[??? Day 465]

[quitplayinggames]

[you wake up.

the first sensation you feel is your key, warm and alive against your chest. you know immediately that this place is responsive to this power, the power of your will applied to magic. if you've started to experiment with what your special ability is, or if you want to, that realization might be easier to find here as well - though it's not strictly necessary. all you need for sure is a question: what are your desires. . .?

. . . you're in a blank white room. the walls and ceiling are featureless. the floor is covered in a million feathers and scraps of cloth, which drift up in muffling gales around you if you so much as move.

up in one corner high off the ground, you glimpse a splash of bright electric blue through the drifting airy debris. the only other thing of note in the room is the door on one wall: it's white and featureless as a piece of paper, and you get the sense that it will vanish into the wall again if closed. undifferentiated noise pours through the place where it's cracked open, unbearably loud. even with the feathers in the air shutting out the noise a little, it's hard to hear yourself think.

there's something hard and clanging underfoot too, hidden by the feathers. you trip over it immediately because of course you do; ow! what is that?]

((This is a short, individual, play-at-your-own pace plot explore, which will run until 11:59 PM EST on Tuesday, June 2. Anyone jumping in before then is welcome! This is not directly connected with heartgames, so people are free to jump in regardless of whether they've played or run another heart this round.))

Comments

[quitplayinggames]

[with a little effort and persistence, you unearth at least a few things from the pile. you now have:

a crowbar
a pile of paint tubes in crazed bright colors
an antique-looking hotel telephone with the cord cut.]

[breachedwhale]

[ well that's quite the combination.

and despite the cord cut, someone is going to put up the receiver of the phone and put it to his ear. keeping the other items in his lap for the moment.

what a nerd ]

[quitplayinggames]

[nothing.]

[breachedwhale]

[ well, okay, at that he's going to stand up and bring his items with him and start to check that door out ]

[quitplayinggames]

[if you look through the crack in the door, the volume increases even further, feathers settling down to the floor again behind you - you can hear a few individual fragments in there.]

"i want to kiss him i want to touch him i want to"
"i want my freedom, but i'm scared, i want someone to tell me what to do, but i"
"i want to feel safe again."
"i want her back, i want them back."
"i want to go home."
"i never want to see that place again, i hate it, i want to stop remembering--"
"i want them to love me."
"i want to make something"
"i want a burger…"
"why won't they look at me? i want--"
"i want--"
"I WANT"

[. . . the deluge continues indefinitely. can you even process this right now? the words are so loud they hammer on the inside of your skull.

in what tiny space is left for your other senses, you can notice that through the door is an endless series of hotel corridors, with the nameplates on the doors all blank. those of you who have been to Dream's realm or saw a certain memory at Cutie Velvet's sharing game will find it familiar.]

[breachedwhale]

[ winces through the noise and unfortunately, he doesn't know this place and doesn't know any connections. but he is going to try to fight through that noise and focus on entering the hall, arms tightening on the things he's carrying ]

[quitplayinggames]

[you cannot open the door further to go outside no matter how you tug. you might be able to push it shut if you have something to lever it with, though. your key tingles on your chest - this may need more than just muscle power. . .]

[breachedwhale]

[ okay . . . well. he reaches to touch his key at the tingling in thought before looking over the door again, checking for a keyhole first. ]

[quitplayinggames]

[no keyhole! you have a crowbar if you wanted to use that for leverage I guess.

your key is quiescent under your fingers, but there's potential there.]

[breachedwhale]

[ setting the other items down carefully at his feet, he's going to attempt to use the crowbar, putting that charm point back muscles to use seems like a good idea. ]

[quitplayinggames]

[your key glows as you move it, brightening as you put more and more of your energy into what you're focused on. the door slowly shuts, moving smoothly.

you can no longer tell where the outlines were by sight, but you can hear the roar of noise from the hall still; at least it's mercifully quieter. the process of applying your will to the space around you with your keys is more familiar, now; it's not the same effort of mere imagination as it was in the cloud realm, but this is still a power you can access.

you can't open the door again, though you can feel the seams of where it was under your fingers.]

[breachedwhale]

[ since he doesn't want to lose this spot, he's going to reach and pick up some of the paint, putting it on his fingers and he's going to trace along the seam he can feel as a distinguishing spot ]

[quitplayinggames]

[!!! that works, though the paint tends to be drippy till he focuses his will on it like he did the door.

while you're contemplating the results of your actions, you hear a tinny sound, somehow cutting completely through the noise each time: it layers itself on top of all the other voices rather than removing them, so now it's really loud in your head.

it's coming, improbably, from the cord-cut hotel telephone in the pile of feathers.

the sound is impossible to ignore, hideously compelling - who's even calling? it would be very, very hard not to react to the ringing.]

[breachedwhale]

[ when the sound starts, it startles him, but he's not being one to be rude, so he won't actively ignore the call. confused, though, he picks it up with his clean hand, looking back at what he did with the paint ]

...Hello?

[quitplayinggames]

[picking up the phone does nothing right now - the cord isn't connected, so you can't get the message! THIS IS A TERRIBLE SYSTEM.

R I N G

is the cord in that mess of feathers somewhere?!]

[breachedwhale]

[ w h a t. what even.

this weirds him out, but he's going to start attempting to look for that cord... and yes, he's pretty determined about this.

big bucks, no whammies. ]

[quitplayinggames]

[your key reacts to your urgency, blowing the feathers aside. there-- the cut cord disappears into the floor over that way, hanging loose. there's a couple of feet of slack there.

what do you attempt to do with it?]

[breachedwhale]

[ looks at his key and, well... well, he did sort of tap his power a bit so he's going to take the phone over and try to heal the cut cord. though, he doesn't know if that'll work here ]

[quitplayinggames]

[this is a weird way to fix a phone, but your key keeps glowing on your chest. . . and eventually, your Red Green bullshit succeeds.

the phone comes off the receiver as you finish. there's a moment of silence. . . then a click. they've hung up.

you feel a powerful emotion, hard to identify. . . mixed hope and dread. . .? it hits you so hard that you physically double over.]

[breachedwhale]

[ falls down with a sharp gasp, almost taking another mouth full of feathers, thanks.

this is a very confusing feeling, such conflicting emotions ]

[quitplayinggames]

[ah. . . the noise is dimming around you, as if it was drowned out by that shock of emotion; perhaps this is all for today. You hear Dream's voice, a little uncertain, as the noise finishes fading out.]

"Well, that's one way to do it. . ."

[. . . you wake up. don't forget how your key worked here; you can keep using that.

don't forget any of this.]