WEEK 1

[umbralant]

WEEK 1

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Your hosts have come and gone, and have left you with nothing but more questions and a key. Regardless of how you reacted or what you decided to do soon after that, it’s a fact that the day must end eventually.

And so it does, with the striking of the clock. As the twelve gongs reverberate and disappear into the night, the rest of the city is left silent save for a chilly wind that skims the streets. Those who have retired to their assigned rooms will find that the furnishings are decent enough to get a good night’s sleep, while those who wander the city will only continue to see empty streets and fog. But regardless of how you spend the night, eventually it will become readily apparent that dawn will not be coming any time soon as the waxing moon continues to hang in the sky even as the clock strikes six or seven or eight.

No one’s stopping you from wallowing in bed or holing up in a building during this perpetual night, but there’s a whole city out there to check out and some interesting additions to the Opera House decor; don’t forget though, a cage is a cage and every good cage needs its bars. While a portion of the streets and buildings are clear, any intrepid explorers won’t find themselves able to get very far through the fog that surrounds them; anyone who tries to venture through will end up getting turned around and end up right back where they started. Still, there’s plenty of other places to check, even if the fog-shrouded buildings are more or less off limits. Fortune favors the bold, after all.

[[Welcome to Week 1! Feel free to make top levels at your discretion, and remember to note it in your header if you plan on investigating any locations. You can also now privately contact The Lady or Rembrandt at your leisure!]]

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MOTIVE

[umbralant]

[The motive for this week will go up on Tuesday at 12:00 PM EST.]

MOTIVE

[soulspice]

[That day at noon, Rembrandt fetches you, bringing you to the main square, where the Lady is waiting. Corraling everybody takes less time than anyone would expect, and as soon as everyone is gathered, the Lady nods, approving]

Gather here, everyone, it is time for me to give you an incentive to cooperate.

[She shows something in her hand: a digital camera -- an old model, for those who are familiar with cameras]

Isn't technology in this world amazing? For example, with this device you can take still lifes of something that's right in front of you. It's like a moment is frozen in time! I have already spent quite a while working the details of this technology, and--oh but I digress.

[She lets the camera hang from her wrist, instead taking out a few photos, printed on glossy photo paper]

So just like anyone would do with technology they want to analyze, I decided to try it. I'm sure all of you will find the results very interesting.

[The Lady gives Rembrandt the pile of photos, who goes around giving everyone a photo. The contents are definitely worth checking.

The photo shows a person they care about -- or at least a person of interest to them in some manner. Although all the photos show the face clearly, very few seem to notice the person taking the photo. That's not the alarming part, though.

It's Rembrandt in the background.

In every picture Rembrandt is in the background. In public places he's blending among the crowd, in more private places like the person's own home he's in the shadows and the furniture -- but it's obviously Rembrandt. Rembrandt, stepping forward to get closer, a hand extended. Is that a weapon in his other hand? It can't be seen clearly, but there's the glint of something. The malicious stare directed at the person in the photo, and the way he looks prepared to move closer indicate nothing good is going to happen.

The Lady's voice turns deadly serious:]

I have taken the liberty of finding out all about your personal relationships. Those of you who are of a less...friendly nature will instead see someone you need in some manner. We have seen it all, and as you can see, we're prepared to strike at them at any moment. Don't worry, death isn't in the cards for all of your persons of interest. Some of them will be far more useful in other manners. [She grins] I'm versatile, I know very well what each person is good for. But do you? If we decide to strike, what do you think will happen to them?

[The Lady steps back, ready to leave]

Three days. That's all I'm giving you. If there's no death before Friday morning, everyone in these images will be forfeited to me. If someone is killed, then I will leave them alone. Never forget: your worlds, your lives, they're all like an open book to me. After I'm done with those people...would you like to bet on who else you know will be targeted next? Hm?

Have a nice day~!

[And with that, the Lady and Rembrandt leave. Tootaloo, everyone!]

[moonfang]

[Unsurprisingly, Zangetsu's picture is of Ichigo -- studying alone in an empty classroom with Rembrandt lurking in the background.] Tch... when was this taken....? [He shakes his head, then chuckles and puts the photo in his pocket.] I don't know how you guys could mess this up that badly. Not when I straight up told ya what it would take for me to kill someone here. Ah well.

