yogen | two reconnections ➱ open log

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two reconnections ➱ open log

Who: Himeko Inaba and you!
What: Catch-all post for October; Inaba starts to get reaquainted with Yogen and also finds out about her broken laptop. Feel free to also ask for a closed starter if you'd like, just hit me up at

tsundereban or Discord (Len#9692)
When: Throughout October.
Where: Various locations; prompts will list specifics.
Warnings: Some swearing, mentions of death, existential crises. If more things come up, I'll update this post.

↳ option one. [ 10/5, workshop, after school ]

[The fact of the matter is that Inaba knows that her stuff still... exists. After all, she had the pendant that Taichi gave her on her person - although if she died, how is it still fine? She can't help but wonder that, just a little.

She also hasn't exactly... spoken much about the fact that she might have died in the school, or the specifics on what happened. Sure, there's a lot that she doesn't recall - blanks in memories that nag at her, a worry that she may not actually be 'Inaba Himeko'.

Especially when she can't prove herself. She was never close to anyone, after all.

But that's something for another time.

What's happening now is that she's trying to look for her laptop - she knows it existed, but doesn't know what happened to it. Was it gone forever, or perhaps...

And eventually she finds herself at the workshop; it's on the same floor as her classroom, after all -

And then she walks in, scours around a bit and, well -

Some people may hear a rather audible scream.]

What the hell?!

[.........uh.

Maybe that should be checked on?]

option wildcard.

[Want a custom prompt? Hit me up either via PM, Discord or plurk (

tsundereban)!]

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Well, there are things to be said about a gambling ring. It's pretty flexible, [she says with nonchalance as she digs through some of the materials in here, wondering what would be usable for something - not even simply computer parts at this point] and you can do more things than just robots fighting each other. Since people would need something to fall back on when they get destroyed and people have to work on fixing it. And people get easily entertained with games with some sort of stake in them.

[Even if she has no plans on doing 'murder' or 'death' as part of those stakes; while it'd be interesting, in a morbid sort of way, to see who would get the merit points for people gambling their lives and losing them, she just... isn't that kind of person that would perform something so cruel.

Sure, she's doing this to see if she can dig information by having something more lax - people were always more likely to spill things in those sorts of environments, after all, it'd be easy.]

But you're right about that. If it all fails for whatever reason, then that's that, I suppose. Although I guess I can also go "what's the worse the staff can do, expel me?" [There's something dry about that joke, because it'd be nice to actually be able to leave the school and face that sort of consequence, but she has her doubts that'd happen. And the staff seem less likely to murder - at least, that's how it feels when all the murders have been done by the students.] An equal partnership, huh...

[With a free hand, she instinctively reaches to the magatama bead on her necklace, a thumb and index finger rolling it idly in thought.]

Yeah, that doesn't sound bad. It's been a while since I got to do anything serious, and it'd be a good change of pace between people being ridiculously stupid about murder. People need to be ridiculously stupid about other things, too.

[She says that so nonchalantly that it's almost comedic. And Inaba herself is rather straightforward, too.]

I think having the robot fight can be fine as a monthly event and then space it out with some other activities throughout to profit off of it and see how people react. And there wouldn't be too many messy rules, either. Maybe borrow something from that one movie...? "You don't talk about gambling club." Along with prohibiting violence... since that's what the robots are for. Beating each other up in a brawl because you lost a gamble might be entertaining, but it might keep people from returning if fighting constantly happens.

[She may have actually been thinking this out for a bit, although it may also be that the gears in her head work pretty quickly.]

And we'd need a space for it too... the auditorium would be good given how big it is, but it'd be bad for secrecy. So I guess one of the classrooms will have to do.

[ Ranger hums thoughtfully. He wonders if the idea wasn't one that she'd had before. For a joke that was made on the spot, it was fairly well thought out. He doesn't object to it either way. She's not wrong, though - there was only so much one could do with a singular activity, especially one that would take time and effort to prepare. He takes in her ideas and slight reactions as he rocks back on his heels, adding little notes and additional ideals in his head. He's nodding in agreement by time she gets to people need to be ridiculously stupid about other things, too, though, murder seemed to be the only entertainment venue around here as it was. They might as well add something to cure the sheer boredom brought on by that.

