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Sunspider · 03-25-2019, 10:08 AM

Suggestion: Dispel the Doppeldumpster, and get Cam in trouble with the P.I.G.G.S.Show

With the Dumpster Alarm blaring, and the promise of "The P.I.G.G.S." headed your way, your start putting together an escape plan.

First, you release your spell, freeing the Mana used to form your Doppeldumpster, and letting it flow back into the environment. When you do, the piece of your imagination that was holding it together comes back to you too, and your head feels clearer and Less Distracted.

What's more, now the Belligerent Junk Upcycler has nothing left to complain about. He'll probably get in trouble with the P.I.G.G.S. too, for setting off what turned out to be a False Alarm.

If you get away, of course.

Even so, you briefly consider sticking around. You could try to turn this situation around on him, and get him in Even More Trouble, just out of spite... but recent events have drained your Sass Capacitor. Which is to say, you're not sure you're ready to go up against a Dumpster Merchant in a battle of scams again. The stakes have been raised, and you're still feeling the sting of your last defeat.

Or, at least, the sting of something...

You can't help but feel like you made a bad call at some point. Maybe it was by tempting fate, and trying to out-swindle an Experienced Swindler like him. Or maybe the wrong call was the part where you taunted him, and rubbed your Magical Replication Powers in his face. Or the part where you goaded him into getting himself in trouble, and generally made life shittier for someone who literally already spends his life in a Public Rubbish Bin. All so you could try (and fail) to make a quick buck at his expense.

If you had any parents in the traditional sense, you're pretty sure they'd be disappointed in you for one of those reasons. Nevertheless, you feel like this situation has provided you with a valuable Learning Experience. That's gotta be worth something, right?

[box=#808080 width=full border=2]New Experience:

• Lost your cool, and failed to swindle money out of Cam the Dumpster Merchant.[/box]

Anyway, that's more than enough enough self reflection. The Alarm is still ringing deafeningly in your ears, and who knows how long it'll take for the Authorities to get here. Time to make tracks!

The quickest and safest route is probably through the doors connected to the Fire Escape. And with Cam and who knows how many other witnesses nearby, you don't want to have to shed your Cardboard Camo to climb up there...

(03-24-2019, 03:21 AM)Numbers Wrote: »>wear the boots
>jump up ladder

Instead, you shift your feet in your Boots of Stomping, making sure they're nice and secure. Then, you crouch low, close your eyes, and focus on the flow of Ambient Mana pooling under the soles of your feet. With any luck, these will be enough to launch you up there.

Almost ready...

3...

2...

1...

Now!

Flannery leaps up toward the Fire Escape platform...Show

With a Magically-Enhanced Leap, your box-shrouded silhouette rockets skyward. You easily clear the first-story platform... though perhaps by too much, because when your Boots of Stomping come down on the Fire Escape Platform, they come down hard...

Your feet crash against the grate. Through the blaring of the alarm, you hear the groaning protest of Strained Metal, and the cracking of the Brickwork it's mounted to. You freeze, balancing as the Platform shudders and twists away from the doorway... but it slows, as the ladders up and down strain to hold the platform in place.

Needless to say, this Fire Safety Escape is definitely no longer safe, per se... but it seems to be holding together.

[2x1]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/grey/box.png border=16]First dumpster piracy, next conspiring to run an illegal business, and then threatening to collapse the economy... but that wasn't enough? Now you're... vandalizing public safety equipment?!

You're a menace, Justabox Actually![/box][/2x1]

As the Broken Platform bobs and wobbles below you, you hear a very distressed-sounding Cam, shouting up from the alley below.

You don't want to linger on the Fire Escape for a number of reasons at this point. Still, without taking off your Cardboard Camo, you're forced to use a long series of Needlessly Complicated Nudges to turn the doorknob. You step up into the doorway, glad the platform held, and hoping this hasn't cost you too much time...

Suggestion: Taunt Cam with one last Incantation, and make something to throw off your pursuers.Show

Just in case, you decide to ply a final act of Doppelmancy. From the seclusion of the doorway, you scrape together the first Rhyming Incantation you can think of, and shout your spell over the Alarming Noise.

