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October 2018 Test Drive Meme

OCTOBER 2018 TEST DRIVE MEME

Welcome to October’s Test Drive Meme! This month's Test Drive's theme is: HALLOWEEN HORROR.

All Test Drive Memes contain at least one clue to the Deerington's upcoming in-game events for the month! Keep your eyes peeled! But...not literally.

Characters may die during TDMs, but you do not need to count it towards a game-canonical death unless you want to. Consider it a freebie. All TDMs can be considered game canon as TDMs introduce minor aspects about the world of Deerington that can be revisited by characters later on in the game. You may also use TDMs for your application writing sample as well as AC.

CW: Wet and rotting corpses/zombies, ghosts, violence, blood, knives, possessed dolls, options for underage drinking

Don't forget to tag content whenever necessary. Have fun!

Prompt One
Prompt Two
Character Arrival
Master Navigation

IT’S JUST A BUNCH OF HOCUS POCUS

It’s not Halloween if you don’t make a trip to a cheesy haunted house. At least, that’s what everyone in Deerington likes to say. The old Victorian stands at the top of a hill, rickety and in desperate need of a new paint job. The yard and porch have been decorated with what you’d expect for your typical haunted house; fake spider webs spread across the overhang, painted foam grave markers with cheesy names like “Here lies Richard Cranium” and “BEWARE!!” in creepy letter etchings. You can see the blinking of variously timed strobe lights in some windows and the shadow of what you’re pretty sure is a full-sized doll standing in the window, meant to look like someone staring out at you. The rocking chair on the porch near the door has a skeleton with a bowl of candy in his lap, and a sign is propped up against the wall next to him.

“ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK. TOUCH NOTHING AND NOTHING WILL TOUCH YOU!”

Well that sounds promising.

The first few rooms you enter are appropriately cheesy. There’s the silly burst of air that you hear just before a plastic figuring pops out of a poorly constructed coffin, the clicking sound of the machinery inside echoing in the room when it starts to pull back and the lid closes once again. There’s fog machines trying to give the appropriately spooky air, stuffed sheets shaped to look like dead bodies wrapped up laying in piles on the floor with fake blood staining the white fabric, black lighting to show off words scribbled on doors like “TURN BACK NOW” and “SOMETHING WICKED THIS WAY COMES.” Nothing you haven’t seen before. It might be even worse than things you’ve seen before, over the top cheesy, boring enough to give a yawn. Each door seems to open on its own so you don’t even have to touch the handles.

As you make your way through the next automatic door, the room you walk into is different than those before it. It’s a regular children’s room. A bed against the wall near the window, a dresser in the corner, a small desk with a chair. Nothing out of the ordinary, save for the lights not being on, and the strange flickering light in the closet. You step towards it, figuring you’re in for another jump scare, but the door doesn’t open. Whether you’re naturally the curious sort or not, something in the back of your mind makes you want to open the door and see what’s on the inside.

If you fight it and walk towards the next automatic door, you’ll find you’ve walked out to the backyard of the house, those same foam decorations and a dozen or more jack o’ lanterns lighting your way on a path back to the town.

If you choose to pull the door open, however, it’ll take you into yet another room, with a flickering television playing nothing but static. Once you step past the doors of the closet, they slam shut behind you and whoever else dared to enter. The doors won’t lock no matter what you do, no matter how strong the person shaking the handles or pushing against the wood may be. You realize you broke the one rule; you’ve touched something. But can things now really touch you?

The only light source in the whole room is that television and it’s not lighting up much inside the room around it. If you squint when the TV is at its brightest setting, you can just make out another door. Your exit, you hope. But as you make your way towards the door, the flickering suddenly stops, the TV steadily bright, a low humming noise coming from the screen, and suddenly the door seems several more feet away from you than it was a second ago. Before you can reach the door, there’s the sound of trickling water from behind you. If you choose to look back, you’ll see something coming out from the screen - a girl with soaked clothing and pale, rotted skin. She emerges fully from the glass and starts to move towards you. You know it’s best to start running for that door. If you stay and try to fight, you’ll find that no regular weapons work on her, though special weapons and powers that are effective against spirits will definitely do the trick. For those who don’t have any of these at their disposal, however, there is one more hope besides just trying to run; two old school VHS tape sit on the table near by, a fancy machine between them that is meant to copy one to the other. Work as a team and have one distract her while the other records, and you’ll find that she disappears as quickly as she flickered on the screen and the TV will return to static.

