Nonary Game: Resonance
(Current path: 52)
(Suggested listening: Quinary Game)
Lucky cleared their throat before continuing. "How about one of us goes down there and sees what's happened, and the other two of us stay here?"
"What would be the point of that?" Robin asked.
"Leo, if you could please go check the seat," Lucky answered, ignoring him. "Then Topaz and I can finish up our search in here."
"Hey, are you trying to conspire without me?" Leo chided.
"Again, what's the point?" Robin jumped in again, louder this time. Lucky's only response was a quick laugh, capped off by a dramatically lengthy sigh. Without a word, they held up their left hand, holding two more sticky notes. "Oh."
Leo wasn't as quick to answer. "Alright, fine. But I'm not just gonna idly check it out. You best be listening when I tell you what I find." With that, he trundled out of the room.
"Don't you think that was a bit dramatic?" Robin asked. "You could have just… asked him to go down alone and said there were more notes with seat names."
"Oh, come on now, Topaz," Lucky replied. "I've no desire to go out of my way to be rude, but this is not the place to be wasting time deciding how to put things delicately enough as to ensure no one is hurt. While we're dicking around in here, who knows what the Up- uh, what's going on outside here."
"What?" Robin had meant to make his question more robust, but he found himself a bit put off by the wave of uncertainty that had crossed Lucky's face.
"W-what I meant to say is… even though our kidnapper never specified a time limit, there could be dangerous conditions once we leave this building. We have no idea where we are, what we'll be going through when we leave, and… who's trying to put us in danger by placing us in here." Lucky's words had gotten serious, enough to distract Robin from his earlier concerns.
"Yo!" The tense mood was snapped away by Leo's call from below them. "It looks like this was the seat they wanted us to find, or one of them, I guess."
"Did the light do something?" Robin shouted.
"Yeah, it cast a shadow on the seat, of a lowercase "h," and there was a little magnet stuck to the bottom, same letter."
"Excellent," Lucky said. "We'll put the other two in. It's J10 and… A49." Their words were enough to send both of the others into motion, with Robin entering the codes in the two keypads before him and Leo sliding his way out of row Q. "I get the feeling there'll be a lot more than three of these seats we have to choose."
"Should one of us stay up here, then?" Robin asked.
"Eh…" Lucky shrugged. "I don't know. There's no telling what other kinds of stuff we'll need to do down there. Might as well have all of our skill sets available." Robin was a bit unsure why Lucky hadn't just gone downstairs with Leo earlier in that case, but he sighed and followed his teammate out of the control room.
Leo had already made it over to seat J10, so Robin and Lucky hurried over to see what A49 had in store for them. As they neared, they noticed a soft, white circle encasing the whole chair, with the shadow of a small "t" cast on the cushion. "That's certainly interesting," Lucky stated. "Check for anything around it?"
There was nothing else out of the ordinary about the seat on their first inspection, so Robin casually pulled the cushion up, closing the seat slowly. "There, just like how an auditorium is supposed to work," he said. Indeed, on the metallic bottom of the seat had been stuck a small magnet. "It's got a "t" on it as well. Just like Leo said."
The three reconvened in one of the aisles, where Leo handed him the two magnets he'd retrieved. "So we've got an "h," an "i," and a "t" now," Robin clarified.
"H-i-t. Maybe we're supposed to hit something," Lucky chuckled.
"I… kind of doubt that," Robin answered. "Well… since we're a little stuck, maybe we should head back to the stage. We might have missed something?"
"Oh yeah," Leo jumped. "Let's see if we can figure out all those colored spots on the back wall." Neither of the others had a more solid plan, so they followed him back up to the stage. Within a minute, Robin and Leo had fixed their attention back on the blobs.
"...Yeah, I'm still not getting what these are supposed to be," Robin sighed.
"Well, we're on a stage," Leo stated. "The first idea that comes to mind is, well, maybe if we shine a certain color of light on the wall, we'll get something out of it." Robin nodded, turning around to see if there was any sign of colored spotlights on the stage.
Before he could make such an observation, though, he heard the distinct humming of the curtains closing. It was only then that he realized Lucky had not been beside them, as they were clearly still standing at the front of the stage. "See if there's anything else written on the inside," they called. The humming came to a stop. "Well?"
