WEEK 11

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (11)

monday - thursday (14) survivors Sunday's trial was only mere hours ago, but you find yourself faced with a new week on The Pygmalion. When you awaken, you will find the ship restored to its previous state, all areas interfered with during the murder looking mostly the same as they did before. It seems you have more exploring to do. The robot in the cafeteria has prepared another breakfast of various foods. (OOC: Please submit your murder proposals by 9 PM EST Tuesday.) taken list profiles private conversations setting rulebook murder proposals ENTER COMMAND_

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[al2955]

[ As the words leave each of their lips, the bodies collapse, lifeless. Their eyes don't see any more. The music hits a crescendo, the chorus' bass boosting without warning.

Every datapad on the ship vibrates with a message. ]

My last message was a warning.
- S. PERKINS.

[socloverit]

Arumat!

[She's not concerned about the others, she's pushing her way through the already-living because he looks right at her and she is all impulse and instinct and misery and one of the friends she's missed so, so much is right there and he is as real as anything is and—

And he's already collapsed before she's there, and Clover stops, drops to her knees; she's stupid enough to check for a pulse and her hands shake so badly the scythe fumbles from her grip and clatters to the ground next to her, tries three, four, five times before she can steady her fingers on his neck and there's nothing there, of course there's nothing there.

Clover looks up at the others for a long moment, and she takes in everyone else's expressions and knows it wasn't just her. She hasn't made it up. It's real, for a moment it was real.

She wonders how, and why now, and if it could have been anyone. If they could have stayed.

And she covers her face with her hands and starts bawling.]

[chiseler]

[Alarms never mean anything good. Alarms always mean something bad. You'd think that Luke would learn not to run after alarms...but Luke's never been good at impulse control. As such, Luke and Adam both burst into the hallway just about the time the elevator opens and he's left staring as the bodies come out one by one. He takes in what they're saying, and his mouth moves to try for words for the friends he's lost and people who've bothered caring and trying to keep him going in this stupid game. Bad news is still news and he hates it, hates what this is about.

The only time he moves is when Kazuma stumbles out last and he immediately draws his sword and pulls Adam by the elbow behind him, but it's useless. It's useless because the bodies collapse immediately after and he looks puzzled, Backbiter poised in the air.]

....what? There's no way. [And why not? He's here, after all. This...is too much. It's too much and he looks at everyone else in the hall as his eyes sweep over the corpses on the ground. His reaction isn't like Clover's, but he's biting his lip anyway. And even if they can't hear him, he mumbles shortly after.] ...thank you. For everything.

[antietam]

[ Adam watches but almost moves when he sees Arumat, wants to run toward him and ask what's happened and how they're here, but they keep coming and... they're not right. This isn't right. He grabs onto Luke in shock and doesn't even mind being shielded from Kazuma because—shit. That's going to be a problem, but then...

They're gone. Adam almost feels sick watching them die all over again, but was it even really them? He watches Luke and then nods at the thanks in agreement, not entirely sure how to talk to these lifeless husks. ]

The... when the admiral talked about brain scans being part of the project. Is this it? Is that... what they were trying to do?

[chiseler]

I don't know...but it's not looking like it's much of a success. [With the bodies on the ground, he's careful to step closer though he's keeping Adam shielded.] How...did they get out of the game or whatever and into the elevator? I don't get it.

[antietam]

[ Adam moves away from the shielding now that Kazuma looks pretty dead, but he does have Adelina's sword out just in case. ]

Yeah, where exactly did they come from? From the top deck... That room you found with the pods, maybe? Replicas of our bodies are being kept. [ What the fuck. ]

[erythristic]

[when they drop, the world explodes, and yet it's muted. everything happening in the background, and Grell doesn't know what to think. the warning will be taken as a source of panic, everyone will try to furiously find a third option -

but that doesn't matter, right now. two of those were friends. the others were beloved. these were their bodies, again. they can't do anything or restore the light in them, and even if she cuts them open, she expects there will be nothing there.

while the others cry, Grell kneels down by the bodies and reaches out to close all of their eyes for them. that slight degree of dignity for those that fought so hard to return.]

Thank you.

[it's murmured to the last of the corpses she touches, Kazuma.]

[antagonize]

[Ah. This sure happened.

It's not like the dead walking among the living is unheard of. Luke is here, after all. And even Jason himself has vague memories of crawling out of his own grave. But that doesn't mean he's prepared to be greeted by the (friends and) acquaintances that have died on this ship. If anything, he expected the alarm to lead him to yet another crime scene. Not this. Not — whatever the heck this is.

It takes him a moment to react, and then he's wordlessly approaching the bodies. He checks Elizabeth's pulse first, and then Adelina's, Shelley's and Arumat's. There's nothing, of course, but... that doesn't stop him from making sure. Seeing them looking so alive just makes this whole situation more troubling. As if the news they just delivered weren't distressing enough.]

... Goddamn it.

[The AI is an asshole and the true treasure was the friends we killed along the way. What else is new?]

[tevinteriscoming]

[He exists his room quickly, looking drained, but not as though he hasn't slept. He doesn't sleep on Thursday evenings anymore. He's expecting more bloodshed, at that it might be quite terrible, but he isn't expecting --

They're really standing there. Kazuma and Shelley, who had met such terrible ends. Elizabeth, whose corpse had been on a table in front of them only days earlier. Adelina, whom he'd comforted, trying to instill hope in her that this wasn't really the end, though not believing it himself. He'd tried a number of tests and tricks to assuage his own fears, but there was always his own nagging doubts. He'd been well trained, after all, to suspect tricks of the eye and of the mind that were too good to be true. Even this could be some trick of a manipulator, except for.

Arumat. He doesn't expect the wave of dizziness that washes over him when he sees him. As he watches him collapse, his eyes going dead and his body lifeless. It's not the first time he watched that happen, and the memory surprises him with how vivid it is. He swears he can hear the sound of strangulation, even, though plainly that isn't what's happening here. It doesn't matter. His heart is hammering the same way, and he braces himself against the wall, staying back.

It would be easier if only he could also see -- the memory vivid again, face frightening, hands steady, enough to make Dorian wonder whether -- but that wasn't who he was at all. Not really, not ever when it mattered. He needs to remember that, but it's suddenly difficult.

If he had any choice, he never would have missed this opportunity. Surely he wouldn't have. But now isn't the time to wonder why, is it? One brief moment more, to hold himself up against the wall, and then he'll move on.]