Floor 1 Notes (moonpunch101)

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moonpunch101's Floor 1 Notes - Released with Floor 1 on 25th Feb 2021

These notes may not be comprehensive or ordered, as they represent the author's directly copied personal notes, with few or no edits made after the release of the relevant story entry.

Also be advised that these notes contain potential spoilers, though anything unused is mostly non-final and is here to serve as optional ideas for future authors to draw on.

Quick Character Visuals (Floor 1)

 * Ashley Gray: Mid-length brown hair. Emerald eyes. Average height, not super eye-catching. Yellow glasses. Hair formerly tied with scrunchie. Oversized grey hoodie, pale red-pink shirt. Black, slightly bunched up (1 size too large) stretchy leggings. Light blue deck shoes, faded from use.
 * Syl: Silver haired, fair skinned young woman. Pointed ears (elf). Plain white-ish sundress. Barefoot.
 * "Porter": Young woman, average height (eye level with Ashley), slightly above average build. Flowing bright pink hair down back. Fluorescent green bikini leaves very little to the imagination. Getup clearly chosen for the reasons expected.
 * Verge/"Dawn": Thick grey robe and white near-featureless mask that collectively conceal her appearance.
 * Oishī: 2 cat-like ears jut from head of slightly unkempt, short light blue hair. Matching tail flicks back and forth without rhythm. Like staring at anime character. Bright amber eyes that are fiercely intense. Tiny denim booty shorts. Black tank top.
 * Kunai: Glowing, reptilian eyes. Scales.

