WEEK 0 — MARCH 29, 30

[cartesio]

Week 0

You have been threatened by the Sergeant: if nobody dies before March 31st at noon, you, along with everyone else, will forfeit your lives. The Sergeant pushed everyone away from the Lodge, judging that had been enough interaction with his guests. So what now?

Will you submit to the Sergeant’s demands? Will you resist him and wait to see what happens? He wouldn’t be capable of killing you and everyone else, right?

Only time will tell.

The next day you'll find a newspaper at the motel lounge, telling you about today’s weather forecast with 100% accuracy. Looks like you can expect to find a newspaper every day to find out the weather and any other news about the town. It even includes something branded 'THE SHARK ALERT'. Who could that be directed to?

There's also a copy of yesterday's newspaper. There's nothing about the Sergeant or about your predicament, but there is something about your arrival to the town.

Cartesio is your world for the next four days, better make the most out of your time here.

OOC Note: The current IC:OOC ratio for the days is as follows: The 29th top-level covers Monday and Tuesday, while the 30th top-level is for Wednesday and Thursday.

Links

IC Rules
Room Assignments
Locations
Tasks

March 28^th
March 29^th
March 30^th

Comments

[cartesio]

[When Wayne and Sakura return, they arrive just in time to see the effect of water on the fire.

The firetruck that's nearby is there, though. From the open doors you can see what seem to be tanks of foam for the hose. If using water is only going to make things worse, then using a different thing should be good, right? The extinguishers are going to be of help, but more potency could be useful]

[anonsoldier5]

[Letting the crowbar hand limp.]

Think there's a fire exit or something. They normally unlock if you open it from the inside.

[theserpentsmiles]

[Fire. Fire again. At least he's not drugged this time.

Nagisa isn't strong and he isn't leaderly. He's small and quick and easily missed. So...what he can do? There's always something he can do. His usual approaches won't work in this scenario where there's no target to strike, no one to kill. But he has eyes that can pick out a person's tells and note small details easy as reading, and he's been trained in free-running.]

I'm going ahead! [With that all the warning he gives, Nagisa finds ledges and handholds to parkour his way around the fire - on the rooftops if possible - in search of...something. Maybe there are people trapped. Maybe the fire is spreading faster in some directions than others. Maybe if he looks carefully, he can find some clue as to how this started.]

[clearities]

I'm back!! [And that sure is something, alright. But the fact that the flames are growing is concerning. She's dressed in the uniform that she found, which might be a little baggy for her while carrying two of those extinguishers in her hands.] Sensei, take one of these! [She'll hand one over to him so she'll have enough free hands to attempt using the other extinguisher herself, aimed at the fire. This should work. Right?]

[cartesio]

[The fire seems to be covering up any causes right now. The odds of finding that while it's still ongoing seem pretty low.

What Nagisa can see from his vantage point, though, is alarming:

In the distance you can see other columns of smoke, coming from places in the town that are too far away. Had the fire extended that much? With some luck the firemen of Cartesio will take care of those, but there's a more immediate threat, in the form of fire extending from across the junkyard to the park.

Luckily the plants of the park haven't been set on fire yet, but unless something's done about that, it's bound to happen sooner or later, and if the park is set on fire, it'll be too big to handle.

Godspeed, Nagisa.]

[cartesio]

[The fire crackles, but it seems the extinguisher works, spewing the foam at the fire and actually reducing it a little! It's not going to eliminate everything because it's a single extinguisher against a lot of fire, but at least it seems you are on the right track.]

[anonsoldier3]

A fire might actually do the trick.

[They're going to go to the reception desk. Any numbers or papers worth looking at here?]

[cartesio]

[There doesn't seem to be any papers -- thanks for being orderly, receptionist -- but there are a few walkie-talkies below the desk, enough for everyone.

There's also a note stuck on the computer monitor:

Ask to remove cubicle walls from the way. It's a hassle to walk all the way through the administrative offices to the CEO]

[anonsoldier3]

[Bingo.

...though it's a bit convenient, that note.]

Hm.

Here. Take these.

[They start passing out the walkie-talkies. They also take the note off the monitor to show people.]

We might have a way in.

[anonsoldier5]

[Takes a walkie-talkie with they're spare hand.]

How's this work, like a radio?

[alfin]

[ Alfin has finally arrived on the scene and sees that there are some townsfolk helping put out the fire, but there are more just standing there in fear and confusion. They won't be of much help like that, in fact, they're just endangering themselves. She needs to get them out of there before things get even worse. She runs up to the firetruck. ]

Excuse me! Do you have a megaphone I can borrow?

[ Look, we might have never seen one in use in canon but you can't tell me Zemuria doesn't have handheld megaphones. They have cellphones, they have megaphones. ]

[anonsoldier2]

Hmm.

Speaking of fires, we really should get the employees out of our hair. I'll see if I can convince them to leave.

[cartesio]

A megaphone?

[The fireman was about to reply when something get his attention on the other side of the street. Looking at that with some urgency, he decides what has priority]

Hold that thought.