Regardless of what you choose before carrying on, the next room you come to as the door slams and locks behind you is entirely different. Brightly lit and filled with what seems like hundreds of porcelain dolls, it’s almost hard to tell where there could possibly be another exit hidden among the massive shelves. You can start to wind your way through them, but before long, you start to hear the sound of running feet, the jingling of bells, the swish of satin, and most eerily the sounds of children giggling - but there’s nothing that sounds save about them. Some of the dolls you saw on the last shelf seem like they’ve moved and are sitting in the corner or laying in a new position on a new shelf. Sometimes you swear you can see their heads turn to watch you pass, but it has to be a trick of the light, doesn’t it?

That is until one of those dolls runs by you, brandishing something shiny in their hands - something sharp. A knife, you realize too late, as it tries to slice at your legs and knock you down. You can kick them away and they’ll go flying, and when the porcelain smashes, the doll will scream in agony. You notice there’s blood pouring from the hole that formed, spreading quickly across the ground. The dolls are easy to kill, but are they really just dolls? You can take your time to contemplate that later, as now you have to fight your way through the violent and armed toys to reach the door at the end of the maze of shelves. Hopefully you can get out without too many severe injuries.

When (or if) you do manage to get to the next room, you seem to have a chance to take a breath and tend to any wounds. It’s decorated like the room of a small cottage, a large pot over the fireplace that isn’t lit, and several jars full of (possibly rotting) food and herbs on the shelves. You see a book on the stand in the center, latched shut and covered in dust. You can open it, if you want, but remember the warning you ignored that got you in trouble in the first place. It’s probably better to carry on to the next room.

If you do choose to open the book, though, there will be eerily glowing text lining the pages, the light will seem to poor out and fill the room, and you’ll be transported back out in front of the house.

Those who continued through the door will find themselves out in the backyard. Just like for those who got out sooner, there are dozens of jack o lanterns, but the graves don’t look like they’re made of foam this time. They’re real stone, engraved with real names and real dates this time. And the ground underneath them seems to be moving, like someone’s trying to crawl out of there. Better not to wait around. Soon as you start to move down the path, you’ll start to hear the sounds of groans as the undead start to crawl from their own graves, pulling themselves up through the dirt, and determined to get to the only food source they see - you. The zombies seem like they’re never ending, coming from every inch of the yard, but at least they’re just like normal zombies - completely incapable of being killed unless you cut off the head. There are shovels lying next to a few graves if you need a quick weapon, but there’s also still always the option to run as fast as you can up the stone path to the front of the house and back towards the street.

When you do finally manage to get back to the front, there’s a momentary blinding flash of light, disorienting anyone near it for a few seconds. When it finally fades, any leftover zombies chasing you have disappeared and the house looks like the same, cheesy haunted house you walked up to in the first place. If for some reason you decide to go and explore the backyard again, the grass will be back to normal, and the graves will all be replaced by cheaply painted foam once more.

Was that all in your head? Who knows. But maybe it’s best to just get out of here.

WE DID THE MASH

Somehow the street lamps have all been converted to oil based flames, the Authority are in witch hats, and every where you go there is music that seems to be playing from faintly glowing bats hanging upside down from telephone wires. The bats will open their mouths in succession, seeming somehow capable of producing the sounds of instruments and singers alike of popular Halloween songs.

Yards are decorated as thoroughly as the front of stores. Maybe you haven't bothered to decorate, but your neighbor sure has! Fake gravestones are propped up in yards, giant fake spiders in trees, and no matter where you walk, the ground seems covered in thick, rolling fog from machines. Or at least you hope it's coming from machines. Hell, you can't even find it in yourself to be too worried! Everyone around you is having way too good of a time! And God, there is food everywhere! Might as well grab a bite while you're out, huh?

It's tempting to break loose and dance. Jack-O-Lanterns absolutely crowd the streets. There's more than you can even begin to count, and all of them are lit all throughout the night. Even if you accidentally trip over some, they don't seem to catch fire to anything or go out! Some neighbors have camp fires set up with marshmallows to roast, while others have...are those broomsticks? Well that's kinda cool, you guess. Correction: it's really cool since you can actually pick one up and take it for a fly! Make sure to attach a little lamp to the front though because God knows it's dangerous flying at night. The brooms only work if you wear the appropriately provided hats, of course, but you can keep both the broom and hat indefinitely and have a readily available means of flight in Deerington after! Be forewarned though: the brooms are as easily broken as regular brooms and the hats easily blown away in the wind.

