Multiple Settings The Game

[Seraph Darkfire]

Clack clack clack clack. The steady sound of the train going over the tracks slowly brings everyone awake. Everyone is sitting in nice little booths, the sight of a countryside passing by the window, trees, farmland, ect. All passing by swiftly in a blur of greens and browns. There is a soft chirping coming from the wrists of everyone here, a small wrist device similar to a digital watch is strapped there.

​

The soft blue light from the watch is pulsing in time with the chirping, only for both to stop once it is looked at. Words appear on the clear screen before slowly expanding to fill the viewer's vision.

Welcome!
Hello. You have currently entered The Train. You currently reside in the Caboose.

The screen folds back into the watch and reveals a small map of a square room. Inside of this square room is a single blinking blue dot. At the north of this box is a grayed out second square, a small blue arrow pointing from inside the first towards the second. Then a second screen folds out.

Goals!

Goal One	Progress through The Train until you reach your destination. Once you step out of a car, everyone must proceed to the next car or face elimination.
Goal Two	Eliminate all Enemies within the cars.

With no idea where they are, or who each other are, these people have become embroiled in a game that they might not survive.

Forgy Beleth MoonGem Ciscodog eloise

 

[Forgy]

Ingrid woke up in a train booth to herself. She must have been knocked out, maybe drugged. She often slept outside the grocery store's back door, which emitted heat from the inside; this left her unconscious body in the open, without protection from others.

She looked to her left to see a nearly transparent reflection of herself in the window. Although newly homeless, she had yet to visibly show the signs. A standard, light-brown pixie cut hides most of her forehead and one brow. Dark blue eyes, nearly gray, a fairly round and unblemished face, somewhat chapped lips due to her nights spent shelter-less. Average build, she has yet to lose large amounts of weight from starvation.

She noticed the watch first, and upon inspection, the light and chirp ended simultaneously. A brief welcome message appeared, then a map layout, and lastly a second screen with some sort of task. Progress through the train. Easy enough. If you leave a car, enter the next car or get eliminated. Got it.

Eliminate all enemies within the cars.

This was a sick game. A game meant to pit others against each other. A game she could not physically win in her current state.

Ingrid stood bolt upright, assuming herself to be the blinking blue dot on her map. Directly North was a door, likely to the next train car. She dashed, passing several other booths with people in them, and flung the exit door open.

As she stepped onto the link between the two cars, Ingrid considered jumping to escape this likely hell-to-be. The train is too fast idiot, don't jump. She stamped her feet in anger before slamming the door behind her shut, opening the next car, and slipping inside. She immediately surveyed her surroundings, hoping to gain some sort of information, or even something tangible to help ward off the others soon to follow.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

A sharp beep came from the watches of those still remaining in the first car as their watches lit up.

Warning!
A passenger has moved to the next car. You have exactly sixty seconds to do the same.

Beleth MoonGem Ciscodog eloise

Meanwhile Ingrid found herself in what appeared to be a dining car, the room almost completely shrouded in darkness as thick curtains blocked the windows, the only light coming from the door she'd just opened into this car. In the moments between opening the door and surveying the room, she barely caught movement out of the corner of her eye as a flash of red light burst like a magician's flash paper, leaving the scent of burnt hair drifting through the breeze. When she looked properly, nothing was there.

There was a strange sense in the back of Ingrid's mind though. A familiar sensation most people have, the feeling of being watched, just outside the safety of the light.

Forgy

 

[Forgy]

Not only was the room pitch black aside from the area near the car door, but she'd just been effectively flash-banged by a ray of red light. Thinking quickly, she dropped to the floor and rolled herself to the far right wall, assuming flamethrowers were attached to the walls. The likelihood of a corner flamethrower seemed slim to none, since it shouldn't have much space inside the walls for wiring. Plus a corner flamethrower's activation could easily set the side of the train car on fire. She reached all around her before finding a curtain, and yanked it away from it's window.

Everything in life is a gamble. Unfortunately for Ingrid, gambling was the exact reason she was homeless.

