epidemiology | EVENT ★ LABYRINTH II

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EVENT ★ LABYRINTH II

DEEPER

Following the marked path near the lake leads Audentes (and George) further into the maze, closer to the goal found at the center. Some other inmates (including Zymandis agent Mavahari) and correctional officers follow along, having picked up on the organized manner of Audentes and figuring it’s their best bet on getting out of here alive.

Unlike the dry stone and sand in the outer ring of the maze, this next section is overflowing with flora. Jungle vines cling to the walls to the point where seeing the stone underneath is a difficult task; trees sprout from between cracked tiles, bearing alien-looking fruit; branches and brambles cross certain parts of the maze, and will need to be hacked through unless you want to find another way around.

Water is more plentiful now as well, since obviously the plants need it to flourish. For the first time since setting foot in the labyrinth, a rain begins to fall, drizzling and gentle. This can be a respite or an annoyance, depending on how you look at it: while it’s soothing and can make collection of fresh, clean water easier, walking around in wet clothes is probably not that pleasant.

Your fellow ALASTAIR recruit George has inexplicably struck up a friendship with the Zymandis agent Mavahari, and they can often be found exploring the maze together, with Mavahari helping him due to his broken arm. They seem to be getting along well enough, but maybe checking in with George is in order.

Otherwise, survival is the name of the game; though the center of the labyrinth is closer, it’s impossible to tell how close, and how long to expect to be here. Collecting water is simple enough, but food is growing scarce. The tree fruits may be a good solution, but it seems as though some have unfortunate reactions to them, ranging from stomach cramps to rashes to fever and temporary blindness.

But an allergic reaction may just be the least of your worries.

LOVE ME LIKE A REPTILE

The monsters seen so infrequently in the outer ring of the maze are now a common nuisance. Giant insects and rats scurry about, hungry for whatever flesh they can find, but they’re easily defeated, particularly if encountered as a group. But with new terrain comes new, adaptive animals, and the labyrinth is no different.

Lizards are now the main threat: enormous and camouflaged, they stalk their prey and take their time, looking for the perfect opportunity to ambush. The lizards are three-headed, with each head containing fangs dripping with venom, capable of rendering its victims paralyzed within five seconds flat. Their blood is also poisonous, capable of burning through metal, not to mention flesh.

If a head is severed, the lizard will retreat back into the jungle, presumably to nurse its wounds but possibly to grow another head -- no lizard will ever be encountered with less than three heads, so it’s possible they have regenerative abilities. The best way to defeat one is to remove all three heads at once, or simply kill it in whatever way possible. The lizards are quick and mean, but not invincible.

Now more than ever, it’s important to take care in exploring the maze. Stray too far from the group or try to make it alone, and you might not survive.

OOC NOTES

Once again, we have a plotting post here and search requests for the next ring of the maze.

Please note: during the labyrinth event, all drops are ICly delayed. What this means is that characters who drop will be handwaved to still be around on auto-pilot until connection with Oska is resumed, at which point they will be transferred to a different team as usual.

If you have any questions about the labyrinth that aren't answered here, please direct them to the Leramzen dossier. If you have questions for any NPCs, please direct them there as well!

Questions about the game in general should be directed to the FAQ and you may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

ok, ok, FINE, bUU T

[Even though he thinks that advice is pretty much all garbage.]

relyin on the fact that there are """good people""" in the legal system isn't a smart move

you can't always guarantee that the law is gonna be on your side. maybe slammin desks and lyin through ur teeth works in your world, but what if it gets you in trouble here?

you could be cited for disorderly conduct, perjury, stuff like that

and then we're lookin at even MORE jail time

[Provided that the system actually works that way.]

the law's NEVER on our side but that doesn't mean we can't fight it! for the sake of the people who are innocent! i mean there are good people in AUDENTES and no matter how stacked the odds are against us we gotta keep fighting until we break through lying is not the same thing as bluffing! get w it asher! and i've already been arrested for contempt of court so i don't care about that!!! if we do get a real trial i'm not letting us go down without a fight!

[LAKSJDLKJLKAJSDFLKJ-]

you've been arrested?

[she better be talking about juvenile hall...]

for contempt of co u r

[u can practically see those rusty lil gears in his brain turning slowly]

maya, where are you?

[asher u sweet summer child]

yep that jerk corrupt prosecutor i'm talking about totally got me arrested! AND he attacked us and stole our evidence when we were onto him AND ive been arrested for murder too so i know how messed up stuff can be!! umm in the maze? why?

[very descriptive and helpful Maya A+]

Edited 2017-07-25 20:13 (UTC)

oh my GOD are you alone??????????????

[ALSKDJFAKDSJ LOOK HE IS JUST ABOUT RDY 2 BURST]

i am coming to get you, wait

r there any weird mouthbreathy lizzys around

[just say lizard]

[why is he freaking out........]

i'm just getting some water?? i didn't go far and i wouldn't be sharing my wisdom with you ungrateful jerks if if there were lizzies around trying to get a piece of me! that's too scary even for me!

