unknownseas | WEEK 4

Another trial, another week, and still you're probably running lower on answers than you'd like. And on people - you lost three since last Sunday. By the end of this week, you'll have been here for nearly a full month, yet still the days crawl on.

You wake up Sunday, again with no memory of Saturday, but this time with a simple message on your devices: You may resume requesting items, if you like. Enjoy. Guess it really was just a stealth motive after all, but at least it's being communicated that it's over! That's something, at least.

And when you leave your rooms on Sunday, there's another new area to explore! This one is... certainly more ambitious in its construction than the last one, to say the least. But hey, you have a pretty neat place to host parties, if you feel so inclined! That's... fun...

Hey, you gotta find the fun in situations like this where you can! Silver linings, right?

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 4! Remember to turn in AC here, threads for regain coins here, and if you feel so inclined you can visit Angel's office hours over here! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I don't think you're the only one in that boat. Obviously, everyone's got varying degrees of importance riding on it, but...this is the kind of thing that would force people to start weighing tough options, even if they don't necessarily like it or want to.

[ The whole motive is a cross-punch to the gut. It's only natural to have the wind knocked out of you. ]

This is the hardest one yet. And after four weeks of being stuck here, it wears you down twice as hard. So I get it, or at least, I'd like to think I do on some level, even though I don't know the story.

[God.]

The...story, as you put it, is pretty bad. I can give you the short version, if you want.

I kind of figured as much. But I'm listening. As much as you feel comfortable with.

[Oh, boy. Okay. Sparknotes version is probably best here, because it gets into all sorts of awkward shit otherwise. Not that it won't get into awkward shit, given everything with Sherry, but minimizing the amount of it is probably better.]

My daughter always wanted my wife and I to spend more time with her. To...love her, I guess. We tried to get across that we do, but we were far from perfect about it and I get that. But she always wanted us to be closer and be a proper family and all that.

I...

[Clinical. Come on.]

I can't give that to her, the way things are currently going back home. Because right before I came here, I was shot. Multiple times.

[ ...Ah. Yes, that...well, that certainly does sound like a problem. ]

That's...well, the timing of this whole experiment is certainly something, then, but...

[ She wishes she could say that she knew how to respond to that. To say that not killing would be going against his own self-interest...that's underselling it by a pretty fair bit, isn't it? ]

Have you...do you know what happened, in between? Some kind of surgery, or special tech, or...

I talked to Angel about it, a bit. Processing us to come here took weeks, and during that time stuff was done to us. I assume that's where the power removal some of us are dealing with happened, and that's where they dealt with all of that. I don't actually know how, though - I know how it wasn't done, at least, but that's about all.

Weeks, huh...

[ Geez. It makes sense that it would take time, but the whole thing is just... ]

It sounds like...well, not just sounds like, it is a lot, Dr. Birkin. But even though this motive is giving you that chance, well...that doesn't mean that this week is your only shot at making it happen, right? If the experiment ends without you dying or killing, and you manage to make it back home afterwards, that doesn't necessarily mean that when you get there, you'll still be...er, is that too optimistic of me?

[That actually gets a vague noise out of him. Not amused, really, it's a bit too bitter for that, but it's less...everything than the rest of the conversation so far.]

I did say I wasn't going to kill anyone. If anything, it's smarter for me not to - I'd probably just get my ass handed to me, anyway.

[ She can't help but chuckle a little, at that; she's not laughing at you, Birkin, she promises, it's more like-- ]

That makes two of us. I have a little bit of training from when I worked as a detective on the force, but just the most basic of the basic stuff, and that was years ago. I've never had to actually use it on anyone before...

Well, not that I'm looking to, of course. I'm sure it would be a disaster.

Back home, I...well, I carried a gun? I could barely use it, though, and even if I could that isn't going to help me much here, seeing as that's, you know, a weapon that isn't a rock.

[Seriously, the fuck is with the rocks from the vending machine.]

One of my coworkers used to handle things for me if stuff got physical. Not that it ever escalated very far in a virology lab, but still. He was at least decent at it, I'm pretty sure he joined law enforcement after he left.

Your rocks would get along pretty great with my shovel, I think. Maybe we could get them together and see if we can find any surprises inside...

[ Goodness. ]

I've never had the pleasure of working closely with anyone big and strong, myself, though. Not to say there wasn't anyone particularly tough with LA's finest, of course, but to be honest, that job was...I was going through the motions so hard that it drove me a little crazy.

I've been lucky enough to never experience that myself, honestly. Having a job and my heart not being in it. I've been able to get what I wanted out of life pretty easily for the most part.

[...]

I mean, getting shot kind of puts a damper on that sentiment. But even so, I'm pretty invested in solving all of this stuff now, and getting as many out of here alive as possible. I can't really do that if I'm dead again, so I'll... I don't know, I at the very least won't still be out here tonight, I can promise that much, at least.

[ Shot multiple times, too. Yeesh. ]

I wish that I could be as optimistic about this as I was when this whole thing first started...

[ For the record, she does appreciate that he never hit her with an "I told you so". ]

But I'm going to be doing my best to stay safe, too, and hope that tomorrow doesn't come with another tragedy. If there was more I can do than that, I gladly would, but...

WEEK 4

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