[ limelight ] Mr. Duty Game | Swift & Heron

[shadowgraphics]

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INTRO | INSTRUCTIONS | CARS | TURN-IN

Comments

[shadowgraphics]

[he would absolutely escalate it, "senior" or not]

I don't mind giving up the whole thing if I'll be getting it back. It's significant enough that it'll be annoying for a few days, but wouldn't trouble anyone else.

[notlikeanyone]

[ nods slowly. ]

Alright then, that does make sense. You're the one losing it for a while, so I'm not gonna tell you it's too much or whatever, but you do have some more time to think of alternatives while you're filling this thing in.

[ steps to the side and gestures for Swift to go ahead and use the screen. ]

[shadowgraphics]

[nods, coming over to look over the screen]

I did think of giving up my sense of smell, but it's not "worth" as much as the other senses. I thought about giving up touch, too - but I don't know if it would have the same impact.

[notlikeanyone]

[ the captchas are diabolical. ]

Hmm... I don't know, losing your sense of touch completely could be a bit dangerous. You might end up breaking things because you can't feel how tightly you're gripping them so you drop them, and stuff like that. Taste is a pretty safe one, but personally impactful still.

[shadowgraphics]

Mm, I'd rank touch above taste, since I could hurt myself and not know it, too. And - again, I don't want to inconvenience anyone.

[what are these . . . he huffs to himself, but carefully gets through the first two]

. . . these are entirely too complicated.

[notlikeanyone]

Yeah, giving up touch seems like a bogus idea all around. Don't worry too much about inconveniencing us, though - we're all in this situation together, and we know you've been basically forced to give something up and deal with the consequences. We're not gonna mind looking out for you, since you'll probably have to look out for some of us too.

[ watching him fill them in. ]

No kidding. They really went for some seriously frustrating ones.

[shadowgraphics]

. . . I guess that's true. But if I'm being depended on to look out for the rest of you, I'd like to be able to do at least the minimum.

[he's breezing through the captchas, thanks Rika]

I wonder why they put something like this in place. Are people that eager to give things up?

[notlikeanyone]

That's fair. At least this time, though, I'll be helping you out with it - not being able to taste spicy stuff shouldn't impact my ability to look out for everyone.

[ damn, thanks Rika. Heron takes a moment, making a sorta-kinda humming noise. ]

Well, it varies between Families and performances? But, uh, yeah, people can get a bit out of hand with it.

[shadowgraphics]

Mm, and not having a sense of taste won't do that to me, either.

[finishes up and takes a step back]

How out of hand are we talking?

[notlikeanyone]

[ gets the sort of distant look on his face of someone experiencing vivid flashbacks, before snapping back to the present. ]

- Um, well. For instance, there was an auction one time? And okay, the prizes were good, but uh. One Family kept escalating their bid even though they were basically only bidding against themselves. People ended up talking in weird accents, losing the ability to lie, losing their voices entirely, turning into kids... it was wild.

[shadowgraphics]

. . . that sounds a little extreme.

[a beat]

The Disorder isn't like that, are they?

[notlikeanyone]

[ haha ]

Boy I wish we weren't. It does depend on what's at stake during the performance, and we do try to make sure to look after ourselves, but... we're not exactly known for backing down from challenges.

[shadowgraphics]

. . . I can't really fault anyone for not backing down. I don't really like the idea of doing that myself.

[notlikeanyone]

Yeah, I don't think any of us do. Whatever a performance throws at us, we just... try to find our own way to do things, that's all.

[shadowgraphics]

[an understanding noise]

That's how it should be.

[notlikeanyone]

[ if they had the little Sims social + bubbles, they would go here, at least on Heron's end. he just nods with a slight smile and sits on one of the benches, starting to rummage in his backpack. ]

Let's see, I should have... aha! [ brings out a can of soda, a small bag of chips, and a bar of chocolate. ] It's not exactly a meal fit for a king or anything, but since you're gonna lose your sense of taste for a while...

[ offers ]

[shadowgraphics]

[he takes a seat across from him]

- ah, I don't want to take your food, though.

[notlikeanyone]

[ waves a hand dismissively. ]

Don't worry, I've got more for myself. It's easy enough to go get these kinds of snacks from one of the vending machines on the ship.

[ digs in his bag again for a moment and pulls out a bag of spicy chips with a triumphant grin. ]

See? I'll eat these before I lose the ability to enjoy them, too. So it's not taking, it's sharing.

[shadowgraphics]

[there is some obvious debate before he seems to deflate as he gives in]

. . . then if you don't mind, I'll take the other chips.

That's not a bad taste to be the last one I have for a few days.

[notlikeanyone]

[ hands over the other chips and opens his own spicy ones. ]

Yeah, junk food's pretty top tier for tastiness and convenience. It's a shame you won't be able to really enjoy the free room service and lounge food for a few days, but that menu's a bit limited anyways.

[ nom nom ]

[shadowgraphics]

[taking it with a soft "thanks" and opening the bag up]

That just means the junk food I eat after this is over is going to taste twice as good.

[notlikeanyone]

That's the spirit. I'm not even that into spicy food or anything, but I'm sure it'll taste extra good after this.

[ nom nom. ]

By the way, has anyone told you about what kinds of things we get if we win in these performances yet?

[shadowgraphics]

We'll have to get something really good after all of this is over, then. For both of us.

[shakes his head as he eats a chip]

No one's said anything, no. What do we get?

[notlikeanyone]

Heck yeah.

[ hmmm, thoughtfully crunches a chip. ]

Well, there'll be a kinda normal, kinda kitschy prize probably, like one time we got a rain noise machine, and another time we got a video game console. That one was cool. But you'll pretty much always get a weird object too, that's got something a bit special to it.

[shadowgraphics]

Something special . . . ?

[notlikeanyone]

It's hard to explain until you see it, but it'll sort of... show you something, like a mini-movie. We call them "visions", and it's up to you if you wanna watch them, or ignore them completely.

[shadowgraphics]

Ah . . . what are they movies of?

[notlikeanyone]

Someone who looks like you, doing stuff. For the record, my vision guy tends to have a pretty wild life, but not everyone's is like that.

[shadowgraphics]

That's . . . a strange prize. What are they for, then?

[notlikeanyone]

That's something we're still trying to work out. But, well... in the end, the ones you get are yours, so you're the one who gets to determine how much importance and meaning you find in them.

[shadowgraphics]

Ah . . . I guess I'll understand it better if I manage to win one?

[notlikeanyone]

Yeah, unfortunately it's hard to really explain it until you've experienced it for yourself. Well, if we lose today's performance, I can always show you one of mine so you get an idea.

[shadowgraphics]

I'd like to see it.

I did see one of Phoenix's [the player forgor] but - are yours different, then?

[notlikeanyone]

Alright, then.

Yeah, everyone's so far have been completely different from each other. The only times they're not is if someone else from the ship is also in them. My vision guy is a superhero, which I haven't heard anyone else mention being.