INTRO MINGLE

[whimsicalism]

WELCOME IN

ORIENTATION DAY

(CW: Slight undertones of experiences of unreality.)

It’s a bright Monday afternoon at the Academy. If the sun happened to be visible, it would certainly be shining. The new semester that everyone has been waiting for is about to begin!

All students wake up at exactly the same time–not that you’re aware of this. Even those who don’t normally sleep must have given into slumber at some point; they, too, will jolt awake with the strangest sensation that someone was just whispering in their ears. The beds that you’ll find yourself in are small and unfamiliar, and you wake up wearing a uniform that you don’t recognize even though it fits you like a glove. A red book with black cardstock lining the inner cover sits on each dorm nightstand. Opening the book reveals a strange code of conduct. The following pages list, in alphabetical order, all of the students.

Beyond the handbook and a change of familiar clothes in the closet, there’s little personalization to the rooms, and they lack most homey comforts. As unusual as these surroundings may seem, it’s impossible to shake the subtle, lingering excitement: It’s the first day of school! What a delightful occasion. Shouldn’t everyone want to make the most of the year? The subtle, unshakeable desire to achieve sits in the back of every mind like the story of a happy dream. Perhaps you brush your hair or wash your teeth before going on with your splendid day. Your reflection in your bathroom mirror looks a little off, did you forget to cut your hair before the big day? Perhaps you realize that your nails or claws have been trimmed recently. A little odd but you must have been excited for a brand new school year.

The world outside the dorm room holds a few more answers, but most things are still shrouded in mystery. Today, it seems that some rooms are still locked up tight from summer vacation. Beside the dormitory and hallways, only the cafeteria, kitchen, gym, playground, school store, and A/V room are accessible. Outside the cafeteria, a digital sign titled DAILY SCHEDULE offers little structure, save for one afternoon event: 5PM - PREFECT’S ORIENTATION - AUDITORIUM. There’s a lot of business to take care of on the first day of school, after all. No one can just be expected to start learning without the proper preparation.

With some time to kill before the promised orientation takes place–and, according to that rulebook, everyone is expected to attend–students have only each other and the various robot sheep for company. With such a small class, perhaps working together will bring you newfound and long-lasting partnerships. The robotic staff seem polite, at least, if a bit confused at the sudden flurry of non-scheduled activities.

How will you spend your first day before classes begin?

OOC NOTES

Welcome to the IC intro mingle for Round 2! Your characters have the afternoon to meet one another, get lunch at the school cafeteria, review their student handbooks, harass the Little Brother robots, and prepare for the upcoming school semester in this post. As promised, the Prefect will meet everyone in the auditorium at 5pm and will post their own introductory comment at that time (Eastern).

While we're sure that some people are dying to get a head start on investigating all of the mysteries of the school (we're excited to reveal them), please hold your investigation comment ideas until the weekly post goes up tomorrow. As all ground floor locations should be open for exploration at that time, we invite everyone to scratch all of your investigation itches on tomorrow's post at noon (also Eastern)! In lieu of investigation threads today, characters may speak to/question/accost the Little Brothers, who have an NPC thread down below.

Thank you, and have fun!

Comments

[lets_dewey_it]

W-Whoa, wait up, you're still really fast! _{[Adrenaline, help Dewey go fast too!!]}

[canreallymove]

Come on, Turbo! Gotta think fast and act fast even when we're not!

[Ok, so playground. Iron gate.]

...

Hm. The cliff might be a problem without a way to rappel down...

[lets_dewey_it]

_{[The strange happiness he got from being called "Turbo" aside, yup, this gate was a problem. And the fact they were at the edge of a cliff was an issue as well.]}

Dang... How high is this cliff anyway? I don't even hear an ocean, no waves crashing or anything. We aren't exactly in the clouds, though... _{[He leaned against the fence.]} Think, think...

[canreallymove]

Not sure myself. Maybe it's not totally shear, but I can't tell just from lookin' out this gate.

[Shakes it. Nope. No give.]

If I could Sonic Spin through it, that'd be good, but I don't have the juice to do it here so we gotta also climb over this thing too.

...

[He doesn't see much in the way of ropes outright on the playground...]

[lets_dewey_it]

Maybe there's tools we could find and use to cut the links of the fence? Maybe not in any of the rooms open to us right this second, but just somewhere. How practical would it be to use a kitchen knife? Not very?

[canreallymove]

If by kitchen knife you mean chainsaw, yeah.




Otherwise you're just buttering the fence. Or something.

[Wait, isn't there a shed-]

[lets_dewey_it]

TO THE SHED! _{[TO FIND SOME TOOLS AND DO A PRISON BREAK]}

[canreallymove]

[And in that shed, they find JUMP ROPES!