Ah, her style of communication really is refreshing. Direct and to the point. That's just the way he likes it, being a person who looked to resolve issues as swiftly as painlessly as possible. He hated idiots who meandered, or who couldn't easily pick up on new concepts. When she finishes, he gives another approving nod. They were all good ideas. It was the perfect skeleton of an idea, although he would need a little while longer to ponder the concept of stakes. It had been death in the Majority Game, but in that case it had served the distinct purpose of weeding out any participants who were unworthy of reaching the next stage of the game - it was a pruning tactic. There was no need for such a thing in this case, and at any rate it would only serve to complicate matters. There would be far too many complaints.

He rocks a little more, processing everything, before he finally offers his own thoughts: ]

Ahahaha! You're right, people around here do need other things to be ridiculously stupid about. That's not a bad plan. We could probably wrangle something together for other activities. We did attractions back home... You know, really spruced up, interactive versions of the kinds you see at arcades and theme parks. I dunno about all of them, but I think there's a few that could be converted into something that could be useful here pretty easily.

[ Though having to remake all the parts from scratch would be its own kind of hassle. Still, in for a penny, in for a pound, and so long as the correct parts were present he could wrangle something together. If he took out some of the flashier (and more fatal) bits, it'd make it nice and easy. Ranger runs through ideas on which ones might be good, what modifications would need to be made, how much is feasible without being too overt... ]

Not talking about it, not killing each other... Hmmm, I'm not big on cheaters either, ahahaha! Those are probably the only three that're really needed, everything else is just gonna depend and get made up on the spot. I can't say I care if anybody's got a problem with it, but y'know, as long as it's kept low key you shouldn't get too many complaints.

[ He's realistic about that, at least. Things never went quite as intended, and situations were always messy, especially with such limited data on how things would proceed. It was easier to let things go and to pass judgment as needed. Aside from that, word about what was happening would eventually get around (rumors spread fast, no matter how many rules you set,) but that would be something to deal with at such a time as it became a problem.

Still, he's glad that she's approving of the set up thus far. It was a project that he could sink into, and something that Ranger had desperately needed up until this point, and all the better if he could find a person who was willing to coordinate the specifics with him. As a final note, he adds: ]

Are there any classrooms that aren't used often 'round here?

Honestly.

[While she's sick and tired of murders because she does, in fact, think that it's morally wrong, she also thinks that it's getting awfully old. She's been gone for just a few months and one of the first things she learns about within a couple of days is that someone just decided to off a bunch of people.

And was it really worth it?

They better hope that it was.]

'No cheating', huh? Personally, I'm always up for games where if someone who does get caught cheating loses their entire bet automatically. [Her wording there is very specific there, naturally.] But whatever complaints come, I'll deal with them. After all, that's just life.

[Which is ironic, considering. But something that Inaba was always good at coming up with were on the fly solutions and flying at the seat of her pants. But with that being said, they had to come up with a location...]

It'd be happening after school, so let me see-- [She takes out her notebook and opens it up, taking a glance at her notes.] There's a club in 3-A and 3-E. 3-B is out because of our spider problem, not to mention there's a bunch of us there, and then there seems to be clubs in 2-D, 1-A, 1-B, and 1-C. Going off that... 2-A might be the best option since going by the map it's the clubroom closest to the bathroom and stairs, but I don't know how many of us frequent that clubroom after classes, especially since we have dorm rooms now. I might need to check the class rosters, too...

[ Anyone who gets caught cheating, huh? Well, he's not object to that, it made it pretty quick and painless. Really, it was all good and fine if somebody did as long as they were smart enough to not get caught. It was just insulting to everyone otherwise. He gives another nod and a quick word of agreement to confirm that they're on the same page. He doubts that many people will complain in any way that really matters; he's dealt with his fair share, and they were almost always something completely stupid and he was always happy to tell a person when they were saying something stupid.

So then, that just left wrapping up the remaining details. He checks his his memory for which of the kiddos in the room, but he hadn't paid much attention to who hung around in what room past what he needed to, and so he supposes that he would need to correct for that. Even aside from this, it was always better to have more data than less. To that end, he notes the fact that the dorm rooms were a new addition... Then, there was more to it than they currently had? He tucks the question away for now. It wasn't quite relevant yet.

He flips the mask to a one with a cat face. ]

So either way, the jury's still out on that one?

For now. But it isn't as if we're in any rush — it's October, and then winter vacation should come up after that... so we may have to skip doing any activities around late December to early January, most likely.

