cradleproject | WEEK 13 - I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.

WEEK 13 - I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.

the pygmalion. . .

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CAPTAIN'S LOG:
WEEK (13)

sunday

(41) survivors

Something in the air breaks, shattering from deep within space itself - and to accompany that sensation is a psychic scream. The ship shakes, coming to a screeching halt as a bright light explodes outside it. It pulses, not unlike a heartbeat, that crawls and crawls along at a slow, grueling pace. The last illusion has been broken, the last mental tie severed and crushed. You've done well up until now, and you can reap the benefits of Her labor; the dead walk among you, after all, and as Her scream rings out, a burst of energy shoots through the residents of the Pygmalion. It's clearly a desperate bid, but it doesn't root itself in place. Instead, you feel lighter than ever - Her attempt to claim you has only unraveled the string that kept you in place. The 40% limit has been lifted, and you are at full capacity.

The chains have been broken.

Go freely, heroes.

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[ . . . ]

Alright.

[ honestly, he's just going to tell jason to get over it and move tf on because relationships are dumb anyway. god, jason. of course you got a girlfriend, weren't you focused on the task at hand? pathetic. ]

Yes. Tell me as much as you can so I can at least get some bandages together for when you arrive. I didn't expect him to be so injured. Are all of you that wounded?

Fair enough. Though I doubt he would care if you chose for him, being his beloved wife.

[ listen saika sucks. rose probably hates her? everyone hates saika. I know nothing about saika. ]

I meant regarding the drivers, yes. Who would be afraid of driving through a cosmic alien eyeball belonging to a being likely made of pure, primordial evil?

[ there's a bit of silence before he responds and he still sounds frustrated but he's firm in his reply, not wanting to dwell any longer than he needs to. ]

Please do. If he's scared, that's understandable -- but tell him, if you can, that it doesn't matter what happened in Gotham. What's happening here is more important right now and -- and we're family. So, I'll protect him here. [ . . . ] If he needs it, I'll protect him.

[ he sure wish he could tell that to jason HIMSELF but jason's being a fucking asshole right now and bruce is hoping maybe that can fix it a bit, if his words reach him. jason will understand what he means, he thinks. ]

[ like. physically only, bruce? can they ask for some xanax? because she's pretty sure she needs some kind of antidepressant at this point and probably the rest of the ship too? she hesitates in her response. ]

Out of the ten who lived through the whole game, yeah. All of us are injured. Aside from Dave, and I gave Adrien his hand back, so he's fine. [ she sounds pretty pleased with that last bit, though. as strange as it sounds...?? ] Jason got his wounds from the aliens. [ which hopefully... communicates how hard jason has been trying, she thinks? like. punish him but also, she's not the type of person to spitefully try to keep someone from bonding with the parent. not anymore. ]

We've been surviving but if you've got... a doctor, that would be immensely helpful. [ a beat. ] Are you a doctor, sir?

Rose: I hope you two are able to repair whatever old wounds you have between you.
Rose: You're a good father.
Rose: No, not as of yet. But my mother said he was passed out "w/ his bf" so either he made a new best friend, or he's cheating on his wife.
Rose: I'm not certain if we want to know the full extent of the goings on of the Pygmalion or not.

[ oh my god. oh my god. there's a squeak and yuno is totally hiding her face in her hands. she is so embarrassed. rose no

also you dont need to know anything about saika to know shes the worst. even gabriel agreste hates her. she is the worst. ]

You're probably being sarcastic, but if you knew either of them, you'd understand. Not to mention that we've got enough people with reality warping abilities that we can really give her some awful burns. [ like she's not clear on roxy, but she's god tier like dave, so she assumes she's just as stupidly op?? and elizabeth and her have the same powers. they're fine, gosh, rose ] It'll be fine. I'll be bringing Dave up to visit you soon enough. Don't worry about us, we've got a long future ahead of us.

[ rose is getting the sense that maybe this guy isn't too bright. ]

"Hilarious" is not the word I'd use, but it would certainly be frustrating. Not a fan of artificial intelligences?

