[ The robot looks at Neverah for a long time before it finally answers with its display screen:
πΈπ¦
That doesn't sound entirely right. Except now that she's looking closer, the clothes he's wearing look similar to Jiaoqiu. He's even got little fox ears on top of his display screen. Was that always there?
π
Unfortunately, with the door closed, Maomao can't overhear a full conversation. But it sounds almost like it's bustling over there. Safe. The more she tries to listen, the more she gets that feeling. If only they could get the door open, maybe they'd be safe on that side. Maybe they'd get answers on that side. Maybe the way out is closer on that side. ]
maomao will head back towards neverah, pausing to look over the counters and tables as she goes. anything on the ground? any secret maps or hints on how to use the flashlights? any extra keycards? ]
[softly, surprised. she barely registers maomao as she comes over through her own focus, absentmindedly pulling the lanyard out and handing it to her. surely this will be fine.
[ There's no extra keycards on the ground, nothing of note on the counters and tables. Honestly, the most obvious thing about this floor is how strangely dusty it is for being so well-lit. Like it's gone unused for a long time. Maomao will then have gained the keycard and lanyard! Jiaoqiu screen twitches as he looks at it, but he turns back to Neverah nearly immediately. Maomao will probably have the stray thought that she's not sure that robot always looked like a robot furry.
Jiaoqiu has a lot to say about this next question, apparently, though it doesn't necessarily make much sense.
[ it is strange, but her curiosity is kicking in especially since it may be a path away from the fleshening. taking the lanyard over to the door to see if it'll work on opening it ]
He is taking her hand alright, without any hesitation. He will follow her as she leads him towards the staircase.
Maomao uses the keycard to open the door. It... works.
The door opens and all three robots step out. This staircase is a lot different from the first. It's smaller, tighter. It's all metal steps. There's no sign of the people who she heard talking earlier, but it's still well-lit. This one doesn't even wind around as it goes up, so there's no way to surprise them around the corner. The door closes behind them, locked once more, leaving behind the fleshy walls of the previous staircase. It seems like a safe space to continue to walk up to the fifth floor or even beyond.
Are they looking around as they're going, or are they just climbing up? ]
[ JQ is following obediently, one hand tightly wound around Neverah's. He's also looking at his surroundings.
The main thing they'll spot is a small window to the outside--it's reinforced with bars and nearly impossible to reach besides from the staircase, but they can still see a bit of the city from here. They can also see that they seem much higher up than the fourth floor, which is a little odd, but probably not more odd than anything else here. It is taking them longer than usual to get to the fifth floor.
As they walk up those stairs, they'll both start to hear different things.
To Neverah, it's a simple one. Just a young woman, her voice so very familiar, asking her to look down. Won't she please look down? All she asks for is a glimpse. Doesn't Neve owe her that much?
To Maomao, the voices sound oddly like people she knows blaming her for not being quick enough. Not being smart enough. Not being enough at all. Can't you figure out what's happening? Can't you see the mistakes you're making? You're never going to learn like this. ]
[deeply sorry to maomao, but while she doesn't intend to pause for long, the voice is familiar enough that she looks down for just a moment. her hand doesn't leave robot jq's, though.]
[ Maomao continues up the stairs! The whispers only grow all the louder for it, but now that she's pushed through, she'll find herself eager to run up the stairs and get away from here.
Neverah looks down. Down, down, down, down-- because when she looks, suddenly there's no railing to these stairs. Suddenly to the side of them is a bottomless pit, an empty vastness that she's on the edge of, that she could fall into so easily. And even though it feels like miles and miles and miles down, vertigo seizing her, she has a sudden thought that if she were to fall in, she might see someone she cares about at the bottom.
JQ is still holding her hand, though. He is staring at her curiously as she does this, but he's stopped when she has. His fingers are sharp like claws in hers, which makes sense, because JQ's got claws normally, right? Yeah. That sounds right. ]
[maomao is so valid because ordinarily she would follow without question. they're in a probably dangerous area and need to hightail it out of here. on some level she understands and agrees with this. she's normally very good at being pragmatic and logical. however, unfortunately, it is phobia time yay!!
she just kind of freezes for for a minute as she takes in the distance below, trying to stop her vision from swimming and her heart from racing. called up to maomao, more quiet than she means it:]
Wait, just give me one moment—
[she tightens her grip on jq's hand and that's when she notices the claws?? hello?? she's still thrown off by the sudden departure into her waking nightmare help but she takes a shaky step up the stairs as she looks at his robot self. does he still look the same as she did a second ago?]
