cradleproject | WEEK 11

WEEK 11

the pygmalion. . .

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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
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ENTER COMMAND_

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You know that won't work.

[ there's a hand on judar's arm, as yuno steadies herself. tears stain her cheeks, but she looks up toward him with conviction. ]

We need a body. A real body. [ and with a tight inhale, her voice comes with the barest hint of quake in it. ]

If we need that body, it can be me. By Sunday, if no one's killed, then I'll... you can use me.

Not to rain on your self-sacrificial parade, but offering yourself up as a victim? Pretty damn sure it's the same as attempting suicide, according to our dear, ol' AI.

Jason, I--

[ an apology is actually on the tip of her tongue. she gets it, now. staying calm in the face of tragedy, after watching liz die... yuno inhales. ]

If I go home, I'm dying anyway. I might as well make it count here... are you sure the suicide clause will catch it?

[He's raising an eyebrow when she says his name, but when she cuts herself off... he shakes his head.]

Where I come from, asking someone else to kill you is called "assisted suicide". Think someone might have asked Alice about it a couple weeks ago, too, actually. [But he's not sure, so. Whatever.] But why the hell would you be dying? You're supposed to be some kind of god, not a dead man walking like Luke and I.

[Never mind that he hasn't been dead in a while, but nobody has to know.]

[ there's a short laugh, and she looks up at him with a subdued, tired smile. it's been a long, long time, jason, and she snapped at you last week. now... ]

If it won't work, then it won't work. [ she'll admit that. ] I keep hoping... that maybe the immunity will protect them. But our hands are tied.

[ but his question gives her pause. she answers, and her smile slips away. ] The prize for winning the game back home is godhood. I already won that prize. I don't want it anymore, so I went back in time. The only way to win the game is to kill everyone else, to be the last man standing.

[ ...like. think about that, for a second. she fully intends to die when she goes home, because she has no choice in this matter. she's already signed up for the game. ]

Hey. [Yeah guess who's stepping into this conversation real fast.] Yuno, I...[Ugh this is complicated.] We don't even know if we're gonna get home, especially if we die in this game. What would happen to the killing game if you weren't able to go back? What about Yukki then?

[ yuno swallows hard, and she imagines yukki's death in her mind again, because that's what will occur. without a doubt, yuno's absence from the game will mean that yukiteru amano will die.

or maybe he'll survive and become god. he's first for a reason; he is deus' favorite. her eyes widen as if she's comprehending something, but she thinks only about yukki's dead body next to her. she shakes it harshly, trying so hard, too hard, to rouse him. it doesn't work. he's dead, and it's all her fault.

yuno's brain shuts down at the memory, and what she chokes out is: ]

...Who?

[...well this is fine.]

Yuno. [But he's also not the most tactful so he pauses, shutting his eyes for a moment to think this through.] ...stay with us, okay? Jason's right, we don't know if this would count as an assisted suicide or not and then it'd be pointless anyway. It's better if we stick together and don't sacrifice anybody.

I don't understand? I'm right here, Luke.

[ but let's be clear, here, he's not wrong to think she's cracked a little. ]

It's okay. We'll figure this out... we always do... Don't we, Luke? Always, always, always...

[ oh my god. ]

[INTERNAL RAPTOR SHRIEKING.]

Y-yeah. Always. [Oh gods okay somebody else take over.] But you've gotta think carefully about what we're doing. This is gonna affect us and the other ship. That's all I'm asking.

[Judar stares at her blankly for a moment - and then he rips his arm away, his face growing furious.]

The fuck are you trying to say? Don't be so eager to die, idiot! You're not being a hero, you're just being selfish!

[ the anger is noted, but she meets it with a sympathetic smile. ]

I'm not a hero. [ not by a long shot. in her eyes, jack's the hero of this tale. she's just an abandoned child. ] I know it's selfish. I don't want to live in a world where people I love are suffering.

[ that includes you, dummy. it's implied in her tone, the fondness in it. ] So if I can prevent, then I want to.

[Ew no??? Get these feelings away from him?? He'd gag, but this topic actually makes him angry enough to overlook it and be serious for once.]

Everyone suffers. It's part of life. The people you care about will suffer whether you're around to see it or not. You don't have the determination to spit back in its face and see it through, then maybe you're right - maybe you're not strong enough to live after all.

[He laughs, a low and harsh sound.] Yeah? And then what? You die, everyone on Nuwa dies, and we're still stuck playing this shitty game with who knows how many aliens left - you think we'll be happy about that? You think death is an escape now, after we just saw them come back to life? Don't be a fucking coward.

[ as far as she's concerned, being alive, being born, that was where her first mistake was made. so when judar says she isn't strong enough to live, frustration dawns upon her features and yuno clutches a hand to her chest. ]

I don't know. If everyone on the Nuwa can't kill, then maybe the AI wasn't ever going to kill them, right...? Remember, Luke was in the room with the mine and didn't die--

[ but then she thinks of her mother, and yuno wants to sit and cry. she thinks of disappointing her mother, again, for the nth time, and tears well in her eyes. ]

Do you really think I shouldn't, Judar?

