. . .

Save <--

Get a picture of the eye with your tablet (if it takes pictures) > put away your tablet when the food arrives > forget all about the glitchy eye for now > enjoy a meal with your friends . . . and Ravenna > go home

(If I got the flags right, I should be on harem route in no time!! . . . Wait, wrong game >.>)

 

>Scope out that eye. If applicable, use doublethinking to analyse it. (No idea how that's supposed to work lal) Take a picture if you can, too.

>Get some grub, try to be sociable. Don't mention the eye just yet. Might be jumping the gun, plus they don't seem like they'd listen or care.​

>Get yo' save on.​

>Back to class(?)​

 

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music​

|| grasshopper jump ||​

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SAVED!!​

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"Hey! Wake up, girl!"​

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You fail to continue your nap, opening your eyes to SIMONE's sharp, buzzing voice, and the warming, teak-and-granite decor of the Grasshopper Curry restaurant. The delectable scent of fried meat tickles your nostrils. You yawn and stretch out your arms in a soft yelp, almost hitting SIMONE in the face.​

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"Jeez! Don't attack me for tryin' to teach you to not be a rude duckling!"​

You hear a light cough. "Is she always like this?"​

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You snap to attention. Your eyes grow cold as you locate the source of that uselessly stupid ghostly noise. The voice of a bitch. You hated bitches.​

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It was RAVENNA, who sat in front of you, keeping her hands to her mouth in a barebones attempt to stop her laughter. ​

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"You are always like this, aren't you?" She said, after a while.​

"No! N-no." Your voice lowers instinctively.​

"Are you a narcoleptic, now?"​

RAVENNA rests her elbows on the table, lowering her head in suspicion. She narrows her eyes. "Man, you sure look like one. Those bags under your eyes aren't a healthy sign. You used to be so much prettier, you know."​

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Oh ...​

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SIMONE jumped up from the table. "RAVENNA! You said you wouldn't act like this when we called her over!"​

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We? You feel a lump in your throat. ​

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RAVENNA yawned, closing her eyes. "Jeez jeez jeez, calm your hormones, SIMONE. It's just a question. I mean, yeah, come on, how long has it been since I've talked to this girl?"​

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Ugh. This was terrible. Your head collapses to the table and you cup your hands to your ears as your nose touches the black granite table top. You feel your heartbeat turning strained and tough, and your breath grows heavy, as if rocks litter your lungs.​

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"There she goes again!" You hear RAVENNA cry. You wanted to punch her. You really wanted to punch her. But-- but you just couldn't bring yourself to. You tried to lift your head but you didn't even want to look at her face right now.​

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"INGRID, hey, don't you know how to deal with this?"​

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You close your eyes.​

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"INGRID. INGRID! Can't you take your attention off the window for one second? You're just as bad as what she's doing right now!"​

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You quietly call for SIMONE's name. She leans over to your side, while RAVENNA is distracted with INGRID.​

"Yeah?" She asks, gently.​

"This was a bad idea. This really--"​

"It isn't." You feel her warm hands pat your head. "RAVENNA isn't the same person, you know-"​

"Are you blind?! She hasn't changed a bit!"​

SIMONE gently taps the top of your head with a finger to silence you. "She's been really apologetic recently, and you know how it is, with the HOUSEHOLD and the BUSINESS and all the stuff. Yeah? Don't make her feel even worse--"​

"That's precisely what I want to do!" You bury your head further into the table.​

You hear SIMONE sigh. "Look, just-- just one lunch. One lunch will be all it takes to fix this up. She really does care, and you're the entire reason why she--"​

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SIMONE stops. You hear footsteps.​

You raise your head, and you see one of the WAITERS appear with the menus. The swarthy man hands them to your party and says, in his thick, incomprehensible accent, he will be back in a few moments. You quickly grab a menu and hold it between yourself and RAVENNA, using it as a leather-bound barrier. ​

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"... Um. What're you doing?" RAVENNA asks.​

You sigh, crossing your arms. "Is it a crime to look at food at a restaurant?" ​

RAVENNA doesn't say anything. You feel her shift over to INGRID a bit, as if she is whispering something to her.​

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"So, uh ..." SIMONE says, exasperation lining her voice as she desperately tries to claw at a topic of conversation. "That man."​