It's a go... [ he wants to say good, but with her appearance looking more adult than before, he immediately corrects himself. ] ...it's definitely not a bad look for you. Don't worry. I'll get a better look at it soon.

[ but then he realizes that she wasn't exactly talking about her appearance any longer annnnd is now feeling like an idiot. god, he wouldn't give two shits about the things that come out of his mouth if it was to anyone else he's crossed paths with. Elizabeth, on the other hand, was a bit more unique.

moving along before this gets any worse! ]

I know I wouldn't have been able to stop much. Couldn't stop shit here. But I would have felt better knowing you were... nevermind.

[ he's listening to her plan of action and it's hard to think of what he wanted to even talk about. there were questions and concerns, opinions and thoughts, but nothing seemed right for the moment. Booker just wished they didn't have to do this through video. imagine his brows immediately furrowing when she starts talking about the use of her powers, though. that immediately takes precedence. ]

You better be joking when you say you're going to use your powers to that extent. Tell me you're joking, Elizabeth.

[ while it's possible to spot a blonde in the back of some of the transmissions, annabeth mostly doesn't bother to skype - though she will if you say something to her as she's passing through, eyes locked on her tablet as she scrolls through something or another.

a little while after the nuwa transmissions are open, however, a paint chat option will pop up. annabeth has had all the time since their game ended to fuck around with the tablets. coding can be a little like weaving - if it's a useful outcome, her hands tend to do what they want and it tends to work out. athena's kids don't have a ton of flashy powers, but what they do have is useful.

so. it's a paint-chat coded solely so she could keep her notes on her tablet, originally, but now used for the following purpose:

text written out in a mostly neat hand in ancient greek. so you're kind of shit out of luck if you can't read that, but given that she's trying to contact one person in particular, annabeth isn't bothered by the details. ]

Your dagger fell into Tartarus. It was Arachne's fault.

[ that more or less functions as "hello" for a girl who'd once tried to murder luke a bit with a hammer at their first meeting and who had once told percy jackson he drooled in his sleep rather than, like, praising him. it should make luke respond. it should make luke respond enough she can have a better gauge for whether or not this is a trick or actually legitimately luke.

if you can read ancient greek and aren't luke castellan you can reply to that. or. you can flag annabeth down if you see her passing by through skype. or, you know, try to write at her in english and she'll respond in kind, but more slowly. ]

[Truthfully, the moment Nuwa transmissions opened Luke started freaking out just a little. It wasn't his usual freaking out where he was yelling and probably threatening to knock over chairs because he didn't have words. This was a freaking out that left him oddly silent as he watched the way people latched onto the communication hub and began conversing with people on the other ship. You'd think that Luke would jump at the chance...

...but no. He sits back and he stares at the tablet in his hand as he thinks. He could talk to Annabeth now, but what the hell would he even say to her? He's mulling over that option and there are one or two people left on this ship he might actually confide that fear to but otherwise he keeps to himself.

After a while though, he doesn't get a choice. There's a message that pops up and he blinks at it. He reads it once, and then twice, and then a third time as things fall into place. First of all, he can read the message clearly without even struggling as it's written in a language he can easily read. Second of all, Annabeth mentions the dagger and that's enough to pique his curiosity. But third of all, that dagger's now apparently gone and he frowns heavily. There's a brief moment as he figures out how to activate the paint chat on his own tablet via Annabeth's message, but soon enough there's one back also written in ancient greek.]

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WHY WERE YOU IN TARTARUS? HOW DID ARACHNE ??????

[There's a few incoherent scribbles that appear to be Luke expressing some of his confusion and frustration, but eventually he writes again.]

Explanation? [Perhaps most people would say "are you okay?" but Luke is not most people and he knows Annabeth. She wouldn't let herself not be okay. (And of course this is much, much easier than the awkward questions that'll surely come later)]

[Excuse you Bruce he's technically an adult!!]

So you're being an overprotective parent. That's something. [He pauses again.] Maybe I can help you out until you can talk to Jason. What's the last thing you actually heard about us? Sunny said you've been watching for a little while.

