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

[gitgvd]

[ A sigh of relief. At least this guy seems to know some basics about computers... For a moment, she was real worried about looking like a freak.

She curls up somewhat defensively, but sticks her arm out so he can see that she's logged into her game. ]

I've been trying to send messages to people on my friendslists, but they won't go through. If I try to do things like daily logins though, that works fine... So, like, I guess we're allowed to talk to machines, but not people?

[ ... Kind of a creepy thought, now that she thinks about it. ]

[wordchain]

[ Studying the screen of Taishin's phone, Yesod frowns a little himself. Yes, it seems that something is interfering with the connection specifically to prevent contact with anyone not brought to this hotel, then.

He turns back to Taishin. ]

Thank you for sharing your findings.

[ Though the fact that she is unable to reach the people she knows... ]

...Could I install the same game?

[ In part because they could both monitor the server access behavior then, and test whether there are differences between devices, but also because he wonders whether she usually plays her game against other players. ]

[gitgvd]

[ Taishin blinks in surprise, then looks at her phone. ]

... I guess just downloading something from the app store wouldn't count as talking to someone, would it? It's worth a shot. Uh, here...

[ Taishin quickly scrolls through her collection of phone games and selects one that's fairly lightweight. ]

Here, Puzzle and Dragon. You have to register with an e-mail address...

[ And she quickly walks Yesod through downloading and installing the game. It's a pretty straightforward process, and she's surprisingly patient about it. ]

There are some tutorials, but once you get through them, you can do some pulls for some monsters to start your account.

[wordchain]

[ Yesod follows Taishin's instructions, successfully registering to become a new Puzzle and Dragon player. They can both access the same servers, it seems. He'll read the tutorials carefully before getting started properly to test it further.

For now, thanking Taishin, he shows her his screen, where his account's empty contact list is displayed. ]

After I've familiarized myself with the tutorial information and prepared my team, should we enter a PvP session together?

[gitgvd]

Oh, uh, Puzzle and Dragon doesn't really have PvP... But look, I can help you with lineups.

[ So she does just that. Not just that, she helps him theory craft builds for his starter monster, walks him through basic puzzle mechanics (think Bejeweled but with a tiny bit more complexity and PvE mechanics), and even switches her own shared monster to make sure his own starter team has synergy. ]

Once you get better at the game, you can start setting up like... you know cascades? Like in Bubble Bobble? Where orbs drop into other matches so your combos go higher, but in this game mean your monsters do more damage. Still, you're a noob, so just starting organizing your rows for basic combos is good practice for setting up bigger combos later on.

[wordchain]

I see...

[ Thank you for answering Yesod's noob questions, Taishin. He may not recognize Bubble Bobble, but her explanations are clear, the basic concepts straightforward. Listening attentively, he lets the girl's guidance prepare him for his beginner journey. ]

I'll be sure to keep your advice in mind.

[ And now that Taishin seems less uncomfortable in his presence, perhaps there are other topics that he can broach. ]

Do you know any of the other hotel guests, by the way?