a gent of good intent who's content to be ( OPEN )

[checkingin]

Who: Everyone!
Where: The initial arrival rooms, the main lobby, all over the place.
When: March 3rd
What: Welcome, newbies.

ARRIVAL.

you wake up when you hit the floor in a dark room, and the air is knocked out of your lungs. the carpet is threadbare, worn with use, kind of dusty. and you're not the first person to endure this crash landing. nor will you be the last.

once your vision rights itself, you can see the well-lit hallway through the doorjam straight ahead of you. not to say there’s monsters in the shadows, but something propels you towards that door and out into the bright hallway beyond.

and once outside your room, you can hear it: the steady thrum of rain outside.

MAIN LOBBY.

there's a staircase at the end of the lengthy hallway you tumble out of. grab your suitcase and follow the dull green exit signs on the ceiling until you reach the disappointingly bland stairs that lead you down to the ornate old fashion hotel lobby.

to your left is a warmly crackling fireplace, to your right is a lobby desk. straight ahead are three large sets of doors, though only one of them is open to the public. and outside the few (curtained, permanently dark) windows is the continually steady hiss of rain. once you leave the hallway you wake up in, you won't be able to return.

welcome to the hotel.

FRONT DESK.

though there is a bell and a plaque designating the desk to be the main desk, the customer service desk, there are currently no staff members behind it. none shall answer your calls, either.

terribly sorry for the inconvenience.

SCREENING ROOM.

on a long pull-down screen, a silent version of the phantom carriage will be playing on loop. at the back of the room, between the neat rows of fold out chairs, mounted on a wobbly table is the old-timey projector, and mounted on the walls are some rather old speakers that warble out "terrifying" old music.

along the curtained windows is another long table, with a large bowl of popcorn and a large hot drink dispenser full of hot water, but without any tea or hot chocolate packets around.

OTHER.

the ballroom is currently closed, and the grand doors locked.

there is no main door leading to the outside, good luck trying to find one.

the doors to the courtyard and breakfast hall are unlocked, but looks like you've missed the morning meal. sucks for you.

ROOMS.

you've a room key with your assigned room number on it. all the new guest residences will be located on floors three and four. while there is an open elevator in the main lobby, and the buttons light up inside, the doors will not close. all in all, you'll be better off taking the stairs.

while they're the same stairs you undoubtedly came down to get to the lobby, the door to the endless hall everyone woke up in will not reappear between the main floor and the subsequent residential halls.

there are twenty rooms per floor. feel free to get to know your surroundings; or your neighbors as they trickle in around you.

EXISTING GUESTS.

it's late when the newcomers arrive, there's a good chance you'd been about to go to sleep (or just waking up, who knows, your mom's not here to tell you when to go to bed or get up). but if you're paying attention, you might hear the hustle and bustle in the lobby below; or maybe you're just drawn there because your gut told you to go join the commotion. whatever the case may be, go mingle!

Comments

[villainously]

( too bad his evil hand isn't inherently strong, too. it's true, strongarming it open is a lost cause, but that doesn't mean he'll give up. he's clever when he wants to be, and he'll get the chain if it kills him. he's staring at it, trying to think of a new plan of attack, not expecting conversation to continue.

of all the people to ask, he's not sure why the boy picked him. the pirate frowns, eyes still set on the swing, yet he does offer an answer. ) I don't believe it has a name. Some punk calls it the Hotel California but apparently he's full of it. Nobody really knows, just an enchanted inn of some sort.

[gluestick]

An enchanted inn? You're trying to tell me we're in a magical hotel? [Rolling his eyes and shaking his head. That is basically the dumbest thing he has ever heard. But then again, even with his limited memory of the world, he is still pretty sure magic doesn't exist.]

I'm not bloody buyin' it, this has WICKED written all over it.

[villainously]

Wicked. ( he has no idea what WICKED is, but he was just recently dealing with a wicked witch, so that gets his attention. though, paired with skepticism of magic, it probably isn't the same thing. )

A wicked what? ( for that matter, ) Whatever the means, the result is the same. We're all trapped here, and I think you'll find it's not as clear cut as you think.

( he's seen too much magic to doubt it now. )

[gluestick]

WICKED, it's an acronym. World in Catastrophe, Killzone Experiment Department. This is just another one of their shuck experiments. Tryin' to see how we'll find a way out, studying us. It's like the Glade, only smaller. [And a distinct lack of Maze.]

I've seen this before, spent two bloody years living it with a few dozen other shanks, trying to figure the way out. But it's not the same this time- they've given us a deadline to cross the Scorch.

[villainously]

( well, he'd asked, so it shouldn't surprise him that he got an answer. it just . . . was not the answer he was expecting.

he straightened, trying to make sense of the information. a lot of it didn't actually make terribly much sense. he knows what the words mean, but the combination means little to him. )

You think this is another experiment like you'd been in before? ( he at least followed that much. he isn't sure if he can confirm or deny, he's pretty lost himself, but some kind of answer as to why they're all trapped would be appreciated. )

[gluestick]

What else would it be? They made it clear enough we were movin' on to the second part of their buggin' trials. This has to be it.

