TerrorFest 2018 - Zero Escape

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

With all the rabble, Yù zǐ had started to calm down to the point where he as able to think what actually the others were really suggesting. To him, everything was just an act but the rest were, to his horror, actually thinking of leaving someone behind in hopes of saving themselves from some sort of calamity. To them, condoning another to such a fate was fine with them to actually go with it, or maybe they felt they had no choice. Was it fear that compelled their actions or were they just a stickler for rules. Yù zǐ knew that he held no fear of anything, for he was the type to deal with the situation as he would walk into it.

With his mind getting cleared, he was just about to stop everyone from doing something they might regret later on by voicing his true, original opinion of staying back because he felt he could deal with the consequences without guilt or any emotion holding him back. After all, this was just a game... right?

"Hey guys, we should all calm down. Let's not fight. I'll stay..."

Unfortunately, it appeared like no one was able to hear him in all the rush as everyone ran for their apparent lives for the exit nearest to them.

Yù zǐ felt someone push past him which turned him around to face the door and before he could readjust his bearings, he had stumbled through and emerged at the other side.

~~~

It took him a few seconds to take in the room as he simply stood there with his back to the now shut door. What had he been thrown into this time, Yù zǐ took his fingers and rubbed his eyes to relieve the stress building up.

"Hey partner, that was so bizzare right? Trying to gas us out of the blue, it's so laughable, heck, what if it was laughing gas."

Yù zǐ removed his hand away from his face and for the first time saw not-Morgan. The revelation of a new partner standing next to him sent the man into a few seconds of awkward silence.

"Hey, well, if it isn't Kenny the accuser. Fancy seeing you here with me." Yù zǐ stared the spectaled guy down before turning away and walking further into the room.

"Whatever, let's not dwell on the past and just focus on solving this new puzzle. he said with a straight face, void of any emotion.

- Remy -

"You think?" her eyes lit up when Cyrus voiced his theory that the goatman wouldn't kill Jacke just yet. It was a small hope, but it would have to be enough for now.

Remy hesitated, unsure if she wanted to bring this up so soon, but eventually gathered her courage to ask Cyrus.

"So... um... I take it you don't think Morgan was possessed by Join and is just playing us?" she asked carefully.

One of her friends was a palm reader at a gypsy camp and had occasionally been in contact with the dead, but only when they had a close personal connection to her and the "messages" had never been clear. It had always been more of a feeling or presence. Remy had never seen anything even close to what happened to Morgan.

Jacke

Jacke pales as the others cast their votes. He doesn't believe what he's hearing. They're just leaving him behind to be killed?!

As the gas starts pouring into the room, the others quickly make their way towards the doors. Meanwhile, Jacke just stands there, trying to come to terms with his inevitable death. As the knockout gas works its way into his bloodstream, he collapses to the floor. His eyes close as he blacks out again, but not before he catches a glimpse of the dreaded Goatman...

- Luna -

Luna barely resisted the urge to do a double take when Alecia voted for Jacke. It was true that his previous failure made him seem less useful in solving future puzzles, but even then, he seemed more reliable than Morgan. Luna didn't trust him as far as she could throw him, and she wasn't exactly a physically fit woman.

Even more surprising had been the fact that as the room began filling with gas, Pierce had grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her behind him. It was altogether likely that he'd just grabbed the closest person to ensure they were in pairs, but it didn't change the fact that this was likely to be awkward with a capital A.

"Who's the handsy one now?" She snarked as they stepped into a hallway, and the door closed behind them. Obviously, Pierce hadn't even realized he had grabbed her, because without glancing in her direction, he jerked his hand away.

"On the bright side, at least after this, we'll both have a better idea of the other's value, right?"

Trying her best (and failing) to suppress a smirk, Luna tried to force the situation from the previous room to the back of her mind. Whether or not Jacke lived, it was possible that their host would pull a similar stunt. Pierce was correct in saying that she didn't have to like him to work with him, but it would definitely make what was coming next a little easier.

Spoiler:

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Jacke stirred from his slumber, immediately finding that something was wrong. His arms and legs were pinned, and after a moment's wriggling, he realized he was tied to chair.

Where was he? The room around him was dark, lit only be a dim red light. The walls around him appeared to be made of stone, and near where his chair had been placed was what looked like a square pool about twenty feet in length.

