perfectmatch | week two

[The camera crew need not help. Thus far, this date is probably the most intriguing to Yi Sang for the stimulation it promises. While that remains to be seen, he wanders inside and directs his gaze to the likeness of stars captured overhead.

A footage plays on the screen below it, relaying their objective as a starting point. Once it ends, Yi Sang glances slantwise at Serpilia.]

Have you played a game of this nature before, Miss Serpilia?

[ It's an interesting setup for sure, and whoever decorated the room for the puzzle game they're about to play really went all out on the props. She's gotta admit it looks nice. Not having had a chance to spend time with the girls and really get some numbers crunching yet, there's some nice promise of an intellectual itch to be scratched here. ]

Not quite like this one, but I'm pretty good at sleuthing things out. What about you. Do you... like puzzles?

[ She sounds so uncertain even asking it. It's been kind of hard to tell if Yi Sang likes much of anything admittedly, though he did at least seem interested in the setup, so maybe promising? ]

[Like is a strong word. He settles for something in-between—the muddy gray with which he's grown so familiar.]

Though I no longer have a mind for such things, I confess that I am somewhat curious to solve the riddle behind this particular puzzle.

[ Curious is still more interest than he's taken in just about anything she's heard so far, so if this can actually get him motivated for once... ]

Alright then! We should get to work right away. But we've still got a pretty sizeable room to work with, so what do you want to start with?

[ Is this a ploy? Maybe. Curiosity is the start, and maybe a little nudge to actually make a choice on this one. ]

At this time, all corners of the room are locations of interest. Therefore, I shall begin the search here.

[He motions to the section of wall near Serpilia, next to the screen where the footage played earlier. It's a simple choice that spares her a few short steps to start on his side.]

Oh... wow. That was pretty fast?

[ She sounds genuinely surprised by that as she turns to look at the wall, which seems decorated with some kind of star map. ]

[Fast?

Whatever that means, he also turns his attention to the map on the wall.]

Does aught stand out to you?

[ If he's not asking about it out loud, then she's not explaining it!

Instead she looks at the map, and furrows her brow. ]

I'm not super familiar with the night sky or anything, but... there's definitely holes in this map that I'm pretty sure aren't usual for these kinds of things.

[ She taps against one. It's not huge, but it's clearly intentional, though she's not sure what's supposed to line up with them. ]

[He follows the point of her finger, then scans the rest of the map for any discernible patterns. When he doesn't find one, he moves on to the next section of the wall to the bookcase there, its shelves filled with all manner of things.]

I see. Then a probable course of action is to search for objects that will either align with or fill these holes.

[ So... proactive???

She'll follow him, not as helpful as she could be right now, because she really did not expect this to go this way at all.

Though she'll try to focus a little more on the puzzle for a moment. ]

You start with the top shelf, and I'll start with bottom?

[ She's the shorter of the two, less distance to the floor. She's being semi-thoughtful. ]

[He nods, seeing the sensibility in her suggestion, and begins searching the shelf from the very top by handling the false books set up there as props. Some of them budge while others don't, and those that do open up like a box. So far, they've yet to offer anything.

Mindful to position himself off to the side as much as possible so as not to disturb Serpilia, he continues to sift through the various baubles staged around the bookcase.]

[ Serpilia gets drawn into her own hunting here for a moment, looking for anything that might be any of the books or "books" not glued down to the shelf, before she lets out a triumphant: ]

Ha!

[ And holds up a folded up transparent piece of plastic she found tucked between two of the books. It looks like it's got seemingly randomly spaced numbers set in the middle of cartoonish stars written on it. ]

[He pauses in the middle of putting a prop back on the shelf to look down at the folded piece of plastic in Serpilia's hand.]

Are those numbers?

Looks like it. Bet it'll fit right over top of the map up there.

[ She's jumping up to go slap it onto the wall, before wiggling it a little to line it up and place and-- ]

Voila!

[ She pauses looking at it. ]

... Not entirely sure what it means actually. Maybe something to do with the stars on the ceiling, or the placement of things in the room?

[He looks up, then back down at the map on the wall. Her theories are as reasonable as can be within their limited view, such that he can't say one way or another.]

The information provided by this clue is overly broad and therefore inconclusive. As more cavities yet remain, I believe filling them first might be for the best. Thusly, it would be wiser to divide for the time being and reconvene once we have given the room a cursory sweep.

Got it. Then in that case, I'll go this way, and you go that way.

[ She's kind of getting into the puzzle aspect of all of this, and forgetting she planned to force him to make choices here. Then again, he is kind of anyways by saying what they should do next? It's good enough for now. ]

[As agreed, he goes that way to comb through his half of the room.

In the end, he comes back with a couple of plastic sheets to fill in more of the map on the wall, as well as something for her side.]

I have found a key. Was there a lock of sorts on your side?

[ She herself found a book that is mostly glued together to force people to open up to one page that contains an encryption code, and is currently attempting to decode the words written on the wall in front of her, when she puts it down on the nearby table to engage with a more exciting find. ]

Three. Wanna see which one is works on?

[Nodding, he offers her the key. She knows the aforementioned locks best. He could work on decoding while she does that, but it seems she'd like to play more cooperatively, so he will follow behind her.]

[ Alright loyal baby duckling, just follow along now as she just makes her way over to the first box. She may have to try all of them anyways, so why not go for ease?

It doesn't work.

Fortunately, she's not going to have to go through all three, because the second pops open, and there is--

A button at the bottom of the box? The big red kind that's just begging for a pushing. ]

Huh...

[He peers over from her side. The button stands out, both in color and the overall oddness of it compared to the rest of the room so far.]

Will you press it?

Might as well.

[ Her hand hits it, and--

BOOM! A hidden door swings out from the wall. True escape room style. ]

Oh! Nice!

week two | dates

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