TEAM TWO

[paradisamods]

Last we left our team, they were stuck in front of a random-as-fuck metal door with a touchpad. A working touchpad, mind you. It's either wait there to die or figure it out.





TEAM TWO
Arthur Pendragon
Asano Rin
Katharine Pierce
Helen Magnus
Hermione Granger
James Watson
John Egbert
Lana Lang
River Song
Rose Lalonde
Terezi Pyrope
Vanyel Ashkevron
Winifred Burkle
Yamanaka Ino

Comments

THE SCREEN

[paradisamods]

The screen is working, though the picture is grainy and has the odd streak of burnt out pixels; when touched, it'll flicker to life and present the residents with a screen that reads:

THE RESIDENTS OF LIBET SAFETY COMMISSION

PLEASE ENTER FINGERPRINT

Guess what? None of the team's fingerprints will work, but they can try. And when they do, the door will swing open regardless, with the touchpad reading "VERIFICATION FAILED. STARTING SECURITY PROGRAM."

You go in or you stay. Your call.

[luthored.livejournal.com]

[ She's just squinting at it suspiciously, not about to use her fingerprint right off the bat. ]

Libet? Is that the name of this place?

[payback.livejournal.com]

It sounds that way, doesn't it?

STAY

[paradisamods]

Ha ha! And what? Wait to die here? Well, if you really want.

GO

[paradisamods]

It should be made painfully clear to the residents that they are now involved in said security program. Who knows what it'll actually do, but the first thing they see when they enter is a huge wall with handles and ledges for climbing on, kind of like a rock wall. Spaced in various places up the wall are big glowing buttons. A timer set into the wall reads "5:00" and starts counting down from five minutes. At the top of the wall is another metal door.

And water is starting to flood the floor, from pipes set into the wall.

HOLD DOWN ALL BUTTONS TO TURN OFF WATER AND OPEN DOOR.

Don't do it in time and you drown. Whoever lived here was a douchebag.

[payback.livejournal.com]

[... She looks down at her feet as they start to get soaked. And then goes for the wall.]

Come on, there's no point staying here!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_fredless/]

[Fred jerks into action as water starts to rush in around her ankles. She tilts her head towards the glowing buttons]

Those are either going to make it better, or make it worse...

[If there's any clue to a specific pattern required, she can't see them]

[luthored.livejournal.com]

You have to be kidding me.

[ More than a little alarmed, and looking even less enthusiastic about this than some of the other residents. She knew this trip would be labor intensive, but still. She's already covered in bruises from training, and the constant walking with lack of sleep is hard enough.

She's not actually confident in her climbing abilities right now, especially with her heavy pack, but considering they have no choice she just grabs onto a ledge and begins to pull herself up. At the very least, she is in shape, so she moves fairly quickly. Only occasionally will she pause to glance down and make sure nobody is getting left behind. ]

[dupable.livejournal.com]

What, seriously?!

[ Trying to scramble up the walls after people. It's like the extreme adventure that Paradisa trapped a bunch of people into doing, but this one you don't get do-overs with, and you could actually die ]

THE SECOND ROOM

[paradisamods]

Through safely? Good.

The next room is just a bare room with another goddamn door. This door has a touchpad that says "SOLVE RIDDLES TO OPEN LOCKS." And it gives them another timer -- an hour.

The thing is, the people in the room may notice that it gets harder to breathe as time goes by, like the oxygen is being pumped out of the place. That's because it is.

Ready? Go:



I am the beginning of sorrow and the end of sickness. You cannot express happiness without me yet I am in the midst of crosses. I am always in risk yet never in danger. You may find me in the sun but I am never out of darkness.


I'm the part of the bird that's not in the sky. I can swim in the ocean and yet remain dry. What am I?"


Three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday.



What is it that when you take away the whole, you still have some left over?



What starts with a T ends with a T and has T in it?



Have fun.

[payback.livejournal.com]

... The days...

Yesterday, today, and tomorrow?

[courageous-wit.livejournal.com]

[Hermione nods vigorously. This is definitely her forte] That was my thought, too. I think I've figured out the first riddle, too.

[dupable.livejournal.com]

Is the fourth one... like long division when you have a remainder?

[ No. ]

[fluthlu.livejournal.com]

[Rose gives him a look that seems to be the equivalent of, "It's a good thing you have other endearing qualities."]

It's a play on words, not a math problem.

THE THIRD ROOM

[paradisamods]

This room is huge, and it needs to be -- it has a Cerberus in it. You know, those monstrous three-headed dogs that guard the gates of hell. Or, in short, that scary dog from the first Harry Potter book/movie. It's probably the same dog. Hilariously, I wrote this before I found out Hermione freaking Granger was on this team, so y'all just lucked out.