 

[Ciscodog]

A passenger has moved to the next car. You have exactly sixty seconds to do the same.
Confused, Silas looks around.
I- I don't even remember getting into a train. Why am I here?
All he can remember is a fleeting sense of panic just before... something. His mind has gone blank.
He looks down at his "watch" again.
Wait, eliminate your enemies? What enemies do I even have?
He shakes it off and realizes the issue. Get into the next car. Quick.
Silas locates the door quickly and proceeds to enter into the next car.

 

[eloise]

Never would Kyung Mi have expected to wake up on a train of all things after leaving school. She blinked repeatedly as she worriedly took in the view of her surroundings. A sleek and modern-looking train booth and picturesque countryside flew by in a blur of colors from outside the booth window. This situation was wrong. So very wrong. She lived in the second-largest city in Korea, Busan. And this was clearly not Busan. Had she been kidnapped? It certainly seemed possible. But who would kidnap someone and place them on a train? Kyung Mi's attention was instantly pulled towards the sharp beep noise that came from her wrist. Only to her surprise to find a futuristic-looking wristwatch. It looked weird and clashed with the colors of her school uniform.

A passenger has moved to the next car. You have exactly sixty seconds to do the same.
​

This strung Kyung Mi's nerves. Was the last part a warning? What would happen after the sixty seconds were up? Well, whatever it was she didn't want to be the one to find out. The young girl hopped off her booth seat and rushed out of her compartment. Following the small hologram map from her wristwatch, she headed north. The door to the next train car was opened without a hitch and she tried her best not to look down at the tracks while crossing over. If one fell it'd be over. Splat. But as Kyung Mi gripped the handle to pull open the train car door she paused. There was no light at all from what she could in this section through the small door window. Despite her better judgment she entered anyways not knowing what to expect. It's not like she had a choice in the first place, right?

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

In the time it took Ingrid to step through the shadows to the window, she received three small scratches on the exposed skin of her body in random locations. They were barely worth noting, little more than paper cuts. Grabbing the curtain, she quickly found it much harder to pull down than she expected. There was resistance to it being pulled, as if the cloth had its edges somehow stuck to the window frame. In the time it took her to pull at the curtain and notice that it would require more work, she received four more scratches.

Then she noticed the door to the previous car, which had somehow closed itself as she'd moved, opened once more as Silas stepped through. He'd barely stepped into the room before the door was opened again and Kyung Mi ran into his back. Neither noticed Ingrid in the darkness, though that might change if she made a noise from getting scratched.

In this time, Ingrid was scratched five more times, though she did notice that the red flash from before didn't happen when the two newcomers came through the door.

Forgy Ciscodog eloise

 

[Beleth]

Chirp. Chirp Chirp. Smile's internal metronome went along with the beat, his fingers caressing the tops of his gaunt kneecaps.

Countryside hills rolled past. Had Smile not known better, he would've made out that an artist to have painted the trees, hills and sky into a single landscape, progressively growing tiresome of their task. Damn those things. He concluded baselessly, pushing back a sleek strand of unpigmented white hair away from the incision in his mask that served as his source of sight.

Chirp Chirp. Chirp Chirp. The foreign device sat steady on Smile's wrist, its sound becoming less of a background sound and more of an indicator. As the pace increased, so did the pacing against his knees, his gaze eventually finding its way to the small text that scrolled across the screen.

Train? Caboose? Goals? Was this another one of his mother's games? Another one of his father's acts of submission in lieu of previous competition --

Wait a second. The competition.

Without reading the rest of the instructions, the snow-haired individual rose to his feet, black shoes and pants coming to a uniform blend with one another just in time to see a female immediately rush for the doors. As soon as she had moved to the next car, Smile's bracelet trilled again.

A passenger has moved to the next car. You have exactly sixty seconds to do the same.

Groans reverberated into a muffled huff behind his mask. For once since his consciousness (one that he does not remember losing control of), his hand removed itself from his leg and onto the nearest supporting structure.