[ Jiaoqiu looks at her. He looks the same. Or, she thinks he does. His screen was cracked like hers when she first saw him, right? They match like that. They both got hurt. He tilts his head and stares at her before he tugs her up, still holding on tight. πβ
They just have to climb up. He's there for her. They can go up. Maybe he'd go with her if she jumped, too. She has the thought and she doesn't know why, because obviously she's terrified of the fall.
Meanwhile Maomao keeps climbing. You know what's cool for her? The stairs aren't a giant chasm on either side of herself. Spite is fueling her, and spite is making these steps feel like nothing at all. There's the door with the FIVE right up ahead. It's locked, but she took the keycard earlier. She can just go to the fifth floor.
Her head is buzzing a little. From anger, probably. Or maybe because the whispers are just so damn loud when they're being ignored. ]
[letting herself be pulled along, then trying to hurry as much as she can. her robots legs are shaking. it's fine. she will eventually reach maomao even as she panics.]
[ They make it up the stairs. There's no other incident. JQ is helping Neverah while her legs shake. He will even, helpfully, try to grab hold of her pipe with his free hand in case it falls off with all her shaking. What's interesting is that his legs also seem a bit weak. He's faltering a bit in his steps, like he can't quite walk straight. His ears twitch down.
They reach Maomao and the doorway. She's got it unlocked! So obviously it's time to enter the fifth floor.
And here they are, in the fifth floor. It appears to be...
Completely empty.
A wide, vast, empty space. The walls, floor and ceiling are white. There's fluorescent lights on the ceiling, but no door. No people. No furniture. No more visible stairs.
[once they're free from the stairs and the v o i d she's going to take a moment to run a hand over her face?? screen?? and look towards jq who is definitely normal and definitely not going to die or kill them in five seconds. concerned:]
Are you alright...? [also:] Do you know the way up from here?
[ i just need it mentioned that if she wants she can get her pipe back from JQ. He won't fight her for it. He's just holding it for now. But he's still holding her hand and he stares back at her as she runs a hand over her face screen.
Anyway while this is happening, Maomao looks along the walls. There is a light switch in this room! Neat. There are three light toggles on this switch. There are no secret seams along the walls that she can find, though... ]
[ maomao is cat cat but she is giving them their space and not really paying attention to what is being said or shown to neverah. ]
There are some of those switches here. Stay close to the door, I'll try them.
[ she gives it a moment before she switches the first one closest to her to see what it'll do. then she'll continue switch each on and off to see what they do ]
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holyspirits) wrote2025-03-09 08:53 pm
make your own memes actually
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22106. And yours?
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πΈπ¦
That doesn't sound entirely right. Except now that she's looking closer, the clothes he's wearing look similar to Jiaoqiu. He's even got little fox ears on top of his display screen. Was that always there?
π
Unfortunately, with the door closed, Maomao can't overhear a full conversation. But it sounds almost like it's bustling over there. Safe. The more she tries to listen, the more she gets that feeling. If only they could get the door open, maybe they'd be safe on that side. Maybe they'd get answers on that side. Maybe the way out is closer on that side. ]
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maomao will head back towards neverah, pausing to look over the counters and tables as she goes. anything on the ground? any secret maps or hints on how to use the flashlights? any extra keycards? ]
Could I use the key for a moment?
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[softly, surprised. she barely registers maomao as she comes over through her own focus, absentmindedly pulling the lanyard out and handing it to her. surely this will be fine.
she turns back towards the other robot.]
How long have you been here?
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Jiaoqiu has a lot to say about this next question, apparently, though it doesn't necessarily make much sense.
βββ
π
βοΈβ
πππβββ ]
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Come with me. I know a way out of here.
[if he complies she'll head with him to the staircase maomao is trying to open]
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ππ
βοΈβπ₯
He is taking her hand alright, without any hesitation. He will follow her as she leads him towards the staircase.
Maomao uses the keycard to open the door. It... works.
The door opens and all three robots step out. This staircase is a lot different from the first. It's smaller, tighter. It's all metal steps. There's no sign of the people who she heard talking earlier, but it's still well-lit. This one doesn't even wind around as it goes up, so there's no way to surprise them around the corner. The door closes behind them, locked once more, leaving behind the fleshy walls of the previous staircase. It seems like a safe space to continue to walk up to the fifth floor or even beyond.
