After Violet recovers from the shock, she sighs and combs her hair with her fingers. "Yeah, that'll teach you, Floppy," she mutters.
She looks to her other teammates and wonders if they need to do something about Simon to keep him from causing further harm in the future.
edited 28th Nov '11 6:58:58 PM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!James grabbed a canteen and filled it with water.
"One canteen each should do," he said, "unless anybody wants to forego water for an extra spot. We would all do well to keep in mind that everyone here is to be treated equally, if not because of basic human decency, then because the harm that comes to one of us comes to all of us. Injury might not mean death, but I'm very convinced that, in a place like this, a broken leg might as well spell it. Let's keep the jokes to a minimum, preferably non-existent, level, so that the next 'joke' doesn't end up going much more poorly than any of us would like."
James' eyes darted to the door to the left. There was a discrepancy in Daedalus' words. If he had absolute control over the facility, why didn't he just simply make the door vanish? Have the walls seal over it or something? Back in the introductory rooms, he had certainly demonstrated the ability to physically manipulate the surroundings...
But Daedalus was listening, and James didn't dare voice his thoughts out loud.
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka ficsThe door opens to another room.
There is only one door in this one, on the opposite end of the room, and there is a text terminal next to it. But the most notable thing about this room is the keys, hung on the walls. Hundreds of keys. Low-tech keys, honest-to-god put-them-in-a-slot-and-turn-them old-fashioned keys. And they completely cover two of the room's four walls.
edited 28th Nov '11 8:50:31 PM by BlixtySlycat
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagineJames froze dead in his tracks as he entered the room.
If he had any doubts about the...abnormality of his situation, they were dispelled, completely and utterly.
"Dear God," he whispered.
After a moment, James clenched his jaw. Straightening his back, he strode over to Violet's side to read along with her.
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka ficsAs the last of you, now with four full canteens, enters the room. The door slams shut behind you and locks with a loud buzz.
//open textfile: 8000_keys.txt
author: DAEDALUS ZETA
![]() |
there are exactly 8023 keys in this room. they are signal keys, when inserted into the slot next to the door, they will send a signal to the door. all but one have an exact match. your task is to find the one key that does not have a match. as this key is the only one that will send a signal for the door to open. and it IS somewhere in this room. you have ten minutes, or you lose, and this room will be vacuumized. good luck.
//close textfile: 8000_keys.txt
the terminal's text is replaced with an image of a timer, starting at 10:00, and quickly counting down to 9:59, 58, and so forth.
edited 28th Nov '11 9:03:50 PM by BlixtySlycat
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagineFUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK.
Now, James, is the time to panic. Do you enjoy panicking and shivering in abject terror? I hope you do.
You will die pathetic, impotent, clueless, useless—
James bit his tongue, hard. Now was not the time to be useless. It was time to step up, be somebody, take on the challenge and live.
"Okay. Everyone start thinking for a way out of this."
To start, James made a thorough search for anything not on the two walls filled with keys.
edited 28th Nov '11 9:05:41 PM by Chubert
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka fics"All right, if any of you panic, I swear to God I'll knock you out with a canteen." Violet surveys the walls of keys and tries to think of a plan. "Panicking people are not productive people."
Why, hello there, hypocrisy. How are you this fine day?
"Let's try to figure out some sort of pattern." Violet takes one of the bunches hanging on the wall next to her.
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!The touchpanel covering the keyhole slides away. Oddly, rather than the actual slot being simply embedded in the wall, it's sunk back quite deeply into it, there's a large hole the size of an arm. Simon attempts to put the key into the slot, but it keeps hitting something inside the indent in the wall.
go ahead and do every stupid thing you can imagineClever solution. Clever solution.
This was a game. Daedalus wanted to be amused.
"Everyone, check your pockets, anywhere a key might be hidden on your body," James said. "The solution is not to individually check each one on the wall, obviously. The wall of keys might be one massive distraction. If we were unconscious before we were brought here, Daedalus might have already given us the key, and when we all die, with the answer sitting right in front of us, he laughs at the irony. Maybe."
Saying so, James checked his own pockets.
Whatcha gonna do, little buckaroo? | i be pimpin' madoka fics


Simon snickered to himself as he strolled over to fill his canteen with water.
Mad as a hatter