118th ♫ | asking myself over and over – "have i won? has a new me been reborn?"

[phaiinein]

Welcome, Champions, to the Tulipa Residency Station, the #1 top voted temporary home away from home, currently orbiting the beautiful uninhabited planet of Seraphim #52973! You've been given the very exciting opportunity to test out our facilities for free over the next few weeks. All the food fun and relaxation you could ever want alongside a beautiful view, at absolutely no cost! If space makes you anxious, don't fret! We have an on-board therapist, the distinguished Doctor Maruki here to attend to your every need! Oh, you didn't agree to come here? You want to go home? There's a weird rule in your resident ID about murder? Well, I guess there is one teeny tiny catch... Welcome to the murdergame meme: Airlocked Gaiden edition! This is a meme-ified version of the Airlocked sequel/Round 6 AU cooked up by myself and Jess made available for everyone to goof around with. HAVE FUN, GANG TL;DR: we still have airlocked brainrot THE BASICS: This meme is for threads/plots/mingles/whatever set in an Airlocked-based AU as outlined above. You don't need to be Airlocked alumni to play here but some familiarity with the game's vibes and mechanics is useful! The game's setting is Tulipa Residency Station, a high class space station orbiting an unoccupied planet. It's basically a cross between a super fancy hotel and a super fancy cruise liner so feel free to make up fitting locations as you see fit. AND YES, YOU CAN HAVE ROOMMATES. Slap up a toplevel quickly outlining what's going on with your character in the tradition of murdergame memes gone by – you can also outline your character's role in the game, how long they last and maybe give ideas for progressive CR, memory reveals, that sort of thing! TAG AROUND AND HAVE FUN THAT PART IS NOT OPTIONAL PROMPTS: Downtime 1. Excuse Me, Who Are You? You've just woken up in this weird place and you have no idea what's going on. But hey -- maybe this stranger's more informed than you. Or maybe you can put your heads together and investigate what's going on. 2. Social Link Go! Well, if you're going to be stuck in here for however long, you might as well get to know the people stuck in here with you. You've got plenty of rooms to explore together and there's enough to do to keep you occupied. How do you plan on passing time without killing each other? 3. Vending Machine Woes Somewhere in this place there's a mysterious vending machine that spits out all manner of bizarre items and occasionally dispenses items that belong to you and the other people trapped here. You've got a fat stack of tokens and nothing to lose. 4. The Corners of My Mind So as it turns out, your lovely hosts have been fiddling with your memories. Maybe you're just discovering this now or maybe you've had a particularly upsetting memory regain you're dealing with. 4. Wildcard! GO WILD AND BE FREE (or as free as you can be here, anyways) PUTTING THE MURDER IN MURDER GAME 1. Motive Your mysterious overseer has decided there's not nearly enough murder going on and so they've ~helpfully~ given you a little push to do the deed. Maybe one of your loved ones is in danger, maybe they're offering more money than you could ever dream of or they're threatening to reveal your deepest darkest secrets. Whatever is it, would you kill for it? 2. Murder WELL APPARENTLY, YES. Are you a killer or are you being killed? Either way, someone's not walking away from this alive. 3. Body Discovery Rise and shine, murdergame! It's a brand new day and someone's dead. Better get investigating! 4. Trial You know how this one goes. Line up all your evidence and sniff out the killer -- or sit there and sweat and hope no one works out you're the murderer. Will they go down with a confession or put up a fight? 5. Afterparty You've survived another trial, but more of your friends have died. Even without the executions, trials are a stressful enough affair. It's time to destress and lick your wounds and support each other. 6. Mastermind It's the end. It's time to uncover all the mysteries behind this murder game -- and find out just who trapped you here. Are they really an unconnected party, or is the mastermind someone among you...? 7. Freedom Just as it says -- you're finally free, but at what cost? Have those you love been returned to you, or are you still reduced to just those who made it to the end? Are you on your own, or is anyone here to help you? And more importantly, how the hell are you going to get home? CHAMPION PROFILE CODE: <center><b>Name:</b> NAME | <b>TITLE (Super High School Level, Ultimate, Champion, etc)</b> <b>Age:</b> AGE | <b>Species:</b> SPECIES | <b>Occupation:</b> OCCUPATION <b>Likes:</b> LIKES <b>Dislikes:</b> DISLIKES <b>Traits:</b> A HANDFUL OF NOTABLE TRAITS <b>Trivia:</b> A PIECE OF TRIVIA</center>

Comments

[tworo]

Some Pokemon anatomies aren't entirely dissimilar to humans. I can handle it.

[Emotionally speaking? Well...it is better like this, probably.]

It was certainly...chaotic. Things like that are why I haven't worked with a large research team for some years. When you have that many people working on a project, it can become difficult to achieve your goals... [...is that an inappropriate comparison?] ...and of course that's nowhere near as fraught.

[finalflower]

I should hope not. Studying is difficult enough when you aren't all trying to murder one another. [She folds her hands at the table.] They weren't, were they?

[tworo]

No, not at all! It was only differences in opinion about the...direction of our project.

[He inclines his head slightly, as if considering how to phrase this.]