[That is, if this is supposed to be imitating an Japanese school.]

Worst case scenario, we just screw getting permissions and we just steal a classroom.

[As if it wasn't a 'secret gambling ring' in the first place...]

Ahahaha! I like the way you think.

[ There's a hint of genuine amusement. As he thought, this one is worth having around. He grabs his elbow with his free hand. ]

Well, waiting ain't a bad idea anyway. It'll take a bit to put everything together, and even if you get that done, you wanna think stuff like that through pretty thoroughly before you actually throw them out there.

[ The ideas were the easy part. But no matter how detailed or simple the initial plan, there was always a need to make adjustments. It was important to try it out, to find all the ways that you could break it over and over again.

But that was fine. Perfecting an idea that was the fun part. ]

Yeah. It's all about the right timing, anyway. You can come up with all the plans in the world, but if you don't do it at the right time, there's no point. Well, if I have to fly by the seat of my pants, that's perfectly fine with me.

[She likes having things going completely to plan, but adjustments are things that she knows she'll just have to inevitably do.]

No need to rush headfirst into things, and 'sides--something else might come up and I'll have to rethink my plans anyway.

Eh, yeah, by time two months have passed somebody will probably have lit the entire place on fire to see how many people get killed in it.

[ It's hard to tell if he's joking, given that the blank expression on his face and the mask that he hides behind, but really it wouldn't surprise him. There were some damn stupid people in this place.

Though there's plenty of other things that could lead to it, he doesn't feel the need to touch upon every small one. He gives a thoughtful little hum, tilting his head back slightly as he considers. Considerations of how to put it together aside... ]

Hey, aside from snacks, what else is there of value here?

I remember that we had to deal with fucking fumigation bullshit during spring break and people potentially lighting the place that we're stuck in on fire, so yeah, it's a possibility, even if it's a fucking stupid one.

[Inaba puts her irritation in with cursing because she is so very much done with a lot of things. Bullshit aside, however--]

'Merit points', but it's not as if you can give them freely to other people. I suppose you can use them to buy things, I hear there's a school store now, but I haven't gone to visit it and its owner yet, but there might be physical items of value there, specifically. And obviously, information is always a valuable resource.

[ Ranger huffs out a breath. He's not even the least bit surprised to hear that. He had thought of information, but not items from the school store. He suspects both could be of use to him. Information exchange was a tedious and dangerous affair. It was better gotten through other means. ]

Once you've met your basic needs, there's nothing more valuable than information, [ He agrees. It was, at times, even more important than meeting one's basic needs. As for the rest... He hums thoughtfully. ] That store's no more normal than the rest of this place. I saw a couple religious items there, but I dunno what the rest of it was for. Most of 'em look useless.

[ Which was all to say that he was certain that they would be good to have. Really, the only thing he's pretty sure is useless is the rock vending machine or whatever it is. ]

Exactly.

[She nods with full confidence; it's clear that she's thought this out for the longest of time.]

Well, yeah - there's the stupid rock gacha bullshit that I heard about... someone was trying to convince me to spend merits on that thing, but c'mon, do I look like a girl that can spend merits on frivolous things? Religious items, though... I wonder what sort of usage those are for here. I wonder if the library has any books on religion. Unless they're some sort of cult item, then...

[That's a whole different problem.]

I'll just have to talk to some people about that, I suppose. That's something that'll come in time.

[ He had wondered if there was any point to that, given that it appeared to just be a machine that spit out ordinary rocks, but it's good to hear that confirmed. ]

Nah, it seemed to just be standard Christian fare - crosses and rosaries. You know, the kind of stuff that's traditionally used to ward off the supernatural... No idea about the other junk though.

[ Ranger nods, thoughtful now. ]

Hmm... Wonder if I should pick something up to see what it does? Think I've got enough points for that, and I'm sure as Hell not wasting 'em on rocks. If people are that bored, they oughta find something useful to do.

Huh. You know, do you think that sort of crap actually works?

[Not that she's actually seen any of the supernatural fare, but she wonders if it's something that...works.]

Maybe. You could always ask what it does before buying it, too.

Edited (icoooon) 2021-11-09 23:32 (UTC)

I wanna say none of it works, 'cause I can't say I've ever believed in the supernatural. This place is rife with it, but that doesn't mean much.

