Notification

[utopiamods]

On the second evening of Round -2, the following notice is broadcast on the Utopia online network, and also displayed on the video screens in the lobby with an accompanying voiceover.

"Please be aware that the following facilities are off-limits to Weapons without the permission of their owners, or unless required for classroom use: The library, computer labs, swimming pool, gymnasium, and boathouse. Repeat: Be aware that the following facilities are off-limits to Weapons without the permission of their owners, or unless required for classroom use: The library, computer labs, swimming pool, gymnasium, and boathouse. A written permission slip is acceptable.

"Tonight's after-dinner dessert will be chocolate fudge cake. Please note that Weapons may only have dessert with the permission of their owners."

Comments

[myownfuture]

Reiko noticed the announcement as she entered the lobby.

"What?! Since when?!"

[chainedbyred]

Russel glared at the video screen in front of him. "What the fuck? This is bullshit. This place is beyond messed up." Reiko would notice, of course, he is still not wearing the uniform that many others had changed into. He was still wearing just pants, a shirt, and his suspenders. While similar to the uniform, his just weren't as nice as the uniform.

[myownfuture]

Reiko did notice that this boy hadn't changed into the uniform, but she couldn't blame him. If she'd had any other clothes, she would have changed into them by now.

"This version of the school has its advantages over the real place," she admitted, "but this is ridiculous." At least Koharu would give permission for her Weapons. That didn't make it any better, though.

[chainedbyred]

He scratched behind his ear in annoyance. "This is asinine... Can't use the damn library without permission from my owner? Am I five?" He then crossed his arms, and glared at the screen again, as though it was its fault.

[idkmybffxiao]

The locations being off-limits didn't matter so much to Mei, but... but...

"No cake?!"

Congratulations, voiceover, for making small children sad.

[themerryway]

She hears Mei's cry of despair and sighs through her nose and approaches. A bit unsure, she asks: "Is chocolate cake your favorite, too?"

[idkmybffxiao]

Despaaaiiir, clouds of it, looming overhead, everywhere.

Alright, not seriously, but Mei felt like they were. She was snapped out of it by the question. "Huh?" The tiny girl turned and looked up at Euphemia. "Not really, but it's cake! They're just being mean!"

[leftthesafetyon]

Meryl wasn't sure what was worse, the fact that she was sent here with nothing more then a backpack and had to swear loyalty to someone, or the fact that she cared more about the gym then the cake.

"And just what if we don't have owners?" She muttered this mainly to herself in disgust.

[greennotgold]

Fletcher just happened to be passing by at the moment; he'd finished reading his Exaclan manual, so he knew the answer. "Um, that makes you a 'Discard'," he explained uneasily. He hoped it didn't make her too upset. "According to the instruction book, um, Discards have less rights than regular Weapons."

[leftthesafetyon]

Meryl didn't read the manual yet, but she remembers the tutorial vividly. She assumed that that was all there was to the system, and that the rest was all just fine print and legal mumbo-jumbo. Maybe she wasn't really right this time...

"So I can't do anything because I wasn't assigned a commander yet. Just great." Clearly, her memories of the tutorial weren't as vivid as she thought, if she doesn't remember that she needs to take an oath.

[summerstars]

Grenn had caught the first part only vaguely as she was passing by outside, but heard the whole message as it repeated as she detoured inside. Staring at the screen, Grenn turned her head towards the reception desk, and then back.

Hid her eyes behind one hand, while the other gripped the arm of the chair. A few choice things could be heard muttered under her breath, such as "unbelievable", "ought to be illegal", "outdated ideas", "slavery". Grenn knew there was probably no idea going up to the desk to complain, but this... this amounted to slavery and was it not illegal!?

[allurprincess]

"Guess I'll have to go ask Koharu before dinner," Sora mused, very much aloud, from Grenn's left.

[summerstars]

Distracted from her impotent frustration, Grenn looked up at Sora. So Koharu was one of Sora's friends. But didn't she... It took Grenn half a minute to find what she wanted to say, as well as figure out if it was correct, but Sora's hesitation back at the train, and the knowledge of removed memories seemed to make it the correct assumption.
"Did you remember their names?"

She wouldn't have had the courage to say anything, if she hadn't spoken with Sora previously. But! Slavery! Her brain decided to drop its insecurity about conversation and go back to whacking at "hjdfgfSLAVERY!" Grenn wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not.