Not even 30 seconds and there was already trouble.

Smile followed close behind the others, minding his step to the next car over.

 

[Forgy]

Ingrid had not felt the first three scratches that nicked her body randomly. As she tugged at the curtain, it did not budge. Fuck it. While idling, she noticed several scratches on her unprotected skin. Then, as if this situation were a comedy skit, two figures came into the car, the second one bumping into the first. Then one last figure appeared.

Shit. The curtain didn't come down, and it was time to get the fuck on with it. She popped her tennis shoes off as silently as she could, and with all her might, threw one at the crowd of three. They could be teamed up already for all I fucking know. God damn it!

She would take this opportunity to make her way slowly, carefully, quietly, to the North side of the car wall.

 

[Ciscodog]

"WOAH! HEY!"
Caught off guard, Silas is smacked in the cheek, as his only reaction was to look away. There is a slight red mark of where the shoe hit.
"Oi, watch where you're throwing that thing!"
Silas quickly grabs the shoe, and holds onto it for safe keeping. He takes a quick breath.
"Alright, whoever you are. I don't care why you threw the damn thing, but I want to know who you are, and what I am doing here. I don't want to hurt you back, but you best not doing anything like that again."
Silas now walks into the darkness a little bit, but only a few steps. He can only see a faint outline of three people, two behind him, one line front. It was impossible to see. Realizing this, he wants to keep his own identity hidden. He hides the watch, still glowing blue, under his sleeve, just to make sure no one can use the light to see his face.
"Again, my intent is not to harm, it's to figure out what the hell is going on right now."

 

[eloise]

Never would Kyung Mi have expected to run into a person's back after stepping through the door into the next train car. A feeling of relief washed over her at this. But she just as quickly became on guard. While it was great that she wasn't the only person here that didn't mean she still wasn't in a dangerous situation. Though she was in a rush she briefly remembered what one of the goals was that the watch had given. Eliminate all Enemies within the cars. Just what in the world could that possibly mean? A number of things really. This whole thing reminded Kyung Mi of a game. A twisted game that kidnapped people but a game nonetheless. And if one were to go with that assumption that meant she was a player and so was the person she had bumped into. What if they assumed the objective meant to eliminate anybody they came across and tried to harm her? As a result of this realization, she slowly began backing away. This room was completely snuffed of light. It was so dark that her eyes could barely visualize anything. Kyung Mi hardly managed to even make out the outline of the figure in front of her.

The cover of darkness would provide her with a means of escape if she so needed to. But before anything could happen the train car door opened once more. This time it wasn't because of her. The sound of footsteps and a door closing followed soon after. Great. Just what she needed. More people she needed to potentially run from. The silence was awkward and practically deafening to her as she warily stood. Said silence was broken by a flying object and the startled person in front of her. Hearing the person speak Kyung Mi realized they were a man. Alright, but who the hell threw that? It was obvious that someone had already been in here before they came along. Most likely a player. At least she hoped. Were NPCs in this game? At that thought, something came to mind. Wasn't this like an unlimited flow novel? Where unsuspecting everyday people are pulled into some sort of survival game? No that couldn't be what's happening.. right?

It can't and shouldn't. Such a thing was simply illogical. And plus Kyung Mi wasn't one of those protagonists in those novels who would defy all odds and become super OP. She was a normal hard-working school girl who gossiped about boys with her friends and went out on shopping sprees during the weekend. How could she survive in a deadly death game? Before she began to despair she ripped herself out of that state. Even if this were really happening to her what would breaking down do? Her fate was ambiguous and her current safety unclear. Crying could be done later. Right now she had to focus on one goal. Survive. "Isn't it kinda obvious what's happening, sir? We're in some game." Despite the circumstances, she was still polite to her elders. Not calling the man old or anything but it was clear he was older than she was. "We have been given a goal. Or two goals. I can't say I know what's going on but to figure what exactly is going on I think we should progress through the rest of the train cars and complete them. Maybe we'll find clues that will help us piece this all together? Starting with this car. Is there some kind of light switch in here so we can actually see?" Kyung Mi felt what she said was right. Investigating the room seemed their best course of action at the moment.