Floor 1 and Series Planning

 * 3 humans eaten by mermaid; Golem stands guard. Mermaid moves around using water magic, and has sack slung over her arm to imply she already ate guy wearing hemp sack. Gets Golem to grab ‘Red Dress’ and use energy magic to mobilize other 2 whilst she feeds, forces knight to watch as charge/lover is swallowed (feet first so she can see her terrified face) before it’s her turn. Ashley looks away out of shock and disgust after Red Dress is gone, sharing some gazes with Syl, and finding the future man’s gone completely when she wasn’t looking. Mermaid walks off while eating knight, but belch is still heard.
 * Encounter with another odd woman in maze between mermaid scene & Oishī's scene. Most serene person Ashley’s ever met. Some similarities to Porter, though she’s wearing mask & clothes that disguise her appearance & still clearly believes in what’s going on despite her kindness. Helps Ashley & Syl in some capacity, despite it being brief encounter, by letting them pass through her place to escape being caught, sealing way behind them. Final scene reveals she’s Porter’s twin sister & that Porter’s only co-gatekeeper of the Tower, though she’s still sole overseer of 1st Floor, whilst her sister oversees a much later floor (48th – She was originally co-overseer of Floor 1 also, but something happened to the previous 48th Floor overseer and she took over, originally only temporarily but it’s been permanent now for a very, very long time). This is merely implied, however, as Ashley & Syl don’t even find out the two are sisters at this time because the scene of them meeting up happens after the duo ascend to next floor, Porter’s sister walking into stage room a few minutes after they’re gone. Her name is Verge, in keeping with Porter’s theme, but tells Ashley & Syl her name’s Dawn.
 * Syl comments randomly that she’s 1/16th drow out of nowhere, Ashley wondering if certain comments are still bugging her and asking her if she’s “still on that?”.
 * A few random objects scattered around the environment to hint at people who are already gone. Also at least one or two direct or near direct encounters from close or a distance.
 * Just before final room, line ends & Ashley walks into Syl’s back when stops also. Syl notes line stops before going in (Tense. “Well… here goes nothing.”). Rather than grand entry, way in just drops couple steps in passage before taking sharp 90-degree left out of view, simultaneously shrinking down to much smaller passage. Have Syl’s face not visible at first as looking away from Ashley but looks round & is frowning (apprehension/uncertain). Ashley manages to lighten mood/lift Syl’s spirits a bit, making her actually laugh.
 * As pair enter central room, they see hologram showing 7 figures, before giantess crashes through another door, desperately crawling and clawing away from someone, before being pulled out of view with a scream. There’s a loud belch, followed by one of the 6 figures going red and flickering out, then Oishī and her ally’s entry. Ally henceforth addressed as Kunai.
 * Mermaid uses only Oral Vore, as do Ashley & Syl, but minor instances of other types shown. When Oishī shows up near the end she has mermaid tail sticking out of cleavage (plus a few souvenirs to make clear A&S are only others left if some aren’t shown), whilst Kunai’s carrying around golem head, rest of body gone. When they see Ashley & Syl, Kunai’s opens encounter by giving golem lick to confuse it before shoving it down pants, light flex & shlicking sound followed by bulge of head vanishing, heavily implying Unbirth.
 * Bound woman (Marie). Failed on ‘5th Floor’. Eaten by Porter as example, leading into explanation of that being the Tower’s whole thing, mostly, and what the 1st Floor will entail.
 * Ashley hears noise as she begins to round corner. Main room is more decorated & full of various people than starting area. First asks nearest table for help, one of the lizard woman, what’s going on, only to be looked at like she’s an insect, then ignored. Ends up sitting with Syl, a hyperactive-ish Elf woman.
 * Gatekeeper greets entire group at proper start as if first time seeing them all, though she subtly catches Ashley’s eye during speech. She gives name at this point as Porter, not having revealed it during initial convo. She drops batch/group number to infer this happens a lot. The number i’ve chosen is 20201705-E (because of the date when I wrote that bit out and just having the letter E come to mind), and I consider that there’s a new number for every “day” in the Tower (which implies that as of Part 1, the Tower’s been active in its current state for at least 55307 years, 1 month and 20 days, if it were using an Earth calendar), the E marking the 5th group of the day.
 * Sprinkle some descriptions of Ashley. Mid-length brown hair. Emerald green eyes. Average height, not all that eye-catching (not that that’s either bad or something she really cares for). Yellow glasses (GK graciously supplied new “blessed” pair after old ones didn’t make trip, that shield her from enthrallment/charm and “detection” as long as she’s conscious. Later revealed this is an unknown innate ability of Ashley's, the glasses merely being a conduit to bring it out), hair formerly tied back with scrunchie. Oversized grey hoodie over pale red-pink shirt. Black, slightly bunched up (1 size too large) stretchy leggings. Light blue deck shoes, worn and faded from use.
 * Girl (18) trapped in tower on 1st floor and is told she is latest to be chosen for "grand destiny" and must ascend tower/beat all challenges to claim "destiny". Also told when asking that nobody's quite sure how tall tower is, as Floor 1 gatekeeper is elusive beyond fact that there's at least 1000 floors (idea is that story can go on for as long as people write). There's bunch of other confused and varied people (10 or so?) who arrive on bottom floor by same mysterious means that protagonist does, all given same "destiny" spiel as her. Collectively told only 2 can ascend to next floor, though how that works isn't elaborated on too much by gatekeeper, but you can imagine how that goes. Essentially sets up MC and one other i'll carry forward.
 * "Get-out clause" for keeping characters around. Writer can "tag" 1 character, meaning character must survive next part no matter what else next writer wants to do. Fate beyond is normal. Can be tagged over and over if people want them to survive. MC "auto-tagged" permanently, so my tagged character will be the other who survives the 1st floor.
 * Porter is a word resembling someone who runs and keeps track of things, like a gatekeeper. Oishī is Japanese for delicious/tasty, and when combined with Kunai as Oishīkunai, means ‘not tasty’, for a fun naming couplet. Nigai, Kunai’s originally planned name before certain similarities to a slur were made apparent, is Japanese for bitter, and another similar name, Nigami (bitter taste), was too similar. Both Nigami and Kunai were suggestions provided by QueenNyanlathotep.

