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]

[ 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.