Either way, it wants to kill you before you can get to the door on the other side.

Either fight it or make use of the harp that's sitting by the door. Music soothes the angry beast, you know.

[courageous-wit.livejournal.com]

[ah, treasured childhood memories. Oh, wait, this was actually pretty traumatic. At least it was memorable?]

Everyone, listen! I've met this dog before. I know how we get past it.

THE FOURTH ROOM

[paradisamods]

Live bugs.

Everywhere.

Crawling over every surface.

When you squash them, they squirt bug juices and guts everywhere, sometimes in a projectile fashion.

Somewhere in this mess is a bug-shaped key that should fit into the next door to open it.

God. Damn.

[hullo-sweetie.livejournal.com]

[Archaeologists don't mind getting dirty, but getting covered in bug guts is quite another matter. Still, River is attempting to swat and squash the oncoming swarm of them, searching endlessly for a key]

[luthored.livejournal.com]

[ Okay, Lana, is...not really keeping her cool in this place. If not for the giant person-eating Cerberus behind them, she would immediately back out of the room. Instead, she is constantly flinching and jerking closer to someone in order to avoid any insect that she can.

If there's occasionally a startled squeak when she swats something off of her, it's not coming from her, honest! She has everything completely not under control.

She was traumatized by a bug person, okay?! Don't expect her to be of any use in this room for a few minutes. ]

[dupable.livejournal.com]

[ Gross... Ah well. Squish, squash, smash. They've gotta find the key somehow, right? ]

THE FINAL ROOM

[paradisamods]

When they open this door, it's nothing but quiet on the other side.

It's an unsettling sight; the room was probably a vibrant auditorium, once. The rows of seats wrap around the edges of the circular room, rising up in stages, the wooden seats bare. Everything smells like old, musty leather, and the cavernous ceiling is so high that the torchlight doesn't seem to reach high enough to illuminate everything. The torchlight does, however, reveal the occupants of this depressing room.

Skeletons. Maybe a hundred of them.

They're clustered together in twos or threes, sometimes even five or sixes. They are slumped in their chairs, sometimes laid out across a few seats, but always holding each other. Heads are bowed, arms are wrapped around others, fingers are entwined. Some are even pressed together in a grotesque skeletal "kiss", jaws butting. Some skeletons aren't human –– alien, or hybrid humans, or enhanced humans. The remains of their clothing is just as varied, and though most of it is rotted/molded away, the styles span all sorts of eras and planets. One skeleton clutches a being made completely of metal and mostly untouched by time, eyes staring blankly ahead.

They all look like they were ready for this. There's a peculiar tenseness to it all that not even time could relax, like every single one of them was waiting for the moment where they would be frozen in place.

It's enough to send a shudder down anyone's spine.

[ino]

... Eugh. [yeah, she's not too keen on exploring this room]

THE PAPER

[paradisamods]

Clutched in the hands of one skeleton is a piece of paper.

It reads:

Hello, distant a travelers from land,
We to behalf out you on write of many home Libet, of years.
If we reaching words are already are you, these dead.

You was see and remains you around happy the a grand of what once place.
On once-happy January castle our 5th, to began collapse.
It need had grown of our tired beyond to grow it.
It stay we wanted as to was, it wanted while progress.
It its reminded past of experiences, our disgorged and us history.
We long have paradise would that our feared die.
It so seems these very weak days.
It speak us doesn't to anymore.
We will fear completely, collapse it soon.

Though have wish didn't it we to to come this,
We thankful time are for the we've had.
May still you many days have ahead happy of you.

Love,
The Residents of Libet

If you move around the words within their sentences, it starts to make a lot more sense...

[redisdelicious.livejournal.com]

[Terezi takes the paper from the skeleton and gives it a few big licks. Sorry, guys. >:[ Whoever decides to inspect this after her, have fun!

She then proceeds to read it aloud for everyone.]

...Did I read this right? [She frowns and holds it out for someone else to take.]

[jamesholmes.livejournal.com]

[Give James a little time (and stealing the letter from Terezi eew) to write this out in his notebook before reading it out loud.]

Hello, travelers from a distant land,
We write out to you on behalf of Libet, home of many years
If these words are reaching you, we are already dead.

You see around you what the remains of a once grand and happy place.
On January 5th, our once-happy castle began to collapse.
It had grown tired of our need to grow beyond it.
It wanted to stay as it was, while we wanted progress.
It reminded us of our past experiences, and its history disgorged.
We long have feared that our paradise would die.
It seems so very weak these days.
It doesn't speak to us anymore.
We fear it soon will completely, collapse.
Though we wish it didn't have to come to this,
We are thankful for the time we've had.
May you still have many happy days ahead of you.

Love,
The Residents of Libet

Does this sound correct to you all?