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

[toprotecttheworld]

Let's see...Adam, right?

[Is it rude to look up his information instead of speaking to him directly? Yes, it is.]

It looks like they made up all of yours. None of that is real.

[antietam]

[ What certainty in her decision that he is made up... ]

Have they made up yours, then?

[toprotecttheworld]

Of course. A kind, elegant woman like myself would never break and enter. Can you believe the slander they're saying about me?

[antietam]

[ He's just going to casually find her information again to decide for himself. ]

It sure does sound like they're making you out to be a thief, ma'am. What would you put down if you could rewrite it?

[toprotecttheworld]

I'd talk more about how perfect I am, of course. How I'm not only beautiful, but kind, humble, and considerate, too.

[antietam]

[ He has to hold back a laugh. ] Very humble, ma'am. Are you an actress?

[toprotecttheworld]

Exactly! I was involved in a big Hollywood production a year or two back, I'll have you know.

[Except she hasn't aged. It's complicated. Small details.]

[antietam]

Really? I can't say I watch too many movies. You seem like a very good actress. [ Which is to say he does not believe her. ]

What was the production called?

[toprotecttheworld]

[Please, she's fooled thousands into giving up their Pokemon, only to have them immediately get them back.]

That would be Pokémon in Love, of course. We had a glitzy Hollywood premiere and everything.

[Lies, lies, lies, lies, lies.]

[antietam]

You must have been the leading lady. [ Hopefully he's gotten her willing to answer his next question truthfully. ]

May I ask what an Arbok is?

[toprotecttheworld]

Who knows?

[And here is her best lie. She sounds bored, like it doesn't matter to her at all.]

A companion of mine mentioned something like that once or twice, but I've never heard of one.

[Arbok is her advantage! They did say "participants," after all.]

[antietam]

Oh. [ She isn't the first one he's talked to who doesn't know about her item, so it could be the truth. ]

That's weird. I wonder how they chose those possessions.

[toprotecttheworld]

Who knows how they chose any of this? You, me, these tacky jumpsuits. They're probably just torturing us at random.

[antietam]

Just our luck, right? Us forty out of the seven billion they could have chosen from.