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.

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OH, YOU MOST CERTAINLY ARE. DID YOU NOT REALIZE THIS WAS A DREAM?

[Grey text floats itself into the sky, right over Sans' head: JK

If that incident in the kitchen proved anything, it's that Mettaton's completely ceased to be surprised at Sans just... appearing in unwanted areas. Sans is a skeleton. He has no skin. He feels about as much as Mettaton does right now, yet here he is. Lounging. On Mettaton.

He can't even be mad. He just accepts it.

And laughs. Just a bit.]

ALSO, A+ ON THAT COMEBACK, SWEETHEART. I SEE YOUR STAND-UP IS GOING FOR A RAUNCHY NEW STYLE AND I FOR ONE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING ALL-NEW BONE PUNS ONCE YOU FINALLY COME OUT OF RETIREMENT.

Edited 2017-07-28 03:20 (UTC)

[For all Mettaton could be extra as all hell, Sans had to admit -- he was just about the only person who never seemed to ask him any questions. Maybe that was self-absorption, maybe it was empathy, Sans didn't know. He made a habit of not asking too, after all.]

You're gonna be waiting a long time. [His sockets close as he settles his arms behind his head. There it is. That's the relaxation he was looking for.] Like you said, this is a dream, and you know how much I hate wakin' up.

BUT AH, IT'S THAT CLASSIC WONDERLAND DILEMMA, IS IT NOT? [Arms finally slink up out of that metal rectangle, jostling a few of the "blankets" and "sheets" for him to properly gesture. Which he does.] WHOSE DREAM IS THIS? MINE? YOURS? IS IT SOMEONE ELSE'S ENTIRELY? IF THEY WAKE UP, WHAT OF US?

[Robotic sigh.]

YOU SHOULD REALLY THINK OF TRYING OUT YOUR NEW SET BEFORE WE'RE AWAKENED OUT OF EXISTENCE.

[Sans is quiet for a moment, only to sit up slightly and turn towards Mettaton's face (screen?) with a furrowed browbone.]

Yikes, MTT, you really know how to throw dark.

...

[He laces his fingers together over his "chest," his screen blank. "Dark?"]

(I ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS WHIMSICAL, HONESTLY.)

[Anyway.]

YOU KNOW, WITH AS MUCH TROUBLE AS YOU COULD GET INTO HERE, I'M SURPRISED YOU'RE TAKING THE TIME OUT OF YOUR DAY TO VISIT LIL' OL ME.

[One man's whimsy is another man's existential dread, apparently.]

Well, you went through all the trouble of setting up this little nest, it'd be rude not to accept the hospitality. [He props up his jaw under a hand, blinking back up at the night sky.] Were you wishing?

[It was one of the most common monster traditions, wishing on stars (or a cave ceiling, but you worked with what you had). Sans feels no need to explain his question, or imbue any excessive weight to it. Monsters wished on stars. It's just what they did.]

[Yes.]

NO.

NOT MUCH OF A POINT NOW, IS THERE? I HAVE A NEW BODY, AN ENDLESS STREAM OF ADORING FANS, ENDLESS SIGHTS, SOMEONE WRAPPED AROUND MY FINGER...

WHAT MORE COULD I WISH FOR?

[For his cousins to be happy. For Alphys to be happy. That, maybe if they never forgave him for leaving again, at least they might forget that he did. That he won't ruin the good things he's somehow managed to get here. That a certain member of ALASTAIR isn't going to put everyone and everything in danger just to prove someone else can be good if she wanted to be.

...sigh.]

AND YOU? OR ARE YOU PLAYING BY "IF I TELL YOU, IT WON'T COME TRUE" RULES?

[Sans doesn't comment directly on the litany of fulfilled desires Mettaton lists. He can't argue with them -- from what he always understood of Mettaton, the guy spent more time wishing on himself than on some old tradition. He was a star too, after all.

Still, something was off.]

I'm still thinking. [He explains, appearing to do just that as he stares up at the sky. After a beat of thoughtfulness, he adds:] ALASTAIR really gave you everything you ever wanted, huh?

