yogen | may missions

[ dito squints as he looks between what everyone's saying, only to figure that...the riddle really is that simple. supposedly.

dito sighs through his nose, moving to scratch at the side of his head for a second like he's irritated here. what a stupid riddle. although he guesses he would rather have something really dumb and easy as compared to, say, three's insane shit. puzzles and platforming...not his thing!

but okay. he doesn't see the point in responding right now because he's lazy (although he most certainly would bitch aloud), so he just tucks his pda back into his pocket and grabs his dagger again with a gratuitous eyeroll.

he digs the dagger into subsequent numbers, more or less just working his way down (or around) on his side from "1" on the clock., now. he at least stops when he knocks off the "2" and sees the keys, wondering if he should mess with it. he had already guessed there might be a way into the internal clock mechanism from here, but leaving the keys in their locks behind the numbers...?

whatever, he thinks as he turns it. he has no idea what this does, but he doesn't care. he pulls the keys out and holds them in his spare hand as he continues making his way down. when he gets to "4", he decidedly does the same thing. he stops as soon as he gets to "6", because ranger can get the rest. are there any other keys he should know about?? he doesn't know, but he's gone ahead and done whatever they do. unlock the clock face, hopefully.

so when dito's done, he looks at the set of keys in his hand — do they actually need these? he thinks he shouldn't toss random keys on the ground unlike the numbers, which he's sure are more or less useless at this point. but midori's the leader, right? and the one actually seemingly invested in this riddle, so dito's actually is going to throw the keys in midori's direction. whether they end up hitting him or at his feet, it doesn't matter. do something, bitch! ]

[ What she sees is them solving everything, getting some keys and then immediately tossing them. Maybe it'd make it to Midori, but what the hell, don't just throw the keys! Which is why she immediately reaches out to snatch the keys out of the air before they hit Midori, idly nudging him in the process.

The hell is this guy's problem??? ]

[ both dito and ranger are working hard as they share the one clock, and finally figuring the puzzle to obtaining keys. there's comfortable distance just in case the clock tower reacts badly or becomes life threatening, but the keys they're rewarded with is a little different — not unfamiliar for how asunaro played little games and image puzzles. he's actually tickled by the idea that someone left them there for them, but when dito's ass throws them like chopped liver (no, rather, he would keep chopped liver), but it's careless and troublesome that he would throw them off.

if only ranger had found it first...

unsure of where they'll fall, his eyes follows until he notices petite hands reaching up to catch the keys. eyes slowly lower to meet with bonnie's, and with a smile, he claps his hands despite there's no sound to expose how enthusiastic his clapping is. hands drop down to his side as he turns away from both dito and ranger, and patting his own pockets, and then reaching out to grab bonnie's hands that hold onto the keys— he clasps them gently, giving a squeeze to tell her to keep them in her possession, but he also passes along a small remote that has one button visible. with a wink, he makes it his mission to make sure no one sees what he's doing.

he takes out his pda, typing on the surface before showing it to bonnie. ]

Whenever you're unsure, just click it! Ah... It makes me feel better sometimes ♡ Make sure to return it to me after this, alright? For now, keep it hidden!

[ he offers no other explanation, so its up to bonnie to click it to see what it does. instead, he lifts a hand to pat her head gently before removing what's written to show something else. ]

Let's check the other clocks to see if there's anything left in them too. The left and right of the one Ranger and Dito already have their hands full on.

[ a quick check doesn't hurt. ]

[ There goes the remaining numbers, pushes up the hands of the clock to twelve as requested, and with that they have the world's simplest puzzle solved. It is better than something messy and complicated as far as he's concerned. It's probably just somebody's idea of quality entertainment. He supposes it would be amusing to see who decides to start trying to pull numbers off a clock tower first.

That said, the answer is a person who decides to carelessly toss the keys aside... But while he would also prefer not to lose them, he can't bring himself to be too upset. This is what happens when you make other people do your job.

