[LP CYOA] Spiral

[Baltika9]

Nah, Hobo Rider exist on the fringes of society. He's not cool by definition.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Nah, Hobo Rider exist on the fringes of society. He's cool by definition.

 

[ScubaV]

Oooooh! Looks like things are entering the home stretch. I'm looking forward to the next LP. The writing here was good, but I just couldn't get into the setting for some reason, even though I voted for it originally.

 

[treave]

Fragments

“Very well. A pleasing choice!” The man snapped his fingers once. From behind an archway his maid appeared, bearing a silver tray as elegant as the smile on her face. On it lay a crystal flower that shone with so many colours you would not have the words to describe them all.

“We shall begin the trial of knowledge in the maze of souls. It will be a good place to start you on your journey back into the world.”

The man plucked the glittering crystal from the tray gently, holding it up to the firelight. You felt yourself being drawn towards it, floating along the broken paths of light radiating from its core. The pull became stronger and stronger – though you never had the means to resist in the first place – and suddenly, the flower seemed to expand; its petals blooming and unfolding a million times in an instant, overlapping with the room until all that existed was the flower and the man and the maid standing in its center, the man still somehow holding the flower in his hand despite it now being larger than he by many orders of magnitude, the maid still smiling politely, a look of anticipation in her eyes.

And then there was a blink.

***

You gradually become aware again. There is a feeling of weightlessness, which is new. You are still formless, but this is no longer the room you were in. Above you, a purple sky stretches across your head, darkening into a pitch black along the very visible curvature of the horizon. Below you stretches an endless, featureless expanse; it is blood-red, and almost translucent. There is only one thing that stands out: a black, circular plate embedded into the surface. On it, you see twelve symbols, each radiating countless intricate grooves. After examining the symbols for a while, you realize that they are all star signs of the Zodiac.

“That’s right.” A girl appears out of thin air, her bare feet causing a gentle ripple to spread outwards as they come to a rest on the red surface. Her long, waist-length hair is as black as the simple dress that she wears. There is a mischievious grin on her doll-like face, and you note, with some discomfort, that her looks seem rather familiar. You do recognize the voice, however. Ei.

“That’s right, Acchan! I was called here to be your guide. It’s complicated, so don’t ask too many questions, okay? Especially those of the ‘is she real’ sort,” she grins, dancing and twirling around the black plate. “Hm, it’s a bit weird, talking to something I can’t see. I kinda know how you feel now. Anyway, do you know how this works?”

It seems that you can rotate the symbols, and as they turn, the grooves will shift in position, creating interlocking lines that connect one symbol to another. From the combinations, it is possible to connect each symbol with up to two others.

“The symbols represent the twelve people you have met in the hospital, Acchan. I’m sure you remember them? Concentrate. You can feel the essence of their souls in each of the symbols.”

You do, and as Ei says, you can indeed identify the symbols.

Sakimura Yuuki. Aries.

Kayano Rina. Taurus.

Uehara Shizuka. Gemini.

Sakaki Okitsu. Cancer.

Maeda Nami. Leo.

Taketatsu Shinichi. Virgo.

Sawada Junichi. Libra.

Okuyama Midori. Scorpio.

Tokigawa Kou. Sagittarius.

Mori Akiyama. Capricorn.

Iwano Mitsuki. Aquarius.

Amanozaki Touko. Pisces.

But what does it all mean?

“The plate is a sim… shi… ah, symbolic remnant of a ritual. The symbols contain fragments of their souls that you have somehow carried with you to this place, outside the world of the hospital. The lines represent their intersecting fates up to this point. By connecting three symbols together, you will gain knowledge of those fates, and begin to weave a path through the maze of souls. When you complete four sets of three, the path will be set in stone. But you only get one chance at it, so be careful what you pick! This is a maze that has one entrance and many exits,” lectures Ei, looking smug in her knowledge as she does so. “Some of those exits aren’t very nice at all."

