day zero

[guestcontrol]

dreamland day zero 42 players remaining. [You wake up in a temporary barracks set up behind an amusement park. The weather is chilly but pleasant, and there aren't any lines for the rides - in fact, it seems you have this place to yourself. The entire park appears to have been abandoned some years ago, and though everything is in working order, it is overgrown with plants and seems rusted and unsafe. As for you, something has happened, though you aren't sure what. There's a throbbing pain in your head, and you can't focus, as though you're coming off heavy pain medications. However you think you should look, you look like a human now. Under the bandages wrapped around your temple, old and smelling like blood, you'll find a recently stitched up scar wound and the inability to focus on your memories. You have no knowledge of how you came to be here; you may even have forgotten certain aspects of your life, or feel confused about them. The fact of your missing memories is obvious, a dark blank spot. Under the bandages around your wrist, you'll find a brightly colored bracelet, decorated with the face of the smiling cartoon animal on your wall, embedded into your flesh. It beeps a merry tune and welcomes you to DreamLand Fun Park. Just then, a voice comes over the loudspeaker.] "Good morning to all of our new guests! The park is now open! We'll get started later, but for now, have a magical day with your new friends! Oh, and there may be a few nasty side effects to your medical condition. If you meet someone having trouble adjusting to reality, please be polite!" [In your room, you'll find a small box containing several personal items - no weapons, magical items, or technology advanced beyond the early 21st century, and nothing dangerous, but otherwise anything you would ordinarily find on your person is there. Of course, nothing with cell reception or internet connectivity can manage to pick up a signal. If you swipe your bracelet against the steel door, it unlocks. You may now explore your accommodations, or venture out into the park.] profiles character statuses setting This is an IC mingle covering the first day! Night roles will go up Monday at 4 PM EST, but you are welcome to continue to thread here once that happens. Make sure to follow any updates on plurk!

Comments

ciel phantomhive, various

[cheats]

option a

[ After his initial confusion and anger had passed, Ciel had come to realize that whoever had kidnapped him also had a terrible sense of humor (by which I mean it's me). The clothes he's in aren't ones that's he worn for quite a while by now, but it does give a particular impression that the boy walking around might work here. Though of course, if he does, he needs to go back to training, since he looks nervous, in part, but mostly just annoyed. Are you brave enough to approach him and ask for help anyways? ]

option b

[ So come dinnertime, Ciel has realized two things. One, Sebastian is not here, and in fact, very little in terms of adequate care is here. Two, if he wants someone to do these things for him, he'll have to play nice. Ugh. About the most he can do in terms of food is peel potatoes, and even that he couldn't do very well. He's waiting for someone that looks competent to head into the mess hall, at which point he'll follow in after too long. This is completely, utterly demeaning, and he'll have to scold Sebastian for not having the courtesy to have rescued him yet later, since he'd had to stoop to this level, but— ]

Pardon me...

[ He calls out softly from the door, really playing up the cute little boy card here, even though it makes him want to vomit. ]

Are you making dinner, by chance?

B

[eventhandler]

[The man standing in the mess hall turns at the sound, staring at the boy with a gaze that could probably last for years. No getting into staring contests with Royce Bracket, you'll probably lose.]

[He's silent, before finally he speaks up, his voice surprisingly frail:]

...No. I'm not. [A beat.] I don't, uh, think anyone is.

[cheats]

[ Then why the hell are you here, Ciel wants to say, but doesn't. He does look a little put out and frowns. ]

Oh... Really, no one has come by? I was hoping someone might be able to help me make dinner.

[eventhandler]

[BECAUSE HE'S EXPLORING, GOSH DARN IT, CIEL.]

There have been some people, but...hm. They haven't prepared anything. Just came and left. Maybe someone else...?

[cheats]

I see...

[ Ciel walks into the kitchen, then opens the cabinets to see cans, but he just picks one up and stares at it like it's some kind of foreign object. ]

This is food?

[eventhandler]

You have to, er, open it. To get the food. You don't eat the can.

[He's seriously not trying to patronize - he's met people before this who apparently don't know how to play games or think they're the masters of animals. At this point, this doesn't surprise him.]

[cheats]

Yes, thank you, I am aware of that much.

[ But how do you open it??? Where's Sebastian... That shitty demon needs to get here and feed him. ]

[eventhandler]

Alright.

[A pause. Social interaction, how does it work.]

Do you need a can opener, perhaps...?

[cheats]

[ He stares at the can for a few more moments, then admits reluctantly: ]

...I wouldn't know how to use it.

