❧ The Beginning is the End is the Beginning
[once he is through speaking with everyone and hearing their thoughts, Caligin nods to himself and takes several steps away from them and the barrier. his eyes glance at all the monitors surrounding them in the vast room while he mulls over everything they said] Yes. Perhaps...this isn't the way. Father, I...there are no words.
[suddenly, a door slams, marking the otherwise silent return of Resarci into the room] Constantine, what is the meaning of this? Why hasn't the protocol been initiated yet?!
I'm about to call it off. We're not doing this any longer, Ernesto! This...this has been nothing but a fool's errand.
[taken aback] A what?! [angrily] The only fool I see is you, Constantine! [he points at the new residents] Those things have no idea what their true value is to my project!
[Caligin's face darkens] I think you are mistaken. The Luministi Research Labs are mine, so therefore everything contained in it are within my purview--
Correction! Everything was--until ten minutes ago.
[softly, his eyes widening] ...What?
Oh yes, I did not tell you, did I? I had a feeling you would not go through with the protocol, not after what they said to you. You thought I was not listening, yes? So, I went through with plan B--no, sorry, my plan B, I mean.
[Caligin reaches into his pocket, his face flushing with anger as he approaches Resarci] After all this time...all we've been through! All this time, I was concerned about a traitor trying to stop the project, when I should have been paying attention to the Brutus in my midst!
[he launches himself at Resarci, punching him, and very quickly, the two are drawn into a fight. Verita gasps and yells at them to stop along with Ms Osculia, but both Iussus and Audrey approach the barrier, Iussus futilely commanding them to calm down. before they reach it, the shimmering barrier fades--and suddenly there is a sound like a gunshot. both Resarci and Caligin collapse to the ground, and Verita and Iussus run up to them.]
Is...is he...? [Audrey doesn't rush forward. instead, she drops the small gun in her hand, her entire body shaking]
[Iussus kneels down beside the two men and shakes his head] Resarci's still alive, but Cal's not. [he presses his hand to the wound in Resarci's shoulder, then realizes what he said. to Osculia:] Hey, get the girl out of here! She doesn't need to see this.
[despite this news, Verita doesn't speak; she's crying too much to say much of anything. Ms Osculia quietly gathers her up and bundles her out of the room, whispering to her while they head through the door Resarci came in through.]
[Audrey stays back, watching. she still looks shaken, but she's calming now] He did tell her, didn't he? That he was sending in a double? [as soon as she says that, she realises she should explain to the others there and turns to them] One of you had asked about Dr. Caligin's appearance; why he was gray. Well...that's why. I think. I tried to find out more, but I couldn't, not while I was in that room and not while we were all under observation. [she steals a glance at Braxiatel, then turns to Iussus] You believe me now, don't you? That Resarci was the one who really killed my brother?
[Iussus wipes his brow with a free hand] Hard to believe anything else. Should've believed you all sooner. [he sighs, pulling out his CAT] I'm going to need a stretcher and Nurse Hope. MO1 is down. [a set of red siren lights appear from panels in the ceiling and begin to blink] All right, look, just get these people out of here, will you? My men will be here soon and the last thing I need are a bunch of gawpers hanging around. But don't you worry, the good doctor is on his way to the medical bay and then to jail.
[Audrey smiles faintly, tears brimming in her eyes] All right, my darlings, please come with me! I can finally get you all home. [she heads toward the open door] I'm betting the real Dr. Caligin is waiting for us.
[when everyone follows Audrey through the door, they will find themselves in a hallway with several doors recessed into the walls, but the end of the hall opens up to an observation deck with several monitors alongside one wall, along with the words "Luministi Research Labs" in purple, illuminated letters. the opposite wall, and the one facing everyone is a vast set of windows through which this can be seen.]
