Apartmentstaid

"There's that weird raccoon again. Sis, why does that little guy always hang around our house?"

"After our trash I imagine." The bespectacled young Maya looked out of the living room window alongside her younger sister, the two siblings looking equally casual as only a teenager can in the middle of a lazy weekend. But Maya spoke with a sharp tone for a girl her age, the sort of thing even puberty couldn't naturally produce. Those who knew her knew that she purposely accented her speech, to inspire others to look to her for guidance. It definitely made her the adult between the two young girls who shared that home, real adults having never really been present. "Make sure not to get near it. No telling what diseases it could have."

"Yeah yeah, I get it! You always bring up something about everything you see though, sis! Watch out for the stove, you could burn your hands on it! Watch out for those boys you hang out with after school, they could have designs for you! You're not going out wearing that! Come back and comb your hair!" All statements Maya had made towards her sister at some point. Within the past day.

"I'm just looking out for you as a proper mother- sister, fuck, I mean sister!" Maya was flustered suddenly, having at once slipped and cussed in a sentence. Her younger sister laughed at her duress then took off for her room, leaving Maya to consider the mysterious all white raccoon with vague facial features... no, it was already gone. How did it do that? Maya turned away from the window and back to her housework.

As she usually did on the weekends she was cleaning, mop larger than her relatively short stature stewing in a bucket of a household's worth of dirt. If she had been normal she would have been on her computer or something, and she kind of wished she was, but she had a duty to uphold, the maintenance of the home. So many chores, so many. Her younger sister had offered to do her share more than once over the years, but Maya had adamantly refused every time. The mop squelched as it swerved over the tile of the kitchen floor. Later she would be here to make the two dinner. Perhaps she'd have five minutes off to check on things online.

She had a responsibility to uphold, after all.

Meanwhile, her friend troy was on his porch, drinking iced tea, and looking out into the shade of the overcast day. He spotted his "pet" "raccoon" that he had become friends with over the years, and shouted a at his older sister in the kitchen: "Oi, big sis, do you need anything? He sighed, and took out his phone, which he used to type a quick text, only to send it off moments later. Troy went into his room, existentialyy pond- nah.

Troy was actually in his room this entire time, screwing around on his computer, and he saw the raccoon dash by his window.

D B: Yo, maya.

Maya.

Mayaaaaa

I'M BOOOOOORRRREEED

edited 9th May '13 5:04:27 PM by mrminun

Lena curled up in her bed - well, bed wasn't quite the right word, it was more like a large mass of pillows and blankets and one mattress that, through the careful application of string, duct tape, and wooden dowels, had become something like a fort. Her dad was still off at work, as normal, meaning she was basically alone. She flopped onto her stomach, opening her computer to see if anyone was online.

SP: Anyone here? Maya? Troy? Jason?

edited 9th May '13 7:39:46 PM by KarrinBlue

Maya sighed and put aside her cleaning utensils once the kitchen was done. She figured a small break couldn't hurt, even as a part of her internally chided herself on the hypocrisy inherent in the gesture, what would her friends and sister think, et cetera. She promised herself it would be just a minute only, to check on the internet events unfolding...

Homestuck hadn't updated for a while, apparently, but what had updated were messages from her friends. First there was a message from Justin, then a general update in the memo she shared with her three closest friends online (and kind of in real life) from Lena. First things first.

DM: Then find something to do!
DM: For example, you could post on the general memo.
DM: Lana just posted herself, and we should always try to communicate as a group whenever possible!
DM: It helps our bonding.

That weird motive aside, you begin posting yourself on the memo.

DM: Hello to all of you!
DM: Doing okay?
DM: How are your grades in school?
DM: Eating right?

SP Not much! I think I just heard that raccoon outside my window. SP I'm on break from school right now, so I'm at home now! ^.^

edited 9th May '13 6:09:35 PM by Scratchproof

Lena smiled slightly as she noticed people posting in the general memo.

SP: Not much! I think I just heard that raccoon outside my window.

SP: I'm on break from school right now, so I'm at home now! ^.^

edited 9th May '13 7:38:48 PM by KarrinBlue

Few weeks ago an all white raccoon kept appearing around Justin's home. First seeing it he dismissed it as nothing more than a raccoon, but recently it's been... Watching him. Once he sent his message to DM this morning about what he should do, Justin turned around to find the raccoon looking in through his window. Eyes locked staring for a couple seconds, Justin tried making it go away and when it did he had the feeling it left of its own accord. Taking some time to think things through, Justin got online to find the others on.

