[hider=What Happened Before Vegas (AKA pre-casino dialogues)]

[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/wdEJZtt.png[/img]

and
[img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjk2LjVmYzhjOC5UV0Z5YVdGdWJtVWdVbTlqYUdVLC4w/bananas-personal-use.regular.png[/img]
[/center]

[@Ariamis]


Mondatta had fun sitting at the table and listening to the little comedy show that was running close to him, holding a hand to his face as he chuckled at the antics. [b][color=gray]"Well that was assuming,"[/color][/b] he spoke to Marianne once the other party left. [b][color=gray]"Would you like some more tea, or should we go and search other rooms?"[/color][/b]

Not sitting too far from the trio that was Mary, Daimyon and Noel, Marianne's eyebrow shot up at the very antics Mondatta was chuckling at. She quietly sipped the herbal tea from one of the teacups they had acquired with a definite, knowing smile at her lips. There was a thing or two she knew about romance!
[color=8EE5EE]"I think I feel so much calmer, Mondatta. Thank you."[/color] she gave the robot a cheery smile, and tucked the box containing the present-hat under her arm, the e-handbook just given to her in the other hand. [color=8EE5EE]"Actually, shall we drop this stuff off at the room I was assigned, first? Would you know how to get there from here...?"[/color]

Mondatta nodded, his eyelights turning into a smile. [b][color=gray]"Of course. Let me show you the path, miss Roche."[/color][/b] The Infinite Monk then extended an arm for Marianne like any gentleman would, and the two left the dining hall. He was glad that he could spend a moment of sipping tea with someone, as he believed that the consumption of tea was one of the best ways to bonding with another person. Not that he needed to try and become friends with Marianne, as it seemed to come as easily as breathing. Finally, they arrived at the dormitory section where the door to Shona's room was. [b][color=gray]"Miss Moffett..."[/color][/b] He sighed, lowering his head. [b][color=gray]"This is where you wanted to go, yes? Shona Moffett, the Infinite Knight, once owned this room."[/color][/b]

Few had actually entered Shona's room, so they hadn't seen all the knight paraphernalia lying around the place before. The room was not especially tidy. That was not to say Shona was a slob, it's just that a lot of things were out of place.The first thing everyone noticed was the hole in the door to her room.  Resting on the floor was a piece of paper with the words 'Save him if you can.' written on it. It also had a hole in it. There were also a slew of books and magazines piled on a table, half gone through by the knight in her final moments. 

[color=8EE5EE]"...this is my room now."[/color]
The Herbalist found herself clutching her few belongings ever tighter. Her hand with the handbook had moved up, and she was absently clutching at the lipgloss tube hanging from the black cord around her neck. It was a tell she was made uneasy by the environment.
[color=8EE5EE]"I certainly won't have to worry about [i]privacy[/i]."[/color] A dry chuckle escaped the herbalist at noticing the hole in the door. It was more like a croak, actually. The tea appeared to be wearing off. 
Marianne tiptoed into the abandoned room, and placed the box and handbook gently onto the bed. It was most definitely eerie to be there alone, but she would need to get used to it sooner as opposed to later. She retraced her steps to the front door and stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame and trying to muster a reassuring enough smile up at the man in the metallic suit.
[color=8EE5EE]"Thank you for bringing me here, Mondatta. ...I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to allow me to sort out my room, before anything else. It's not quite livable as it stands."[/color]
She hesitated, a twinge of hurt at sounding so dismissive, [color=8EE5EE]"...shall we meet up at the casino as soon as I am finished? I would much like to continue exploring with you! I shall be there as soon as I can, so when we are done, I can come back to a tidy bedroom that is a little more [i]livable[/i] in."[/color]

Mondatta opened his palms before her, showing he had no problems with her request. [b][color=gray]"I won't mind at all. I can wait for you to get accustomed to your room, miss Roche."[/color][/b]
The monk then closed the door, and stood next to it, his hands in his sleeves as he looked up to the ceiling.
[color=gray][i]It is difficult to occupy a space that once belonged to the departed...But I am sure miss Moffett won't mind that her room will see more life in it...[/i][/color]

---

The herbalist carefully shut the door behind her, leaning with her back against it as she took in the room properly for the first time since entering it. Just by the door, she carefully bent down to pick up a small piece of paper, using the door-handle as leverage to pull herself back up. In a way, it was good she was bending and stretching, else her body would get stuck stiff. Although, a small part of her still worried that if she exerted herself too much, her stitches would tear open, and she most definitely did not want any of the crazies at this institution to give her a thorough 'fixing up.'