Well, whatever. He taps a few more times and holds it up to Dito. ]

Hiyori can handle the rest.

[ He's made that decision for him. There's only two other clocks, so if the assumption is correct, they should be able to make quick work of getting this piece done, and then the real fun will no doubt start.

It's going to be along night. ]

[ this is so stupid, he thinks. annnnd...nothing happens. okay. he's still kind of wondering if there's actually going to be a point to this, but the keys and mechanisms behind a few of the numbers must undoubtedly mean something.

it's still all very annoying and tedious, and whoever came up with this has way too much time on their hands and should probably lose said hands.

dito cocks his head to the side when he reads ranger's message, but he'll go ahead and grab for his pda to tap out a quick and enthusiastic response. ]

he can have at it!!!!

[ dito tosses his shoulders in a shrug afterward, because who is he to complain about that. ]

[ Ooh, a present! An understatement to say that Bonnie loves free stuff, even if she has to give it back at the end. It was just a funny little remote anyway, so that wasn't such a big deal. She deftly pockets the device along with the keys, glancing back at Ranger and Dito who... seem to have figured that they've done a good enough job already.

Brave to think, especially after one of them nearly tossed the keys away ~~at someone who wouldn't pick them up~~.

Well, in that case, she'll have to stride over to one of the other clocks, looking at it with a tilted head. Oh, there may be something in here, hm?

As she considers this, curiosity gets the better of her, and while she brings a fist up to her chin to act as if she's thinking hard about it, she decides to fish the keys back out of her pocket-- in the process, pressing the button.

Time to look back and point at the clock with a thumb. Should she take care of this? ]

[ there would have been a punishment had he picked them up, dito owes his life to bonnie. literally! as she makes her way away from him, midori does the same to walk at a brisk pace to meet with the clock of the opposing side. from eyeing dito and ranger, he noticed they removed a "two" and a "four", which could allude to the twenty four on the note.

ah, midori happens to like the number zero, an endless concept that goes on forever and forever without stopping — eternity, infinity, and even sprinkles of evolution. it's a beautiful number that deserves more recognition than it's given, but there are greedy people who loves the higher number when zero encompasses all, and is the start of everything.

that's what brings him to lift one hand up, playing with the hands, but moving to the zero that he slips a finger against to try and wedge off first, and then he'll follow the rest of the numbers so that it'll wind up empty is his next thought. as he fiddles with the zero in particular, he's looking over to check on bonnie, eyes analyzing her muted question with a nod.

that will be the clock she'll tamper with, and he lifts up a finger that notes one, and then the pointer and middle that defines two. well, twelve. she'll understand because she's a smart and creative girl, and if there's nothing behind the two clocks then that's fine. he manages fo keep his focus on the mission at hand despite the red dot within the darkness that glows on dito's collar. that's one ranger should know well enough that it's been activated, and would probably be better off taking a few steps away from.

...

it's a warning notification to offer a heads up before it starts to heat up, ah, he didn't think a high surge of electricity would be ideal since it keeps him on his back longer than midori would want during investigations— but if bonnie clicks twice then she'll find that shocking opportunity. anyway dito will be baked alhamdulillah! ]

[ Ranger nods to Bonnie before something else catches his attention. He looks to Dito, then to Midori. He had missed the remote being given to Bonnie, but the look he gives likely would have been the same regardless - it's a displeased look that asks if this is really the time for him to be acting stupid.

Anyway, this is quicker than having two people try to figure everything out. There were only three numbers listed on the note, which seemed to allude to it, which would mean that the fourth one either doesn't need to be messed with, or it can't be utilized until the other three mysteries of the world have been settled. Either way, it's nothing they can't handle.

That said, he's restless enough that he'll experimentally tug on one of the numbers of the final face of the clock tower to see if he can confirm his suspicions. He'll follow Midori's lead in trying to take off the zero. Maybe he'll throw it at him if it comes off. ]

Edited 2022-05-18 02:21 (UTC)

[ The clock has stopped ticking by now, though it may take a few minutes for that to become obvious. It seems to have halted its movements around the time the numbers on the first face were removed.

