ROUND -1

[utopiamods]

This morning, the marks of ownership disappear from the bodies of every Weapon who was owned during the previous round. The woman from the introductory video appears on the Exaclan video screens across campus, and on all of the computer screens as well.

She doesn't look very happy.

"My, you weren't very enthusiastic this time, were you?" she says, frowning and waving one finger in disappointment. "That's no good. If you don't fight, you can't earn Tokens to buy your powers or your memories back! If you don't even have those, imagine how hard it'll be to earn Legend Fragments!"

She smiles; the shift from her previous expression is sudden and startling. "You know, if you hear the legend, you just might learn a few things!

"We didn't want to do this, but it looks like we're going to have to. Okay! From now on, Players, you can only go three days without fighting. After that, we'll start taking away one Token a day. And you want your Tokens, don't you?" She smiles even more widely, as though she has no idea why anyone might be upset at being forced into such a situation. "To get you all started, we've given you some free tokens! You already had three each, you know, and we've added seven more. That means you all have ten tokens, so visit a booth and get spending."

She pauses, and then snaps her fingers, "Ah, but only Players can do that, so if any of your Weapons want to buy something, you should do it for them, okay?

"I know you can do it! Believe in yourselves and each other, and you'll achieve utopia!

"Now, here are the Players for this round!"

The screen goes blank, and the following appears:

PLAYERS FOR ROUND -1:
Fletcher Tringham
Kevin Smith
Mei Chang
Meryl Silverburgh
Oichi
Suzaku Kururugi
Tsuki Aoi

Comments

[leftthesafetyon]

Whoa, she got to be a player already? She didn't expect this to happen for a good while. She had a rough time of finding a player, but it should be easier to rope in weapons. Now she was going to see just what they were training everyone to do. She looks around for someone lost-looking, with a decided smirk on her face.

Don't worry, she only looks predatory.

[queenscheckmate]

You plan on fighting, just like you said. [She comes up from behind, in no means to sneak attack.]

[leftthesafetyon]

[She seems to jump a bit, but calms down pretty quickly. There was nothing hostile about any of it,

It's like that woman said, it's the only way to get our memories back or find out what's going on.

[She doesn't believe that the legend fragments have any real answers for a second, but if they get their memories back, they may remember how they got there, and how to get out.]

[queenscheckmate]

And you believe that? That we're all supposed to get along and fight each other. [They were trying to pitch a good game. Fight and get your memories or even figure out what's going on, why they were brought here. But Kallen found out that fighting wasn't the only way out of this.]

[leftthesafetyon]

I don't think we're supposed to, but it's not like there's much of a choice at this point. The book says this school is on an island. [She knew there were a lot of sealed buildings, but she couldn't get into any of them.]

[queenscheckmate]

But we were brought here by train. That train had to come from somewhere?

[leftthesafetyon]

It depends on how offshore we are. It could be a bridge or an underground tunnel...

[But she didn't think of that. She's a soldier, not an investigator.]

Either way, the only thing we can do is try and follow the tracks when noone's watching.

[As long as their heads don't explode if they leave or something.]

[queenscheckmate]

I'm willing to try.

[leftthesafetyon]

Heh, well, good luck. Sounds pretty dangerous to me.

[She nodded. This was getting too dangerous to talk about in public, so she took a piece of paper and wrote something on it. She handed the pencil and the note over to her discreetly, still pretending to object.]

when?

[queenscheckmate]

[Kallen looked at the note. The girl had a point. She simply held up three fingers to note 'three days from now.']

[leftthesafetyon]

[She nodded back as she walked away. Broad daylight wasn't exactly what she had in mind, but three days was still plenty of time to prepare.]

[queenscheckmate]

[Of course they would meet then, but that didn't mean they would leave at that moment either.]

[themouthofhell]

Oichi wanders a while after using her and her Weapons' tokens-- searching for someone to go up against. The rules of this game are simple: fight, win, and regain precious memories.

While watching the wind in the trees, Oichi stumbles upon a woman. That confident stride, the smile on her face...

"Hello," she says.

[leftthesafetyon]

Meryl left the tokens alone in favor of another factor- research. She discovered that her weapon was a fencing sword, which meant that she had to learn the basics and fast. The book she hastily borrowed was in her bad, but she was moving her hands around, trying to imitate what she read about.

"Hey." Meryl greeted back. Socialization was beginning to be a huge factor in her stay here, for more reasons then one. Still, she wasn't going to complain about meeting new people.

[themouthofhell]

"What are you doing?" she approaches curiously, watching the movements of Meryl's hands.

[leftthesafetyon]

"I'm trying to memorize a few things." She responded, as if she as used to this. Practicing new combat maneuvers she only read about in the school's courtyard was actually something she was quite used to. Sheesh, it really was like old times.

[themouthofhell]

"Memorize..." Oichi looks thoughtful for a moment, before perking up, as though she's remembered something. She comes a pace closer, so that they are an arm's length from one another. "Ichi is looking for someone to play with. Will you play with Ichi?"

[leftthesafetyon]

Play with? She wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, but she might as well. "Well,just what do you want to play, anyway?"

[themouthofhell]

The corners of Oichi's mouth quirks up, as though she were about to smile. "This place's special game. Ichi is a Player, chosen special for this round. Are you also special? Like Ichi is."

[leftthesafetyon]

Ah, so it was a fight she wanted, then. Meryl was looking forward to this moment, but she didn't expect it to come so soon, even if she was looking.

"I'm a player, and I'll fight you, if that's what you meant." There was nothing truly special about the circumstances, as far as she was concerned. She was just a soldier on her way to battle, however fake it was.

[themouthofhell]

"Yes, yes... a fight. Let's gather up our arms and fight," Oichi is eager-- as excited as she can get.

A fight is something familiar to her, and though this is but a game she intends to throw her all into it. Memories are at stake, and ah, how precious memories are.

[leftthesafetyon]

"I'll meet you after I find my weapon." Meryl was slowly matching the sense of enthusiasm.

Meryl wasn't sure if her little escape plot would work, but in the meantime, she wanted nothing more then to fight- to win and prove herself.