CYOA: Yuri, Monika, Rin

[grigori]

Comments

def reconstruct(hpcms, 1);

[third_alternative]

[ You all find yourselves in a tunnel--dark, angular, and lit only by the glowing blue patterns etched into the wall. The tunnel seems to stretch on forever behind you with no end in sight. Ahead of you, though, in the distance, there does appear to be something: a monolith, huge and stretching up, up, beyond what seems to be the ceiling of the tunnel. Set into it is an enormous button, glowing brighter than anything else. The entire monolith, and the button etched into it, pulses with light, thrumming with power, like a living thing.

xXx WeLcOmE tO rEx'S tWiStEd MiNd xXx

What do you do? ]

[rerouter]

[Well.

Monika stares at her surroundings. Stares at the group she's found herself with.

Stares at the hecking void.]

Again?

[Why!!!!

One of the boys can push the ominous button if they so desire.]

[senjinrouha]

[ sorry monika, yuri is just staring at the ceiling like. what the fuck. what the fuck is any of this. this is like shopping mall gate again, monika. do you know what this is?? ]

Again.

[ uggggh. ]

Try not to get limbs torn off, we’re low on healing from what I can tell.

[aono]

[Rin is probably saying "Again?!" too, but it's muffled because he has a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth.

He's also dressed lightly- like he's ready to go to training- and carrying only his coin and what's left of his sword in its scabbard.

Time to look at Monika and Yuri in confusion! This doesn't look like his usual training grounds!]

[third_alternative]

[ But what would tear your limbs off here, Yuri? This is just an innocent little circuitboard tunnel uwu

All three of them will have the implicit understanding that pressing the button is the only way to get out of here. Or at least, do something. Because as is, for as much as this place feels alive, absolutely nothing is happening. ]

def reconstruct(hpcms, 2);

[third_alternative]

[ The three of them will find themselves back in the same blue tunnel as before, but now...ever so slightly closer to the button they saw before. Progress! Good job, guys.

Rin, by the way, is exactly where Alpha left him: curled up on the floor. And while Alpha is gone, its remnants remain on him. The cracks on his face and hands, once glowing, are now deep gouges. Blood leaks out of the intricate branching patterns they draw. And while it may not be visible, Rin's back is now one enormous second degree burn--red, raw, and beginning to weep. ]

[senjinrouha]

[ well. yuri glances between the button and rin with a wince. on the one hand -- teen in danger. on the other hand? the last time they hesitated with that button they ran into all of this?

...

after a moment he tilts his head at monika. ] You'll need to get his clothes off -- his shirt at least. So the material doesn't irritate the burns. I'll see if I can get that button before our new friend shows up again.

[aono]

[Fuck.

That's a pretty good summary of how Rin feels right now.

His breath is ragged and getting off the ground is too difficult right now, so he'll just lay there and bleed for the time being. But hey, at least he's not blind?]

Just- gimme something to wrap my hands, and I'll-

[It's fine, this is nothing. He can keep going.

...but it's truth week, he can't say that whoops.]

We gotta keep going, we haven't even opened the damn door yet!

[rerouter]

I hope you weren't about to say you'll be fine.

[Lightly, as she immediately kneels down by Rin and digs through her satchel for what's left of her first aid kit. If Rin can lift his arms up to remove his shirt, she'll try to salvage it. But if he can't do that much, she will go straight to cutting his shirt off with a knife so his back can breathe.]

I'm sorry, I don't have any healing magic. So hang on for now, okay?

[While we godmode Yuri towards the button, Monika will work on patching Rin up. Ganba, buddy.]

[aono]

Well I didn't say it?

[That's not helping, Rin. And he can pull his shirt off, yeah. Plz to not cut up his cool t-shirt he just got. But they can use it to wrap his hands, yeah.

Let's hit that button and go, team.]

def reconstruct(hpcms, 3);

[third_alternative]

[ Everyone will find themselves back in the blue tunnel. Again, the button is tantalizingly there at the end of it. They're now about halfway to it. Cesar is gone, though, along with the lab, the reactor, the other scientists, everything. The feeling of the explosion, however, is still there--whatever injuries the three may have sustained in the blast, they remain. (As do Rin's burns and branching gouges from Alpha.)

They will also find themselves...somewhat confused. Maybe they don't remember how they got here or got these injuries. Maybe they don't remember that this is one of those adventures people sometimes get sent on--or that those are even a thing. Maybe they're not sure what's wrong, but they can feel that they're forgetting something. ]

[senjinrouha]

[ well. that’s disconcerting.

the feeling that yuri knows he’s somewhere… unique? special? but he can’t place it, or why he’s here. slowly he looks around, taking in what should be familiar surroundings but just feel new — ]

Are we going forward…?

