EVENT 01: Welcome to the Pentagon!

[unrequite]

WELCOME TO THE PENTAGON!

Picture a Las Vegas sized hotel, but with no casino. It's just very big. And there is no gift shop.

The Pentagon welcomes you...

You wake up from a doze seated in a firm lobby chair. Walked through a set of automatic sliding doors, bag in tow. Where did you get that bag? Listen, don't worry about it.

- All guests to the Pentagon arrived with a medium-sized standard rolling bag. It is filled with any items they would have brought with them if they had time to pack a standard rolling bag before they left. Weapons are okay!
- All guests may bring one living animal. The animal will retain any powers it may have as long as it is not worldbreaking.
- All guests will have their powers. They will not be allowed to use it to break the world. They may break other things, but they will be pulled aside by one of the receptionists for a Talking To. They may be barred from the hotel for the night and it gets cold outside the Pentagon!
- Guests are not limited to standard entry to the hotel. However, if they break hotel property upon entry, they will be expected to pay for repairs. Method of payment will come as soon as I'm not fuckballs tired.

Things to do:

- Check in! There is a handy dandy receptionist at the front desk ready to take your name and your reservation. Yes, you have a reservation! It's here, in this shared suite. You don't remember making that reservation? What a pity. Well, while we get you resituated in the system, I suppose you will have to make peace with your roommate. Please don't fuck up your relationship with your roommate, that would be so terribly awkward. If you would like to trade rooms, that is fine, but please notify the front desk with all involved parties with the details of the room change! Also, please allow one day for admin to catch up with bookings before you trade rooms! Try to be nice to your one night roomie okay okay

- Get breakfast! A free continental breakfast is served from 6 am to 10 am. Please come by for fresh food!

- Chill in the lobby! When it isn't doubling as the breakfast area, the lobby area functions as both a waiting room, a meeting place, and a chill seating area in case you don't want to eat your gas station hotdog at the gas station like a neanderthal. wow.

- Find your room!

Each suite has a:
- kitchenette (one pot, one pan, plastic silverware, paper plates and bowls. no food. that's at the gas station across the street.)
- microwave
- fridge (with drinks! you will have to pay for them if you take them. it's going to be Esspensive.)
- two beds (small, but very comfy)
- bathroom with bath and shower (with standard toiletries. if you need more, you can call the front desk! there are towels, but if you make a real mess, call the front desk for fresh ones.)
- toilet (no bidet)
- closet (3 hangers, one extra set of sheets, one extra comforter, two extra pillows, a small ironing board, an iron)
- shared side table (two drawer compartments, one for each bed; there are outlets for electronics)
- wardrobe (just one, but it's big! please share.)
- desk with rolling chair (just one! again, please share. also: a notepad with a cheap ballpoint pen, a phone, and a phone directory for standard hotel amenities)
- pullout bed couch (for more guests! this bed is far less comfy than the standard beds.)
- television (with standard cable and standard trash programming. nothing particular stands out about the programming.)

- book shop? ... There is a bookshop where the gift shop should be. Where did it come from? Perhaps it's always been there, in the same way the faceless staff of the Pentagon have always been there. There is currently caution tape over the front entrance. Although the entrance isn't locked, it is not advised to enter the bookshop early. Who knows what might happen (the people who were in the City knows what will happen no don't touch that—)

- gas station? across the street? The street stretches into the horizon. This place is flat. so very flat. but there's a gas station.

- fresh produce (limited, but good variety. may be slightly wilted.)
- standard basic groceries (including pet food for your Living Creatures)
- liquor section (we in the south now boyzzz)
- lotto ticket machine (?)
- chargers/small electronics
- wall o candy
- basic amenities and toiletries(fancier than hotel amenities but not by much)
- magazines!
- slushy machine
- coffee machine
- rolling hotdogs
- hot fast food
- car maintenance products. you know. for your car
- gas station guy. nice guy

How do you pay? the gas station guy will charge it to your room! Who's paying for your room? Erm. Tehe. pero

You can also go to the gas station guy and buy a bus ticket to Sin City for a vacay. Sin City is great! Lots to do in Sin City. Buses to Sin City leave every Wednesday evening — don't be late! However, after a month at maximum, you will be back in your room in the Pentagon. Guess the hotel likes you!