Behind the zero is another key! It's wedged into the back of the digit and cannot be removed. Maybe it's meant to be placed somewhere else? Either way, the remaining numbers will come off easily enough, though there are no further keys to be found.

Ranger is correct, the fourth clock face has numbers which cannot be removed.

Tick tock. ]

[ dito's in the process of leaning back against the clock tower, taking a break simply because he wants to, about to tuck his pda back into his pocket and cross his arms— at least, until he starts feeling the heat around his neck.

this again.

dito groans in frustration, even if it's inaudible. both of his hands (gloved, at least) immediately move up to grab at the collar on his neck as his face twists in discomfort. his posture slumps a bit more against the clock tower where he was already leaning, like he's in the process of falling down at this point — but he doesn't, instead looking really, really irritated as he starts rapidly tapping a few index fingers against the display on his collar that's glowing a bright red right now. hell, the whole collar is probably glowing at this point, because he's wincing one eye closed and smelling singed flesh now. the lack of sound makes everything worse, but maybe it's a good thing that he at least can't hear the sizzle.

dito starts tapping almost frantically on his pda before moving to shove it in midori's face: ]

knock it off asshole

[ --Oh, that's hilarious. She had started on wedging the numbers out on her end... 1, and 2, twelve! Of course, she couldn't help but shift her attention once she noticed some movement happening away from her. Looked like Dito was in pain... and, oh. It's rich.

If Dito looks over in her direction, he'll notice a damn smug look on her face before she immediately moves back to working on the clock. Yeah, you tell him, Dito! ]

[ Bingo! The final key is behind the number one! The remaining numbers will have nothing behind them; however, the plan of removing the unnecessary numbers and aligning the hands does prove to be successful as once this has been completed the fourth and final clock face will slowly creak open, permitting the group entry.

The inside of the clock tower is dimly illuminated, but they should be able to enter safely, assuming there's nothing hiding in the shadows.

Will they proceed? ]

[ he hadn't even looked at dito when this happened, and there's no way he can ignore ranger's cute face! there's one side riveted by their new discovery, and another side that wishes for the games to end. there's nothing he can do about the collar being activated especially as dito drags himself closer to midori, requesting him to stop.

he lifts one hand to wave in signal that bonnie should give one more press to turn it off (this way she'll understand its functions if she happens to catch the gesture). for dito, midori happens to hold that hand up in a way to feign his innocence, and to prove he's done nothing as he pats the disciple's shoulder and points towards the clock tower where they're granted entry.

he clicks on dito's pda afterwards, and with a warm smile too. ]

Now Dito, you know that I'd shock you until you were down on your knees! This isn't half as bad!

[ he'll make his way over to ranger (dragging dito along by his arm) because he doesn't want to keep smelling scorched flesh wafting underneath his nose, the little tickle and burnt tinge in the air isn't really to his liking.

people who regenerate are the biggest whiners...

so without any warning, he pushes dito into the darkness of the tower so he can check it out first. if the collar is still a crimson red, they can at least see him unless he disappeared. ]

Anyone next?

[ It's a scene that would be comical under any other circumstances, but here and now it serves as little more than an unwanted distraction. The smell of burnt flesh makes his nose wrinkle, and he's none too fond of the entire affair. He can't imagine why Hiyori gave the remote to another person save perhaps to add more time to their journey (as if that's needed.)

He peers into the clock tower as Dito is unceremoniously shoved in. The glow of its collar does seem to illuminate it a little more, but he finds that a flashlight might have done a better job of that without causing further complications. With any luck, Bonnie will find it in the goodness of her heart to turn it off so the group isn't stuck in an enclosed space with what is likely nothing but dust and burnt flesh to enjoy.

