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

[unasking]

[He can't blame her.

There are some things he can derive from this conversation: she's someone who was studied and findings were published on her without her consent. It's interesting, for someone who's normally in the role of the experimenter to be talking with the experimentee - though this time not one of his own.]

That's certainly unfair. I've met too many people who aren't aware of their own possibilities.

[He pauses.]

Do you know if your talents are naturally occurring?

[Or were they implanted?]

[brooches]

I haven't the slightest thought on it. It's always been how it is.

[ Elizabeth finally takes a seat, her knees feeling weak from the overflow of emotions. ]

It's as much as a mystery to me as it is to you. The man who had the most interest - [ Her father. Comstock. ] - he spent my entire life trying to understand me.

[ Or so she believes. ]

I don't like to be uncovered when I do not know what lies underneath myself.

[unasking]

[ . . . hm. Frankenstein admittedly can't deny his own thirst for knowledge - though he also believes in the possibility of using powers to help. When she's seated, he takes the seat next to her so that they can maintain at eye level.]

If you were to learn about yourself at the same pace as everyone else - if you were the first to know about your own abilities - would that change your mind?

Or would you rather leave the entire matter alone?

[brooches]

Possibly. [ Out of every universe she's seen thus far... she hasn't seen herself. She hasn't seen any indication that she ever got out of that tower... ] I can't be for certain. When you spend your entire life as some ... some subject to be studied, it's hard to think of yourself as anything else.

[ But, she tries. Somewhat. ]

I would be in Paris now, if I knew sooner.

[unasking]

You don't need me to tell you - but how you view your abilities is something that you need to decide on for yourself.

[listen he's a mad scientist but he's always careful about the humans around him. There's been an edge to Frankenstein for most of their conversation, every nerve in his body still rebelling against the fact that information about him is available so openly, but.

He still prides himself in retaining his humanity. He offers her a genuine, encouraging smile.]

I'm interested in you. What you're capable of is something that I've never seen before, and I truly believe you can help people. In all my years, humanity has grown stronger and stronger - but only by discovering their own limits and powers, then stubbornly learning how to overcome them.

I wonder if perhaps you'll find peace of mind if you discover who and what you are.

Or perhaps now that your talents are gone, you can pursue a more normal life.

You're the first person that I've met that has a choice.

[brooches]

[ She couldn't have pieced the two together. He's much different than anything in the story. She's naive enough to believe it they were only familiar in name.

Her eyes meet his, shoulders slumped and her finger instinctively twirling the thimble on her amputated pinky. It's a bit of a coping mechanism. Nervous twitch.

His words hit home, she's a bit taken aback. The way he speaks - a wisdom that she knows comes from experience far greater than anyone she encountered. Well, okay, more wise than Booker DeWitt -not hard to surpass. ]

Sir, I have to admit... as kind as your words are - and truthful... it's not as simple as it seems. [ She lies to herself. If she wanted to, she could have left Columbia years ago and never look back. ] I won't find any answers that I seek sitting in this... other plane of existence. This is not my world and I know that much.

[ But, she gives an honest smile, one trying to swallow all of these truths. ]

What choices do you believe I have?

[unasking]

[Perhaps it's just because this Frankenstein only inspired the story - it's said that the humans of his world took the exaggerations and lies revolving around his experiments, then turning them into works such as Faust and Frankenstein. (He's always found it a little flattering, if hilariously incorrect.)]

I only bring this up as an option because I wonder if your ability may be able to assist in our situation - you see, I left my scientific studies some time ago and only had to pick them up recently. I never ask for volunteers, but I do believe that everyone has the right to know what they're capable of.

Even if this is a different plane of existence, you are present here. My own powers have been taken from me and I won't expect you to participate in any experiments I won't conduct on myself first -

But if you want to know more about yourself, I may be able to help you.

[brooches]

I'm sorry, I can't say for certain. As of now, there's nothing anymore remarkable about me than the hair on my head.

[ Elizabeth fumbles over her words, unable to confidently say if she truly wanted to learn more. The thirst is there - the need to learn why she... why she was so different but revered as some seed to be planted. Her Father imprisoned her, hoping to keep her pure and from the world not out of protection but out of selfishness. To keep his lie true. ]

What are you capable of...? [ She questions when he brings powers up - both asking his capability on powers and his knowledge of...uh... experiments. ] If - If I so agree to your proposal...

[unasking]

If you so agree to my proposal, you will never endure anything that I wouldn't test on myself first. [A stern promise. Followed by:] I will tell you everything that I learn about you immediately.

[He's not comfortable taking experiments in the first place, actually - not on the innocent. The corrupt are welcome to his operating table at any time, however he promised his master long ago that he would cease experiments. However if it's for the sake of people who want to learn more about themselves... about the possibilities that exist right underneath their skin?

His master will understand.]

In the past I've modified myself to attain powers beyond human limitation. I've recently taken other in and assisted to enhance their abilities, after they asked me to do so in order to protect what was important to them.

My resources are... lesser here, however I have no interest in giving up.

[brooches]

[ She's never had a choice.

Never.

Not once.

To her knowledge, she was born and put into captivity like a lessor being. It pains her to think her very own parents were the ones to do this. Lady Comstock... the Prophet himself... had God put her there? She tries not to weigh that thought, but he presents himself eloquently.

She's desperate for so many answers and all it yields are more questions. However, for now... she considers. ]

What would you ask of me? [ She chews her bottom lip. ] I don't want enhancement, I want answers. I need to know why I was brought here - why I was kept... there. [ Columbia, she means. ]

I need you to be certain you have the ability to do this. Please don't sugar your words and give me false hope.. If I can - if I can get even a fraction of my powers back, I may be able to get us out of here.

[unasking]

I'd ask what you want to know, and help you try to find it.

[That's the simplest answer. When he looks to her again, it's not as a scientist probing for answers but as another person. There's something innately disgusting about trampling another person's rights and freedoms and Frankenstein has no interest in taking part in any of it.]

I have no intentions of giving you false hope, Elizabeth, but you must understand the situation we're in. I can analyze and do everything I can for you, but I don't know what 'everything' entails while we're here.

That said, I can assure you that I'd work tirelessly but I too believe that you could assist in saving - well, everyone.

[brooches]

[ This is a lot to take in. No one her entire life - out of those years of loneliness... no one except for Booker offered to help. Even then, his motives had an ulterior meaning. She keeps her defenses up, fists balling tightly against her lap. ]

I... I don't think I can make that choice right now. Thank you for your patience, but maybe we can talk at a later point?

[ More private, without the looks she's gotten from others once their profiles were revealed.

Elizabeth feels the burden - the weight. A songbird without a voice is just the same as any other, is it not? She keeps her eyes at her lap, fearful of finding out the truth and fearful of not finding her escape. Their escape. ]

[unasking]

[At this point, he reaches out to her and places a hand on her shoulder, his head tilting to catch her gaze and hold it.]

We can talk whenever you wish. Call for me and I will be there.

[The idea of pushing this any further on her is unthinkable to him - he's interested in seeing what she can do, but he has absolutely zero intentions of forcing anyone to do something against their will or to try to trick them into it. In the matter of experimentation, especially.

That should only be done by choice.]