[INSANITY PORTAL] All of the Lights, All of the Lights~

[Shia bean]

((AMI & MINNIE. Because There wasn't enough room in the title.))

DISTORTED WORLD OF TRANCE: Human World

Prompt: You wake up. There are bright lights surrounding you, the bustle of people nearby, consumed in holiday shopping. You have somehow made it to the Human World. It is UP TO YOU the location, but it has to be a populated area (ie: city area) at a shopping district (mall) areal.

All players: You will need to navigate through the Shopping District.
- All players may notice something odd: You look perfectly Human (if you are Human, then you just look civilian). You can't summon your weapon, you can't use Fear attacks, and you are wearing odd colourful clothing that kind of hurts your eyes.
- Someone is yelling at you, all of you, a man that seems very angry. He calls himself Your Boss. He says if you do not complete these tasks, you will be ejected from the store immediately. While he does seem intimidating, it is more questionable as to why you are here in the first place: now is a good time to stay to explore the area
- If you GET FIRED you immediately are ejected from the Distorted Portal but suffer side effects of hallucinations for 24 hours where you continuously see everything in red and green. You also feel slightly Joyful...
- It is recommended that players go through the shifts at the same pace (ie: I am player 1, in shift1, I roll 3 times and wait for the others before ICly proceeding to shift 2 together, though they can skip players that become inactive after 24 hours).
- Even if you finish this exercise, you will continue to feel lingering effects of Joy. It will last up to 24 IC hours.

gaia_crown Step 1: Shift 1

The Boss is telling you to do something strange: talk to these Humans and ask them how their day was. Offer them something about a Promotional Sales Item, the discount mascot of Sappy the Sad Reindeer for only twenty dollars. You are given a stuffed sad reindeer to promote.

- Roll 1d10. You must do this three times.
- If in ANY of your dice rolls you roll 1, the customer becomes very angry and you and complains to Your Boss. You are ejected from the store- YOU ARE FIRED
- For each time you roll even you gain +20% Joy (you get a little happier, feel more in the holiday spirit, feel that everything is awesome and Christmas is the best thing ever...)
- If you pass, proceed to STEP 2.

gaia_crown STEP 2: Shift 2

You now need to Man the Cashier. You don't really know what that means but there is a small machine in front of you with a lot of numbers. Humans carrying items are looking expectantly at you.

- Roll 1d6. You must do this three times.
- For each time you roll even you gain +20% Joy
-If any of your dice rolls to a 1 The Human waiting in line is getting very angry at you. They keep on saying things like how they're going to use their Visa Card, and that you're Pricing the Wrong Item. You have no clue what that means, but your Boss is very upset at you and yells at you. YOU ARE FIRED.
- If you manage to make it through, you are on Step 3.

gaia_crown Step 3: Shift 3. Mass chaos everywhere, there are Humans running around everywhere, all at once, it is crazy. They keep on asking you where things are.

Roll 1d6. You need to do this four times. Whenever you roll even, a Human comes over to ask you the location of *insert item of your choice*. You have no clue where that is.
- If you roll three evens, your boss comes over to you and looks Super Angry. YOU ARE FIRED.
- If you manage to pass through this phase you are at the end.

gaia_crown Step 4: THE END.
- Finally the crowd seems to be over and you manage to survive to the end. The Boss tells you to go home, and you are given... nothing? All you feel is a little bit of sadness. Is this what being a Human is really all about....

- You WAKE UP FROM TRANCE

 

[Shia bean]

Minerva had looked over her shoulder briefly when the sound of the lab doors creaked open. The clack of shoes against tile was amplified within the silent room, startling her into an upright position before bothering to direct her attention elsewhere. Why she had decided to sit with her back to the door was a question she would not be able to answer...

For by the time she had managed to shrug her curls out of the way, turning completely in an attempt to spot whomever had decided to join her, a portal formed between them and sucked the two in.

Welp. She would see whoever it was on the other side, then.

Chimarii

|D HERE WE GO!

 

[chiickadee]

Ami looked around as she was sucked through yet another portal. The poor life hunter just couldn't get a break- this was her 3rd time now.

She looked down at her clothing and grimaced once more. Not again. Oh God not this hideous, hideous outfit again. The purple and orange- none of it matched OH GOD.

"Lex?" she called out. Maybe he'd gotten dragged in again? "Dakota?" No response.

An angry man came and started yelling at her again. OH GOD NOT THIS AGAIN.

shia bean

Ahhhh I'm sorry- I've been busy! Q_Q <3

 

[Shia bean]

chimarii

Don't be! Same here! >3<
Assuming they are in New York if that's alright with you!

The feel of cold cement just beneath sweaty palms, the rush of energy pulsing through a thick crowd, the smell of pollution hanging heavily in the air, taxi's flooding the streets, flyers littering the curbs...

She knew where this was. She knew where she was. This had to be Home.

GET UP. Minerva stirred.

Every conversation around them was muffled by that single scream. She would have complied, but an ache held her firmly to the ground. There was something comforting about being flat on your back in the middle of a city you knew all too well. She wondered a million things then, mostly of people she hadn't seen in so long...about her mom.

But there was more to what the man said, a mash up of being lazy, working and sales. She took her time to roll over, opening those hazel eyes despite the fogginess of her vision. The portal and it's sloppy handling left the trainee in some pain, but not enough to cripple her completely. With all that was going on, Minnie still wondered about the individual who had come across the labs just in time for it to devour her whole...had the other seen it all happen? Was the other...here?

HEY, I'm talking to you! GET UP! These dolls aren't gonna sell themselves ya'know! Get to work, the both of yous!