Some of my former colleagues were more...moderate in their approaches. Those who weren't just had different aims entirely.

[finalflower]

Hmm, I see.

[The server-bot comes around with drinks, and Annu politely inclines her head and thanks it. Sure, it's a robot and doesn't seem to register, but that's no excuse. ...she's thanked the teleporter in the past, too, just in case.]

So if you wanted something done, you had to be the one to do it, as they say.

[tworo]

As they say - the only person you can trust is yourself.

[Turo declines a drink with a murmured thanks. He's maybe something of a teetotaler - he never drinks - but he's always scrupulously polite to the server-bots as well. And he's seemed to notice Annu doing the same, though he hasn't quite commented on it before.

Now, though...he considers her quietly for a moment.]

You're always very nice to them.

[finalflower]

[She considers this, looking over her drink, one of those fancy juice concoctions that sparkles a little like the stars outside.]

We don't have robots where I'm from, but we do have servants. People always treated my mother oddly for treating those as people, even though they patently are. I simply thought it ought to carry over. I don't know how much they can think or feel, but if they're people... And even if they did turn out to be objects, we have something called tsukumogami back home, where objects can develop their own spirits. So it's better to be kind to them, don't you think?

[tworo]

[He listens quietly, not quite looking at her.]

...we have Pokemon that come into being that way - objects coming to life. But we don't have robots that are...aware, in any capacity. Our technology just isn't that advanced.

[.....]

I'm not certain people would consider them "people" very easily, if we did.

[finalflower]

Is that so?

[She looks over him, pondering this.]

The way you and Arven describe your world, it always seems very friendly. Full of things to discover. But if you still believe something like that, a robot who thinks and feels, wouldn't be seen as a person, that would suggest it isn't that simple, wouldn't it?

[tworo]

...I suppose not.

[But then, things are plenty complicated between him and Arven, so...it was never a perfect world. Certainly no Paradise.]

Maybe it would depend on who you ask. I can't be sure.

[finalflower]

Perhaps. If it's that kind of thing, you can never be certain until you come out and say it, no matter what the evidence might hold. Or at least that's what I hear. Usually about more mundane things than that, though I did know a person or two back home who hesitated to tell anyone they could see spirits like I can.

You've been thinking about that sort of thing, haven't you?

[tworo]

[There are several moments of absolute dead silence.]

What do you mean?

[finalflower]

Hm?

[She tilts her head to the side.]

It just seemed to be something on your mind, is all. I don't always look like I have unsavoury intentions, do I?

[tworo]

Of course not.

[Turo looks away again, gaze drifting across the room to Arven. For all that he doesn't always hang around him - that isn't particularly what Arven wants, a lot of the time - he usually does seem to keep tabs on him.]

Call it a matter of - scientific curiosity. [...] That does sound difficult, having to keep such an ability secret. But you never felt the need to do that yourself?

[finalflower]

We keep enough secrets as it is.

[Annu follows his gaze over to Arven, watching him for a moment.]

That aside, Tamayori are becoming rare, but they're still known where I'm from. And my mother is one, as are a few family friends, so it was practically expected the three of us would have the same power. Especially growing up around all the strange things we have. So pretending that we're off to study painting in France instead of magic and such in another world is one thing, but conversing with the youkai bothering the neighbour is expected. So far, anyway. I'm sure things will change.

[tworo]

[Hm. He turns back to her again, before Arven can catch him watching.]

That sounds like a brighter future. I hope that you can get there.

[finalflower]

I should hope so. Who knows how the future will be? -- Ah, thank you.

[That last part directed to the robot server as it comes back with the steak. She sits up and gives one of her smiles that no one ever seems to be able to tell if it's genuine or if something is about to go very wrong.]

But then, the future was on your likes from the beginning, wasn't it? I imagine you've found a lot to interest you on the station.

[tworo]

Not now, thank you.

[No food orders from him right now!]

It is fascinating! There's so many new things to see and learn about - I only wish we could leave this station. Imagine traveling freely through space!

[finalflower]

That would be nice... and not having to deal with all of this, especially. But murder aside, everything we hear about the outside just makes me want to hear more. Hopefully from a more reliable source.

[tworo]

Of course it isn't possible, but I wish I could travel through this world some, if we ever get out of here. I think it would be...enlightening.

[finalflower]

It isn't possible yet. It should just be a matter of grabbing their methods back from them.

[tworo]

Oh - yes, of course. That isn't quite what I meant. If we ever manage to escape this place...I should probably return home, that's all.

[finalflower]

It ought to be possible to do both.

[She takes a contemplative bite of the steak and looks out the window.]

If you didn't already have a way to move across worlds, why not take theirs from them? It's only fair after what they've done.

[tworo]

Do you think we would all be able to claim it for ourselves, just like that/

[finalflower]

Oh, it's never "just like that." Anything worth this much will take work, dedication... the blood of our captors, should they be so unlucky. [That menacing chuckle again. Maybe that's just how she is?] But it can't be easy, with all we've been through.

[tworo]

No, of course not.

[He'd sounded a little more amused than genuinely buying into "just like that".]

I'd prefer not to kill them, given other options. But if it comes to that... [Shrug. It's the safety of the group, right?]