Week 1: Turbulent Thursday (Searching the Resort)

Crystal and Serena scoured the resort for game rooms like normal. They didn’t find any treasure chests but they were getting a decent amount of BP for themselves regardless.

Serena asked, “What do you think about the maids?”

“The maids? What brought this on?”

Serena shrugged, “Nothing specifically, I just wanted to hear your opinion on them.”

Crystal frowned, “They’re a little creepy, to be honest. I get that they’re robots but do they have to have that expressionless face plastered on their face 24/7? It makes talking to them a little uncomfortable since I can never tell what they’re thinking or processing in that head of theirs.”

“I never thought of it like that. Honestly, I’d be more concerned if they did have normal expressions.”

Crystal seemed surprised, “Why?”

“If they had emotions, then I’d always wonder if it's their own emotions or something that they were programmed to do. It is not serious, but it would just bother me that I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the two. If one of the maids smiled now, then we would know that it was something that they wanted to do rather than be programmed to do.”

“You always seemed to have the strangest opinions about things, Serena.”

“I’ve got to keep you on your toes. Things would be too boring otherwise,” responded Serena with a smirk

“You’re right that boring would never be the word I’d use to describe you.”

“By the way, did you think about combining into Serenal anytime soon?”

Crystal blushed, “I think we should hold off on combining for now. It won’t have as great of impact if we did it so soon after last time."

Serena replied, “Are you sure you don’t want to combine our bodies and spirits once again to become even more intimately familiar with each other?”

“I’m sure. If we combine, then I’m sure that we’ll go running to find Max despite having no idea where he could be.”

“Are you sure that’s my idea or your own? I mean you did have such a nice time with him on your date.”

Crystal ignored Serena and kept walking.

Serena smirked, “Oh, did I hit a nerve?”

“I’m not going down that rabbit hole with you.”

“You should be more comfortable with such a thing right, bunny girl,” teased Serena.

Crystal couldn’t help but smile despite her best efforts.

“There we go. I knew I could coax a smile out of you.”

“Let’s just keep exploring. Maybe we’ll be able to find another treasure chest if we’re lucky.”

Serena smiled and walked alongside Crystal as they continued searching the resort.

---

Lisa and Brianna were walking around the resort and chatting about various topics until she settled on one a little more pressing.

Lisa asked, “Are you excited for your date tonight?”

Brianna smiled, “Yeah, I’ll have him all to myself tonight. No group events, my transformation, or other people will interfere with it.”

“I haven’t heard much about it from anyone else about how their date went. To be fair, that information is valuable in its own way and we aren’t particularly close to anyone else in this game,” responded Lisa with a small frown.

“We could try to change that by hanging out with everyone else a bit more. We just haven’t made enough of an effort to connect with everyone else.”

“That’s a bit of wishful thinking but it might be possible with certain people. You worked together with Serena so maybe you should start with her.”

Brianna turned thoughtful, “That’s true, but she was a bit too excited about teaming up again.”

“Oh, in what way?” questioned Lisa.

Brianna blushed, “She mentioned that she was more than willing to do a threesome with the three of us.”

Lisa was a little surprised, “She’s certainly bold if nothing else. I can see why she’s in the lead now.”

“Yes, but I have a feeling she’s more about having fun than actually caring about getting first place.”

“Speaking of Serena, did you notice the new earrings she was wearing.”

“I did. They stand out quite a bit compared to the normal hoop earrings she was wearing before. Do you think that it has a special ability attached to it?”

“I do, but I doubt that we’ll be able to just ask what it does.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure. Serena’s pretty open so I think she will as long as it isn’t too dangerous.”

Lisa had a skeptical look on her face as she opened the next door and the two of them walked into a room with bunny art littering the walls. The only thing in the room was a green chest in the center of it. Lisa was concerned about traps, but Brianna had an idea she wanted to try out.

“If I use my powers to open it, then even if there is a trap, it shouldn’t affect us if we’re far enough away.”

