Rata Mall - Main Thread

[Ariel]

"Hello," says Carla to Terry (Battle Mage) before

swiping the third gas mask

.

Examine ice cream stall
Then, start to turn all the tables right side up

[Ariel]

Scoots chair to nearest table.

So you came to my mall just redecorate?

"I was raised to leave places better than I found them. You say this is your mall. So, this isn't your first time here?"

[Ariel]

Not my first and I don’t intend for it to be my last.

Though it certainly has been some time.

Quite the set of manners on you. I’m Leo. Sir Leo Mustelid. Never mind the title.

What brings you around these parts, Miss...?

"Hello Leo, I'm Carla. I think I have as well, but I was too young to remember it. From what I've heard, this place should be worth searching. It has a lot of history. I'm just not sure where to start."

[Ariel]

Johannes Berger looks up at the unusual Asian woman with a tilt of the head. He's not sure what to make of her odd manner of speaking, but she seems unthreatening, for the moment.

"Well, I see no harm in sharing some information."

[snip]

"What I miss most -- loved ones -- can't be brought back. But, if something significant happened here, I would like to figure that out. I want to learn more about this place."

examine food stalls for cleaning products

[Ariel]

Sits at a table and reads "A beginners guide to Phlogiston"

"Did any of you bring the magazine with you? If so, may I have a look?"

[Ariel]

"I was in the hardware store with three others. From what the rest of you have shared, it was comparatively quite uneventful. I'm having a bit of trouble following this conversation. About the missing glasses, how vision impaired are you? Like if we looked for reading glasses, would that help at all?"

Leave manual on table. Examine ATM for possibility of changing bills into coins

[Ariel]

Hand $10 bill to groza/Johannes

"Since you mentioned you're going to the bank, if there's a way to change these into coins so that we can play more games, please do."

[Ariel]

Give Ariel a $1 to play a game of something

"Thanks! And um, that book is...outdated science."

Play Pacman

then

sit at a different table and read Fixing Faulty Generators

Finally he turns his attention to Carla. "I will certainly do my best to exchange this while in the bank."

Whisper to Ariel

"Pardon? I didn't catch that. By the way, if someone wants to brave climbing, I have a light source."

[Ariel]

Puts away manual

"No one has seen a generator, right? I wonder if that's what should be powering the elevator."

[Ariel]

Puts away manual

"No one has seen a generator, right? I wonder if that's what should be powering the elevator."

Hey that's what we were talking about I think, may I have that book? I'll give you some more coins for it?

"No need to treat me like a child in need of an allowance. That said, I have this memorized, so you're welcome to it."

Gives Fixing Faulty Generators manual

[Ariel]

Plan to go to basement

Give digital camera to groza529 / Johannes

"Fixing a faulty generator may require up to two gallons of petrol, cables that I saw in the hardware store, and a wrench. I didn't search the hand tools section myself, but that seems to be the logical place to have found a wrench. I was just in the hardware store, so I'd rather explore elsewhere, but I'd like to help as I can."

[Ariel]

Go to parking lot

[Ariel]

There weren't any cannisters of petrol in the car park, and I didn't have the equipment to try to siphon it from the cars left there. So, no progress on that. It is eerie to have someone be.missing. Glad Cindy's glasses are found though.

[Ariel]

Pick up phologiston manual from table

[Ariel]

Inspect Madame Seer

[Ariel]

Take $20; Inspect Madame Seer again

[Ariel]

inspect map

[Ariel]

"Has anyone found any glue or something with a similar function that they would be willing to part with?"

[Ariel]

If chewing gum won't work.. Would it be a stretch to try make some homemade "Duck tape?" Ariel and I [MNOWAX] were both in the hardware store in the first phase, I didn't see anything like duct tape, but some others checked the shelves and boxes.

Using the powers of remembering things I googled one time. <And totally didn't look this up like 5mins ago, because there's no internet in this mall>

Homemade Glue can be made out of:

Flour and water.
Fat, Ash, and Treesap
Water Corn syrup, vinegar, corn starch etc

I would ask Ambic if you could melt the eatery plastic plants on the flip n grill hotplate and "melt/glue" something together.

If we could make some "glue", you use it with some of my bandages to try to make "Duck Tape"?

attempt to rip some of the plastic plants

"Worth a try, though actual glue or tape would be better I think."

[Ariel]

Give flashlight and gas mask to Groza

"I need both of them back."

[Ariel]

Whisper to Talitha

[Ariel]

Whisper to CaptainMeme

[Ariel]

"Who went to the bathrooms?"