Future Ideas: Early Floor Stuff

 * Floor 2 has the first “hub” city/town/whatever in it. These are the places people have congregated and lived over the course of generations, some even settling down. The architecture of these places tends to follow one particular theme for each place purely by aesthetic, but what these themes are, story-wise, may be literally anything. To that same end, the population of the hubs is incredibly diverse, due to a mix of factors (population pulled from across the multiverse, ancestors who experienced the changes of floor trials, experiencing them yourself, etc.) Those who climb the Tower will often return to these hubs, given you can travel to any floor you’ve completed/passed, given enough travel time.
 * Each floor has an overseer, an entity who is part of the Tower “staff” and is completely undefeatable no matter what you do. They’re always stronger than the strongest potential or civilian in the Tower bar a few higher tier exceptions that the protagonist and anyone travelling with her aren’t a part of (and won’t be for a very long time). Each overseer’s main job is to guide and, well, oversee, the operations of their floor, though some, like Porter, have other responsibilities (Porter is the gatekeeper and seems to be in charge of the entire Tower, or at least as far as she claims. She’s the “head” of the known group of overseers and thus is in charge by default).
 * Part of operations includes managing the trials and tasks of their floor (the content of a floor can vary heavily, but no matter the trials along the way, there must be a final “check box” a potential has to “pass” in the overseer’s judgement to move on to the next floor, most commonly through completion of a final trial or all tasks set out on the floor). Aside from the tasks, a floor can contain anything from cities to amusements to whatever else tickles an overseer’s fancy (for some this is meant to screw with potentials, whilst for others it’s to allow potentials destinations or places to live beyond the trials). To this end, a floor can be anything from as small as a room to multiple times the surface area of the Earth or larger, depending on how much space an overseer has decided they want/need.
 * The 2nd floor trial/task might be sort of a benchmark test/exam for anyone serious about climbing further, similar to how Floor 2 acts in Tower of God. It’d be an extensive trial overseen by an overseer who tries to act strict but is too much of a softy for that. The benchmark trial being here may also explain why the first “hub” is here also.
 * Though potentials gain the ability to vore upon entering the Tower (some might theorize that they already had it and their selection for coming to the Tower was on that factor), they do not inherently have the ability to integrate assets or features from prey into themselves, a normal pred potential merely digesting their prey with no trace left afterwards beyond a small bit of pudge if the prey was particularly large. In fact, the ability to gain traits (and eliminate any pudge in the process) is bestowed by completing one of the early floors, possibly even the 2nd.
 * Completion of the 2nd floor trial also grants those who do so a special ID card that identifies them within the tower. It has their name and a unique ID number/code on it, as well as some info points like their universe of origin, age/gender/ race, highest beaten floor, number of prey defeated, “rank”/“rating” (if that ends up being a thing), any special accesses/ notoriety they have, if they’re under the employ/control/guidance of anyone, their in-setting currency/credits (usable through the ID as a bank card throughout the various floors at outlets set up both by other overseers and fellow inhabitants), etc. It also has a head photo of the ID holder on it like any other ID card would (despite Ashley knowing she hasn’t posed for a photo). Over time, this photo will be shown to be magic, changing as the holder’s appearance does completely seamlessly.
 * The card also cannot be taken off the owner without significant effort (usually if they’re knocked out, mesmerized or eliminated), always returning to the holder’s hand or pocket if stolen or walked off with. It is not uncommon, though, for victorious preds to collect the cards of their victims, as they remain mostly in the state of showing how that person was when they were absorbed, with the exception of the credits, which are a bonus prize that make these more than just a cheap trophy.
 * All cards also have a magic/energy signature that cannot be blocked around 99% of the time, that allows the user to be tracked wherever they go, as each of the billions of card signatures have subtle unique differences. Notably, Ashley’s glasses, actually an innate ability she has that was dormant and the glasses help bring out, shields her from this “detection” effect as long as she’s conscious.
 * Some people who enter at the first floor come from within the Tower, but most come from outside, regardless of whether or not they somehow know of the Tower beforehand.

