say hello to our new arrivals, and goodbye to the departing

[vivariummods]

T H E  W A R E H O U S E 【 day 23 】 Hello newcomers, welcome to the 【 Warehouse 】. Once you escape your elevator, you will find yourself here. It's strangely empty for a warehouse. Aside from the elevators you've come out of, there's nothing else here. In fact, the longer you look around, the stranger everything looks. Every window has been bolted shut, with no way of removing the steel coverings. The only source of illumination comes from the florescent lights above. Along the walls are numerous amounts of surveillance cameras, watching every bit of movement and listening to the sounds of everyone and everything. Every door is locked up tight, with no clear way of opening them, and there's one giant door with a 9 painted on it. It's a rather strange place, and there seems to be a lot of people here, so go introduce yourselves? For the "old-timers" and "newly-become-old-timers", come meet your new fellow test subjects. You haven't had more than one person arrive in a long while, so what a surprise! This also means that there are two elevators that you can jump into and have a nice, long, cold bath in! How generous of Calhoun.

Comments

[puzzlinglad]

[he can't believe there's a suggestion box.

why is there a suggestion box this is ridiculous, he's almost mad about it because it seems like it's mocking. Do you have any problems with this murder game? Yes, what about the part where someone blew up.

He sighs, running a hand through his hair and giving up. He takes a seat, picking up one of the notepads and pens. What's he doing?

Doodling and probably writing out puzzles. What else would he be doing it's him.]

[detectiveofthewest]

"Hey, Hershel!" Heiji popped up behind him almost out of nowhere, raising a hand in greeting.

"I got something to ask ya! ...Huh? What's that?"

[puzzlinglad]

"Hello Heiji." Hershel smiled in greeting, raising a hand that had the pen in it. When Heiji asked he looked a bit embarrassed, closing the notebook.

"Oh um, just playing around I suppose. It's been a while since we've had anything new to do." He hastily continued. "What did you want to ask?"

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji reached out, took one of the pens, and stuffed it in his pocket. FUCK THE POLICE.

"What was it? Oh yeah, tell me about the love of your life. I wanna know what kind of person that would be!"

[puzzlinglad]

Hershel just raised his brow. "How much have you collected now?" He asked a touch dryly. Heiji and his collection of odds and ends was something else.

"My-" He stared for a moment before, shockingly, flustered. "Why are you asking that? What about you?"

[detectiveofthewest]

"Aww, come on! You can tell me, I won't spread it around!" Now Heiji was leaning up against the table, chin in his hand.

"Also, I asked first!"

[puzzlinglad]

Hershel sighed, pointedly, tapping his pen. "Didn't you say that about the singing?" And look what happened with Snake, dude.

He shifted uncomfortably. "Well... I don't know, I certainly don't remember having a love life. I um, I doubt I dated anyone before this." Look at him does he look like a casanova to you. "I haven't... really thought about things like-" He seemed embarrassed to even say it. "-preferences."

[detectiveofthewest]

Come on, Hershel, the singing was fun!

"So then think about it now!" said Heiji. "I mean, you gotta have some idea, right? Like someone into archaeology, or someone who likes cute stuff, or someone you hold hands with when ya go to the park."

GIVE UP YOUR SECRETS.

[puzzlinglad]

He's literally going to die of embarrassment is that what you want.

"I guess... I don't think they'd need to like archeology, but an interest would be nice." Hershel finally said, glancing to the side. Holding hand in the park listen to you. He sighed again, glancing around before looking to Heiji. Then the ground. This was too embarrassing. "Well, I don't know... someone who's intelligent, probably. Not necessarily book smart, intelligence has so many different faces after all. Maybe someone with a strong personality, people who stand by their ideals are admirable, I think."

And a good counterpart for doormat city over here. "... Red hair is nice too." He can't believe he even admitted that, kill him. Can't help it though, Claire and Janice, got a thing for red heads. Have some more fluster. "Why are you asking- don't you dare tell Ema any of this either, she'll never let me live it down."