In the dim red light, the glistening water almost looked like blood...

"You're awake."

Jacke gave a start. Booted feet stepped into view, and he found himself staring into the demonic yellow eyes of the Goatman.



"Let's talk... Jacke."

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Rules:

1) You only have three chances to enter the 5-digit passcode. Failure will automatically set off the death trap in the room.
2) Answers and clues can only be communicated IC. Keep it realistic.

Discovered Information:

Room 1:

Spoiler:

Room 2:

Spoiler:

Room 3:

Spoiler:

Room 4:

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng

Yù zǐ found himself rubbing his temple this time.

"I wasn't talking about the voting. I know that was a stressful moment and like I said before in the begining, You do stuff that you may regret later on in the heat of the moment, barely thinking of the consequences but when that happens, it is already too late. So, in the end, Everyone ended up voting, including me because I got angry... I wish I could have not gotten worked up by Alecia's words and just stuck with my plan to stay behind."


Yù zǐ turned to look at the little guy, flashing a soft calming smile at him. The red light from the panels reflected in his glass, making it look like Robot Kenny was staring back at him

"About me calling you an accuser, I was reffering to when everything went down hill. The time when you accused me of leaving without rescuing Jacke." Yù zǐ raised both his palms up and padded the space in front. "I know, I remember, you later apologized that you were distracted and so did not hear me when I shouted that I was readying to open the door so that all the water would rush out and level the floor instead of slamming against the door, possibily making it difficult to open from the pressure."

The man nodded his head and comforted the other guy, "It's okay, like I said, it is now all in the past, we all have gone through a lot since then and all is forgiven. We really should all work together to get out of this place. You know, as the saying goes, many hands make light work. Let us work together to get everyone out of here and call in the cops or the butcher to take care of the Meaty-Goat. Maybe we could even profit over by selling it's hide to the meuseum of horrors, okay fine, we will donate it.  That'll teach it to put all of us in this thrilling twisted game ."


Yù zǐ puffed his chest and walked towards the Exit with a "HMPH!!"

"Oh, and this place looks so awesome. I have to give it to the decorator the props for such stellar work."

Room 1 - Remy and Cyrus
Examine the left wall

Remy looked around. The room was completely different from the last puzzle room. It felt disorienting and made her feel slightly nauseous.

She turned to the left and walked up to the wall, feeling slightly off balance as she walked.

"This is soo eerie," she said and used her fingertip to lightly touch the black surface.

Cyrus Winter

"Not yet, anyway..." Cyrus replied under his breath, hoping she didn't really catch that, before nodding.

He then watched her wrestle with herself for a few moments before asking whether he thought Morgan was a fraud or not. It looked like she was on the fence about the whole charade. He noted that she seemed like the type that believed in the supernatural. "While I wouldn't say such things don't happen, I can assure you Morgan is most certainly playing us. In the event he wasn't, he wouldn't be in here with us to begin with." He left it at that, waiting to see if she wished to speak further on the topic. He didn't like speaking too much but he'd learned to oblige if any compatriots needed to talk. It was better for both morale and stress levels in such situations.

Entering the new room, Cyrus took a few wary steps to acclimate himself to the strangely decorated room. The pitch black made balance a bit tricky. Noting Remy's uncomfortable expression, he gave her a light pat on the shoulder. "I agree." he said, before moving to examine the floor nearby, staying close in case she needed any help standing upright.

Jacke

Jacke woke up with a groan. He felt something restricting his movement. A few experimental tugs revealed to him that his arms and legs were bound, apparently to a chair.

He cast his eyes around the room. It was hard to make out much due to the red light... but he could clearly pick out the pool in front of him. Whether it was filled with water or something else was unclear...

"You're awake."

The voice sent a chill down his spine. He found himself face to face with the Goatman. He began trembling.

"Let's talk... Jacke."

"W-what do you want with me? What kind of game are you p-playing, k-killing people like it's nothing?! Why does this place exist?!" The questions spilled out of Jacke as he wriggled in an attempt to move the chair away from the killer in front of him.

