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

[justscribing]

We would have remained stuck where we were, which I suspect is a different place from where you came from. [And yet he still doesn't yet address that he has no idea who Aventurine is.] Who else came on the bus with you?

[fafo]

[ aventurine may be uneducated, but he isn't stupid. all those years spent not going to school gave him plenty of time to learn other sort of things, like how to stay alive in a corporate pit of vipers, and how to steel himself for the disappointment that the universe inevitably brings. 'a different place from where you came from', alhaitham says, and aventurine thinks - he knows how this old story ends.

his hat comes to hand with the easy flick of his wrist. that's the fundamental thing when it comes to magic tricks. you misdirect, you lower your hand. ]

Well, I'd rattle off a few names, but I doubt you'll know them either. I have to apologise, however. I have you at a disadvantage, and I've gone too familiar a little too quickly. How about I even the playing field a little, just for you? [ aventurine presses his hat to his chest. a little flourish of a bow hides that his smile never quite reaches his eyes. ] I'm Aventurine of the Ten Stonehearts, at your service. The pleasure is all mine, traveller from another place.

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham hums.] It's possible I know of them, however.

[In the way Aventurine does, another face at another time, because he's gone from such a place himself.

The euphemism gets his attention more than the dramatic bow.]

Since you already recognize me I'm sure I don't need to provide my name to you. It's pointless to pretend you don't know obvious things.

[fafo]

[ but, aventurine thinks, does it matter?

perhaps to someone it does. ]

I suppose I did make it rather obvious. But you ought to blame the two of you - how can anyone not know the Scribe of the Akademiya, and the Light of the Kshahrewar? If anything, it's because the two of you are a little too famous.

[justscribing]

My job doesn't mean much outside of Sumeru, but if you don't expect us to have other mutual acquaintances I assume that's not where you came from.

[No surprises Kaveh if went and made a name for himself somewhere else though. He just can't help it.]

[fafo]

I am from beyond the moon and the stars. [ said aventurine with good cheer, because the advantage of having done all of this once already is knowing how to frame it a second time. ] But most importantly, I represent a company with intergalactic reach. If you ever need to make a deal, think of us first. We'll get you a better one.

[ for effect, he winks. aventurine pauses. there's a moment in which the silence suggests there is still yet more to say. he says nothing. ]

[justscribing]

[One thing that hasn't changed from one Alhaitham to the other is that careful, observing look to pull apart the details that wrap up the core.]

So you've decided to hold onto your "advantage". [And let slip as little as possible, with only vague references Alhaitham could make assumptions about in dozens of ways.] Which means you probably don't like taking deals that get you less than you give.

[fafo]

[ there had been a charade, once. three gemstones turning in aventurine’s orbit, a bright and deliberate lure cast for an arrogant bird who had believed himself untouchable until he found himself nestled in the palm of aventurine's hand. aventurine remembers it now not for its cleverness, but for how deeply he came to despise it. because there had been a brief, treacherous moment when the performance faltered. when the script blurred, and something like sincerity had slipped through the cracks. he remembers the exact instant of that vulnerability, the quiet, unwelcome thought that followed: what if it had all been true?

he had hated that thought. hated the way it lingered. hated that even the possibility of belief could wound him so sharply, when he should have known better, when he had always known better. trust was never meant to survive the telling of the tale.

and now, here it was again. not a repetition, but an echo. the same shape of moment, offered anew. aventurine feels the weariness settle into his bones. therefore, aventurine laughs - because laughter is expected, because it fits the role, because some performances never truly end. ]

Alhaitham, friend, [ he says, and flips his hat with a jaunty twist back atop his head. ] is there anyone in the universe who likes a lousy deal? But that's nothing you need to worry about. Go ahead, use me as you wish. Even stab me in the back if you see fit. Exploitation and treachery are simply tools of the trade.

[ it had been true after all. aventurine had to remember that, this time. ]

But remember, I don't make deals that don't pay off... So, when you do choose to make a deal, I hope you don't disappoint me.

[justscribing]

[And there it is, finally: his name. Alhaitham suspects this is not the first time Aventurine has said these words to him. An offer for collaboration with the clear implication that neither of them blindly walk into another's hand. That it had better be worth doing, or else Alhaitham has himself and Aventurine presumably has other rubes to pull one over. Is it truly exploitation if he's walking out with everything he wanted?

Whatever happened between him and this other Alhaitham isn't a reflection of what Alhaitham must do.]

Hm. [But either way, that first requires knowing where Aventurine stands among all of this.] Did you come to this place intentionally?

[fafo]

[ a soft, self-deprecating little laugh, as if at a private joke: ]

In a sense. In fact, I'm here likely for the same reason why the two of you are here.

[ because wanting to be anywhere but where he had been had seemed like a fairly good proposition at the time, and if alhaitham and kaveh had seen fit to blow a hole in a wall to make it here, they likely thought the same about their own circumstances. aventurine can relate. ] Look at us, finding commonalities already. Though I can't say I can answer any more of your questions, friend. I just got here myself, and things are still a little new.

[justscribing]

[Aventurine is not going to be ready for the collaring awaiting him back in Sin City.

He glances to the conversation Kaveh is currently having at conveniently the same time with some... plant person thing. But it sounds like more of the same.]

If we're to be precise, it's more that we intentionally left where we came from than arriving here. But I'm more curious about the apparently unrelated methods of arrival.

[fafo]

[ with an amused little lilt, conveniently obfuscating: ]

You've never been on a bus?

[ and look!!!!






he knows the collar is probably in that stupid luggage and that's why he's never unpacking it.

don't even look at him!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ]

[justscribing]

[I hope Ji unpacks his luggage for him.]

Would it surprise you if I hadn't?

[fafo]

No. But I think it'll be more fun if I simply told you were the bus was, and you tried it for yourself.

[ with a faint little wink, ] I suspect our stay here is going to be for a long time, not a fun time. So why not have a little something to look forward to?

[justscribing]

By which you mean you'll have something to look forward to. [That is: Alhaitham's reaction to either riding the bus or whatever is at the end of it.

Well, they forcibly blew their way out of one prison. If need be, they can do it again.] Then where's the bus?

[fafo]

[ hm. ]

Now? A bit quick to ditch town when you've just arrived.

[justscribing]

Without a map I'll have to familiarize myself with this place on foot. The bus is as good of a place to start as any.

[fafo]

Ah, I see what you mean. Then, I'm sorry to have to be the one to break it to you, but the bus likely will take you only to one place. I'm not sure that's a place where you'd want to be.

[justscribing]

Seeing as I'm already in a place I don't want to be, that isn't much of a difference. Though I wonder if your warning is really about my preferences or what you're trying to leave behind.

[fafo]

[ that's alhaitham for you, aventurine thinks. different man, different context, the same damned ability to perceive that got all of them into so much trouble.

he laughs under his breath; slips a hand behind his back, the very picture of ease. ]

Wrong guess, but I have to say it's a good one. The real answer is interconnected anyway. What are your thoughts on speaking to another you, and another one of him?

[ his head, tilted towards where kaveh is still trying desperately to explain that he isn't a bomb terrorist to a patient young man. ]

[justscribing]

Is that place not large enough for me to avoid him? [Lmao, why would he even bother. If it's really another him they probably feel the same.] As for Kaveh... he'll just have to accept there being two of me around for a while.

[fafo]

Heh. As I thought, you've made it very simple - and you really do have something against meeting yourself.