[She's about to press another one of the buttons when everything escalates at the speed of light.
There's a frown at the noises being played suddenly, a greater feeling of unease as the bed begins to move for no apparent reason, and when she glances over and sees what's on the computer monitor, she freezes. She stays like that for a few moments, glancing between the monitor, the evidently empty bed, and the two of them. The only thing that shocks her out of her stunned silence is Higekiri's question.]
What? No, I would definitely remember this! What the hell...?
[A few things happen. Junpei immediately shoves the note into his pocket upon noticing it's his own fucking handwriting. He takes a quick inventory of everything Higekiri's pulling out of the locker. He's looking through the camera, a sense of dread running through his veins when he recognizes himself and his own voice.
And he doesn't answer. He stares blankly at the camera for a while, looking at the bed before looking for a stop button.
What the fuck.]
...check the cassettes. [His voice is low, almost threatening but he's also trying to see if there's a tape in the camera itself or if it's digital. Is this all the camera does? Furthermore:] And let me have the flashdrives. The little stick things.
[If Higekiri gives them to him, he's going to go back to the computer and see if he can plug them in.]
[The bed keeps shaking. The moaning keeps blaring through the room. The camera is digital, and nothing Junpei does seems to stop it from recording. On the computer screen, their doubles continue to have sex with each other, clearly having the times of their lives.
So maybe Beck, Higekiri and Junpei should lighten up? Gosh.]
[JUNPEI, PLEASE CONFIRM WHETHER OR NOT THEY'VE FUCKED. But he'll just offer Beck an apologetic smile because he didn't mean to offend her.... Good to know this is all fake!
But now Higekiri is looking over at Junpei in confusion?? But yeah he'll go to the desk to deposit the trays so he can have his hands free, and hand Junpei the sticks! JUNPEI YOUR STICKS. And then he'll ask:]
What did the note say?
[since Junpei put it in his pocket all angry and stuff, haha.
Anyway! He'll also pull the Used cassettes out of his back pocket and turn to Beck.]
[She's more offended about this very convincing sex tape depicting something that never happened than she is offended at Higekiri, it's fine.
Finally, she forces herself to look away from the monitor. As she does, she gives Junpei a concerned glance, but she doesn't say anything to him. Instead, turning towards Higekiri:]
...Over here.
[She takes the cassettes out of his hands, putting one at random into the empty space within the switchboard. If there's anything that looks like it may be a play button, she'll press it without a word.]
The note just said camera. [Mumbling, he'll take the flash drives and work on trying to figure out what's going on. Can he plug them in? Can he see what's happening? That's his goal and he'll finally abandon the camera.
But he's going to also watch Beck from the corner of his eye to see how the cassettes go.]
[... Well. If their goal is to make the "recording" stop, it seems like they've achieved it. Though not in the way that they wanted.
As Beck pushes the first cassette into the slot, the moaning will come to a stop. Simultaneously, the bed will stop shaking. Junpei, who is fiddling with the computer and flashdrives to no avail, will be able to witness on the monitor as their duplicates stop moving — and then slowly turn their heads towards the camera without moving their bodies. Their necks pop, pop, pop as their heads turn 180 degrees in order to complete this anatomically impossible task. Once they've turned completely towards the camera, Junpei will realize something.
They have no faces.
The camera feed flickers.
Once it stabilizes, not even a second later, Beck's double has disappeared from the view offered by the monitor, leaving Junpei and Higekiri's doubles by themselves. Almost simultaneously, the real Beck will feel something icy and moist grip her wrist. She will be paralyzed as something breathes against her ear.
From the P.A. system, all three of them will hear the following word:]
[And subsequently, all three of them will get something of a splitting headache.
The room goes dark, as two clicks come from the direction of the light switches. While the computer monitor will stay on, there's nothing to see while the room is plunged into darkness. Beck will not be able to move just yet... But maybe something can be done about that if they could see again?]
