cradleproject | WEEK 1

WEEK 1 - Online

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_

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[one woman seems quite calm and collected at the display, taking a seat quietly, folding her hands on her lap. it helps that her eyes are shut and she can't read her profile. it helps that other people are fussing and she's chosen the chance to listen in and overhear what they're upset about.

she wants to be dignified right now, okay? she isn't sure what everyone's upset about, but she wants to take all of this with grace and elegance. like a true lady would.

of course, when she does learn what that all says, taking this with grace is going to be a lot harder.]

[Judar's just been skimming through these briefly because ew reading, but Grell's does catch his eye.]

What's the difference between a regular scythe and a death scythe? Do you just call it that because it sounds cool?

[sounds like ANIME SHIT TO HIM is what he would say if he wasn't also from anime shit]

...I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that.

[what. how does he know. she knows it isn't manifested, so the feeling that shoots through her is cold, vicious. and yet, she maintains her peaceful demeanor so none of it shows to this stranger.]

[What is she, deaf? And because Judar's one of those people, he'll clear his throat before repeating really slowly and really loudly:]

DO YOU. JUST CALL IT. A DEATH SCYTHE. BECAUSE IT SOUNDS COOL.

I can hear you just fine. Why are we talking about "death scythes"?

[you can hear the air quotes in her voice, and she turns her head towards the direction of the man's. what did he know. already she's wishing she had something with her - even a pen. that could be useful.]

Then why'd you say you couldn't?

[Judar gives her a weird look - he hasn't even figured out that Light's blind yet, let alone this.]

Uh, because it's up there on that projection? Along with a whole bunch of other stuff. [that he doesn't care about reading...]

It's a figure of speech-what projection are you talking about?

[that light? that's too brilliant to be a projection type that she knows, but with everything else...]

Like slides?

Uh...no? What? Why would anyone project a slide? You wouldn't even be able to go down it.

[medieval fantasy moron here whose only definition of 'slide' is the playground ride...]

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erythristic - 2016-06-07 01:01 (UTC) - Expand

You're one of the few who aren't complaining.

{ He can see why the others are, honestly, but there are 41 people here and of course having one person not join in makes it easier to deal with. }

Should I be? I hardly understand why everyone's so distressed - the reason changes every second. Someone's upset about crying, someone else thinks that having skills to defend yourself makes you a murderer, and I heard something about cults. It'd be entertaining, if it wasn't so chaotic.

[her words are smooth, but inside her mind is working overtime. they knew about the scythe. they knew enough. she can't blend in and try to sort things out if what she really is comes out...the scythe alone wasn't incriminating, but it means she's back on alert.

heaven above, she wants to see.]

{ Arumat scoffs -- at least they're in agreement. It's only a matter of time at least until some of them settle down and stop their useless ... whatever they're doing in total. }

Raising hell is more effective when it involves actual progress instead -- this chaotic session of banal nonsense can even be what the one who is spear-heading this twisted operation wants.

In that case it's even more valuable to listen, isn't it? It tells you something about each of those adding their voice to the chaos.

For example, the man who's so indignant about crying. Listening to him tells me that he's concerned about his appearance, how others perceive him. He's quick to agitation, and has a sharp tongue - the sort who's desperately seeking to feel better about themselves. Whether or not he succeeds probably depends on those around him. And yet...he's apparently some sort of leader if his conversations are taken at face value. Which means he has hidden qualities that others found worthy of note.

[she leans forward, putting her chin on her hands.]

Whether they want it or not, there's much to sift through.

{ At an earlier point in time, Arumat would have considered it a waste of time, or said so -- but here their situation was different. As Grell elucidates, his brows are slightly raised, and he's more focused on hearing her speak. Listening in to others in this case was something familiar -- akin to reading someone on the battlefield. }

Insightful. Knowing about their quirks can prove to be useful in time. Maybe sooner than later -- yet I'm not sure what they would see in a man like that. But, that's their prerogative as to whether or not those hidden qualities are useful to them.

{ As far as he's concerned it's indeed a lot to sift through, but it's not like he needs to pay attention to every single one here. }

[and, she thinks, she could do something similar for him if she tried. pick apart his word choice and make guesses on what type of person he was, a vague story weaving together in her mind. but he's spared her analysis for today, for there are more important things at hand.]

No one becomes a leader without a story behind it.

[even kings were children once.]

But that's only one person out of the many here.

[Ah Grell...

Frankenstein stands next to her, placing a hand on her chair.]

Would you like an explanation?

