1_800_hotline | ENDLESS SUMMER NIGHTS [NIGHT 0]

[You awake to the incessant crackle and whine of the radio in your ear. The buzzing neon lights outside bask the walls in a soft glow, casting strange shadows that make the room look like a new dimension of unreality. Despite the fading sunlight, the air remains hot, stuffy, and unbearable, the humidity worming itself into every crack and crevice it can find. It doesn't help that the air conditioner is off. The bed creaks and groans as you shift, and you'd probably get a rash for sleeping under these scratchy sheets for more than a few nights.

The culprit of the noise becomes quickly apparent--an alarm clock with a built in radio on the nightstand. The red digits read 6:13 PM. As you attempt to search for answers, your eyes fall upon a nondescript telephone next to the alarm clock. One of its buttons is flashing red, flickering on and off like a beacon calling out to those adrift at sea.

Despite the confusion, the panic, the fear, your arm is tugged forward towards the phone, as if attached to an invisible string. As you pick up the receiver and hold it to your ear, a robotic voice is heard.]

>You have one (1) new message.

[After a pause, a gruff but enthusiastic voice begins to speak.]

Hey, this is ‘Tom’ from the bakery. Those cupcakes you ordered should be delivered by now. Moving can be tough, so...we threw in some extra stuff for free! A list of ingredients are included--make sure that you read them carefully! Enjoy your stay at the Palms Motel, yeah?

[There’s a click, and the message stops. As you glance around the room, you notice a medium-sized package sitting by the door. The package has been wrapped in brown paper and is otherwise unmarked. If you open it, you’ll find a mask, a weapon, your room key, and a note personally addressed to you. And...oh, there's a slightly squashed chocolate cupcake covered in plastic wrap at the bottom.]

We know who you are. We know what you have done.

There is an opportunity for another chance. Another life. This package provides you with the building blocks necessary to rebuild.

The residents of this motel have committed atrocities far worse than you have. Eliminate them, and you will be rewarded for your actions. Stay alert--prying eyes and ears lurk around every corner, and will not hesitate to stop you at any cost. Evidence is your best friend and worst enemy.

Discretion is of the essence. Failure is not an option. Succeed, and all will be forgiven.

We’ll be watching you.

[For some of you, a sense of deja vu might gnaw at the back of your mind as you read the letter, but any attempts of recollection is met with nothing but brain static. If you search your room drawers, you'll find bundles of money totaling three hundred dollars in cash. Besides this, there's not much to indicate why you are here or how you got here.

If you wander outside the motel, you'll notice name plates on several motel room doors--including your own. As you squint down the road, you can see several buildings crowded among each other, palm trees interspersed throughout the scrub--a city. The setting sun glints against the windows, making it almost too bright to look at. Maybe you'll find some answers there, towards civilization and authority. Never mind the fact that, once you get there, the residents seem utterly unhelpful. A few might ogle and comment on your appearance, depending on who you are, but all of them seem more willing to ignore and laugh off your concerns and go about their business.

Strangely enough, no matter what streets you walk, no matter how far you go, you can always hear music playing. Where one radio's sound fades, another crescendos to take its place--whether it be through the tinny speakers of the laundromat to the booming bass that can be heard from the night club two blocks away. The night life waits for no one, not even you.

Try your best to keep up.]

((OOC note: Welcome to 1-800-HOTLINE! At around 6 PM EST, an event will occur that the characters will be able to react to/investigate. Feel free to explore the city and mingle to your hearts content in the meantime.))

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Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ villanelle is also in the store looking up the romance section (she's lonely, ok, shut up) and from the corner of her eye sees alice messing with the tapes. she doesn't say or do anything about it though, curious as to why she's trying to destroy it. then she hears what alice has to say and scrunches her brows. ]

You never played a video tape?

[ ugh, children these days. ]

Oh, is that what they're called?

[ She looks down from the one she picks up next across the way to Villanelle, holding up the VHS. ]

What do they do, exactly? Play recorded messages?

Yep. [ definitely grew up on dvds. ] You push it inside a VHS player and it plays the reel. [ she points to the mess alice made of the tape. ] That thing that you're pulling out is the reel by the way.

Huh.

[ She pulls out the tape on this one, too, before dicking with the windy circle parts. Alice is fully aware that she's probably getting judged hardcore right now... but it's fine, she's way to interested in these "video tapes." ]

And these are common from where you're from? There isn't even anything remotely close to this in my home!

God you're young. [ a sigh, leaning into the shelf and not caring that it topples a couple films over to the ground. ] Not so common anymore, but that's just cause DVDs are easier to use. And destroying them does't make as much of a mess.

[ and are just... not here? it's only tapes. the past sucks. ]

Hey, I'm eighteen, I'll have you know! I'm just blessed with a youthful appearance that others haven't been able to hold onto for long. [ She scoffs, flipping her hair back in response. ]

I dunno what those are, either. But if they're not as fun to rip apart as these V-H-Ses,then I don't think I'm interested in them.

Baby.

[ a destructive baby, but that's just all babies really. ]

What if you get caught? Nervous at all about that?

What does that make you, then? Old?

[ She actually laughs at that question. ] Ha! Are you joking? Obviously not. If someone was going to kick me out, they'd have done it by now. Besides, what's the harm in doing a little research? No one's been injured... yet. ♡

Sexy.

[ and then she turns her face slightly to give a showy slow wink, puckering her lips as she does. that's how ya do a sexy face. she drops it quick though and returns back to an aloof cool. ]

Guess you're right. No one seems to care about anything in this city. Bust some tapes, steal some food, it's all the same. Kind of boring actually.

[ fun for now but what's the point without the risk? that's what makes it worthwhile. ]

Ha! Maybe with a bag over my head.

[ She shrugs. ]

I'm sure the novelty of it will wear off for me at some point. I intend to milk it for everything it's worth up until that point. It's not every day that I don't have the morality authorities trying to tell me what I should or shouldn't do.

Actually, do you want to go find some other place to smash up? I think I've seen all that there is to see here, unless there are these "dee vee dees" that you mentioned before.

[ she grins, wild. ]

I like you. There's that convenience store nearby. Plenty of things to smash there.

Great idea! Let's go see what Beardie will let us get away with before he kicks us out.

[ She giggles. ]

Oh! I'm Alice, by the way.

Oksana.

[ alice is a cute name. reminds her of the book, though this alice's curiosity is more about smashing things than falling down a rabbit hole. ]

ENDLESS SUMMER NIGHTS [NIGHT 0]

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