Higekiri winces with the headache and has decided that having a human body is starting to come with a lot more cons than anticipated? He grits his teeth unhappily before moving - ]
I'm going to bring the light back!
[Before they have a fucking collision if they all dive for it at the same time.
So don't mind Higekiri will just nyoom toward the light switches so that he can try to flick them back on again - one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, the other opening his Clamshell to provide light the way that he'd seen Junpei do earlier. Monkey see, monkey do, babey.]
She turns around once she realizes the bed isn't moving anymore, just in time to get a glimpse of the frankly terrifying new images on the monitor. She puts a hand to her mouth just in time to feel something wet and freezing grab onto her opposite wrist and breathe against her ear, which is why she immediately screams in both surprise and fright. The sudden blackout and splitting headache don't exactly help; her next step is to try to move away, and that's about when she realizes she can't move an inch.
She doesn't scream again, but she sounds plenty panicked as she calls out.]
[The fuck. He doesn't scream or even react beyond a "what" starting to come from his mouth as the figures on screen turn their heads. There are no faces. He suddenly understands nothing, and then suddenly everything happens so much.
He jumps at the sound of the voice, and the headache hits.]
Goddamnit! [Higekiri's getting the lights but Beck is yelling and he's fumbling for his clamshell to see if they can get some extra light.] Beck?!
[He'll start to step forward, but he's blatantly aware the monitor is on and keeps his attention split. Please let there be light as he tries to shake off the pain in his head.]
[Luckily, Higekiri won't have any trouble turning the lights back on as long as he's mindful of where he steps. With the added light from the clamshells, he should be able to make his way back over to the switches without tripping. Nice!
As the room is illuminated once again, Beck will see an... image. More like a flash in her mind's eye, really. For a second, she will picture her double standing by her side, hand gripped around her wrist. The flesh will melt from her double's face, exposing muscle, bone and sinew. A single eye stares back at her. A skeletal face smiles. And then the moment passes, and the vision is gone. Beck will be able to move again.
While this happens, Junpei will catch a glimpse of something on the computer monitor now that the lights are back on. Or... Well. It's much more than just a glimpse, really. Higekiri and Junpei's doubles are still there, but they have been ripped to pieces. Limbs are strewn across the bed. Bits and pieces of flesh stick to the walls. Their heads rest delicately on the pillows, just as faceless as before. The bedsheets and wall are absolutely coated in blood. Beck's double is nowhere to be seen.
But like before, this can only be seen through the monitor. Should they glance at the bed itself, it's pristine. Almost like nothing happened.]
Higekiri will look back behind him, taking a brief inventory of the situation, and then move. Even as he walks toward Beck, he'll look over at the monitor and his expression turns more serious at the carnage display on the screen.
Once he makes it to her, he retrieves the second cassette just in case - ]
Are you alright?
[he glances as the cassette in his hands, and then back at her, then toward the one she inserted - can he take the cassette back out? is there any clear difference between the two cassettes?
he's not going to say it out loud but he's going to take the guess that that wasn't normal for cassettes :( ]
[That's fine. All of this is fine. She definitely won't remember the image of her face melting off for weeks to come.
As soon as she can move again, she's backpedaling incredibly fast until she reaches a wall. There's a deep breath, as she drags her hands down her face, and touches her wrist to make sure it's fine. This at least means she misses seeing what's currently on the monitor! To Higekiri's question:]
Something grabbed me, I couldn't move! We should... We should get out of here, okay?
Something like what? [He doesn't mean to sound angry, but he's pissed off at whoever's fucking with them. Give him a moment, he'll approach them to wait and see if there's a difference between the cassettes.
And he'll take the second one from Higekiri's hand.]
...get to the door. I want to check one more thing.
[Beck's closest to the wall, and he's hoping Higekiri will follow since he has the sword, because Junpei's going to do two things. The second cassette goes in. He hits play.