The air in the room was thick still, and the mess intimidating. It was as if Marianne was intruding into someone else's private property, even though this would now be her own room. She looked at the note in her hand, hole torn through the words in legible print on it, with her head cocked to the side in thought. Her free hand went back to her necklace pendant, giving the little tube a minute squeeze. She had heard the story from everyone in the break hall earlier that morning, and yet, it was so impossible to still believe it was real. 
Maybe cleaning up would make the situation a little more bearable, she had thought.

And so, with her very few belongings on the bed (the cleanest of all surfaces in the room) to sort for later, Marianne began carefully sifting through the paperwork strewn across the room. A majority of it pertained to Shona Moffett and with each magazine excerpt or sheet of paper, the herbalist could piece together a better picture of just who the Infinite Knight was. Although she was interested in reading the material strewn about her new room, her first priority would be to clean it. Idly, she piled up all the magazines neatly after scanning the contents of the pages that were open, and then she moved onto miscellaneous pieces of paper.

Here, she found things, including some letters, which she put into a very neat pile to be snooped-through and re-read later. She did catch herself peeking at some of the contents, but it was strictly to see what the previous inhabitant was like - nothing more!

What bothered her most was the newspaper cuttings. Something was common in the themes, about this incident that faintly resonated in the young woman's head. It was something she had heard of in stories, and maybe even experienced, but she was so young that it seemed like a distant memory to her. Through sorting, and more sorting, and more sorting, it would seem like she would never really underst-

[color=8EE5EE]"...!"[/color] a pair of teal eyes, formerly half lidded and unengaged, shot open. The herbalist's hands clutched tighter at the particular piece of paper she was holding, and her eyes scanned the page once, and then once again, as if trying to commit every word of memory.
[color=8EE5EE]"Oh my god..."[/color] she breathed sharply. [color=8EE5EE]"...it can't be. Can it? It couldn't. It [i]mustn't.[/i]"[/color]

The large workdesk now organised and spotless, with three neat piles of documents on the floor to the left of it, she placed the sheet of paper square in the middle of the desk, along with the note from the door. One more article of interest sat on the desk, and all three of these played on Marianne's mind as she made it a point to clean the rest of the room as well, and try to reclaim some of it as her own, so it would not forever remain the room of someone who was once an absolute stranger, but now seemed like a much closer, much more personal friend.

[/hider]

[center]
[img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjk2LjVmYzhjOC5UV0Z5YVdGdWJtVWdVbTlqYUdVLC4w/bananas-personal-use.regular.png[/img]
[/center]

The casino...!
...was rather disappointing, thought Marianne to herself. It was hardly more than a room(?) with a raised pavilion hosting a spinning table, and another one of those Carnage Sisters that had earlier been handing out presents. This one was the one they saw on the televisions, with the unforgettably gloomy mien. Something about her made the infinite herbalist feel awfully sorry for her, but also another, rather different emotion. There was something about her that made her vulnerable, and if that was the way to get out of this facility, then...

The thought was quickly banished, as it was hardly practical. More interesting was the fact that somehow the group felt larger; everchanging. Like a serpent that kept losing and regenerating limbs of different shapes and sizes whenever required, you could never really tell who would stay and who would leave. As of the moment, the cast were joined by three new characters, two men and one woman. The men were vastly different: a lean blond with a laid back attitude contrasting the no-nonsense brunet. The girl was the most different, and the first thing Marianne noticed was the patch above her eye. Her hand unconsciously reached, but she caught it in the fist of the other. There was no opportunity to speak to the girl just yet, no chance to ask what the story behind her eye was. Her mannerisms were pleasant, and it almost seemed like the patch didn't bother her at all. Perhaps it had become second nature to her through adaptation, much like over years, a plant species would be able to adapt to its particular surroundings.

Fascinating.

The rest of the actions seemed to have all occurred in one fell swoop. Her Monochip - and everyone else's - being taken from them and loaded into the spinning mechanism, and then spun around fiercely. The young woman, with the longest hair of all the women currently present, felt the force cause her dark tresses to billow around her. It was in that moment she rethought the possibility of destroying this particular robot, as the strength she possessed would most definitely be enough to leave someone without an arm (or worse.)

After a show of lights and theatrics, the spinning wheel finally stopped and landed on...the token belonging to one Krista! Marianne's eyes briefly found the blonde and she gave her a reassuring smile. Winning was a good thing, right...?