[swordofzero]

This place was getting weirder, much weirder. Suzaku had finally got round to tracking down his manual and reading through it. At least he understood a little bit more now. Whoever was keeping them here- the manual didn't explain that had taken there memories on purpose. Suzaku was still sure this was through Gaess. Aparantly they had to do as the people said, fight each other in this system of Players and Weapons in order to win tokens which would allow them to get their memories back.

Strange, and now this announcement. It didn't surprise him, quite the oposite really. Those with power always prayed on the right, and you got nothing for free. It made sense that those who had the upper hand (the Players) had all the Rights and Privaleges and those that didn't (the weapons) had to work for those Privaleges. So you were not allowed to use certain parts of the school, or have pudding unless your player gave you permission.

Which boiled down to, you had no privalages and very few rights unless you worked for someone with more rights than you. So why were people acting surprised. He had spotted a lot of people who at least looked Japanease, indeed Yuki had said this was Japan. This was no different to what Britannia had been doing for the last ten years.

He shrugged, "Maybe people don't like seeing it so explicit, written out for them," he murmered to himself and shrugged again.

[summerstars]

She'd been about to leave, when Suzaku's comment reached her as she passed. Normally, she wouldn't even have throught of replying, but the conversation with Sora still had her a bit on edge.

Of course, the reply was only half adressed to him, as she didn't really dare just randomly start talking to a stranger. If he ignored it, she would be just as relieved.

"I don't know about you, but where I'm from, slavery is illegal," Grenn muttered, loud enough to be heard.

[swordofzero]

Suzaku looked around to pin point the person who had spoken. He didn't know if they were actually speaking to him or to themselves but they seemed to be responding to his muttered comment. He spotted them, a girl, probably of a similar age to him sat in a wheelchair. She had muttered the words but Suzaku was sure she had aimed them at him. So he responded.

"Well slavery in so many words is illegal, but stuff like this," he waved towards the screan, "happens all the time." He wondered what this girl had forgotten. Of course he had heard some people talking about other worlds, but he did not believe them. There was no such thing as other worlds, unless you counted something like the world of C, and he did not think thats what these people were talking about.

"Discrimination has never been illegal, at least not with Britannia. A small group of those who are strong having everything and everyone else having to serve them to get anything. How is this anything different to what happens elsewhere in the world?"

[siscon]

Someone wasn't all too phased about it. Really, it was too be expected in an alternate reality of her own world. Hiyo's face was void of many of things, but she heard and vaguely saw most of the others' reactions to this ordeal. Weapons were weapons, used for fighting and that was all. Didn't anyone understand that?

"Cake's fattening," she muttered to herself, standing there by herself as she watched the others. Hiyo didn't really want that cake. It wasn't like she could get it, anyway.

[myownfuture]

Hearing that voice, Reiko's head turned. She stared. Hiyo was here, too? When had that happened? "Ah..."

[siscon]

She turned her head, spotting the older blonde princess, and feigned a smile. "Ah, hello there, Reiko-senpai! Uwah, did you hear that announcement just now? It's totally not fair!" she whined, putting on her mask of a bubbly, whiny, little middle school girl.

[willbeurprincess]

Koharu took a seat and set out writing permission notes for her weapons. Of course she would let them use other facilities and get dessert. That was just silly...but it did make the incentive to find a Player more demanding. Most facilities were off limits to Discards. She scribbled in the names from her own little cheatsheet and tapped her chin.

Now to just...find her weapons. Sora shouldn't be too hard. The rest...

[allurprincess]

"Did you hear the announcement?" Sora arrived, leaning over her shoulder to look at the notes. "Tomoko's going to get mad."

She paused, then tried again. "That is, Koharu. Yuki... ah, she has pigtails..."

[willbeurprincess]

Koharu shook her head, a littled disconcerted herself. She knew they didn't have Tomoko at least, she'd memorized the names of the others who were already here. Yuki, Reiko, Sora. Her weapons.

"...I'm Koharu." She whispered and held out Sora's note, "For you so you don't have to ask me."

"...Yuki or Reiko. Tomoko isn't here yet."

[princesspowerful]

"Well that's dumb!" Molly said loudly, "My weapons can do whatever they want!"

[greennotgold]

"That's really nice of you," Fletcher commented. And then he had to ask...

"Um, I was reading my manual, Molly, and um, I figured out that this symbol means I have a Player," he explained, gesturing to the symbol of ownership on the back of his left hand. "And, um, you and Dave are the only Players I've met, so I think it must be one of you..."

[princesspowerful]

She blinked at him, "How do Players get Weapons?"