And he walks backwards to approach the bed while keeping an eye on the monitor, letting a hand press down on the mattress. He'll also try to check under the covers and the pillow, and if he has time he'll check under the bed. He should go because they all still have headaches and will maybe be traumatized, but he seems like he's holding it together pretty well? Maybe that's scary in and of itself.]
[It's easy enough to take out the cassette, yes! Though... it doesn't seem like it was playing at all. All the proper controls for playing a cassette are there as well, though labeled with symbols as opposed to words. It's a good thing Higekiri isn't alone in this, because he might have had to go through some trial and error to figure it out otherwise.
There is a small difference between the cassettes once they take a closer look at them. Both of them are labeled, but part of the title has been scratched out. What little is visible on the first one simply says 1ST. The second one simply says 2 . C.
Nothing quite as extreme will happen once the second cassette goes in. The bed stays still. The monitor remains unchanged. When Junpei hits play, the P.A. system crackles to life once again. There are a few seconds of harmless, distorted audio, before something more intelligible graces their ears. Though there are still bursts of static here and there, they will hear someone's voice through the speakers.]
"I am so sorry," I told her. "I let -- -̧̀̕͜͠-̵͘-̵͝-҉҉̵̵̕-̴̛͜-̡̕͘-̶̨-̡͟͝-̴̨̨̕-̶̵̨̀͝-̨̀̀͝-̸͜-̸̷͞-͘͡-̛-̸̢͟͝-҉̧̀̕-̨̛́͡͞-̷̧͘-̷̡-̨̡͏-̶͡͠-͏̵͘͜͢-̴̢̛̕-̀͡͏̨̢-̴̵͞-̨͟͜-̶͡-̷̛͘͡-́̀͜͞-̢̢͟-̵̢̀͘-̸̡̛-͡-̴̵̴͜-̷̷̢-́͢.͏̸̛͝"
Using my friend's -̵͠a̧͘-҉͘҉-̡͠, the -̷̸̧o͏͘͜͢҉-̵̸̧̧-́͘͟͜-͏͡é̷̡̕-̴̴̨͏-̷̸̛̕-̧-̴̕͠͏͝ ̛̛͝i̴̢̨n̸̸̵̨̢ ̶̢̢́͝f̨́҉̛͞ŕ̶̴̸͜o̢̨̧͝ņ̵͢t of me smiled.
[After that, the recording becomes distorted once again.
While this plays, Junpei will find that the bed is completely fine. Nothing wrong with the mattress. Nothing hiding under the covers, pillow, or bed itself. It's just a normal, comfy bed.]
But Higekiri will allow the cassette to be taken from his hand, even as he moves closer to Beck, his hand falling on his sword just in case the lights go off again or something approaches her - ]
Please stay close to me.
[His voice is calm compared to Junpei's, but at least it lacks the usual airheadedness.
but then there's just the odd voice, and Higekiri listens to it thoughtfully, even as he remains on edge.]
Nothing else? [he glances back to Beck] If you head for the door, I will be close behind you. Please wait to open it until we confirm it's safe - I'd rather not put you in any more danger.
[he's still curious, and wants to investigate, but the safety of the humans present overrides his drive to keep looking around]
[The calm way he speaks helps, and she takes a step away from the wall to lightly take hold of his arm. Her grip tightens slightly as she noticed what Junpei is doing, but even the protestation she gives is too late to stop him.]
Wait, don’t!
[But as time passes and nothing as terrifying happens, her hold loosens slightly even if she doesn’t let go. Instead, she gives Junpei another look, biting her lower lip.]
Please, can we leave now? I don’t want to go without you.
[He's seated on the bed when the PA plays. He listens carefully, reaching into his pocket to write down the words on a spare sticky notes before shoving it back in. When his search provides nothing, he moves again to check the cords, even trying to see if he can find the speakers for the PA system and check those. But then Beck speaks, and when Beck looks at him like that, there's a moment he seems to freeze.