HA. WELL, MAYBE NOT A CLOSET FULL OF HARD-EARNED TROPHIES, BUT ONE THING AT A TIME, EH?

...

[His arms fold back into his shell. Objectively, he understands that they should be perfectly warm with this set-up. Somehow, his mind keeps telling him that it's freezing.]

IT'S PRACTICALLY A FAIRY TALE, ISN'T IT? THE CHOSEN FEW PLUCKED FROM THEIR HOMES TO SAVE NOT ONLY THEIR WORLD, BUT EVERY ONE IN EXISTENCE? TO CONSTANTLY BE TRAVELING AMONG THE STARS, NEVER EXPERIENCING THE SAME THING TWICE...?

BETTER THAN BEING TRAPPED UNDER A MOUNTAIN, THAT'S FOR SURE.

The mountain wasn't so bad. [Sans comments, voice pitched low. It comes across almost as an afterthought. Something idle and automatic, barely reacting to the glamorous picture of adventure and heroism Mettaton painted for him.] We had some laughs. Food was pretty good, too, when there was enough of it.

There was that place in Waterfall where it rained.

[He was circling in on his wish, but hadn't arrived at it yet. It was nearly there, but Sans wasn't in any hurry. These things took time.]

Nothing you miss?

Edited 2017-07-31 23:22 (UTC)

[Of course there is. He misses his resort and the stage and his studio. He misses Alphys, for as short a time they were being civil to one another again before he was torn away. He misses Blooky and Shyren and-- he even misses the farm and the way the rain sounded against Blooky's shabby roof while they watched tv and...]

...'FRAID I CAN'T THINK OF ANYTHING. I'M AN ENTERTAINMENT ROBOT, REMEMBER? FOOD AND RAIN WASN'T EXACTLY MY FORTE, BACK THEN.

BUT IT'S NICE THAT YOU HAVE YOUR BROTHER, AT LEAST. HOW IS IT, BEING TOGETHER AGAIN?

Edited 2017-07-31 23:53 (UTC)

Heh. Right. Silly me.

[The stars here weren't like the stars in the -- likely outdated -- star charts he used to look at back home. Most of their books and writings from before the war weren't around anymore, but some had been preserved. The Snowdin Librarby wasn't a high enough paygrade to carry those kind of historical texts, but Sans knew his way around New Home.

Suffice to say, those old charts were absolutely useless to him now. He tries to pick clusters that might be constellations, rolling with Mettaton's deflection without complaint.]

Yeah, it's pretty great. Not that he needs me much these days, guy's a celebrity around here. [And a much bigger deal than you, MTT, in Sans' opinion. No offense meant, just that Papyrus is kinda a tough act to beat.] ALASTAIR gave him a lot of what he always wanted, too.

[Not everything, though. Not what Sans really wanted for him, but that was neither here nor there.]

Edited 2017-08-01 00:22 (UTC)

...

[There's something in the way that's phrased. The way it excludes Sans from that equation. It's the same sort of statement as when they were at Mettaton's party, talking about the surface. Again, Sans seemed to exclude himself from everyone else's happiness.

There's that old saying you hear kicked around every so often in movies or tv: the funniest people are usually hiding the most pain. It's not always true. Humor isn't ALWAYS born from necessity.

...jeez, who he is even trying to kid? Of course it always is.]

YOU DON'T SOUND SO ENTHUSED. [It's not pointed. Just an observation.]

[Perhaps it's in earnest, or maybe just reflexive, but Sans chuckles in response. His bones rattling slightly from the effort.]

Whaddya want me to say, I'm jealous?

[It's not particularly pointed either, landing somewhere between a joke and a sincere question. The combination feels strange against his jaw, and Sans refocuses his gaze up towards the stars. Right. He was supposed to be picking one.]

MAYBE. [He catches the sound of bones rattling - it's a hard noise to mistake for something else, after all.

...]

BUT NOT OF PAPYRUS.

[It must be rough, working so hard for your family only to have someone else swoop in and give them everything you couldn't.]

Psh.

[It's all Sans responds with, for a while at least. A weak, barely there protest, serving as a place holder while he works out what to actually say.

