Endless Room
A room of endless walls and turns, that seems to stretch on forever. It seems very easy to get lost in a place like this.
Don: Don.
It's earlier in the day...but despite that, Don looks rather tired. His mechanical scarf is waving around wildly, the grappling hands on its ends snapping a bit.
He's waiting.
Stranger: The person who comes through the door isn't who he expects. It's Stranger, with Dax standing behind him.
Don: "...Eh? You're not Mix." He tilts his head.
Stranger: "She got busy, told me to come over instead...somethin' about more of those vine traps popping up, and her needing to scout to get rid of them."
As he walks inside, he glances back at Dax, who gives an amused purr.
"...Dax also decided to come along. Not sure why, but I don't mind."
Dax: "Curiosity, of course. Is this room truly endless, or an illusion? What perplexing questions~!"
Don: "...Oh. Hahah...ahahah..."
He's shuffling with his hands again, looking around wildly, his laughs sounding more like a nervous coping mechanism than a sign of joy. "Well, that's fine. I just don't want to get lost alone, is all."
He turns around, staring at the bizarre hallways and turns in this pale yellow room. "Ah...imagine if we got lost forever in here...unable to escape, doomed to wander...!"
Stranger: "I...don't think that's gonna happen. At least I hope it doesn't." He says in response, scratching his back. Man...Mixzo's dad is a little odd, now that he's interacting with him one on one.
Dax: ...
Dax was already walking off into the maze of a room, humming all the while.
Stranger: "Wh- Dax! Hold on-!"
With an annoyed huff, he runs to them.
Don: ...Don just lets out another concerned giggle as he follows.
Don: ...
Don: ...
Don: Don pops back out at the front again...from a different direction from where he walked off.
"Uh- Oh."
He turns around.
Stranger: ...Man, this really does go on forever. Or maybe they're going in circles? He can't really tell, as it all looks the same.
"Dax? Don? You still with me?"
Dax: "Correct."
Don: "I try to be!"
Stranger: Nod nod. He continues onward, turning a corner, and...
...They're back at the entrance again. Somehow.
Stranger: "...What the hell? How'd we loop back around?"
Don: ...Hmm...
Don's eyes suddenly widen. Instantly, he pulls out a small notepad from what looks to be nowhere. Using the mechanical hands on his scarf, he wields a pen and begins to scribble something down on the paper.
Dax: "...Hmm?" Dax scuttles over, peeking at his scribbles.
Don: They see a map of four rooms, with branching paths, lots of dead ends, and a bunch of dotted lines connecting to each other. As Don draws another dotted line, they look back at Dax.
"...What? It's simple, isn't it? The common portal mechanic. This room is in an endless loop of interconnections...ripworlds do this often!"
Stranger: "Have you...been to a lot of ripworlds?"
Don: Don smiles. "In my dreams, I've visited them all."
He finishes his doodles, showing the entire graph to Stranger.
"From my observations, ahah- I can tell it's not actually endless, just looping. And it's possible there's a fifth room, based on how some of these portals seem to have strange or contradicting correlations...but if there is a fifth room, it'd take a miracle for someone to find it!"
Stranger: "Wh- Hold on- We've only been walking around for about 10 minutes! How did you figure this all out already!?"
Don: "...Ahah...hah..."
He scratches the top of his head, ruffling his fur.
"...I thought it was obvious?"
Dax: "...You're just a nerd, dear."
Don: "Oh." He frowns. "Okay...b-but, ahah, it's still so fascinating! I need to learn as much as I can about this room- Alongside fixing Rue's brain, this shall be my focus of study until I'm able to leave!"
Stranger: "Eh!? Is something wrong with Rue-"
Don: But it was too late. Don was already speeding out of the room, probably to his dorm, still drawing something else in that notepad of his as he ran.
Stranger: ...Sigh.
"Everyday I just get more worried about everyone, Dax. You get me?"
Dax: "I don't get most people, actually."
Stranger: "...Yeah. I think I about expected that."