B

[uncoincidental]

[Sheba looks competent enough, which isn't really wrong, per se. She knows how to make some foods! ...unfortunately, they're all the kinds of foods you'd see while traveling around in a fantasy RPG. Rabbit skewered onto sticks and cooked over an open flame? Check. Canned foods? ...not so much.

But there's meat and veggies in the fridge, and pots and pans. She figures it can't be too hard to figure out how to make a stew. It's just with a stove instead of a cooking fire... she probably won't singe her eyebrows off. Probably.

She's laying out some of the vegetables on the counter to get started with chopping when Ciel speaks up, and she looks over her shoulder with a small smile.] I am. Or, I'm trying to. [She makes a face before smiling again.] None of the stuff they've got here looks very appetizing [she's kind of a snob] but it's better than nothing, I guess. I'm making stew, and there should be enough to share if you want some.

[cheats]

[ Stew? Ugh... He would never admit it, but just at hearing that, he misses Sebastian's cooking already. But he just has to think of it being like that ridiculous circus and deal with it until Sebastian makes it here. ]

If you wouldn't mind, I would appreciate that, Miss.

[ He steps further inside the kitchen as if to watch her work. ]

I've never cooked before, so I don't know how. [ Which is true, and not that unreasonable, at least, since he's only thirteen. Though the fact that he's a spoiled brat has more to do with it. ]

[uncoincidental]

[Sorry for her subpar cooking skills, friend. It really is a shame these people are so rude... kidnapping them and forcing them to cook for themselves... They could at least have the decency to provide meals, god.]

I don't mind. [Sheba turns her head back to the vegetables, though; they're not going to chop themselves. Luckily, she isn't so terrible with a knife that she hacks her own hand off, so the chopping is going just fine.] I'm not really used to eating alone, anyway, so I think I definitely would have made too much for just me.

[She misses her friends.]

...it's pretty easy to pick up little by little, if you want to learn. [She shrugs.] But it seems like they've brought a lot of us here. Someone has to be really good at cooking, right? We should just find them and make them do it. [She has no shame, obviously.] I'd have waited for them to wander in here so I could ask them to cook for me, only I was a little too hungry to wait. I'm not sure how long all of us were out before we woke up here, but it's been a long time since I last remember eating... This place is freaky enough without facing it on an empty stomach.

[cheats]

[ He picks up on that comment with interest, and thinks to himself that this is something he can use... However, Ciel is not quite Sebastian, so he's really just being a punk because he knows that someone is going to have to feed him, so he'll definitely play nice with Sheba. ]

I don't know... I don't think I would be very good at cooking. There might be more people here that do, but I haven't seen anyone else come in yet.

[ Who knows, honestly, because the bigger issue is that he's just too dang lazy to make an effort. Keeping up with being a nice, defenseless child, he laughs pleasantly and continues, ]

But you definitely know more than I do, so I'll be really grateful if you share, Miss...?

[uncoincidental]

[There are better people than Sheba to be your mealticket, Ciel... Though with a park full of young teens the prospects are pretty slim, huh.

Don't mind her as she cleans off the knife before moving on to chop the meat into thin slices... in her experience, the thinner the meat is, the faster it cooks! Which is pretty important when you're camping out in the middle of Weyard trying not to get attacked by monsters. Ciel should be glad she's not feeding him Armored Rat.]

It's probably just a matter of time. Unless they're eating those weird foods in the carnival...? [Which is a possibility, but as much as she likes sweets, she's not sure stale cotton candy is really going to do it for her.] I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

...oh, my name is Sheba! Don't bother with the "Miss." No one else does, lately. [Except for Oz, but hey...] It's nice to meet you, um...?

[Name for a name, Ciel!]

[cheats]

[ none of you are sebastian-level, so yeah, it's all slop to him ]

Earl Ciel Phantomhive. [ He adds smoothly after a moment, as if it really doesn't bother him, ] But you can call me just "Ciel," Sheba.

[ How terrible. He should be referred to by his full title, since he's done everything necessary to earn it, but oh well... It's a title that he seems to have inherited with how easily he says it, at least. ]

Is there really food out there? I wouldn't trust it, personally... It's better to have something cooked by hand, especially in a place like this.

[uncoincidental]

A noble that doesn't want people to use their title? That's new...

[SUSPICIOUS... but if it's what he says he wants her to do, she's not going to go against it. It had been a relief to get a break from the "Child of the Gods" stuff when she'd started traveling around with Felix and Jenna; maybe he just wants to see what it's like to be treated normally for once.

(Yeah, right.)]

