Zenith : In Character → Threads, Logs, Events

Who: Owen and Juliet
Where: the mysterious basement level!
When: early evening

( ”tolerable” )

Who: Aspen and Avram (also open to official walmart greeter Madison)
Where: Outside Aspen's door, then the theatre
When: 4am

( this is still not good )

Who: Tobias
When: 4am
Where: his spotless bathroom.

( retreat! )

Who: Marco & Lennon (and Juno?)
When: Four in the morning
Where: Lennon's room

( This is not business as usual. )

Who: Kiley and Chase
Where: Chase's room
When: 4am and on

( this was the end )

Who: Oliver and OPEN (Multiples okay!)
When: 4am
Where: Lounge

( Time to replace windows again... )

Who: Cecilia, Neptune, and open! Multiples okay!
When: half past armageddon 4 AM
Where: Her room/Halls/Foyer

( You selected Option 1: Get The Fuck Out! )

Day 29.

Weather: Clouds are rolling in and temperatures have dipped a couple of degrees, but conditions are still great. Or would be, if it weren’t for...

Events: It’s another one of those nights. You know the ones. Regardless of intention or whereabouts, everyone in the house falls asleep sometime between midnight and 1 AM. At 4 AM, they’re all woken up by what might just sound (and feel) like the end of the world.

The initial sound is hard to put a name to. It’s a bit like a low trumpet blast, but it is so terribly loud that the sound seems to shake the world. It partially and temporarily deafens everyone that hears it, but even though they can not hear it, they will still feel the sound, beating at them from all sides like a very real pressure. In a matter of seconds their hearing begins to return, but it's a bit like a flashbang has just gone off. Their ears are ringing, and sounds seem terribly far away in the beginning - all the while they can feel whatever it is raging on, a long and low bass note resonating in their guts. Then there’s a very high pitched shrill shrieking sort of sound. It in no way sounds human. If anything, it’s more like nails on a chalkboard amplified over a stadium with a great deal of microphone feedback. This sound hurts, physically hurts. It goes for only a couple of seconds, and then the world is silent.

Enjoy those few precious moments of peace, because after that things are going to get really weird.

In the seconds following that level of noise, silence seems to fill everything. Then there is just the faintest trickle of sound from far off. It's soft at first, hard to make out, and seemingly coming from very far away. But it is coming. The sounds get clearer and clearer, and eventually it makes sense. It's birdsong. The magpies. In fact, it sounds as if hundreds of magpies have all woken up and decided to voice their complaints over whatever the hell just happened. Their voices become louder, more frenzied. With so many of them going at once the sound is truly unnerving. And that’s when they start dive-bombing into… well, anything, really. But definitely the house. If you’re a bird and you’ve decided it’s time to die, a massive house in the middle of nowhere with so many windows is an optimal target.

All at once, all of the magpies begin flying full-speed ahead at anything and everything. Their bodies slam against the roof and sides of the house, and in quite a few instances, right through windows. En masse. Imagine, if you will, that you have just been woken up by the world’s worst sound, and had just moments ago been ready to believe the very sky had opened up and an angry god’s war on the world had begun. You’re scared, your heart is racing, your pants might very well be wet, and then a magpie - or perhaps several magpies - suicide-dive through your bedroom window. Glass, blood, and feathers fly in all directions. What would you do?

If your answer is a resounding ’GET THE FUCK OUT’, good for you! But also maybe not good for you, depending on how far you go. Anyone who runs as far as the foyer is going to notice a very new, very hard to ignore addition to the house.

It’s an elevator.

Under the archway formed by the grand staircases, there are a set of brightly polished wooden elevator doors. This part of the wall yesterday was host to a little alcove - there had been a tiny coat closet and cupboard, so it’s impossible to make the argument that ‘the elevator was there all along, the door was just hidden.’ No. It most certainly was not there before, and sure as hell shouldn’t be there now.

There is only one button to press, a down arrow. Pressing the button will cause the doors to glide open with a cheerful little ding. The inside of the lift is pristine. Immaculate. The walls are covered with a dark wood paneling polished to a shine, the floors a similar cream-colored marble as the foyer. There’s just enough room for four people to stand inside the lift without invading each other’s space. On the console, there is only one button. The shiny gold button isn’t even labeled.

Oh, good.

The descent down into the basement level is perhaps unnervingly long. It takes a solid two minutes, indicating that this basement level is deeply underground. Upon finally reaching the basement levels, the doors open up into a large, open room. There’s a small bar (stocked, of course), a few leather couches, and a stereo system and digital karaoke machine built into the wall near the bar and sitting area. Against the far wall are three doors - one in each corner, and one in the center of the wall.. One corner door leads to a small bathroom. The center door, into another large room with an identical decorating scheme as the first. There is also a window built into the wall separating the rooms. What’s inside the second room? Dozens of coin-operated games. Redemption games, mostly. Skeeball, whack-a-mole, strength testers, that sort of thing.

Upon entering, directly next to the door is a large computer terminal built into the wall. There’s a blank computer screen, a scanner, a coin dispenser, a ticket taker, and a small panel. The panel cannot be forced open, but if an individual scans their subject bracelet a message pops up on the computer screen informing them that each resident of Mount Zenith gets five free tokens a day. The individual’s name will appear on the screen, and a counter of how long until they can get more tokens. Then five small coins will slide out of the dispenser. The coins are silver, and have a mountain on one side, a star on the other.

Every game in the room requires a token to play, and there are only two games in the room that don’t dispense tickets: the mechanical fortune teller, and the love compatibility tester. Every other game will give a ticket to a player that either wins the objective, or sets a high score. There’s skeeball, whack-a-mole, strength testers, shooting games, basketball and football throw games… basically, it’s Chuck E. Cheese for adults. All the games are equipped to play alone, or against another player.

The tickets given to winners are plain and unremarkable, but back on the wall terminal there’s a little slot labeled ‘ticket taker.’ When a person feeds their tickets in, the computer screen asks if the player would like to purchase more tokens at an even trade (one token per ticket), or cash out with a random prize. If they select to cash out, the panel opens and the individual can find their prize inside. NOTE: all prizes are mod-determined. If your character cashes out, ask the mod to find out what they’ll get.

The final door in the main room. It leads to a gorgeous room with a heated pool, hot tub, sauna, and entertainment system built into the wall.

There is one more thing to be said about the basement. At all times, the mood gas from day 20 is pumping into every room. Have fun with that.

Finally, there has been a new addition to the house. Aspen. Aspen’s awakening in the house is the same as all the rest, with the additional pants-shitting terror of god awful sounds and suicidal birds. She will not be able to flee her room until accessing the computer. Good luck with that.

A small note for anyone venturing out of the house today: dead magpies are everywhere, but the ones with keys are going to be very difficult to find.