[???] Story Thread

[Nai]

It is dark. Very dark. It's incredibly hard to tell if it is dark because it's night, because your eyes are closed, because you can't see... Your eyes almost hurt because of the darkness. But the overwhelming sensation right now is pitch black. The idea that there's nothing to see.

Wait. Strike that.

There's another sensation.

A dull ache in the back of your head. It's been there, just below consciousness, for the past several moments. It pulses with your heartbeat. Slowly growing stronger. You don't know why your head would ache, though.

More troubling than the aching head is the fact that you don't know where you are. Or how long you have been here. It could be hours. Or seconds. You don't even know how long it's been since you came to consciousness.

Perhaps it's time to piece things together just a tad. After all, starting from the beginning can be good.

Your head... It's making thinking so... Hard.

Memory seems to be an issue. Thoughts are fleeting. Consciousness is streaming. Not sticking. Hard to build a premise if you have no foundation.

Foundation...

Need a foundation. Some place to start. Where? No. Not where. What? No.

Who.

Who are you?

>

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Zelderex

>The Man in a Hat

That... Will have to do, you guess. It's a way to identify yourself at the very least. You are a man. Good place to start. There's things you can automatically assume when you think 'man'. And the way your head is currently a little fuzzy, you don't think you should check on any more physical parts than are actually required at this moment.

A hat.

You reach up to touch your head. Gingerly. You can feel a little dried blood up there. Your scalp feels a little squishy, as if you got hit upside the head. There is a hat up there. Somehow, whatever happened, you kept your hat.

"The man in a hat" sounds a little more like a pseudonym than anything. But it will have to do. More important now is where you are. It's still dark. Maybe a little cold. Perhaps you should go and explore?

>

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Megiddo

> TMITH: Figure out where you are

You decide that you've spent enough time dealing with the existential question of who you are, the next question is what you should do. And the thought hits you. Perhaps you should figure out where you are.

Ignoring the throbbing in your head, you reach out with both hands to try to feel around. It doesn't work too badly. The room you're in seems to be fairly small. Perhaps six feet square. It's pure black, with no windows. There is a door, but the handle seems to be locked. No deadbolt though. It seems to lock from the other side.

It almost seems like you're being trapped here somehow.

>

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Viricide

> TMITH: Check your person for any tools or items that you were carrying or that have been slipped to you without your recollection.

It's kind of hard to check yourself in the darkness, but at least you do a patdown.

Your hat is a top-hat. Not a stovetop, mind. A leather hat that conveniently has a pocketwatch set in a leather holder. It's stylish, and also is great for telling the time.

You are wearing a stylish three piece suit. Top, bottom, and vest. You have a button up shirt underneath. If memory serves, it's a pinstripe. Your shoes are dressy and shiny. Or, at least, should be.

In your left inner breast pocket is a deck of cards. Your lucky deck. You may not actually be using it often, but it's good to have that there.

Your right pocket, on the outside this time, contains a steel lighter with a red diamond on it.

You have a wallet in your back pocket. You can feel some credit-style cards in it. There is no cash inside, you can't remember if you had any before.

>

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Megiddo

>TMITH: Try to unlock the door with a credit card

How are you going to do this with no light?

>TMITH: Light the lighter to try to see

That's better. You can see a little bit. But you're afraid the lock on the door doesn't take American express.

>TMITH: Check the time

The time appears to be 60:06:4935:0095:9175:995.

>TMITH: Be the other guy

What other guy?

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Oculus

>TMITH: Punch door

Your hand starts to hurt.

The door's HP is still at 100%.

>TMITH: Attempt to set door on fire

Turns out, the door is made of something that isn't flammable. Steel or fake-wood. Or perhaps your lighter just can't set doors on fire.

Originally Posted by Nyxu

>TMITH: Melt card into Key-shape.

You get your melt on, if you know what I mean.

You also get a key shape.

>TMITH: Decide your name is now SMITH

You decide that, from this point onwards (until you change it), you will be Sexy Man in the Hat (SMITH).

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Megiddo

>SMITH: Attempt to unlock door with keycard.

Using the still-molten keycard to open the lock probably wasn't the best idea. It sort of smooshes into the lock and basically renders it inoperable.

It's better than gum!

Originally Posted by Gerrard's Mom

>SMITH: Try to find a stoat to help (a helpful stoat)

You are pretty sure there isn't, and has never been, a stoat in this room.

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Oculus

>SMITH: Check room for secret panels

As a matter of fact, there seems to be a panel in the roof. You're not sure why you didn't see it before.

>Stoat: Set nefarious plan into action

Done.

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Megiddo

>Smith: Attempt to open panel

Originally Posted by Oculus

>SMITH: Punch Panel

It doesn't take long, actually. The panel seems to be something for an air-conditioning vent. A well built one. The cover pops off with the light application of a fist. Cheers!

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Oculus

>Smith: Check vent for items

The vent contains a lot of dust and one or two screws. It is rather dark. Grues may or may not be something you could encounter and/or be eaten by.

>Smith: Look for things to punch

Unfortunately, punching targets are in short supply in here. It's simply a vent.

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Oculus

>Smith: Pick up screws, try crawl into vent

Something might need punching up there

You pick up the screws and put them in your Coat Pocket. Then you continue on into the vent. There's just enough space for you to crawl.

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Megiddo

>Smith: Crawl!

Oh, you crawl. You don't want to be in that room any more. The vent is rather narrow, but thankfully it doesn't creak or anything while you're working your way through it. No, it's nicely built. It's lucky for you. It's also very dark. You may be eaten by something unidentified that's in no way infringing potential copyrights of an old game.

You do come to a bit of an intersection, however. To the front is some sort of light coming from a grill. A dead end anyways. To your left is more darkness, more vent. Where do you go?

>

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Oculus

>Smith: Examine Grill

The actual grill itself is made of metal slats that can be angled to direct air throughout the room. This confirms that you're probably in an air conditioning vent. Or maybe heating. Something to direct air. Right now it's fairly closed. You can see light through it, but no real details.

Originally Posted by Megiddo

>Smith: Enter the darkness

You decide to eschew the potential for light and head into the darkness. You can always backtrack, right? You start crawling. And continue to do so. All of a sudden, you feel a drop in front of you. There may be more vent on the other side, or it may simply be a fall. You can't tell, it's too dark.

>

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Zelderex

>SMITH: Try to push open Grill.

The Grill is behind you, didn't you know?

>Stoat: Progress report on Nefarious Plan

It's proceeding swimmingly.

Originally Posted by Gerrard's Mom

>Smith: Meet a stoat in the darkness

You meet the Stoat in the darkness. But stoats are quiet, and it's quite dark, so you don't actually know that it happened.

>

[Nai]

Originally Posted by Zelderex

>SMITH: Don't care that the grill is behind you, punch it with feet.

Originally Posted by Oculus

>SMITH: Unleash war cry, plunge recklessly into darkness

You'd be amazed at how well this works.

Well, not really. See, Newton's Third Law says 'every action has an equal and opposite reaction'. Kicking the grill, which happens to be sturdy and locked (odd for a building) propels you into the darkness. Your war cry could also be called a scream.

Luckily, it's only about two feet down. You simply bang your head rather well.