TRICK OR TREATS

At any of the events, especially the nighttime partying, you can find any number of the following treats (and their potential side effects):

Donuts (Will make you deliriously happy. Everything is amazing to you. May cause a lot of affection. A lot of affection.)
Candy Apples (You will eagerly tell someone everything you like about them. Talk about a sweet tooth.)
Candy Corn (Will make you extremely sad. Like god, you'll be wondering why you hate yourself so much.)
Pumpkin Spice Lattes (Causes suspicious amounts of obedience and a desire to do what you're told.)
Hot Chocolate (Can provide some minor healing. Best stuff to drink with a common cold!)
Hot or Cold Apple Cider (Nothing will happen. It's just really good.)
Alcoholic Cider (This isn't your grandma's apple cider. This stuff will knock you on your ass. Anyone who drinks this will get wasted regardless of whether or not they are immune to alcohol or even ingest regular food. It only takes one or two before you start to get tipsy, but any more than that and you'll be well on your way to drunk. Please drink responsibly. We don't need any FUIs.)

Character Arrival

You can read how all characters arrive in Deerington here.

There is not a collective "all these characters showed up at the exact same moment" occurrence in Deerington. Since characters fall asleep, die, or pass out at various times throughout all their worlds, it wouldn't make too much sense if they arrived in game all at the exact same time. There should be some discrepancy between character arrival, whether by a couple minutes, hours, or even days up to a week.

The players are entirely in control of how/when they want to play their characters arriving in Deerington. For TDMs, you can play it like your character has just arrived and that can be maintained as your game canon, or you can wait until game events for that moment. Or you don't need to acknowledge it at all. The flexibility for character allows a bit more of an organic feel to the character arrival situation, so please play it to whatever feels right for you.

If you are interested in having an "arrival" introduction for one of your TDM prompts, you are more than welcome to explore that option.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Tell you the truth, I'm kind of a fan, t --

[ Oh. Okay, well, you know. Plenty of weirdos in Kamurocho, and a girl that liked horror movies probably wasn't all that weird in the scheme of things. Majima looked a little taken aback by the apology, but he could roll with it it was fine. ]

Hey, it's cool. You're just strikin' up conversation, right? If you wanna go in, I'll come with.

[His reassurance is met with open bafflement, like she can't possibly believe he's being nice. She even looks around as if to make sure he's actually talking to her]

Y-yes, but... [But she'd still been obnoxious, right? Or at least a little annoying?] I'm always bothering people, so... So if you were upset, it'd be understandable!

[But he. Wants to go in with her?? She clasps her hands anxiously in front of her.] R-really? You want to, even with someone like me? I-I'd be really grateful! If you really don't mind... Please let's go! Thank you so much!

[It doesn't take much to make her happy, honestly, and she's smiling away in relief]

'Someone like you'?

[ He asked as he walked up to the front of the old Victorian, glanced over at the skeleton with the bowl of candy on its lap. Currently, the bowl was also filled with a black cat, curled up on top of the candy and watching them both. There was a beer can by the skeleton's limp, bony hand. ]

Looks like this guy didn't make it.

[ Haunted houses hadn't really been a huge thing back home -- mostly, they were a thing put on by schoolkids running low in the school festival idea department. ...And there was also the fact that the last haunted house Majima had been to hadn't ended well. Still, it seemed like Mikan really wanted to go, so...

He opened the door, setting off a cheesy recorded laugh. 'Bleh heh heh! Velcome, boys and ghouls!' ]

Yeah, you know... Um. Really ugly and annoying? [She says this like she's...not entirely sure if Majima is serious with his question or not. It's obvious, isn't it??

The little recorded laugh makes Mikan jump a little, and then she laughs a little as well, smiling a little. It's silly and fun and does remind her of the high school festivals. It's nostalgic.

She leans over a little to read the sign] 'Enter at your own risk...Touch nothing, and nothing will touch you.' Th-that's a little ominous. [another nervous little giggle before she hurries on to enter the house proper, looking around in open interest and delight.

It's so cheesy and ridiculous, she loves it.]

Oh, um! I'm sorry, I never asked for your name! I-if you're okay with me knowing-- If it's okay that I remember it.. I'd like to know it!

M-mine's Mikan! Tsumiki Mikan!

Someone say that to ya? If so, that's really damn rude.