[You don't just wake up twice in a strange place and not make a connection between them. Especially when the first time was a traumatic experiment meant to study your brain.]

[villainously]

( he really can't tell him if it's what he thinks or not. it's just that everyone seems to compare this place to their own experience. him to Neverland, for example. and yet, there's not too much that ties them all together. )

Suppose it's not impossible, it's just hard to tell who is responsible when they refuse to give us any hint.

[gluestick]

Not surprisin', the Creators- WICKED didn't give us any hints while we were in the Glade. Had no idea who put us there until we managed to get out.

[ Though in retrospect they had put WICKED on all of the supplies and on the beetle blades, but who would assumed that's the name of an organization? ]

But this can't just be a bloody coincidence.

[villainously]

We all have our suspicions, we all tie what's happening to our experiences. Not all of us can be right, and this place as a way of making us think what it wants us to.

( he's likely to see what he means with time, what with the flowers with personal messages and the 'gifts' tucked in suitcases nobody remembers packing. )

Could do its this wicked business, but it might be whoever is responsible would just rather you blame someone else.

[gluestick]

[ Newt hasn't even rifled through his luggage yet to find the sneakers, but even so he'd probably still chalk it up to WICKED and their nasty sense of humor. After the tattoos, he wouldn't put it past them. ]

Doesn't matter who is responsible, WICKED or some other bloody awful group. I'm not stayin', I'm gonna figure this place out and find my friends before we start going shuck crazy.

[villainously]

You're not the only one that wants out, lad. I'd say nearly all of us do. Keep the faith you'll get out and we'll find a way eventually.

( hadn't found it in a month but Hook wasn't giving up. not until he got out. Neverland had taught him at least that much. )

[gluestick]

It's not the finding the way out I'm concerned about, I know we'll get out, we've done it before. It's just how bloody long it takes us this time around. We don't have an infinite amount of time to figure it out.

[A month is nothing, really. Not compared to two years searching for a way out, finding the same dead ends every single day but still trying.]

[villainously]

As long as it doesn't take us centuries, we'll be doing all right.

( aiming really high there, clearly, but Hook was trapped in Neverland for that long. still, he agrees; he can't spend years or months to find a way out this time. Emma's son needs her way sooner than that. )

[gluestick]

We'd be dead in centuries and it wouldn't matter at that point.

[ Newt isn't from a world where people live that long, so he doesn't even consider that option. He thinks it's just an attempt at a joke, a terrible one, and rolls his eyes at it. ]

[villainously]

( well, it was kind of a joke? he's hoping to get out of here sooner than that... )

That's as long as time moves normally here, there's really no way of knowing that.

[gluestick]

[ Newt arches a brow, head tilted to the side. Is this guy for real? ]

It's common sense. Course time moves normally, why wouldn't it?

[villainously]

In Neverland, time didn't move. It's a land I was trapped previous to this one.

( it's hard to track if that's true of this hotel, they might not know until enough time passes for a season to change in the courtyard. which is not a promising thought. )

[gluestick]

Neverland? Like the fairytale?

[ Now he's 100% sure this guy is a complete whacker. His expression says as much. ]

[villainously]

( yes, he's used to that look. it's why he avoids talking about Neverland but it's clearly too late. )

Where do you suppose stories come from? It's not a fairytale. I've been.

[gluestick]

[ Newt's expression doesn't turn any less skeptical. ]

I suppose they've come from a creative mind, like every other fairytale out there. Kids stories to tell at night.

[ He thinks that's what they were for, anyway. He doesn't have any specific memories of being told them, but... Well, the memory swipe has always worked in this way. He's past the point of being exasperated by it. ]

[villainously]

Which is conveniently skipping over the bit about I've been.

( Hook narrows his eyes slightly, mostly because he can't quite favor being doubted. his patience is rather thin. )

It's a bit narrow minded to think your world is the only world there is. Neverland exists. ( he exists. thank you very much. )

[gluestick]

Or you're just real whacked in the head.

[ Newt shrugs like this is the most obvious answer in the world. What is tact? ]

You keep goin' on about this nonsense of different worlds and I'll really start thinkin' it.

[ ...He already thinks it, sorry Hook. ]

[villainously]

( yeah, well, this is why he generally doesn't talk about this stuff. he spares the boy an unforgiving look. )

Really, lad, you were blinked to a strange hotel that nobody can escape and the idea of a different world is so unbelievable? You might very well have been brought to a new world in coming here.

( he waves a ringed hand in his direction. )

Think what you want. I know the truth.

[gluestick]

I was blinked into a bloody Maze with no exit, and it was WICKED that did it then too. So if you think this- [ he gestures around them ] is somethin' new to me, you're wrong.

They were capable of wiping our memories, so I don't put it past 'em to have the ability to implant 'em too. Provided you aren't just part of our test, trying to throw us into doubt, which I'm still not convinced on either.

[ Sorry for his outrageous paranoia. ]

[villainously]

( right, does he look like a plant? why would he be on about obviously unbelievable things if they weren't true? it'd be like asking to be doubted. )

Bloody hell. Think as you please, lad, clearly I can't stop you. But don't expect people will enjoy it when you invalidate everything they say on the assumption you are right and everyone else is wrong.