TEST DRIVE MEME 004

[happyheartsstaff]

HAPPY HEARTS HOTEL

You wake up in a padded box. It rocks, gently, as though suspended in mid-air. You begin to stir, confusion or distress pushing you to try to sit up — and then the air begins to smell sweet, and you fall back asleep.

You wake up in a padded box. For a moment, you are beatifically calm. You don't know how you got here, or why, but that isn't really all that important. You don't need to know where you are. You're just... here. And here is a wonderful place to be.

But there is a niggling suspicion growing in the back of your mind. A suspicion that here is not somewhere you wanted to be. That it is not where you're supposed to be. You remember... chasing a white rabbit (or was it a person)? A mirror? Bright light, and green ivy crawling over your skin... Before you can worry too much, the box jolts, and then settles, and after a long moment the walls fall from around you to reveal —

A hotel lobby?

"Welcome to the Happy Hearts Hotel and Casino," says an attendant behind a desk. "We're so pleased you could join us. We have your room keys and Empathies here, please make an orderly line and we'll hand them out once we've confirmed identities. After that, feel free to explore the hotel! We highly recommend starting with the casino. Everyone's a winner here in Happy Hearts!"

Is this normal? It doesn't feel normal. And hey — you could swear you had shoes before!

I. TIME TO PARTY

What timing you have, to be arriving at Happy Hearts now! The hotel is bustling, filled to the brim with guests that don't bear the green mark denoting them as Oysters. Hotel staff are equally as busy, catering to the needs of their extra company on top of the Oysters. Musicians arrive in a flurry of fanfare, demanding the attention of everyone in their wake. If the hotel staff are a little more hurried, a little less friendly and accommodating to new Oysters, surely they can be excused, right?

No matter. There's a party to go tonight, the very one that the musicians are here to play at. They set up in the massive pool area, roping off some areas for dancing, others for tables lined with all manner of food and drink. Indulgence teas make an appearance throughout the night. Anyone who drinks one will find themselves with lowered impulse control, lack of restraint, a desire to partake of things they would normally be wary of, giving into their particular vices much more frequently, etc.

If you intended to miss the party, you may find it difficult to ignore. The celebrations spill out of the pool area and into the hotel lobby, the restaurants, the bars, even up onto the floors of the Oysters' rooms. The music is loud enough to be heard anywhere in the hotel, making sleep a difficulty. You might as well enjoy yourself, right? Or perhaps find someone else attempting to avoid the celebration to commiserate with. It will stop some time in the late hours, at least, and all signs of it will be gone the next day.

II. ATTRIBUTABLE TO HUMAN ERROR

Even after the hotel is no longer quite so full, hotel staff always seem in the middle of doing something or other when they're asked for something. There's just not enough time in the day, is there, for everything that must be done? Any Oysters who point out that there seems to be several other staff members mingling about with nothing to do will be met with silence.

But not to worry! All your needs will still be met. The hotel does have its automated customer service system, for times such as these! Computer screens are available at the counter of every store, at every table in the restaurants, at the bar and spa and gym. Calling for room service? Needing more towels at the pool? Want to book a service at the spa or get a drink at the bar? Simply place your request directly with the system, and whatever you desire will be delivered right to you!

There are still some bugs to be worked out, of course. Were those not the clothes you wanted? Oh, dear, perhaps someone else got yours by mistake. You can't even eat whatever type of food was served to you? Better double check the system — and look, what you have in front of you is exactly the order that was placed? Are you sure you're not the one who was mistaken?

A hotel staff member will eventually correct whatever went wrong, should Oysters not being able to sort out the mix up themselves.

III. WERE YOU LOOKING FOR SOMETHING?

Just when it felt like you were getting the layout of the hotel down — you were getting the layout of the hotel down, weren't you? If you thought so before, you may doubt it now. There was a night club here just last night, wasn't there? And a spa over there, a gym just beyond them? If there ever was, there's certainly no sign of them now. There's only a blank wall, a dead end.

Turning to go back the way you came will be of little help. There is no way you came, just another hallway. And another, and another, until you may find yourself quite hopelessly turned around. If you're lucky, it may not be too long before you run into a helpful member of the hotel staff.

They'll be happy to direct you anywhere you need, of course. "The spa?" they'll say. "Do we have a spa? That's news to me. Oh but we're always adding new amenities, of course, that's one of the joys of the Happy Hearts Hotel and Casino!"

Perhaps you'd like directions back to the lobby? Well, they can certainly provide that. You're not alone, are you? A shame. They're much too busy to escort you back themselves. It's a bit of a maze, during renovations, one always easier to navigate with a friend to keep an eye on things.

It won't take long to realize they mean that literally. The hallways don't move as long as someone's watching them, and it will be much easier to follow the staff's directions back to the hotel lobby with one person to look in front and one behind. Hopefully you'll find someone else just as lost as you are.

