#I think it’d be fieldset but not sure

[pekasairroc]

Turning the Stars Debate for SSTS into my page a day is the only way that would ever get done. I have 82 passages left out of 600 for this section (started in 2019 and floundered). Then programming it. Then adding in the pre-debate stuff. Then adding the post-debate. Then adding in the T5s. Then play testing and debug. Then fixing the audio. Then making it screen-reader accessible. Then it’s done.

And then onto Twin Meteorites.

[4ourleafclover]

9 Hours to Escape [Mediator Challenge Part 1]

[next part]

warnings: none

Clover was running as fast as she could through dimly-lit pathways, not paying much attention to where she was going. She could think later- for now, she needed to get out of here. She had no idea where the lizard had gone, but she just needed some distance between them. She ran for what felt like hours, feet pounding on cold stone, until she could finally hear nothing but the sound of her own breath.

“ha… ah…. ah……”

The sounds of her breathing echoed off the walls, and her ears were ringing. The bracelet was heavy on her wrist, and the numbers glowed in harsh cyan.

8:34

She’d already lost almost a half hour to this labrynth after being set loose, and she didn’t know what to do. Her phone wasn’t working, and she couldn’t use her abilities to contact anyone, which meant she was alone.

Clover was completely and utterly alone.

This wasn’t like the first nonary game. At least then, she’d had those eight other kids, and a hint of her connection to Light. In the second nonary game she’d been right with him- and even after his “death”, she’d had Junpei to comfort her. Hell, she’d even met Phi in this damned city, and as complicated as their relationship was, she did still love her.

Clover had always been reliant on people, but now there was simply nobody for her to rely on anymore. Not her brother, not Junpei, not Alice, and not Phi.

Nobody.

Perhaps this was what that message had meant, then. She’d woken up in this place with one message on her phone before it completely lost reception, telling her to ‘stand on her own two feet’. She had nine hours (that fucking number again?!) to escape this labyrinth, but this time she had nobody to help her.

Tears started to roll down her cheeks, and she fell to the ground as her legs gave out. This was too much. She couldn’t do this. Clover wasn’t smart like Light or Junpei, she wasn’t in control of things like Alice or Akane or Aoi, and she wasn’t experienced like Phi. She couldn’t keep calm like Seven, and she wasn’t specially talented in anything like Lotus- she was normal. She’d always been normal. Outside of her abilities, there was nothing special about her in the least.

She knew that she had to keep moving if she wanted to live, but she couldn’t make her body follow. Of course she didn’t want to die, but how was she honestly going to survive this? It was impossible! There was no possible way for her to survive this!

The bracelet weighed heavy on her wrist, and she stared at it. The thing didn’t look like the bracelet from the nonary game, and the numbers continued to flash at her, warning her of her impending fate.

8:27

Time was going to continue whether or not she ran… and as hopeless as this was, she couldn’t just give up. She was certain that her brother would be disappointed in her for even thinking that- and she liked to think that it’d make Junpei and Phi upset, too. Well, not it a good way- she just hoped that whatever happened, they wouldn’t be happy if she died.

This was too depressing…

Clover forced herself to her feet, pulling out her phone. The GPS was completely busted, which meant no maps, and obviously there was still no signal- just how far underground was she, anyways? Well, she shouldn’t just think on it. Even if it was utterly hopeless, she had to try to get out.

With that thought in her mind, Clover started to run again, this time paying more attention to where she was going. First a left, then a right, then another left- there were too many branching paths for her to have any idea what to do. Maybe if she could shift, then she could tell which paths were the right one, but that was just more wishful thinking. All she had was herself.

Hell, even her scanning was practically useless down here. Without any other people in the area, she couldn’t try to check for things that’d left strong impressions on the morphic fieldset- sure, that monster would certainly leave an impression, but that didn’t mean shit if there was nobody around to see it but her.

Her vision got blurry as she ran, and her shoulders started to shake a little bit as she tried to keep pace. She had to just stop crying- why couldn’t she stop? Why was she so useless? She’d never really been able to succeed on her own, every time she’d ever done anything worthwhile had been thanks to other people.

7:59

She’d lost an hour by the time she found the first ladder, a rickety wooden thing that looked to be held together by string in some places. It was frighteningly unstable, but she didn’t care- she needed to climb. She needed to get out. Even if she would never actually be able to get out, she had to try.

The cavern she exited into looked much the same as all the rest, save for a handful of gemstones lodged into the rock.

“These… I could use this as a marker, maybe?”

It took her a solid five minutes to pull the gems from the wall, but once she did she placed one down by the ladder, and the others went into her bag. She could at least tell which way she came from, then… that was good. One tiny good thing in a sea of misfortune, but still something good.

7:42

Despite being a floor higher, it was still just as difficult to see. There was lighting, probably put in place by whoever used to mine this place, but it wasn’t everywhere. There were some tunnels that were too dark for her to see at all, which meant her choices were limited. All she could do was run, no matter how much it made her chest ache, or it made her throat hurt.

If she wanted a chance at surviving, then she had to run.

7:13

Clover had found the next ladder, and she placed another one of those gemstones down by it. There was nothing interesting about this cavern, other than ever more rock and wood structures. However, something on this floor felt… different. She felt a chill go down her spine, and she knew that something bad was going to happen. Something unlucky was on this floor, for certain.

Perhaps it was that monstrous lizard-thing? That would make sense, unfortunately. If it was somehow on this floor too, then she’d…

No, just keep running. She couldn’t afford to waste time just thinking about the inevitable.

6:48

There was something nearby, and it was loud. Clover knew what it was, obviously, but it had slowed her down significantly. She didn’t want to risk making noise, which meant she couldn’t run- and if she couldn’t run, then she was screwed for time.

6:21

She’d found the ladder, but she’d found it in the worst possible way. The creature was basically guarding it, waiting for her. It wanted to kill her, to eat her. What could she do? What the hell could she possibly do? She wasn’t strong, she didn’t have magic, so there was no way for her to fight this damn thing.

Her only option then, was to try to trick it. This thing lived here, and it could clearly see in the dark- but maybe, just maybe-

It was a long shot, but it was worth it. Between that or her surefire death by injection, it was worth a shot.

6:01

Clover held her breath, her hand wrapped tightly around the cord of her headphones. She’d spent most of her time splitting it apart to get the longest “rope” possible, and while it wasn’t much, it was better than nothing. This was foolhardy, it was probably going to fail… but she had to try.

She sent a silent prayer to whoever might possibly listen to her, and then jerked at the “rope”. It toppled over a little rock, making a noise- and yes, it’d gotten that monster’s attention! As stealthily as she could, she started to walk around the other way, keeping her ears open the best she could for any possible noise. She was screwed if it decided to follow her, after all.

By the time she reached the ladder again, she heard the loud rumbling of stone falling onto stone, then a high-pitched screeching. It had worked! Despite everything, her little trap had somehow worked. After pulling out the little rock at the base of a little wall she’d piled up, the rest would’ve become unstable- after that thing went to check it out, it must’ve toppled the wall just as she’d hoped, piling rocks onto itself.

Even though she knew this would hardly be more than a temporary distraction for that creature, it was still enough to put a smile onto her face as she ascended the ladder, climbing to the next floor of this endless labyrinth.

5 hours and 53 minutes left until game over.