SD: Hey guys, nothing really exciting happening over here. Anything important I should know about?

edited 10th May '13 12:54:59 AM by Kkutwar

DR: Well, if you count the feels tumblr has been giving me, a lot has been going on.

WAAAAAHHH SHEEEERLOOOCCCKKK

But I'm pretty bored otherwise.

Troy, still reeling from the feelings- Maya TOLD him to find something to do- flopped defeatedly on his bed. Then his phone pinged. He wasn't sure who it was, as it was a blocked number, but he got a text saying:

"Two hours left."

What.

Lena smiled slightly at that.

SP: Hey, did you get a chance to watch Girls und Panzer yet? I sent you the

Lena stopped typing as an email popped up on her screen. She couldn't find the address, and the message simply read "One hour 58 minutes left."

Troy paid no attention to Lena's oddly cut off response, he was more focused on wordling his reply very carefully.

DR: Uh... funny story. I may or may not have lost the file. Haha. oops!

No, but seriously I lost it and I'm so so sorry

Oh well, Lena can just send it again. Wait, what was that? The old temple in the woods just did something. The temple closely resembled Jade's from homestuck, and Troy always thought it was Pretty Fucking Cool.

DR: Guys, I'm going to go investigate some weird shit

DR: And my phone is telling me I have an hour and 55 minutes until...

DR: Something.

Frogs suddenly came to Troy's mind. Probably that weirdass temple. Off to adventure! Troy grabbed his hatchet in case he got attacked by some wolf in the forest. People wearing red have been known to do that sometimes.

edited 10th May '13 11:11:47 AM by mrminun

Lena frowned as another email (one hour 54 minutes) popped up.

SP: Oh, I'll resend it

SP: Be careful! Keep us posted through your phone OK?

SP: Wait, 1:55? I'm getting something like that too

SP: Do you know who it's from?

SP: Troy?

edited 10th May '13 11:16:46 AM by KarrinBlue

DR: Don't worry, I'm just being stupid.

Troy wandered out the back door, headed towards the temple. Girls und Panzer would have to wait. It wasn't the end of the world.

DM: Be careful on the internet Troy, I have warned you about this before!
DM: Who knows what sort of shady characters you could run into in the unplumbed depths of a fandom?
DM: And watch out for viruses in the files you're sending around as well.
DM: Hm!

You're also receiving a curious message depicting the time towards some unknown event. That's absolutely curious, while you have many timers to keep track of in a typical day, mostly related to meals and curfews and what not, you don't have anything that's supposed to come up in roughly two hours. That's one hour after dinner, thirty minutes before bath time... You may have forgotten something?

"Do we have anything to do in two hours?" You call out and up to your sister's room just up the stairs. A negative drifts back down. You're sure at least one of the two of you would remember the day's schedule...

DM: I don't trust these timers that have popped up.
DM: We would do well to ignore them!
DM: Troy stop being stupid this instant!
DM: Forgive my negativity, I was merely quoting you.

edited 10th May '13 3:13:44 PM by Scratchproof

Troy didn't need Maya's guidance he was a strong independent black woman young man capable of going where he so chose.

God, the woods were creepy.

I REGRET THIS IMMEDIATELY

The sounds of terror swept through the woods, as Troy, Troy took the road less travelled by. AND THE DIFFERENCE HAS BEEN MADE PRETTY FUCKING APPARENT. Not shortly after he shot off a message to the memo (DR: I might be gone for a little while) a wolf jumped out of the forest at him.

It's riding hood time bitches. And he put up his hood for dramatic effect. Gripping his trusty axe tightly, he got ready for a fight.

   STRIFE!!!   

edited 10th May '13 3:43:42 PM by mrminun

DM: Troy?!
DM: Troy think of how I feel about how reckless you're being!
DM: Please just update when you are safe!

Lena frowned as another email popped up, along with a reminder.

SP: AFK for a second! I gotta go check on the mail downstairs and stuff. Be back soon!

With a bit of annoyance she crawled out of her bed and downstairs, before hopping out the door to the mailbox. She grabbed its contents, sorting through them as she walked back upstairs. She frowned in surprise as she got to the last piece - a pair of discs that looked quite familiar. She hopped back into her nest, taking a few pictures with her webcam and posting them to the memo.

SP: Hey guys, these just got mailed to me. Comments?