He reads off the PDA message and lifts his free hand with a shrug that indicates that he doesn't particularly care. Still, he finds that his coworker can handle the sordid task of playing leader and ushering everyone in, and there's no point in delaying the inevitable.

He looks in one more time, eyes sweeping up and down, and once he's confirmed that Hiyori's first victim has neither burst into flames or fallen down a bottomless pit, he'll step inside himself before glancing back to see if the other two will follow suit. ]

[ The first thing that Dito will notice upon his entry into the clock tower will be the sheer amount of noise that rings in his ears. The beeping of the collar, the sound of his own footsteps that echos off of the walls, soon joined by a second set, and quite possibly the sound of his own voice for having been burned and shoved around like a child's toy.

There second thing will be the scene inside the clock tower. The space is dimly illuminated with simple blank wooden flooring. There are a few areas where he blanks have broken forming holes in the ground, but the majority of the space is taken up by the massive cogs, winding drums, and other mechanisms. None of the gears seem to be turning at this time, and are in fact coated with a thick layer of dust that seems to indicate that the mechanisms haven't been working for some time now.

Aside from that, they'll find that the gears divide up the room. In order to get to the other side, or much of anywhere past the entryway, they'll have to climb over or crawl under the greats that decorate the area. But aside from the loose planks and holes in the floor, there doesn't seem to be anything of immediate concern in this area. ]

[ bro

between bonnie's smirk (and why is she smirking!!) and what midori taps onto dito's pda, he's thoroughly unimpressed. he knits his eyebrows, and he's about to type something back even as one of his eyes is wincing almost closed because christ, he cannot get used to the feeling of something burning on his goddamn neck of all places-- ]

the fuckdgj

[ not that he really has the luxury to even barely get started with whatever that thought was, since midori's dragging him by the arm. do you mind?? he's pocketing his pda in his free hand at this point, since it's practically useless and he's far more focused on the literal burning sensation on his neck. he's about to try and yank himself out of the other's grip before he's...shoved into the tower.

he stumbles in a little wide-eyed, swinging his arms out to keep from falling over as he sucks in a breath and wrinkles his nose at the sudden amount of dust. and his neck still fucking burns, so it's hard to even concentrate on his surroundings right now. even though the sound of his own footsteps and the hiss of his own skin burning between the collar's beeping hits his ears in a way he can't ignore. ]

— Shit.

[ ... at least there's sound again. to him, at least. which means! he's going to bitch!! he spins around. ]

Can you please turn this thing off?!

[ can they even hear him in turn? did they break the silence rule somehow? dito doesn't know and doesn't care about anything so long as this collar he's emphatically pointing at now is still beeping and glowing red. ]

[ The sound won't carry past the entrance of the clock tower. Hiyori and Bonnie had better move if they don't want to spend the next six hours in silence. ]

[ A secret passage! That's enough to get her interest up, and she peers down into the depths to verify that the angry guy's even still alive. She holds up for a second, verifying if it's okay to go if she doesn't hear Ranger or Dito screaming in terror...

Oh. She wouldn't hear anything anyway, would she?

She keeps still for a moment, tapping her chin before she soundlessly snaps her fingers. If something bad's down there, then it won't do to have her and Midori get hurt too, right? Unfortunately, he's not necessarily the fighting type, soooo... she tugs on his sleeve, and draws out her own hunting knife.

Then, jabs a finger in the direction of the entrance.