Maybe it was the Labyrinth, or the prison before it, or the party, or the fact it feels like he hasn't had a real break in months, but Sans finds the words of easy, automatic dismissal coming to him slower than usual. There were no easy misdirects, there weren't any all-purpose deflections.

Papyrus was always a tricky topic for him.]

Pap's family's bigger than just me now. Who says that's gotta be bad?

[Sans' briefly abandons his search, but his sockets remained fixed towards the starry sky; almost like a life line.]

If anything, it's a relief.

SO YOU WERE TIRED, BEING THE ONLY ONE?

[That's nowhere near what Sans meant, and Mettaton knows it. It's a goad.

What does that mean, is the implicit question.]

Edited 2017-08-19 16:47 (UTC)

[There was a joke here somewhere, about Mettaton pressing Sans' buttons when MTT was the one with a score of knobs and dials on his person.

But unfortunately, if there was a joke, Sans misses it with the haste of his response. Perhaps that's more telling than any pun would've been.]

What? [He looks away from the sky, back at Mettaton's front facing display.] You kidding me? Never.

[That's what he thought.]

HOW BIG OF A RELIEF IS IT REALLY, THEN?

Edited 2017-08-22 17:55 (UTC)

[Haha, MTT. You got him. Sans' smile looks strained for a moment, as if he might even be (gasp) a little annoyed, but it smooths back over to its usual neutrality soon enough.]

S'one thing to be relieved you're off the hook. [He looks back up towards the sky.] It's another thing to be relieved the person you're on the hook for has some better options.

[Is it a little maudlin? Sure, on paper, but it's hard to ignore the genuine relief Sans feels as he says it.]

[...there it is. All comedy is born from misery, yadda yadda. It's hardly the shocker of the century.

There's a robotic sigh, then silence. At least for a moment. It's something to mull over: why does Sans believe himself the worse of two options? From everything Mettaton's seen, he's always been the perfect, doting, loving brother. Everything Sans has ever done, it's been for Papyrus. That quaint little house on the edge of Snowdin is for Papyrus. The toys he'd request as payment were for Papyrus. The multiple sentry stands he ran, along with multiple businesses, were for Papyrus.

Is there honestly something to be guilty about? Or is it just your average paranoia?]

IS THAT WHAT YOU WISHED FOR?

[For a long time, Sans doesn't say anything at all. If it weren't for the crackle of the fire, other Audentes mulling around a stone's throw away, and the mechanic hum of Mettaton's body, the moment would have been as silent as it was still.]

You wanna know what I wished for?

[There's a ruefulness to his tone -- something weary in a strange, profound, timespanning way -- as he reaches into his jacket pocket. He can still remember the lowkey panic he felt when his hoodie was taken from him in prison; more specifically, the panic of losing its contents. He withdraws his hand again, holding whatever he'd taken out close to his chest, almost as if he was protecting it.]

You so sure about that?

[Ha.] IS IT ANY WORSE THAN BEING IMPRISONED IN A DEATH MAZE FROM WHICH WE MAY OR MAY NOT EVER SEE RELEASE FROM? [Probably not. Lying in the grass and staring into the night sky, petty quibbles are seeming a lot less big than they used to. At least now they do. Mettaton knows his own dramatics - they'll be back in the morning. But right now...

Right now, he catches the gesture Sans makes with... whatever was in his jacket pocket, but doesn't comment on it. He'll watch first, act later.]

YOUR SECRET'S SAFE WITH ME, SANSY. [He knocks a fist into his front pannel, letting out a few hollow thunks.] I'M FULL OF 'EM.

[The joke lands, and Sans chuckles. For a few beats longer, he looks as if he might be about to lose his nerve.]

Heh... alright. [He closes his sockets, ribs expanding with a passing imitating of a deep breath.] My wish?

[His hand moves slightly, contents still concealed as he extends it towards Mettaton.]

3/3

skelepun - 2017-08-23 18:11 (UTC) - Expand

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ex_mettacrusher33 - 2017-08-23 18:17 (UTC) - Expand

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