solnet | EMERGENCY BROADCAST (text)

Entry tags:

EMERGENCY BROADCAST (text)

(All active cellphones sound an alarm briefly during the delivery of this message.)

To: All Users
From: sans.
Subject: (SUBJECT HERE)
--------------------------------------------------------
URGENT ANNOUNCEMENT: The following is an automated message.

Nature of Emergency: cagey queen left us hanging

PRESS 1 if outside the vicinity of: home If it is safe to do so, follow the prompts to take and send an image of your surroundings to the administrator.

Users in the vicinity of: home are requested to congregate in the: mess hall immediately for: probably a good idea to come save us

Additional Notes:

* sup.
* not much, not much, just hangin' with about 3 new and old friends in this cage dangling precariously above the water.
* can't say i like the conditions either, but the cold and damp doesn't get under my skin. i think i see other cages, tho and, uh, i can't say much for them yet.
* six other occupied cages, with about three in each. hey, it's like those math problems you used to get in school.
* startin' to get a real sinking feeling so if there's anybody out there who ain't locked up, it'd mean a lot to me and over 20 other people if you bailed us out.
* see ya. sans.

---------------------------------------------------------

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tch it's like I'm back home

And right right you told me, I believe you

[San is sticking to the story? Alright, Sanji will... let it go then. Maybe Papyrus really is that good]

Whats your puzzle lookin like? No ropes I hope

* y'know those tiles where you can move 'em around one at a time until they form a picture?
* tedious as hell, real grade schoolmonster stuff.
* got somebody on it right now, don't wanna break their concentration.

I'M THE ONLY ONE WHO GOT A NOOSE?

[Wow he knows he said he's glad no one else is in danger but he is feeling attacked suddenly]

A WJAT??/

[Oh, hi, did you think these texts were private? Norma's reading through more and more of these and - of course she's keeping her eyes peeled on a few more than others. This bit of news is distressing in the worst possible was and she immediately feels a cold spike dig its way into her chest.]

* right welp that's my cue to go
* good luck buddy

[SANS YOU SHITTY PIECE OF FUCK HE THOUGHT THESE MESSAGES WERE PRIVATE]

Edited ((rofl I changed my mind NEVER MIND)) 2016-10-01 20:26 (UTC)

[ whoopsie doopsie ]

[SIGH well so much for his plan to keep this to himself for the time being]

Norma-chan don't worry it's not that tight

We complete the shitty puzzle and I bet it'll come off

[Hahaha, you better believe Norma didn't even bother reading that new text message and is calling Sanji right now. Not like she'd be any good at texting right now, what with her hands shaking as they are and furious, scared tears welling up in her eyes. God damn, why is it always people she cares about getting into trouble like this?! Did she really do something so slimy in her life to deserve this kind of crap?!

Sanji, you better fucking take that call, dude.]

[In the brief second of panic that comes after seeing the text screen flicker away to show an incoming call, Sanji does consider leaving it; the situation is what it is, he and Pap have already tried a bunch of ways to get this rope off his neck. Sanji just wants the puzzle finished.

... But he never could leave a lady hanging, and won't start today. Norma doesn't have to wait but two seconds before Sanji's voice is on the other line]

Norma-chan.

[THere's a moment of silence on the other line, and Sanji may think she hung up, or the call dropped, but there there's a shaky breath and a sound like someone's having a hard time breathing. Seems there's a pretty tight noose around Norma's neck, too, but not in the literal sense. Her calm is forced, beaten into submission to the point where her tone is flat and devoid of anything but strain.]

I want an explanation. Everything and anything you can tell me. [Because someone mentioned a game. A game of words. And if there's anything Norma knows a hell of a lot of, it's deciphering words, letters, and symbols.] I don't care if you think I already know it, don't leave anything out.

And don't lie.

Take a look at my convo with Rin-chan; she understands this game better than I do.

[It's simple and honest. Sanji can't explain a game he's only just learned.]

She called it hangman and it involves discovering some shitty word. We pick letters, have a few tries to get it right - I think she mentioned 10 - until we either discover the word, or we lose.

[Until he loses]

I read it, yeah - the game itself seems pretty simplistic rule-wise, but really difficult given the constraints on chances...and the stakes in place. But I'm a linguist - a transcriptionist, actually - I'm pretty good at this kind of stuff. [She's not promising success, but she's offering her skills and her knowledge. If it's a word puzzle, Norma thinks she can pose some good tips and tricks to reduce their chances of failure.] Just don't start guessing without direction, that's a surefire way to get you killed. Please...pass that on.

[Her voice cracks a little, but with another deep breath, Norma charges forward. Her tone seems different, and her words are a little more...eloquent? Sophisticated? It's like a switch has been flipped. The scholar has been summoned.]

I'm gathering more information being sent out, but is there a hint or clue anywhere in the cage as to what the secret word may be? And little nuances in the cages, if you can tell. Any sort of similarities between the puzzles and their answers may help us solve this one.

[Sanji notes the change in the other instinctively, and feels a distinct note of pride in how well Norma pulls through her previous unease. Good, they'll need as many people with levels heads as they can fish out.]