[Ariel]

accept glue

I think if Terry is dead, then so is Casey (Pooky). He hit the fourth skull. We had walkie talkies so our idea was that if one of us stayed on the outside, they could then coordinate to get the Terry and the other person unstuck. I was skeptical and I obviously should have been more so, but he was insistent on trying. The scene in the freezer initially looked to me like the people themselves shouldn't have been getting burnt, but I'm no forensic investigator. I really thought he had Good intentions. I don't even know what else to say. It's horrible.

[Ariel]

Ever since the freezer shut all I heard was static.

[Ariel]

Show upper right arm

[Ariel]

put on gas mask

[Ariel]

Alright, while we wait for others to raise their arms for checking. We may as well do this.

Regarding Harry's jacket, I believe Harry did that to himself for the same reason Jia tried to shoot me. He thought I was a recruiter for a Hive Mind and was trying to expose his arms out of fear of being chipped.

So he was partially right, I am a "kind" of recruiter, in a manner of speaking. This was known to Casey, Carla and Terry, but I am not the one you were looking for.
Let me explain.

I was told some of this information, yes. I don't really know what being a Mutant entails, but you've seemed helpful thus far.

Is the following list of visited locations accurate?

Present
Groza529 is Johannes Berger: Bookstore, Bank, Basement
Primate: Hardware Store, Bank, Barber
RubberDuck is Dr.Lacey Higgs: Hardware Store, Cafe, Barber
Zag is Mark Knorp: ?, Fashion Store, ?
Porochaz is Xavier Lynch: Cafe, Hardware Store, Basement
Green Crayons is Sir Leo Mustelid: Bathrooms, Bookstore, Fashion Store
Nexus is Cindy Rose: Bookstore, Bookstore, ?
Talitha is Yvonne Skeggs: Bookstore, Car park, Fashion store
Ariel is Carla Temperton: Hardware store, Car park, Cafe
CaptainMeme is Jia Xing: Hardware store, Bank, Cafe

Battle Mage is Terry Young: Basement, Cafe, [Lab]
PookyTheMagicalBear is Casey Ballentyne: Bookstore, Carpark, Cafe

[Ariel]

Mark was in the hardware store then I think. Sorry, my memory is fuzzy, but there were 4 of us and only 1 man.

[Ariel]

Attempt to pick up gold with both hands

[Ariel]

Stop attempting to take gold; stand nearby

[Ariel]

Pick up ingot

[Ariel]

He was just surprised and annoyed that the truck was broken. Depending who this gold originally belonged to, I may need it. Sorry for my poor manners.

[Ariel]

It is overwhelming how much bizarre stuff is going on that seems to have very little to do with the somewhat bizarre things I have to do here.

Friendly reminder that there's two people who haven't been checked to my knowledge and that I don't believe we know all the whereabouts of.

[Ariel]

Examine Talitha's back

[Ariel]

Small puncture wound, small amount of blood. Looks about how being syringed ought to?

[Ariel]

Take waterproof matches
Take empty backpack
Put gold ingot in backpack
Back away from other people

[Ariel]

"I think it's probably for the best that you acted quickly, Johannes."

[Ariel]

My gut feeling is that his ritual makes much more sense as a ruse than the truth. Sir Leo has been manipulative since the moment we met him.

[Ariel]

Use toilet paper to scrub symbols

[Ariel]

Whisper to Harry

[Ariel]

Take out and turn on torch (left hand)
Show right arm

[Ariel]

I didn't move. I'm in favor of trying the wet wipe method first just because it's a little less convoluted. Can I borrow the water, doctor?

[Ariel]

I'm not clear on whether the Augmentation League members that can turn people into drones are also drones. But I believe the clones are different than the drones.

I'd be willing to show Zag the camera but seems that's not currently an option.

There was an accusation that makeup or something could be being used to cover the glow. I was just planning to dump water on the bottom of my shirt and then wipe off my right arm with it because I have no other fabric.

(Flashlight = torch by the way, I was just trying to be vaguely European. /ooc )

[Ariel]

Turn off flashlight. Take a couple of bandages. Examine/sniff water

[Ariel]

Ok fine

get the portion of bandage wet, use on upper right arm

[Ariel]

I'm wiping the nonexistent makeup off my upper right arm

[Ariel]

I mean it's not like it's my back or something? I don't think I need help

[Ariel]

I mean I'm still not a glowy drone. But did we not agree that we were going to stand intentionally

before

turning the lights off?

