006 [Video]

[thechoiceisyours]

So uh... Hey everyone. Again.

[He could probably get a better opening line, but whatever. Moving on.]

I know like, a bunch of people just arrived so... Welcome, I guess. We're still working on the newbie's guide to waking up in a cave-city run by gods, but until then like, if you have any questions I can try and help? Also uh, it's probably safe at this point and we're just being paranoid, but you may want to avoid eating any meat products you find here. For reasons.

[MOVING ON.]

Also uh, sort of related, but I was thinking that maybe before next month we should really... Plan some way to help out? I mean, people just sort of show up and half the time there's monsters too, and... Maybe some sort of organized thing for helping the new people not get like, eaten or whatever would be a good idea.

[This is not exactly his area of expertise, so if other people want to take charge on this he's more than happy to let them, but otherwise he'll try and figure something out. It really seems like something important to get established.]

In uh, a rare moment of good news though, the whole coffee thing worked out. So if you want coffee there's some at Delight's bar now, though you'll have to like... Be kind of patient with me and the others being possibly terrible baristas. Still kind of getting the hang of the whole thing.

[But surely coffee itself is well worth any less-than-practiced customer service; they're at least pretty good at making coffee, including somewhat elaborate drinks, and as far as Chris is aware they're all trying. That's what counts, right?

Right?]

I think that's about it, except for that like... If anyone's curious, the handheld games from the arena this month are just normal games. I thought maybe they'd be some sort of weird alien-versions of them, but I guess not; I took one apart and it was all the expected stuff inside it.

That said I'm totally betting I can beat anyone's high scores.

Comments

[wormintheglass]

Now there's a girl with her priorities in proper order.

[This could have been meant sarcastically, but Bianca's tone and expression say otherwise.]

Really? I'd formed the impression the vagaries of our gods would ensure we all got eaten on a semi-regular basis whether we leave our homes or not.

[thechoiceisyours]

Yeah, it's nice to have like... Something actually good here.

[Luxury items are important priorities for sure, especially when everything is so horrible all the time.]

I dunno, I don't want to give them any ideas or anything but they haven't been too successful at that.

[wormintheglass]

Did you get murdered last month?

[thechoiceisyours]

[That's... A little blunter than he was expecting, so there's a brief pause before he answers even though the response is very simple.]

No.

[wormintheglass]

How fortunate! I was only lucky in that my killer was very proficient with a sniper rifle; if I knew who it had been, I might thank them. If one must be killed, it's always preferable to have a neat, quick job made of it.

I only bring this up to emphasise that safety may be an unreasonable expectation of living here.

[thechoiceisyours]

[He's quiet while she talks, somewhat torn between horrified and irritated, at least until that last comment when the latter wins out.]

Yeah, well, fortunately that's not an expectation I have, so.

[It's not as snappy as the things that first come to mind, but even though his temper is more on edge these days than usual that's still not saying a whole lot. Still, there's a controlled edge to his tone that makes it clear he's purposefully avoiding being more scathing.]

[wormintheglass]

[It's snappy enough to make Bianca smile happily, and then incline her head in a gesture carefully calculated to look apologetic.]

Of course not. How long have you been here, dearheart?

[thechoiceisyours]

[He gives a small shrug at the question.]

I think it's six months now.

[wormintheglass]

I know from the network I only just missed everyone being buried alive. What other ...adventures have I missed out on?

[thechoiceisyours]

Good timing, then. Relatively, anyway.

[Since there was some pretty awful stuff after that too, but the buried alive event was... Not fun.]

There were some pretty small things that happened before, but also like... This huge blizzard full of monsters, which kind of sucked.

[But a snowy hellscape populated by monsters was--oddly enough to think about--nothing new, so. Could've been worse.]

[wormintheglass]

Someone else mentioned snow. How unexpected, in a cavern; I'd give a great deal to see what sort of climate control apparatus there is on this planet.

[She sounds, if anything, enthusiastic.]

If it even is a planet. Impossible to tell from down here, really.

[thechoiceisyours]

Yeah, I mean, considering how this place works so far, it could just be this cave. Who knows.

[He's not enthusiastic, just kind of dryly unamused, but there is a faint glimmer of curiosity about the topic underneath it all.]

Pretty sure the snow was the gods' fault, though.

[wormintheglass]

Calling themselves gods doesn't rule out the use of climate control technology, does it? Rather the opposite, in my experience.

[thechoiceisyours]

I guess not, but it seems kind of... Not necessary.