Heart Game: Intensity (Turn 5)

[idolpro]

In the beginning, there is nothing but darkness and silence. A sleep that gives no rest but one out of necessity in order to keep functioning. Behind closed eyelids, the numbers of a clock tick down - one painstaking second at a time.

TIME UNTIL REBOOT:


And then you wake up.

As you shift to a standing position, you feel something sharp and pointed press against your side. Digging into the nearest pocket, you will find two small puzzle pieces. And from their odd shape, it looks like they would fit into a 3D spherical puzzle. Odd. You've never seen them before, but you do get a sense that these are a currency of some sort. Spend them wisely!

Game start.

Comments

OOC Bookeeping

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Instructions / Info

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

During sign-up, you will have been assigned a faction/NPC based on Intensity's perception of your character and various other factors. Where you start and your relationship with Intensity will determine your standing with the different NPCs as well as your power set.

What you know:

Intensity's heart will reboot in exactly 4 hours.

Puzzle pieces are a form of currency and are used to align with different factions/NPCs.

If you started in Hell, you will have powers appropriate to the wish you were granted (assuming you sign the contract).

If you started in Heaven, you will have canon powers.

If you started anywhere else, you will have the same abilities you have in Imeeji.

How to win (this is known ICly):

By siding with the faction/NPC that has the most puzzle pieces after all Heart runs. You do not have to ICly give puzzle pieces to NPCs. You can also just use the turn-in (see below) after finishing the Heart Game. If you do ICly hand a puzzle piece to an NPC (or lose one), you can't give it to someone else later.

Making changes to Intensity's central programming without causing a core dump. Attempt too drastic of a change and it won't stick upon reboot.

Other OOC information:

In general, I am playing this as everyone is in the same space/time continuum for the first 4 hours of the Heart.

Then Intensity will wake up (hopefully!) and I'll let you exploradora at your own pace and will backtag as long as you want to.

What factions are available:

Hell - The King of Hell

Heaven - Mokuba

Blue Eyes

The True Heart

K̵̭͋̀̇̽ȁ̴̗͕̰̄̚ì̵̭̹͍̬̋͘b̴̰̦̝͕̆̇̈́ȧ̶̮͈̮͉̏ (Canon Intensity)

[[P.S. Sorry if any of the fonts/styling bork when viewed on mobile. Webdev or CSS master, I am not.]]

Turn-In

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Please comment to this thread with who you gave your puzzle pieces to and whether your run is scored/unscored.

Character Specific Introductions

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Heaven - Main Branch

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You enter a very modern and very corporate office space - obviously of some higher ranking official in the company. If the pricey decor wasn't enough to give that away, the fact that you can see nothing but open sky outside of ceiling-to-floor length windows is just another data point to that fact. Also, if you have any experience with corporations or negotiations, you'll notice that this is a high-ranking reception room due to its sparse furniture. And no chairs on the customer-facing side of the desk indicates one meant to intimidate.

On various surfaces on the room, a single word has been - for lack of better description - erased. Where the company name should be (K̵̭͋̀̇̽ȁ̴̗͕̰̄̚ì̵̭̹͍̬̋͘b̴̰̦̝͕̆̇̈́ȧ̶̮͈̮̏) and the first letter in the company logo (K̵̭͋̀̇̽), it looks like static if you stare at it too long.

Behind the opulent desk (which still manages to have a 90s-style CRT desktop), the chair is turned away from you and facing the windows. But by the sound of fingers tapping together, it is obvious that someone is there.

On the edge of the desk sits a large crystal bowl that one might use to serve candies at a party. It currently has one (1) puzzle piece.

There is only one exit: [ Behind you ]

King of Hell's Office

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You find yourself in a wide, expansive cathedral with ceiling to floor stained-glass windows and heavy columns lining the unnecessarily long walkway. Pews are lined up neatly (perfectly so) on either side of you and a dark blue carpet framed in silver cushions your steps.

There is a figure at the end of that carpet, lounging comfortably in a silver throne behind a silver desk. A symbol of everything that is modern and all things technology in comparison to the layout of the room.