Future Ideas: Random Stuff

 * Ashley’s 18, and this probably needs to be mentioned explicitly at some point.
 * The time Ashley was 13 and her sister hit her over the head with a frying pan happened whilst the sisters were helping their father make pancakes.
 * An individual who’s been cloned or reincarnated, or both (cloned body, reincarnated soul), and has climbed the Tower many times, never having any past life memories but always learning of their past selves from stories (a plotline that is set up, foreshadowed and pays off over a larger number of parts).
 * Their name, or at least their first name, is always the same, and one of the floor overseers closely involved in their storyline has taken to calling them by their name followed by a roman numeral to denote their incarnation (e.g. Bob I would be the original, Bob XII would be a later incarnation, and so on, though this character’s name probably isn’t Bob).
 * No matter how much they jab, ‘Porter’ and Verge are sisters, and care about each other a great deal. And it shows. Often, albeit subtly.
 * Verge is one of the few overseers Porter knows who doesn’t just magic away excess fat & the like gained from meals, instead preferring to watch her waistline. It’s personal preference.
 * Porter not being allowed to throw parties anymore may just be ‘not allowed to throw parties on the 1st Floor', and regardless of that, it’s probably an unofficial rule Verge put in place.
 * Porter and other overseers’ “knowing everything” about every climber, as said to Porter, may actually be limited to things that happened before they came to the Tower. Granted, they can probably easily find out everything else that’s happened since, the Tower being what it is, but it doesn’t come as something they can just look up with barely a thought.
 * A floor that supposedly has an introductory “big party” that all the entering climbers go to before the challenge begins, because the overseer of the floor is into that sort of thing. It turns out that, despite the deception, the party is actually the challenge itself, or part of it, and it’s a survival game you don’t even realize you’re in until people start to disappear over the course of the evening. It’s full of planted secret predators, strange transformative or otherwise spiked drinks, and more besides that. There’s no set number of climbers who can “pass” the party test, and it’s more just whoever’s managed to survive to the end of the night by realizing what’s going on and navigating through it is considered a victor.
 * A floor that, due to overseer control rules, is either infinite or keeps getting bigger all the time because it amuses the local overseer, despite that size probably having nothing to do with their floor’s challenges.
 * A floor where the climber is restrained and met with an endless queue of willing and/or hypnotized prey from the local populous that are force fed to the climber. The challenge is to not become full and/or break before the queue empties.
 * A floor where, on the writer side of things, all the elements are rolled for or randomized.
 * Ashley could, at some point, acquire a timekeeper that tracks the passage of time, as well as her age, given how difficult that would be keep a record of between floors.
 * 100th Floor could be a “great filter” floor. Its challenge is a massive leap in difficulty from most previous floors, and even outclasses some of those immediately following it. It separates the wheat from the chaff and eliminates many, many climbers. For many climbers and overseers alike, 100F is viewed as the true start of the climb, revealing those who really have what it takes.
 * A floor that takes the idea that a floor can be as large or small as the overseer likes to its logical, prior mentioned conclusion, being literally just a single, tiny room for the entire floor.
 * Not counting whatever fast travel means exist in the Tower, if they even do for climbers, literally all on foot traffic passing through this floor has to pass through this room, since it’s the entire floor. Despite the tiny room size, there’s a surprisingly long floor challenge tied to it, though not as long as floors with much more space, and there may be a queue leading up the “stairs” from the previous floor.
 * The overseer of this floor doesn’t actually live here, and actually lives on another floor with their significant other, also an overseer.