Other hotel amenities. This hotel isn't 5 star, but it isn't 3 star either! Standard fancy hotel amenities, such as a small gym, a pool and sauna, a well maintained laundry room, a small spa, and a business center with computers and print station also exist. The only amenity that does not exist is the standard fancy hotel restaurant. Make your food yourselves!!

welcome nerds. enjoy your stay!

OOC:
- I will make a receptionist thread. please feel free to add your character to the queue for a randomly selected room! if you would like to also have a conversation with one of our three randomly selected receptionists, please say so in your comment. thank. EDIT: room assignments are here! please add any new characters to any random rooms you like. if you change rooms, please be sure to update the spreadsheet. thank yoooou
- i'll make up how to make money and pay for stuff later. for now please don't starve just buy stuff it's Fine
- electricity works. there's local internet but search engines bring up very little about the area. gps does NOT work (for now)
- uh that's it i'm tired please tell me if i missed anything

Comments

my one (1) toplevel of the year

[leicht]

[ anyway, she's hiding under a bench.

that's it, that's the toplevel. ]

henlo, honse here

[gitgvd]

[ Taishin, in a daze, almost rolls her luggage right past the little angel under the bench. Being a fellow short, though, she notices that someone is there, slowing down to watch. She considers the situation for a moment. ]

Are you... supposed to be down there?

henlo honse, it's birb

[leicht]

[ nill stiffens. the little peaks of her wings pull taut, like a knife poised to strike. then - her eyes widen. long ears, and clear, gray-blue eyes. her hands lower from where she had used them to cover her head. slowly, she shakes her head.

she isn't supposed to be down here, but she's also... not supposed to be here. ]

🐴🐥

[gitgvd]

[ A beat. Taishin looks at what she supposes must be the other girl's luggage. One of her ears flick gently. ]

Do you... want to be down there?

[ Which seems like a stupid question, but to be fair, this has been an extremely stupid day so far. ]

[leicht]

[ does she want to be...? nill considers this for a moment, and then, once again, slowly shakes her head. she doesn't want to be down here. she feels small like this. like she is back in that room with the shaking ground, waiting with hope beyond hope that her friends will return alive. that the blades coming for them are friendly ones.

but it's because the other girl here has ears like her wings that nill slowly begins to crawl out from under the bench. her dress is soiled. she's going to have to apologise later, to- well, if she has a chance to, she will apologise. but she shuffles onto her knees with a guilty grimace, then, finally, takes a look around her - then back at the young girl in front of her. her wings tilt in askance.

where... are they? ]

[gitgvd]

[ ... Maybe she's shy? But at least she's off the floor. Okay! (Taishin suddenly realizes she may have adopted a new friend. Oops. Not the intention here.) ]

Uh... Did you check in? If you did, you'll have a bed. That's a much better place to lie down.

[leicht]

[ another furtive shake of nill's head - she doesn't know what a check-in is. but her little wings flutter with something like faint hope.

a bed... a bed sounds nice. ]

[gitgvd]

[ ... A sigh. Taishin does already have her key, but she rolls her luggage around. She nods to Nill's luggage. ]

C'mon, get your stuff. Let's go wait in line. When you go to a hotel, you have to tell the staff you're there so they can give you the key to your room.

[leicht]

[ the look that nill gives the luggage next to her can only be described as bewildered. she has never owned anything like that in her entire life, nor can she describe anything that she does own which would need to fit in a bag so large. so how can that be hers? but the young girl is nodding towards it, so nill wraps her fingers around what she thinks is a handle, then tugs at it the way she sees the other girl do it.

it clunks its way out from underneath the bench. oh, it's harder than it looks, she realises. especially since her handle is a lot shorter than the other girl's handle. a little embarrassed, she fumbles with the case for a moment, then turns to consider the next set of instructions.