Morgan - (Examine the exit door)

A realization suddenly hit Morgan as he walked deeper into the room. Aleica did help him, and he couldn't shake the annoyed feeling that he actually owed her something.... Ugh he needed to do something to shake this feeling.

"By the way..." Morgan said as he stopped for a second, as he lifted one of his fingers like he had just remembered something. He turned back towards Aleica so that his face was barely visible, his face was void of any emotion with a sharp gaze like he was peering into her soul.

"I'm not sure why you decided not to drag out the vote, but I owe you for that... I'll repay you somehow." Morgan stated blankly, as he continued to walk down towards the exit door expecting to see some sort of code. He wanted to get the letters in his head now, so he'd be able to match them up while he looked at the clues this time....

"Let's see what the letters are this time...." Morgan stated curiously, prepared to list off the letters that were used this time for Aleica to here.

- Luna -

D) Examine the exit door

"I would have saved myself from the gas, but I do appreciate the gesture." Luna responded as she made her way across the room to the exit.

"The coat was truly thoughtful though." She paused, scanning her surroundings. It was difficult to see things in this red light. Everything in the room had a somewhat 3D pop to it from the soft, red hue. "So, thank you." Luna continued.

"And I can hardly let you solve the puzzle on your own. That wouldn't say much about my capabilities, now would it?"

She sighed, giving him a sad smile. "Besides, while I don't agree with your choice in methods, the logic behind your decisions is mostly sound. It's just a little heartless for my tastes."

Goatman titled his head, watching Jacke struggle.

"This is a place of judgment," he said. "It exists for me to sentence you all to your justly deserved punishments."

After a moment, he reached out with his knife and placed its tip directly beneath Jacke's chin, forcing him to still.

"Tell me, Jacke," he said. "What do you think of the verdict your fellow players rendered on you? They said you were Guilty. Are you, Jacke? Or are they the ones who're Guilty?"

Goatman leaned in closer, the soulless yellow eyes of his mask staring into Jacke's.

"They didn't have the truth. They didn't have the facts. They knew NOTHING, and yet, they called you Guilty, regardless. How does that injustice make you feel?

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As Remy studied the left wall, her fingers ghosting across the smooth black surface, she noted a strange symbol etched into the wall. It appeared to be a triangle containing three numbers, each illuminated in a different color.

Spoiler:

Meanwhile, Cyrus crouched by the floor and found a strange series of symbols carved into the floor, illuminated by white light.

Spoiler:

B) Examine the right wall
D) Examine the exit door

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Alecia sighed as Morgan crossed the room to the exit door, wondering what she'd done to deserve ending up in a room with one of the two people who'd most want to throw her to Goatman if they could. Well, it would be unpleasant - like everything about this whole night - but she'd just have to grit her teeth and find a way to work through this.

"By the way..."

Alecia turned to find Morgan peering at her past his dark hood, once more putting on the mysterious airs of a medium. It was a little hard to reconcile the mystique with his ludicrous - if entirely accurate - rendition of Join just a few minutes ago.

"I'm not sure why you decided not to drag out the vote, but I owe you for that... I'll repay you somehow."

Alecia's initial reaction was to tell him he didn't owe her anything. She certainly didn't do it as a favor. But there was no reason not to accept his debt when she could. Who knew when it might save her.

"Right." She nodded and dropped her gaze to the floor. There appeared to be something etched into it. Crouching down, she ran her hand over it, brow furrowed.

Spoiler:

Meanwhile, as Morgan examined the exit door, he found several letters inscribed above the keypad.

Spoiler:

A) Examine the left wall
B) Examine the right wall

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"Oh, that..." Kenny shifted uncomfortably at the reminder.

Fortunately, Yu zi seemed open to letting bygones be bygones. And his over-the-top bravado seemed to put a smile on Kenny's face.

"Yeah, let's do our best and get out of here," he chirped. "Who's afraid of the Big Bad Goat? Not us! We'll donate him to a second-hand Halloween show!"

Kenny seemed to realize he was getting swept up in the moment and blushed.

"I'll, uh... just take a look at this wall." He pointed at the wall behind him and quickly turned to it while Yu zi walked over to the exit door.

Kenny stared at the wall, blinking as he tried to take in the clue. After a moment, he cocked his head and sighed.