Floor 1 Roster Notes
Key: Name - Race (Gender-Age), World - Attributes (Blind = Knows nothing about Tower, Versed = Knows things about Tower, Blessed = Has a gift from Porter) - Defeat Method by Character

Floor 1 - Start Group 20200517-E
 * Ashley Gray - Human (F-18), Earth - Blind, Blessed
 * Syl - Elf (F-??), Halvalla - Blind
 * Oishī - Cat Girl (F-??), Unknown World - Versed - Oral by Ashley
 * Kunai - Lizard Person (F-??), Unknown World - Versed - Oral by Syl
 * "Mermaid" - Mermaid (F-??), Unknown World - Versed - Cleavage by Oishī
 * "Mermaid's Guardian" - Golem (x-??), Unknown World - Versed - Unbirth by Kunai
 * "Male Lamia" - Lamia (M-??), Unknown World - Blind - ??? by ???
 * "Female Lamia" - Lamia (F-??), Unknown World - Blind - ??? by ???
 * "Centaur" - Centaur (F-??), Unknown World - Blind - Cleavage/Anal by ??? (Oishī or Kunai)
 * "Pig Orc" - Orc [Pig-type] (M-??), Unknown World - Blind - Oral? by Kunai
 * "Giantess" - Giant? (F-??), Unknown World - Blind - Oral by Kunai
 * "Half-Height" - Halfling (M-??), Unknown World - Blind - ??? by ???
 * "Raccoon Thing" - Red Panda (?-??), Unknown World - Blind - ??? by ???
 * "Red Dress Woman" - Human (F-??), Unknown Medieval World - Blind - Oral by "Mermaid"
 * "Knight Woman" - Human (F-??), Unknown Medieval World - Blind - Oral by "Mermaid"
 * "Future Dude" - Human (M-??), Unknown Future World - Blind - Oral by "Mermaid"
 * "Peasant Woman" - Human (F-??), Unknown Peasant World - Blind - ??? by ???
 * "Sack Man" - Human (F-??), Unknown Poor World - Blind - Oral by "Mermaid"
 * "Loincloth Woman" - Human (F-??), Unknown Caveman World - Blind - ??? by ???
 * "Naked Woman" - Human (F-??), Unknown World - Blind - ??? by ???

Future Ideas: Pre-Release
Note: This section was written in the lead-up to release, and contains references to Part 2, by QueenNyanlathotep, as well as ideas discussed with QN, due to the first 2 parts being released back-to-back.