This whole thing's probably taking long enough that she absolutely did miss Dito's request, but it's okay. They're on their way soon, right? ]

Edited 2022-05-20 01:23 (UTC)

[ but it was not missed by midori who had the luxury of reading dito's complaints on the pda. they'll ignore it for now as he casts a gaze down at the hunting knife, and then to the pointing finger deep within the tower of where both ranger and dito have made their way inside. it's with one step, and then another, making sure that bonnie comes along with him inside, and the lovely addition of sound welcomes them, and whatever garble dito offers to ranger.

footsteps, sporadic beeping, and the sizzling echoes merge that midori offers a sigh of relief. ]

Well! That was nothing we couldn't handle, good going, team! ☆

[ there's a literally sparkle in his voice because he's happy he can hear himself, oh... he sure does love listening to his own voice, and given credit where it's due. they've advanced so he has no reason to complain (like dito) and instead inspects their surroundings.

he'll make his way over to one of the holes in the floor, curious as he slips a hand inside his suit, pulling out a folded lantern that he puffs out. aside from flicking it on so that a purple light illuminates the room in a smoky atmosphere (i'm leaving it to bunny to get the pic, i'm mobile!), he holds it low to check if it's just an endless black hole, and then holds it up towards the walls and gears inspecting if there's any hidden text or goodies around. ]

See anything worthwhile?

[ before they make their way past the cogs, but he'll keep it out just in case they happen to stumble upon something interesting that's no dito's neck flesh curling off.

meat skins, anyone? ]

[ Well, he can't say the bitching isn't warranted. Ranger's surprised that his head hasn't come clean up yet, and he supposes that must be because of his regenerative abilities. They're impressive. He didn't need an example, but it's good to know. Maybe they'll find a more constructive use for that on this little adventure. That being said, he'll glance over to Bonnie once she steps into the clock tower. ]

Mind turning that thing off? That beeping's gonna drive me crazy.

[ The beeping and everything that comes along with it, but there's no need to elaborate. He doesn't love the sound of his voice as much as his coworker, and he isn't currently sizzling, so he just talks like a normal person. Which isn't to say that he isn't grateful to be able to hear, it's like a weight off his shoulders, and he's able to breathe properly once more. The reason matters, but he assumes they can figure that one out in due time.

When Hiyori flicks the lantern on he glances around in turn before stepping over to one of the cogs separating the two sides of the room, placing his hand on his forehead and leaning forward as he looks over. ]

Hm, just some holes. It's a clock tower, so there should be a staircase or a ladder somewhere around here... Well, either that or it's just a bottomless pit down there. Whatchya think?

[ Is the collar shut off yet? It should be shut off by now. Either way, he's already asked, so he's going to instead crawl onto a cog and to the other side, adding the clang of metal into the mix of sounds. ]

[ There isn't anything of immediate interest on this side of the clock tower. There's some scratches and marks on the walls, but they seem to be from normal wear and tear rather than anything out of the ordinary. The holes in the floor are much in the same, seeming to be a natural consequence of the tower wearing down without being repaired or renovated for too long.

The hole is of more interest. It's difficult to see with the dim lighting from the lantern, and that should be enough for him to get the impression that there's a wide space beneath them. But a close inspection inspection will reveal contours in places where the light bounces off something off of structures. He probably won't be able to make out what those objects are, but it's not a bottomless pit. Please do not shove anyone down the hole to confirm this, just drop a rock or something. ]

[ good thing there's not particularly interesting, because dito's still fucking groaning about the burning around his neck — it's almost annoying he can't die easy at this point, because it doesn't feel great! he ends up angrily kicking the heel of his boot against the nearest cog. not that it will probably move much, if at all. ]

Are you really that fucking petty—

[ he trails off, finding it just the absolute worst that even though sound is back that he can't exactly find it in him to use his throat for a second, considering that it's getting burned through. he huffs a rough breath, moving a hand up but knowing he shouldn't touch it at that heat level if he doesn't want to ruin his gloves.

goddammit.

so he just looks at the ground, barely hearing anything through the rapid beat of his own heart in his ears. just because he regenerates does not make this any more fun or painless, and his eyes start to unfocus as he tries to will all of that aside right now. because he doesn't want to deal with it, thanks.