... tell the staff she's here...

she shakes her head again, this time with a furtive little duck. nill points at her mouth, then throat, then again a little shake. she can't speak. she doesn't think there's much she can do to tell them, but... ]

[gitgvd]

[ ... Taishin reaches around to press the button on the luggage handle, making it taller for her new angel friend. She is kinda noodly... Taishin can take her luggage too, but she'll see if those noodle arms can pull first.

At the miming, though, Taishin is fairly quick on the uptake and realizes that her new friend is going to have a problem checking in. She pats her coat pockets, then pulls her phone out, unlocks it, and opens the notes app, tapping the screen so it shows the keyboard. She turns it and offers it to the angel girl. ]

Here. Do you know how to use this?

[leicht]

[ the young girl reaches forward with the device, and nill's immediate instinct is to draw back. but when it becomes apparently that the device is neither a weapon or a fist, nill finally reaches forward to take it into her hands. it looks familiar; badou and heine both had phones, though they couldn't often use it for reasons that nill didn't quite often understand. something about unpaid bills and somesuch. it feels embarrassing to have to say no again, and so she hesitates, wings fluttering in minute waves of nerves as her fingers run over the keyboard.

she knows a few letters. she nods, slowly, then spends a truly terrible and embarrassing amount of time thumbing in the few she knows.

finally, she turns the screen back to the young girl: ]

nill

[ that's her name... ]

[gitgvd]

Nill?

[ Brown eartips twitch a bit as Taishin absorbs that name. That... is a name, right? (Considering one of her friends is called Winning Ticket, this probably shouldn't be all that hard to wrap her mind around.) ]

Are you... Looking for Nill? Or is that your name?

[leicht]

[ !!!

a soft, hesitant nod. she first points at herself - yes, that is her name.

and then, a furtive point towards the young girl. you are...? ]

[gitgvd]

[ ... Taishin's ears pop straight up as she realizes the nature of Nill's question. Oh. Duh. ]

I'm Taishin. Narita Taishin. It's... nice to meet you.

[ ... Okay, this is very quickly becoming awkward. (Or maybe Taishin is just uncomfortable with the spotlight being focused so suddenly on her.) Taishin reaches around and grabs Nill's luggage as well. Regardless of how unwieldy dragging two bags behind her is, Taishin begins to march with a surprising grace and alacrity for her size. ]

C'mon. I'll wait in line with you, and then we can go find your room.

[leicht]

[ taishin. narita taishin. it's a bit of a longer name than nill is used to, but she commits to memory the best she can. she nods, her head ducking shyly. just then, the other young girl races ahead with both luggages in her hands - and nill quickly trots after her, suddenly feeling abashed.

her hand manages to catch up to narita's hand. she places it over the luggage... handle? as well? she... she can take one of the bags! she can help! ]

[gitgvd]

[ A jump, a soft noise the perfect cross between a yelp and a whinny. Touch very surprising! ]

What?

[ ... Taishin slows down. Uh? ]

... Do you want to take your bag?

[leicht]

[ !!!!

it's such a startling sound that nill nearly pulls back her hands. but the young girl doesn't... seem angry? or about to hurt her. she nods emphatically at the question, before she takes the initiative to take the bag from her. she... can carry it herself!

it's heavy, for a little girl who's unused to it, but she can wheel it behind her. it's a novel sensation, but she doesn't want to cause trouble. ]

[wordchain]

[ Venturing out to familiarize himself with the premises and the surrounding area, Yesod catches sight of something odd about one of the benches up ahead. The shape under it is that of a figure huddled small, he realizes then. Upon approaching, he crouches down some steps away to regard the girl. ]

Do you intend to stay there?