[2x1] [Image: box.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/magic.gif border=16]Hee hee, ha, hoo hoo!
I hail from the coop!
Most of the time, I show my Sunny Side;
As for you, you see my Hardboiled Hide![/box][/2x1]

Flannery tries to copy the Cardboard Camo into a convincing dummy...Show

You weave nearby Mana into a rough approximation of your Cardboard Camo, leaving behind a little Piece of Your Mind to sustain it.

You know the Incantation wasn't your finest work... you're still kinda hung up on this whole "over-easy" egg theme you've got going on, which kinda clashes with the copycat/cat burglar thing, and the box thing, and... honestly your aesthetic is all over the place. Plus, though the Alliteration in the last couplet was nice, you feel like the Irregular Meter and Slant Rhyme in the first couplet hecked up your Doppelmancy a bit.

That, or it was the General Frustration you're feeling, about not having Use of Your Arms while wearing this box...

A lot of the details are off, but even if it doesn't fool them, the distraction will hopefully be enough to keep the P.I.G.G.S. off your trail for a bit longer. With this fake Cardboard Criminal in place on the lower platform, you slip away from the Noisy Alley, and let the door close behind you.

Sunspider · 03-25-2019, 10:08 AM

The sound of the Shop Alarm is dampened behind Soundproofed Walls, as you enter what appears to be an Apartment Hallway. A series of Alphanumeric Doors stretches before you, the nearest of which has two Courier-Delivered Packages in front.

Somewhere upstairs, and some distance away, you can make out a Faint Discussion. However, even with your Magically-Enhanced Hearing, you're only able to make out one half of the conversation.

[2x1] [Image: left.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/grey/box.png border=16]...in response to the Strike, which is why donations are more important now than ever.

...Anything with a long shelf life. Dry or canned goods especially, if you've any to spare.

...Uh... well, we don't traditionally accept cat food as part of the...

...No no, that's not what I meant! I'm sure it's very good cat food, Miss Notten.

...I'm sure you love her very much. It's just that this Food Drive is intended for people.

...Yes, poor people. Who can't afford food.

...We'd still prefer donations of people food for them, if you...

...O-of course, Miss Notten. Any donation is... very generous. I'll just wait out here, then.[/box][/2x1]

You hear the sound of a door closing. Soon after, it's followed by the Long-Suffering Sigh of someone whose soul is trying to escape their body.

What do you do?
>

Character Info: FlanneryShow

Vic · 03-25-2019, 05:01 PM

> Snatch those boxes in front of door 3E

Reecer6 · 03-25-2019, 05:07 PM

>Do NOT snatch those boxes. I know you're a thief but you gotta be in at least someone's good graces. Pick one.

Reyweld · 03-25-2019, 05:22 PM

>No snatching!

**Kaynato** · 03-25-2019, 10:20 PM

"Meow meow, I'm a cat."

Numbers · 03-25-2019, 11:38 PM

open the boxes and snatch the boxes but leave the object contained unharmed.
also get the courier bag so this doesnt look illegal.
edit: also also get out the denim shroud and unbox to not look like a bumbling idiot

ShiningKatana · 03-26-2019, 02:23 AM

c0mf0rt the pers0n, in all seri0usness. take 0ff y0ur b0x cam0 and ut it in ur invent0ry s0 it really thr0ws the piggs 0ff ur trail

**Schazer** · 03-26-2019, 02:57 AM

Leave the boxes alone you reprobate

CSJ · 03-26-2019, 03:09 AM

>ACQUIRE ARMS

(by taking off that box and stashing it away)

☆ C.H.W.O.K.A ☆ · 03-26-2019, 04:03 AM

dopplemance door 4E onto the side of the stairway. use too many rhymes, be a lyrical miracle

Door hinge or/and handle,
Bland jamb xor orange sill,
Will your madam vandal
now floor four door steal?

Tokumei · 03-27-2019, 12:30 PM

(03-25-2019, 10:20 PM)Kaynato Wrote: »"Meow meow, I'm a cat."