 

[Beleth]

Smile stood not far to the side of Silas, feeling the puff of air passing as the shoe made contact with the other individual. A scrawny arm instinctively passed over his headspace, as if partially expecting the shoe to bounce over the other male's hand and onto his own. But it didn't, leaving the reaction to feel almost centralized. "Don't you think if we knew where we are or what we were doing some of us wouldn't be running straight into potential danger?" Though directed at the other male's initial question, Smile's word's flew with contempt to the crowd ahead and around, his peripheral vision momentarily on Ingrid. Gaunt fingers now fidgeted with the innards of the watch in some distracted attempt to pry it off.

The words from before flashed in his mind's eye: Kill all enemies. Maybe this was why the now single-shoed female made an attack on them. Either she perceived them to possibly be a threat, an enemy or both. Judging by the other's descent into the dark corners of the second train car, shoe-marked guy might've had the same idea. Then there was the last one who was more rational than the other two -- points off for the suggestion of all this being a 'game' -- who decided to take the lead and propose some solutions based off of the small bits of information presented. Smile added onto the school girl's proposal, "A light, yes. That would be a good start. Did everyone else get some sort of new accessory latched onto their wrist?" He rose his own slightly to demonstrate, high enough so that it pierced the light above his head.

 

[Ciscodog]

"A game? I mean it makes sense, given these goals and such, but it does not make sense why or how we got here. I mean, maybe some of you signed up for this, but I don't recall doing that any time recently."
He would turn to the other speaking person, but due to the lighting, he only looks in the general direction of the voice
"I do indeed have said accessory, but I refuse to reveal mine for now, until further bonds are made or hiding it would be pointless. Right now, I have a good reason to hide it. However, I am willing to cooperate with other plans."
He tries to adjust his eyes to the light. He can't seem to do so however, the light is practically none minus the slight glow of the other's watches. All he can make out is the arm shape of each of the "players", which even then, doesn't give anything in terms of help.

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Ingrid's slow path through the darkness was not without its trouble as she found herself scratched six, eight, twelve more times. Twenty Six times. This time they stung more as they grew deeper. There was the soft sound of chittering in her ear.

Silas stepped into the darkness and found himself scratched, three, four, five times, for a total of twelve. The scratches light as paper cuts. As he turned to speak to the other two players, he felt the cuts grow deeper and more painful as he was also cut an additional twenty six times.

Smile and Kyung Mi weren't injured...yet. The soft sunlight coming from the doorway still brushing against their backs. However, with the blood beginning to flow from two people being scratched, the smell of iron was beginning to fill the car.

 

[Forgy]

The pain of the scratches was catching up to Ingrid now. She had no idea how many cuts there were, but her exposed skin was slowly being soaked red with blood. The amount of them, their deepness, it was getting unbearable. The sound in her ears freaked her out the most.

I'll try something else, then. Closing her eyes tight, Ingrid took one giant leap toward the North of the car, reaching out as she did so. Maybe we've got to be blind. Maybe stepping isn't the solution. Fuck, I don't know. If I get scratched any more, I'll just end up bleeding out in another car. This is so fucked. Who does this shit to people?

 

[Beleth]

Subtle sounds of flesh being pierced reached Smile's ears followed by the small of iron in the air. As the nearby individual stepped into the darkness, the sound replayed not once, twice but several times.

It seems like each time they stepped into the darkness they'd ... the foul stench of blood wafted to his nostrils, causing the fair haired individual to heave a few times to force the putrid smell from his smell pallet. "Would you stop doing that? Stop-" He stepped forward, attempting to reach for either Ingrid or Silas to pull them out of the literal darkness, his immediate direction fixated on the sunlight that blessed the doorway. "..Does any of you have a sharp object on you?"

