Grace led the way out of the kitchen and headed back towards the intersection. As they approached Skye spoke up "Shall we look at the other facilities first?"
Grace gave Skye the most, dead eyed stare possible "Go ahead, but I won't follow"
Kat shrugged "I'm sure the Timmy's will happily play the cassettes as many times as we want. So it doesn't matter too much"
The Timmy's all nodded vigorously to confirm this fact. As they were doing so Grace continued her march for the showers. They tracked back through the common room and opened the next door which lead to a hallway with six offshoots.
The Timmy's quickly go to the cassette system, which involved pushing it into one of the doors. "Hello, hello. Or is it Good evening? I suppose time has no bearing on when you're first hear this. It's entirely possible that you won't even have the time to use the bedding facilities, but I must always be prepared.
"Behind each door is your own self-contained room. It has a bed, a table, and a shower. Inside on the wall, you will find a glowing card. If you place that on your wrist it will stick itself there and tune to your mana. Once attuned only the holder of the card can interact with the doors
"The doors are automatic, and if you want to let someone else in you will have to leave your hand on them and hold them open for the others. I do not encourage any illicit behaviour, because I am watching everything.
"Brr, yeah, I do wish I wasn't but once again, the dumb rules for the final round and all that. If for whatever reason you want to change rooms just slap the card back into its holder and it will no longer be linked to you.
"Keep in mind, for any of you trying to be tricky, yes it has to be the correct card, and yes the person who owns the card has to put it in the holder. Now onto a few other things, you will probably want to have a shower and change into other clothes
"These have been provided, but they are just standard materials. You do not want to be taking them outside the resting area, but I mean I won't stop you. Oh and do be careful with the showers. I've made them cater to a wide range of races, so they have both extremely low, and extremely high temperatures. I am not liable for any injuries caused by showers.
"In the case of extreme burns, you will be removed from the round and healed. Do be aware, if you managed to injure yourself in such a stupid way I will tell all my friends about it and we will laugh.
"In fact, I'll duplicate myself a few times so you have a whole crowd. Now then, that should be all in regard to the rooms. Oh the light switch is on the left side of the door"
This was already enough information for Grace. As soon as Thyme's recording ended, she opened the first door on the left and it shut behind her. The Timmy's seemed to disperse during the cassette recording and Kat couldn't see them anywhere leaving just her and Skye
"Soo… what now?" asked Kat
"Might as well get some rest" said Skye walking to the end of the hall and taking the last door on the left.
"Huh" Kat now found herself alone in the hall. Shrugging she pushed open the door on the right and walked inside.
The room was small but practical. There was attached to the wall on the left with multiple extra blankets folded up at the end. On the right was the card Thyme had mentioned above a table with two chairs. At the back of the room was another door that presumably lead to the shower.
There was plenty of space between everything, and none of it was cramped. Kat found it was a rather nice size, perhaps a bit bigger than her old room at the orphanage. Walking over to the wall Kat picked up the card for the room.
As she did so it started glowing red and flashing. *Is this normal? What do I do with this?* As if summoned by her command a Timmy appeared with a cassette in hand. Slipping under the bed the Timmy put the cassette into the wall and Thyme's voice run out again.
"Bother… if your hearing this it means that something has gone wrong with the identity cards. I knew I couldn't trust the dwarven enchanter I learned those runes from. I mean, the man was an excellent smith, but practical enchantments were never his strong suite.
"While this is playing your small Thyme should be grabbing the replacement key. It will open the door and keep it locked, but you mustn't lose it. This one has no way of telling who is who.
"If you lose the card for your room, honestly that's tough luck. I can't be making endless redundancies."
And sure enough, once the announcement was over the Timmy came over and presented Kat with another card. It looked almost exactly the same at first glance which Kat supposed was the point. Looking closer she did however find that the flower design that made up the centre was different
Kat didn't exactly recognise what this other flower was, but her eyes certainly picked up the difference. Shrugging Kat slipped it into the sash on her outfit with the fans and sat down at the table.
*System, I'd like to send a message for Lily Sylvie, and Vivian if that's alright*
Please input the message you want broadcast at location of User Kat's transportation.
*Um, hmm, wait no don't put that… actually can you cancel that for just a second?*
Message system cancelled.
*What do I actually want to tell them? System is there a word limit?*
D.E.M.O.N.S can display any number of words, however after a certain point the words will fill the area and start displaying in objects once a threshold is reached. User Kat is recommended to keep the message short.
*Ok.*
Kat thought about what she wanted for a while. She let her hand tap on the table as she thought about all the things she'd seen and done over the last few days. Even though it had been just three days or there abouts since she had seen everyone else… it almost felt like 74 for some odd reason.
Ignoring that strange feeling Kat began to compose her thoughts and eventually settled on the following message.
*Hi guys, it's been a while since you've heard from me. I thought this would be a quick two-day trip, but things really escalated in the afternoon on the second. I didn't really have time to explain but I'm just now resting up. Things have been really interesting, and I know I'll be away for at least two more days, but I want you to know I'm doing fine.
The mission isn't taking long because it's hard, just because there are a lot of steps. I'm participating in a tournament, and the host has done some rather extreme things, especially the final round.
D.E.M.O.N.S said I can't send too much or else the message will start going through the floor. Hopefully you guys are well.
Kat.*
Message received and projected.
Thanks system.*
With that Kat decided to take a quick shower. The others had probably already eaten, or at least finished with their showers as Kat had spent quite a while figuring out her message.
As she dismissed her kimono, she heard a clack, and instantly realised what she had done. Picking up the fans and the card, Kat placed them on a bench next to the clothing Thyme had provided.
Utilising the hottest setting on the shower Kat was able to relax properly. The warmth was great, and she didn't have to feel bad about wasting anything because Thyme could conjure it all out of thin air.
Once out of the shower Kat took a look at the clothes Thyme had provided. They were just your standard affair, with a set of robes, or a set of trousers and shirt. All simple, and a slight off green. There were actually more like five sets of varying sizes, but they all seemed to be the same just larger
Sadly though they didn't have anywhere for Kat to put her wings, though one set of robes did in fact have a spot for her tail. Welp back to the kimono it is. Kat shrugged. She was really getting used to the thing.
*Would I even want to wear anything else.* Kat rubbed the edges of the sleeves and felt the soft material under her fingers. *Probably not really. I've been spoiled by this. Perpetually clean, never needs washing, feels great on the skin, plus it looks really nice.*
Shrugging Kat made her way out of the room, making sure to pick up her things as she left.