 * Two Mirrors: Thought about which version of Mirror's real, and it could be both. At some point in past, Mirror split consciousness between 2 forms purely so she had a partner in the sack who knew how to please her without being told how. After, she found she enjoyed her own company, so the 2 personalities have diverged a little despite being literally the same person talking to themselves but ignoring half of their perceptions constantly to basically be 2 people. Could pull self back together whenever she feels like it... but doesn't want to. Idea of her doing it for carnal reasons is sufficiently subversive.
 * Alternate Selves: Because Tower draws climbers from all over multiverse, may draw people from alt. versions of same world. I like idea that Tower rarely doubles up, though. Only 1 version of person will usually ever be brought to Tower, so Ashley's unlikely to run into alt. selves.
 * Even if its unlikely in-universe, having Ashley face off against her alternate self could be a fun plot-line. Especially if they're a lot more experienced, giving her a peek into her future. It'd also be bittersweet, in a way. Neither Ashley really wants to hurt the other, but the situation doesn't really do well for a team up, and the other Ashley's stronger in theory, and more twisted by Tower, and thus more willing to do what she sees as necessary.
 * Reincarnation, Assimilation & Mutation: No matter what rules were in their own universes, those who get consumed are absorbed wholesale, and don't come back in any form. There'd be exceptions, but generally, Oi and Alice are both not going to have a next life, because Ashley /is/ the next life. All that they were has been assimilated, even if she'll never be able to access it.
 * Idea with characters changing/growing, at least physically and power set-wise, was that this was a specific "you are what you eat" ability - specifically to absorb the unique traits of others through vore - that was bestowed upon climbers after completing a benchmark trial on one of the early floor. That said, I can 100% see there being some subtle gains even before/without that in form of just marginally increased strength and agility, not specifically tied to the person absorbed but more just the supernatural processing of any additional mass. No reason it can't also be a more granular approach as well, though. Gradual increase in physical strength, but most of the power gained - one the ability is bestowed - comes from physical alteration of one's self through nature of their meals, eventually creating climbers who are amalgamations of traits gained from countless climbers of wide variety.
 * Climbers (largely the "good, but not quite best, willpower-wise") occasionally going through a "refactoring"/"rebirth", because all traits they've gained - becoming more and more amalgamated as they climb - eventually compile, accumulating to the point where climbers grow out of control and they, to continue, either learn to organize self into stronger, more coherent being by fusing all their additions to new collective whole, or devolve into mindless, lustful hunger monster/ever changing "sludge" that roams the higher floors as wild beast, with no hope of recovery.
 * Creates an effect similar to Dragon Ball's Cell, where climbers become increasingly monstrous, then suddenly flip back to normal as they reach their Perfect Cell equivalent.
 * As most successful climber reached 1,003rd floor and no-one's caught up in last 10,000 years, implying both powerful overseers and considerable lead, perhaps the "wild climbers" turn up a lot in 700-800 floor range and lower, scattered intermittently throughout lower floors but majority concentrated where even some climbers of renown ran out of willpower to hold on. You enter Tower with certain amount of willpower that doesn't normally increase at the same rate your changes stack up, so unless you're really fucking determined from the start or keep finding reasons to carry on, it's your fate should you not otherwise be consumed.
 * Could infer that a lot of "wild climbers" are those who either refused to go through process for one reason or another, or who simply didn't have willpower to pull themselves together. Might also be fun as plot that Ashley and Syl are at some point taught a technique of "micro fusions" by a more advanced climber who takes a liking to them, wherein you integrate/settle each newly acquired trait individually, through meditation, rather than waiting to become monstrous and doing it then. Requires a lot of in-the-moment effort, so most climbers can't do it and it takes Ashley a long time to manage it efficiently (she starts out integrating in clusters).
 * Part of the refactor issue is the consciousnesses subsumed. After enough prey, the trapped minds sort of "mixing pot" into a churning mass of thought within a climber that seeks vengeance on the one that defeated them, and rises up. This would be part of why traits get hard to control, and part of "refactor" is learning to clamp down on the psychic storm inside your soul and integrate it into self - also explaining why meditation works for "micro fusions", if you're communing with your past prey's minds and putting them to rest. If successful, you become strong via asserting physical/mental dominance, but if you fail the storm becomes you, the collective mind losing a lot of higher reasoning and thinking like horny, half-sapient animal with little memory of anything previous.
 * Had considered idea that Jabbercock's a former climber, that Mirror found on a higher floor, took pity on, and brought back to 2nd Floor to live and be trial objective.
 * Syl's Name: Syl isn't her entire name, as may be obvious. In Halvalla elvish culture, your full name - the one you got at birth - is only meant to be known by family. Tradition dates back to more superstitious times, but has connotations. Namely that an elf only reveals their full name to someone outside family if they view them as "life partner". Not always romantic, but that's the case about 99% of time. Functionally, an elf giving you their full name is their culture's wedding proposal, "marriage" and life promise rolled into a simple, spoken act. Up to a point, if Ashley were to ask Syl if that was her full name, most she'd get would be a family name. Unless Syl /is/ her family name, because that'd be amusing, meaning even her first name's secret.