RAVENNA pops up to face her. She points at the direction the WAITER walked off to. "That man?"​

You continue to stare down the menu. Maggot burgers, grasshopper steak, fried crickets ... ​

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"That man. I haven't seen--uh--" SIMONE lowers her voice. "I haven't seen his kind 'round these parts before."​

RAVENNA snickers and coughs. "He's a Colonist, that's why."​

"What?" You hear panic in SIMONE's voice. "What're they doing here? They don't--"​

"Shush! Don't let them hear you, idiot!" RAVENNA clears her throat.​

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Mealworm spaghetti, roach soup, katydid pie ...Trying to ignore their conversation was tough, even with this delicious food. Such nutritious, tasty bugs were a delicacy in the Infinite Metropolis. How did RAVENNA even have the money? ​

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"They're probably all here from the EPIDEMIC."​

"So he's-- he's one of them?" SIMONE pauses. "Ew."​

"Don't be like that, SIMONE. It isn't contagious, and it isn't their fault, and--"​

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"Guys."​

RAVENNA and SIMONE immediately stop whispering to each other. Your eyes dart to the source of the gentle voice. You had never heard it before; it was so calming and thoughtful, like the wind playing a celesta.​

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You all turn your attention to INGRID. Your menu slowly tips over and falls onto RAVENNA's. ​

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INGRID points outside. "There's more of them--"​

"More of what? Your brain cells?"​

"More of the-- the EYES are like, glitching out."​

RAVENNA is silent for a moment. "Glitching out? They can't glitch."​

SIMONE presses her nose to the glass. "See for yourself, she's right! They're like, stationary!" ​

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It really took them that long to realize? You snicker to yourself as you pride your observational skills for noticing something like that. While half-asleep too. Ten out of ten for you. ​

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But now that they've noticed it, maybe it'd be a good time to figure out why the EYES seemed to be glitching out. You turn your gaze a few inches away and sure enough, more of the floating white spheres seem to be frozen in time.​

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Maybe this would be a good time to talk about it. You, actually, hadn't seen it before either, and something so different and strange like this really did send a few chills down your spine. Perhaps DOUBLETHINKING would help. ​

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Your PROFESSOR did say that CONTRADICTION WAS THE KEY TO STIRRING DOUBT, AND DOUBT WAS THE KEY TO STIRRING SOCIAL CHANGE.​

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Your belly rumbles. You should probably decide on some food, too. You feel like getting home as quickly as possible, but you can't leave just yet, or you feel SIMONE will kick you. Again. Like last time.​

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((​

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The DOUBLETHINK ability, unique to ADENINE'S CROSS, draws upon the NAMES in your menu, and the people​

-- directly around you at the moment.

You must choose one person out of the selection to undergo DOUBLETHINK. ​

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You have gone through an INTERACTION.​

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Prolonged interactions facilitate updates to the NAMES section. ))​

 

And now we know. :L

>Save

>E: I am told it would be wise to select only one DOUBLETHINK candidate for now, so my vote's for RAVENNA.​

>Order food at random​

 

[x] Ingrid.
[x] Crickets.

 

--> Save

--> Inventory

DOUBLETHINK --> Ingrid

ORDER --> Crickets

(I'd like to have said Ravenna, but now doesn't seem like the appropriate time to recompense for any altercations or issues that might have taken place between the two. Main focus should be directed at the Eye's. I feel they might have something to do with the Colonists, but that's just a nagging feeling. Good job so far, What?. ^^ I'm really intrigued.)

 

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music​

|| grasshopper jump ||​

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SAVED!!
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+ PHONE < [it's your phone.]​

+ BAG OF ALMONDS < [you're always hungry.]​

+ SCHOOL TABLET < [trashy useless device. friends keep their porn on it.]​

+ FACE MASK < [so you don't die.]​

+ TAXI TICKET < [need this to get home.] ​

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You stare directly at INGRID.​

Out of the three here, she was the one you knew the least. Always quiet, but something really as strange as the EYES suddenly just ... stopping, well, it crawled under your skin as something nasty too. So maybe she knew things. And maybe she was HIDING things too.​

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Was it time to start a REVOLUTION? You thought so.​

You break your sour gaze at the window and slowly turn to INGRID. Her doll-like features continue to be fixated at the scenes outside; more and more EYES appear to be freezing in mid-air, and it seems to be causing a stir among the pedestrians too.​