[skyentificmethod]

...Are you giving them more ideas for puzzle rooms?

[puzzlinglad]

W-what, no of course not! [A little startled, an ema appears from the aether. He turns and shows her what he has down, which is a crude drawing of this.] It's a magic box, all the rows, horizontal, diagonally and vertical need to add up to the same sum.

[He pauses.] Um well... actually there was a puzzle like this in one of the rooms, so I couldn't help thinking of ones similar. That's not really giving them more ideas, right?

[skyentificmethod]

It's giving them better ideas. ...How do you not help but think of puzzles?

[puzzlinglad]

Well... [He can't argue there, damnit.] I suppose you have a small point. A small, minor one.

[And have the look in this icon] Is it really so strange to think of puzzles from time to time? Heiji said it was weird, prattled on about that as though his quirks were normal. Really, what teenager knows how to deal with being stabbed like it's second nature?

[skyentificmethod]

[considers this]

It's kinda strange. ...Though I guess it's not a bad strange. Maybe just a little...puzzling.

[she honestly looks as though she can't decide if she is pleased or distressed with that pun]

[puzzlinglad]

[he's really not sure if he's impressed or disapproving either honestly.] You just couldn't help yourself, could you...

At least it's a habit that makes for good practice. I doubt I ever thought I'd need to use puzzle solving in such a literal way before. [He turns to a clean page before holding the pen and paper out to Ema.] Hey Ema, will you draw something?

[skyentificmethod]

[she does look properly chastened]

It just kinda...came out...

...What is it?

[puzzlinglad]

I think I'm disgusted, I'll get back to you.

[have a smile.] I want to see if you're an artist. It's possible, right?

[holding out the pen and paper come on ema don't be a wuss draw something nerd]

[not_that_sasuke]

[Was Sasuke always there? Of course not, he'd just walked up. The problem is, with how darn quiet he is, it's kind of hard to tell until he speaks up.]

What are you drawing?

[puzzlinglad]

[He JUMPS god damnit it sasuke. He has a hand over his heart as he stutters.] S-Sasuke, goodness... sorry, I didn't here you come up.

[You ninja. He calms down, offering a smile.] I wanted to see if maybe I was an artist. [He shows him a terrible picture of what was probably jake since it was bald and angry looking.] As you can see art is clearly not my strong suit. Why don't you give it a try?

[not_that_sasuke]

[Sasuke himself looks quite surprised at Hershel's reaction, even if he doesn't actually jump. Guess who doesn't even realize he's doing it? This guy.]

No... Sorry, I should have given you some warning.

[S...omehow. Is he really that quiet? Yes.]

I'm... not really sure if it's really a strong suit of mine, either. [Not that he can really tell right now given he hasn't even tried it, but he doesn't feel particularly artistic.]

[puzzlinglad]

Oh no, it's quite alright, you just surprised me. [Hershel answered with a smile. Talk about a quiet kid, quiet in apparently everything this Sasuke...

He tears off the page with his picture, offering the pen and clean page to Sasuke.] We won't know until you try.

[not_that_sasuke]

[There's a bit of a pause, but he'll go ahead and take up the pen if Hershel really wants him to try drawing something. It's just a matter of...]

...What should I draw?

[Things are not looking bright for this young boy's future as an artist.]

[puzzlinglad]

[Hey maybe he never tried and he's going to end up being an artistic genius prodigy you never know dream big, Sasuke.

Hershel considered that for a moment.] Um... what about your favorite animal?

[not_that_sasuke]

[What even is his favorite animal...? After a moment of thought, he puts pen to paper and--

...Um. Well. Maybe it could be a cat?

Once he's finished, he just sort of frowns a bit. That doesn't look anything at all like what he was trying for...]

I don't think I'm cut out for this.

[puzzlinglad]

[THAT'S ACTUALLY CUTE THOUGH honestly Hershel looks impressed, this is way better than his drawing I'll tell you that right now.]

It's a cat, isn't it? [He can't help a smile.] You do strike me as more of a cat person than a dog person.