[ Though naturally, that didn't necessitate it being supernatural, or even useful in nature. He thinks he's seen some of the suncatchers, which seemed to be mundane in nature. The rest, he supposes he would have to press more on and hope he received an honest answer.

Although - ]

Well, at least some of 'em are... They get some totems in on Sunday. You oughta ask about 'em. I wouldn't pick one up myself, though. They sound pretty scary, ahaha! You get some benefits out of 'em, but they rob one of your senses. Y'know, typical equivalent exchange stuff.

[ He won't patronize Inaba by suggesting she doesn't, nor by listing them one at a time. It was better to hear and see things with one's own eyes. ]

Can't say I ever believed in any of it before this place, myself, either.

[Which is a rather smooth lie that she can easily tell without even batting an eyelash, if only because there's half-truths there; there was a good amount of time where she simply could not believe in the supernatural.

But it wasn't as if she could refute it, either. Devil's Proof and all that.]

Robbing a sense, huh? Well, I suppose it depends on weighing the benefits versus the consequences--which is more important to you? Well. I'd rather not lose anything to begin with, and I don't like relying on some occult bullshit to get what I want, even if it might supposedly 'help'.

[She is, unfortunately, not about that life, and it shows as she waves her hand dismissively. Besides, she's had enough of losing things. Her life, her memories...

...

That's something for another time.]

Although makes one want to test something. With the right materials, someone else could make some of the things being sold there, right? [Oh no.] I wouldn't do it, but imagine if someone made their own handmade goods and sold them for a cheaper price than the store?

Edited 2021-11-10 09:40 (UTC)

Ahaha! Well, that's what you get for taking shortcuts! You won't see me gunning for one of 'em anytime soon, but I at least picked up all the info.

[ Ranger offers a little shrug, but doesn't push the matter any further. If he were a more self-sacrificing person, he might grab one for the sake of seeing their effectiveness. He's not, though, so as it is he had used it as a means of understanding some of the problems, and the solutions. If there was a short path, then there was a long one as well. But then, maybe it was because he was an AI - he was inclined to harvest data, and to arrange questions and answers from that data.

He taps the ground with the tip of his boot, head bobbing up and down as he seems to give some consideration to that idea. ]

Hmmm... Well, if you wanted to, it should be pretty easy. Some of it might be hard to replicate, but rosaries, crosses, suncatchers, compasses.. You can make stuff like that pretty easy as long as you have the right materials. Well, it'd be bad if you promised some special effects that they can't get oughta it though, ahaha!

[ Then again... It'd be their own fault for going with bargain bin items, now wouldn't it? Tap, tap, tap... ]

Hmmm, yep! As long as I'm gonna be running things anyway, I might as well see if I can't get a pop-up shop going while I'm at it!

[ Those sorts of events always had overpriced vendor stalls full of useless items, anyway. It'd just be breaking tradition if he didn't. ]

There aren't any easy shortcuts in life. But, it's better to have more info than less, even if it's not something that you'd personally use.

[She likes having it, after all. Compiling information was a part of her hobbies, after all. But that's what she gets for being into computers and such like that.

Although she had said it offhand, the careful consideration there is about it makes her think...]

With the ones that are easy to make, it's not like we have to tell them anything. Just say what the item is, and if they want it or not, maybe they'll take it--although a pop-up shop, huh? Makes me think of some of those manga cafes.

[ He chuckles. Well, it'd make for an interesting experiment anyway, and Ranger has time to kill. He likes picking up new skills, but especially ones that can be translated into practical use. ]

Yeah, that's true! Hmm, this should be an interesting set up~ ♪ Can't say I've ever been to a manga cafe though. What're those like?

It's not like I've been to one, either.

[She shrugs her shoulders nonchalantly. She's heard of them, of course, and people do talk online, but she was never the type to go into those kinds of places.]

But as far as I'm aware - they're basically cafes with like, specially themed food and merch.

Oh, it's a themed cafe. There's a lot of those, ain't there? Like maid cafes or the ones based on popular franchises or whatever.

[ That is one of those things that he's never had any real interest in, but has at least seen referenced. ]

Hmm, that might not be a bad comparison... Though I think what we'll have going on is way less weird than some of 'em.

Yeah, there's quite a bit of those. And thankfully it is less weird. I'd be concerned if something that I had planned out was. . . weird.

Edited 2021-11-29 08:25 (UTC)

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