[i]Wrong.[/i]

The secret behind the win was revealed, and the herbalist, along with everyone else, were tangibly stunned. Not a person moved for one second, and then two. On the third second, there was a shrill whistle that made the herbalist cringe inwardly. The gentleman stepped forward whom Marianne had never seen before. Upon closer inspection, he had a broad chest and forward, authoritative body language. It would be wise, thought she, to listen to what this person had to say.
At the end of his small but quickly digested speech, the crowd suddenly buzzed to life again with a myriad of reactions.

There was an affirmative yell, and another cheerier agreement chime in from the Infinite Freerunner and Infinite Streamer respectively. Mondatta responded with the cool calm as usual, and if it were with anyone, when Marianne saw him wanting to speak to Krista ([i]AKA: everyone's new target[/i]) she was put at ease. There was just the issue of having one more person with the duo, somebody that could maintain the balance, whatever that meant.

The boys, Shaun and Caora, withdrew noticeably. Marianne wanted to comfort them, as she had Caora earlier, but she hesitated. It wasn't just fun and games anymore. Any of these people, any at all, could turn killer at the prospect of being able to make one phone call. It could be to anybody, about anything. A significant other? A family member? A famous celebrity? (Mary was already spouting thoughts on that!) A treasured charity? A scholar society? The police? The people [i]above[/i] the police? A desperate foreign call if local ones were tracked?

Marianne bit her bottom lip absently. Somehow, everyone had suddenly become a villain, and a suspect, and also simultaneously a victim, as whoever won the trial (not the chip per se) would be able to find the phone and make a call.
But that meant murder regardless.

[color=8EE5EE]"There's no way anyone in here would [i]murder[/i] someone else to use a telephone."[/color] the Infinite Herbalist began softly, but her voice raised into a shaky statement towards the end. The promise of the Infinite Recon at her side gave her strength, in a way. She crossed her arms for effect as she continued, mustering up confidence. [color=8EE5EE]"Isn't that so? I agree with Krista being kept under watch at all times. Please, I-"[/color] she gestured at the woman with an eyepatch at her side who just spoke, knowing absolutely nothing about her still, [color=8EE5EE]"It would be a relief for all of us, Miss. I hope your head feels better soon."[/color]
She piped up here, finally putting two and two together. She didn't have the most useful talent, but maybe...! [color=8EE5EE]"If it would be of any help, my name is Marianne and I am the Infinite Herbalist."[/color] she introduced herself to everyone in the room (specifically the newcomers) and nobody in particular, though the next part was directed towards Alice. [color=8EE5EE]"If your head is troubling you, I would like to see if there's something I may be able to do later. I'm afraid at the moment I am ill-equipped for the most efficient treatment, but rest assured I will try to alleviate the discomfort, if you allow me."

"...we all make the call together. In the mean time, should we go look around for something that could help?"[/color]

At this point, what could that even be? The most helpful thing right now seemed to be a big shiny red door with the words 'EXIT' printed on it so they just couldn't be missed. Marianne carefully looked at everyone, and then at the floor, her right hand playing with the lipgloss tube pendant of the cord around her neck. She gripped it tightly.
[color=8EE5EE]"...[i]no one[/i] has to die."[/color]

Her eyes first went to the first point of contact. The person she knew the best amongst all these people: Cyrus Brandon. Teal eyes met grey ones and hers seemed urgent, as if she needed to tell him something. And she did. There was something she just couldn't shake, and she felt she needed to discuss it with someone before spilling the information to the entire group. Cyrus was her best bet. ...however. She, for whatever reason, did not directly approach Cyrus. Why?

[@Melo]

Of all the other people who had caught her attention, there was somebody in particular Marianne found herself drawn to. It was the man with an odd energy - the 'Infinite Paranormal Investigator.'
She was inhabiting the room of the departed. It would be nice for him to run his [i]geiger counter[/i] or whatever those people used in her room to see if Shona could lend herself to any more help, in life as well as death.

...i-it wasn't like Marianne [i]believed[/i] in ghosts or anything...!

[color=8EE5EE]"Mister...um. Infinite Paranormal Investigator."[/color] the dark haired woman cursed herself for letting his name slip her, then closed the distant subtly between her and the gentleman, looking up at him with gentle teal eyes. Her lips were pursed and her head cocked to the side as she appraised him quickly. [color=8EE5EE]"...my name is Marianne. I am the current inhabitant of the late Shona Moffett's room. ...would it be possible to ask you to come and further investigate my quarters, with me?"[/color]

And to the average layperson, this kind of invitation may have had [i]one hell of a completely different interpretation.[/i]

[@UnknownScarlet4][@Aewin]