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No matter.​

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YOU GAZE INTO INGRID'S EYES ...​

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... And suddenly, you fall asleep, unconscious.​

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"Wh-what? I-- uh, Simone, look at this! She's fallen asleep again! She really is a narc o ​

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- - - - -​

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You wake up inside INGRID's PSYCHE.​

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Or what you can see of it right now, anyway. Your stand up upon a cold marble floor, checkered in black and white like a chessboard. You notice a cold black void around you; in fact, it is almost like you seem to be in space, but without stars, galaxies, or anything else. You look up and notice the RINGS OF A STRANGE PLANET.​

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You SHIVER and walk forward a few steps. You see GLOWING LIGHTS hovering across the marble floor, far, far away. Was that some sort of clue? You run over to them, as fast as your feet can take you, and slowly the specks of light transform into enormous floating kerosene lamps. The sharp scent of gasoline stings your nose, and the sound of MECHANICAL CLOCKWORK seems to grow louder and louder beneath your feet.​

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You widen your eyes.​

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This was unmistakably a CLOSED PSYCHE. ​

This meant two things.​

INGRID was either a MENTAL DISSIDENT, who should have been RELEASED a long time ago, but had hidden it from society somehow, or is simply a MASTER OF DOUBLETHINKING.​

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But it was showtime.​

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You call out.​

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music​

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|| ingrid's psyche ||​

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SCENE: INGRID'S PSYCHE, a VAST, CHECKERED MARBLE FLOOR. FLOATING KEROSENE LAMPS bob around the surface. The distinct sound of CLOCKWORK TICKING is heard from nowhere in particular. Around you is a vast BLACK VOID.​

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ENTER PLAYER and INGRID'S VOICE.​

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INGRID!​

I summon you, INGRID! ​

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ENTER the sudden display of TWO ENORMOUS PEARL-WHITE GATES that EXTEND FROM THE GROUND in front of you.​

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...​

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INGRID!​

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...​

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Silence. Characteristic silence.​

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INGRID! This is of utmost URGENCY!​

I know you are there!​

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...​

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Oh. It's you.​

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You swear for a moment, you hear an OUT OF TUNE CELESTA, tinny and hollow, as if echoed through the floor, but it suddenly re-tunes itself on-key.​

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I-- Is that you?​

What are you doing here?​

This is m-- mine and mine alone,​

Nothing for you in my little home!​

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C-- Can't you see the peril outside?​

The EYES weren't ever like this until we arrived!​

Is there something wrong? There-- there can't be--​

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Enough!​

I've come here to debilitate with you​

What could be the reason behind ​

These EYES, so let me into the recesses of your mind!​

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(ACTION: KNOCK ON THE GATES)​

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T--there's no way, no-- no.​

I'm not letting you in! You can't, you can't!​

So shimmy f--forth right here with your little rant!​

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Let me begin by saying this!​

When an EYE-tuned malfunction exists,​

We better get out of here REAL QUICK.​

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Bad things will happen.​

Bad things will happen ...​

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I KNOW BAD THINGS WILL HAPPEN!​

But why would they stop? Don't you-- you have​

A-- a clue? Too easy to be true?​

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They've done, it is, a similar thing a few before.​

INGRID, stop denying yourself! A star student!​

Your quiescence is simply the inability of your own psyche!​

This falseness of defence must end.​

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(ACTION: SIT DOWN ON COLD MARBLE FLOOR, IN FRONT OF TWO GATES)​

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We live in a society of ignorant fools!​

Where the smoke and the soma make all of the rules!​

Do you not remember the EYES, when they acted like this before--​

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(ACTION: INGRID'S VOICE is briefly SILENT.)​

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... No.​

N-- no.​

No-- nonononono-- no--​

Do you mean--​

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I do mean!​

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You are the true meanest to--​

To-- to say--​

That this is a repeat of the GENOCIDE ON THE NINTH OF THERMIDOR?​

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aahahaha ... ahaha​

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The name of that COLONIST SLAUGHTER on the fifth colonial planet struck a nerve in you. You instinctively look down and your teeth begin to rattle a bit.​

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You touch the LEFT GATE, and you are surprised to feel that it seems to be SHUDDERING IN FEAR AND SLIGHT TERROR.​

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This was your chance.​

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While they fought it was we who forgot!​