"Uh... okay. What's that supposed to mean?"

Spoiler:

Meanwhile, Yu zi reached the foreboding metal door leading to their escape and took in the code listed above the input pad.

Spoiler:

A) Examine the left wall
C) Examine the floor

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Pierce grunted softly in acknowledgement of Luna's thanks, a rare moment of sincerity from her. She seemed unwilling to sit back and let him solve the puzzle alone, for which he was the one now grateful, even if he would never admit it.

He headed over to the right wall as Luna strolled over to the exit door. As she did, he heard her sigh and turned to see the sad smile she offered him.

"While I don't agree with your choice in methods, the logic behind your decisions is mostly sound. It's just a little heartless for my tastes."

Pierce turned back toward the wall, the soft red light bleeding into his vision. "The world is heartless," he murmured. "You adapt to survive it."

He stared at the puzzle, but it was incomprehensible to him, especially as his focus was divided at the moment.

"What's out there for you?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the wall. "What are you fighting to get back to anyway?"

Better not to ask. Better not to know. It would make it more difficult if it came down to either of them... Hopefully, it wouldn't.

Shaking his head, Pierce narrowed his focus on the strange glyph in front of him. It appeared to be a triangle containing three numbers, each illuminated in a different color.

Spoiler:

"I hope you're not color blind," he muttered. "Or else this might get tricky."

Meanwhile, as Luna examined the exit door - the usual metal frame with a keypad - she found the code etched above it.

Spoiler:

B) Examine the right wall
C) Examine the floor

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Rules:

1) You only have three chances to enter the 5-digit passcode. Failure will automatically set off the death trap in the room.
2) Answers and clues can only be communicated IC. Keep it realistic.

Discovered Information:

Room 1:[/size]

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Room 2:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Room 3:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Room 4:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng - Room 3 - Kenny and Yù zǐ

Yù zǐ slightly tilted his head as he read the code.

"YO-GOR. Hmmm... I've got no body, nobody's got me. Hachachacha." The performer hunched over, cocked his head towards Kenny and imitated the old, classic scene, in an accent from a faraway place. "I've got no body, nobody's got me. Hachachacha." he repeated while creepily heading over towards the boy.


Abandoning the pose, Yù zǐ stood up straight to view the clue on the right wall. He nodded and then walked over to the clue on the floor.

"So, the Right wall shows the number 2 in Violet and the door code say Igor, I mean Y-O-G-O-R. Kenny, go check out the clue on the Left wall, while I read out what's floored underneath me."

Room 1 - Remy and Cyrus

Examine the exit door

Remy nodded non-committedly. Cyrus seemed sure about Morgan. While she herself also had doubts about his performance, she didn't want to disregard his possible spiritual connection entirely. Maybe she would get a chance to talk to him.

For now she focused on the room. If they didn't escape, she wouldn't be talking to anyone anymore.

"Thanks," she said when Cyrus steadied her.

Her eyes moved over the wall, looking on the different colored numbers.

"So... I can't make heads or tails of this triangle," she said and moved towards the door. "Maybe a look at the keypad will help sort out the color thing..."

"Did you find anything?"

Morgan (Examine the left wall)

Morgan raised his left eyebrow in confusion when she gave a simple response about him repaying her.  He half expected her to say how she didn't 'need' his favor, which would of been nice....

"R - V - B - O - Y.... hm" Morgan stated loud and audible, as he glanced over as Aleica for a brief moment, as he asked her in a voice void of emotion "How about on your end?"

Morgan didn't wait for a response as he quickly walked over to the wall on the left side an examined it for another clue that they could use.

He felt a little uneasy about this whole situation, afraid gas could start leaking in at any moment.  However, at the same time he felt calmer then he did with Yu Zi.  He trusted him more for sure, but in terms of intellect... he was confident Aleica was one of the best for the job.

- Luna -

"You know, there are several famous artists that were color blind." Luna responded as she read over the code. "As luck may have it, one way or the other, I'm neither famous nor color blind. So, while my bank account is suffering right now, at least we might get out of here alive."

Making her way over to Pierce, Luna contemplated her answer to his initial question. "To be perfectly honest with you, I don't really take the time to think about what I've got going for me often enough. I've got a flat in downtown that's the size of a shoe box, enough student loans to eat up my paychecks for at least the next decade, and a dream job drawing animated shorts for kids."