Seconded

Sunspider · 03-28-2019, 04:24 AM

Suggestion: Retrieve arms from boxShow

Realizing that the Local Authorities will be looking for a box-wearing brigand by the name of Justabox Actually, it's probably time to shed your Cardboard Camo. You unequip it, and store it in your Replica Courier Bag. There it will wait, until the day you must call upon it's powers to impersonate a container once more.

In it's place, you equip your Blue-Collar Cloak with your Cat's Ear Hood. You immediately feel Less Clumsy, and More Fashionable. Plus, with access to your hands at last, you're more prepared than you've literally ever been to face whatever trials these Apartment Doors may pose.

Suggestion: Retrieve boxes from floor?Show

For your first Act of Handedness since you came into existence a few minutes ago, you consider making it an act of Sleight-of-Hand. Namely, nabbing those Unprotected Packages from the stoop of Apartment 3E. After bungling your scam earlier, an easy Snatch-and-Grab could do a lot for your confidence in your Roguing Abilities. And using your Replica Courier Bag, you could probably make it look official, even if you were caught...

Suggestion: Retrieve scruples from wherever you shoved them.Show

...but no, you probably oughtn't leave an obvious Trail of Crimes in your wake, when you're already in trouble with The Cops. And also, there's the matter of the part of you that maybe felt guilty for making some Dumpster Denizen's life worse than it already was.

I mean, free stuff is great, but you think it'd be better to save your next crime for Someone Deserving. You could be more like a wily Arcane Trickster Vigilante, guided by a personal code or whatever. That's way cooler than being known as some Indiscriminately Thieving Jerk, right?

Suggestion: Chat with the stranger. Make a friend and/or score some food.Show

The first step in being a More Scrupulous Criminal is probably to make friends and allies of the downtrodden, instead of enemies. Having a band of merry men to help you rob mean rich people, and other Heroic Outlaw Cliches like that come to mind. Squad goals. With that in mind, you remember the Exasperated Stranger from earlier. He sounded like he was having a rough time collecting Charity Food or something? Maybe you can aid him on his quest, and get some free food, or a friend out of the deal.

You vault up the steps with Above-Average Grace, and walk toward him along the handrail, in an effort to demonstrate your prowess and worth as a potential ally. You find him standing silently near a Closed Apartment Door, eyes closed and radiating nervous tension.

[2x1]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Hey, are you doing okay? You look like something's bugging you.[/box][/2x1]

The Exasperated Stranger turns over to look at you, clearly surprised. He didn't seem to have noticed you were here until now. The fact that you're perched precariously on a handrail is probably a factor too.

[2x1] [Image: anxious.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Oh, no. Sorry, I'm doing fine. Just a little tired I guess?

It's been a long day.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Okay. It just sounded like that person you were talking to really bothered you. I wanted to see if I could help.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: sheepish.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]What, with the donations?

I'm fine. I'm just... glad someone's finally offering anything, you know?[/box][/2x1]

His expression flashes with something that looks more frustrated than glad, as he gestures toward the Closed Door. He's obviously having a hard time here, but doesn't seem to want to admit it.

[2x1] [Image: anxious.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]So what, are you here as backup? Or, uh... were you already taking donations in this apartment or something?

(That would explain why everyone's been so cold...)[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Nah. I'm just passing through.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: concern.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Oh?

When you asked if you could help me, I... just figured they sent you as backup...[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Nope. What are you even doing here? Something about food?[/box][/2x1]

At your question, his posture shifts into one of Professional Enthusiasm. He begins a spiel with all the staleness of having been rehearsed and said countless times today.

[2x1] [Image: explain.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Well, I'm collecting donations for a city-wide Food Drive. It's an emergency relief effort, because of everything that's been going on lately, you know? First the big strike at the Dough Factory, and then the sit in at Bigg Hill Park, Nobodyville, and all that too. Needless to say, with everyone struggling lately, the Food Bank's been struggling to meet demand too. So I, uh... volunteered to help out.

Speaking of which, if you have any dry or canned food you could donate, that would be a big help. You might've already guessed, but it's been slim pickings today.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]I can't help you there. I'm broke, and don't have any food at all.

Speaking of which, if you have any dry or canned food you could donate...[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: wry.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Oof, way to turn that around on me.