[leicht]

[ !!!!!!!!

nill looks up. a young man, with hair the colour of one of her old dresses, the one with bows along its sides. she shrinks back beneath the bench, her breath suddenly bated as if by doing so he will simply forget about what he sees and look through her.

after a moment, she nods her head, slowly, that same wary look poised with the knife's edge of her small, trembling wings. she wants to stay here. down here feel safe. out there, she doesn't know where she is, and she doesn't know why she is here. she... just wants to feel a little safer. ]

[wordchain]

[ Yesod is reminded of what he recalls of Lisa, long ago. The research team's laboratory was no place for children, but she and Enoch had likely known danger in the Outskirts — Lisa, already guarded, became even more so after Enoch's death. Yesod (no, Gabriel) was hardly a comforting presence back then, focused on their work, increasingly fixated on pointless precautions before long, and he doesn't expect immediate success now, either, though he means to attempt to reassure this girl. She must be uneasy, finding herself in an unfamiliar place, presumably surrounded by strangers. Unlike Lisa, she is alone from the beginning. ]

No one will force you to do otherwise. It seems rather uncomfortable to sit on the floor, however, and I wonder whether you're hungry.

[leicht]

[ 'no one will force you to do otherwise', the young man says. nill doesn't quite believe it. not because the young man has been mean, or that someone has chased her beneath this bench, but because in nill's experience, someone will always come to force you to do otherwise. people aren't safe. heine and badou and the priest are safe, but they aren't here now, and nill needs to find out how to be safe on her own again.

but the young man mentions hunger - and embarrassingly enough, nill's stomach rumbles. she colours a bright red, then shrinks further beneath the chair, rapidly shaking her head. she's okay! and... she knows better than anyone else: that nobody just gives food for free. ]

[wordchain]

[ The fact that the girl hasn't responded verbally thus far is something to note. That audible noise is answer enough, at least, contradicting her wordless denial.

Hoping to reduce her embarrassment, Yesod pretends that his stomach must have been the source of the sound, abruptly brought to his attention. ]

...Ah, my apologies. I suppose I'm hungry myself.

[ That isn't the case — if anything, he currently feels quite full thanks to Kaveh commencing his efforts to keep their group properly fed with his own cooking — but he can understand the reluctance to trust any aspect of this place. Similar to providing Midnight with food that he can rely on to be safe, perhaps a demonstration will be reassuring. ]

Would you be willing to search for a solution with me?

[leicht]

[ the young man's eyes dip, and nill's eyes widen when she realises that he thought the sound had come from his stomach rather than hers. that's... she knows that gesture, she thinks. heine often did it, when there wasn't enough food to go around, but nill didn't want to cause trouble by asking for more. he would pretend that it's his stomach that rumbled, and then asked nill if she would come with him to find more.

it's comforting, thinking about heine, and it's comforting, knowing that there is someone else doing the exact same thing. she doesn't know if this young man is also kind, or safe, but does know that he is at least attempting to be kind. that must mean something. for a moment, nill hesitates under her bench. and then, slowly, she bobs her head up and down, just once. she's willing to try.

nill slowly climbs out from under the bench. she brushes dirt from her dress, then looks to the young man in askance. keeping a fair distance, but with her wings poised - as if to say, where should they go? ]

[wordchain]

[ The girl accepts, emerging from her hiding place — this much is sufficient progress. Yesod gives her a nod in turn before retrieving a small notebook from his pocket, a pen with it, holding both items out without disregarding her preference to keep some distance between them. It may not be very practical to communicate in writing, but he decides to offer it as a possible solution for the time being. ]

Thank you, miss. I should introduce myself first: I am Yesod.

[ He indicates the direction for the two of them to take. It's still early enough in the day that the hotel breakfast should be available, and the selection will include a variety of nutritious options. ]

[leicht]

[ yesod... nill nods slowly. she takes the notepad with a little bit of embarrassed bemusement. she is not that great at writing, and her reading isn't that great either. but maybe she can recall a few words. she wishes she had more chances to read back at the church, but everyone was always so busy, and there was always something more important that they had to survive.

after a moment of fumbling, she manages to scribble down her name. N-I-L-L.

that's her name. she carefully presses the notepad in her hands as she follows the young man. a hotel... she has never been to a hotel. she has heard of them. but she knows that it's a place not really meant for people like her. finally, she reaches forward with courage she didn't even know she had to tug on the young man's sleeve. can they... can they stop? just for a moment? ]