castle_whims | INTRO MINGLE

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!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't know if the sheep robots are even made to answer with anything useful.

[Sigh.]

I've been trying to find an actual person we can [harass] talk to, but all I've seen are other kids.

The robots say the principal's an adult, but he's not even here.

That's kind of what I mean. It looks like they're hiding for now.

Hiding? You think he's scared of what we'll do if he shows his face? [She punctuates that with a karate-chop move, just to demonstrate what she would do.]

It'd be pretty stupid to be scared of a bunch of kids.

[He says, as though this were a group of normal, non-fighty kids.]

But yeah, looks like it.

[She sighs a little.] Or I guess he cares so little about us he can't even bother to come look.

Isn't it his job to know what's going on in the school?

[Come out here and face them properly darn it!!]

[She shudders a bit.] I just had a creepy thought. What if this isn't the only school he's in charge of?

You mean like he's kidnapping a bunch of kids at a bunch of different academies?

If he could kidnap all of us, why not even more? But I don't think there's any way to prove it.

I guess it's possible. But I don't think it's worth considering until we know how to get ourselves out of here first.

Yeah. And figure out where we are and which way we need to go after getting out.

It'll all be for nothing if we just get lost and die in the wilderness after we escape.

Yeah, I've got to say I don't know enough about surviving out in the wild. Do you?

I've been camping before, but wilderness survival is totally different.

Yeah, we don't even have a tent! [The most important piece of camping equipment.]

Or food or supplies.

Yeah. There's food in the cafeteria but no containers. And the store only has school supplies.

We'd need food that will last a while and doesn't need to be heated up, since we don't have stuff to make fires. And first aid supplies in case someone gets hurt...

Right. This place doesn't even have a nurse's office. [She had to double-check the map, but man, it really doesn't.]

Really? That seems like a pretty big oversight.

[She just holds up her handbook, showing off the page with the map on it, and the lack of a nurse's office on said map.]

I doubt anything there would help with the "death or dismemberment" anyway, but...

[Great, not even a first aid kit if something happens.]

[Her head droops before she nods solemnly.]

Maybe some kind of armored vehicle would be more useful. Too bad we don't have that either.

Somehow, I don't think we're going to find one of those laying around a school like this.

(no subject)

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