...they should go. They should definitely go, but he's grabbing the flash drives and also the cassettes. Can he take those? Let's find out. Everything gets shoved into his pockets along with the previously taken headphones, pencil and sticky notes.]
[Higekiri doesn't mind her taking a hold of his arm - one hand lifts from the hilt of his sword to rest over hers gently and he'll watch Junpei gather everything, waiting until he's also prepared to leave.]
Very well, be alert.
[And then he'll lead the way to the door, and only once he's right in front of it does he gently remove Beck's hand from his arm just in case he might need to, you know, use it.
and then he'll go ahead and test the door handle! Along with a polite - ]
Please grant us an exit.
[it's?? how they got in?? maybe that's how they leave too??]
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There's a frown at the noises being played suddenly, a greater feeling of unease as the bed begins to move for no apparent reason, and when she glances over and sees what's on the computer monitor, she freezes. She stays like that for a few moments, glancing between the monitor, the evidently empty bed, and the two of them. The only thing that shocks her out of her stunned silence is Higekiri's question.]
What? No, I would definitely remember this! What the hell...?
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And he doesn't answer. He stares blankly at the camera for a while, looking at the bed before looking for a stop button.
What the fuck.]
...check the cassettes. [His voice is low, almost threatening but he's also trying to see if there's a tape in the camera itself or if it's digital. Is this all the camera does? Furthermore:] And let me have the flashdrives. The little stick things.
[If Higekiri gives them to him, he's going to go back to the computer and see if he can plug them in.]
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So maybe Beck, Higekiri and Junpei should lighten up? Gosh.]
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But now Higekiri is looking over at Junpei in confusion?? But yeah he'll go to the desk to deposit the trays so he can have his hands free, and hand Junpei the sticks! JUNPEI YOUR STICKS. And then he'll ask:]
What did the note say?
[since Junpei put it in his pocket all angry and stuff, haha.
Anyway! He'll also pull the Used cassettes out of his back pocket and turn to Beck.]
And what do we need to use these?
[???? HELP A SWORD OUT.]
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Finally, she forces herself to look away from the monitor. As she does, she gives Junpei a concerned glance, but she doesn't say anything to him. Instead, turning towards Higekiri:]
...Over here.
[She takes the cassettes out of his hands, putting one at random into the empty space within the switchboard. If there's anything that looks like it may be a play button, she'll press it without a word.]
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But he's going to also watch Beck from the corner of his eye to see how the cassettes go.]
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As Beck pushes the first cassette into the slot, the moaning will come to a stop. Simultaneously, the bed will stop shaking. Junpei, who is fiddling with the computer and flashdrives to no avail, will be able to witness on the monitor as their duplicates stop moving — and then slowly turn their heads towards the camera without moving their bodies. Their necks pop, pop, pop as their heads turn 180 degrees in order to complete this anatomically impossible task. Once they've turned completely towards the camera, Junpei will realize something.
They have no faces.
The camera feed flickers.
Once it stabilizes, not even a second later, Beck's double has disappeared from the view offered by the monitor, leaving Junpei and Higekiri's doubles by themselves. Almost simultaneously, the real Beck will feel something icy and moist grip her wrist. She will be paralyzed as something breathes against her ear.
From the P.A. system, all three of them will hear the following word:]
S̠̜̤̰̞͉ͨ͘͢ͅƠ̵͙̻̫̟̩̭̘̂́̔̓ͤ̍͘O̱͙̖̞̘̭͙̰ͤ͐͑̾ͬͦ͒̚͟N̷̨̡̥̠͈ͪ͛ͨ.̘͚̩̳̻̑ͮ́
[And subsequently, all three of them will get something of a splitting headache.
The room goes dark, as two clicks come from the direction of the light switches. While the computer monitor will stay on, there's nothing to see while the room is plunged into darkness. Beck will not be able to move just yet... But maybe something can be done about that if they could see again?]