[See, it's the opposite for him; he's well aware that there's really no reason for him to still be alive aside from sheer spite. He has no greater goals beyond revenge, no purpose except a desire to be entertained - and yet here he is anyway, despite everything life's thrown at him.

So to hear Yuno just give up despite her previous determination to get back home - it sends a cold fury down his spine. There's a lot of things he'd disgusted by, but martyrdom's near the top of that list.]

If they were given immunity by whatever's in charge, it can be taken away from them easily enough. Or maybe they'll just empty the entire ship into space. After the past two months, you really gonna hope for the best from them?

[His expression flattens at her question.] I don't care? It's your conviction that matters here, not mine. If you need someone else to decide for you something as simple as whether or not you want to live, then you already have your answer.

Hah.

...Hahaha... Ahahahahaha! You think it'll end there for me? That's what it is, right? You think I'm stupid enough to think that I'd let death keep me from the people I love, right, Judar? Hahahaha... Ahahahahahahahaha!!!

[ of course not. yuno would not roll over and let death take her. death is her fucking bitch, she's avoided it all this time. it can't capture her. not not, not ever. suggesting she die for the ship's benefit is a form of showing that: she decides when she dies, no one else. she decides what her death means. she chooses death, does not calmly go into it's embrace like a swaddled newborn ready for the next world. no.

she'll stay and haunt every fucking one of you.

and her voice drops, the pitch somewhere low and deep and yet somehow natural, even if she's been using a pitch so high and squeaky all this time. ]

I was always going to die. Whether or not I want to live isn't relevant. But death won't stop me, you know that. When you're alone, and you feel a cold rush, think of me, Judar.

I'll fucking find you. You're like the brother I never had, always encouraging me... even now, that's what you're doing. Telling me to live if I want to, or die if I want to. To make my own decision... I'm not stupid, but I'll do what's necessary.

But just for you, Big Bro♡, I'll make the decision.

Nuwa's AI could be lying, or Alice could be lying. One of them isn't telling the truth, and not acting could get both ships purged, right? Then let's die together, in that case. If we die, cling to me and I'll show you how to make life beg for you back. Death can reject you, you know that? Let's force it to.

[ ok she's just being crazy but... ok. ]

[Yeah, that's definitely the kind of behavior that should creep him out and get him to reevaluate his relationship with Yuno along with all of his life choices.

It is definitely not the kind of behavior that should get him to break out into genuinely delighted laughter, but there he goes anyway...then again, this probably isn't a surprise to Yuno at least. This determination verging on insanity, this single-minded drive was what had caught his interest about her from the start after all, enough that he'll even ignore the comments about being her brother for now. (He'll definitely protest later once he remembers though.)]

Hey, that's the spirit! Couldn't have pulled that out earlier instead of that fucking garbage you were spewing about sacrificing yourself? You had me worried there for a moment, Yuno!

[And while Judar's actually been doing a relatively decent job at suppressing his crazier side while on this ship, those last comments finally get him to break out into a twisted grin, a wild light in his eyes that might even match her own.]

I don't need your help rejecting fate, I've been doing it all my life! Alice thinks she can bind our destiny to her shitty rules and her shitty game? Then let's break it, even if it means we risk plunging this ship into the abyss! If we die, better it be on our terms than hers!

[he says even though he has no idea...how...whoops]

They most certainly will not.

[she says this in a tone that will tolerate no arguing.]

I won't let you die, Yuno. You're worth far too much.

[too much to me, is what she means.]

[ this -- this hurts yuno the most. the firm, motherly tone. it frightens her, at first, and she's afraid of the cage. nothing happens, though she puts up her arms, stepping away from grell, just in case she's about to grabbed and dragged away. she stands still, shocked, for a moment. ]

I...

[ don't matter much. as far as she is concerned, protecting people... that's what her life is best used for. ]

Is there a better solution?

[what Yuno probably doesn't expect is the flash of concern that crosses Grell's face as she backs away from her, the way she too late realizes what probably did it. she didn't mean to frighten her.]

There has to be. Something else, some other way to get around things. Something that means you don't have to die.

[ yuno's arms fall, back to her side. but they stay tense, her hands clenched into fists.

she can't talk. she can't respond. she can only let out a squeak of fear, and tears threaten to pour down her cheeks. it's the last push she needs. ]

We have to find it fast, then.

We do.

[slowly, she steps closer to Yuno. slow, so she can see there is no threat. and yes she is taken hold of, but it's only so Grell can wrap her arms around her, embracing her securely. it's going to be okay - she'll lie and say it will be, if she has to.]

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WEEK 11

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