Lisa nodded and the two of them backed up against the entrance of the room before Brianna used her telekinetic powers to open up the chest. The chest flung open since she was still getting used to her powers.

Unfortunately, that didn’t stop the trap from springing on her.

Trap Activated (Bunny Girl): For the next 12 hours, you will have a pair of large sensitive bunny ears.

Brianna frowned, “I guess it doesn’t matter if you’re touching it as long as you’re the one triggering the trap.”

“It was a good idea to try regardless. I’m sure there’s a way to deactivate the traps somehow. I can try checking the store later. I’m sure there’s something there that should be able to help.”

“At least I match with Crystal.”

“Something tells me that she wouldn’t be as ecstatic learning that another bunny girl is running around even if it's only temporary.”

Brianna used her powers to raise the object that was inside the chest to reveal that it was a small bunny doll the was a little bigger than the size of her hand.

Bunny Doll: The owner of this doll will be able to see through the eyes of this doll and be able to hear everything in a small radius around the doll. You can own the doll by touching it and claiming ownership of it. You can relinquish ownership of the doll by saying that you don’t own it anymore. There can only be one owner of the doll at any given time.

Brianna frowned, “This doll is a spying tool. We don’t need this.”

Lisa replied, “I wouldn’t say that. It could be useful. Having an extra set of eyes and ears in a room is a useful tool. It doesn’t necessarily have to be used on our fellow contestants or the master. I’m sure that it could be useful in the challenge on Sunday.”

“Are we even allowed to do that?”

“I’m sure we can. This game is based around gaining an advantage over everyone else, so I’m positive that we can. However, without knowing anything about the challenges there’s no telling if it will be or not.”

Brianna sighed as she tossed the doll with her telekinetic power to Lisa.

“You can have it. I don’t have any need or desire to spy on people. If you want to, then go ahead. I won’t stop you,” said Brianna before leaving the room.

“I guess I’ll be claiming this then,” says Lisa before she pocketed the doll and followed after her.

---

Nicole was once again in her room working on her project while everyone else explored what the resort had to offer. She was making good progress on what she wanted to do. Honestly, if she focused all her efforts then she would be able to complete the lock portion of her project by the end of the day. However, she was more focused on the second and more important part of her project today.

The base work for the virus was mostly done. Right now, she was focused on rewriting the parameters for it since she had no idea how strong the defenses for this place were. She was currently programming various methods of slipping into the system and breaking down the defenses that may come up while it was performing its objectives. Thankfully, that part of the programming was done already.

Nicole was so focused on the project that she didn’t notice that her door slowly opened as someone else walked inside. She only noticed their presence when she laid a hand on her shoulder. Nicole looked up to see the face of her biological mother, Gina, standing above her.

“Hey Nicole, is everything okay?”

“Yes. What are you doing here? How did you get in?”

Gina smiled, “Well, there aren’t any locks on any of the doors remember? I knocked but maybe you were so engrossed in your work that you didn’t notice. I was just checking up on you. I’ve noticed that in the meetings you’ve never mentioned anything you’ve personally experienced about the resort and your points haven’t increased at all except for when you participated in the event yesterday. I also haven’t seen you at all in the resort either. I was worried that something might’ve happened to you somehow.”

Nicole relaxed a little bit, “I’m sorry if I worried you but I’m perfectly fine.”

Gina smiled, “I just wanted to make sure my daughter was safe. I’m glad to know she’s okay.”

Nicole smiled, “Thanks, I was just working on a little project of mine.”

Gina questioned, “Project? What kind of project?”

Nicole debated on whether to tell Gina but she was making an effort to repair their relationship and came here to check on her. It's not like she needed it to be kept secret much longer since it should be completed in a day or two at most.

“I call it Project: Safeguard since the project is all about protecting and helping the other contestants for this game. The first part of the project will help protect everyone’s phones from being easily used by everyone else. The second part of the project consists of a virus that would infect the resort and gain access to its systems so that it would be able to send me information on various things in the resort.”