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[HM.
Higekiri winces with the headache and has decided that having a human body is starting to come with a lot more cons than anticipated? He grits his teeth unhappily before moving - ]
I'm going to bring the light back!
[Before they have a fucking collision if they all dive for it at the same time.
So don't mind Higekiri will just nyoom toward the light switches so that he can try to flick them back on again - one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, the other opening his Clamshell to provide light the way that he'd seen Junpei do earlier. Monkey see, monkey do, babey.]
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She turns around once she realizes the bed isn't moving anymore, just in time to get a glimpse of the frankly terrifying new images on the monitor. She puts a hand to her mouth just in time to feel something wet and freezing grab onto her opposite wrist and breathe against her ear, which is why she immediately screams in both surprise and fright. The sudden blackout and splitting headache don't exactly help; her next step is to try to move away, and that's about when she realizes she can't move an inch.
She doesn't scream again, but she sounds plenty panicked as she calls out.]
Help!
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He jumps at the sound of the voice, and the headache hits.]
Goddamnit! [Higekiri's getting the lights but Beck is yelling and he's fumbling for his clamshell to see if they can get some extra light.] Beck?!
[He'll start to step forward, but he's blatantly aware the monitor is on and keeps his attention split. Please let there be light as he tries to shake off the pain in his head.]
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As the room is illuminated once again, Beck will see an... image. More like a flash in her mind's eye, really. For a second, she will picture her double standing by her side, hand gripped around her wrist. The flesh will melt from her double's face, exposing muscle, bone and sinew. A single eye stares back at her. A skeletal face smiles. And then the moment passes, and the vision is gone. Beck will be able to move again.
While this happens, Junpei will catch a glimpse of something on the computer monitor now that the lights are back on. Or... Well. It's much more than just a glimpse, really. Higekiri and Junpei's doubles are still there, but they have been ripped to pieces. Limbs are strewn across the bed. Bits and pieces of flesh stick to the walls. Their heads rest delicately on the pillows, just as faceless as before. The bedsheets and wall are absolutely coated in blood. Beck's double is nowhere to be seen.
But like before, this can only be seen through the monitor. Should they glance at the bed itself, it's pristine. Almost like nothing happened.]
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Higekiri will look back behind him, taking a brief inventory of the situation, and then move. Even as he walks toward Beck, he'll look over at the monitor and his expression turns more serious at the carnage display on the screen.
Once he makes it to her, he retrieves the second cassette just in case - ]
Are you alright?
[he glances as the cassette in his hands, and then back at her, then toward the one she inserted - can he take the cassette back out? is there any clear difference between the two cassettes?
he's not going to say it out loud but he's going to take the guess that that wasn't normal for cassettes :( ]
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As soon as she can move again, she's backpedaling incredibly fast until she reaches a wall. There's a deep breath, as she drags her hands down her face, and touches her wrist to make sure it's fine. This at least means she misses seeing what's currently on the monitor! To Higekiri's question:]
Something grabbed me, I couldn't move! We should... We should get out of here, okay?
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And he'll take the second one from Higekiri's hand.]
...get to the door. I want to check one more thing.
[Beck's closest to the wall, and he's hoping Higekiri will follow since he has the sword, because Junpei's going to do two things. The second cassette goes in. He hits play.
And he walks backwards to approach the bed while keeping an eye on the monitor, letting a hand press down on the mattress. He'll also try to check under the covers and the pillow, and if he has time he'll check under the bed. He should go because they all still have headaches and will maybe be traumatized, but he seems like he's holding it together pretty well? Maybe that's scary in and of itself.]
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There is a small difference between the cassettes once they take a closer look at them. Both of them are labeled, but part of the title has been scratched out. What little is visible on the first one simply says 1ST. The second one simply says 2 . C.