[twoasone]

[Well. Part of him was expecting to see a man who was already dead. But instead of threatening someone who can't be saved, they took a picture of an entire group of people. Plus Rembrandt lurking behind one of the pillars.]

Is this a joke? [He looks up, but the captors are gone.

. . . Maybe he won't warn them. Even if Rembrandt has mysterious powers, he's going to be at a disadvantage.]

[inordertobelieve]

[ Everyone you care about is dead, hm? How tragic.

Well, that's a lovely note to get. It's not factually wrong, of course, but seeing it spelled out in ink on a polaroid is still unpleasant. (Mikami is making no particular effort to hide this photograph of a blurry sky, so if you want to see it over his shoulder like a creep...? Feel free.)

It's still not as unpleasant as the general announcement though. ]

The definition of 'survivor' is becoming more muddied by the minute. Evidently, they want us to at the very least believe people from our homes are still alive as well. That's mutually exclusive with the idea of our homes having been destroyed.

[moonfang]

They certainly are havin' a hard time keepin' their stories straight, ain't they?

[twoasone]

[Shin can silently relate to that note.]

Yes... But targeting a victim's loved ones is one of the oldest tricks in the book. People will do anything to protect those they care about.

[pr159]

My thoughts exactly.

[bawcock]

Good point. Up until now, they were keen on letting us stew in our doubts. Giving us these photos is like giving us proof our worlds are just fine and dandy. [ He's firmly in the "believe in the Luminary, world ain't destroyed" camp, but. It is true that means something funny is going on here.

Thoughtfully putting his hand to his chin. ] Maybe this means we need to reinterpret what they said before.

[wishuponazoi]

[Well. That photo is being crumpled very hard in Sirius' hand right now. He's glaring at the Lady as she speaks, teeth gritted.]

How dare you! [As they turn to leave, he charges, lashing out at Rembrandt with a fist.]

[dominioned]

Come now, we'll have none of that. [ He meets him to parry easily. ]

I've had a terribly long night, you know.

[notbymyside]

[Ango's picture is actually a familiar one to everyone here, because it's Dazai. But it's not Dazai as he appears here, it's an older and happier-looking Dazai. He's walking with a couple other people- a white-haired boy and a girl in a red kimono- but the picture is clearly focused on him.

It's enough to make Ango visibly upset too, but he says nothing. He's just going to walk off as soon as he can. ]

[psychophant]

[It's probably not a surprise that the photo Iago's been given is of a blatantly evil-looking man. What might be more surprising is that said evil-looking man is actually looking like he's doing really bad health-wise.

Of course, Iago's not going to let anyone see that picture for long. Instead, he spins on his heel and storms off back to his room without a word. If you're passing by room IV at any point later on, you may or may not hear muffled screaming, but look, it's totally fine?? Totally fine. This is not a problem at all, don't worry about it.]

[p_q]

[The man in this photo has slicked back brown hair and appears to be walking the air above a small town below his feet -- there's a ridiculous inferno in the background, hope Rembrandt's sweating buckets. The subject of the picture is wearing a similar outfit to Ulquiorra, but any nosy folks will only have a second or two to peep, because Ulquiorra immediately stuffs the picture into his pocket.

Hands still in pockets, he narrows his eyes at the Lady and Rembrandt, his gaze coming to rest finally on the latter.

He turns and leaves the gathering without looking back.]

[reanbeans]

[ That...was sure a motive.

He'll clench a fist tightly and then just walk away himself because he's angry, among other things, so it was time for putting focus on getting things done. ]

[deadlygoals]

[ His eyes will darken as he looks at the photo in his hand. If anyone manages to catch a peek, they will see someone with sienna colored hair, a scruffy face, and a tan coat. It looks like he's heading towards a curry shop.

Dazai just folds the photo before pocketing it. If only he had a gun.

With their hosts leaving, Dazai will leave as well. ]

[pr159]

[ Rideaux's photo is of... a pleasant-looking man in glasses and a fat cat?

He scoffs and drops it on the floor. ]

Nice try. I'd rather have the after picture.

