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[nicehacking]

[ The duo wake up in what seems to be a classroom.

If they check the door or windows, they seem to be completely locked.

And even though it might be a classroom, the usual furnishings are replaced with things that you wouldn't expect from it -

A bed, along with several dressers.

The whiteboard seems to say WELCOME TO THE ESCAPE ROOM!

There doesn't seem to be any immediate other clues. Only when they're both awake does a voice filter in from the speakers, somewhat robotic voice that may be familiar to one of them - Yuki in particular: ]

Good morning!

After some research and getting some assistance, I have created the best way for Yuki-san to make friends! Just fulfill the requirements to get out and the door will automatically unlock! Good luck!

[ ...........and the voice shuts up.

WHAT THE HELL. ]

Comments

[peacefulmemories]

...Izumi-san, um...

[ When Aoi woke up, Yuki at her side, they'd assessed the situation together... as best as they could, at least. The whole situation was incredibly bizarre, especially for Aoi, who found herself with an uncharacteristic gap in her own memory. It most likely simply indicated that she was knocked unconscious somehow, and their goal of "escaping" was made abundantly clear...

And, of course, it was just as Aoi started to wonder who was responsible for this does a very chipper voice she'd never heard before come out of the speakers, and... ]

...Are you alright?

[ She wanted to ask if this was someone Yuki knows, but she looks... really stressed all of a sudden. ]

[nicehacking]

I'm... well, not fine, but I'm not hurt at least. Honestly,.I should be the one apologizing since all of this is indirectly my fault.

[peacefulmemories]

Your fault? So... that is someone you know?

[ Aoi isn't hurt either... she just woke up on the bed, no restraints or anything. This really does seem like... well, not a normal escape room, but still an escape room. Even if it doesn't look like there's much in the way of clues... just a bed, big enough for the two of them to have woken up in. ]

At least... it seems like they mean well? I suppose we haven't had many opportunities to talk, have we?

[ Aoi's taking it in stride... so far, at least. ]

[nicehacking]

[ There's probably """clues""" in the dressers!

If you could call whatever might be in them... clues. ]

It is. Rather than say that I know them, I created them. They're an AI.

[peacefulmemories]

An AI? You created an AI, Izumi-san? That’s amazing…! Though… I suppose that AI has trapped us, now…

[ Though maybe that simply makes it more impressive? ]

Mm… they said something about fulfilling a requirement? Do you know what that might be?

[ Curious about the dressers, the one place they haven’t checked yet, Aoi moves to open one… ]

[nicehacking]

I did, but it looks like they've kind of gone out of control this time around...

[ Even if the "out of control" part was ultimately harmless outside of getting them stuck here.

She shakes her head, quietly refuting: ]

Unfortunately, I don't. They haven't told me anything.

[ Good news for Aoi is that the dressers are not locked! The top one reveals what seems to be...

...a notecard!

> Read? ]

[peacefulmemories]

An out of control AI…

[ That’s… mildly concerning. They already have to deal with the Cancer, the last thing they need is an AI uprising! ]

Ah, a note…

[ She takes the note… and reads the contents… ]

[nicehacking]

What does it say?

[ She finds herself curiously peering over Aoi's shoulder, reading: ]

In order to escape this room, working with each other to become friends is important!

1. Each LOCK must be used at least ONCE in order to unlock the door.
2. There are several KEYS left for you to use.
3. After one minute a SPECIAL GAS to help you become more friendly will be released. Do not worry, it is not harmful!

[peacefulmemories]

A special… gas…? To make us more friendly…?

[ …Okay, not even Aoi can view that without any apprehension. What does “more friendly” mean!? And even if it’s harmless, if it’s messing with their moods, then is it really safe in the first place!? ]

…Aoi thinks we need to hurry, Izumi-san.

[ Is there anything else in the dresser? One of the locks that was mentioned, maybe? ]

[nicehacking]

I think so, too. How did they even manage to get all this set up...

[ The answer is "with a lot of help" but still, she can't help but be a little curious.

As for anything else in the right dresser, there doesn't seem to be anything else at the moment. There is still a left dresser to check, though. ]

[peacefulmemories]

They must have had a lot of help... maybe from Kayamori-san?

[ Yuki's ASS happens to be very popular around the base, apparently. Ruka is the most likely to set up a big elaborate prank... and she's popular enough to rope others into helping out. ]

What could they mean by "locks" and "keys"...?

[ Time to check the left dresser, then... ]

[nicehacking]

Ruka is the most likely person to pull this kind of crap... I'm not sure what they mean. Maybe it's some sort of key word?

[ Not even remotely subtle in her choice of language.

The left dresser easily opens and there's something in here! Surprise: there's a decent sized vibrator that seems to have a handle that is shaped like a key.

As it opens however, there's a hiss of something and they'll be able to see it -

Just as the note said, it's... harmless gas - at least in the way that it won't hurt or kill anyone. In fact, it's an aphrodisiac in a cute pink color at least? Not that either of them know that, which is why Yuki might already be holding her arm up to her mouth the second that the gas comes filtering in. ]

Did you find anything?

[peacefulmemories]

Ah.

[ Aoi can’t even process the sound of the gas entering the room. The second she opened the dresser and took out the vibrator, her mind blanked. ]

P… p-p… p-p-p… p-pokaaa…

[ Oh god, even her pokaan is broken…! Her cheeks progressively turning redder as she holds the “key” in her hands… who even makes stuff like this!? ]

[peacefulmemories]

[ ...It's needless to say that, upon waking up, the situation between the two of them had been... awkward, to say the least. She's not quite sure how much of the previous night Yuki remembered, but clearly it was enough how she'd reacted. Fortunately, leaving was no longer an issue... so that much was good news, at least.