IV. WELCOME HOME

Maybe you just want to be alone — well, that's what you have your room key for! Oysters room on the second and third floors of the hotel, one to a room. You were assured your room would be exactly what you'd always wished for — and for some, that's right! It's exactly as you would have decorated it yourself. But for others, their rooms are totally wrong. A grizzled cowboy can't have a pink room! Hotel staff are firm, though: every room is exactly as its owner wants it to be. Search your feelings, Oyster. You know it to be true.

On each bed are the Oysters' personal effects, minus weapons, as well as a towel folded in the shape of a heart, and a single foil-wrapped chocolate. If eaten, the chocolate is delicious, and incites a feeling of tender warmth in Oysters — not lust, but a desire for closeness. Why spend time in your room, when you could go find a new friend in the casino?

All hotel amenities on the world info page are available except for the nightclub, the gym, and the hotel spa. Please direct any questions to the first comment on this page, and happy playing, Oysters!

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© tessisamess

Comments

[equivocations]

[ If he's honest, he still isn't quite certain this is real. He has seen Mingjue so often in his dreams, and he knows that the people who rule this place are quite capable of getting inside one's mind. It would not be a surprise if this was a trick, if he wakes tomorrow and finds that Mingjue is gone.

It is - reassuring, to feel him warm and solid beneath his hands, even though he can already feel the tips of his ears warming a little at needing this much to steady himself. ]

It is too soon for Meng Yao to be interested in making a deal with the Queen, I think. She has too much power, and he does not have enough information to plan for contingencies in the case that she did not keep her word. But he would, were that not the case, and he believed it necessary.

[ It would be naive to think otherwise, and while Lan Xichen still cares for Meng Yao, still thinks this version is not too far gone - he has few illusions about how his mind works, or what his priorities are. ]

Murder does not stick here. It seems they have perfected reanimation, even limb reattachment, in a way beyond anything I have seen before. [ His left hand clenches and opens slowly, as if he's testing its movement without even being conscious of it. ] My judgement is faulty. I - am aware that I cannot be trusted in this, but I don't know what else to do. Wangji has agreed to keep an eye on me.

[shootthesun]

At least there is that. He would not place himself under another's power without the surety of an escape route.

[ He was angry with Meng Yao - perhaps beyond angry, even if he had yet to truly process it - but he was not willing to let that fool him, or goad him into thinking the utmost worst, when it might be the wrong choice. ]

What else can you do? Shun the snake as he deserves, and watch him surely turn to the Queen? Embrace him with open arms and taste the bite of his fangs when he turns on you? Xichen, just because I wouldn't take your course doesn't mean I know what to do.

You say he hasn't even committed the crimes yet. Murder to prevent future crime would still be murder, still be unjust. If you're watching him - if we're all watching him - maybe you'll have what you want.

Or he'll lash out and be put down before he can take anyone else with him.

[ It wasn't simple or easy but what else was there to do? ]

[equivocations]

[ It's a little disconcerting hearing Mingjue ask some of the same questions that he has already asked himself. Not because it was ever unusual for him and Mingjue to have the same opinions in things, not even because one of the few things they truly disagreed on was how to approach Jin Guangyao - but because there is a not insignificant part of him that had already concluded there was a better way to handle this, one he simply couldn't see.

It's difficult to reconcile his lack of faith in his own decisions and his confidence in Mingjue when they reach similar conclusions.

For a long moment, he is speechless. When he does speak, his voice is quiet. ]

I want what I have always wanted, Mingjue, for you both to be safe and happy.

[ It is a selfish want, and quite possibly an impossible one, even in these other timelines, but there it is. ]

I trust you more than I trust him.

[ He is not certain it is something that needs to be said - in the past, he might have assumed that Mingjue knew how much Lan Xichen trusted him, but he knows now where his assumptions had lead. It should be obvious, that he trusts his oldest friend more than a man with significant capacity to betray them all, but considering his history... he does not want to leave room for doubt. ]

[shootthesun]

[ To be trusted more than Jin Guangyao - it might be petty, but it's satisfying, validating even, to hear those words, when he's doubted that very idea, all this time. ]

To be safe, we must work together. To work together, we must trust each other... or at least trust most of us to stand together. Making an enemy now would be a mistake.

Lan Xichen. I trust you with my life. I have trusted you before this, and do so even now.

[equivocations]

[ He suspects that telling Mingjue he was not worth that trust will only make Mingjue sigh at him, or perhaps feel like he has to remind him again that he does nothing think Lan Xichen is a fool. At this point, it is only his own distrust in himself that he is feeling, and he will not put that on his friend.

So instead he lets himself feel the little flash of warmth that brings, a small, pleased smile tugging at his lips as he nods. ]

I would not have believed it possible to treasure that more than I did before, but I do.

[ His gaze shifts to the wall behind them, brows furrowing a little. ]

Perhaps we can start by working together to get out of this maze.

[shootthesun]

[ He smiles, faint, and to the matter of trust - it's resolved, he trusts. ]

It would be a pleasant change of pace, to be out of these walls. Incredible how easy it is for a place to wear out its welcome.

[ He's already tired of this place. It's incredible Xichen has kept his sanity, here, with the company - but then. Here, the worst hasn't happened yet. Perhaps it's different. ]

We start with a navigation of this maze.