LAST INVESTIGATION

[parasomniacs]

Week 8

Friday

Ten participants wake up in the participant staff rooms this morning. It's the first Friday in a while that there isn't a decrease in their numbers - though not without other costs: Two of the hostages have been lost. There's still that last motive hanging over their heads, an unconventional one. Can they handle the challenge?

It's quiet... too quiet...

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[scythegun]

[Huh. These are totally weird. There's no seam anywhere on them, though...? What happens if he knocks on one? Are they hollow?]

[parasomniacs]

[They are not hollow. In fact they are so heavy that when he knocks on one it doesn't really give enough - he can feel with his knuckles that a knock with enough force to move the tower at all would probably make it fall all the way over.]

[scythegun]

[....................

so how bad an idea is it to try to knock the tower over

it might not be possible at all but he's got the blastia which actually makes him stronger so...??]

[parasomniacs]

[He can do it pretty well if he tries. Imagine if you had like a free-standing full-length mirror, or you were a dad who decided to stand still and let his daughter pretend they have super strength. He might tap into his extra strength if he wanted to pick it up and give it a bear hug, but a solid shove will do the job fine.

At the exact moment that the tipping point is reached and the tower begins to freely fall over, there is a brief existential sense of an asymmetry in spacetime. Like when you are wearing two headphones, and you rip out one. Except kinaesthetically.

Having fallen, the tower just lies there on the ground. Looking at the exposed bottom, it appears that wires were not connecting it to the ground. The bottom has a sort of line across it and some visible little screws near the edges. Perhaps that is where you'd cram a screwdriver if you really wanted to open it. Overall the tower is intact.]

[scythegun]

[HE DID IT \o/

Also that was like. Really weird? Did anyone else feel that, um. Hmm.

But now that the tower has been successfully knocked over, time to check out the bottom. He doesn't have a screwdriver but he does have a pocketknife... can he use the blade to carefully undo the screws there?]

[parasomniacs]

[The blade is too big.]

[scythegun]

[What a shame. Alright, is there anything else to note about the towers or should he move on to something else?]

[parasomniacs]

[The matching box has a dimmer red light now that the one tower has fallen away.]

[scythegun]

[Ooh. Are there only two boxes? What color was the light before, was it just a brighter red?]

[parasomniacs]

[There are two towers and one box. The box matches both of the towers because it is made of black plastic. It looks more reasonable with seams and all but it would be easier to take apart with a screwdriver. There is a light on top, the size of the head of a large pin. It is one of those cheap little things where the transparent plastic is what's red and the underlying colorless white light is what has gotten dimmer than previously. It is cold, like a laptop that has been turned off for over a day.]

[scythegun]

[Huh, okay! That's definitely interesting. So... what happens if he pushes over the other tower..........??]

[parasomniacs]

[The existential disruption of spacetime seems more mild this time, perhaps because one tower is already knocked over. The light gets even dimmer but it does not go out altogether.]

[scythegun]

[That's almost disappointing. But okay, let's check out the box! Is there anything else noteworthy about it? Is it light enough for him to pick it up to check the bottom?]

[parasomniacs]

[He can definitely pick it up. It is about the mass of a bunch of cheap laptops stacked together to form a laptop cube. If he lifts the box all the way into the ceiling like you do when you try to make a letter catch the light, the red light goes out altogether.

Warning: Do not stand between spires at exact moment box is activated; instead either before or after.
Do not step on box during operation.

Remotely activated makes sense. There is no apparent on switch.]

[scythegun]

[That's really strange. Are you supposed to stand between the spires?? What are these things for. He's so confused right now.

If there's nothing else to note about the box he'll set it back on the floor and study these for a moment before setting the spires back up the way they were. So does anything happen if he stands between them...?]

[parasomniacs]

[Nothing actually happens when he stands there, but it feels deeply existentially right like standing on top of a staircase. The light on the box is bright again. As he moves them back into position it seems palpable that the dimmer switch is on a direct spectrum with the distance between the box and the spires.]

[scythegun]

[This is so trippy... but it's kind of fun too?? Holy shit. But if the distance between the spires and the box is important, what if he moves them closer to the box and then tries to stand between them??]

[parasomniacs]

[The spires are now too close together and results in a trippy feeling like standing on a hilltop.]

[scythegun]

[the proper response here should probably not be "wheeeeeeee" but uh

OKAY ANYWAY he'll set them back properly because he probably shouldn't be messing with things like that. SO. Is there anything else about these to note/any more clues to find here?]