DM: Did they have a return to address?
DM: If not then we shouldn't trust them.
DM: Taking items from complete strangers and all...

"Hey sis we got some discs in the mail!" Your younger sister's room overlooked the mailbox, so it was often the case that she would see new mail and get it before you. Not that you didn't try to be on top of that, as a responsible not-adult.

"Hm..." As she hands you the discs, you find the resemblance to be uncanny... No, it's not just coincidence. These are one and the same.

DM: I also got that exact same thing.

STRIFE!!!

Troy Agresses!

Wolf takes damage!

Wolf Agresses!

Troy dodges!

Troy agresses again!!

Wolf dies!

Oh god. WHAT HAVE I DOOOOOONEEE

Troy checked pesterchum, and it seemed his friends were freaking out over something.

DR: Well, I haven't gotten any strange mail recently. Then again, I haven't gotten any mail recently.

Troy set off further into the woods. His quest towards the temple eventually ended (accompanied by a text proclaiming 1 and a half hours left) and he stepped inside. The flower. ah, the flower he always had known since he was a child. He sat and saw its timer tick down to 0:000:00:00:00. The flower opened up, and it revealed a pair of discs. Oh no... NOT THOSE!!! Troy grabbed the discs and ran. He ran for what seemed like forever, until he got home. He didn't even stop to close the door. He immediately sent to the group memo:

DR: guys

guys

guys tell me this isn't what I think it is

edited 12th May '13 3:18:55 PM by mrminun

SP: Where did you even find those? Is your mailbox in the middle of the woods?

SP: Anyways I went online to check and I can't find anything about people getting these discs today or anywhen else

Lena frowned. Either it was a remarkably small-minded scammer, no one else had had a computer with which to post about the discs post-usage, or... well, she didn't really know what the 'or' could be.

DR: I have no mailbox. I went to this old place out a long ways away. And... let's just say that if someone dissapears, it wasn't because of wolf murder. And Maya, who are you to be all "Don't trust strangers"? None of us have ever met."

Troy posted the disk pictures to tumblr, and the notes flooded in.

just

SP: So... uh... what do we do with them? I mean SP: The odds of it being a weird trick to screw with computers seems to be pretty low SP: I dunno.

DM: Mother's intuition, Troy.
DM: Well, uh, I mean...
DM: Girl's intuition?
DM: I can just sense that I can trust my children...
DM: I mean my friends!
DM: Besides, we all know one another's real names.
DM: And I really don't think we should mess with these discs.

• RING!!!*

• BANG!!!*

"Ow..."

"...ok."

edited 12th May '13 8:38:37 PM by PhilosopherStones

Rain. You didn't get much of that up in the mountains. But here it was, falling down quicker than a weak sister on a Mickey Finn. Not that Dale had a kick. Dale was up on the roof, hiding out in the scatter from the hammer and saws. Granddad didn't like him snorting the tiger milk, and while he mainly kept to himself, the boiler was his, so he was still the law in this joint. Dale didn't want to push his luck. Still, he was bored all the same. Being up on the roof isn't much fun if you ain't got nothing to do, so he sat at his desk and checked his Pesterlog.

Hmm. These palookas were awful hinky about some discs. A mystery? A slight smile crept across Dale's lips. He was on the lay.

tC: Let's get a slant at those dics

tC: *discs

The browser flashed down in the taskbar. It appeared he had an e-mail. Couldn't hurt to check.

1 hour 25 minutes

God, that gave him the willies. He popped a toothpick in his mouth and sent another message.

tC: 1 hour, 25 minutes

tC: I know from nothing what the grift is here

edited 13th May '13 9:41:40 AM by TigerwiseVillain

Troy was still over-curious about the discs, and he asked another question to Maya.

DR:How about I put these in, and boot up the one resembling the server disc? It can't hurt, because even if my computer gets a virus, I'll still have my phone. Maya, don't even try to say that there's a huge risk, and i should be more cautious.

Wait, installing a server disc wouldn't do anything without a client.

DR: Anyone willing to potentially sacrifice their lives to see if we're actually set to play the SBURB Pre-Alpha?

1 hour, 23 minutes.

edited 13th May '13 11:46:49 AM by mrminun

SP: /raises hand

SP: This computer's supposed to have great antivirus stuff or something, and if it's really Sburb then the meteors come regardless of what we do so.

Lena settled into a better position, cautiously inserting the client disc like it would explode at any moment.