[ that's luke's handwriting but that's still stuff that anyone could have written. annabeth twists the beads on her necklace, toys with percy's coral pendant. she could just ask him for something no one else knows. she should probably do that.

instead she gives him a response exactly as helpful as his own response. ]

What I said.
I fell in with my boyfriend. I also lost my laptop.
My fatal flaw.

[ .............WHICH IS TO SAY NOT AT ALL HELPFUL. ]

[ but okay. just taking out her annoyance on maybe-luke isn't a good move and it isn't going to get her anywhere. she's been thinking about questions she could ask for weeks, and still hasn't come up with anything she feels would confirm it one way or the other. their memories are probably compromised. everything else has been, after all.

she'll ask the possibilities anyway. maybe she'll learn something. ]

How did we first meet? And what's the last thing I said to you, the last time we talked?

[In a weird way, he feels something in his chest twist when he reads those words and it's in that instant that he realizes that something had happened. Really, it's the word boyfriend that throws him for a loop because he doesn't really recall that she and Percy (because who else would it be?) were dating. Why would she have Daedalus' laptop in Tartarus? She still didn't actually explain what she was doing in the Underworld either.

Just how much time had passed? He's not sure he wants an answer just yet.

Annabeth has always focused on knowledge and proof. Unlike Annabeth, it's never occurred to Luke this may not be her, but now he has to wonder just what kind of Annabeth this is. Maybe from another timeline? He's uncertain, but the words are painted clearly.]

Richmond Iron Works. Me and Thalia just retrieved Aegis. You threw a hammer at my face and I'm still glad I dodged that. You were seven. I was fourteen. Thalia was twelve. You were still in your pajamas and that same night I gave you that dagger which is now apparently in the depths of Tartarus.

[...but he's unsure again.] You're really testing me, aren't you? Do you wanna know about the part where you thought I'd go to Elysium, or the part where you said you didn't love me while Percy stood by on the sidelines? I remember both.

Edited 2016-09-06 08:32 (UTC)

[

she wants to kick his face in a little bit and that actually makes a compelling argument that this is in fact luke. but being luke doesn't mean he's not a remnant, like beryl grace. except she doesn't think he's acting like a remnant.

just like luke castellan. it's not enough to be sure, but that's partly because she can't believe the universe would put something even halfway nice in her path at this point. ]

Of course I'm testing you. You only partially passed, by the way.

I said I loved you like a brother. Not that I didn't love you.

[ this is a stupid conversation. ]

You're partially passing in favor of actually being Luke Castellan, though. Congratulations.

[a few thoughts come to mind as he says that, all swiftly dismissed. not to talk about it ever and forget it ever occurred, that she would never put him through that again, that he should have left when the choice was there before him. it would be easier if he were less frank, sought to disguise his meaning in other words which she could pretend to interpret differently. but he is what he is, and so it is plain before them.

(I think as long as we steer clear of any alien queens, then going through hell won't be a necessity.)

it's the same sort of oddness she'd felt when he'd helped patch up her arm. gratitude that he was there, something like shame that it happened at all. everything's turned rightside in again, to hopefully stay there and become controlled. and yet...did it have to be controlled relying solely on her own strength? perhaps. perhaps not. time they might not have would tell.

so what comes out is so simple, and yet it says enough.]

...thank you.

[for the promise, and for everything else.]

[She may want to kick him in the face, but all he can do is let out a surprised choked sort of laughter at her response. Annabeth has never gone easy on him. (Thalia had never gone easy on him either. Most of the girls in his life were complicated creatures and part of him wondered what that said about him personally.) No matter. He's borderline amused by her words and at the same time it's a barbed conversation with little holes in it that he's not sure how to avoid. Partially passing is something when it comes to Annabeth though.]

What, I'm not allowed to paraphrase? I believe the words were: "There was a time I thought...you were like a brother to me, but I didn't love you." I got the video reminder a few weeks ago. So. I'd ask "what do I have to do to fully pass" but since you're YOU you won't actually tell me. Partially passing's still pretty good for some people isn't it? [Some people. Even the way it's written indicates that it's not good enough for him and they both know it.]