Gina was interested, “That’s impressive. What kind of information are you hoping to get from the virus?”

“Anything that could help our situation. If there was a way out of this game, then I would be happy to know it but even if it can’t find information like that. Knowing more information on Ann or about the different aspects of this resort would be beneficial as well. Personally, I think it's more likely to be able to tell us things like where the treasure chests spawn or one of the secret rooms I’ve heard about.”

“Wow, I couldn’t even imagine trying to create something like that myself. Do you think it’ll work with the way this place works?”

Nicole smiled, “I’m fairly confident in it. From my research of the code in the walls that I can see, I believe I can do it.”

“How long until it’s done?”

“I think I can get it done by tomorrow night as long as there aren’t any problems.”

Gian looked thoughtful, “Are you going to tell everyone else tomorrow?”

Nicole frowned, “I’d rather not tell everyone until I’m sure it works. I’d rather not bring their hopes up only to find out that it wasn’t possible.”

“I see. No one wants any false hopes after all. Does anyone else know about your project?”

“No one except Jessica for obvious reasons. I’m trusting you not to tell anyone.”

Gina smiled, “Of course not, I promise I won’t tell anyone else. I want to be closer to you and breaking your trust is an awful way to go about it. By the way, do you want a snack before I go? This backpack has any snack you could possibly want.”

Nicole grabbed some Salt and Vinegar chips from the backpack before Gina left the room. She focused back on the project and hoped that her project would work and that her efforts wouldn't be in vain.

---

Max eventually left his room and headed down the elevator like normal. However, instead of wandering off in a random direction, he decided to look around the area to see if there was another entrance to his room that he was unaware of. He could've asked Ann but there was a chance that she didn’t know. It wouldn’t be the first time that there was something in this resort that she was unaware of. He also didn’t want to deal with Ann’s teasing any more than he’d have to.

Max scoured the area until he found something unusual. There was a place on the wall that was slightly off-colored compared to the rest of the wall. He tried knocking on the wall only for his hand to completely pass through the wall like it wasn’t even there. Max shrugged at the fake wall before he walked inside. The room inside was empty with the exception of a spiral staircase that went up and down. Max went up the stairs and it wasn’t surprising that he found another door at the end of it. He put his hand to the door while thinking that it would slide through but he simply touched the door.

Max noticed that there was a hand scanner next to the door and pressed his palm against it. The screen scanned his hand and blinked green before the wall opened up and he saw the video game case shift off to the side and out of the way. Max walked inside his room and watched as the door closed and the video game case slid back into place as if nothing happened.

Max was curious if he could open up the stairway from within his room. He looked around the video case and spotted a small black button on the wall of one of the shelves. Max clicked it and watched as the case shifted out of the way once again. He walked through the doorway and started walking down the stairs. Max was glad that he figured out a second way into his room, but frowned when he thought about who had access to his room. His hand worked on the scanner, but who else did the scanner approve to go through? It could just be his hand registered but he didn’t know. Also, he wondered how secure the scanner was. If someone got his fingerprints, then could they theoretically walk inside anytime they wished?

He always got to choose who could come to his room except for dates. Knowing that he could have even less control than he thought rubbed him the wrong way. Max thought about it and wondered if it mattered. There was nothing in his room that he was hiding from anyone else and anyone could visit him through the elevator if they wanted to talk to him.

Max pondered these questions as he walked further down the stairs. Eventually, he reached the bottom of them and was in a completely new room. The left wall was filled with pictures of various riches and exotic items that people would love to have. Money, cars, food, and jewelry were just a few of the things on the wall. The other side was filled with pictures of various omens or unfortunate events like a car crash, a broken arm, and a collapsed house. He assumed it had to deal with the huge lottery wheel in the center of the room. It was deactivated but that wasn’t surprising considering that he wasn’t allowed to play or participate in any of the special rooms that Ann created. It wasn’t hard to guess the true purpose of the room but it didn’t hurt to have more information.

“Maid Guidance.”