Nothing quite as extreme will happen once the second cassette goes in. The bed stays still. The monitor remains unchanged. When Junpei hits play, the P.A. system crackles to life once again. There are a few seconds of harmless, distorted audio, before something more intelligible graces their ears. Though there are still bursts of static here and there, they will hear someone's voice through the speakers.]
Using my friend's -̵͠a̧͘-҉͘҉-̡͠, the -̷̸̧o͏͘͜͢҉-̵̸̧̧-́͘͟͜-͏͡é̷̡̕-̴̴̨͏-̷̸̛̕-̧-̴̕͠͏͝ ̛̛͝i̴̢̨n̸̸̵̨̢ ̶̢̢́͝f̨́҉̛͞ŕ̶̴̸͜o̢̨̧͝ņ̵͢t of me smiled.
"̴̴͢I̵͜t̛'́҉s̷̢̛ ̸͘̕͡o͢͜k̵̨͢a̸̡̨͡y͞,̸"̵̕͏̷ ̵̡͘͠͞i̴̡̧̨̢t͠͏̴̛ ̧̀s̀͡͏á́͜͞y̶̶̛͘s̀́.̕͟͢͡ ̧̛̛̕"̷̡̡̛͡Ḉ̀͞͞o̢̡m̛͜͜͜͞e̢̨͜͠ ̶͝͝͏l̡̀͢͢a̵̷͏̀͢y͟͝ ͘͝w̧͞͞i҉̷̢͘͜t҉ḩ̧̀̕͠ ̴̧̛͞m҉ȩ҉̧̛.҉̵̀"̶̀
[After that, the recording becomes distorted once again.
While this plays, Junpei will find that the bed is completely fine. Nothing wrong with the mattress. Nothing hiding under the covers, pillow, or bed itself. It's just a normal, comfy bed.]
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But Higekiri will allow the cassette to be taken from his hand, even as he moves closer to Beck, his hand falling on his sword just in case the lights go off again or something approaches her - ]
Please stay close to me.
[His voice is calm compared to Junpei's, but at least it lacks the usual airheadedness.
but then there's just the odd voice, and Higekiri listens to it thoughtfully, even as he remains on edge.]
Nothing else? [he glances back to Beck] If you head for the door, I will be close behind you. Please wait to open it until we confirm it's safe - I'd rather not put you in any more danger.
[he's still curious, and wants to investigate, but the safety of the humans present overrides his drive to keep looking around]
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Wait, don’t!
[But as time passes and nothing as terrifying happens, her hold loosens slightly even if she doesn’t let go. Instead, she gives Junpei another look, biting her lower lip.]
Please, can we leave now? I don’t want to go without you.
[But this is a bad room full of bad things.]
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...they should go. They should definitely go, but he's grabbing the flash drives and also the cassettes. Can he take those? Let's find out. Everything gets shoved into his pockets along with the previously taken headphones, pencil and sticky notes.]
Let's go. Check the door, see if it opens.
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Very well, be alert.
[And then he'll lead the way to the door, and only once he's right in front of it does he gently remove Beck's hand from his arm just in case he might need to, you know, use it.
and then he'll go ahead and test the door handle! Along with a polite - ]
Please grant us an exit.
[it's?? how they got in?? maybe that's how they leave too??]
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As for the door...............................
It's locked.
Did they forget to do something?]
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I didn't see anything that looked like it could unlock the door... Maybe we should pick the lock?
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if that doesn’t work then higekiri will move to go investigate the switchboard?? but first - ]
Miss, please let us know if you feel anything else.
[he’s forgotten her name
anyway AT THE SWITCHBOARD he’s going to stare at it because oh god swords and technology. he furrows his brow]
Did you press something here...? Basement 1 is illuminated.
[presuming she tells him, he will press what she tells him to]
Did I forget to close the locker?
[IS THE ROOM BROKEN BC IT’S NOT CLEAN?]
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Um, please allow us exit...?
[But as she waits to see if that works!]
Maybe try pressing the one that says all... That was lit up when we came in.
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