TERRACE Draft - Day 1

[lucetimods]

Who: All Draftees
What: Arrival at TERRACE
When: The first day, from 8AM to the wee hours of the night
Where: TERRACE!
Summary: Information post here
Rating: Varies on thread, please mark explicit material.

This post covers the first day, before the attack. Remember, characters here are not expecting an attack and are under the impression they will be going to Region 1 to fight. During this day, draftees will be restricted to T6 and T7 and not permitted access to other areas.

Be sure to tag this post appropriately: [canon] character name

Comments

[reminded]

Oh, good. Do you know the rules? I need someone to test these and see if they work. Don't worry -- they shouldn't be anything too difficult.

[He knows better than to crush a small child's self-esteem with 15x15 Sudoku.]

[heartofthematter]

[Bless your heart, Layton.]

I'd be happy to test them, sir! [Because even if Diamond's not good at something he'll give it a shot.]

[reminded]

That's what I like to hear. This one is 6x6, which I believe is smaller than the norm. [He rips out a page and pulls a pencil from his coat, then offers both.]

My name is Hershel Layton, by the way. What is yours? [You don't share a puzzle and stay strangers, after all.]

[heartofthematter]

[He takes both and studies it. Okay. He could maaaaaybe do this.]

I'm Diamond.

[reminded]

A pleasure, Diamond. Feel free to have a seat; I don't believe anyone has claimed that bunk yet. [He gestures to the one adjacent to his.]

[heartofthematter]

[He nods his thanks, taking a seat.]

Um... Oh, this is pretty easy. [scribble scribble!!] What's a Latin Square?

[reminded]

[Yes, Diamond! You are demolishing that puzzle!!

Layton answers as he continues to scribble into his notepad, setting up some new puzzle or another.] A simpler form of Sudoku. The difference is that you're only given one square to work with instead of many.

[He flips back and rips out a few pages to hand out for Diamond's puzzling pleasure.]

[heartofthematter]

[Oh boy there's more!! He happily takes them, though his eyes get wider as he realizes they get harder. Oh boy.]

That sounds easy... But I bet it's pretty big, huh? [uurrrgg okay he will attempt this and so will the mun these are fun.]

[reminded]

[I know right]

As big as you could ever want. Those are all Latin squares, by the way. [He nods at the pages he just handed over before going back to his scribbles.] They're really very similar. Strictly speaking, all Sudoku puzzles are a form of Latin square.

[heartofthematter]

Ah... [Missy would like these a lot. Hmm. And the history too. Or maybe she'd already know all of it, being so smart.

He bites the eraser part of the pencil and frowns at the lines. Not there... Here? No, no.] How do you make one?

[reminded]

[His smile widens. Creating puzzles is a very different process from solving them, and people rarely realize it.]

The method as I understand it is relatively simple. I start by creating the solution grid and work backwards from there by removing cells one at a time. The more I remove, the more difficult the puzzle tends to become. The real difficulty lies in making sure that there is a single, unique solution -- which is what you're helping me with.

[heartofthematter]

[Ahhh! That's cool.]

I have a friend who'd probably really enjoy something like this, so I was wondering. [So he could make one for her!]

[reminded]

[Hearing those words does his heart good.]

I would like nothing more than to return the favor by helping you with your own foray into Latin squares -- including Sudoku, if you're so inclined. If I may ask, who is this friend of yours?

[heartofthematter]

Missy-- Um, she'd introduce herself as Platina. She's very smart and she loves figuring things out! So that's why I think she'd like these squares. Missy was fascinated by the statues we saw when we were coming in - did you see them?

[Speaking of squares, he's got one done! Time to move onto the next challenge...!]

[reminded]

[A light of recognition.] Ah, Platina. Yes, I saw them; they were rather hard to miss. What did she say about them?

[heartofthematter]

She thought they might be of a hero, or a celebrity, or even a person from myth. The locals aren't that much help since they've been there forever... and a lot don't seem to hold a high regard for them. You know the Little Miss though?

[reminded]

[He'll try not to be too amused at Diamond's form of address for her.]

Only just; we spoke the day the draft was announced. She expressed interest in attending school.

[heartofthematter]

[missy

attending school

he pales slightly, looking down at his half-finished second page and setting it aside very. very. seriously.]

What time does the school start?

[reminded]

[Layton looks up at him, sensing the change in tone.]

Well... whenever we return to the enclosure, I suppose. Perhaps a bit later if we need the time. [He pauses.] Nine o' clock. Is something the matter?

[heartofthematter]

[Nine... That wasn't so bad, Diamond guesses, and he smiles in relief. Back to looking at his puzzles too!]

Nope! I just wanted to know, because I'm not really an early riser~. I'd rather have it be closer to lunch time, but nine's fine too. Missy'll just probably want us to go with her.

[reminded]

[Was that really it? ... Oh well. It makes sense. As a professor, he is very heavily informed about how much the youth like their late mornings.]

"Us"?

[heartofthematter]

Oh, me and Pearl! We're her bodyguards-- Um, we were her bodyguards, then we were her friends, and now we're her bodyguards again. But we're friends at the same time.

[A pause.]

Pearl and I protect Missy, who's our important friend. She can take care of herself, but I guess it's kind of become habit...?

[reminded]

I see... [No he doesn't because how is a 12-year-old even a bodyguard, but okay.]

If you don't my asking, who exactly is Platina? I understand she had private tutors as well.

[heartofthematter]

[to be fair, the only reason platina hadn't thought it too strange after a thought was because she figured that her father had gotten people around her age to keep her more low profile.]

She's the only daughter in a very... [What's the word he's looking for. Oh.] Prestigious line of researchers back home. And she's very rich! Her family is pretty well-known in high society, and they own a lot of hotels across Sinnoh. Missy's family is very important.

[reminded]

Interesting... It makes more sense now why she would be interested in school. [He taps his pen against his notepad thoughtfully.] So will you be attending as a student as well, or just as a bodyguard?