[ He took a quick glance around, though of course this was pointless. What, like a bunch of schoolyard bullies would be hanging around a goofy-ass haunted house, ready to taunt people? More likely they were busy knocking over street signs or smashing pumpkins. ]

Far as I'm concerned, a fellow enthusiast's the best kinda company to enjoy this kinda scene with.

[ That warning, though. Hmm. Maybe he would be careful to keep his hands to himself. And bow politely to her in belated introduction. ]

Majima Gorō. Pleased to meet ya, Mikan-han.

[ And with that, he stepped inside, past a jiggling animatronic spider with flashing red lightbulb eyes. There was a cauldron 'bubbling' in the corner, and shelves filled with random odds and ends. ]

Huh. A witch's hut, maybe?

Ah, w-well... Well... It's fine... [She trails off, mumbling, looking embarrassed.] I-It's true, so, it's not like they're telling lies or making things up!

But, I'm pleased to m-meet you too, Majima-san! [Yayy, she's talking to someone! Someone other than her classmates!! Hinata would be proud. She can't help but giggle at the spider, casting Majima curious little glances-- or rather, she keeps casting the eyepatch curious glances as they go. She wants to ask, but it's going to take her another minute or two to get her courage up to do so]

I think each room has a different theme. Which is sort of neat! S-so it's not all the same thing! [There's a cupboard near the exit of the room, and as Mikan approaches it suddenly pops open, revealing a fake witch doll that sort of jumps out and then retreats. It makes Mikan scream in surprise and she jumps back, before bursting into giggles]

[ Mikan...... .....

Before he could say anything further, however, the spider was getting all up in his business. He batted it aside with an air of mild annoyance that wasn't entirely genuine.

Actually, he was kind of into this kiddie nonsense; he just wasn't used to acting like it, and his expression as he examined the (rather intricately prepared, really) little bottles was one of someone casting back, trying hard to remember what it was like to sit back and bask in a good jump scare.

Fun existed beyond quiet enjoyment and savage joy, he recalled that much... and when Mikan screamed, he jumped a little, too. Baby steps; the little smile he aimed her way when she started to giggle was genuine. ]

Shit, they really thought this out, huh?

[ He almost reached for the door (touch nothing), but it opened automatically inward instead, into a mass of fake fog that was no doubt supposed to be intimidating.

"YARRR MATEY!" yelled a robotic voice. "FOR A HUNDRED YEARS WE'VE WANDERED THE SEVEN SEAS, IN SEARCH OF OUR PIRATE BOOTY!" ]

[Mikan giggles again, moving curiously towards the door. The sudden voice makes her jump and yelp again, grabbing at Majima’s arm in fear.]

Pirates? That... that doesn’t seem so scary? [Squinting into the room there certainly seems to be a lot of fake skeletons dressed up in pirate clothes, and even some creepy looking mermaids here and there. It seems to look like an underwater grotto. Fake treasure and the echoing sound of dripping water. What appear to be puddles of water are on the floor, with glowing eyes set in them like something’s lurking.]

It’s a lot more detail than the school ones. I-I can’t remember the last time I went through one! B-but it’s fun, right, Majima-san? [She looks at him apprehensively]

[ Hard to feel weird or self-conscious when someone else was obviously having so much fun. Majima grinned back at her. ]

Hell yeah, it is. I ain't ever been to a haunted house with ghost pirates.

[ But here he was. His dreams, they were all coming true and it was happening right now!! ]

Hey, pirate! What's the deal with this booty?

[ "UH. I'M CAPTAIN FLEABEARD," said the grey-bearded pirate, perhaps ad-libbing. Could a robotic voice ad-lib? "AND MY CHEST OF SPANISH DOUBLOONS WAS STOLEN FROM ME. OUR CHEST. I MEAN OUR CHEST. ARRRRRR! AND AT THE STROKE OF MIDNIGHT, I'LL SEND MY SCURVY DOGS TO CLAIM OUR LOST TREASURE FROM THOSE SCALY SCALYWAGS WHAT TOOK IT FROM US!"

He waved his saber jerkily from side to side; it appeared to be made of styrofoam. ]

Wanna take a picture with a mermaid? I can send it to ya with the Fluid.

[Mikan's smile is nervous, but she still seems pretty pleased, giggling again as Majima catches the pirate off guard.

She looks embarrassed at the offer though.] I-I don't really look good in pictures... [But she chews on her bottom lip, looking like she's a little tempted.] And- And I'm a little afraid I might accidentally touch it.