"Yep," Robin shouted, as though the curtain was actually a significant barrier to sound. Reading from a small scribbling in the bottom corner, he continued: "It says "Y16" here."
"Say no more," Lucky said. A few seconds later, the curtains began to buzz open again, and Robin could just make out the sight of Lucky jogging toward the stairwell.
"Well, they've got that under control," Robin said, "so we should be looking around for colored lights again."
"Yeah, dude," Leo stated, "there's these black columns on both sides here." He approached the one on stage left, with Robin following a few seconds behind him. "And look what we have here, two bulb hood...things."
"Is that what they're called?" Robin quipped.
"Shut up; I don't know anything about this shit," Leo retorted. "What would you call them?"
"Lamps."
"Okay, that doesn't sound right either." Leo groaned. "Anyway, these both have light bulbs. But I don't know how we're supposed to switch them on. None of the controls upstairs did anything down here, did they?"
"No," Robin sighed. "Although they really should have. Unless our kidnapper rewired the room, which, now that I'm thinking about it, is almost definitely what happened." He leered around the pole, looking for any sort of abnormalities. "Oh, here we go," he said upon seeing two small switches. He flipped the bottom one, and a strong green light emanated from the lower bulb.
"That answers that question," Leo grunted, his eyes squinted and his hand half-lifted to offer a modicum of protection. "Let's take a look then." The two turned around and were initially pleased to see the back wall had been bathed in green light. Alas, the spots still seemed to lack any coherency of information. "Well, at least we know that's what these lights are for." Leo gave the pattern of dots, now appearing essentially green or black, another lengthy stare before turning back to Robin.
"Let me try the other one," Robin offered. He flipped the lower switch off, relieving the green light, which gave a small click. "That didn't sound normal," he mumbled, but decided to ignore it and move on to the top switch.
"Oh yeah, just as strong," Leo groaned, his hand returning to his eyes. "What do you bet the wall is still totally illegible?"
"Actually…" Robin said, lifting his arm to point at the side of the wall. "I'd say that looks pretty clear to me." While the majority of the wall appeared to be a useless pattern of blue and black spots, there seemed to be a large region that now read "09."
"Fitting," Leo stated. "We are in the middle of a Nonary Game here."
"I'm betting that's supposed to be part of a seat designation, though," Robin replied. "But who knows which row."
"Well, we didn't see it until we turned on the blue light, right? And blue's represented by a "B." So maybe we're supposed to go to B09."
Nodding slowly, Robin retrieved his notebook and scribbled the code down. His attention returned to one of the messages he'd written earlier, from the outside of the curtain. "R+G," he mumbled to himself. "Yeah, I bet that's it."
"Huh?" Leo asked.
"We probably have to turn on both the green light and a red light. That's what the curtain was saying, I bet." He jogged across the stage to the other black pillar, seeing two more lamps. Unfortunately, neither of them had a bulb.
"What's the problem, no red?" Leo asked.
"Essentially," Robin answered. "Look, the top one is missing a bulb entirely. And the bottom one here is totally capped off. I don't think we could fit a bulb in there if we tried. But there's… on the cap here, it says "26" and has an arrow pointing up."
"What the hell do you suppose that means," Leo mused. "Wait, is that arrow pointing up at the light above it? Or, well, where the light would be?"
"Uh… I guess?"
"Maybe that's just like the blue light, then. If we put a red bulb there, then maybe this cap is saying that we need to check R… 26."
"You know, we still haven't verified that that's the case for the 09 yet," Robin interrupted. "Maybe I should go check."
"Might as well check them both," Leo said, giving a suggestive shrug. "And Lucky's probably already got whatever was at the other seat you mentioned earlier."
"True that," Robin agreed. "I'll go check with them, I guess. You stay here and make sure we didn't miss anything." Leo gave an exaggerated salute, using the momentum of his arm to turn himself around again. "...Alright," Robin muttered.
"Oh, Topaz, just in time," Lucky stated upon being joined. "Here… is what I found at Y16." They fished in their pocket, retrieving another circular magnet and extending it on their open palm. "It's an "a" button."
Robin took it, adding it to his collection. "We've got two more combinations to try, I think."
Lucky held out an arm, pointing back toward the staircase. "Lead the way, then."
"Why don't you lead the way?" Robin asked.
