video ; @Kromer

[gripper]

( kromer, famously, almost never uses the video function—it's a taboo in n corp to take pictures, record film, things like that, and she's spent enough time there that it feels almost criminal to do so. she does it only for very specific reasons: to make sure people know she's not paying attention to them, or...

well, today it's because she's making cookies! welcome to Cooking with Kromer. the kitchen is well-lit, her ingredients are out, everything in its place... )

Good afternoon, City folk. For those who know me, how're we doing? For those who don't, I'm Kromer. Pleasure.

( ...haha. )

Anyway, first you're gonna wanna make sure your butter's nice and soft... Room temperature's best, but you just don't want it cold. It won't cream as well that way! Now... ( she doesn't want her voice drowned out by a fucking MIXER so she's creaming it the old fashioned way, thanks— ) I didn't start this up just to show off my baking skills. Actually, I had some pretty important stuff to say!

( add vanilla and the powdered sugar... work that in... )

So recently... You could say I've been causing a little bit of trouble. Sort of testing the waters, seeing how much you could actually pull here before whoever's in charge of our iteration got tired of it.

( once that's come together, flour... )

I found it, and let me tell you... You don't really wanna cross that threshold. They'll kidnap you to some crummy facility—by the way, totally empty. Looked kind of like a hospital, but all the rooms were locked... You know how it goes with locked doors around here, right? I wasn't gonna try 'em—anyway, they had some of those rooms I woke up in, they had some sleep monitoring ones, things like that.

( dump out the dough onto a floured surface. shape it into a rectangle, and wrap it in plastic. kromer smacks it a few times with her hand, looking pleased. )

I'm not really keen on talking about what went on, but I can say... Did anyone else read those papers about Pavlov or whatever? They're using that guy's thing with the dogs.

( ................

she retrieves some already made dough from her fridge. she is deadset on her fucking cookie-making right now. )

Just wanted to let everyone know not to cause too much trouble, alright? Let's really get along, make friends, and do our best to make a community we can alllll be proud of.

( she doesn't sound all that enthused, though. )

Oh, and if anyone has any shortbread shape ideas... I'll take 'em. Nothing childish, okay? I'm not making a bunch of dicks.

Comments

video, un: Hat Guy

[featheradrift]

[ Her baking skills aren't bad. But, that is definitely not the important part of this message. ]

And how exactly are we to know what the limit is if you don't tell us what you did? And not everyone knows who Pavlov is. Why don't you enlighten the poor souls who don't come from your world?

[gripper]

Oh, Pavlov's not from mine either! But a couple of months ago, there was an office with a bunch of fun little social experiments documented in it... Pavlov's the guy who trained a dog to respond to a bell or whatever with positive reinforcement.

( something like that. she's not really interested in that kind of thing. she just had a cursory glance. for her goon. )

As for my crimes... Well, you know, stuff here and there. Vandalizing, getting into one too many fights, so on and so forth. Guess my last tussle was a little too far! That was, what, my third or fourth one, I guess? Shame. You can get away with a lot more back home.

[featheradrift]

[ Oh, so this must have been a document he missed or hadn't read up yet. He should rectify that when he stops being so busy. The social experiment, however, is familiar to him, under a different name back home. ]

So you're saying they trained you with positive reinforcement. To stop doing the activities they didn't want you to do.

[ Getting into fights? Hm... were they mutually agreed spars or more hostile? ]

Not the friendly kind of spars, I presume? Hah. So this is how they enforce their community-building theme. How are they expecting to get any good data if they've only given us one choice? No wonder they've spent over a century with no results to show.

text, un: netzach

[abstractart]

people shapes are pretty popular, right

or would that be too weird for you

[gripper]

( haha.............. )

No, that's just fine by me. What part do you eat first on a gingerbread man, Netzach? Head, arms, legs? I go for the third myself. That way, if they ever come to life, they can't run away!

video; un: Hob

[100more]

[ That's an interesting bit of information. The capture, not the butter. He already knew about butter. ]

You say they kept you in a room? Did you see your captors? Or hear anything?

[gripper]

( people asking the REAL QUESTIONS HERE )

Nope! I woke up there, didn't see anyone controlling the video stuff, and there wasn't anyone I could find in that strange little building either. Far as I know, they might just be handling it remotely.

video. @hong lu ☆

[yyds]

Hm... I don't know what kind of trouble you're causing... but whatever they did to you, it doesn't seem like it fixed your personality? Hi Voomer.

By the way, you should make it the shape of a doggy.

[gripper]

( just for that she is making a fucking cat. )

Hi, Bong Lu. And no, I'm still as wonderful as I always am! Helpful, bearer of interesting information no one else wants to get... not that I wanted this either, but hey. We work with what we can get, right?

text; un: yesod

[wordchain]

I would think that the community would benefit, if you were to elaborate on your time in that facility.

