towerofanimus | For Thine Is; The City

Characters: any characters who were warped outside
Setting: outside
Format: any
Summary: The outcast residents arrive in the city that surrounds the Tower.
Warnings: psychological horror

The city appears on the horizon long before they reach it, of course--and it stretches and stretches and stretches, swallowing up the landscape until it's all that can be seen before them. And on a hill in the center lay the Tower, as if it were a monolith to be worshiped by an awestruck populace. But if that's the case, then the god has been abandoned: there is no one left alive to pay tribute.

But if that's the case, maybe it's the god who abandoned them first.

The city is dead, and its population has fallen like ash on the streets and buildings. The bodies are familiar ones to those who have seen their home worlds after being taken from it: corpses that do not decompose, with their insides pulled out through their mouths.

The city is sorted into ringed districts--while time is not on your side, you have to pass through each district anyway, so there's nothing saying you can't do a little exploring as long as you don't dawdle too long...

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She looked into the shop from where she stood and, admittedly, she was inclined to agree with him. She had a hard time imagining these toys being important in some way. Yet, this was the only door they could open... Maybe things that were common and ordinary to these people may hold some significance to them? She looked back at Riku.

"It may be so. But then, we may never be able to get back here." She turned back to the entrance. "Would you spend what little time we have left to live wondering if we were right not to look?"

As far as she was concerned, the answer was obvious. And so she stepped into the shop, approaching the shelves and giving a quick look around to see if there was anything else of significance.

"Wait-"

He calls after her when she enters the shop, grimacing slightly - she isn't entirely wrong about what she just said, but risking totally falling behind here... it's a balance act. After another second he makes his decision.

"I'll keep an eye on things out here. You have a minute to take a look."

If there's anything useful in that shop, it should be relatively easy to be found, right? And this way they won't lose sight of everyone else either.

The atmosphere inside feels thicker than the street, but perhaps it's just the eeriness of a silent, abandoned toy shop. Nothing leaps out to grab them, at any rate.

There's nothing of particular note near the front of the shop, but there are more shelves in the back.

A minute? Well, given the situation this was the best compromise she could hope for. That and having someone to back her up was somewhat reassuring-- Somehow this shop felt oppressing. She kept walking inside the shop and briefly answered him, her voice coming from inside the shop.

"Very well. This shall prove to be more than enough time."

This being said, she dragged her eyes away from the nearby shelves; gave another quick look around to try and see through the obscurity before going to the back of the shop and approaching the shelves there.

Riku moves so he can lean back against the open door frame and somewhat keep his eyes on the girl and the group they are loosing at the same time. The feeling he gets off the shop isn't nearly enough to make him shudder - not when he's seen much more creepy - but he doesn't like the overall situation.

Hopefully they'll get something out of this at least.

In the back of the toy store, there's a small shelf with various books meant for children. The language they're written in is unintelligible, but there's one with a--cheerful, stylized--image of the Tower.

There's another door in the back, as well--likely an employees only area. It will open if the keys are used, though.

Hilda stopped before the shelf with the books, looking at them. She then spoke, loudly enough for Riku to hear her from outside the shop, so as to keep him informed about her findings.

"There are books here. They look simplistic, I can only assume they were aimed at a young audience." she stated before finding the one with the stylized image of the tower, scrutinizing it for an instant "This one... I believe this one is about the tower-- But I cannot understand the language."

She picked the book in spite of this; she couldn't understand the language, but maybe someone else could. That or the images could speak a lot on their own anyway. She then turned to the door-- She was probably past her minute, but...

"There is another door here. It'll only take one more minute."

With that being said, she used the keys to open the door-- And thankfully they worked. If they'd found a book about the tower here, it was worth taking another minute to make sure there were not more important things.

The door opens into a small office. The desk is messy--perhaps the owner wasn't the most fastidious person--and there's a monitor of some sort hovering on the desk. It projects a keyboard out onto the desk in front of it, the blue light glowing eerily.

She stepped in and looked around, but the blue light was quick to catch her attention. She frowned however as she looked at the monitor, passing her hand over the projected keyboard. She had whatsoever no idea what to do of this. If they were to get anything from this, Riku was probably the only one with the skills to do it. And so she called out at him once again, but not only to report her findings this time.

"I believe I may need help-- There is an artifact here. I do not know what it is, but it bears some slight similarities with those things used for communication within the tower." She said, referring to the network terminals. And unfortunately... "I, however, do not know how to use it."

The only time she had used a terminal in the tower, well it had ended poorly, so to say. It might be a good idea for Riku to come in after all.

Riku frowns when she disappears from his sight, but says nothing; if she runs into trouble he'll hear it and the commentary she keeps is reassuring enough at the moment. For a second he thinks of chiding her when she notes that this will take longer, but curiosity takes over when she asks for his help.

A computer terminal... for all that Riku isn't greatly skilled when it comes to anything beyond basic operations (which is at very least a lot more than can be said for Sora), if there's one thing that he's certain about, it's that computers mean access to information. And if there's one thing that is worth risking everything for right now, given the situation they are in...

He presses his lips together as he enters the store, quick strides leading him down to the back room.

"Let me see."

If there's any chance of finding information that hasn't been tinted by any of the admins, it's definitely here.

The computer waits silently, the projected, blue keyboard still glowing on the desk.

Hilda stepped to the side when Riku came in, clearly he had a much better idea than her as to how that machine functions so she'd just silently wait while he does his thing.

Riku moves forward, frowning down on the keyboard before tapping on the projection of the space key. He takes a half-step back, looking for anything that might have any similarities with an on button, just in case that doesn't bring any results.

For Thine Is; The City

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I'm so incredibly sorry for the late orz