lσvєstruck mαfíα | detention

[modfia]

Welcome to Detention!

Although it should technically be held in the school auditorium, detention is being held at the gym for reasons unknown. The floors here are smooth and sparkling clean, but they seem as if they will scratch and be dirtied quite easily. There are chairs stacked on one side of the gym, ready to be sat upon by unlucky guests. All the gym equipment is currently locked in the gym supply closet.

A few television monitors sit stacked on top of one another against one of the walls, all of which display scenes and audio from the classroom of love.

There is only one choice available to you here:
► Party

Comments

[memlost]

[I'm sorry what

Morgan has bear meat stuffed in his face

he was bummed about being in detention but NOW IT ISN'T SO BAD]

Arcade game? This big box here?

[catnapping]

[ If she weren't so distracted by the arcade machine, she'd wonder about the bear meat but GAMES. ]

Yeah! You can play...three different games on it. Usually you can only play one at a machine, so this must be custom-made...

[memlost]

Made just for us, huh? Then it'd be rude of us not to play! Can you show me how?

[catnapping]

Sure.

[ She then slowly cycles through the three games in the selection screen and gives a short summary of each one. ]

Do any of them look interesting to you?

[memlost]

Hmm... How about Pacman? And we can take turns so one of us doesn't have to sit idle for too long.

[catnapping]

Sounds good. Do you want to go first? It's probably better to learn hands-on while the difficulty is low...

[memlost]

All right! So I just have to collect all of these dots...

[This is all still very new and magical, but he takes his task on with gusto. It's pretty simple figuring out how the big dots work, and he's quick enough to realize that he should save them when he can and draw the enemy blobs close when he has to use them. Even so, he gets caught about 75% of the way through.]

Ah...

[catnapping]

[ Aww, that's too bad. Nanami was rooting for him to finish the entire stage on the first try, but 75% is sure nothing to scoff at, especially when the player's a newbie. ]

That was great for a first try. I'm sure you can make it next time.

[memlost]

Thanks. I think I'll learn a lot more if I watch you do one, though. Show me how it's done!

[catnapping]

Mm, if you think so... I'll do my best.

[ At that, Nanami starts up a new game. After a short time of gathering all the dots while dodging the ghosts (and running into them after eating the big dots), she finishes the level with absolutely everything completed. ]

...And level complete. That's how it's like?

[ She then cocks her head to one side, as if to ask "Any questions?". ]

[memlost]

[Oooh. So that's how it goes.]

Wow, you made that look like a cinch. Poor little guys didn't even know what hit 'em. Do you play these games often?

[catnapping]

[ She nods. ]

I play games like these all the time. [ Which is an understatement...guess who stays up at night playing video games? ] As for this game in particular... It gets easier once you learn the ghost's personalities.

[memlost]

They have personalities? I never would've guessed. [Such hidden depths.]

[catnapping]

It's to keep the game from being unwinnable... Because if they played perfectly all the time, it'd be hard to clear the levels.

[ Speaking of personalities... ]

If I could explain their characters in one word... The red ghost is a chaser, the pink one is an ambusher, the cyan one is whimsical, and the orange one is...

[ Wait, this will be two words... Oh well. ]

...Playing dumb.

[memlost]

I see... That's a lot to think about when they're all rushing at you. [Maybe this is more than just a simple game after all... This could be a valuable exercise in tactical reaction!]

All right, I'm giving it another go! I'll definitely get it this time!

[catnapping]

It is, but moving around gets easier once you've figured out the ghost's quirks and how to take advantage of them.

[ Anyhow, she'll be over here cheering for your success! ]

Mmhm! You can do it.

1/2

[memlost]

[OKAY GAME FACE. Pretend this is a real battlefield and don't blow it! Mother would beat this thing with one hand tied behind her back! ... Well, anyone could, but that's beside the point.

... wakawakawakawaka...]

...

......

....................

2/2

[memlost]

Yeeeess! Take that, little ghost guys!

[Fist pump all the way!!]

[catnapping]

[ Ahh, the sound of wakawakawakawaka... If she concentrates on it hard enough, she can forget that song playing incessantly in the background. ]

Congratulations! [ She starts clapping. ] I think you're getting the hang of it now.

[ After all, it's not like the game's going to introduce any other new game mechanics after this point. ]

[memlost]

Heh heh. It's all thanks to your example. [He steps away to give Chiaki her turn.] So how does the game end? Do we keep going until all of our cheese wheel... people are gone?

[catnapping]

[ And she takes her turn! Thankfully, she's more than good enough at this to be able to talk while strategically making Pac-Man go wakawakawaka. ] That's one way to end the game. The other way is to keep progressing through the stages until the machine can't take it anymore...

[ lol kill screens ]

[memlost]

[So it's either defeat or total victory...]

Until the machine can't take it...? How long does that usually take?

[catnapping]

It would take 255 levels. Any more and the machine bugs out, so any perfect games end at 255 levels.

[ The 256th level...let's not go there. ]

[memlost]

That's... a pretty long time! [If it takes about two or three minutes to finish a level...] I'm pretty sure my legs would give out before then.

[catnapping]

Uh-huh... The shortest time completion in the world was around three hours, actually. That'd be a lot of standing...