he idly hears ranger say something, and while he was utterly unfocused on that, he notices immediately when the droning beep in his ears stops. the cooling isn't immediate, and dito wrinkles his nose. if he had water nearby or something, this would be so much easier—

but he doesn't, so he just moves to hook a few of his gloved fingers between the collar and his neck again, confirming that it's stopped. he hisses between his teeth as he does so, and he can't feel it directly because of the gloves, but there's that peeling feeling of raw, burnt skin around his neck. there's probably all kinds of puss and shit from his body trying to heal itself from what should be a lethal burn, and if it were anyone but himself he'd be digging his fingers deeper into these wounds and playing around with all of it.

as it is, he's decidedly annoyed, though. his eyes suddenly turn half-lidded as he frowns, moving his hand down to wipe his own fingers on the front of his shirt. he swallows thickly, as though he's testing if he can even speak again — which isn't immediate, he confirms as he only ends up making a quiet, strained noise in his throat.

as pissed off as he is, his eyes still scan over their new surroundings better now that he isn't actively being tortured right now. they linger on the hole, and he steps over toward it as his hand starts to pull out his pda again. which he didn't think he'd need to use, but it's going to be a minute before his damn neck heals up. he taps up a quick but enthusiastic note before showing it: ]

can you guys kill yourselves instead for once

[ and then he just drops his pda into the hole. who gives a shit! there's your rock. it's multifunctional. ]

Hmmm? What do you mean?

[ Ranger's gaze is so scary! Scary enough that she's going to momentarily hide behind Midori! And naturally, use that opportunity to press the button again. Fine, Dito's no use to them passed out, and there's bigger fish to fry at the moment anyway. Bonnie's eyes trail over to the hole, then right back to Dito as he types away.

Aw, that's mean! ]

But, it's scary down there...! You can't expect a little one like me to go in there alone, can you?

[ As she says this, she instinctively slips away from Midori, instead this time idly moving towards Ranger. It's not subtle in the slightest, but one of them's more inclined to have others do the work for him, and well. She can't really say no to that. Midori's just not one for physical labor! ]

I'll go if you go too, Ranger.

[ She's putting on her best puppy dog face, looking downright terrified. ]

[ ...

...

It takes a good several seconds, but eventually they'll hear the sound of the PDA hitting something solid, followed by clattering that suggests it is continuing to bounce and fall down before silence returns.

His PDA is probably fine. Maybe. ]

[ there's a little frown at dito's accusation. midori petty? there's just no way, he's only passionate about the things he wants to do at the expense of others if need be. this was never about being petty, but bringing comfort when unsure what to do— he should be asking bonnie if her actions is being petty, but it wouldn't be. it'd only be learning that a small click of a button has the magic to burn the flesh of someone's neck, which midori stares at once the other comes over annoyed.

it'll fix itself soon, and why he's not worried about him due to his regenerative abilities.

ranger's expression is natural, but if bonnie finds it terrifying now, then he could only wonder what reaction she'd make if she knew it gets worse. for someone who's been shrouded in negativity as their first years into "life" and then a very dedicated, but intimidating woman working over his code adds to the horror that could arise at any moment. he's not the only one, everyone in here has a sinister side to them, it's all about who does what to stir it from the inside.

he stands in place as bonnie clicks the remote to free dito from his hell, and midori's hands visible as he holds the light and questions the hole in the ground, between the dropping of the pda, and bonnie shuffling over to ranger to avoid any work, midori crouches down, staring into the pit of the darkness. ]

It's not like you really needed this, and we can just get you a new, better one.

[ all dito does is smoke weed and get high to text on the network, but he relays his findings to ranger and bonnie. ]

The framework possibly, but it did hit something. I see no need to descend, [ but they should be careful when walking around unless they want to fall through the linoleum beneath. since the pda was on, can they still see the light-source from it to get an estimate on the drop, or did it shut off on the way down. these pdas like bricks you remember what 2000 computers used to be like? indestructible. ] is there anything interesting where you are?

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https://imgur.com/a/ejyMkMm NAUR 💀

i'm sick

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