 

[Ciscodog]

Silas stops moving immediately, and does not speak. The pain attacks hard.
He notices one of their hands move towards him, but he does not budge towards it. The motion was not enough to reach or move Silas.
Silas is afraid to do anything now. He can't move, speak, or even move a muscle. Something is causing a blood leak to anyone who moves.
Sharp objects... I don't think I would have brought anything, so it must be the watch. But even then, how could that attack my leg, face, and arm all at the same time?
Silas remains completely still, and quiet. He bears the pain, letting blood drip down onto the floor, and his clothes.

 

[Beleth]

"Neither have I." Smile's attention silently gestures to Ingrid as if asking her the same question. His hand stops a quarter way from the male target, realizing that his reach -- as small as it was as is -- would not reach his person. "It seems as though the lack of light is what's causing the injuries. Perhaps they could be rigged with traps someplace?" No, that couldn't be the case, either. In what world would someone go out of their way and merely throw booby traps in the dark corners? Especially ones that were out of the line of path for someone that would've wanted to get to the next car?

Unless this wasn't the first time someone has crossed paths with this train overall. "I don't think this is the watch's doing. Not unless it's actively looking to ambush its host."

 

[Seraph Darkfire]

Kyung Mi and Smile suddenly saw Ingrid appear from the darkness as she leapt for the door on the north end of the car, the light barely reached her as she grabbed the door and attempted to open it but found it locked. The scratches stopped almost as immediately as she fell back into the light. The cuts were still there but she was no longer being harmed.

Silas on the other hand took several more scratches, growing deeper as they all reached the double digits.

 

[eloise]

Kyung Mi was glad to see the blue light coming from the watch on Smile's wrist. This confirmed that they were indeed players in something that resembled a game. Why she was so stuck on the theory that this must be a game? For two reasons. The strange watches and the objectives given by said watches. If you were somebody that ever touched an RPG before you would know objectives were a common thing in these games. In response to his question, she pulled her right uniform sleeve down and raised her wrist above her head in order to show it. Now she wanted to scoff at what the other man said. It was true it didn't make sense how they got here but suggesting they had signed up for this was simply dreadful. Never in her life would Kyung Mi sign up for whatever this was. Even if she did she'd like to think she'd remember something like that. Huh? What could he mean by that? He had a good reason to hide his watch for them? Being cautious was good of course but in a situation where nobody knew completely anything about the things on their wrists seemed meaningless.

Yet then again that could be why the man was hiding his watch. Just because they held no knowledge about their watches at the current moment wouldn't mean no information wouldn't arise any time later. Thinking this Kyung Mi shrug. She wasn't regretful at having revealed that she had a watch. Maybe she would in the future but she could only focus on the present right now. Was she hearing things or was something be cut at? There were quiet but audible sounds of.. slicing? Her pupils shrink when the smell of iron drafted towards her. She knew this smell. It was blood. Just what in the world was happening in the dark parts of the train car? This made her back up even more, only stopping when she hit the car door. "No.. I don't have anything sharp on me. In fact, I'm not even sure I have anything on me." Her voice was small as she responded. Smile's analysis appeared to be right. They both had stayed in the lit area of the room and nothing had happened to them thus far. While the other two were in the dark of the room and seemed to be taking injuries.

Surprise ran through Kyung Mi's body upon seeing a figure literally leap from the darkness to fly towards the door on the north end of the train car. With the light shining on this new person, she could see everything. It was a woman. A woman who had a bunch of scratches on her and skin caked in red. Ouch. "You are definitely right. It has something to do with light. We're safe in the light." She was definitely happy she hadn't moved an inch forward since stepping in here.

 

[Forgy]

Ingrid rolled her eyes, No shit it has to do with light. Actually, Ingrid believed it had something to do with having others see you. Sort of right, sort of wrong. Unfortunately, she'd taken the most damage, and the door ahead was locked.

It was time she spoke up, "Congrats on figuring out the trick. I'm glad I could guinea pig my way through it for you. Now get the fuck over here and help me get this door open. Fucker's sealed tight."