No, I looked all around the shitty cage, there's only... hold on -- [Sanji is not savvy when it comes to the tech of the castle. He hardly uses his phone outside of emergencies, and so there's a brief pause when he hangs up on her, WHOOPS. But right on the heels of this betrayal, Norma's phone will buzz with incoming pictures that show the layout of the cage. There's nothing of note besides nine underscores and a faded picture of a hangman.

If Norma doesn't call him right back, Sanji will, voice apologetic]

Ahh-- sorry, I didn't-- [muffled cussing, shitty seas just give him a damned snail already] Anyway, that's all we've got. Papyrus' looking at that shit right now; everyone says he's good at puzzles.

[Level-headed doesn't mean Norma's not scared sick. It doesn't mean she's not shaking and trying to force down her worst fear of one of her very close friends actually dying here in this stupid castle. She may be ready to put her foot forward and help them out, but it's not without a heavy heart - one screw up and it's another nail in Sanji's coffin. It's different when she's gambling her own life, but someone else's? Someone she cares so much about?]

Hey, don't force yourself if you can't-- [And the line cuts out and momentarily she does indeed panic a bit, breathing out only when her phone buzzes with a message that a picture was sent and an incoming call from the chef is coming back through. Good gosh, this guy's gonna give her grey hairs...] Jeez, give me a heart attack a third time why don't you?

Anyway, nine letters...that's a long enough word that it'll screw you up. Pap's is pretty good at puzzles, so you should be...okay. [She was bound to him for a little while last month, she knows he's got a good heart, and he's smart and diligent. He has an eye for this sort of thing, and she's got faith in him.

But. But--] ...Hey, can I talk to him for a sec?

["Leave a lady hanging", huh? Probably a good thing that phrase didn't leave Sanji's mouth, considering whose neck the rope's around, ne?]

[Just trying to get an idea of who else is out here. What puzzles they have, any other similarities. Oh hey, it's Sanji. Wait, what.]

If that's a joke, it's not funny!

[LOOK HE LOVES IT WHEN LADIES PAY ATTENTION TO HIM but this is not the way he wanted it, trust him. He balks at Rin's text and takes a moment to respond]

It's not a joke

I'm guessing I lose if we can't figure out this shitty puzzle

[Well that's not chilling or anything. But no, she'd rather hear it straight than rely on vague details and wishful thinking. Huffing over in Cage 5, Rin hunches her shoulders to shield her phone from the rain and responds back quickly.]

Then don't lose. I disallow you to die in such a stupid way.

[They both know she can't help it, but it pays to be optimistic. Mostly, she hopes the comment cheers him up even a little; that he imagines the way she would say it out loud. She'd probably call him instead for it, if it didn't strike her as a good idea to stick to text to conserve the phone battery. Who knows how long they'll be out her, after all.]

Who's helping you with the puzzle?

[He said it above, but she was sort of skimming earlier.]

[Rin's comment does cheer him up, and his mouth warms into a smile. Sanji's been playing the part of a hotheaded fool (which he is), but it's as much as a front as the truth in this case. Potentially dying in front of a kid, having that shit hung over Papyrus's head-- the Queen is good, he'll give her that, and it takes a lot to have Sanji wanting vengeance against a woman.]

At your command, Rin-chwan~! ♥ [No dying, she says. He'll take it to heart.

But now: business.]

Papyrus, Sans' brother, guy says he's good at puzzles

Then there's this little goat, Sans said it's Chara's brother

Haven't got his name yet

[Oh. Chara's brother. And Papyrus and Sans and Wade...

Chara's going to be really upset, aren't they? Rin remembers how panicked they looked, when it seemed just one of those names might be gone. Frisk will be too, though they might hide it better. She hopes they'll be smart enough to group if someone before blindly storming out here, but she wouldn't highly rate the chances of that. She should try to contact one of them.

After Sanji. He's a bit more immediately concerning.]

Yes, he's reliable for that.

[She barely knows Papyrus, but... Call it bleed through from last month's adventures in soul bonding. Via Sans, she formed a high opinion of the guy.]

But if you DO run into problems, don't hesitate to ask us for help. Or tell Papyrus to, if you otherwise become unable. No one in my cage is in immediate danger here, and some of the ones next to me look okay too. We can spare the effort if things get hairy.

Edited 2016-10-01 22:23 (UTC)

[Huh, well... admittedly hearing Rin's abrupt praise of Papyrus boosts his confidence; Sans he could see lying to protect the image of his brother (not like the shit hasn't done it before), but he doesn't think Rin has a reason to vouch unless there's experience to back it up. Feeling slightly more relaxed, he gives himself a quiet nod and texts back]

About that

[Uuuuuuuh... how to put this delicately]

How the hell do you play this game

[What]

Do they not have schools where you come from???

Since I was a kid I worked as an apprentice chef

[UGH.]

We'll talk about your critical lack of social childhood developments another time. That game is simple, as I recall it. There's a secret word, and you take turns guessing letters to spell it out. If you guess a letter correctly, someone will mark it on the board in the proper spaces. And if you guess wrong, something gets added to the drawing instead. If the drawing of the man hanging from the noose is completed, you lose, and if you figure out the word, you win. Easy, like I said.

EMERGENCY BROADCAST (text)

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text (not really there)

(not really there)

Text

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

Voice

not here; sorry, I had to

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

Text

private

private

private

private