find the SQUIP on his hands and knees, looking at- ]

What is that? [ Orpheus asks, kneeling next to him and squinting down at the little gray thing on the floor. He has the good sense not to try to touch it, at least, but he does lean in a little, trying to get a better look at it. ]

[voicerights]

[For all intents and purposes, it's simply a pill; a bit odd in texture, perhaps, but nothing to differentiate it from other medication. Whatever it is, though, the SQUIP seems to recognize it - and if that wasn't enough?]

Me.

[Its whisper is enough to explain, surely.]

[themuseabandonsyou]

You?

{ Orpheus's brow furrows. He looks at the person he's been assuming is a man (what with being Keanu Reeves-shaped) in front of him, then at the pill, then at the man(?) again. He thinks about it for a long moment, before asking, simply, ]

What?

[voicerights]

This is what I should be. Not this- flesh.

This is a message.

[themuseabandonsyou]

[ It takes a long, long moment for Orpheus to catch on to what the SQUIP means, trying to piece things together and failing until something finally clicks into place. What had he said during the trial? Something about... deactivation? Orpheus still isn't sure what that means, but between that, and not being flesh, and Mumble and Spongebob's situation - ]

Oh. You're not supposed to be human either. [ Okay, that makes some sort of sense. ] But... you usually look like that?

[ A pill? Is it even alive? ]

1/2

[voicerights]

[For a brief, irrational moment, the SQUIP is tempted to grab Orpheus and hiss he's an idiot.

It passes. Instead its hand clenches in to a fist]

I usually am not seen. A SQUIP is not meant to be seen, or noticed, except by the user. Every single moment I have existed here - every interaction - is out of the scope of my programming.

2/2

[voicerights]

[And then, abruptly, everything clicks in to place in that flesh processor called its brain. A realization, an understanding- and it straightens up.]

I need Mountain Dew.

[themuseabandonsyou]

What?

[ None of that made much of any sense to Orpheus, who mostly just seems worried and a little afraid, though whether it's for himself or the SQUIP or both is unclear. ]

We can't get outside. I don't know if we can get any dew in here, much less from a mountain. [ Orpheus may be assuming that the SQUIP is trying to cast some kind of spell here, but the world outside looks pretty darn flat and non-mountainous. ]

DORM HARASSMENT TIME

[voicerights]

It's a soda. My activation agent. [BRB HEADING FOR THE DORMS] And even if it's not me in there, if a SQUIP is active, it can sync and greatly improve our chances of escape.

[so uh

people?

don't mind it just barging in dorms and looking for peoples' belongings to rifle through unless Orpheus can stop it]

Spongebob's drawers

[employeeoftheyear]

[Oh there's a ton of cute little drawings of everyone here as fish here! And a lot of pairs of underwear.]