An agreement to absolutely never speak of this to anybody was, of course, made... and though Aoi would've liked to get off to a better start with Yuki, things had ironically—though perhaps obviously—gotten fairly awkward between them. Honestly, Aoi could barely even handle looking her in the eyes.

Which is to be expected, of course. While she's unsure how much Yuki remembers now that she's lucid, Aoi... can't say the same. She'd never been under the influence of anything before, so she never knew until now... but even though she wasn't thinking straight, her mind still recorded every last detail of their time in that room together.

Every. Last. Detail. The way Yuki acted, the way Aoi herself acted. The feelings, the pleasure, the heat, the sweat, the passion...

Much like everything else in Aoi's head, she simply could not forget a single thing, no matter how hard she tried. Even a full day later, she could still vividly replay everything they did in full detail.

And as a result, something was seriously wrong with her. It's not like all her memories are constantly on repeat, but it's like this one is! Forget being able to just recall it, she can't get it out of her head! Not that it's the worst kind of memory to have that kind of issue with, but still! She can't be letting it distract her this much, it'll get in the way of training! Or god forbid, an actual mission.

She tried to deal with it. One night, after waking up in the middle of the night to... objectively a better dream than usual, but still a problematic dream nonetheless... a dream of what they did, what they could have done... she did something she'd never dared to do before. At least, not since she became 31-B's squad leader. She... tried to relieve herself.

...But it just wasn't enough. It wasn't enough... no matter what she tried, her fingers simply couldn't give her what she needed. That she needed to hold back and remain completely silent so as to not disturb the rest of her squad was part of it... since she can still remember Yuki telling her not to hold back, to make sure she knows how good it... ]

Haah...

[ Walking aimlessly through the base, she can only sigh... she needs to figure out a way to deal with this... with this longing soon. Maybe if she got something similar to what they used back then...? No, no if anybody found out that she had something like that, she'd die on the spot. Not to mention that she still has to hold back at night, lest she alert the two literal assassins she shares a room with. She can't really go to anybody for advice, either. Not even Ruka, who is the one she usually goes to for advice. If anything, the only person she could feasibly ask about this would be— ]

Ah—

[ ...Izumi Yuki, the girl in question, the one currently taking over Aoi's mind... and the girl who she's just run into by chance. ]

H... hello, Izumi... san.

[ Right, honorifics, don't forget those. ]

[nicehacking]

[ Ever since that day, Yuki made absolutely sure that she kept to herself and avoid Aoi. Sure, she had been given a lot of aphrodisiacs and then some to the point where she had to do some intensive tinkering with ASS to make sure another incident like this never happened again.

Because if it made this sort of mistake with Aoi, it was entirely possible that the same could happen to another squad member.

Or even worse: Tezuka could find out.

Or even worse than that.

But there's no time to think about it now, not when she's face to face yet again with Aoi, causing her cheeks to redden... just a little. ]

H- Hey. Did you need me for something?

[ Aoi was a squad leader after all, and Tezuka had already pointed out the rules from the very start: that if a squad member was needed, the leader could ask for them, no questions asked.

Well, obviously that was meant to be for squad missions, though... ]

[peacefulmemories]

[ ASS cannot be allowed to matchmake... not like this, at least. ]

A-Ah, um, nothing specific... Aoi just...

[ Ahh, what is she supposed to say? Especially after a period of totally avoiding each other after what they did... "awkward" doesn't even begin to describe the tension in the air. In the first place, what exactly does Aoi want right now...? Now that she's face to face with Yuki, she's... not sure...

All she knows for sure is that... there's something wrong with her. ]

Can... can we talk? Somewhere private?

[ That's... a start, she thinks. ]

[nicehacking]

Huh? Ah, sure...

[ She certainly doesn't mind, if it's just for a talk. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? They're on base, so it isn't as if they'd get attacked by Cancer. ]

[peacefulmemories]

Mm... um, the clock tower should be fine, right?

[ If they don't want to be overheard, at least. It's the most isolated spot on the base, or at least where they're least likely to be overheard. ]

[nicehacking]

[ Yuki actively contemplates this and... ]

The clock tower's fine. Lead the way.

[ Out of politeness for her senior. ]

[peacefulmemories]

Mm...

[ Aoi leads the way. Fortunately, it's definitely emptier than usual, with nobody at the top of the tower either... though the walk over continues to retain that awkward silence as Aoi tries to contemplate exactly what to say next once they get there.

Alas, they get there too soon, and Aoi still isn't quite sure. Meaning... she'll just have to wing it, won't she? ]

So, um... we should probably talk about... you know...

[ Aoi's cheeks flush a little... ]

[nicehacking]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH--!!

[ Immediately, Yuki yells.

It's probably enough for probably a few people who might be around to hear. She absolutely will interrupt Aoi again if it comes up a second time. ]

[peacefulmemories]

I-Izumi-san!?

[ S-So loud!? Why!? ]

U-Um...! I-I said we should probably...?

[ ...Oh no, is this even a good spot anymore? Someone might come up to check on whoever screamed... ]

[nicehacking]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH--

[ Again, she yells.

She doesn't want to talk about this?! ]

[peacefulmemories]

[ She didn't even get this loud when they were... well, you know! Now Aoi's wondering if she didn't do good enough... wait, that's not the kind of thing she should be wondering, is it!? ]

I-Izumi-san, please! I understand how you feel, but still...!

[ You can't just scream your way out of this! ]

[nicehacking]

I thought we said we weren't going to ever talk about it ever again...!