...If you could.

[she shouldn't take advantage of him like this. but it's better than struggling through, and soon, she thinks, she might not be so damnably helpless. fragility was an interesting experience - in small doses. perhaps she's just too used to being required to be capable.]

Gladly.

There is currently a holographic list present that enumerates the name, age, height, weight, body markings, and skills of every person on board in excruciating detail. From what I've observed, I've only witnessed one anomaly that I cannot yet explain. Otherwise, all of the information is painfully accurate.

In addition, it seems some of us have been granted one item.

[Without hesitation, he reports:] If you have been looking for your death scythe, it was taken into inventory.

That's impossible.

[she says that under her breath, but keeps her posture straight.]

I'm not sure what a holographic is, but to collect all that information and lay it out is certainly...lacking in manners. As though they perceive us as specimens of a sort. But why broadcast it to us all?

[she's tense, that much is clear, about ready to spring up if she has to. if the word reaper is on that sheet...]

What anomaly have you seen, Mr. Frankenstein?

It's the combination of the words hologram and graphic, so consider it a sort of technologically advanced projected image.

[She will learn!! And he will teach, apparently.]

My prediction is that it's in order to create tension, to quite literally lay all the cards on the table and reveal to us exactly who we're residing with. If you're interested in what the cards say, a young girl is reading them out loud not too far from here. From what I can tell, it's for someone else on the ship who is blind.

The anomaly exists in a young man whose card states that he is 8 years old, however his build is certainly that of a young teenager. However from what I can tell, he also has memory loss issues - which implies other things entirely.

Or the answer could be quite simple, and he's not human. Perhaps some sort of faerie child - time moves differently for them than us, or so I've read.

[is she joking? is she serious? who knows.]

I might ask that girl if she could read mine to me. I'd like to know exactly what you all know about me - it's not exactly fair if you all know me better than myself, hm?

Edited 2016-06-07 01:05 (UTC)

[From "us". Frankenstein's smile turns curious then. Is Grell a human? Her age was listed as unknown, so he wonders what kind of company he's in.]

From what I can tell, he's capable of wind magic - but there's a remarkable number of people here who have those types of skills. Far more than I anticipated.

[Though he's rather amused:]

While I'm here, I could do the honors. Your glasses still haven't been prepared, so I'd rather you not have to struggle to find her.

(no subject)

erythristic - 2016-06-07 02:10 (UTC) - Expand

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unasking - 2016-06-07 21:42 (UTC) - Expand

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erythristic - 2016-06-08 00:05 (UTC) - Expand

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unasking - 2016-06-09 23:39 (UTC) - Expand

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erythristic - 2016-06-10 00:38 (UTC) - Expand

[ light feels this, he really does. luckily he has a sister that allows him to catch on to the details of the situation fairly quickly. otherwise, he'd be a fish out of water.

or well, a human out of sight in a world with holographic interfaces.

... not that he knows that this is her predicament just yet. all he knows is that there's a woman he hadn't been aware was there, due to her silence, but he manages to catch her position when she shifts just the slightest. ]

... It's rare to meet an individual who handles an uproar so quietly.

[ says the one who's also been rather quiet. ]

[she could say the same.]

There's little call for me to contribute to this when everyone else is doing the yelling on my behalf.

[it also allows her to hide her tension better, when she's quiet and can concentrate on not giving a thing away. to choke back the agitation she feels at knowing everyone knew about the scythe. that was hers.]

I prefer to make my statements when everyone's a bit quieter, even if an actress does know how to make her voice be heard over everyone else.

Ah. I can appreciate being able to keep yourself collected for that long, but I feel as if you might be waiting a while... Given the large amount of data we received, we'll most likely witness equal amounts of frenzied responses.

[ he certainly feels a bit unsettled himself—knowing that these mysterious individuals know... well, much more than he's even told most people, but he's good enough at keeping that under lock and key. there's nothing to gain from showing displeasure and distaste so openly, nothing to gain from adding to the panic or vocal suspicion.

actress, though. acting... ]

Perhaps this is an odd question... Would you happen to be Jessie? I believe hers, or yours, was the only skill-set in which "acting" was explicitly mentioned, but...

[ but the vibe he got from her card was way different than the one he's getting right now. considering "yelling" was also one of the skills. ]

Jessie? Oh no, that's not my name. Mine is Grell.

[but hm. another actress in this group...she hadn't paid much attention to cards beyond her own for the moment. it's an interesting fact to take in.]

And who do you happen to be?

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