[IC Board] All the World's a Game - Season II

[S121]

Chireiden - Underground City - Old Hell - Gensokyo | Dusk

John continued to watch the tutorial video as he followed Rin inside. From what John could see, things seemed relatively normal here. If anything, The Underground seemed the least affected by The Devourer Incident. There were a few casualties, but they seemed to recover the fastest out of everyone. As the two walked, John decided to ask Rin a question. After all, not only was he genuinely curious about how everyone had been doing, he also needed to try and make an effort to talk with people.

"So, how has everything been?", John calmly asked Rin as they walked.




Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

Alice thought for a split second over Cole's question, then finally answered.

"Sure.", Alice said as she grabbed her plate and walked over to the table Cole and Flandre were sitting at.

After Alice sat down she then continued to eat her breakfast; bacon, eggs, toast, and a croissant. At first, Alice was silent as she finished her bacon, but after that, she decided that it was time to try and get to know Cole and Flandre.

"So, how did you guys get here?", Alice asked in a calm, curious tone as she grabbed her toast.

[Koishi]

Clockworks

---

"It's a one way elevator." HP explained. "What, did they take your..."

HP started to chuckle. "They took your clothes, didn't they?"

[S121]

Clockworks

If Takoizu had her helmet off, The Higher Power would have seen that she was angry.

"If I had my gaps, they would all be on their way into a black hole, maybe NGC 4889's That one is of a nice size.", Takoizu said to The Higher Power.

The only time Takoizu had been more angry and embarrassed than she was now was back in her timeline, when she was captured and they tried to experiment on her for her abilities. They met the same fate as their fellow ACO members. The experience was not pleasant, but she at least managed to get out of that one. With this one, she couldn't quickly and easily rectify the problem, not without her gaps.

"If we have some time, we should return here and pay them back. I need those back.", Takoizu added.

[Luna Pixu]

Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

---

The question struck Cole quite a bit. He hadn't told anyone at Prometheus Labs about why he was here or how he got here. Of course, he really couldn't for his own protection and for the sake of not being killed. If Cole told these people about the ACO, they could think that he was an agent of them and that Cole was a threat. But, as Cole learned last night, he COULD NOT lie to them. Cole nearly died due to his lies. And, if it weren't for Alice vouching for him, both he and Flandre would be dead. The least he could say is how the two met. As for the whole ACO thing, he wasn't sure at all.
"Well... Flandre and I... Our story so far has been a bit chaotic. How do I begin...? Well, both Flandre and I were put under Organisation XIII's custody. I was being contained by them because they wanted to know more about my powers and my... game of origin." Cole explained, choking on the last few words. "Flandre here... Well... I don't know. I found her while I was attempting to break out of their laboratories. The battle between myself and two of the Organisation members broke Flandre out of a similar containment to my own. She joined in the battle and fought alongside me but... it was too much. In the end, we won but Flandre had passed out. I took her with me, out of the castle and well... that's kind of it. We eventually found out about this place and we needed a place to stay. So... here we are." Cole finished off as he began to drink his cocoa. The composition of the cocoa made it relatively safe for him to drink. Although it did feel awkward having his electricity shift about his body while the drink passed through him, he was perfectly fine. A drink, unless it were pure water or mercury, wouldn't affect him too much.
"That's not all of it, Cole!" Flandre said in a mischievous voice with a sly giggle. Cole quickly spat the cocoa out of his mouth as he realised what Flandre was going to do. Cole hoped that his cocoa didn't land on a nearby SPARTAN because they would receive an electric shock. "What about those armoured people, Cole? The ones who helped you while you were helping me? You know. The ACO. If they hadn't come along, you would have known about the place and- Mmph mm mmph mmph!" Flandre outright said in a loud and mischievous voice before Cole placed his hand over her mouth. She needed to shut up right now. Flandre had already revealed too much information on why they are here and what has happened to them. If Flandre hadn't intervened, it could have gone so smoothly.
"Flandre, that's enough!" Cole commanded and scolded. She just had to do it. She just had to reveal it all. Right before Alice and every SPARTAN nearby. "Flandre, I thought you wouldn't talk in this! Why did you have to go ahead and- ARGH!!!" Cole attempted to say before he felt a sharp pain in his right hand. Quickly retracting his hand, Cole saw two holes pierced into it. Bite marks. But not only that, Cole saw that Flandre's fangs were covered in Cole's blood. She just bit him and drank a bit of his blood!
"Your blood is tingly, meanie." Flandre remarked as she licked the blood from her fangs.

[WriggleRid3r]

Chireiden - Gensokyo

---

"Nothing ever happens here." Rin said ambivalently. "Koishi-sama never comes to visit, Satori-sama is reclusive as always, Utsuho is... Well... Her usual self."

