Something Unexpected

[animusmods]

Characters: characters selected to go into the elevator
Setting: the admin levels
Format: any
Summary: The admin elevator has been left open, its destination preprogrammed. Where is it going to take you?
Warnings: general horror warnings for now

The elevator doesn't announce itself when its doors slide open. There's no alarm, no message to be found about it. It sits open and waits for anyone curious enough to enter. There's a barrier on it that locks out anyone without a collar, and it isn't going to stay long, but aside from that there appears to be no security. There's nothing stopping someone--or multiple someones--from climbing into the elevator and going down.

Where's it going? Who knows.

Hub Area
A lounge area with sofas and chairs. It's large enough to hold the entire group, constructed similarly to the dorm rooms, and is connected to five doors.

Door One
???

Door Two
???

Door Three
???

Door Four
???

Door Five
???

Comments

[swordofzero]

[Suzaku had been mostly silent as the rest had organised themselves into groups. Figuring he would just tag alone with one, though he had been eying door five, as no one had gone near that yet.

When he saw the boy going towards the door sword in hand he followed, not about to let anyone go off alone.]

Probably best we stay at least in pairs.

[animusnpcs]

[They find themselves in someone's office. It's very organized and neat, though there isn't much inside at first glance. A desk, a light for that desk, a chair, and some filing cabinets.

There's a door on the other side of the room.]

[cullscuttlefish]

[After a few minutes of eyeing doors, wanting to run after people and stopping, Feferi quit idling and ran toward the same door she saw Dave running into. She managed to catch up right as they ran into the office.]

What the - what is this...?

[notsogrimreaper]

[Ryoji's following not far after, but he is trailing Suzaku, not Dave. Either way, he's still here to help whoever ends up entering this room.]

An office?

[He decides to examine the filing cabinets, tugging on the handles. Hopefully they're not locked...]

[knightime]

I was expecting something a bit more dramatic, honestly. This is like the most anticlimatic find, holy shit.

[Dave glances at Ryoji. He wonders what's in those filing cabinets.] If there's nothing we can get into in this room, I'm gonna head trough the next door. [He hopes those cabinets aren't locked though. He's curious, but he also wants to go through the next door too.]

[evokingfool]

[To keep an eye on Ryoji, Minato joined the group as well. He glance around at the room, his eyes drifting from the cabinets to the door.]

Let's start searching. Even if there's nothing, keep your guard up.

[He walks over to check one of the cabinets, slowly pulling one out to see if it's locked.]

[notsogrimreaper]

[Minato gets a shy smile in thanks for coming along. Ryoji's glad to keep an eye on Minato, even if the other is the one trying to keep an eye on him.]

Be careful.

[He's sure he doesn't need to say it, but he may as well. Minato will be cautious, but Ryoji isn't sure if he can say the same about the others here.]

[swordofzero]

Well this seemed... very normal for the office of someone who ran a horror tower. Suzaku looked behind as the young troll girl ran up to them, blinking when he saw Ryoji... and Minato...

Awkwardly going back to looking around the room.] We might be able to find a bit from what they have in their cabinets, though this may all just be a set up...

[He doesn't trust the fact the elevator was just... open.]

[cullscuttlefish]

Agreed. I don't want to go borrowing more troububble than we have to. I'm pretty shore that the elevator being open is some kind of trap and some kind of fisshue is going to find us, but I don't want it to find us schooner than it has to.

[She stops talking, then, looking at Dave.]

And I think we should at least go in pairs. I'll go on ahead with Dave, if nothing's in here and he wants to check the next room. In the meantime, it's kind of an awkward time for introductions, but I'm Feferi. Wish I was meeting everyone under betta circumstances.

[She ducks her head and waves, before moving to the desk and trying to open the top drawer first.]

Hm. Might be a key in here, if those aren't opening...

[animusnpcs]

[The filing cabinet is locked, but the desk is not--and there is, among other standard desk supplies, a key in the top drawer.]

[notsogrimreaper]

Nice to meet you, Fereri-chan. I'm Ryoji Mochizuki.

[He turns to smile and bow a bit before tugging at the drawer again.]

Any luck finding a key? These really won't budge...

[knightime]

Dave Strider. And this is the best time for introductions, holy shit. We're rifling through someone's office probably getting in their shit and we don't even know each other? best time for this kind of crap.

[Dave doesn't move. Mostly, he doesn't want to end up bumping into others while everyone rifles through everything.] You think if there isn't a key we can break into those cabinets? [He doesn't want to try because it would be even more obvious they were getting into things if they fucked stuff up.]

