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

[fivestagegod]

Her behavior at both of the trials we'd had so far, yeah. She tended to be an obstructing, derailing piece of work and I told him as much. We didn't talk about her much, just a bit; I also asked him some stuff about the age on his profile, and we sort of focused on that after a while.

[nothingcanstop]

...There was so much more to talk with him about. He seemed wise, in his own way. [ She sighs. ] All of this... It really is a waste.

[fivestagegod]

The whole thing is, really.

[...]

I don't know. It's one of those things that I don't let myself think about too long. It starts to piss me off, and you guys don't need me getting like that.

[nothingcanstop]

[ Light grimace. ]

The temper thing, huh? ...Yeah, I've been trying to keep mine, uh...you know. On the down-low too.

[fivestagegod]

I'm pretty useless when I'm messed up. Temper or otherwise. It gets to my head and I can't really make myself do anything.

I don't really like being like that. All despondent and stuff. You guys need me to actually be useful, and I don't have Al or Annette to make me get myself together.

[nothingcanstop]

Al. That's the...friend of yours? The one you talked about?

[fivestagegod]

Yeah. His name's Albert Wesker. Or, well. It was, I guess.

[He still has no idea what happened there, but the official party line is that he's dead and Birkin has nothing to refute it. Just a lot of anger at the people who survived that incident.]

[nothingcanstop]

[ She didn't ask much, when he originally brought it up, but... ]

How long before all this did it happen? Was it...recent?

[fivestagegod]

A couple of months. He died in July; it's the end of September for me now.

[nothingcanstop]

That's...jeez. I'm sorry.

[ There's not...much more she can think of to say. ]

To have all that, on top of this... It can't be easy.

[fivestagegod]

I'll be all right. He made his decisions, I made mine. We ended up in the same place either way, I just had the dumb luck to get dragged into this before it was done with.

Annette was in the next room over when they had their go at me. Hopefully she's not too screwed up.

[nothingcanstop]

She was right there? [ That, that really has the What Do You Say To That air. That... ]

That’s awful.

[fivestagegod]

...Yeah. If we're going to be honest, I feel like I probably should have made an attempt a couple nights ago - not because of anything against you guys, but just because of...all of that.

[He would have gotten to leave this place alive. Annette wouldn't have to deal with him dying, because Sherry getting what she wants necessitates both of them staying alive. He kind of wonders what Annette is going to tell her, the way things are now - if she'll actually tell Sherry what happened, or if she'll make it sound like it was an accident. He hopes that Annette knows enough to stay where she is until the noise stops and the room he's in is clear. Even if she does, they worked on their projects together; maybe there are orders to find and kill her too.

It's kind of a lot. He doesn't want to think about it.]

I know I would have just gotten myself killed. But I should have at least taken a shot at it.

[nothingcanstop]

...I know. Even if you don't... Even if you didn't succeed, it's hard to look at something you can say that...you'd be doing, for your family, and then...not do it. No matter the odds.

[ She runs a hand over her hair, pausing at her goggles for a moment. ]

But... I'm still glad you didn't. It wouldn't feel good, having to tap your name at the end of all that.

[fivestagegod]

Maybe it wouldn't. I don't know.

[He shrugs.]

I've never had a hard time with voting. It's just something we have to do, to make all of this feel like it's our fault. I don't believe that it is, so I don't have a problem with it.

[nothingcanstop]

I know I have to do it. That's never a problem, I... I know, it's not a choice. I just wouldn't really like doing it. I never do, but. You know. I hadn't talked with Zelos, Alice, or Lif half as much.

[fivestagegod]

Oh.

[It kind of takes him a moment to find a response that isn't just that; it's not really something he seems to know what to do with, and if he's honest he'd be fine with dealing with this by not dealing with it at all, but...]

You know how I am about this sort of thing, I'm not...really good at it.

[nothingcanstop]

[ Well, you know, she's the one who decided to do this here, outside a hall of her worst nightmare. ]

I know. You don't really have to do anything with it, just... I'd rather be honest about that sort of thing. When you don't talk to anyone but your own video recordings for ten years, you learn to appreciate the little things. Like telling people you appreciate their company.

[fivestagegod]

Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.

[...]

I'm kind of coming in off the opposite problem, I guess. You don't really tell anyone stuff like that if you can help it, because every connection you have is something that can be used against you somehow. Someone's going to overhear it, and someone's going to exploit it.

I'm not trying to say I don't appreciate it. I'm just. Bad at it.

[nothingcanstop]

[ She raises her hands and waves them back and forth a bit. ]

It's cool, swear. Everyone's got...different ways of coping here. Or, coping in general. You're not running away, so that's what I can consider a victory.

[fivestagegod]

Don't worry, it's not like I feel too bad about it or anything.

[...IF WE HAVE NOT REALIZED THAT HIS CAPACITY FOR EMPATHY IS NOT EXACTLY GREAT BY NOW...]

I'm not planning on running off anytime soon, though. I can promise that much.

[nothingcanstop]

[ Honestly at the very least she snorts out something like a laugh and flourishes one hand in a sort of elaborate bow. ]

It's the little things. Look at it this way, you've got a leg up on Therion like that.

[fivestagegod]

...Della, Therion told me that he doesn't think I'm weirder than anyone else. Even you acknowledge I'm weirder than a lot of people, you're just nice about it.

Therion is not the best gauge of acceptable reactions to things, is what I'm saying.

[nothingcanstop]

Yeeeaahh, you know, I realize this now, that maybe, maybe, the direct route was not quite the one to go, with him.

[fivestagegod]

Depends on what we're being direct about. Just in general? It's probably fine. Feelings, absolutely not.