---

Yakumo Estate - Gensokyo

---

"...is there anything to stop this?" Yukari asked, uneasy of not only of her possible fate, but of the reactions of those around her. How would Ran act? Chen? And most importantly, her husband?

[S121]

Chireiden - Underground City - Old Hell - Gensokyo | Dusk

"Ah...", John said as he closely listened to listened to Rin.

There was something odd about how she spoke, as if she had mixed feelings over the current state of things. Instead of speaking about herself, she only listed what had happened with everyone else. Maybe John was looking too deeply into things, but he had a creeping feeling that even though things were relatively normal, something was troubling her.

"What about you?", John asked Rin.






Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

Alice was a little shocked to hear about The ACO, but from what intelligence they gathered, The ACO might have done something to them. After all, they were an anti-Character organization. What surprised her was the fact that they weren't killed on the spot. Before Alice could speak to them about The ACO, she was interrupted by Cole shouting out. From what Alice could see, Flandre had bitten Cole. She knew that she was a vampire and knew that unlike most other vampires, Flandre couldn't convert someone into a vampire by simply biting them. She needed to drain the person first, or at least try to purposely convert them. That being said, Alice was still not happy about the sudden conflict between Cole and Flandre. Meanwhile, Cole and Flandre's sudden uproar attracted the attention of a few nearby SPARTANs. Some of them had their hands on their pistols, simply by instinct and in case there really was something bad happening, while others merely observed, confused and curious about what Cole's shouting was about.

"Enough!", Alice said in a stern tone as she looked at both Flandre and Cole.

"Flandre, do not bite Cole. That's a very bad thing to do, especially to your friends.", Lily scolded Flandre before turning her attention over to Cole.

"And you shouldn't be withholding information on the ACO. Don't you realize they're an anti-Character organization? Both you and Flandre could have been killed. You're lucky they let you live. More often than not, they put-...", Alice harshly said to Cole before abruptly stopping.

She wanted to tell Cole exactly what they did to Characters, but she didn't want to say it in front of Flandre. Even if she was 500 years old, she was still a child, and children should not hear what Alice was about to say.

"They do bad things to Characters. Very bad things.", Alice said to Cole in a calmer, yet serious tone.

[WriggleRid3r]

Chireiden - Gensokyo

---

"Me? I'm fine." Rin let off a small smile as she led John to a large hall where, at the end of it, sat Satori, surrounded by animals that are drawn by her.



"Oh, welcome." Satori greeted John, rising from her throne-like chair. "What business beckons you here?"

[Katrix]

Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

As everything was happening, a voice came out of the air. "Please, try to be calm. I'm very interested in hearing this story in more detail." The voice had no definitive source and felt more like a echo than direct sound. Then DiZ came walking out of a Corridor of Darkness. Still while continuing to talk. "Especially about Organization XIII. You see, about a few hours ago, activity suddenly skyrocketed. Up to now they have been staying calm withing their city and experimenting. Now it seems they are done and are moving forward again. I need to know what happened in there?" DiZ said.

[Koishi]

Clockworks

---

"Thing is, we'll probably never see that place again. Maybe another treasure vault, sure. Most likely not that one, however." HP explained. "But, I may be able to get back the clothes after we're done here."

[Luna Pixu]

Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

---

Everything... Everything was not going to plan at all. Not only did Flandre go against him and reveal information about the ACO but she also bit him and caused an uproar. One that had Cole and Flandre at gunpoint right now. While trying his hardest not to focus on his injured hand, Cole could see the aggravation on the helmetless SPARTANs and on Alice. He seriously could not steer away from trouble. Especially because of Organisation XIII, the ACO, and now Flandre. Cole let out a sigh of defeat and concedance.
"I was aware of ACO's views towards characters and about their actions. But they told me to withhold information on them. I don't know why they didn't kill us or why they saved us in the first place. They just lead us out of Organisation XIII's castle, flew us to London, told us to go here, and that was it. I'm serious. Right now, I have no idea on what to do or where to go. All I want now are answers to these all questions I have and to get Flandre home." Cole said in a neither sad or worried tone. "If you intend on kicking us out or killing us due to the fact that we've been involved with the ACO, then I'll accept that."

But just as Cole was about to brace himself for Alice's judgement and to see whether he would actually die here or not. A voice could be heard from within the room. One that apparently knew about Organisation XIII. Much like the man from earlier, this one knew of the organisation and was also using the 'Corridors of Darkness' for his own. Whoever he was, Cole was greatly unsure on whether to trust him or not. The man stepped out of his Corridor of Darkness and revealed himself.
"Heh... And just as I was about to die... What exactly are you wanting to know? Why do you care about Organisation XIII?" Cole asked the mysterious man.