I'm sorry everyone, but this must be a bit of a shock to you all. Maybe... [she trails off. a faint sound of a girlish delighted squeal can be heard from elsewhere, making her smile.] I'll tell you what. Go ahead and have a look-see. Check this place out while Verita reunites with her father. I don't think you can get into the town--why would you want to go back there, anyway?--but I think the others should've gathered all your belongings together while we were being held in that house. I'll see about getting them moved. When you're ready to leave, meet me by the door that says "Lab #3". It's not hard to find. Just know that once you go in there...that's it. You won't get to see each other again, especially if you're not from the same universe!
Just... [her voice softens] Just know that Andre...he and I wanted to help you out of there so much sooner. Resarci turned out to be far more dangerous than either of us anticipated.
Anyway! Like I said, have a look around. Say good-bye. I'll be waiting. [she smiles and waves, and heads off in the direction of Lab #3]
❧ Plot Details: The Beginning is the End is the Beginning
- We have finally reached the end! And believe it or not, the town of Luministi has been contained on a spacestation this entire time! All the better to run questionable tests on live subjects in the vain quest to resurrect the dead, huh?
You all did fantastic! Earlier in the game, the characters managed to turn Verita against the project, and then, after what happened to her, Miss Osculia was turned against it as well. Now, with what the characters asked and said to Caligin, they were spared the clean slate protocol (aka, having their memories completely wiped and starting the experiment from scratch)--and Resarci's life was spared. Things could have turned out very differently, especially if enough people hadn't told Caligin just how childish and ridiculous he was for doing what he did to them. Their sympathy, empathy, and clear voice of reason really reached him--as well as the others. It reached Audrey--she originally was going to kill Resarci in the end, but she missed (and sort of killed the fake!Caligin instead, oops) and this way, Resarci will be punished for everything he's done.
Oh, it must be said that if the characters had just yelled and tried to kill Caligin the entire time, well, they would've been gassed, game over; press reset. No further explanations, no good-byes.
With a bit of exploration, the characters will discover, if they haven't already, that the year is 545 SSC (solar standard calendar), and from the clear and close view of the Large Magellanic Cloud from the observation deck, they are far, far away from the planet any of them has known as Earth. Also, there are several other labs running more mundane tests, as well as living quarters for all the staff, including those people who ran the restaurants and every other facet in the town. There are even shops there that the same people run so their goods can still be sold even if the people in the town itself didn't utilize them.
However, there are some things they won't find... Like what is Plan B? Who is the man in black? Just how exactly were they brought there if even the man in charge of the project didn't know? These and other minor questions still hang in the air, and, sadly, no one there knows the answers.
Once the characters are ready, please head to the following mod post to officially head on home. If you wish to make farewell posts or anything, please do! We encourage it~ After the homeward bound post is up, that will be the last mod post. (EDIT: Homeward bound post is here.)
We both want to thank you for sticking with us to the end. We might have been a small group, but we had a ton of fun playing with you, and you wouldn't believe how many times we wished for time to slow down a bit so we could have more fun times with you all. Thank you for being so awesome. ♥
This brings us to a bit of an explanation of the game's description. We've said that Luministi is a panfandom sci-fi seasonal roleplay, but we allowed people to think that the "seasonal" part referred to being played in the summer/beginning of fall. Well...now that we've reached the end, we can say that that's not completely true. With this plot post, we come to the season finale, not the series finale.
Next summer, the next season of Luministi will begin! And...there will be changes. For one, Megumi will be departing as a mod. But she will return as a player, and Jchan will be back modding the game! And as far as exactly what other changes are coming, well...you'll have to wait and see~
So! If you want to stay with us, and we hope you'll want to, we'll contact you about a month or so before the game starts up again to give you time to canon update if you wish. How much time passes between when your character leaves and comes back is up to you. They could be back for a few minutes--or even several years. You won't be required to resubmit your application to us as the game is technically only going on hiatus. More details will be available later, but right now, Luministi is looking to return a bit earlier around mid-May.
As always, if you have any questions/comments/etc, please leave them here!
And thanks again, everyone ♥