Oh, but! If you want one, I'll take your picture! I'm not as good as Mahiru-san-- Oh, wait you wouldn't know her, um... She's the the Ultimate Photographer where I'm from! A-anyway, I'm not as good as her, but I can still try!

Really? That's kind of surpisin'. But sure, if ya please.

[ Majima had his Fluid out already, and held it out to Mikan to take. Before he could decide which spooky denizen of the room he wanted to take a picture with, however, a rickety skeleton pirate with a ghost parrot on one shoulder shuffled up.

"DID I HEAR SOMEONE SAY THEY WANT A PICT-ARRRRRRR?" The pirate lifted up a rubbery cutlass dramatically, posing next to Majima. What the hell, right? ]

[Careful, Majima, don't be too nice to her, or she'll start wondering how to make you medically dependent on her forever...

Joking!!

Maybe.

She takes the Fluid and steps back for the picture, blinking a few times in surprise at the... It had to be an animatronic, right? Or someone in a costume?? Mikan will just. Pretend that's it. She's seen a lot of weird things in her life, after all, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume it's a robot of some kind. At least it's not a bear.]

Okay, umm.. Say, 'buried treasure'! [She giggles and snaps a couple pictures, before handing the Fluid over to Majima again. She does eye the pirate skeleton a moment, and his parrot, before she feels she has to ask:]

Umm... You're... a robot, right? Or something...? Right? [She looks to Majima too, suddenly feeling a bit uneasy.]

[ People stabbed him on the regular it was probably fine. probably........

"Buried treasure!" said both the pirate skeleton and Majima, as the ghost parrot squawked and flapped its wings. They turned out to be pretty nice shots, all told, despite the fog and the no-touching rule, which made things a little more awkward than they would be otherwise.

Mikan's question, however, seemed to catch the pirate off-guard. "YARR HAR HO! ....UHHH."

Majima took the Fluid back from Mikan. ]

Even if he wasn't a robot, I ain't sure he'd be allowed to tell ya. That's how these things go, ain't it?

[ "I BE NOT KNOWING WHAT A ROBOT IS!" said the pirate, waving his bony hands. "BEING AS HOW I'M A CRUSTY SEA DOG. THAT BE BREAKING KAYFABE!" ]

[Mikan giggles nervously again]

E-even if he is, a skeleton's easier to deal with than a bear... [What does that even MEAN, Mikan.

But hey, now that they have a little downtime for the moment, she looks semi-eagerly to Majima.]

U-um! Can I ask... Um.. I'm sorry, this is really rude, I know it is, but um.. .Your eye... Did you lose it? Or... Is it just for fashion...? [Who would wear an eyepatch just for fashion?? Look, Mikan's seen some things okay. It could happen.]

Yeah, I guess that's true. Skeletons're weaker than bears.

[ AND HE OUGHT TO KNOW, although this seemed to deflate the skeleton a little. "Yarrr...."

Majima was used to getting questions (and also p. rude comments) about his eye, and though he usually didn't care to go into it much, Mikan seemed... weirdly excited about it? So he waved his hand a little. ]

It was a while ago. I'm used to it now.

[ Technically speaking, he still had the eye, which Mikan might be able to tell from the shape of the eyepatch over his closed eyelid. But it wasn't like he could see anything out of it, so oh well. ]

[Poor skeleton pirate. It's okay, they still love you.

She looks thoughtful] I see... If it ever does bother you, please let me know, I might be able to help! I'm, um...

[Mikan trails off, twisting her fingers together as she looks away shyly] Y-you see, where I'm from, I'm known as the Ultimate Nurse! S-so... So if you're wounded, I can take care of you!

And, um... It's just, your eyepatch-- One of my old classmates and friends has an eyepatch too! So... I-I guess it just made me think of him...It's kind of comforting? [Nevermind the fact he'd once threatened to sell her to a whorehouse. It was during a very trying time. It's fine.

It's also probably a weird thing to be comforted by though and she turns red, embarrassed.] He's an Ultimate too, like me and the rest of my class!

[ WHAT A COINCIDENCE, ONE OF HIS FRIENDS WANTED TO BE A NURSE. Majima's expression softened at the memory, and never mind how far apart they were now because he wanted only the best for her. ]

Hey, that's pretty damn impressive! Always thought nurses were somethin' else, helping people for a living like that. I get banged up now and again, so I'll be countin' on ya.

[ Granted, Majima usually just sort of... walked it off, but considering how Deerington tended to go, it certainly couldn't hurt to know someone who was good with a bandage. Or a splint. Or ]

So ya went to some kind of elite prep school or somethin'?