"Nothing special, right? But as they say, you don't know what you've got until it's gone..." She glanced at the wall from where she stood beside Pierce and felt her eyes cross. "Ugh... Neon lights give me headaches."

"What about you, big shot? Given who you are, I know a bit, but what really gets your bald, millionaire self out of bed in the morning?"

Cyrus Winter - Examine right wall

Cyrus examined the strange looking equation, baffled. He stared for a few moments before looking up to Remy. "Nothing that makes sense, as usual", he replied to her, explaining what he found. Next, seeing as she'd already made to examine the exit door, Cyrus moved to take a look at the right wall.

On the right wall, Cyrus found another triangle, similar to the one Remy had found on the left wall. This time, the triangle held only one number in it.

Spoiler:

Meanwhile, Remy crossed the room to the exit door. Peering closely at the thick metal door, she found a code etched above the keypad.

Spoiler:

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Morgan and Alecia crossed to opposite ends of the room - Morgan on the left, and Alecia on the right. On each side, they found a pictogram of a triangle with colored numbers inside it. On Morgan's side, there were three. On Alecia's, only one.

Spoiler:

"Triangles with colored numbers," Alecia said, half to herself and half to Morgan. "And an equation on the floor. I wonder..."

She returned to the center of the room and knelt down by the equation again. After a moment, she waved Morgan over.

"I think I might have an idea," she said, smiling.

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Kenny cocked his head, watching Yu zi's bizarre performance with a bemused expression on his face. Man, that Yu zi was a weird guy...

"Y-O-G-O-R and a violet 2. Not sure what that's supposed to mean," he sighed.

Yu zi pointed at the left wall and directed him that way while he stooped to check out the floor. Kenny trudged off and found himself with another triangle, this time with three more numbers.

"Not again," murmured. "Uh, let's see..."

Spoiler:

Meanwhile, Yu zi knelt beside the floor and traced the outline of a strange equation.

Spoiler:

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Pierce snorted, looking mildly amused by her take on the situation. "Lucky indeed. Probably the only situation where being poor is preferable to being color blind."

He crossed over to the middle of the room to inspect the floor when Luna approached, a pensive look on her face. She didn't hesitate to be honest about her circumstances. She didn't have much, but it still had value to her.

"But as they say, you don't know what you've got until it's gone..."

Pierce frowned, eyes distant. The sound of rushing water, of Jacke's fists beating on the glass, filled his thoughts, and he forced himself to blink it away.

That was only too true...

"What about you, big shot? Given who you are, I know a bit, but what really gets your bald, millionaire self out of bed in the morning?"

Pierce raised an eyebrow at her description of him. Was she like this with everyone, or was he just a special case? Her question though... What got him out of bed in the morning?

"Habit." He shook his head and glanced up at the black void of the ceiling above. "Not much of a motivation." For life... or escaping this place. "I guess there's some instincts you just can't fight."

Pierce looked back at her, then drew his checkbook out. After scribbling down for a few moments, he tore off a check and handed it to her.

"That should be enough to cover your student loans and your shoebox apartment for the next decade. We make it out of here alive, and I'll sign it. Consider it a payment for PR consultations."

Turning back to the floor, Pierce knelt down and inspected the equation there. Interesting...

Spoiler:

"Try the right wall. That should be the last piece we need to solve this," he told Luna.

B) Examine the right wall

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Rules:

1) You only have three chances to enter the 5-digit passcode. Failure will automatically set off the death trap in the room.
2) Answers and clues can only be communicated IC. Keep it realistic.

Discovered Information:

Room 1:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Room 2:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Room 3:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Room 4:

Spoiler:

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ shuǐjīng - Room 3 - Kenny and Yù zǐ

Yù zǐ studied the equation on the floor as Kenny went to check out the remaining clue.

"Hmmm, so one P adds into the other P, and you get an explosive Scene... Heck, It is even shaped like that thing women got. That Goatman is quite kinky, heh." the crude guy animated the action with one finger going in and out of a tube a few times and then mimicked an explosion.