[Kristia]

yakumo estate

Renamon felt sorry for her friend but didn't let it go

"Yes there is a way to take it out of you Yukari, we will need to rip the madness like a qeed, directly from the root" she spoke and then explained

"I will do a ritual similar to an exorcism so I can take the madness and deal with it later, there will be three persons doing this, a ritualist, thats me, to go into your mind and perform the extraction. Then there is the protector, thats Nera, who will protect us from both the madness itself and your subconscious since we are in a sense invaders. Finally the anchor, mostly sure its John, who will calm your mind so we can traverse it more calmly."

[S121]

Chireiden - Underground City - Old Hell - Gensokyo | Dusk

(Hm. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe Rin's just in a mood.), John thought as she entered the room Satori was in.

As Satori greeted John, the video in his helmet continued to play. As Satori spoke and the video played, John rapidly alternated his attention between the video and back to her in increments of mere milliseconds, all while managing to keep coherent thoughts about each.

(Skill sets? Classes? This is going to be more complicated than I thought. I need to find someone that would fit into a certain class. There's top lane, mid, ADC, and support. This shouldn't be too difficult, as long as I know who to ask.), John thought before quickly switching his attention to Satori before she finished her sentence.

"Yes, I'm here because I need need to ask you something important.", John said.

Right after speaking, John thought about how Satori probably already knew what he was about to ask, due to her abilities. He thought that it was an unusual way to carry out a conversation, but he didn't mind.





Clockworks

After The Higher Power said that he would try and get her clothes back, Takoizu's anger began to slowly subside.

"Thank you. I would really appreciate that.", Takoizu said to The Higher Power in a less angered tone.





Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

At that very moment, every single SPARTAN in the mess hall quickly stood up pulled out their various weapons, and aimed them all at DiZ. While that happened, four large turrets emerged from hatches in the ceiling and aimed their large, 20 millimeter cannons at the new intruder. If the intruder did as much as move an inch, the HEFND turrets would open fire.

"Stay right where you are! State your business!", Alice shouted at Diz as she aimed her M6G Magnum Pistol at him.

[Katrix]

Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

A few seconds after DiZ entered the room, everything went wild. Suddenly all the guns in the room were aimed at him. "As if those guns would have done any damage at all" he said in a jokingly manner. "I guess this is what you want?" he asked whole pulling out and showing a card from SCAE to the people in the room. The card was a identification card from SCAE. It didn't provide much information like name or game, it simply had his nickname, DiZ, and his job, Watching Org. XIII, printed on it. "As for what I want to know, I am the one that sit in the shadow and collect all the information there is to know about Organization XIII. I am the one that normally know where they are and what they intend to do. Very recently, their activity skyrocketed. At nearly the same time, you broke out. I believe that these two events are linked and because of that, I want to hear everything that happened the last 3 days" he stated with a firm voice.

[WriggleRid3r]

Yakumo Estate - Gensokyo

---

"My mind isn't the prettiest to look into." Yukari hesitated grimly, but she soon recovered. "But if it's necessary, then who am I to say?"

---

Chireiden - Gensokyo

---

"Hmm hmm, I understand. Look into the mind of an innocent girl, see if she has any malice." Satori closed her eyes, while her red Third Eye scanned John. The sight of Satori's Third Eye scanning and moving around its' pupil was creepy, like a biological anomaly. "Very well, I shall do it. Consider it a hospitable favor from the underground."

[Luna Pixu]

Mess Hall - Prometheus Labs - London | Dawn

---

So this man, DiZ, wanted to know about Organisation XIII because he was some kind of authority on it. If that were the case, then why would Cole's information be important? All that Cole had to offer was merely what little he knew about Organisation XIII and how he got out of their castle. Given that he had little choice, Cole merely gave in and decided to tell DiZ.
"Well, if you have to know... I was held captive by them and so was Flandre here. For about... let's say a year, I have been kept in their prison with little to eat and little to do except think over my past and what might have caused this. It was only yesterday that I found out. Organisation XIII were using me so that they could learn about my powers and my past. They apparently were interesting in my electrical powers and how it could be used to enhance their own research and their plans. They ran some experiments on me and I quickly turned against them. I fought two of their members. One blue haired wielding a greatsword and another who had an eyepatch and was obsessed with guns. During the fight, I accidentally broke Flandre out of containment and she decided to join me in my fight. I defeated the blue haired one and both Flandre and I defeated the other. Shortly after, they started sending a bunch of weird creatures to finish us off. Flandre... passed out during this fight and I decided to run away. That's when the ACO come in. They blew up a segment of the castle trying to get to me and Flandre. We eventually got out of there, away from them. And here I am now. I'm not entirely sure how that helps but it's all I've got." Cole explained to DiZ and any SPARTANs who were listening. It was obvious that he could not lie any longer so he might as well start by being truthful about what happened with Organisation XIII.