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May 31, 2023 21:25:23 GMT
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Post by Raven on Mar 20, 2020 18:01:05 GMT
The layer of frost does indeed provide a way to keep going in a straight line, but the range is still short. Not that it ends up mattering much when Mayu falls down a hole that opens beneath her feet. After sliding for what felt like several minutes, she lands unceremoniously on her rump atop a padded floor. Strangely, she begins to feel sleepy...
When Mayu next awakens, she has seemingly been stripped down to her undergarments and relieved of her belongings. A small note laying atop her reassures that all will be returned when she finds her way out. It also (perhaps sarcastically) wishes her good luck. The room itself has only a small light fixture in it, providing dim lighting. There is no visible door or any other type of exit on the walls.
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Post by snark on Mar 20, 2020 22:22:10 GMT
Mayu wakes slowly, confused about where she is. This isn't a bed. She isn't outdoors, she's undressed, where are the blankets - Alpha's Pokeball is missing.
She sits bolt upright, heart racing. The Gym. They've taken her things - taken her companion, which leaves her feeling far more naked than the actual theft of clothes. This isn't - they can't. They're not supposed to. It's meant to be a fight, not - this again. Silly girl, she imagines her mother's voice saying. What did you think we were training you for?
She knows from experience that no amount of begging, complaining, or threatening will sway her captors. So. First things first. What are the walls made of?
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Post by Raven on Mar 20, 2020 23:13:09 GMT
The walls are made of what appears to be sturdy wood. Typical building materials. On closer examination (knocking on/touching the walls) they are in fact a thing layer of wood over top of metal. Probably something specifically designed to be difficult to damage. Scrabbling at the walls in a panic will do nothing save hurt her hands/fingers. Blasting them with ice leaves a layer of frost, but not much else. Surely there is a way out, though. Someone took her stuff. That means they had to get inside, as there are no obvious hiding places...then again, however ridiculous it may sound, Celadon Gym (as well as Fuschia both pre- and post- Champion Lilith) were well-known for housing ninjas. A ninja would not need much to be able to hide from your average person. Mayu, however, is not average. She refuses to/cannot be.
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Post by snark on Mar 20, 2020 23:33:59 GMT
Mayu is disappointed that the walls prove too tough to blast through, but hardly surprised. It wouldn't be much of a test if a simple application of brute force would solve it, after all. On the other hand... There are few puzzles, however complex or foolproof they may be, which can stand up to persistent, properly applied brute force. Mayu lays one hand on the wall and channels cold into it, waiting patiently as the wood starts to crack and become brittle. She doubts she can make the metal underneath it brittle enough to shatter, but with the concealing layer of wood gone she can inspect it and see if there's any sign of a secret passage. Or maybe someone will come in to stop her stripping all the paneling off their testing room. Either is fine by her.
Perception? QaD75R7f2d62d6
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 0:37:24 GMT
While intricate details escape her notice, Mayu's persistent breaking of the paneling eventually exposes a door. Seems it was disguised in the same manner as the metal walls. Via wood paneling. Beyond the door lies a long, narrow hallway with another door at the end. The hallway is just wide enough that an average person could not reach both walls at once while standing in the middle. Beyond that, it seems perfectly tame. Normal. Ordinary, even.
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 1:07:49 GMT
Well, she's not going to discover the trick to this hallway by sitting around. Mayu sets out for the door.
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 1:14:33 GMT
Mayu strides towards the far door, walking at a brisk pace, only to slowly realize she is getting no closer to it. Hm. That's inconvenient. A quick glance over the shoulder reveals that she has made exactly zero progress. She is still standing in the doorway from the room she woke up in.
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 2:17:35 GMT
This... is somewhat more perplexing. It has to be a trick of some sort, but Mayu has no idea what it could be, much less how to get around it. She reaches out and rests one hand against the wall as she tries again, hoping that this will.. let her pull herself forward? Or something? At the very least it should tell whether she's really moving.
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 2:23:21 GMT
Aha! Placing a hand on the wall while walking reveals that you are indeed moving, but something about the hallway or the floor is moving you backwards at the same rate, resulting in zero progress and an illusion of being unmoving/a hallway of infinite length.
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 2:56:50 GMT
For a moment, Mayu is interested enough to forget her agitation. How do they produce that effect? It's smooth enough that she didn't even notice the backward motion. And... how does she get it to stop? The walls, at least, are stable. That implies the floor is at fault here, but the hallway is too long for her to jump across it. If she had a flying Pokemon - a *very compact* flying Pokemon - but of course she doesn't have that option.
She tries flattening herself against the wall this time, hoping to either stop herself from being moved back via the wall, or that the effect is limited to the center of the hallway.
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 3:13:50 GMT
It's quite a task Mayu finds herself needing to accomplish. Pressing against a wall and shuffling ever so slowly allows her to avoid the moving floor. Alas, it seems that the door on the far end was not a door at all. Rather, it was a very detailed painting of a door. From afar, it appears just like any other door. Up close, however, the deception is revealed. Hm. That means then, that either this entire endeavor was an exercise in futility, or that there is another way out. Well, obviously there is some way out. One merely needs to find it.
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 4:55:14 GMT
Mayu stares balefully at the fake door. Was this entire hallway a red herring? Possibly, but she should check for more secret doors here first. They've already pulled that trick once; they could easily do it again. Of course, nothing says there couldn't be a second one in the last room, but... first things first.
She starts with the fake door. Concealing a real door underneath the fascimile would be a clever bit of misdirection.
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 5:14:50 GMT
Alas, it seems that such is not the case this time. The false door is merely a false door. Nothing but wall here.
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 5:38:52 GMT
Well then. Time to look over the walls next, she supposes. If not that... the floor? There could be a trapdoor in the other room, that would be the sort of lateral thinking this type of test likes.
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 5:49:19 GMT
The walls have nothing of note on them. Just that same painted-on door Mayu's been glaring at this entire time.
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 5:58:34 GMT
Fine then. Back to the other room to inspect the floor. And the walls in there too, those that she hasn't already gone over, just for good measure.
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 6:22:13 GMT
Hmm. Nope. Nothing in here either. Wait...there's a trap door here that Mayu is moderately certain was not there moments ago. Pulling it up reveals...a fold-out lever. Yes. It's a lever that folded up out of the floor. Pulling that causes a faint click in the hallway. A quick glance out there reveals that there was a trap door in the...ceiling. The one place nobody ever thinks to look.
Shuffling her way back over to this trapdoor, Mayu discovers that there is a rope that dropped down with it as well. Presumably this means you are expected to climb using the rope, which dangles just out of reach roughly 6 ft in the air. You'll have to jump for it. Hope you didn't skip leg day!
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 6:27:29 GMT
Well, that seems needlessly roundabout. Luckily, Mayu is almost as strict with her own training regimen as she is with her Pokemon - climbing the rope shouldn't be a problem.
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Post by Raven on Mar 21, 2020 6:54:54 GMT
It's an awkward jump, but an easy one for Mayu. She easily grabs a hold of the rope and pulls herself up into...a much narrower crawlspace. With only one direction to go for now. Lovely.
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Post by snark on Mar 21, 2020 8:06:44 GMT
Well. Onwards it is, then.
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