Kenny had a confused look on his face upon looking at the colourful clue on the wall. Yù zǐ peered at the wall and got up from the floor and walked towards it.


"I see... So these colours..." Yù zǐ Looked down at his jewelled buttons, noticing the way the neon lights refracted into multicoloured rays. He then turned towards the equation on the floor and then to the clue on the other wall. The number Two on the Right wall shown with a brilliant Violet. He looked back at the three bright colours and then snapped his finger.

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ loudly clapped his hand. "Yes, so what were the Alphabets on the door again? Y-O-G-O-R." nodding his head as he connected the dots and stroked the air with his fingers.

Spoiler:

"Kenny! get here on the double. We are breaking out of here."


Rushing towards the exit door, Yù zǐ placed his hand on the keypad. He looked at Kenny and nodded. "Okay, you ready?. Here we go. First Try."

Spoiler:

Yù zǐ stepped back as he typed in the last digit, expectedly looking at the colour on the lock to change.

Morgan

"As expected of you Aleica, let me run by my idea by you to confirm we're thinking about the same thing."  Morgan stated in a satisfied tone like he expected her to reach this conclusion, as he walked over with a proud smile stopped on the other side of the equation across from Aleica, kneeling down as well.

Spoiler:

Morgan began holding up his finger in response to the problems, as he ran through each of the colors numbers.

Spoiler:

"Sound reasonable?  Assuming it matches up with your numbers?" Morgan stated as he stood back up on his feet extending his hand out to Aleica to help her stand back up straight, and as a gesture of good faith though there was a slight look of concern on his face

Spoiler:

Room 1 – Remy and Cyrus

„Well I found the letters BVGYG,” she stated as she read from the keyboard.

“Does that make sense with anything you found?”

She walked back over to Cyrus to look at the triangles with the colored numbers.

“7, 5, 4…” she pondered and crossed her arms. “Did you know that in Hebrew the number 754 stands for the name Jesus Christ?”

“Not that that’s gonna help us,” Remy grimaced. “I wonder about the colors though. Red and yellow does create orange. But adding 7 + 5 doesn’t equal 3.”

Cyrus Winter

"BVG..." Cyrus pondered as Remy continued speaking, telling him her conjectures. Cyrus nodded, "It might not help with the puzzle, but it's certainly nice to know. As for the colors, I think you might be on the right track, Ms. Remy."

A look of understanding dawned on Cyrus face as his hand shot to his chin.

Spoiler:

He then fell into thought again. The code was BVGYG, with no Ps in sight.

Spoiler:

He told her as he walked to the panel to punch the code in.

Jacke

Jacke's attempts at escape were halted by the Goatman placing the tip of the knife under his chin. He listened silently to the Goatman's speech.

"W-what? What's all this talk about being guilty? I'm not guilty of anything here! Just let me go, you're crazy! "

Remy and Cyrus - Room 1


Remy looked back and forth between the two triangles.

She was following Cyrus' thought process and the wheels turninig in her mind were clearly visible on her face.

Finally she nodded.

"This makes a lot of sense," she said. "Go for it!"

- Luna -

B) Examine the right wall

"Bite your tongue." Luna snarked back, giving Pierce a smirk. "I'll take poor over color blind any day of the week."

Habit.

Luna had moved to examine the last remaining wall while he spoke, but his words made her turn to look at him. "What..." She'd only opened her mouth to speak when he took her hand and dropped the check in it.

"I..." Luna was sure that her eyes must have bugged out of her head as she read the number, and her mouth remained open without completing her thought. She'd never even had a bank account with that many zeros, much less held a check for it.

Pressing her finger into the center of the paper to fold it in half, she removed the amount from her vision. "Do you typically hand out checks for this amount?" She asked, slipping the paper into the pocket of his coat, which still hung over her shoulders. "Because if that's the case, you might also need some financial consulting."

Luna turned her attention back to the wall behind her. "And that's a sneaky way to get me on your side, mister. If I care about the money, now I have incentive to make sure you survive."

Did she care about the money? Kinda. Instant macaroni Thursdays were a necessity of her situation, not something she looked forward to. Still, if she accepted it, what did that say about everyone else in her situation? Could you really be an artist without the "starving" part of your life to tell stories about?