WEEK 1 - Online

[al2955]

the pygmalion. . . ONLINE CAPTAIN'S LOG: WEEK (1)

monday (41) survivors It had been three days since you had awoken. The ship was still quiet, except for the low hums of enigmatic machines with no apparent purpose. You awake, like usual, to dim lighting and poor rations. Perhaps being on the ship had grown monotonous — it was, perhaps, amazing how little anything seemed to happen in space, a final frontier of malaise. That monotony is crushed by a voice echoing through the narrow hallways. Reformatting . . . Reformatting . . . Reformatting complete. The Pygmalion is online. Welcome, travelers. Please assemble in the meeting room. Your presence is mandatory. Silence falls once again. A minute or so passes, and the lights around the ship finally brighten, the walls looking more alive and more unfamiliar — as if you must relearn the ship's interior once again. The robots on deck begin to make rounds, nudging and pushing at the ship's passengers to make their way to the meeting room. You hear the doors behind you lock. It seems there is only one path to take. ENTER COMMAND_

Comments

[chiseler]

[Well...this sure does explain quite a bit. There's a sense of very brief panic almost as he realizes there're a few key things about himself missing from his profile (and missing from himself and this just confirms that), but then again maybe that's for the best if everybody can see the thing. So of course he's going to be nosy and read everybody else's.]

Huh. All right then...[And that's all he says even as he slowly reads through all of them.]

[parodeity]

What's it like having a sword whose name you can actually fucking pronounce? Must be nice.

[ fuck welsh shit ]

[chiseler]

[You know what. He's been staring at Dave's for a while because look bro, reading is kinda complicated sometimes as it is. What the hell is that? But hey.]

Trust me, it is. Made up the name myself and everything. [He's. Still trying to puzzle out Dave's.] Should've known the Knight of Time would have a sword too.

[parodeity]

I can't even pronounce Caledfwlch so don't bother trying to ask me about it. [ he. stumbles over that. he thinks maybe he is close??? but. who knows. ] And fuck yeah I do, swords are the shit. This one isn't even broken.

[chiseler]

[A for effort at least.] You usually fight with a broken sword?

[parodeity]

Breaking swords is like, one of my skills. Hey, shit, that should be on my skills list. Who do I call to update this thing?

[ ALSO. also. he has like webcomic drawing skills (no) why aren't they here? ]

[chiseler]

If you find out, point me in their direction. There's a lot of things on my list I've gotta fix. [...there's a pause.] You only break your own swords, right?

[parodeity]

Yeah that is pretty much a thing I do. Don't worry, dude, I'm not gonna break your sword. That would be majorly uncool?

[ also rude ]

[chiseler]

And I'd hate to think of you as uncool. [Sarcasm, serious, hard to say. There's one thing bugging him though.] If we've got these things, where are they? [And in his case, how'd they get the thing?]

[bloodbiter]

Backbiter is an excellent name.

[swords are cool: the most important contribution.]

[chiseler]

Glad you like it. [Even if he seems a little wary of it for the time being. Backbiter sure does have some history.] Just assumed it was the most appropriate name for a double-edged sword. [And he's swishing through the holograms until he lands on Adelina's profile.]

You too?

[bloodbiter]

Bloodbiter. Interestingly similar, though I do wonder why they included some names and not others. I suppose it's no matter.

[chiseler]

Probably the same reason some things have proper names and others don't. You wouldn't call the Empire State Building just a building would you?

[bloodbiter]

I feel I would need to know what building you're speaking of to judge correctly.

[chiseler]

How do you not know what that is? It's one of the most famous skyscrapers in the country. 102 stories tall--[Current home to Mount Olympus]--right in the center of Manhattan? [A pause.] Where are you even from?

[bloodbiter]

I am from Bamarre, and I have never heard of this Manhattan. Is it a village?

[chiseler]

[He actually laughs in surprise, if only because Manhattan's...the furthest from a village. Sorry Addie.] If you count a place with more tall buildings than you can count and over a million people a village, sure. It's more of a city. Biggest part of New York City.

What's Bamarre?

[bloodteller]

[ okay, so she couldn't stop luke from reading her's. fine. she'll read his. it's a topic for conversation at least. ]

Lock-breaking and thievery? [ well, you kind of need to know hand to hand combat for such skills. just to keep yourself safe. ]

Did you manage that here? [ no point not being blunt. he knows her weight now, the horror!! ]

[chiseler]

[Oh hello Yuno he sure does have questions for you. But he'll just let her ask her questions, casually shrugging to himself.]

Haven't had the chance to try it out. [Which is partially true.] You wouldn't go all in with all of your secrets right from the start, would you?

[bloodteller]

...It looks like none of us have a choice in that matter.

[ there's a short pause as she observes that scar, only staring. ...probably not the best idea to stare when you've been outed as a stalker, though. ]

Backbiter...? [ such a name gives a certain impression, but she's sure that he knows. ]

[chiseler]

[He's used to people staring. It bothers him a lot less now, but he settles for staring right back. Two can play that game.]

The most appropriate name for a sword that bites back at just about everybody it encounters. One of a kind back where I'm from. [It's the first piece that has him thinking though.] Bet there's still some things the AI doesn't know about us anyway. And even if it knows? Nobody else does. I'd call that a choice.

[bloodteller]

[ that's fair enough, she supposes. there's certainly a key factor of her own not included on her card, and yuno would call that a tiny victory. still, she's paranoid at best. while her shipmates don't know... ]

So you still have tricks up your sleeve. [ it's almost like an idle comment. ] Maybe they'll change your future.

[chiseler]

[They can be paranoid together because if his profile's missing something, who else's is? He ends up giving her an almost-charming grin because yep. That's it.]

They already did. [And not entirely for the better. He feels that it's different even if he doesn't know the full extent of his missing or lessened powers yet. But it's a change.] All I need now is to change it to a future I like.

[bloodteller]

[ paranoidsibs

there's a pause from yuno, a moment of silence as she considers his words. his declaration, really, considering their conversation in the chapel. eventually, she nods. ]

I'll be doing the same.

[chiseler]

And are you gonna tell anybody when you actually change the future?