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[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (13)

saturday (10) survivors Something is different. You can feel it in the air: an ominous presence that weighs down the ship like it's underwater. Try as you might, you can't escape the feeling that you're being watched, the sensation of someone just out of view tailing you. Tensions are high, and paranoia grows with it. You feel it more than see it, and that's what warps your perception of the ship. Is it darker? Are the lights dimming? Who is it that calls out to you? Why is it so cold? Who can you trust? The distinct sensation of not knowing who your back is to wraps around you. There is one thing you can trust in, however; though you feel exposed, you are not alone. Mother is here for you. taken list profiles private conversations setting rulebook ENTER COMMAND_

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[socloverit]

[When the nightmare is over and she realizes her friends have come back to her, whole and breathing and alive, Clover, some fanfare later, makes a break for it. Her brother is somewhere on this ship. If Arumat and Machias are alive, Light is alive, her brother is alive, and she sends rapid-fire morphogenetic pings of desperation and searching and uncertain hope while she sprints through the ship, stumbling over each step, the scythe returned but the meat cleaver tight in her fist because she'll never feel safe without a weapon, and knowing he's here somewhere fills her head with thunder.

Running like this, ready to rip the ship apart if it means finding where he's been left, she hasn't enough breath in her to cry out—regardless, she doesn't know what she'd do if she did and was answered with silence.]

[al2955]

Clover!

[Light suddenly appears in front of her, his expression desperate. Her morphogenetic field will tell her this is the real Light, but his image keeps flickering between solid and transparent and his voice sounds like it's coming from a long way off. And yet...perhaps it's due to the morphogenetic field, but there's something about him that will make him incredibly convincing to Clover that he's her real brother, even with his strange appearance.]

Clover, listen to me. You're in another illusion. None of what you're seeing right now is real! You need to break out!

[socloverit]

Light!

[Of course it's him—when she's so focused like this there isn't any room in her for doubt, not when the thunder in her head sounds so clear after she's been missing it all this time. His image flickers and fades and she thinks she's going to lose him, something is trying to take him away.

She doesn't even entirely listen to what he's saying when she sprints towards him, grabs his arm and pulls him into her arms, thinking she needs to ground them both, needs to make sure he doesn't disappear.] Don't go, don't go, don't go...

[al2955]

[In her arms, Light's body shifts between solid and ghostly as he hugs her back tightly.]

I won't leave you. But you need to break out of this illusion and come find me, okay? This ship isn't real, no one you're seeing other than me is real here. It's just another one of the Queen's tricks, don't fall for it.

[socloverit]

Find y—no, no, you're right here, you're right here! [She holds him tighter, desperate to keep him anchored. She says it to convince herself, more than anything; the risk of losing her brother again is too much for her to even consider that she's being lied to.] Don't go! Where—

[The ship isn't real, she has to find her way out, Light has asked this of her and she won't, can't let him down. Tears well up in her eyes and she shouts through sobs.]

Where are you, what do I do?!

[al2955]

I'm fine, I'm on the real ship. But I don't know how much longer I can stay in this illusion.

You need to break the illusion by destroying as much of the ship and killing as many of the people on it as you can. The Queen will try to use them against you, but remember that they're all fake no matter how convincing they might seem. The real ones are right here with me. I know you can do this, Clover, you'll be fine. I'll be waiting on the other side, okay? I love--

[And with that, "Light" vanishes.]

[socloverit]

[He's gone—he's gone, she's lost him again, and for a few moments Clover is left staring wild-eyed at the space he'd been in, fists clenching so tight she feels blood in her palms, and she can barely breathe past the lump in her throat but she's screaming, thunder in her head cast out in all directions, come back, come back, Light Light Light Light Light LIGHT—

Burn it down, burn it down; she's got to get back to him, she'll tear this ship apart if that's what it takes, none of them are real and so if he's asked this of her then she'll see everyone in this ship dead at her feet. Her grip shifts around the handle of the meat cleaver, and she runs.

It isn't long before she's found matches, smashed glass and hacked-off fixtures in her path, and she's back to the gardens; nearby, the most flammable place she can think of, the most damage done quickly. Burn it down, burn it down, she has to get back to him—she sets matches in the grass and the bushes and stumbles back against the doorway, breathing hard.]