There is. I don't think it's poisoned or anything - why go to all the trouble of kidnapping us if they're just going to leave things lying around that could kill us by accident? [Ha. Haha. Ha.] But none of it looks very appetizing, anyway.

[cheats]

[ He just shrugs with a half-apologetic smile, as if apologizing for not using his title, but. Yeah, right. ]

I suppose it may be... It just seems a bit strange to ask people to call me by it. Most of the people here are around my age, after all.

[ If they were adults, though, hell yeah he would make them use it. This little punkass thirteen year old is definitely better than you. ]

But for the food, I wouldn't really know, and I wouldn't want to test it, either. It's the sort of thing I generally wouldn't take a chance with regardless... And besides, if it doesn't look good, why bother?

a!

[harepiece]

[GUESS WHO THINKS CIEL WORKS HERE. It is him, it is Oz... It's not even that he knows what an amusement park like this is supposed to be, but everyone else he's seen has looked relatively normal and this guy looks like he's trying to fit in with some of the brighter (or once-brighter, maybe) display boards with his weird clothing.

SO:]

Excuse me—! Hey! Hi. Could you tell me how to get to the— [Except, if nothing else, Oz is perceptive. As he walks closer, he realizes that Ciel's sporting pretty much the same injury as everyone else SO THAT SURE IS A NO-GO.]

...Oh. Um, never mind.

[cheats]

[ ugh ]

No, I cannot.

[ How dare people think he work here based on his overly elaborate, festive, and circus looking clothes!! That's so unreasonable!! ]

I do not work here. [ or work at all... ] Though you seemed to have figured that out already.

[harepiece]

[Yeah, wow, SO UNREASONABLE!! Oz looks mildly apologetic at least, since it's pretty clear that this sad nerd has been heckled about this before.]

Sorry! Your outfit just looks a little... [CIRCUSY.] —Well, if you worked here, you probably wouldn't have one of these. [His hand raises, gesturing to the side of his head where the stitches are.]

...You know, there's a place near the candy shop that has some clothing! I can show you where to get them if you want.

[Maybe then people will stop ASSUMING YOU'RE AN EMPLOYEE, CIEL.]

[cheats]

[ He frowns a little more as Oz gestures to the side of his head, since he'd rather not be reminded of that. For the time being, he's taking the idea that it's simply best to not dwell on what that means. Though it's also not hard, since Oz changes the subject, and to something actually helpful! It gets the frown to even turn to a light smile. ]

...Is there? I would actually appreciate that, if you would not mind.

[ this is his CLEVER PLAN, you see, not to get clothing, since Ciel doesn't quite care enough about that. But you said candy shop, Oz, and that's what Ciel focuses on immediately. It does mean he'll have to play nice, though, which is terrible in itself. ]

Thank you for offering...? [ The tone in his voice is clear that he's asking for Oz's name ]

[harepiece]

[Wow... Ciel... just say you want to go to the candy shop, Oz wouldn't care. WHAT A NERD.]

Oz! My name's Oz. It's nice to meet you. [At which point he'll pause to allow Ciel to introduce himself in turn, if he so chooses.]

Anyway, the train that goes in that direction is right over this way. [A gesture! And then he will start to meander in that direction.]

[cheats]

[ listen you live with sebastian and try to not be a shit in every category of your life ok ]

[ But Ciel will follow along! He wishes he had his cane, he realizes, since it's a bit odd to be walking without it, but... Wearing this awful outfit is also a bit odd. Ugh.

He hesitates briefly before giving his name, since he has half a mind to give a fake name, but he remembers that the watches all contain their information anyways. That would just be unnecessary, clearly... ]

Earl Ciel Phantomhive. [ A pause, then he adds, like he was about to forget to say it... ] It's a pleasure to meet you, Oz.

[harepiece]

[Kaoru managed!!!

But Oz looks a little surprised by that, in a pleased sort of way. More shitty kid nobles?! He has hit the jackpot, clearly.]

They must really not like you, giving you clothing like that. [Unless Ciel is from some bizarro planet where nobles all dress like Break.]

[cheats]

[ I said not be a shit in every category ]

[ Once it's pointed out, Ciel immediately grimaces like he's suddenly chewing on a lemon, and he shakes his head. ]

No, clearly they do not. I assume it is supposed to be some sort of terrible joke, since this was a ridiculous costume I had to wear to a costume ball.

[ Which is completely and utterly a lie, but it's impossible to tell by how he says it. But that explanation is much better than "I needed to infiltrate a circus to kill the actors." ]

I would not dare wear this in public were there anything else, I assure you.