I have died every day waiting for you

[lovelikeyou]

[That was, in Rose's opinion, even worse than last week. Any loss of life is an awful waste, but for it all to come of some horrible accident...

This week, she doesn't retreat back to her room. She knows now that the people here, or at least enough of them, like to gather after these experiences. Many of the Crystal Gems were the same way; she remembers their post-battle huddles well. It's not a party, really, but...it's good to be together. To have friends around. Maybe, to remember those who were lost.

So this time, she'll go to the cafeteria herself and request some food for everyone. It's just basic snacks, the kind of human food she knows well enough to ask for. There's some hot chocolate provided, too. She definitely knows people enjoy that. It doesn't take too long, since she isn't making most of it, and then she goes to invite everybody she can find.

She doesn't slip any notes underneath doors, for the people she doesn't happen across. Some Crystal Gems didn't join the groups, or maybe did after one battle but not another. Sometimes they wanted to be alone. She never really understood that...but it wasn't her place to tell them otherwise. Weren't they all about freedom?

Everybody probably knows something like this is going to happen again, anyway. It's their choice to come.]

Comments

[mouflon]

[ Well, that makes Rin's lips twitch in a very faint smile, at least. ]

Yeah, but... Why?

[fivestagegod]

Something to do with myself, primarily. I started messing with it on Wednesday to get out some of the weirdness after the one guy died, and then the machine proceeded to spit more of these things at me. So I might as well make good use of materials while I'm here.

[mouflon]

Good use might be debatable, but I guess it's better than doing nothing with yourself. I'm more of a hit-the-gym person, myself.

[ Or, you know. The equivalent, when a gym isn't regularly available. ]

[fivestagegod]

...Do I look like I've done that even once in my life.

[Again, at least the self-awareness is batting a thousand this evening.]

[mouflon]

Nope. [ h a h ] I'd say that it's worth trying at this point, but the way things are, if you're in a situation where you need to throw a punch you're probably already screwed as it is.

[fivestagegod]

Trust me, I'm aware. Honestly, it'd be like that even outside of this situation - I've always been something of a noncombatant. I carry a gun sometimes, but I've never used it.

[mouflon]

Huh, really? Like, never never, even on a practice range?

[fivestagegod]

On the practice range, sure, but that was a really long time ago, just so I would have some idea of what to do with it if I needed to. Otherwise I've drawn it...once, I think? Didn't actually shoot.

[mouflon]

I'd say you should brush up, but I guess that's not much of an option right now. Still...

[ Guns are pretty much a basic life skill in her brain. Just listening to this is making her antsy. ]

[fivestagegod]

Yeah, it was actually something I was considering before being dragged here, believe it or not. Kind of a moot point now, though.

[mouflon]

And saying to save the thought for when we get out is starting to feel uselessly naive.

[fivestagegod]

If it's just starting to feel that way, you held out longer than I did.

[Just...just saying.]

I'm not exactly a faith-in-humanity kind of guy. Or inhumanity, as the case may be.

[mouflon]

[ Rin gives him a big shrug. ]

I have to get back. So I just... haven't been allowing myself to consider the alternative.

[ Less faith in humanity, more being extremely stubborn. ]

[fivestagegod]

That's fair. I don't have as much riding on me getting back, so at least I have that going for me.

[Like, he still gets pointlessly aggressive at trials, but. Still.]

[mouflon]

[ Let's be real; Rin has nothing but respect for his needless amounts of aggression. ]

He said he'd be able to put us back at the exact moment we were taken, but... Okay. We've been here for three weeks. What's your read at this phase of the game? Is he seriously going to make us kill until one of us succeeds, or is there some other way to "win" that he hasn't told us?

[fivestagegod]

I actually think that the entire lack of a time limit thing is pure crap - unless he lied to Angel, which is possible. But her profile says stuff about what she wants to do after the experiment is over, and I doubt she would have agreed to be thrown down here indefinitely, anyway, from what she's said about her life being terrible before this.

So either there's a time limit they know about and she's not allowed to confirm, or he lied to her. Either is on the table, but I think the former is more likely.

[mouflon]

[ Huh. ]

That's a good point, actually. I hadn't thought about that. So, to add onto that, do you think surviving to the time limit is counted as a success? Or will we be failed test subjects to be disposed of?

Though, on the other hand — he's already trying to hurry us along, isn't he? If two of us end up dead every week... [ She starts to count that out, but then stops. ] Well, that would require him to be really confident he can always get someone to kill without fail. I wouldn't put that past him, but that might be leaving too much to chance regardless.

[fivestagegod]

..Twenty-five of us to start. Two of us every week, we started killing two weeks in. Thirteen weeks, then? Since one person wiping out the remainder is considered fair game, and he's not above laser-targeting to ensure someone kills. So that's one possibility.

Another might be seeing if we can go a set number of weeks without killing anyone, and every time someone dies it resets. Which is the closest thing to his "indefinite time period" that he set out, but it would still have an end date by necessity.

[mouflon]

If that's the case, then he's really stacking the deck against us, given what he pulled this week. [ Her tone as she says so is very dry. ] Still, even though I know we can't say this for sure, he's been the type to only lie by omission so far. Something you could technically call indefinite might be the right answer, in that case.

[fivestagegod]

...Yeah, that's what concerns me.

[Like, all of that.]

Here's hoping that whatever Seteth and Rhea are badly hiding isn't something that can be targeted like Alice's entire thing was.

[mouflon]

[ Rin can't help herself. She absolutely allows a harrumph to escape her. ]

Even if it isn't, I'm sure Rhea will find a reason to throw a fit over people asking questions again.

[fivestagegod]

Well, yeah. I don't remember saying I was hoping for a miracle.