[gripper]

Wish I could! The most I got for you... Okay, so they showed me movies or videos or whatever, right? You know those?

( some people don't. anyway, )

When it was nice stuff, like helping each other out or hugging and all of that stuff, I... ( kromer pauses, then continues uses some kitchen twine to cut her block of shortbread dough. ) It was fine. But when it came to fights and all, it was...

( sur■■■al ■■■■ruments hanging clo■■r and ■■oser, noticing the l■nes on her arms that she's since washed off, ■■■■■■■■■■ ■■■■■ at the ready, threat of ■■■■■■■■■■■ growing ■lo■e■ every time, and at first she hadn't believed it but the ■■■■■ had gotten cl■■■ and she thought it touched her ■■■n and )

Bad.

( her smile grows wider. bad. )

empathically not here. i'm sorry we're very obnoxious, FACE IN HANDS

[fussiest]

[ kaveh, sitting back on his divan, looking at the network with the lancelet gaze that suggests if the technology of this world were any more advanced, someone somewhere ought to burn on the other end of it. he can still feel netzach's blood on his hands. he's had to burn the shirt that it had stained.

kaveh grabs a pomegranate from the side table. he breaks it open with his bare hands, and begins to pick at the arils, because if he doesn't, he thinks, he is going to do something inadvisable with his words and nobody needs that after everything that's transpired this month. and then, because he's kaveh, and because he knows he's not the one with the worst temper in this room, he sends a glare across the room to where alhaitham is lounging on a couch. the wordless stare of his gaze says thus: "don't you dare." ]

Also not here. We love u Bella. He might be actually here later.

[justscribing]

[Alhaitham does not play the post, because he can hear the audio from Kaveh's side across the living room. He listens, brow furrowing as he takes apart the word choice for the implication.

She was a repeat offender. Stabbing Netzach was a tipping point. It must be some other area of the simulation that they used for, what, reeducation?

His gaze lifts to meet Kaveh's. A beat, and then the quirk of his brow in turn to say: "Don't I dare? You're the one who'll end up starting a fight with her. Again."]

audio; @theredgaze

[immortalpoet]

...

So this is Corp bullshit.

[THIS REALLY IS CORP BULLSHIT]

[gripper]

Hahaha... Sure is! Isn't that great? It's just like home sweet home.

( real comforting. )

Least it means we know how to deal with it, huh?

video; un: mightiest

[fanstheflames]

You mean they're doing conditional training with us?

[ Don't ask why this girl who looks like an airhead knows about Pavlov. ]

... Yeah, that tracks. They sure come for you if you try to be stubborn about it...

[gripper]

( airhead girl you're her current favorite )

Suffered a similar fate, girlie?

text | un: NAILS

[nichocolatine]

[ jfc people... y'all doing this on PURPOSE? AGAIN? ]

what kinda shit were you pulling

[gripper]

( when in rome )

Vandalizing, getting into fights, stuff like that. Think they've got less patience for the latter though—probably isn't good for the survival of the group if people are out for each other's blood over this or that petty bullshit.

[Video] un: CapsuleCorp

[fashionably_strong]

For shortbread shapes...stars and crescent moons.

[Albeit that's not what's truly caught her attention about this. She's been paying attention to the other conversations and who's chimed in with what.]

After you went through their punishment, did they knock you out again and have you wake up in your own place, or did you get to walk out of there?

[gripper]

( off camera, kromer makes a note. stars and crescent moons. easy. )

I got to walk. The longer I tried stickin' around to snoop, though, the more I felt I reaaally should get going... ( people, cats, stars and crescent moons... what a batch. ) It didn't seem like there was a whole bunch to see, though.

( a beat while she stares at her knife block, hand unmoving—back to full attention on her cooking stream though!! she can cut things in a moment. )

I didn't remember anything on the walk back though—pretty much a blur, but I made it back to the city's edge here. That means it's off-site... I wonder if it's where we go when we die here, too. They get us back up to health, the trauma of it takes a memory, or maybe they just take one themselves to rebuild us for a different iteration—who knows! All theories.

Text @Alhaitham

[justscribing]

Is your change of attitude a result of fear or have they made a compulsory change to your personality?

[gripper]

( get a load of this guy. )

I've always been interested in helping the collective. That's why I've never hidden any information I've discovered, see? Dying, punishments... ( a wide smile. ) I even contribute during our little once-in-a-while meetings, when Junpei holds 'em.

So I wouldn't say my attitude's changed all that much.

text, un: henry

[vecna]

[Let's start with a relatively benign question:]

Can you make spider shapes out of shortbread?

[gripper]

( wow THANK YOU. )

As long as it's firm enough, you can make anything. Shortbread's not really the type of cookie to spread too much, so lines should stay pretty even... That your suggestion?