well, i know i had it coming …

[headandhand]

WHO: Open to all Dualizens
WHAT: Your regularly scheduled NAPs event for the month
WHERE: Dualis Danger Lock
WHEN: Feb. 10-13
WARNINGS: Please use these if applicable!


Look at all of these bright, shining new faces! There’s even a few less bright, less shining faces - maybe even a few folks without faces - but hey, this city welcomes all types. Chances are, if you’ve just arrived, you're seeing some pretty crazy things, unless you're used to an eye-blinding amount of neon, robots, weird-ass technology, magic, and an omnipresent police force...and hey, if you are, congrats, you're gonna settle in just fine! But for the rest of you, the Head knows this is gonna be pretty overwhelming, right?

Well, since your quaint individual processing units are probably having a hard time, why not link up with another one? By which the Head means...

Hello, new citizens of Dualis,
and welcome to your monthly Network Adjacency Protocol~!

NAPs are a monthly community networking event similar to the Earth concept of speed dating. Two citizens (new arrivals and old hands alike) are placed at a table together with a handy cue card of queries to help break the proverbial ice. Ask (possibly invasive) personal questions and receive results - or ignore the card and yeet yourself straight into a brand new friendship, whatever works! But don't be too shy - you've only got ten minutes together, and if you just sit in silence for the whole ten, the Network Admins are likely to come supervise and try to repair the uplink through a mild shock to the ol' central nervous system. You might find yourself saying all sorts of unintended facts about yourself if that happens...probably better to just make friends, right? Who doesn’t like friends?!

And who doesn’t like meeting friends in a cramped, high-stress environment? That’s how some of the best friendships are forged - under pressure. Like diamonds! Luckily, for this month, NAPs provides just such an ideal friendmaking environment, courtesy of the brand-new escape room mega-complex, Dualis Danger Lock! This establishment boasts six different highly challenging escape rooms, all designed for small teams of two to three apiece. Usually, the six rooms offer six different themes - jewel heists, high-stakes espionage, and so on - but this month, each escape room differs only in the layouts and clues, because the themes are all the same.

That’s right - you’re attempting to escape from prison. Good luck with that!

After you’ve bonded with your new friends over sharing your skills at puzzle-solving and exited your escape room of choice, grab a table at the food court for snacks and mildly invasive personal questions, or blow off some steam at the arcade. Or, if you have high-pressure steam that needs to be let off, treat yourself to an adult beverage at the Danger Key bar.

Enjoy your freedoms, Dualizens! Enjoy them while they last ...

Comments

Zack Fair | Final Fantasy VII | OTA

[legacy_blade]

No Escape

There aren't a lot of things that upset Zack. At all. And there were very few things that can upset him nearly as much as this. He hadn't understood just what was meant before he got here. After all, it was just a NAPs, and he loved those, loved getting to meet people and getting to talk. But then he had walked inside and he'd seen it. Heard someone pitching what the place was, offering to put him with one of the teams. They would put them in a room they couldn't get out of, the person was saying. And their job was to use the clues and tools in the room to get out.

That sentence didn't even finish before Zack found it was almost impossible to breathe. He pushed pas the person and back outside, just about falling over.

It's worse than ever facing a dragon to be honest. He's fought honest to god monsters that could eat him. So why was he panicking over this?

But he was, he absolutely was, and Zack flopped down on the street outside and tried to keep himself from shaking too much.


Its Still NAPS Outside Isn't It?

Well, just because things were bad didn't mean he had to, you know, not talk to people. After a talk to calm down Zack stood outside of the building, waving at people who came in for NAPs.

"Hey, pretty day, isn't it? Maybe we can do the whole meet and greet thing out here, right?"

Better than another freak out inside, right?

Sal Fisher | Sally Face | will use any format

[sallyfaced]

It isn't the first time Sal has woken up in a strange place with voices talking to him and he's sure it won't be the last, just as he was sure the last time wouldn't be the last. He's more filled with dread than surprise — but not from fear. "What now?" is all he has left to wonder. He tried calling out to Ashley and even Todd but either they couldn't hear him or there was no connection between him and Ash anymore. Which would make sense, because he doesn't think he's between dimensions right now and he can't...well, "sense" her.

A lot of the questions he actually wants answers to only get vague and obscure responses, which he expects. That's fine. It's fine. That's just what voices do, AI or ghostly, right? There's a lot about what he learns that troubles him, but even more so that his home is in shambles right now and he can't do anything to go back and help Ash and Todd fix things.

Not this shit again.

