usedfeatherdance | Feather 17 [Video]

[ The video clicks on to a view of the ceiling in one of the rooms of the Blackthorn Inn. The fan is slowly circling, and the only other thing visible in the frame is an arm reaching straight up from slightly off screen, holding up a Rising Badge. ]

We've already figured out that collecting a whole set of badges doesn't actually get you anything of value, right? Or did that finally change while I wasn't looking?

[ Joshua sighs, and the arm lowers out of the feed. There's the sound of it hitting the bed, and the camera shakes just the slightest. ]

You'd think that after I spent this long collecting them, I'd feel prouder at finally winning the last one. Mmm, perhaps this isn't really for me after all.

[ After a pause, he giggles. Then he rolls over and leans over the Gear, his face finally entering the camera's view. ]

How about this? Tell me about the worst thing that happened to you at home that you're still willing to talk about. Even if it doesn't seem to compare to what others have been through. Tragedy is quite relative, after all.

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Well... It's really nice compared to where I came from, but... It isn't like it's always bad there, either.

A lot of things just...happened.

What sort of things?

We...were all taken and locked in a school.

And told we had to kill each other if we wanted to get out...

... Why?

I don't really know.

It doesn't...make any sense to me, even now, how someone could want us to do that.

Who set it all up?

I don't know... That was part of the mystery about it.

Who...whoever they were, they communicated with us with this bear. A robot bear, I'm pretty sure it was.

Was it a single person, or a larger group?

We thought it could've been a larger group...to be able to lock us away like that, but Monobear was only ever the one to talk with us...

Being able to lock down the whole school and keep us from getting out, though, it seems like something you'd need more people to work on...

... So you really had no idea whatsoever? Were there any more rules to it?

[ There has to be something. ]

Well, I was trying to find out more... We found an old laptop in the library and I managed to fix it. I left it to remove the encryptions on the files...

The files said something about the "Worst, Most Despair-Inducing Incident in the History of Mankind" [gosh but that is a mouthful to say], and because of that the school was shut down... And there was a plan for us all to live there.

It sounded sort of like the school was responsible, but there's no way that the school would make us kill one another.

Any reason why the school wouldn't in particular? Logically, there's no way anyone would make you kill one another, after all.

Mmm... But the school is so important, so many people were paying attention to it...so surely someone might've noticed the way that it was all sealed up.

How was that managed, out of curiosity?

Um... There was iron bolted all over the windows, and sealing up the main doors out of the school, too... As hard as we tried, we couldn't find anywhere open where we had access...

Was this something that had been done overnight, or was there a longer period of time involved?

I doubt it could've been overnight... The school is pretty large, and everything that was used to block up windows and doors seemed really heavy.

But it wasn't as if this suddenly happened after a normal school day where nothing was out of the ordinary.

It is something that you'd think people would notice, and be talking about.

Prior to this, when was the last time anyone had been at the school?

It should've been just the day before... But we found a letter saying the school'd been closed down.

But it was impossible, students were attending and people were talking about it on the 'net and everything...

So one of those had to be a lie.

But realistically, if no one could get in or out of the school, it would need to be close at that point. The question is more the when.