The man made a gesture with his hand and then tossed two dolls into the crowd. One landed squarely on Minerva's lap, of which she snatched up and held close to her chest. The other she would watch fall into the hands of another girl...One who Minerva could not say she knew, but felt connected to nonetheless.

That must've been her. A moment of silent watching and careful consideration led death trainee slide over a few inches. "Psst!" She clumsily found her footing and brushed off some dirt. "Hey! Are you...um." She didn't know how to ask without it being too suspicious. Instead, Minnie tilted her head and cocked a brow. Unfortunately the boss had been watching her every move, and hollered something from inside the corner shop.

Obviously, he wanted the girls to sell his doll.

((Cheer Meter: +20))  

[Shia bean]

Chimarii

ROLLING

 

[Shia bean]

Chimarii

Omg Rolling ONE MORE TIEM
/SCARED

LOLOL EJECTED LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[chiickadee]

Ami felt an overwhelming sense of deja vu. She'd done these tacky, bright colored clothes before. She'd been in a department store like this- not this one exactly, but somewhere similar. Even the boss, portly and round as he was seemed too familiar for Ami's liking.

She shook her head quickly. Obviously she hadn't been elsewhere, and she had a job to do! There was no time to focus on deja vu when she had these promotional deer to give out.

A child came over and asked for a deer, and Ami felt the need to frown and shoo him away. Ami liked children, but a sourness was set about her.

A feeling came over her. The uneducated might have called it Christmas spirit, but it was Joy. Pure joy. A tiny smile cracked across her face and she handed the reindeer to the boy. "Make sure to tell your mother!"  

[chiickadee]

The boy quickly ran back to his mother and gathered her up, bringing with him a friend and his mother. The two mothers were rolling their eyes and giggling a bit, but following the boys like the faithful mothers they were.

It brought up a sort of jealousy in Ami, one that trumped whatever joy she had been feeling moments ago. She quietly explained the promotional deer to the mothers, as her boss watched her from footsteps away.

The mothers laughed and bought two of the reindeer, which the boys squeezed close to their chest. Ami gave a weak smile as the mothers walked away, feeling incredibly empty as they did, for reasons she couldn't put her finger on.  

[chiickadee]

Joy washed over her once more, trouncing the emptiness she felt like a lion pouncing upon its prey. She smiled so widely and so brightly that a few people came over and brought deer. She looked over at her boss, who looked a little surprise, but gave her a nod of approval.

She looked once more at the couple of mothers and children who were now exiting the store, having bought all they needed to. Somewhat sadly, she realized she'd never get that.

It wouldn't do to dwell on it though. She simply followed her boss to her next job.  

[chiickadee]

She quietly followed behind the man giving orders, shadowing him as he led her to a cash register. Easy enough. If she could handle the runic code on the islands, she could take down a cash register. Christmas shoppers though, could she handle those? That was the question, wasn't it.

People looked at her expectantly, the first group in front of her a set of noisy teenagers just looking to buy basic presents that lacked any creativity. Chocolates for a mother, a bear for a sister. It wasn't intuitive at all, and Ami sorely prayed for the poor saps who were going to receive it.

Well, at least they were receiving things. She thought back to the island, wondering what it was going to be like this year. Last year she'd come around the end of January, so she'd completely missed all the holiday festivities. Everyone was so burnt out that by the time they reached Valentines, no one but the lovebirds seemed to care.  

[chiickadee]

No, no that didn't matter! Happiness overcame her again, and she reassured herself with sentiments that someone like Tori or Madeline would probably get her a present. Maybe! That was the joy of Christmas after all!

"$25.60," Ami read out to the person in line, perhaps with a bit too much chipperness. She couldn't help it, Christmas was just too great! She couldn't spend it moping the whole time.

Not to mention she had customers to serve. Rule one of any retail job was service with a smile, right? She handed a receipt to the next person in line. How nice it would have been to stay like this ...  

[chiickadee]

She found herself swiping barcodes faster and faster, even humming along to the Christmas music that was playing from incredibly shoddy speakers throughout the store. This was Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas," right? Ohhh she loved this song! Not as much as "Baby It's Cold Outside," but Mariah Carey was still pretty good!

A rather fidgety, annoyed woman approached the counter, demanding that Ami take off 30% for some coupon or another. Everyone was just a little cranky around the holidays it seemed.

Ami didn't find herself minding as much as usual. In fact, she just gave the woman a giddy smile. Why not take 50 percent off instead? It was the season of giving, right?

The woman stared, a bit flabberghasted, but if she disputed it she didn't say so.  

[chiickadee]

Well the boss didn't like that so much. Turns out? You weren't supposed to give people random discounts for things they didn't deserve. He dragged her away from the cash register, scolding her about how "that was coming straight out of her paycheck!"

Ami didn't care though. She just followed behind dutifully and giddy. Christmas was just wonderful.  

[chiickadee]

Someone asked her where the trains were, and Ami did a little dance. "I looooOOOOVE trains!" Ami squealed, grabbing the person's hand and leading them through the maze of toys, clothes and electronics. Somewhere in the mess, she found the trains, and began playing with them, only to remember she had a job to do.

The joy wavered, Ami remembered why she was here. Right, she couldn't just play around as she pleased. She had a job, one where she could be fired! The boss was probably looking for her now too, she'd been missing long enough.

Ami quickly scampered off, not keen on getting fired today.  

[chiickadee]

The next person asked for the latest Nintendo product. Honestly? Ami wasn't really "hip" with electronics. She had a DS of her own before Deus Ex, but now? Now she couldn't tell you a SEGA genisis from a wii. Too much had changed since she'd been gone!

Ami just sort of pointed in a direction, hoping it was the right way.

Luckily, it was.