[she's not really hard to find though if he's going to go out looking, she's easy to spot from the main group with her topknot among the foliage]

[it is nut every day (in his own world) that u hear ur annoying younger friend got charged for murder and contempt of court smh???? that and he is just Stressed leave me alone]

[As Asher continues making his way through the maze, he does his best not to tread over any alien foliage, keeping his eyes and ears open in the event of possible ambush.

Maya is easy enough to find as it is, what with the location function on their devices being so damn handy. Her signature hairstyle isn't difficult to spot amidst all the leafy greens, though she's definitely smaller than some of those prehistoric looking plants.]

Maya?

[His shoulders are thrust back, chin a little banged up from an altercation with one of their new reptilian friends.]

[don't mind her she's just eternally surprised and confused when people give a shit about her]

[when he finds her she's just taken a sip, and is wringing out her fifty feet of hair, since apparently it got wet too]

[she tilts her head at him when she notices he's hurt]

Hey, Asher, it's great that you came around to my awesome advice and you wanna get a head start on cross-examining the lizzies [she's using it too now look what you've done, Asher!!] but you gotta be smart about this! You can't just tackle 'em head on!

Literally! They've got three heads!

Edited 2017-07-25 20:41 (UTC)

[There it goes, the thundering in his chest that he's come to know so well.

Asher stares at Maya as though he's seen a ghost, or a person who could be one, provided that all the wrong things happened. She had said she was fine, and it's true, if she really were in trouble she wouldn't have had the time to think up such a ludicrous post, but his heart has been so troubled as of late he felt the need to run after her.]

What?

[A bruised hand juts out to rub the the part of his face that's throbbing now, a sensation he didn't even bother to consider until this very minute.]

Oh, that?

[Calm down, Millstone.

She's not going to disappear, not yet.

Not like all the others.]

It's no big deal, I swear.

Did you get what you needed?

Um, yeah...... [The way he's staring at her is so odd. Had he eaten one of those bad fruits? Or are lizzies capable of doing more than just paralyzing?]

...

Are you okay, Asher? You're acting kinda weird. You know, even for you.

[The way she says it it's more affectionate teasing than a jab, and she's pretty clearly concerned. She glances over towards the group to see if she can spot Aqua, or Sieglinde, or anyone else who could heal]

[He could tell her the truth, that the uncertainties of today and yesterday and months ago are driving him up the wall, compounded all at once and worsened by their ever-growing hunger. But Maya, too, is probably worse for the wear, hiding it behind her cartoonish facade.]

Yeah.

[Asher's jaw wriggles to and fro as a puff of air leaves his lips. God damn it, if he wants to be a better lawyer, he needs to become a better liar first.]

Yeah, I'm good.

[The silence between them is uncomfortable, unwelcome.

Without her teasing or his protests to fill the air that seems to be getting thicker by the minute, things do not feel quite right. Still, there are words that need to be said.]

I just wanted to see if you were okay.

[Well, this might be a little more familiar: Maya huffs, puffing her cheeks out slightly, and looks annoyed]

You know, Asher, if you're gonna lie to me, at least try a little harder. [Very impressed over here.... except not at all!] What's really up?

[He responds with a look of mild contempt, more distraught than truly angry.]

I'm just tired.

[Truth be told, he is tired.

Tired of losing friends, tired of being hungry, and tired of fucking up.

Asher wants to go home, but home is not his apartment in Philadelphia anymore, it is his dorm room in the halls of Oska with everyone else to keep him company.

Not every else is there anymore, though.]

And I'm a little out of it after the whole prison thing.

I don't know how I feel about all my personal s-

[Asher swallows hard.]

Stuff bein' out there.

[She watches him carefully as he answers, but even though she doesn't buy the "I'm just tired" thing she doesn't press it.]

[Then, her eyes briefly flicker up to his number, since she's assuming that's what he's talking about]

Well... you're not the only one. [She's a zero, herself, pretty predictably, but she's seen many numbers that have shocked her.] I don't think anyone's really thinking about that right now, though.

[Apart from her, but considering she's in the minority with no kill count, here, what does her opinion matter?]

[Something about the way Maya averts her eyes is enough to make him talk. Asher knows exactly what she is looking at, and his lips start flapping before his mind even kicks into gear.]

I didn't mean to.

[...Shoot.]

It was an accident.

[I'm not a killer.]

[She wasn't going to say anything -- (what could she say, really?) but now that he's brought it up himself, there's nor reason for her not to press.]

[So, evenly:]

What happened?

[obviously it's weighing on his mind if he's reacting like this to her seeing the number. No one else even blinked when she looked at their forehead.]

[This is not the time or place for him to go on and on about one of the worst nights of his life. He could make excuses like he did then, babble on and on worriedly like he had to Miles, Nami, and finally, Jin, and then what?]

It doesn't matter.