[Ariel]

I HAVE NO PROBLEM BEING CHECKED BY JIA BUT YOU CAN'T JUST RANDOMLY TURN THE LIGHTS OFF AFTER STEALING FROM ME

[Ariel]

are the lights in fact on?

[Ariel]

Oh.

go stand near Jia

[Ariel]

I didn't expect that it would be a strong enough light source to be a problem and I thought it would be pretty damn important if a newly revealed drone uses the opportunity to start attacking. I brought up to Jia that we could try turning the lights off in the first place and mentioned I had a flashlight at the same time. She did not tell me not to use the flashlight.

[Ariel]

To be clear, I have no problem with the circle plan and I think a good point was made that we have limited time to try to check everyone before the phase ends. I have no problem with not having a flashlight on while the lights are off. I DO have a problem with Lacey unilaterally turning the lights off again after acknowledging that we should be doing it in a way that's safer. And I do have a problem with people BSing me about why they want to touch me. If I'm really so untrustworthy that you need someone else to wipe me off then just say so, don't be weird about it.

[Ariel]

I am pretty sure both Yvonne and Dr. Lacey are legit. In fact I think it is probable that there are no drones in this group at all. Discovering that there was one of them all alone while vulnerable in the dark seems like the least ideal way to do so, but I still think it may be worth doing.

However, in the moment, it is still scary when it appears the two them in particular are coordinating to do stuff no one else agreed to considering the de-klepto procedure. And then even that aside am I just supposed to stand there in the dark while everyone else does whatever weird stuff they did last time or worse? Please do not vilify me for trying to keep myself safe. Please feel free to explore wherever you want.

[Ariel]

Considering the threat of being injected by scary needles exists I just prefer not having other players literally touching me unless the reason is 100% needed and clear. That's all that I meant by what I said before, though I certainly could have phrased it better.

[Ariel]

Around the time that I checked Yvonne's back, I whispered to Jia: "This room has a light switch. If they figured out a glow hiding thing Idk if that could help. Might be too dangerous. If it's with makeup or something, water might help. Sorry just throwing out ideas. I also have a flashlight."

Jia did not respond specifically as to whether those were good ideas or not, and our conversation mostly focused on the lab and the scene in the cafe. I was surprised when Jia decided to turn out the lights without warning. If coordinated shenanigans occurred, it was without me.

I will remind you since it seems relevant that in the car park in phase 2, after stating I was Good-aligned and explaining my backstory, a lie detector originally belonging to Casey was used on me. I was determined to be telling the truth. Yvonne was present at the time. Both Yvonne and I physically saw the detector. Casey told Dr. Lacey much of this when we returned.

[Ariel]

That is also why Casey asked Jia while were in the cafe whether she was Good. He stated that her answer was not useful for the lie detector.

Examine Mark

[Ariel]

He was stabbed.

[Ariel]

Um, that's fine if you feel it necessary.

[Ariel]

I didn't put together that he is a clone until you said it.

And upon reflection, I think it's pretty who in this room has motivation to have killed him, and I think they have some explaining to do if they expect anyone to trust them.

[Ariel]

I suppose since you've been shot at I should probably clear up that I'm not referring to you.

[Ariel]

Gives digital camera to Lacey

[Ariel]

So the young man is John the mixologer. Apparently he had some sort of connection to this place before he came back. He is one of the dead people in the carpark.

The old man in the photo that looks vaguely crazed and untrustworthy is who I believe is the scientist.

The other elderly man is my grandfather who was a good guy.

Based on when my grandpa was alive and how the photo appears, it was taken in between 2019 and late 2021. Before things got messed up.

[Ariel]

Casey had a geiger counter that indicated John's body was quite radioactive, so I would assume due to that. I didn't ever specifically examine the body myself. John's body was also just kind of laying on the ground in the carpark, so was definitely not located there when we arrived. The exit door to the carpark had also newly been sealed off. There were other dead bodies in the cars but they seemed like they'd been there a lot longer.

Another fun reminder of how many useful items Casey had on him :\

[Ariel]

Whisper to Harry/Primate

I suspect Xavier/Porochaz of being the scientist that botched experimenting on, and then killed Mark/Zag. It is interesting that he has not returned. I do not believe Xavier publicly stated where he was going.
Cindy/Nexus did not initiate whispering with anyone and did not say publicly where she was going other than that it was not the Bookstore.

[Ariel]

Boy what a session.

The first thing you notice:

Both Cindy (Nexus) and Xavier (Porochaz) are nowhere to be seen.