Pick three symbols to connect… You wonder what your first combination should be.

***

I. Sakimura Yuuki.
II. Kayano Rina.
III. Uehara Shizuka.
IV. Sakaki Okitsu.
V. Maeda Nami.
VI. Taketatsu Shinichi.
VII. Sawada Junichi.
VIII. Okuyama Midori.
IX. Tokigawa Kou.
X. Mori Akiyama.
XI. Iwano Mitsuki.
XII. Amanozaki Touko.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

I,II,IX

Aries the Goat, Taurus the Bull, Sagittarius has a centaur. They all have hooves, clearly that's the combo we need to hoof it out of here.
Flawless logic.

 

[Nevill]

Well, you got me here. It's too cryptic for me to understand what we are supposed to be doing.

Are we weaving a path for them? For ourselves? The warning at the end does not seem nice at all.

If we are supposed to make 'teams' with 'synergy' in them - whatever that means - then the following make sense:
1) I, III, XII - Amanozaki, Uehara, Sakimura - we know they were all in one place last time we've seen them, it is likely they will proceed as one unit. There are other ties between them, too.
2) II, VI, VII - Kayano, Sawada, Taketatsu - the known antagonists. These people are connected to the research program in one way or the other.
3) (IV), X, XI - Mori, Mitsuki - we know Mori either lost or failed someone named Kana (supposedly a daughter or someone close to him). That migh be the reason he is protective of Mitsuki.
4) (V), VIII, IX - Tokigawa, Okuyama - these two are always together.

That leaves Sakaki and Maeda. Since I already paired Sakaki and Mori before as 'investigators', that's where the former goes, with Maeda on the doctor team.

I guess I'll vote for IV, X, XI and see what all of this is about. That leaves us some leeway to adjust the next patterns if the effects are not up to our expectations.

 

[treave]

Are we weaving a path for them? For ourselves? The warning at the end does not seem nice at all.

Yourself. You're not scrying on what is going on at the moment, but what has happened in the past.

 

[Kz3r0]

Uehara Shizuka. Gemini.
Iwano Mitsuki. Aquarius.

I wonder if even the others have such obvious connections.



Let' start with the jerks:


II. Kayano Rina.
VI. Taketatsu Kouichi.
VII. Sawada Junichi.

 

[Nevill]

I wonder if even the others have such obvioux connections.

I don't get it.

Also,

VI. Taketatsu Kouichi.

Shinichi.

 

[Kz3r0]

I guess I'll vote for IV, X, XI and see what all of this is about. That leaves us some leeway to adjust the next patterns if the effects are not up to our expectations.

Better experiment with the scum first don't you think?

 

[treave]

Whoops, accidentally revealed the twin.

 

[Nevill]

Whoops, accidentally revealed the twin.

Yeah, I've already ran a search on both. We are onto your tricks!

Better experiment with the scum first don't you think?

But what if they get a power-up out of this?!1!?!1!

Don't know, really. I just find it strange to weave our fate around people we don't like.

 

[Kz3r0]

I wonder if even the others have such obvioux connections.

I don't get it.

Uehara, a twin, with Gemini(twins)
Mitsu(water in japanese)ki with Aquarius the water bearer.

Also,

VI. Taketatsu Kouichi.

Shinichi.

Actually there is a connection in the name, both have ichi(one) in it.
Also Shinichi means fourty one, however, more importantly shin means both four and death.

 

[Nevill]

Yourself. You're not scrying on what is going on at the moment, but what has happened in the past.

How is this relevant to weaving our way through the maze?

Why do we need to be careful, what are the consequences of 'choosing poorly'?

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

OH, WE ARE SO SCREWED. Who were the smarties who figured out the last few puzzles?

 

[Kz3r0]

Don't know, really. I just find it strange to weave our fate around people we don't like.

My assumption was that we will have to connect all of them.

 

[Nevill]

My assumption was that we will have to connect all of them.

It says as much, but what is the purpose of this exercise? They tell us to be careful, but never say of what.