[ ...but he'll come back and pick it up after a minute or so in case he finds some darts or something later.

No one saw that. ]

[apothecares]

[Technology is indeed amazing, and Alfyn has both had an easy time of it compared to everyone else (whatever they're "missing" from some of the tools and lights isn't something he knows about) and a hard one (what's a coffee machine??? and why are we sad if it's threatened??). The device she's dangling seems interesting, and the prospects of instant pictures of anything even moreso.

Any interest he had washed away with the cold water dumped down his spine. The portrait--photo--whatever he was handed had a boy his age, and a girl half that. He doesn't hide the photo away like everyone else, mystified and horrorstruck all at once by it's existence.]

[contrabandit]

[ it figures the first time the world chooses elliot over luke, he's sent to a crazy place full of crazy people. still, as he stares at the picture in his hands of luke, golden and good of heart and terrifyingly unaware of rembrandt in the background, he wonders if the world had made a mistake and finally realized it. "some of them will be far more useful in other manners," the crazy lady said. would she pick luke after elliot? hell, elliot would pick luke.

he couldn't imagine luke here. and he couldn't imagine luke dead. no.

(... and where was serene? why was luke without her?) ]

This is an awful shot of him. The learning curve for a camera isn't that steep - and you took, what, two dozen photos? [ he's pale with worry, but he's still going to snark. ] If you're this bad at it, I can't imagine what your selfies will turn out like.

[ortion]

[The person in Dist's photo is probably identifiable for anyone who read his profile, considering the name comes up three times in it.

His hands tremble as he stares at Jade in the photo. Rembrandt is there too of course, but Dist is only looking at Jade.

Good luck, he internally scoffs, but out loud he hisses:]

Please, by all means. You would be doing me a service to finally rid me of this man.

[His tone or expression don't match his claim, though. He's very put off by this. If this is actually legit and not some crude photo-manipulation, Jade could easily take Rembrandt, right? ...Right?]

[baitless]

[...given Seteth's profile, it's really, really obvious who the sunny young woman absolutely demolishing a plate of fried fish in Seteth's photo is, and from the expression of sheer dread he has on his face from the second the Lady makes it clear what's going on here, it's obfvious he was... kind of expecting it. Yet that fact doesn't seem to prevent him from blanching even further when he actually sees the photo, and kind of muttering to himself-]

...I shouldn't have said anything, I shouldn't have said anything, damn it...

[OOPS, NOW HE FEELS SCARED AND GUILTY, HE'S GOING TO JUST WALK VERY QUICKLY IN THE DIRECTION OF THE CHURCH...]

[raventhaw]

[ the look on raven's face when she receives her photo says it all. it's probably the most earnest display of emotion she's showed during her time here. she says nothing, though, because if she draws attention to herself, it'll make her an easy target. so she grits her teeth, bows her head with her brow furrowed, and she just.

walks away. ]

[puperoni]

There you guys are. [ His voice is more than a little strained. ]

I'll protect you no matter, I promise I— [ It's a motion a few others have seen, but he's reaching for something that should be at his back. ]

...if I have to find something else, that's okay too. [ Pizza is not sticking around to listen to any of the other chatter. ]

[bawcock]

[ Whatever he expected of this little show sure wasn't what ended up happening. Are they seriously threatening everyone's loved ones? His loved ones? There's a frenzied flurry in his heart—panic, anxiety, fear, and it lasts right up until he's handed the photo.

After that, there's only relief. If he hadn't just been through hell though, he might be angrier. ] He's... alive. He's really alive!

[ He takes the photo of a young man in both hands, his fingers clutching it so hard the ends start to warp. And he actually starts smiling down at it. There he is, safe and well. Believing in the Luminary has never steered him wrong yet, and he's starting to believe it never will. ]

Look, I know we're supposed to believe you're some big bad, but don't you know who this is? This is the Luminary, the hero destined to save the entire world. Take him on and you might find you bit off more than you can chew.

1/2

[tokihanate]

[ At first he's ready to be snide and scoff. Anyone that's dear to him is powerful and could take care of themselves. Or are protected. It's almost laughable to imagine anyone going after the Queen. She's still a teenage girl but she could handle a single person.

Then he actually looks at the photo. That's... ]