[ to be fair she wants to strangle percy sometimes, too. luke is surrounded by complicated girls. annabeth has boys who annoy her half to death off and on. what does that say about her?

he's gotten all the questions right. but the "motives" had known things they shouldn't have known, too. ]

Apparently. I wouldn't suggest that to anyone from Six, though.

[ athena's children don't like failing tests? ]

Am I fully passing?

[ she doesn't think he's even bothering to test her. but luke and thalia had never really thought like that, precisely. and she'd liked that about them.

she still liked that about them. ]

Edited 2016-09-06 09:06 (UTC)

[Demigods are crazy that way, it seems. He isn't remotely surprised that she asks the question though he's lingering on an answer. Instead, he addresses the first piece.]

That's because you and your siblings are all over-the-top overachievers. I'd hate to see what any of you would do with "partial passing."

[He doodles again, little lines that mean nothing though she'll probably recognize some drawings. A pegasus from the front of the CHB shirts, Thalia's pine tree, the owl carved over the door of Cabin 6. Simple little things to fill in the space of time he doesn't have an answer.]

Annabeth, I think it's a little late for me to be testing you. We're on our way to the Nuwa, what do you think? [Annabeth has always been a priority even when Kronos had brainwashed him. In his own fucked-up way he tried to protect her, sort of. Now knowing she was a ship away, he'd still do whatever he could to reach her. Did she pass the reality test? Even if she was a different Annabeth than the one he remembered, she was still an Annabeth. That was enough.]

So you're saying I get full marks.

[ not that it matters if he says it (it matters a little bit). annabeth isn't really one for doodling in the casual sense of the word. she makes plans. she sketches layouts or architecture. while she waited for him to keep writing, she'd started her own little drawings.

roman arches. the symbol of frey. a chinese finger trap.

they're not meaningless, but she doesn't explain.

she adds some detail to his cabin six owl, too. ]

I'd intended to wait to speak to you in person.

[ she got impatient. bruce and rose and everyone else are speaking to their "hostages" and they believe them fully. but their hostages are (mostly) living people. ]

Passed with flying colors, even. [It's hard to say if it's true (but of course it is. Being back in his right mind, maybe he's a little more willing to be agreeable and make the world as perfect for her as possible.) The drawings receive little question marks next to them, and again, it confirms that time has passed for her. He doesn't know what any of this means, why she's drawing these specific items, but it's not the time to ask.]

And that would require patience which is sort of a problem for us, isn't it? We might not be there for a little while. We're still flying. [He starts to form words, figures smearing as he tries again to formulate a thought.] It's been my goal for a couple of weeks to get to the Nuwa, but I didn't think I'd speak to you before then anyway. Weird, isn't it?

[ The sheets and pillows will make up for Kazuma's boniness. Besides, Allen isn't too picky about this stuff.

After a long while, he'll turn his head a little and murmur a question, low enough so if Kazuma is still sleeping, it won't wake him. But should he be awake, it'll catch his attention. ]

Kazuma... what will you say to him when you meet again? [ There's probably no need to elaborate on who the "him" is. ]

[ she adds "spqr" after the question mark by the arches. the symbol of frey takes longer. she has to sketch magnus's face from memory. it's enough like hers to make it obvious they share blood, but it's not divine blood they share. athena's children share features, but not the chase features. she leaves the finger trap alone. ]

I didn't expect to get to speak to you again. So sort of. On the other hand, weird is a subjective thing and I may have hit my limit at some point in the last year. Or before that.

We haven't had much word on what the Pygmalion has been doing until very recently.

[ That's awfully nice of Machias. Allen nicely tosses an extra pillow at Machias's face, ducking into the sheets wrapped around him to hide his smile. ]

Mm. Your stress level must be a million times higher than mine. I'd say you deserve all the rest you can get.

Hey, you.

[ It comes out soft, more of a breath than actual words. His eyes remain closed, but Arumat has a very particular way in which he moves, and by now, Allen can recognize it. ]

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WEEK 13 - I can't lie to you about your chances, but you have my sympathies.

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