TINY CAT PEOPLE: THE MAZE TRIALS

[skinstealer]

You stumble towards bed, hauling yourself up and patting around for Sky. Once you find your plush, you hug it close to your chest...even with all of the new stressors around Monty and Max, it still brings you a lot of comfort. You’re not sure what to do about that whole situation, but for now, you need to rest and let yourself regenerate. 

You slowly let the world tune out around you, falling asleep for the first time. 



It is dreamless.



When you wake up again, your head has healed- how long were you out? Your health is also back at its maximum of PERFECT, and you feel fine. Sky is still held tightly in your arms, and you give it an extra squeeze for good measure. 



Once you acclimate to being awake again, you decide to drag your laptop over to your blanket nest, propping up Sky in your lap so that it can see the screen. You read about something called “searching” in your web browser application, and it’s about time that you started looking for answers. It’d be free, unlike asking the overseers, right?



>how to protect people

Oh god, so many results, most about news and illnesses, whatever those are...it’s kind of overwhelming.

>how to get stronger

A lot of stuff about “exercise” and...you don’t know what half of this stuff means. 

>how to get strong fast and free

You are absolutely bombarded with links for “muscle supplement free trial order now”.

You somehow doubt this will help you.

>how to protect yourself if you're small and weak

This gives you way less results, the third one jumping out to you-

“INSTANT PROXY
The surefire way to enhance your life, use magic, and protect what’s important to you!”

No idea what magic is, but it’s worth a look- better than getting overwhelmed by millions of search results.



“Invest now in supernatural self-defense with our brand new Instant Proxy™ kit!

The Instant Proxy™ comes with all the essentials to developing an impressive proxy like clockwork!

Avoid all the prep-work and hassle that comes with the process! Setup can be done in minutes and you'll see results by the end of the hour! No more mixing devilish spices or fishing around a lake of shady eldritch entities! 

The Instant Proxy kit comes with:

(2) Canned Potatoes, just add a bit of yourself!

(1) Self-Tuning Angel Radio! No dealing with finding a signal!

(1) A Blank Deck to help you generate form! 

(1) Scrap Amp! Power up fast!

(1) Radiation orb, allowing you to use the kit even in the middle of nowhere!

(1) Instruction Booklet in Common, “Spanish”, and Esperanto!  (Instructions for how to dismiss a proxy sold separately. Warning! Results may vary!)

Ordering the deluxe edition will also include

(1) Deluxe Scrap Amp for even more power!

(1) Proxy Monitor! Normally quite rare, this tool for tracking and maintaining proxy growth is now at your hands!

(1) Little Buddy! Experts hate him!

Begin your adventure today whether it be to find more success at your job, maintain a loving relationship, fight the dark arts, or just impress your friends! Order now!“

There’s a button on the bottom that seems out of place for some reason…

”Orderable for Trials Reward”

Huh...whoever’s making these webpages knows about the trials, you guess?

...that, or the overseers put this there.

You have a sneaking suspicion it’s the second one. Still...whatever this is, even if it goes over your head, the idea of maintaining loving relationships, fighting whatever the dark arts are, and impressing friends...neat!



>what skills are useful in resisting manipulation

You don’t get as many results for this one, but the second one seems promising. It’s some kind of “psychology” site.

“...being taken advantage of is a common thing in our society, but it is is possible to avoid with skill development. Knowing what the steps that common manipulators use is the key to avoiding being manipulated yourself.

Step 1) Manipulators will look for ways to make you feel insecure about your life, and make you feel like you are missing something, or target areas that you have worries and doubts about. 

Step 2) Manipulators will use these insecurities to provoke an emotional reaction of some kind- the stronger, the better. This reaction may override your common sense, and make you more susceptible to their manipulation. 

Step 3) Manipulators use your emotional state to suggest that doing what they would like you to do would be beneficial to not only you, but potentially a larger group- it could be your school, your workplace, your friends and/or family...or even a group they themself belong to.

Step 4) Manipulators will try to erase your fear and doubt about an action with reassurance, and potentially make things more appealing through rewards either through themself or your own actions.

These are not the only ways that manipulators operate, and knowing them does not make you completely immune to manipulation- but knowledge is power, and knowing at least common techniques behind manipulators’ actions will help you to avoid trouble.” 

...these don’t make you feel very good about your recent talk with Max.



>what skills are good at understanding people

You get another numbered list for this one. 

“Good communication skills are vital for understanding others- here’s some handy tips for getting to know people!

Share interests
Sharing your interests with others and having them share theirs in turn is a great way to break the ice in conversations, with anything in common being a stepping stone towards a great relationship. Even if there doesn’t seem to be anything shared between you and another person at first, stay open to new possibilities- you never know what new experiences could end up being your favorites!

Listen often
When you talk to someone, listen to what they’re saying and think about their perspective. Being perceptive to their thoughts and needs will be a boon in almost any conversation- but beware of people who won’t do the same for you! 

Offer a shoulder in times of need
When someone you know is going through a hard time, offering some reassurance or just a listening ear is a good way to help them feel appreciated and cared for. Make sure not to overextend past what you can do, and take care of yourself too- a good friend will offer the same comfort to you when they’re able!

Keep an eye out for social cues
While it can be difficult for some to pick up on things such as body language and tone, learning to identify these these will help you stay on top of social interactions! When in doubt, however- just ask how someone is doing! 

Stay sincere
Be honest and true to your feelings, and try not to let sarcasm or irony get you down. Being sincere with someone will allow you to strengthen your relationship as you get to know each other- and if they aren’t sincere in return, stay away!”

Well, it looks like you’re already doing a lot of these. That’s good news!

>what skills are good at helping people

Most of the search results are talking about “improvement for your career”, which is a little frustrating. It doesn’t really sound relevant to you!



>what is destiny

“Destiny: the hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future; fate.”

Huh. That weirds you out a bit, frankly. Was some kind of future event with Monty your destiny? And what about Max’s future? It makes your head hurt to think about too hard, but looking down at Sky reassures you a bit- better to have a vision of time with someone who was kind to you, versus someone who creeped you out.

At least, you hoped so.



You decide to wind down from all this new information by trying out pinball...the instructions are a little hard to grasp at first, but actually getting into the game, you pick it up quick.

Oh god, it’s so fun.

This may end up being a problem.