"Hey, hey, hey," Lucky answered. "You're the one with the codes. Don't you want to lead the way, oh captain, my captain?"
"I could have picked any door I wanted, and yet I came in here with you two," Robin sighed.
"And don't you ever forget it. Now, come on, time's a-wastin'."
Robin was, at least, glad that there were two spotlights on the ceiling; having to continuously redirect a single one would have been a drag, considering he was unsure how many more magnets the group would have to find. "B09…" Admittedly, although he hadn't felt completely at ease since waking up inside this twisted game, he found himself growing a bit fond of the control room. "R26…" The area was smaller and darker, feeling more secure and isolated from the uncertainty that circled him even as he tried to focus on puzzle-solving. Indeed, he slowly realized just how exhausted being in open, unfamiliar places with unfamiliar people had made him. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, trying to recenter himself.
"Looks like they made it," Lucky said, snapping Robin back to Earth. "Let's see what we have." They locked Robin in eye contact, giving him a look that understood his mounting trepidation. "Pip pip."
"That's...not actually a thing British people say," Robin followed, giving a quick laugh to assuage a bit of tension.
The two went to seat R26, and Robin was pleasantly surprised to see the shadow of a "z" staring back at him. "Huh, looks like Leo's idea was right."
"Good to hear," Lucky agreed. "Guess we've solved that part of the puzzle then." They smoothly retrieved the "z" magnet and plopped it into Robin's hand, then shuffling out of the row to head for row B.
"I don't think I'm familiar with this symbol…" Robin glanced at the shadow cast on seat B09, which almost reminded him of an infinity sign. "It kinda looks like an "a" and an "e" squished together."
Lucky approached the seat with a slight look of confusion in their eyes. Robin watched their face as they glanced at the glyph. Although it started off with only moderate bemusement, it quickly sparked with a shivering splash of dread. Lucky backed away, gripping one of the seatbacks beside them.
"What? What is it?" Robin asked.
"It's…" Lucky managed, stopping themself from expanding upon that thought. "Maybe there's… something I should make a bit clear about myself."
(Suggested listening: Eternitybox)
Robin gave Lucky a concerned look, waiting for them to offer some sort of explanation for their agitation at the "ae" symbol the two had just found. "Ah, sorry to keep you waiting. Just gathering my thoughts," they said. Robin nodded, allowing them a few more seconds to prepare.
"Anyway, this might not make a lot of sense. There are… some things I can't tell you about," Lucky started. "Let me start off by saying that I'm very mistrusting, as a result of some things that have happened to me in the past. Well, not just me; I suppose some of these things were also directed at my entire family. Uh… anyway, my family is fairly prominent in… the business scene, in the eastern US. Topaz, do you know a lot about business?"
Lucky's inquisitive face sparked a sense of concern in the pit of Robin's chest, as though they were pretending to seem interested in his business knowledge to cover up their own fear of whatever they were about to share. Humoring them, Robin shook his head.
"Ah, then no need to bore you with the details, I suppose," Lucky continued. "Most of the big money is with some of my cousins. My father was the youngest of three, so his oldest sister's kids are pretty important in certain industries in New York, among other places. They're all relentless, astute, and sharp-witted. All those kinds of traits that get you places financially but maybe not so much socially.
"Of course, there are a lot of other big families in businesses on the East Coast. There were a few of them that were especially close to ours. We'd have joint parties at holidays, go vacationing together, that sort of thing. Since I was a kid, I mean. So I considered their kids who were about my age to be real friends." Robin nodded a few times, his mouth forming a superficial smirk. "Uh, something wrong?"
"Oh, sorry," Robin jumped. "It's just… I didn't expect to hear that you came from money, is all. Not to sound judgmental, but… You're wearing jeans and a vest. You look like you'd be more at home in the South."
To his surprise, Lucky gave a quick laugh. "Well, if I knew anything as I was growing up, it was that I had no affinity for business. All that paperwork, legality, that sort of bullshit… No thanks. I was much more of a fan of my own hobbies, and one of them includes rifle shooting. I became something of a prodigy, if I may toot my own horn so. I had to deal with my family telling me to not waste my time doing things that made me happy, though, so… there's animosity there. But I took anything negative I was feeling, put it on a piece of paper, and shot it."