[ How odd; the door to the next room seemed to lead into an ordinary kid's room. An oversight? ]

[Mikan looks beyond pleased with that. Yay, someone who's agreed to rely on her! She likes being depended on, especially when it comes to this one subject she feels confident on.]

Umm, something like that! The only way to get into my school was to be scouted. You had to be a current high school student, and the very best at what you do. We had all sorts of types... Sonia-san was the Ultimate Princess, Koizumi-san was the Ultimate Photographer... Owari-san was the Ultimate Gymnest! But it could be in just about any field or speciality... Komaeda-san was even known as the Ultimate Lucky Student! And Kuzuryu-san, the one you mind me of, was the Ultimate Yakuza.

There was even an Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, Ultimate Martial Artist, Ultimate Clairvoyant... They were in the class below mine, though. [She laughs a little.] I never really liked school, but... I do miss them a lot right now...

[ ...well that was a thing, apparently. ]

He was a yakuza, and that's comfortin'? First time hearin' that one.

[ Majima glanced over the bed and desk, took a quick peek at the light in the closet. But there was nothing -- not even a single cackling skeleton hand. That door, though... He stepped toward it, curious, but there was no whoosh of an automatic door.]

How do they measure how lucky ya are, anyway? Ain't it all subjective?

[ The question was casual, but his hand was totally reaching to open the door. ]

He was still my classmate and a good friend... All of us were like a family. He was the heir to the biggest yakuza clan in Japan! [Was. Still is? Mikan's not entirely sure what's happened to his family now.] A-and I know he'd do what he could to help us out and protect us if he had to.

[She turns away to examine some bookshelves as she answers.] Oh, um, for that.. .They hold a nation-wide lottery. The student who gets their name picked is the Ultimate Lucky Student for that class year! They say everyone who graduates from our academy is set for life, so I suppose you'd consider that the ultimate good luck, if you got chosen!

[She turns and then makes a strangled noise, jumping at him to throw her arms around his arm that's reaching for the closet.] W-wait! [of course, the force of her jump might just send them into the closet anyhow. Oops.]

Gah!

[ He'd just have to put a pin in that yakuza backstory for now, as interested as he might be in this dragon guy, because the door simply opened inwards as Mikan fell into Majima and Majima fell into it.

He stumbled ungracefully, looking up only to see a flickering television in the room beyond. It didn't look dangerous, but... why the hell had he done that? ]

I... you okay?

[ USUALLY HE WAS THE ONE WHO CAME UP WITH HIS OWN BAD IDEAS! WHAT WAS THIS. ]

[Because this is Mikan, she's landed with a solid thump on her knees on the floor after losing her balance so spectacularly. But thankfully for Majima, she hasn't gone immediately into her usual antics with falling and purposefully placing herself into some lewd, embarrassing position to lighten the tension.

Mostly because she hadn't thought to in time--this was a genuine fall!--and because there were way more important things to worry about this second.]

I-I'll be okay. [She smiles, albeit sheepishly and apologetically.] But... [She looks around, feeling anxious and nervous] Is this part of the haunted house? Wasn't this a closet...?

[The door definitely swings shut behind them too, narrowly missing clipping Mikan's shoe and she jumps with a squeak of alarm.] Um...

[ Majima put out a hand to help Mikan up. It seemed quiet in here... at least until a pale white hand practically erupted out of the flickering TV screen.

Majima stiffened in surprise as a woman's voice spoke from within the TV.

"So.... cold......" she said, her voice like the rustle of dead leaves. ]

O-oh yeah? Well, it does cool down this time of year. Maybe a sweater'd help.

[Mikan pulls herself to her feet and then immediately clings to his arm again at the sight of the strange girl in the TV. What the fuck]

I-I don't think a sweater will help! [She tugs at his arm, trembling in terror.]

Is this... Is this p-part of the show? This is really elaborate!

If it is, they're doin' a damn good job of it.

[ And what the heck was this on the table? A VHS deck? Tapes? ]

Listen, ma'am, it's been a long day. Maybe you can just show us the way to the next room, and --

[ "So... dark......." the woman said as her head began to protrude through the screen. A trickle of water followed her arm out into the room as her fingers reached out through the empty air towards them. By the glow of the television, it was possible to see the dim rectangular outlines behind her. ]

Wait, that's another door behind her, right? So all we gotta do is scoot on over there, and off we go.