I wish I could help you, but all I've gotten so far are the cans of cat food Miss Notten is going to get right now. So unless you want to eat that...[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Sure. I'll take 'em.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: anxious.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]You'll what?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]I'll take the cat food. Once you get it.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: doubt.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]...y-you seriously want it? Why?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]I figure I've already got a whole cat thing going on, so why not? Cat hood, cat claws, cat burglar, copycat.

Now that I think about it, maybe even the thing about being inside boxes...[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: anxious.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Look, I have no idea what any of that means?

I was expecting you'd have something normal to say, like... you had a pet back home to give it to?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]Nah, no home either. I'm new in town.[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: glare.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]...wait, did you say "Cat Burglar" earlier?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]What I'm saying is "Meow meow, I'm a cat." So, cat food please?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: talk.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Oh yeah, right.

Well, the Food Bank probably won't accept it anyway. If you really want the Cat Food and you're in need... I guess you're welcome to it? Though, we might be able to get you some actual People Food from the Food Bank once I'm done here. If you'd like?[/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/box.png border=16]A journey, then! A quest![/box][/2x1]

[2x1] [Image: doubt.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/walter/box.png border=16]Uh, sure.

Anyway, Miss Notten will probably be back soon. And this isn't a conversation we should be having in front of her. So, I'll... talk to you in a bit?[/box][/2x1]

The Charity Grocer gives an apologetic shrug and a smile, before turning back toward the Closed Door.

Suggestion: Attempt experimental door-based DoppelmancyShow

Speaking of doors, you've apparently got some time to kill, before you can discuss the journey and/or food situation with the Weary Food-Gatherer. And much like a cat, you're feeling rather curious.

When you doppeled the Pink Dumpster earlier, it was disappointing that it was empty... but you now realize something interesting. Despite the color, the face, and the emptiness, it's Core Essence of Dumpsterness was 100% intact. Firstly, it could store stuff. And secondly, the contents (which were nothing) were not something you wanted. From your perspective it was full of trash... even if it was in an esoteric, roundabout sorta way.

Basically, it stayed true to fundamental dumpsterness; a big container, full of the stuff you didn't want. And that's got you wondering how things might differ, if you copied something else container-adjacent. Say, one of these Apartment Doors? What parts can you copy, and what parts can't you? What Core Essence of Apartment Doorness might you discover?

Calling upon your inner reserves of Lyrical Flow, you take a moment to weave a dense, Door-Themed Incantation.

[2x1] [Image: hood.png]

[|] [box=https://solifuge.github.io/mysterybox/text/flannery/magic.gif border=16]Door hinge or/and handle,
Bland jamb xor orange sill,
Will your madam vandal
now floor four door steal?[/box][/2x1]

Flannery tries to copy an Apartment Door...Show

Fueled by your Labyrinthine Verse, and a legitimate excuse to use the forbidden Orange/Door-Hinge Rhyme, you draw on the true essence of Apartment Door 4E, and direct a powerful Doppelmantic spell toward the side of the Apartment Stairs. Despite still magically maintaining the Cardboard Criminal in the alley, your spellcasting feels almost effortless. You can feel the door in your mind, as real as anything you could touch. You simply have to outstretch your hand, and let it enter into the world...

It may be your greatest work of Doppelmancy to date. In fact, it doesn't feel like a fake magical copy at all... and it doesn't need a Piece of your Mind to hold it together, either.

This door just... exists now.

What do you do?
>

Character Info: FlanneryShow

Dragon Fogel · 03-28-2019, 04:30 AM

Knock on it and see if anybody answers.

☆ C.H.W.O.K.A ☆ · 03-28-2019, 05:52 AM

what kind of cat burglar simply opens a door? pick the lock. if it's unlocked, lock it and then pick the lock.

(note for later: check out room 3d with our appropriately-colored eyes... might be only we can see it properly)

**Kaynato** · 03-28-2019, 06:09 AM

Look through the cracks and/or keyhole first.

Reyweld · 03-28-2019, 03:24 PM

>Open the door. Stop having it be closed.

a52 · 03-28-2019, 08:11 PM

(03-28-2019, 05:52 AM)☆ C.H.W.O.K.A ☆ Wrote: »what kind of cat burglar simply opens a door? pick the lock. if it's unlocked, lock it and then pick the lock.