PRISON BREAK

He managed to get some clothes, thankfully. He doesn't know a lot about where he is other than what he's been told but he's sure showing up in an orange jumpsuit would have been off putting to a lot of people. He found some blue jeans he was able to fit into — he's pretty sure they're fit for a teen girl but it matters very little to him, evident by the fact that he went with a pink top that has some sort of floral pattern to it. A bit of fun for his bleak situation.

He knows what escape rooms are, but he's never been to one before. He can't say he isn't a little perturbed by the implications, considering his trapped circumstances. Not to mention just how close to home it hits. Three years in prison with nothing but his thoughts, curled up in a corner staring at nothing, waiting for death. It's not something he particularly wants to revisit, and yet he goes along with it anyway. After everything, at the end of the day, being in that cell wasn't the worst experience of his life. Besides, you don't get kidnapped by some mysterious AI and dumped into city just to have fun. Maybe there's something here. There's always something, right?

It looks pretty straight forward, as is the deceptive nature of escape rooms he would imagine. It's a cell; there's the bed that typically sticks out from the wall, but it's closed and pushed right up against it, a footlocker — the basics of a cell, which he can now say he knows from experience.

After a moment, once they're left to their own devices, there's a muffled sigh from behind his plastic face and a rather deadpanned declaration. "This theme is shitty."

MORE NAPS

That was something.

He hates how hungry he is, but being dead — or whatever he is, and spending a long ass time trying to escape a small room and pondering the poor choice you made indulging in something that makes you want to break out in hives can really get the appetite going. He grabs a soda and a small fries, taking a seat at an empty table. He's aware of the whole...speed friending thing, but he doesn't really mind talking to new people. In fact, on most normal days, he enjoys it quite a bit.

He doesn't take his mask off to eat, instead unstrapping the lower buckles and shoving a fry or two underneath his mask, or his straw when he wishes to take a drink. When someone is seated across from him he takes it upon himself to be the first one to speak.

"Hey. Want a fry?"

Okay, he's usually better at greetings, but it's been a long day. Or month. A long life. He's tired.

ARCADE

The arcade is a nice and familiar place in an unfamiliar world. It's a nice reminder of the old days where he'd pop down after classes (or during classes) and hang out with the gang, setting records, destroying records, or just shoveling bad food into their mouths while huddling around Todd as he set another high score.

Right now though, he can be found working on a sidescroller. It easily drew him in in its nostalgia, but damn was it hard. Not that he's never been challenged before, but the protagonist moves at lightening speed and you have to be quick with the shooting as you hurdle towards enemies.

"Damn it." He watches as his little caped dude explodes after colliding with an enemy and diminishing the last bit of his health bar. What was this, level 30? Maybe he should give up...or...if you happen to approach he'll step to the side. "Bet you can't do a level without getting hit once." His dare is playful and not mocking, though, which he's careful to convey seeing as his smile isn't visible.

DORMS; closed to Jason

He decided to come here last. It brings such a finality to the whole situation as reality sets in that he's probably going to be here a while. He already misses Ash, and Todd, and Larry. And Gizmo. He would worry more about the cat if he didn't have faith that Ash would go back to the house and check on him. She's good like that.

Sal takes a quick glance around the room, rubbing the back of his head as his mask shifts from the ruffling of his buckles. He's had roommates before, just...he actually knew them. The thought of rooming with a stranger filled him with anxiety, but not for the obvious reasons. How was he going to sleep? With his mask on? Would he just bury himself under his covers every night and keep his mask right beside him instead of hanging on the bed post? Should he take his eye out still? What if it grossed them out? What if they were nosy? What if they hated him? In retrospect, he couldn't care less if someone hated him, but what if they hated him enough that they felt the need to antagonize him to the point of violence? He just doesn't want to deal with that right now. Here's to hoping if they end up punching him in the face they do it once and let it go.

All these thoughts swim through Sal's mind, he doesn't even realize he's standing there, in the middle of the room, staring into space like a weirdo.

Shay || Uglies || OTA

[uglyminded]

"Some puzzle," Shay mutters derisively as she picks up the oversized padlock on the cell door. It has symbols instead of numbers, which will make it pretty easy to figure out what's a clue and what isn't. The lock and bars are solid steel, but they're planted in concrete. A bit of Special strength and the right application of leverage will turn it to dust.

She lets the lock fall and turns to face the rest of the room. Her enhancements make this a little unfair, but why ruin the fun for the randoms?

"Well, where do you want to start? The dozens of hiding places on the bed, the random junk on the shelf, or the conspicuous Rusty phone?" The snake tattoos on her face move almost inperceptibly in time with her heartbeat.