Ei is one smug sadistic bitch.

 

[treave]

Yourself. You're not scrying on what is going on at the moment, but what has happened in the past.

How is this relevant to weaving our way through the maze?

Why do we need to be careful, what are the consequences of 'choosing poorly'?

You might end up not knowing enough to make informed choices later on.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

probably is some twist on this

Question is: which is first - fire, earth, air or water?

 

[Kz3r0]

Yourself. You're not scrying on what is going on at the moment, but what has happened in the past.

How is this relevant to weaving our way through the maze?

Why do we need to be careful, what are the consequences of 'choosing poorly'?

You might end up not knowing enough to make informed choices later on.

In short this ia way to have background informations not a way to determine the outcome of anything, right?

 

[treave]

If it helps you to decide more easily, you can assume that.

 

[Esquilax]

Oooooh! Looks like things are entering the home stretch. I'm looking forward to the next LP. The writing here was good, but I just couldn't get into the setting for some reason, even though I voted for it originally.

I got really busy at some point early on in the LP and I was never able to catch up again. And I voted for Spiral too!

I miss you bros.

 

[Nevill]

Uh, yeah, so probably not a great idea to ignore what I just posted.

Or maybe it is completely safe. I doubt there is more significant connection to the astrology than the one that took place at the characters' creaton. 12 signs, 12 people, 12 personalities that are tangentially related to those signs. That is all. No need to dig further than that. Otherwise you run a risk of sounding like our favorite fake psychic.

Spoiler

“The Age of Aquarius is at its zenith and with it the gates have opened! With that opening, the intellect of higher beings from a higher dimension have spotted us, insignificant ants pottering about our polluted planet, and taken an interest… this is a test. A curse that is both judgment and punishment. Here, in this hospital, the souls of the dead have been trapped, unable to reach the underworld… cursed to remain engulfed by their hatred forever. Under the guidance of the higher beings, they plot to use this curse to invade our world… pulling us in is just the tip of the iceberg! My psychic powers have told me this! Kukukukukukuku!”

We should probably simply base this choice on who might have the information relevant to the major plots running here.

We know that Amanozaki and Sakimura know little to nothing about the situation they ended in. We know Uehara's backstory already, though perhaps not fully.
We know Mori came here because he was investigating disappearances. He has some dirt on Seiji and the events of 2012. Might be worth looking into.
We know that Seiji called Kayano a triple agent. We also assume she was used unwittingly, so she might not be great as a source of information. Still, she is a part of the Nurse family, and thus important.
Sawada knows enough not to be surprised by Seiji's sudden return, but he is a henchman.
Maeda might know about Seiji from her past and the Kaimei group, though it is doubtful she knows of their darker side.
Taketatsu might or might not be a major player, but whatever plans our detractors had, they seemed to do so largely behind his back.
Mitsuki is a mystery. Sakaki, Tokigawa and Okuyama are complete unknowns.

 

[a cut of domestic sheep prime]

Uh, yeah, no more connection than 12 people...and the fact that he put the zodiac names next to theirs is probably a coincidence too. And so is the fact that he said 4 groups of 3. All coincidences.

I miss you bros.

You'll miss us a lot less once you spend hours of your life catching up reading and then see how Nevill blew it all on a whim.

Spoiler

actually it was me

 

[Nevill]

I miss you bros.

You can hop right back even without knowing much of our prior story, you know. Doubt it will make you vote any poorer than we already do.

Uh, yeah, no more connection than 12 people...

What? Not following you here.

and the fact that he put the zodiac names next to theirs is probably a coincidence too.

No, that was done at the character creation. Some of those are relevant to their personalities.

There are also blood types. So what? Are we going to vote based on them next?

And so is the fact that he said 4 groups of 3. All coincidences.

There would not be a choice if we chose 12 out of 12. Probably only the fate of 3 people will be revealed here. That's the meaning of the choice.

There is no spoon puzzle.