She wouldn't be moving out of what little light she had protecting her skin. Ingrid just hoped she wasn't going to be assaulted after her shoe debacle. Either way, she was trapped between a rock and a hard place - or rather a locked door and some pissed of people.

 

[Beleth]

Smile stepped further into the car, minding the absolute darkness. After waft of blood intruded his area of smell, forcing the lanky individual to fall back a couple of steps. If we have everything all figured out, perhaps it was high time we stopped walking INto the danger for the sake of being stubborn. His cheeks fought back an irritated grimace that would've shone through his concealed identity. "You know. No one asked you to run to the next car like some sort of maniac." Fingertips found themselves back to the side of his hip, tapping erratically as he spoke. A beat. I need a beat. A tune. A sound. Something to acclimate to and- Though absent now, the tune to the clacking that the watch made earlier resumed in the back of his mind. This would have to do for now.

Despite his curt questioning, Smile took another step forward, feeling his way around for the voice that came from the north of the car. "The instructions on the timepiece instructed us to kill enemies to get to the next car. Don't you think we could possibly be missing an objective in order to move forward?" The door could be sealed not because they weren't pulling hard enough but because they haven't exactly fulfilled the current car's requirements. At that thought, Smile peered down once at his granted watch to see if there was something that can grant them an artificial flashlight or some sort of visibility assistance.

 

[Ciscodog]

Silas decided to make a last jump to the back of the car, no matter the pain. It still hurt brutally.
He kept his wails in and just took it.
He had to admit one thing.
These guys know what they're doing, but I don't trust them just yet. Especially not miss ambitious shoe thrower. Though...
"I think you have a point. The first door was wide open for us to enter, to begin the game. Now it's no more hand-holding, we have to do the rest ourselves. And unless they hid a crowbar somewhere in this thing, I don't think trying to pry the door open will get us anywhere."
The bleeding was extreme, though Silas was able to hold strong, though his energy was fading slightly.
If he stays unscratched, he will make it, but too much more and...

Best not to think about it.

 

[Forgy]

Ingrid barked in response to the killing enemies comment, "Do you really think I'm your ( Beleth ) fucking enemy? Maybe it's the thing, or things, inside this car scratching us. Don't jump to conclusions, asshole. The last thing I want to do is kill one of you, even if it saves my own ass."

Ingrid took her wrist arm and began waving it all around, just to see what would happen. In the light, outside of the light, she just hoped to see something. Anything to help her understand what was happening to them.

As Ingrid calculatedly flailed her arm about, she said one last thing, "Don't run around this room anymore, bud ( Ciscodog ). You'll just end up scratched like me. It's not great."

 

[Beleth]

Smile sucked his teeth at Ingrid's response. Any wave of frustration or anger that washed resonated through him was washed over. This wasn't worth getting agitated over. Tip. Tip. Tap. The neurotic tapping went from using his fingertips to the edge of his nail. A few of the taps pressed into his side before resuming back to using the soft(ish) parts of his fingers. Forgy "What was that about conclusions now? At what point did I insinuate that any of us -- those who have these timepieces on our wrists, that is -- were the enemy?" Smile bit into the inside his cheek lightly, resuming his previously collected composure. "Let me be perfectly clear: I have no desire nor intent to become any of your enemy. I don't know your backgrounds nor do I personally care to for that matter if it means survival. What I do propose is that perhaps there may be someone else -- a non-timepiece wearer -- among us."

"A crowbar?" Smile parroted. The possibility never really occurred to him. Not until now, at least. Whoever created this little "game" sure as hells wanted to make sure that they had to scavenge for their next clue. Or better yet. Had there been someone else in the room as he thought, maybe that individual was hiding. From what Smile gathered, he only noticed the door that was now behind him open but not necessarily the door that the grouchy scratched up lady tried doing. Without another word from the masked individual, he gathered himself into a crouch and retraced his steps back to the door he whence entered from. With a thrust of his almighty lithe body, Smile made an attempt to open the door that he entered from only to try and close it again.