A second later, a familiar maid appeared in front of him. She was wearing a red bow that practically screamed that she had more of a personality compared to the other maids even with the expressionless look she wore on her face. He wondered if she had a name or was classified by a unit number.

“Hello, I was curious. Do you have a name?”

The maid nodded before she replied, “This unit is designated as Sapphire.”

“Do the other maids have names?”

“No, as far as this unit is aware of.”

“Is there a particular reason you have a name over the others?” questioned Max.

“Sapphire was the name given to me by the contestant, Brianna. It didn’t contradict or conflict any of the parameters that I’ve been created with so it was an acceptable change to make.”

“What were you called before?”

“Android 1,” responded the maid with the same expressionless tone.

Max sighed, “That wasn’t creative at all. Did Ann create you?”

“Yes and no. Ann wrote up the parameters, information, and skills she wanted us to have while her higher-ups decided everything else. The name was given to us by those higher-ups specifically.”

Max frowned, “Does that mean that she didn’t have a hand in creating your appearance?”

Sapphire shook her head, “No, she didn’t have any specific notes regarding our appearance.”

Max assumed that she made the maids in her image since they looked pretty similar to her. Honestly, Ann could pass off as one of the maids if she cut her hair and somehow lost all of her curves. Maybe she was less egotistical than he thought she was. However, that just raised the question of why they felt the need to make them in her image. Was it a joke at her expense or was there a greater meaning behind it? He was getting off track though.

“Sapphire, what can you tell me about this room?”

“This room is one of the special rooms in the resort. Unlike the game rooms, this room will always be here so there’s no need to search the resort to find it. The Wheel of Fortune can be spun once a day to give the participant a random item, buff, transformation, or points. However, it’s just as likely that the item, buff, and transformation can be positive or negative and it's possible to lose points as well. The results start off minor and get progressively better or worse the more rounds that pass by. The unique thing about this room is that the wheel can be spun once a day per person.”

He pondered who he should tell about it before looking back to Sapphire patiently waiting for any more questions.

“Thanks for the information, Sapphire. I think that’s all the questions I have for you, for now at least.”

Sapphire nodded before walking out of the room.

---

Kimberly walked down the corridors and searched through the resort on her own once again. She split up with herself to cover more ground and get more points searching for game rooms. She needed all the points she could get if she was going to change Gina and impress Max enough so she’d have the opportunity to get some victory points for herself.

Honestly, she was planning on hurting Gina in one way or another regardless but Max’s deal with her allowed her to make it a higher priority than before. Kimberly was concerned about Gina. She may be in last place but Gina was easily the most dangerous person at the resort, especially since she is in last place. She’s going to be doing everything in her power to survive and get her wish. Gina was a devious snake and it worried her that she wasn’t doing anything. More than likely she was waiting for the opportunity to make her move.

Everything was peaceful and everyone was seemingly getting along, but Kimberly knew that it was tenuous at best. Someone was going to break the truce they had and she had a feeling it was going to be Gina.

Kimberly opened up another door to reveal an empty white room with a brown chest in the middle of it. She was surprised that she found a treasure chest for herself. There haven’t been many as far as she was aware. She wondered what the tiers were to chests. A brown one seemed like a relatively normal one if she had to guess. Kimberly also wondered if there were any traps attached to it. If they were, then it probably wouldn't be too bad. She didn’t waste any more time and opened the chest to reveal a small metal case with three small darts sitting in the center of it.

Tranquilizer Darts: These darts will knock out the targeted person for ten minutes. If the target is already asleep, they will enter into a deep sleep where they won't be woken up by any normal means for an hour. When thrown with a specific target in mind, the darts will change trajectory to prevent a miss. However, obstacles or other people can stop the dart from reaching its intended target.

Kimberly thought that the darts could be useful but they weren’t anything impressive. Still, any advantage she could get over her fellow contestants would be appreciated. She pocketed the case and continued to explore the resort for any other interesting items or rooms.

---

Sapphire? (Alternate Outfit)