WEEK THREE

[shimmermods]

THIRD WEEK

rules

faq

hiatus/drop

application

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profiles

While very few things have been made entirely clear since you've been here, one thing certainly seems to have been: there are no more survivors. There's no one else to watch out for, but there's no one that you're going to be able to save, either.

You are truly and utterly on your own.

With two of your number injured, it's likely that this isn't a welcome thought; it also means that the going may be slower than anyone would really like. Unfortunate, as this is where the hike starts becoming more difficult; it isn't particularly treacherous - there are no steep dropoffs or cliffs to be wary of, and it is still hiking more than climbing - but the paths are becoming steeper, requiring more exertion to traverse. It will give you time, however, to pay attention to your surroundings, and the way they start to shift around you - almost as though in response to your presence itself.

It's simple things at first - a familiar flower, a plant you used to see all the time back home. Perhaps it will even feel nostalgic for a moment before you realize that it has no business being here. Some of the changes are small - glasswing butterflies with wings the shades and colors of real stained glass, beetles with their hard backs glittering in jewel tones that serve no real purpose. Occasionally the bark of the nearby trees have cracked open, wood splitting to reveal inner mechanisms and gears like clockwork.

Some of the changes are reflected in you as well - or perhaps Wesker's words simply have you thinking too much. The notion that the Shimmer resides in you seems impossible; after all, you don't feel any different.

It begs the question, though.

Have your fingerprints always moved like that?

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY

code by vuvuzela

Comments

[me_underfire]

[In an attempt to not dwell on the burial mound they came across yesterday, Grace has turned her attention back to the incomprehensible notes she made during the span of time that she can't recall. She's removed one page of notes and cut it into several pieces, and is making more notes. One is a checklist of hours, and the other is a list of conditions, such as submerged in water, raining, and burned. It definitely looks like she's prepping for some kind of experiment.

Off to the side is an energy bar she pulled out of her rations that she may have been thinking about eating at one point, but has since forgotten about. It's fine.]

[scythegun]

[Yeah, probably best to ignore all of that....... Anyway, hi Grace! Yeager approaches and holds up a hand in greeting before gesturing to the cut pieces of a note.]

What are you working on?

[me_underfire]

I'm trying to work out a way to decipher this script. Every attempt I've made to translate them I've met with a roadblock, but Gabriel gave me this idea: maybe they need to be viewed under a certain set of conditions.

[scythegun]

Oh, now that's an interesting idea! That hadn't occurred to me at all. What conditions are you thinking of trying?

[me_underfire]

[oh boy oh boy she gets to talk about her hypothesis!]

So, my first idea is to try and see if sunlight has any effect on it, and if so, whether or not a certain time of day makes any difference. So I'm going to monitor it hourly to start with.

[scythegun]

Oh, I see! Perhaps a certain angle of the lighting will reveal it, that makes sense!

[........tales of vesperia is full of dungeons with puzzles exactly this stupid, so that isn't actually sarcastic at all.]

What else do you have in mind?

[aokisouhei]

[ She certainly looked...busy. Her focus on doing her activity attracted his attention and curiosity. ]

Hey, what're ya up to?

[me_underfire]

I'm setting up some tests to try and decode this... whatever this script is.

[She points her lists.]

The idea here is that maybe they're readable only when certain conditions are met, like at a certain time of day for example.

[aokisouhei]

...Decode?

[ Huh, that's clever...wait, wasn't somebody else trying to decode something before? Or thought of it? He'll look thoughtful, then scratch his head. ]

Or maybe when you've got that thing somebody mentioned called a 'key'? But for words.

[me_underfire]

Like a cipher? Yeah, that's the idea. I've tried a few ciphers already, but this doesn't match any of the ones I know. If this is a language, it's entirely alien.

[Which, of course, makes sense considering the cause of all of this came from space.]

[aokisouhei]

Which would probably be beyond us if that's true.

[ Unless somebody's got a helpful alien language dictionary lying around!! ]

Well, let me know if you need any help setting things up. You seem like you know what you're doing, but I'd figure I'd offer anyway.

[planetary_bonds]

[ha ha ha what's eating??? it's fine! your fellow researcher hasn't touched any food since like yesterday and he feels fine!

then again he forgets to eat all the time so this isn't really anything new so]

Need some help?

[me_underfire]

[It's absolutely not a Shimmer thing at all hahahaha]

Actually, I might. I'm probably going to end up ruining a few of my own notes, so if you have any pages of this script you'd be willing to part with, I'll take them.

[planetary_bonds]

[Yusei looks over what she's torn up, recognizes the illegible script, then nods.]

Those strange things we wrote during our first week? I think I might have a few to spare.

[Yusei leaves for a few minutes, then comes back with a sheaf of similarly unreadable notes. Based on the highly detailed but half-finished sketches of some samples on them, they look like discarded copies that Yusei apparently abandoned for some small imperfection or other - although admittedly what mistake he could have made is unclear based on the quality. Seems like even when under some strange influence, Yusei is still a perfectionist-or at least exceedingly hard on himself and his work.]

[me_underfire]

Oh, wow, these sketches are really interesting. I didn't make any in my own notes. I'll try to keep them from getting ruined.

[planetary_bonds]

It's an old habit. I build and repair vehicles as a profession, so sketching things out makes it easy to plan them...

[Yusei tilts his head.]

I picked these ones out because they were no good or had other copies, so...at least, it looks like I didn't try to finish these. You can do whatever with those.

[notjustawriter]

[It's... probably bizarre having Gabriel approach her looking like his gunshot wound isn't bothering him at all less than a week after he was shot, but he sure does do it.]

You find anythin' with all that researching you're doin'?

[He absolutely sounds like he's expecting Grace to have already run a series of tests before this latest one.]

[me_underfire]

I'm just starting to put together a list of things to try, if you want to take a look.

[Don't think she's forgotten about the gaping hole in his chest, though.]

I hope you're not pushing yourself too much.

[notjustawriter]

Sure, I could be the one helpin' you, for a change.

[And he holds up his hands defensively.]

I'm fine! Better 'n fine, really. Alarmingly better.

[Gabriel, that is not how you get people to think you're fine.]

[me_underfire]

[She glances up from her lists, looking concerned.]

What's that supposed to mean, exactly?

[notjustawriter]

The gunshot's, er, completely healed?

[Yeah this freaks him out too, uh]

[crestological]

[...oh man. someone else is doing science.

HE WANTS TO SEE...!]

Ah, are you thinking they may reveal their secrets if you do something specific with them, then? I should have thought of that myself!

[me_underfire]

[SCIENCE!]

That's exactly it! I've hit a wall every time I tried a more traditional translation method, so I figured it was time to try something else.

[crestological]

Hm! Yes, that is worth a shot. It does make me wish I had access to some tools from back home, although... generally, if people wanted to hide information, they’d usually go the old fashioned route of hiding it in a book that’s supposed to be about something else.

[me_underfire]

[Oh man finding secrets in old books is her JAM]

Okay, you've got to tell me about your tools.