Even at this distance, you can see that Intensity's skin is paler, almost porcelain-like, and his hair has a bleached-silver sheen to it. Probably even more noticeable is the two giant white metallic wings that spring from his shoulder blades and the long dragon's tail that peeks out from the hem of his coat. Oh. And one more thing. You can very obviously tell there's not a single inch of human flesh on him - he's 100% artificial.

The King of Hell greets you with cold eyes and a colder smile, lacing his fingers in front of him.

"Excellent. I'm so glad you could make it."

There is only one exit: [ Behind you ]

Enter Kaiba [ 1 / 2 ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Before your eyes even adjust to the dimness of this room, you are bombarded with feelings that are not your own. A vengeance that is not yours. But, oh, for those few precious seconds, how it sings in your veins as if it was.

You've (They've) been searching for years for this person - this wretch who took everything from you (them), your (their) purpose, your (their) loved one, your life's work, and left you there, a shell of your former self - only to find them dead, dead of natural causes, the end of their normal lifespan they had glorified so much while looking down on you. They've left your reach with everything they've ever wanted - celebrated and at peace, propped up on a pedestal and praised to high heavens while you're still drowning in the muck they threw you down in. You can't stand it. All you had left in life was to find them and make them pay. All you had was them, and they even took that from you. You can't stand it. You absolutely can't stand it.

But you don't have to let it end this way. You can bring them back.

Compared to your real talents, graverobbing was arduous but simple. Their death was recent enough to leave their body still mostly intact, so there's only a few things you'll have to replace to revive them. It's perfect: you'll make them into one of your own creations, the things they scorned so much, and you'll force them to know the real value of your work firsthand. Fingers, eyes so they'll finally have to look at you, and then when you place a heart in their chest and start their life again, they'll become a mockery of their own legacy. And then finally, after so long, so long dreaming about it, finally, finally, with you're own hands, you'll kill them. Over, and over, and over.

Enter Kaiba [ 2 / 2 ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Once the vision leaves you, you open your eyes to the interior of a grandiose space station overlooking Earth. It appears no expense was spared in this particular endeavor. The twinkle of hundreds of LED lights and dozens of screens display more data than can be ever consumed by a single person in real time.

Across from where you are standing and behind a set of evenly spaced-bars of light stands "Intensity" looking out over this view. For those who remember the Rift or Liar Hell, yes, those are indeed the very same prison bars. It doesn't seem he has noticed your presence, laser focused as he is on some giant contraption putting together a large pyramid-shaped puzzle in zero-gravity.

If you do step forward to take a closer look at the screens, you will notice that there are pictures of the other occupants in the Heart Game and what they are doing.

There is only one exit: [ Behind you ]

The Pharaoh's Palace

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You arrive in a very opulent and expansive throne room (minus the people), the room surprisingly cool and comfortable for being in the middle of the desert. As you glance toward the throne itself, you see a figure enshrouded in light. But it's too bright - you can't tell who it is.

After a few more uncomfortable blinks, the light vanishes and you're left alone. And the sound of singing drifts in from your left. The words are unfamiliar (unless you are fluent in Ancient Egyptian), but you understand them all the same:

The corpse sinks to the floor The vessel becomes sand, becomes dust Even the brightest gold, Even the Sharpest sword Is wrapped in the sheath of time Woe to the pharaoh, for his body lacks even his name Time is the battlefield of souls I cry the song of battle, the song of a friend To the place far away where souls meet Guide me

There are two exits: [ Behind you to the desert and left to the palace gardens ]

Bark

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

You're back home in a very familiar labyrinth in a very familiar kingdom. A bowl of edible(?) plastic fruit sits on the bedside table.

But you ignore it because you're busy. And why are you busy, you might ask yourself.

Because you have a hot date.

With Bottle.

And you have no idea what you're going to wear. Or even look like for that matter -- as a second Slot poofs into existence. This one with a beard.

You tap your chin as you inspect the other Slot.

"Too much?" It asks in return.

"Yeah. Maybe."

It poofs out of existence and you drag your hands down your face. Ugh. You made it look so easy but actually this was really really hard.

Maybe you should ask Primrose or Juno or Peanut.