We might have to eventually split up anyways. If we want to cover more ground at the very least. They already got us in groups at the first pass. It's likely it'll branch off again and there isn't a lot of us either. [And he wants to get as much out of this trip as possible.]

[cullscuttlefish]

It's nice to meet you too! And let me see.

[She gives the top drawer a tug, and it opens right up. Hm. Pencils, pens, paper clips - score!]

Here we go, a key! This ought to do the trick.

[Feferi steps out from behind the desk, flicking the light on as she goes, and hands the key to Ryoji.]

So, do you want to go on and split off here?

[notsogrimreaper]

Thanks, this should definitely help.

[He fiddles with unlocking the drawers as he speaks.]

Well, it'll probably take a while to sort through whatever's in these, so if anyone wants to go ahead, I don't mind.

[animusnpcs]

[There are countless sheets of what looks like paper inside. Taking one out, however, will reveal them to be closer to very thin computers--the files cover multiple pages on one physical page, with a touch-screen device.

They are all files on various Tower residents. Unfortunately, the language they are written in is indecipherable, but there is a photograph of the resident the file is about included, as well as their name written in the resident's native language.]

[evokingfool]

Minato Arisato.

[Ryoji will cover most of the talking, unless Minato have something to say. After the drawers are unlocked, Minato will shift through the papers.]

I'll be staying here for the moment. Will catch up after I'm done.

[He can't read the files, save for whenever the resident's name being written in a language he can read (Japanese, English, French). The photographs are a nice hint to what the files are on.]

...Files on us, but it's mainly in a language I can't read.

[notsogrimreaper]

...What do you think they say? How much do they know about us?

[Ryoji doesn't like the idea of the Tower knowing everyone's darkest secrets, or even knowing some basic background. He doesn't mind sharing his past, but when he's asked, not when he's forced to.]

[knightime]

It's probably whatever standard information needed for a file. I guess if you want to think movie cliches, it's probably what they'll say. Background info and standard information needed for identifying us.

[He wonders what they say, but he only knows English and if they're in a language that no one else can read, than whatever.] It probably has information on us since we've arrived too. I mean, you wouldn't do a shitty experiment and not record what happened. I wonder what kind of language is native to them. There's never been any sign of a standard language in this Tower, passed English.

I'm opening the next door though. [He's not interested in files he can't read, so Dave turns the knob and opens the next door.]

[animusnpcs]

[There are various notes on the files as well--they appear handwritten, though they aren't really. Some of the notes are neat, some a quick, doctor-like scribble. Any character who is no longer in the Tower has a greyed out photograph.

The next room is a plain-looking hallway. A worker unit, mop in hand, looks up at Dave. Its collar is chipped and scuffed, as if someone has been altering it without permission.]

May I help you?

[cullscuttlefish]

[Feferi's about to ask to take a look at some of them to see if she can get a better idea - she reads and speaks Alternian fluently - when she sees the greyed-out files. She doesn't want to know what's in those. She can guess.

Instead, she quietly follows Dave into the hallway, blinking at the worker unit. It doesn't seem hostile, at least.]

That's all right. We didn't mean to disturb you. We're just passing through.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku Kururgi. [He nodded at the introductions, and looked at the records with interest, even if he couldn't read them.] I guess these parts are the experiment notes. [He pointed at one of the seemingly handwritten notes]

I'm not sure, but I expect it is a language not from any of our worlds, and for some reason these records aren't subject to translation like everything else.

[He stepped towards the door and frowned at the sight of the worker.] Can you tell us what is down this corridor?

[evokingfool]

It may very well be their native language. Or even a coded language.

[It could be either. But after looking through some papers, Minato put them back into the drawer.

There's nothing more for him to find, so far. Might as well continue. Minato glance at Ryoji, before quietly following the others through the door and see the worker.]

[notsogrimreaper]

[As soon as Minato decides it's time to leave, Ryoji follows after, tensing up at the appearance of the worker. He's been lucky enough that he hasn't seen a lot of these drones. At the same time, that just makes his blank stare all the more jarring.]

[animusnpcs]

You are in the management levels of the Tower. This area is under control of administrator Dax. I am not permitted to have more information than this.

[The worker unit speaks in a smooth near-monotone as it returns to mopping.]

[cullscuttlefish]

[That makes a surprising lot of sense, given how orderly things were in the office. Feferi's glad none of them went making a huge mess, and she's really glad that none of them chose to antagonize the drone rather than just speaking to it. The less trouble they cause early, the better.]

That's all right. We understand.

[She looks around both ways, before deciding to step into the hallway in the direction of the drone. She's careful to keep away from the direct area it's working in, though. It might be just working right now, but she doesn't want to see if it's capable of anything else.]