The smoke has all let your minds roam free.​

Rot and succumb to a forgetfulness of the past!​

Were I to say this in public, it would surely be a sin​

Of the highest degree.​

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...​

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(ACTION: The GATES begin to shake violently, but they suddenly turn GOLD and you are PUSHED INTO THE BLACK VOID. The GATES EXTEND INTO THE SKY at the rate of your ascension.​

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The CELESTA suddenly becomes OUT OF TUNE again.)​

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You will stay out. ​

This is no time for games, little girl. ​

Be that you may be right, then joust in your play.​

ASK ME QUESTIONS, and I will strike you down,​

So never again may you be foolish enough​

To think that a cancerous little wretch like you can meet me on my terms again.​

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ACT ONE​

SUCCESS​

INGRID is NATURALLY DEFENSIVE, and you did not gain FURTHER ACCESS into her PSYCHE yet. You now have 9 DOUBLETHINK POINTS remaining.​

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((​

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DOUBLETHINKING (usually) has THREE ACTS. Congratulations, act one was a basic idea of what it shall be like.​

When DOUBLETHINKING, the object of your commands is to PRESS WITH QUESTIONS, generally.​

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TRY AND MAKE SURE THESE QUESTIONS ARE POIGNANT AND DEAL WITH THE ISSUE YOU ARE DOUBLETHINKING FOR. (Though other questions are fun to ask.)​

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IN THIS CASE, IT WOULD BE ABOUT THE EYES, WHY THEY ARE ACTING LIKE THIS, AND HOW BAD THINGS CAN BE PREVENTED WITH THEM.​

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It should be safe to WORD YOUR POSTS WITH THE TONE YOU WISH TO ASK QUESTIONS WITH. For example, if I wish to ask questions gently, I would try keeping my word choice gentle, kind, and apologetic in my questions. If I wish to be angry or persistent, I would probably add rage-like words and sprinkle a few swears here and there.​

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THE OPPONENT WILL ALSO ASK QUESTIONS FROM TIME TO TIME, so try your best to answer them.​

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You LOSE doublethink points if the opponent trips you up with questions, or in certain cases if the answer is inadequate for them. You ALSO LOSE doublethink points if your TONE makes them DEFENSIVE.​

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On the other hand, you GAIN doublethink points if you can trip up the opponent and force yourself deeper into their PSYCHE. Each character has a DOUBLETHINK THRESHOLD; the number of points you must have at one time to DOUBLETHINK with them. (One of the three three girls is basically the tutorial level so they start off at threshold: 0 even though you begin with 10 points).​

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If the opponent completely dominates you, it is a FAILED ACT and you are EJECTED OUT OF THEIR PSYCHE. Their domination of you depends on your questions and your tone. Otherwise, successes can be common.​

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))​

 

[] Stats
[] Names
[] Save

> Proceed to act 2

 

--> Save

(If it's okay, or the correct way to do it, I'd like to monologue my response choice. Easier to get things across.)

You let out a sigh. "I'm going to be honest," you hesitate momentarily, "I'm not really the greatest when it comes to others." You lean your head back against the gate, closing your eyes. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to ask, do you not think this marks resemblance to the past? If not then," you pause, thinking over your words, "then what do you think it all means?"

(Not sure if this was the correct method. ^^")

Um . . . I don't think that's how it works >.> Then again I don't know.

 

Closed my laptop to move before I was done with the post, must have posted without noticing. Anyhow, finishing.

So is the question answer format going to be one to one or do we get one question that spurs a dialogue?

If it spurs a dialogue, I'd tell her not to shut out the only one who will listen. The only one who actually wants to know what she's got to say. Everyone else around is going to sit, stand, walk, run and waste their lives away caught up in the mist fueled grind but you're not, it'd kill you if you tried. So why not give little cancer a chance? She's just outgrown the "healthy" tissue, is all.

If it will be batting back and forth, I'd ask why she's so vehemently opposed to questions. We're not the enemy, we've got nothing to hide. Possibly share some information.

 

I think this was supposed to be just for demo purposes. Something tells me we can't proceed straight to the second act yet, and we may not be able to DOUBLETHINK on anyone else before something happens.

In any case,
>Check Names again to see if Ingrid's info has changed.

>Obsessive-compulsive saving disorder goooo​