Maybe you should ask Dusk?

Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. Draping a cloak over your shoulders, you head out of the room to find Dusk's Court and---

You wake up again.

[[ Powers:

Smooth Operator: You have enhanced skills of persuasion/charm. Roll a 1d10 to show off your stuff. This abilities is twice as powerful in prisons and against daddies.

Spoilers: There are no daddies in Intensity's heart. Sorry, Slot. :( ]]

[[ Proceed to here ]]

Seto

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

The darkness and the silence return for you.

Neither last for long.

A woman appears in front of you, hand reaching for yours. Behind her, around her - the image of a dragon fades in and out of view, pulsing with a white blue light.

Her smile is fond. As if she had been waiting for you.

"Seto-sama."

And her hand grips yours.

"I missed you."

And it's warm and familiar and it's home. In the distance, you hear someone start to sing in your mother tongue.

And then the vision fades.

[[Powers:

My Pride and Soul: You can summon Blue Eyes to your side at any location in the Heart. ]]

[[ Proceed to here ]]

Re: Enter Kaiba [ 2 / 2 ]

[criminaljustice]

[.............. okay. really didn't need more Betrayal ghost things but GUESS THAT HAPPENED.

and then he's shaking his head, shaking it off and--]






Okay.

You're not allowed to talk shit about my being a prisoner in my own heart again.

[like. damn, Intensity.]

Re: Heaven - Main Branch

[rollyourluck]

[ well gonna start off by peering over the chair at the person working ]

What are you working on?

Re: King of Hell's Office

[iamverybadass]

[ Talon's on edge immediately, taking stock of the single exit and eyeing the windows uncertainly. He's pretty sure there's never a good reason to just find himself in a mysterious cathedral with a monstrous, at least partly robotic version of an ally smiling down at him. No way is he letting his guard down. ]

I thought it would be unwise to keep you waiting.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[ Kaiba turns to look over his shoulder when he hears Joker speak. ]

Now now. That's not how rivalry works, Boss. I'm allowed to talk shit as much as I want.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[ The person in the chair 'eeps' at your sudden appearance. And it may not be who you were expecting --- who were you expecting? But either way, it looks like C's long lost brother. Completely ignoring Bark's question. ] Huh? What are you doing here? I thought you retired.

[criminaljustice]

[rolls eyes but moving to investigate those bars.]

If you're that aspect, at least give me a breakdown on where you totally don't have any trouble spots.

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

But of course it's not.

Now, are you ready to discuss the terms of your contract? Freelancer, if I recall our previous spoken agreement.

[iamverybadass]

The contract.

[ He shifts subtly, paying attention to the weight of his clothes to figure out whether or not he has any of his weapons on him. ]

I'm afraid you're going to have to refresh my memory. I have had a long night, and the details are escaping me now.

[deifiedwhitedragon]

[The vision is long gone, and the light shortly gone, but that doesn't stop Seto from looking around frantically like he might see someone.]

Kisara—??

[He's distracted enough that it takes him a few moments to realize this place is... mostly familiar, and that he really shouldn't be here. And a few moments after that to begin to process the song.

Once he does his body goes still, listening to it until the end.]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

Please. You wound me. I'm as flawless as ever.

Even moreso than the current joker running the place.

[ Intentional barb - but of course. He's an asshole. ]

[ There is a keypad / unlocking device on the bars.

It seems like it will accept one (1) puzzle piece. ]

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[ The song pauses for a few moments.

But then it starts back up again, straight from the beginning. ]

1/2

[bluescreenwhitedragon]

[ He will find that he has any normal weapons that he carries on his person in Imeeji.

The King of Hell laughs at that statement. ]

Have you forgotten our deal? Talon. I'm hurt.

[ No, he's not. ]

[deifiedwhitedragon]

[This is far too many feelings for a person to have.

Once the singing begins again Seto moves towards it, towards the gardens, before he's really consciously decided to do so.]

[criminaljustice]

[hmmm...]

Man, you really must have issues with the self-acceptance thing.

[pot. kettle. but shrugs. and goes to poke around at the view screens. what areas is he dealing with...]

So where's this joker at? I'd love to meet him.