[And jumps off the truck to go help. Sorry, Alfin, it seems the residents of the town have priority when it's about the public services.

But the truck is left unattended, and there's a megaphone attached to the top of the truck, and the wires that connect to it snake into the inside of the truck. There may be a microphone to talk into that megaphone in here!]

[cartesio]

[Good luck, soldier!

It seems nobody's going down to the lobby anymore, though. Whether they heard something from downstairs or not isn't clear, but it's not like this building has any place to hide. They'll definitely be up there.

Go up with the rest whenever you're ready!]

[alfin]

[ ...Well. That was rude. But she supposes she forgives him, given the situation. But she still needs that megaphone... She eyes the truck itself, and notices the megaphone attached to it's top, and follows the wires inside the truck. After a moment of deliberation, she jumps inside the truck. She'll apologize if the firefighter comes back, but for now, she needs to focus on saving the townsfolk.

Now... Where does that wire lead to... ]

[cartesio]

[Just as expected, not only there's a microphone for the megaphone, there's also a communication line towards other services, helpfully labelled in different ways.

'Megaphone', 'Police', 'Station', 'Aerial recon'.

Feel free to use anything you want from the console!]

[theserpentsmiles]

Why not? We can probably get a lot, with the money we were given.

[Their situation is bad. There's no denying that. But most would call Class E's situation bad, and they'd found managing was best done by balancing the will to fight with having fun. Stressing too much only leads to burnout - which in turn leads nowhere.]

[anonsoldier3]

Yeah. This button turns it on, and you press this button when you want to talk.

[anonsoldier4]

If everyone's ready, we should get going.

[ Is it really clear heading up stairs? Because this one will check for that. And if so, what's exactly up here? ]

[cartesio]

[The stairs are clear, and there's a door open after ascending a floor, helpfully labelled 'Administrative offices'.

Peeking inside shows a bit of an obstacle, though. At first all you can see is a cubicle wall, made of cork and plastic. Looks flimsy, but it's stopping your sight. To the sides there are more of those. Whoever designed this office should be scolded, because trying to look over the wall shows it's like a labyrinth in here. This can't be efficient at all.

There's also the noise of someone somewhere in the place, mostly noises of someone rooting through paper and typing in a keyboard. It's so silent in the office those little noises reverberate around, it's impossible to pinpoint just how far or how close the person is, or if they're alone.

How shall you solve this particular problem? Time is at a premium right now, after all!

[alfin]

[ ...Aerial recon? Wait, if there are planes, can't they help put out the fire?

Alfin switches the mic over to aerial recon. Okay, just... talk like Major Vander. ]

Requesting immediate backup for the fire-- Immediate backup. We need an air drop of fire retardant, right now. Over.

[ She can't exactly disguise that her voice is that of a 15 year old girl's, but she can at least sound professional. ]

[odoruhinokaze]

Hey now, I have a reputation to uphold.

[ Axel's genuinely amused, though. ]

...Just the kind of response I was looking for. Maybe on our way out we can kick some Sergeant behind, but easy exit first.

[ Speaking of which, he didn't expect anyone to even try to make such a rousing speech. When he gets a second he might compliment her on it. ]

[odoruhinokaze]

[ Now, hearing his tag line there makes him sort of grin and he snaps his fingers before giving the kid a thumbs up. ]

I'm sure you will.

Well, let me just say that most of the people back at my home can be a pain to catch off guard or usually it's not worth it. Remember that blue haired guy I mentioned earlier? He's firmly set in both categories.

[cartesio]

[A few seconds pass before an unidentifiable voice sounds on the other side]

Fire? Which one? [There are noises of clicking before the person talks again] Right, right, the ones near the park. Sure, boss.

[Apparently the person on the other side isn't very professional, Alfin sounds nothing like the fireman she had just talked to]

No can do much, we're running out of foam, but we can get rid of one of 'em. Which one you'd like, the one in the park or the one on the streets?

[Looks like you have enough only for one. It's your choice, Alfin: what's your priority? The immedate benefit of solving the fire that's starting to touch the citizens' houses, or the longer-term benefit of stopping the fire that could light up the park and expand further?

[theserpentsmiles]

[Three things are required for fire to start and continue: heat, oxygen, and fuel. Take away any combination of those and there's no way for the fire to continue burning.

He needs non-flammable material, and a lot of it. Rocks, water, sand, metal.....metal. There's a hell of a lot of metal in the junkyard. He doesn't have a lot of time so he'll figure out the rest of the plan on the way, once he sees what he's working with. Are there people near? He'll shout to anyone he spots:]

We need to keep it from reaching the park!

[...Something is weird, though. Asphalt may be made of the same kinds of things that end badly when exposed to fire, like petroleum and gasolene, and liquid asphalt is flammable - but it's generally made from the 'bottom of the barrel' material, after most of the usably flammable materials have been taken for other purposes. It almost never burns.

Not with a normal fire, at any rate. Which tells Nagisa this is probably arson. Dammit.]