Sonic's face lights up at the sight.]

Jackpot, dude!

[lets_dewey_it]

Heck yeah!

_{[He immediately got to work, tying every jump rope end-to-end.]} Every rope, blanket, and other such thing, we gotta find now!

[canreallymove]

Got it!

[He goes and returns with his sheets.]

We'll get down that cliff no problem!

[lets_dewey_it]

And then we'll either have to run or make a boat! _{[The confidence is so mutual right now!]}

[canreallymove]

Sounds like a plan!

[Ties them sheets, woohoo!]

We got this Turbo! No way we can lose!

[lets_dewey_it]

_{[He felt that happiness again. He could get used to being called Turbo way more.]}

Over the fence! _{[He ran out of the shed, towards that imposing iron structure that held them back.]}

[canreallymove]

YEAH! Let's go!

[Time to throw their makeshift rappelling rope over the gate!]

[lets_dewey_it]

_{[And there he went, wasting no time at all climbing up that imprisoning wall of dystopian school life. All he had to do now was look down the cliff and see just how far it went down!]}

MODS

[canreallymove]

[WOO HOOO!!]

you've got a storm coming

[whimsicalism]

[You can get over the fence without trouble. There's a Little Brother watching, of course, and it seems to go into action quickly but that will come in later. Something else is probably a bit more noticeable.

Things don't look like they did on the Academy side. While things didn't look great on the other side of the fence with it's imposing cliff and mountains, this is... it looks very bleak. The sky seemingly is red, for starters, there's also no sun as there was on the other side. The dirt on the road is speckled with broken glass. The cliff itself is even steeper and longer than it look before.

The most important thing of all, though? You have the sudden sensation that many sets of eyes seem to have suddenly turned quickly to stare at you. This isn't like walking into a room and all the sheep looking at you. You can't find where they're coming from and there's just a sudden sense of ill-intent. Nothing attacks but their exit has been noticed by far more than the sheep.]

1/2

[lets_dewey_it]

2/2

[lets_dewey_it]

We have made a mistake I think.

[canreallymove]

[Well. Ok. Violent monsters potentially confirmed.



To be fair...Sonic's not that scared of them. He could probably handle them just fine. He did all right without his speed before! Facing this kind of stuff was a normal Sunday for him.

But...he's not exactly into getting random people he just met into that kind of danger. Especially since he didn't have his speed, which meant even if he carried Turbo, there was no way to really account for how fast he'd be able to go as a normal slo-mo dude.

He's reckless, just like Sally would accuse him of being. But in his defense, even Tails could at least fly. Turbo, on the other hand...]

Aw man...!

L-look, I'll cover you, Turbo. Get back over the gate, quick!

[whimsicalism]

[Luckily (?) that seems to be a lot easier than it was getting over the gate... While this was happening a sound of grinding gears is echoing throughout the area. A sheep speaks with a much deeper voice:]

Brother Unit Battle Form Activated.

[If they look... is that. A large sheep towering over the fence? The sheep is taller now, as well as looking far more robotic and less fluffy. The weird hoof fingers have been replaced by three large claws on it's hands and three large claws on it's feet. However, it doesn't seem angry? Just concerned.

It easily steps over the fence, putting the palm (?) of of its hand on the road.]

Please climb on for emergency retrieval.

[lets_dewey_it]

U-Uh...! _{[WELL, THAT WAS A THING NOW! But Dewey wasn't going to question it, he got on the Brother Unit's hand immediately. Whatever was out there, the school was their safest place right now.]} Sorry...? _{[He might as well apologize while he was at it.]}

[canreallymove]

[Puffing his cheeks and letting out a sigh, Sonic quickly hopped up. He looks sheepishly and apologetically at Dewey.]

Well, that didn't exactly work out as I'd hoped...

[He does glance over at what's beyond. Is there anything that can be seen aside from, you know, bleak hellscape reminiscent of Buttnik shattering a gazillion beer bottles over the Great Unknown?]

[lets_dewey_it]

Not your fault. _{[He sat down on the hand of the titanic sheepbot.]} ...I couldn't go out there safely anyway. Broken glass and bare flippers don't really mix, you know?

_{[He looked over to Sonic again.]} You're braver than I was just now, that's one thing I know for sure.

[whimsicalism]

[Unfortunately, no. There's some vague movement in the distance that's probably whatever was watching but that's it. The sheep just steps over the fence again and puts the hand on the ground again for them to step off.]

Please, the outside is very dangerous. Your initiative is very amazing but it's safer in the herd.