week 1

[stagemanagers]

[Well, all escape attempts have failed thus far. None of you have seen the Phantom since his brief appearance on Sunday, or heard from him at all. It looks like, for the time being, you’re all going to be stuck here.

You're free to continue exploring your surroundings to your hearts' content. The only real restriction on your movements is that the kitchen is closed between the hours of 10 pm and 7 am. Better make sure to grab any midnight snacks you may want ahead of time. Also, remember to label any investigation toplevels!

The Merchandise Booth is now open for business as well! The Phantom hasn't deigned to explain how it works, but...well, some of you will start to find mysterious coins in your rooms, and the Booth's got a place to put coins. You'll figure it out.

Should you wish to engage more with your host, you're welcome to drop letters in the box office slot. There's no set way to converse verbally with him, and he's certainly not guaranteed to respond if you just yell at the walls - but that doesn't necessarily mean he isn't listening. Just something to keep in mind.

Enjoy your first week, everyone.]

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

(( OOC: This will be the last mod post for this week! Feel free to start submitting regains for any threads that aren't with the Phantom. Remember, song threads mean an extra coin! This is a peace week, so get all that CR while you can! ))

Comments

ballroom steps

[37773972]

[Stephen hasn't seen too much of this girl yet. It's probably best that he get to know all of them, he figures, and after a moment of considering her from a distance he moves to approach]

You look like you got some bad news.

[etincelledefierte]

[Hi, neighbor!]

I wouldn’t say bad, exactly, but it’s disappointing. I was hoping for a straight answer about something and got a complete non-answer instead.

[37773972]

Let me guess- you wrote to the Phantom.

Can I ask what you asked him?

[etincelledefierte]

I did, yes. I asked him if he had an explanation for why my classmate Nana and I were brought here four months apart. All I got back was a non-answer saying it was because of our respective circumstances, whatever that’s supposed to mean.

[37773972]

I could imagine how - if he's able to cross spacetime, then time itself wouldn't be a problem.

Why, though...[hm.] It probably relates to why you two were chosen in specific, as opposed anyone else. [Same as Jeremy and Christine. And him. And Ariel. Etc.]

[etincelledefierte]

It's weird to think of anyone being able to actually cross spacetime, but I suppose if someone could rewind or fast-forward it...though that's the same as crossing it in a way, I suppose.

[She hums.]

I can't think of a specific reason why it would be the two of us, though. I mean, we're classmates, and we both had some shared experiences, but there were nine of us that went through the same things. I'd think that if it was something we had in common, all nine of us would be here.

[37773972]

The two of you don't have anything in common that the others don't have?

[He's just curious, not suspicious. Nonetheless, he nods slowly.]

Then again, for all we know, it could be completely random.

[etincelledefierte]

[She thinks about it for a minute, then shakes her head.]

We went through a lot back at home, but nothing stands out as being a reason that Nana and I would have been taken. If anything, I can think of reasons we wouldn’t be.

[37773972]

[He nods again]

I'm pretty sure there's some sort of pattern or reason, but...that we also don't have enough information to figure it out. I wonder if he'll [a nod to the letter] answer if I ask for some specifics.

[etincelledefierte]

I suppose it can’t hurt, but I wouldn’t hold out too much hope for a straight answer. I was expecting a riddle or a puzzle, something I could at least work out, but...

[She gestures to the letter.]

[37773972]

...but being given an answer that doesn't make sense is kind of worse.

[Hm]

If we're supposed to believe he's not going to lie to us...then we have to believe there's some things he doesn't want to share, and won't get any kind of straight answer on.

[etincelledefierte]

That’s fair. I still wouldn’t put it past him, though. It wouldn’t technically be a lie, after all.

[She hadn’t thought of that.]

Good point. I wonder if it’s a case of him not wanting to tell us, or not being able to tell us for some reason.

[37773972]

[...]

I should ask Christine about the story. Unless you know it? If he really is the Phantom of the Opera [crazy as that sounds], maybe the story has a clue.

[etincelledefierte]

I know the story. That’s why I asked him if we were in Paris when he showed up to meet us. If I knew that one way or the other, it would help a little bit. I’m not as much of an expert on it as I’d like to be, but I’ve been to the Paris Opera House at home. I’d at least know a little more about possible places we could find an exit to the outside.

[Oops, she’s rambling.]

That’s a good thought, though. Thinking back through the story...

[37773972]

[Not a bad thought at that, Claudine. Stephen shifts a bit, settling to face her more directly]

Give me the short version. What's on the [heh] playbill.

[etincelledefierte]

The short version is that it’s the story of Christine, the Phantom, and Christine’s childhood friend Raoul. The Phantom has been Christine’s music tutor, to the point of all but pushing her onto the stage when the lead actress is unable to perform. To keep her in the spotlight, the Phantom makes sure things keep happening to other people in their theatre company, to the point of a chandelier crashing onstage. Eventually the Phantom kidnaps Christine and when Raoul goes down to rescue her, captures him. He gives Christine a choice: stay with him and Raoul lives, or leave and he dies. Christine asks the Phantom what kind of life he’s lived to be able to put someone in a situation like that and that act of giving him a chance persuaded him to tell Raoul and Christine to leave and never tell anyone what happened. The musical leaves it unclear as to the Phantom’s fate after that, whether he remained in his lair or died or something else entirely.

[37773972]

[....]

That explains how he treated our Christine.

[But huh. He touches his chin in thought.]

I can't see him kidnapping us to keep him company, not with the way he's treated us. And the...other things. [Like killing and all that.]

[etincelledefierte]

It does, yes.

[She nods.]

Telling someone else to kill for him isn’t the style of the Phantom I am familiar with. It’s one thing to drop a chandelier on someone, but it’s another entirely to say “now go kill someone.”

[37773972]

...were there any other figures in the story? Manipulators, maybe?

[etincelledefierte]

Technically, Carlotta and Madame Giry, but not to the point that the Phantom is. Carlotta is a passive-aggressive diva, and Madame Giry is just covering for the fact she knew the Phantom was there the whole time.

[37773972]

I'm mostly trying to figure out who else is involved. I really don't think the Phantom is doing this all by himself; the technology required is beyond anything I'm familiar with.

[And he's getting used to sending messages through time, so.]

[etincelledefierte]

I don’t think he’s doing it by himself, either. The timeline of the musical is right around the turn of the 20th century. The technology wouldn’t have been there for something this elaborate.

[37773972]

Do you think it's possible he's a pawn? Maybe promised Christine'll come back if he pretends he's in charge? [Assuming you can go across dimensions, maybe you can find a parallel where she's willing to stay...?] But then, that doesn't get us any closer to why this is going on - just brings in another unknown. And I really doubt he'll answer anything about that, wrong or right.

[etincelledefierte]

It’s entirely possible. If he was promised that his Christine would come back, I think there’s a lot that he would do to make it happen. I don’t think he’d ever admit to it, though.

[37773972]

And, honestly...[He exhales heavily] We have no reason to believe that isn't possible.