Robin wasn't sure that was the healthiest way for Lucky to have dealt with their problems, but he didn't say anything of the sort. "So, what happened?"
"Well… it was mostly the other families, I guess. Like, I still resent my own family for what position they put me in. You know how adults are, right? They're transphobic, so that wasn't fun, and they also were just kind of… there. I mean, I guess a lot of parents who think they're important members of society are useless as, well, parents." Lucky stopped for a few seconds, taking a deep breath. "But that's all a bunch of backstory I didn't really need to tell you."
"Hey, you don't need to feel bad, Lucky." Robin did his best to sound reassuring. "You're not annoying me or anything."
"You really mean that, don't you?" Lucky answered, an indecipherable look on their face. "Well, not to knock you down a peg or anything, it's just that I'm still not sure who here I can trust. I'd hate to give you my spiel and then you turn around and use it against me in the future."
Robin was, admittedly, a bit put off by that response. "That's… fair, I guess." He was quite sure Lucky's backstory was one that would answer a lot of his questions, and he attempted to mask his disappointment that it would have to wait.
Against his expectations, however, Lucky heaved another weighted sigh. "Don't take it personally. I… don't trust easily. That's obvious. But I'll have you know it's definitely something I earned after what some of the other families did." Robin raised his eyebrows, doing his best to encourage Lucky further. "They were jealous, selfish assholes. And they fucked us over. That's… enough for right now."
Forming the proper words for a comforting response was not one of Robin's strengths, especially since he couldn't be quite sure if Lucky was fuming or just depressed. "I'm sorry."
"Yeah," Lucky replied a few seconds later, as though they hadn't truly heard. "I think I'm gonna head upstairs to just be alone for a minute. If you find any more seat codes, just shout them up at me." They stayed only long enough to catch Robin's affirmative nod before slipping out of the interaction.
What could have happened to Lucky that made them so upset? Robin thought. The other participant's stark mood change kept him in a disquieted state even as he refocused his attention back on exiting the room.
(Suggested listening: Quinary Game)
"Hey." Leo's voice came down from stage, the monosyllabic chant a testament to his powerful lung capacity. Robin watched as the man climbed down and approached him, figuring he would start speaking again. Alas, he was kept in silence.
"Uh… what can I do for you?" Robin asked.
"What was the deal with you and Lucky just now?"
Robin shrugged and offered an animated facial expression of uncertainty. "I don't know. I think the stress of being here is just finally catching up to them. Anyway, we found more magnets. Does this symbol look familiar to you?" He held up the "ae" character.
"Oh, yeah. It's a ligature of an "a" and an "e." Like how you'd spell "encyclopedia" if you're an uppity aristocrat or something."
"Huh." Robin paid little attention to spelling in his younger days, so he wasn't quite sure what Leo was talking about, but he nodded along anyway. "Well, I think that's worn off our last clue so far. We're kind of stuck, again."
"We've gotta be missing something obvious," Leo agreed. "I think we need to find that red light bulb as soon as possible. That'll probably help us out the most."
"Maybe we should try closing the curtain again?" Robin felt a slight pulsing in his forehead as he finished his sentence, but he waved it off and lead the way toward the front of the auditorium. "Something in my mind is telling me we'll see something."
"Whatever you say, dude," Leo replied, flipping the switch.
"Robin!" Lucky's voice spurred him to whirl around. "I found something; meet me at the bottom of the stairwell." Seeing no need to offer Leo a parting word, Robin jogged back to meet them.
"What is it?" Robin asked as he saw Lucky descending towards him.
"It's a li - whoa!" Their answer was truncated as they tripped forward, stumbling down the last several steps and knocking directly into Robin. As a fairly lanky man, he was knocked backwards somewhat forcefully, bumping into the back of a seat and flopping over it. His head wedged upside-down atop the lowered seat cushion.
"Oh shit," Lucky exhaled a few seconds later. "I guess it's a good thing these seats are all down, huh?"
"Yeah, I'm fine; thanks for asking," Robin grunted. He glanced at Lucky for a few seconds before looking back toward the front of the stage, which was completely closed off by the curtains. Although it was partially blocked by the seat in front of him, he could still make out the top half, including the four-digit code that had been written on it.
"1691…" he read. As he slowly returned to a standing position, he stared at the curtain again. "1691…"