 * After they've been together for a long time - in every sense of word - Syl, unprompted - reveals full name to Ashley. Ashley, presumably knowing enough about Syl's culture by then to get how meaningful this is, is speechless, albeit in good way.
 * Maybe elves are generally good at reading context/tone because they'd get names confused otherwise.
 * Overseers know Syl's full name but have weird form of respect - even cruelest of them - that makes them not speak it aloud.
 * If Syl tells Ashley her name, she whispers it. Readers never hear it, as it's so personal that only Ashley should know. It's only through context/Ashley's reaction that readers know what Syl said.
 * May be awkward, as Syl would know Ashley's culture, and human cultures in general, don't have same custom, only for Ashley to reveal her middle name to Syl. It's probably more common knowledge than Syl's name will ever be, but it's somehow never come up before now despite how long they've been together (just didn't seem important, with everything else going on?), and it's thought that counts.
 * Language: Interested in idea that English and Fae are equivalent, and same for French and High Fae. Started thinking about idea that they're not actually equivalent, and that Tower does something weird to language centers of brain, like twisted universal translator. Various languages get merged into one in perceptions, but there's still multiple languages in order to accommodate folks from same universe. As such, there might be a merged language known as Common, most spoken language in Tower that English and Fae have been "eaten" by (same can't be said for French and High Fae, as I know QN had something in mind for that).
 * Ashley's Sister: Mentioned Ashley's sister a few times in first part, and didn't have any ideas before, as mentions were just to give context to Ashley as a character. Now, though, I think she may be Ashley's older sister, who vanished 4 years ago. Never found, family mourned, and life went on a little emptier. Somewhere along her Tower quest, Ashley finds evidence of another human from her world (even in context of infinite multiverse, wherever she finds out clarifies they're definitely from her Earth specifically), who ascended Tower a few years ago. Ashley doesn't make connection at first, even if reader's meant to due to having heard a bit about her sister by then, but somewhere higher, Ashley catches up to other human on a floor they've been trapped on for a while... ...and comes face to face with a face she hasn't seen in a long time. Turns out whatever trait the Tower scooped her up for caused her sister to be grabbed for it too.
 * Time & Ageing in the Tower: Time in Tower runs at different speed to other universes. In relation to Earth, it's faster. Let's say, for example, Tower time runs 10x faster than on Ashley's Earth. In the 5 days Ashley's been in Tower as of end of 2nd Floor trial, it's been about 12 hours on Earth, and it's possible she's only just been noted as genuinely missing, and might not even have been reported to authorities as such yet. Not that you'd know time's different while you're in Tower. You'd have to run into someone from your universe to know. Such as reuniting with older sister who disappeared 4 years before you came to Tower, only to find out she's been there for ~40.
 * Time would likely change someone drastically. In sister example, though, i'd argue she'd still be recognizable despite changes, even if she's not same person Ashley knew. In regard to idea of her having aged, it depends how prevalent ageing is in Tower (Do people stop ageing on arrival, or is immortality a reward/ability gained after certain point?). It'd make sense if people just stopped ageing outright, the Tower probably doesn't want those it selects randomly dying of old age.
 * Could be auto-immortality, the Tower actively halting ageing in most cases. Anyone born in the Tower or who entered it as a child would probably usually age to a certain point and then stop. There's still ways of telling how old you are, but physical appearance and biological ageing isn't one of them.
 * Predation could have rejuvenating effect on preds, encouraging climbers to take part and eat, if not actually climb. You return to an ideal state rather than just losing years off age (and perhaps also heal as well). Effect weak enough that you can't get by just eating a person a decade. At same time, there should probably be diminishing return on mass consumption of prey, as Tower wants people to keep playing the game, rather than just binge eating every few years. Also, if you view it as a sudden influx of lifeforce, it would bring people to 'ideal state of fertility', ageing them up as necessary. Definitely feels like appropriate method for Tower: What better way to ensure a crop of strong climbers than to generate dynasties in relatively short spaces of time.
 * On the "state of fertility", even if Ashley's still chronologically 18, it's possible she's already been aged to optimal by her meals so far, and just hasn't noticed her body is now - boons aside - how she would naturally look at 21, because there wouldn't have naturally been much change for her from 18 and 21? Her having jumped to 21 without noticing would be fitting. Maybe she'll notice subtle signs in future chapters, or won't until somebody comments on something tiny that's out of place.
 * Oishi's Sister: Oishi may have younger sister who was in different 1st Floor group but is waiting for her on 2nd. May appear briefly in background in 2nd part. In initial gathering, one character noted is anxious/downcast cat-girl who keeps looking around as if lost (can't find sis, or even sis' lizard "friend"), and who briefly seems kinda familiar to Ashley before she's distracted. Turns up now and then throughout later bits, and survives to end of trial, but isn't major character in part, instead being passing appearance that can be optionally elaborated on by others.