[ at least the rule of the universe will always be


see button

want to push button.

so he’s going to move towards it. ]

[rerouter]

[We heard you like burns so we put burns on your burns--

Monika winces, her hair once again singed after she just fixed it the last week and additional flash burns on her back and legs. This is the price she pays for getting all dolled up in a cute dress on a Thursday.

She would be more annoyed if she could remember what the fuck is going on, though.]

... Huh? [Hello?] Ugh, what were doing?

[Is Rin okay? Even if her memory is spotty, she will still offer him a hand when she notices his growing number of injuries. Go get that button, Yuri.]

[aono]

[Rin's mind is fuzzy and the point of the CYOA is definitely being lost to him. The pain from both possession and being thrown by an explosion is definitely getting to him and making it difficult to concentrate.

But. Button. It's easy to see button and want to push button.]

I think we gotta push that thing, yeah?

[Rin will take Monika's hand though, yeah. Help him along plz, he is very ow.]

[third_alternative]

[ Well, as they approach the button once more, our intrepid explorers will find yet another location materializing around them!! This time, it's the inside of an abandoned water tower atop a skyscraper. It's run-down, obviously rotting away, but looking at the cozy furnishings, the signs of life strewn about, you can't help but feel that this is home.

Home, after a long day out on the streets sticking close together, watching out for one another. Perhaps it's time to retire to your rooms--or, well, the sections of the water tower partitioned off into your makeshift rooms. ]

def reconstruct(hpcms, 4);

[third_alternative]

[ Welcome back to the tunnel. The button is back, tantalizingly closer than ever. It's only a few meters away now. But even so...you will all find yourselves confused. You've forgotten something...but what is it? You can't be sure, your head is foggy, but you know it's important. Maybe it's where you've been for the past few months. Maybe it's a formative portion of your childhood. Regardless, it's clear that something vital is missing. ]

[senjinrouha]

[ oh he doesn't like that, hello?

yuri shakes his head and it's like a daze and there's pieces of him obscured and missing -- things that if he were to dwell on them, he'd find eery and wrong to be without. goals? what goals, did he have goals...? he'd make a promise to someone once, like a dream but the pieces aren't right and they twist and retreat when he tries to look at them

really look and see what's there and what they could be. ]

...

[ ugh.

what he does know though? he hates that button. ]

Let's get this over with.

[aono]

[Fuck this world and fuck this tunnel.

He might have a foggy memory but he's just walking forward now, ready to slam his hand down on that dislike button.]

i like how i typed my tag and never hit send

[rerouter]

Jeez... How many times have we seen this tunnel?

[Hello, button, their old friend...

Monika pointedly does not think about her foggy memories, unless she wants to have another identity crisis in this terrible tunnel. Her memories of her past are already foggy enough, so if she loses her memories of the present, then—

Well.

She follows the gang.]

it would help if i commented in the right place

[third_alternative]

[ well good news!! As soon as Rin starts walking forwards, another location materializes in front of them! This time, it's a huge laboratory bathed in white. And in the lab: a stern-faced doctor in a lab coat. A stern-faced soldier. A variety of monitors, all displaying vitals and readouts.

Monika, dazed from sedation, strapped down to an examination table in the middle of them all.

The doctor checks over the restraints on Monika before walking over to one of the computers providing feedback on her. ]

Prepare for disassembly.

>_

[third_alternative]

[ And you're back in the blue tunnel. The good news? The button is right in front of you all now.

The bad news? You don't remember anything. Not yourselves, not each other, not how you got so injured...nothing but your own names. ]

[senjinrouha]

[ .........







....

hilariously i'm not even sure how injured yuri is now. but a button press is universal? so after a moment or two of just staring

??? pushes the button. ]

[rerouter]

[Monika is curled up on the ground, a twitching and sniffling bundle of pain.

Who is she? Who the fuck are these guys? What the fuck is this???

Go push that button, stranger.]

[aono]

[HIT. THE. BUTTON.

Rin doesn't know who these people are anymore, but suffering is universal and he wants to hit that button and drag them out to find a doctor or some shit.]

[third_alternative]

[ THE BUTTON HAS BEEN PUSHED

The tunnel around them vanishes into blackness. The ground disappears from under them, leaving them to fall through the void...

...until they begin to fall past an enormous robot and fall into the palm of its hand...surprisingly painlessly. The robot stares at them with its enormous glowing blue eyes. ]