WEEK 5

[bathymetric]

That's three murders now - and this last trial got more than slightly out of hand. It looks like you might be in for another tough week... or at least, maybe that's just the refusal of this place to change too much. You lose Saturday again, but maybe six-day weeks are starting to feel normal by now. Who knows? The cycle of day and night continues apace, changing so little.

Speaking of change, though, there's a new area to look through, the biggest and most complex yet. And the end of one wing of the facility, from the looks of it - though you can probably guess where more areas might start to open up.

And speaking of opening up (segues!), this week if you're out particularly late, you might sometimes see Angel out and about! So hey, maybe change is on the horizon.

Just gotta hope it's a change for the better, don't you?



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 5! 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! Or, if you want Angel to come to you, that's now an option! Simply put a prompt after lights-out into your toplevel and indicate you want Angel in the subject line, same as investigations! ]

Comments

[drladysounds]

[Shelley Winters is a woman with a mission, and her mission is clear.

There she is at the museum, moving stuff in the section with the maps. Well, moving what she can, at least. She's marking a few parts with squares made with duct tape]

This museum needs a little something, a little more oomph. I'm going to give it just what it needs.

[Some canvases are already propped against the wall, there's also some clay in other places. Finally, large cards made with construction paper, still empty.

Curiously enough, she has reserved seven spaces in total. Only seven. What could that be about, hmmmm?]

[bolderfell]

...What are you doing.

[There's already an art room? And a gallery? What's going on here.]

[drladysounds]

Planning art. This place is going to receive some meaningful art for once.

[She sounds so certain about it, like she won't budge no matter what]

[bolderfell]

Okay...

[He's not gonna fight her or anything, it's just. Shelley sure is Shelley, huh.]

Not enough room in the gallery for you?

[drladysounds]

No, not enough. I wanted as much space as possible, to make it as grand as I can.

[She sighs]

It's what the dead deserves. They should get only the best we can give them. It'll be art so they won't be forgotten.

[bolderfell]

...So it's a memorial.

[More subdued now, he surveys her setup. Seven spaces. He sees.]

For all of them, huh. Not just the ones that didn't try to kill us.

[drladysounds]

I think...that even though they did try to kill all of us, getting forgotten is worse than dying itself. When you're forgotten it's like you never existed nor meant anything.

[It's a depressing thought, really]

I don't want to let that happen.

[bolderfell]

[Therion goes pretty quiet for some time after that. Eventually, he sighs through his nose.]

Well, I won't stop you. [He shakes his head.] But some of the others might take more issue than me.

[drladysounds]

Maybe they will. But it's a risk I have to take. Shelley Endeavour Winters doesn't stop just because other people won't like what she does!

[It's pretty much a character flaw, given the extent she takes that to]

[bolderfell]

[Surely no one noticed that, ever.]

Is "Endeavor" really part of your name.

[philoxenia]

[ On her way back from the garden, she decides to poke her head into the museum... huh. ]

Shelley? Do you need some help?

[drladysounds]

Oh, I'd be indebted to you forever. This is too work for one woman, even if it's me.

[Shelley is a force of lunacy, but she's one person!]

[philoxenia]

I'd love to help.

[ Genuinely, too. ]

Just direct me, and I'll get to work.

[drladysounds]

You're a lifesaver in this sea of art.

[Mira, she's so grateful. Shelley unfurls some paper]

I was thinking maybe some cheerful scenery, the kind of scenery you look at and think 'oh this is so going into a postcard'.

[philoxenia]

It's no problem at all.

[ Hmm. ]

Cheerful scenery... That would brighten up the atmosphere, wouldn't it?

[drladysounds]

It'll be like a window to something that doesn't involve water and fishes. Like that garden that opened not too far away, but more beautiful because it's not down here trapped with us.

[Shelley really is starting to miss the sun]

[philoxenia]

You're right. That sounds lovely, Shelley. And with the two of us, I think we could make something really incredible.

[ ... boy, she misses the sun, too. ]

So... may I ask what all of this is for?

[drladysounds]

[Shelley stops what she's doing. She's arranging her own work, having taken the contruction paper cards and getting ready to write, but she stops, the tip of the pen onto the writing surface]

...I want to make something to remember them by. Aela, Piers, Seteth...and if it's okay, also Leaf, Alice, and Zelos. [That last part had some hesitation. Therion had already said other people may have some issues with that. But she couldn't lie to Mira, really.] I just think it'd be cruel if the world forgot them.

I have decided to take it upon myself to not let that happen, no matter what happens down here.

[philoxenia]

[ Oh.... ]

... You know... I've been painting portraits. Of everyone we've lost. [ So she gets it, absolutely. She gives Shelley a smile. ] I think, if it was okay with you, I could bring them from the lounge to here?

[reallyhatesharks]

Oh. Hey, Shelley. Whatcha doing?

[Nova really doesn't do? Art? But this seems more interesting than checking out the rest of the museum.]

[drladysounds]

Oh, it's a little project. [More like her newest temporary obsession. If something gets her attention, she tries her best to achieve it] It's time to make this museum less Professor-y and more ours.

And the way to achieve that is to turn it into proof those who died existed.

[Museums are pretty much proof of someone's existence, whether it's sculptors, painters, and others. This time, though, she intends to transform it into existence that proves the victims, culprits, and also LaVey existed]

[reallyhatesharks]

Oh, nice. Have you talked to Mira? She was interested in making sure they're remembered too.

[She's kinda wondering why 7 spaces, but that seems rude to ask.]

[drladysounds]

She was...?

[Shelley's good mood deflates a little. She looks around, like she's making sure nobody is listening, and says:]

I'm not sure if I should ask her. She seemed pretty depressed during the afterparty, I dunno if I should make her remember we're dropping like flies. That's going to hit hard.

[And apparently Shelley doesn't seem to think Nova would, given how she says that so nonchalantly.

But still...she can't forget Nova's suggestion. She makes a mental note to ask Mira for help]

[reallyhatesharks]

[Personally, Nova thinks you just accept people die and move on but she gets that people cope differently. Fin coped by being a hero. She copes by not thinking about the people she's lost.]

Yeah, she's - she was doing a painting of Piers. You know, after he and Alice... [She just trails off.] But maybe you're right. Maybe it's better not to remind her.

[drladysounds]

[In the end she told Mira, because she couldn't bring herself to lie to her friend when she outright asked what this was all for...but she still would feel guilty about mentioning it]

Besides, we need to think positive if we want to defeat the Professor in his own game. If he sees us vulnerable, he'll attack, so we should all be as obnoxiously cheerful as we can. That'll catch him off-guard.

[Not that it's difficult for Shelley to come across as obnoxious at times, really]