[There is a stiffness in his shoulders that accompanies the manner in which his voice cracks.

He had thought, at the time, that the violence would stop then, but it hadn't. Those two men had died, sure, because he was afraid and pulled the trigger, but others have suffered at his hands too. First Jason, then Mettaton... All the result of a knee-jerk fear response that he needs to learn how to control.]

It doesn't change what I did.

Don't do that! [Obviously it bothered him enough to bring it up, and she's getting frustrated with the erratic back and forth. She balls up her fists and stares at him -- she's not puffing her cheeks out like usual, but staring at him seriously in lieu of that]

Obviously it matters if it's bothering you like this! It's not like you go around mowing people down left and right and jumping on the murder train all the time! So just be straight with me. Tell me what's wrong, if that's -- how you got the number, or anything else.

[The frustration leaks out a bit and she looks more pleading.]

I'll listen. I promise.

I screwed up.

[His steps fall in line with hers, gaze flickering to the ongoing party ahead of them. Reliving this unfortunate series of events isn't easy, but his deeds are all out in the open, so.

He might as well tell her the truth.]

Back in PR, I was helpin' out by shuttlin' the miners around, and showin' those no good Deemer turds who da real bawses were-

[Okay, that last bit? Totally an embellishment.]

But, somehow I got separated from the rest of the group and...

Some dudes attacked me. Me and another guy.

Um.. yeah, okay. [Half of that means nothing to her, because all she knows about Perdition's Rest is that there were space cowboys and the plot of Animorphs]

They.... were gonna kill if you didn't do anything, right?

[His memories of that night are too vivid for his liking, disjointed now, fragmented after all the time that has passed. Still, it is hard to forget what being unable to breathe felt like, with gnarled hands around his throat and dirty nails digging into his skin. The worst of all of it was knowing that he would potentially have died there, an unlovable, pathetic loser, with nothing to show for himself save for a string of criminal sins and unenviable embarrassments.]

Yeah.

[Has anything really changed?]

Probably.

[In a way, it's jarring for her to see him like this -- so withdrawn, and quiet, and traumatized, also. Asher was a lot of things, but a man of few words he wasn't, and this clearly affected him to the point where he could barely even admit to this -- that it shook him to the core.]

[In a way, selfishly, Maya's a little relieved. She's spent the last few -- however long it's been -- in the maze, in the prison, surrounded by people she thought she knew, who turned out to be murderers, mass murderers, and -- didn't even care. Just continued as if nothing had happened. As if it was so easy to take a life.]

[So at least Asher -- even if he did kill -- only did it in self-defense -- because he had to. At least Asher was still a man she could put her faith in.]

[The rest of the team? She didn't know.]

Then.... that's different. You wanted to protect yourself and your friend, right? Th... they attacked you, you just... you didn't want to hurt them, it wasn't like you were out to get them or anything. You had to. Or... it'd be the two of you dead. R-Right?

[still, it's a little hard for her to process, so what she's saying is a little bit for her own benefit]

[after being disappointed by so many of her teammates -- she can count the number she doesn't have to doubt on one hand -- and Asher -- she wants so badly to have faith in him. At least him. He showed her kindness - he can't be a bad guy]

[Taking a life, taking action, has never been easy for Asher Millstone, although he is slowly growing into it. It was better to do something than nothing at all, even if the very memory of it makes him feel dirty, like his hands are still covered in blood and sand.

At the very least, that night, there had been someone else standing beside him.]

I didn't wanna die there, not like that.

[His arms shoot up and wrap around his own body, which erupts into a fit of spasms, a visceral reaction to the complete and utter disgust that washes over him as recalls how he fell to his knees so easily, destroying himself physically in the process.]

I didn't wanna die and still be the stupid, messed up person that I am, and-

[Finally, he covers his mouth, rubbing his nose with the back of an index finger.]

I'm sorry.

You're right.

[A second or so passes, and both arms are at his side again.]

Can we go now?

Please?

[This is more than she's qualified to help with -- not that she's really qualified at all. She's never been in the position where she'd had to choose between killing someone or letting someone dear to her die -- she can't even properly wrap her head around it. But the way that he's shaking and hugging himself -- her emotional wrestling over whether he's good or bad melts away straight into concern, and she acts on instinct]

[She hugs him, too, when he's obviously struggling, her arms wrapping around his middle, too, as she leans her head against his chest. It might not help, coming from a teenage girl that doesn't even reach his shoulders, but she can't help herself]

[He's shown her kindness, once, when she'd been this emotionally frail, so--- isn't this the least she can do to repay his kindness?]

You're not stupid and messed up! You're a good guy. And I'm glad you're alive.

[She squeezes him a little - lifting her head up to nod at his question (yes, they can go), but she's just going to add--]

I'm really glad I met you, Asher. Okay?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

EVENT ★ LABYRINTH II

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1/2

2/2; TEXT -> ACTION

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wow i thought??? i tagged this rip

no worries!

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