[Ariel]

Pretty soon after we all split off there was a big explosion that soaked my clothes. Does anyone know what caused that?
I caused the smoke in the bathroom a while after that happened.
Xavier, would you be willing to elaborate on Cindy's diary?

[Ariel]

Read diary aloud

[Ariel]

Ok read more of it to myself??

[Ariel]

The diary belongs to Sarsha Rose. The last entry is from about two years ago, so shortly before the Collapse, when she was going to visit the fashion store in the mall. Based on that, I will assume that Cindy came to the Rata Mall to try to find out what happened to her sister.

Put diary on an eatery table.

I cannot identify aliens.

[Ariel]

Decline to take torch from Lacey

I accept your apology Yvonne but I don't believe I have a use for it at this time anyway.
I think we need to be prepared for the fact that the skull fridge setting may automatically create Franken-people.
I am struggling to understand how the lift was set on fire.
Xavier, why did you want to reach the black device?

[Ariel]

I think we need to be prepared for the fact that the skull fridge setting may automatically create Franken-people.

Johannes strokes his chin. "Interesting thought... so you are suggesting there is some autonomous function of the hidden door that first chars intruders, then turns them into some sort of monstrosity? I'm not precisely sure how that would work. The charring and subsequent unceremonious dumping of the body in the lab seems straightforward enough, though it does seem to take longer than I'd expect. But if I've understood correctly the bodies are just sprawled on the floor in the lab, so anything that happens to them after that would require precise manipulation... those of you who have been to the laboratory, did you notice anything similar?"
"Another possibility that I know some of us have begun to entertain is that someone else is here. The first of these behemoths we discovered came into the bank before Terry died (or before we knew he had died, to any extent.). But so far, none of them seem to be more than destructive brutes. Someone else would have to be responsible for their creation."
"Xavier-- you mentioned another clone that you believe to have been killed in the explosion, is that correct? So between that and Mark we can account for two of the cloning vats. The other two are apparently still intact, yes? This implies that the beings in the bank and the fashion store are not from the cloning project in the lab. So..."

"Where did these brutes come from? And, as Lacey asked, where did they go? The first we know how it was destroyed, but the second... I do not relish the idea that it may still be lurking."

Whisper Xavier

Whisper Carla

I would say that someone else having created them or the freezer doing so both fall under "being caused by not us," which I think is a distinct possibility. Maybe the former is more likely. I'm not exactly well-versed in this stuff. I did read a manual about automatons here in the mall but all I really gleaned from it is that it's easier to make clones and such out of an existing person rather than from scratch.

[Ariel]

"I don't actually have any superglue in my inventory just FYI"

[Ariel]

point of order does the dynamite stick seem like it would fit in the bottle?

[Ariel]

If Terry starts approaching wine bottles, I will light dynamite and throw it at him/the bottles, and say "Smoke is a great wine pairing" and then run the hell away

[Ariel]

If Yvonne approaches creature I'm not throwing

[Ariel]

Oh no.

[Ariel]

Use walkie talkie

[Ariel]

OK, I have walkie talkie contact with Lacey (she found another walkie talkie last phase). She said that she fell down Mr. Wok during the explosion into the lab and she thinks she's stuck. The place is very blown up

[Ariel]

Per Lacey Xavier seems to be able to teleport

[Ariel]

Specifically she says she went through a portal and that the teleporter system still seems operational but that she doesn't know how to operate either. I will pass on what you said though Johannes

[Ariel]

Cindy and Casey's bodies are there

[Ariel]

OK, I have walkie talkie contact with Lacey (she found another walkie talkie last phase). She said that she fell down Mr. Wok during the explosion into the lab and she thinks she's stuck. The place is very blown up

Yes she is.

[Ariel]

inspect rubble

She's not gotten back to me on your latest suggestions yet.

[Ariel]

I got an indication that she has yet to make progress but nothing crazy happened.
I asked her who she would want me to hand the walkie talkie off to if I were to do so. She said Johannes. So I will probably do so at some point in this phase to share the workload of passing info.

[Ariel]

stand next to lightswitch

Just yell when you're done

[Ariel]

(

turn on when yvonne says

)

[Ariel]

I last heard from her 6-7 hours ago, just commenting on Harry's theory though, nothing about progress made with regard to where she's stuck.

[Ariel]

Give walkie talkie to Johannes

I think it's probably safest if we travel in groups when leaving the eatery. There's one location that has an item useful for getting more info than Lacey/Yvonne were able to get in the office, and there's another location that I believe would be most useful for my personal goal. Because we have unexpected guests suddenly shows back up, it may be better to whisper further on this subject, but in any case I would prefer not to travel alone.