Vic · 03-29-2019, 05:32 PM

Can't be a cat burglar if you're afraid to steal.

> Dispel the cardboard criminal outside
> move the packages in front of your door because then they are your delivery

Reecer6 · 03-30-2019, 05:03 AM

>Whistle the secret tune that unlocks the door. Look, the sheet music is written on it in plain letter notation!

Sunspider · 03-31-2019, 01:16 PM

(03-28-2019, 04:30 AM)Dragon Fogel Wrote: »Knock on it and see if anybody answers.

You suppose the polite thing to do would be to knock on the door. See if anyone's in there, before you barge on in. You give Apartment Door EE a few firm knocks with your Steel Clawntlet-clad hand. It makes a powerful sound... more than enough noise to be heard inside.

Nobody answers.

(03-30-2019, 05:03 AM)Reecer6 Wrote: »>Whistle the secret tune that unlocks the door. Look, the sheet music is written on it in plain letter notation!

Seeing as how this is a Sorta Magical Sort Of Door, you wonder if there's some trick to opening it. Perhaps, for instance, the letters on the front could be a Clue?

You're not sure exactly what pitch an E would be, off the top of your head. Nevertheless, you try whistling a Note That Might Be An E, then following it up with another one. When that does nothing, you repeat the process, moving up and down the scale until you've covered the better part of your musical range.

Your pitch shifts and wobbles a bit, but Apartment Door EE stays steady and motionless. Seems either this didn't do the trick, or there was no trick to begin with.

(03-28-2019, 04:36 AM)Wheat Wrote: »Try to trick somebody into walking into the wall on the other side of it wile-e-coyote style.

Or better yet, rent the room sight unseen to someone.

Hmm. Maybe instead of there being a trick to the door, the door is An Opportunity For A Trick? If it opens immediately up into a Concealed Wall, that's some Prime Pranking Material waiting to be used. Heck, you could even rent the door to someone, and scam them into paying to walk face-first into a wall!

...if, of course, they were deemed Deserving of it. And if, of course, you're still holding onto those Recently Exhumed Scruples of yours. The only trouble now is the fact that there isn't a single mark around. Unless you count Charity Boy as deserving of getting scammed.

Suggestion: Actually just open the door like a normal person, and investigate.Show

You decide to try one last plan. It's a little unorthodox for you, but it just might work.

You step square to the door, sizing it up. Once you think you've got the measure of it, you approach and reach out, giving The Doorknob a turn in the form of a dexterous Flick of the Wrist. With this complete, you give the Doppeled Doorway the old push-and/or-pull routine. It opens right up.

Get's em every time.

With the doors resistance thusly conquered...

...you step triumphantly through the resulting opening, and into the room.Show

It seems the door you thought was going to be Magical and Amazing actually just goes to an Empty, Weird Looking Room. Probably shouldn't have used all those ORs and XORs in your Incantation. After all, Logic and Magic have never made the Easiest of Bedfellows.

(03-28-2019, 05:52 AM)☆ C.H.W.O.K.A ☆ Wrote: »what kind of cat burglar simply opens a door? pick the lock. if it's unlocked, lock it and then pick the lock.

Oh well. Fortunately, you have a Very Good Idea that promises you some entertainment, with Basically No Repercussions either. You make your way back into the Apartment Hallway, but not before Locking the Door. After all, a Real Catburglar like you doesn't simply open doors. No, she picks the locks first!

Of course, now that you're back outside, you realize something else. If you wanted to unlock the door like a Cute, Cool, And Talented Brigand, and demonstrate how good you are at your job, it'd definitely help if you made sure you had some kind of Lockpick on you first.

Shoot.

What do you do?
>

Character Info: FlanneryShow

gloomyMoron · 03-31-2019, 05:56 PM

Use your Clawtlent nails as a lockpick, obviously.

Reyweld · 03-31-2019, 06:08 PM

Wait for that cat food. You're hungry...

Reecer6 · 03-31-2019, 06:48 PM

>Get that cat food for Darsen!

**Schazer** · 03-31-2019, 08:11 PM

Eat the "pickle"