Are they looking around as they're going, or are they just climbing up? ]
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[ maybe they continued on? she does give a slight bow towards the robot with ears ]
Greetings. [ it is lit up so she will look at their surroundings as they go up the stairs ]
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Perhaps we need to keep going up for that?
[part of her vision is still messed up, but she'll look around as much as she can.]
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The main thing they'll spot is a small window to the outside--it's reinforced with bars and nearly impossible to reach besides from the staircase, but they can still see a bit of the city from here. They can also see that they seem much higher up than the fourth floor, which is a little odd, but probably not more odd than anything else here. It is taking them longer than usual to get to the fifth floor.
As they walk up those stairs, they'll both start to hear different things.
To Neverah, it's a simple one. Just a young woman, her voice so very familiar, asking her to look down. Won't she please look down? All she asks for is a glimpse. Doesn't Neve owe her that much?
To Maomao, the voices sound oddly like people she knows blaming her for not being quick enough. Not being smart enough. Not being enough at all. Can't you figure out what's happening? Can't you see the mistakes you're making? You're never going to learn like this. ]
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at the voices, she does falter for a moment. then she'll continue up the stairs. ]
You don't need to pay attention to any of that. [ assuming that they are hearing what she does. it's fine it's fine ]
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[deeply sorry to maomao, but while she doesn't intend to pause for long, the voice is familiar enough that she looks down for just a moment. her hand doesn't leave robot jq's, though.]
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Neverah looks down. Down, down, down, down-- because when she looks, suddenly there's no railing to these stairs. Suddenly to the side of them is a bottomless pit, an empty vastness that she's on the edge of, that she could fall into so easily. And even though it feels like miles and miles and miles down, vertigo seizing her, she has a sudden thought that if she were to fall in, she might see someone she cares about at the bottom.
JQ is still holding her hand, though. He is staring at her curiously as she does this, but he's stopped when she has. His fingers are sharp like claws in hers, which makes sense, because JQ's got claws normally, right? Yeah. That sounds right. ]
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it pisses her off. she just uses it as fuel to keep going. ]
Neverah! Come on! [ she thinks the other will just follow unfortunately and will keep on climbing ]
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she just kind of freezes for for a minute as she takes in the distance below, trying to stop her vision from swimming and her heart from racing. called up to maomao, more quiet than she means it:]
Wait, just give me one moment—
[she tightens her grip on jq's hand and that's when she notices the claws?? hello?? she's still thrown off by the sudden departure into her waking nightmare help but she takes a shaky step up the stairs as she looks at his robot self. does he still look the same as she did a second ago?]
Jiaoqiu...?
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They just have to climb up. He's there for her. They can go up. Maybe he'd go with her if she jumped, too. She has the thought and she doesn't know why, because obviously she's terrified of the fall.
Meanwhile Maomao keeps climbing. You know what's cool for her? The stairs aren't a giant chasm on either side of herself. Spite is fueling her, and spite is making these steps feel like nothing at all. There's the door with the FIVE right up ahead. It's locked, but she took the keycard earlier. She can just go to the fifth floor.
Her head is buzzing a little. From anger, probably. Or maybe because the whispers are just so damn loud when they're being ignored. ]
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when you show more feelings as a robot than you do normally...
anyways she's at the door and uses the keycard to unlock it. she does stall there, waiting for neverah to catch up ]
Are you coming?
[ she won't go ahead without her, even with the buzzing of anger and not wives ]
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Yes, I'll be there in a moment...
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They reach Maomao and the doorway. She's got it unlocked! So obviously it's time to enter the fifth floor.
And here they are, in the fifth floor. It appears to be...
Completely empty.
A wide, vast, empty space. The walls, floor and ceiling are white. There's fluorescent lights on the ceiling, but no door. No people. No furniture. No more visible stairs.
The door closes behind them. ]
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once the door is closed behind them, maomao is going to follow the walls to see if there's any signs of a secret door ]
I didn't see anything on the way up here...
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Are you alright...? [also:] Do you know the way up from here?
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π©Ήβ
She's injured... he brings their joined hands up to run over his own cracked screen. Then he brings it back down to answer her real question.
πͺπββοΈπβ
πββ¬πββ¬β οΈ
π
Anyway while this is happening, Maomao looks along the walls. There is a light switch in this room! Neat. There are three light toggles on this switch. There are no secret seams along the walls that she can find, though... ]
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There are some of those switches here. Stay close to the door, I'll try them.
[ she gives it a moment before she switches the first one closest to her to see what it'll do. then she'll continue switch each on and off to see what they do ]
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