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

[hardnosed]

I don't need to put myself in his shoes for that.

[ Fortunately for everyone, Jasper's all too ready to answer that question, the better to differentiate the two of them. Her eyes scan the map before her rather than looking back at the person addressing her, like a normal goddamn human being. If Rin could pinpoint the object of her gaze (the American Southwest), she'd be able to discern that she's not really looking at it. ]

She was made on Earth. If she ever left its atmosphere before turning her back on Homeworld, she didn't go far. But this— [ and she jams her big orange finger into the middle of the Atlantic Ocean ] —isn't Earth. Not ours.

[mouflon]

[ Rin had been prepared to start explaining her thoughts on the maps again, but then Jasper says something that grabs her attention. She moves to stand at Jasper's side, staring at the point Jasper has indicated. ]

What do you mean?

[hardnosed]

Even a project as failed as the Earth got off the ground at some point.

[ Technically, she has chosen the worst location to poke at, since this is a completely normal map and there's nothing to indicate here, but that's fine! She's just going to casually think of what probably was around the area. ]

It's not just Kindergartens you build, preparing for a new colony. [ don't question her it's fine ] There were shrines [ her finger travels to the left, stopping around the top of the Lesser Antilles and right of Puerto Rico ] and spires [ and then she raises it to around off the coast of Newfoundland ] and warp pads.

[ Instead of tracing to some new location, she just jabs her finger into the middle of Russia. ]

And to make those things, to make the planet suitable for inhabitation, they needed to terraform what was already there.

[mouflon]

[ huh... ]

Alright, makes sense. So you're saying that, if there's a map for every one of us, there should be at least one Earth that looks... wrong. To me.

Good to know, actually.

[hardnosed]

Right. [ Her finger doesn't move. ] This is supposed to be the ocean.

And if there's two of them — he's just mocking us.

[mouflon]

You mean two maps of that Earth?

[ hmmm ]

You mind if I ask you a few questions, aside from that?

[ This is definitely the tone of voice of someone who intends to whether Jasper agrees or not! ]

[hardnosed]

[ Even Jasper can read that much! She silently shrugs, then crosses her arms across her chest. ]

[mouflon]

Right, okay then.

[ You know what? Fair enough. ]

I want to know more about the specific reasons for what you people did. Like, if this [ she jams her finger over Russia, where Jasper's was a second ago ] is ocean, why? It seems like perfectly good land to me, so I don't get the point of throwing it away.

[hardnosed]

[ Well, now she regrets using her shrug up! In its place, she puffs a dismissive exhale of breath from her... okay, maybe it's better not to question that. ]

Do I look like an architect to you? All of this was in place hundreds of years before anyone ever decided to make me. But that's where the Galaxy Warp was. [ Is, technically. ] It was the Earth's main point of access to Homeworld. The idea was probably to make it remote on purpose, to keep everyone but Gems away.

And if the need came up, it's not like we couldn't undo it all just as easily. That's what Lapis Lazulis are for.

[mouflon]

Sorry, I figured you'd have an idea of what your own people were doing. Or would the people in charge assume that asking meant you were doubting their oh-so-infallible wisdom?

[ ...Yeah, so maybe she's talked to Rose about one or two things, to answer an old question of Jasper's. ]

[hardnosed]

[ Yeah, this seems to check out!! ]

They'd assume I wasn't doing my job right if I had the time to ask.

[mouflon]

And would they be right about that? Seems ridiculous that you couldn't have time for a single conversation, to me.

[hardnosed]

The question is what's ridiculous. Would you go to your supervisor and ask them why the cities got built the way they did? It's not relevant.

[mouflon]

First of all, I don't have a supervisor. But sure, why not? Humans question why cities and roads are designed the way they are all the time.

[hardnosed]

You only get eighty years. [ If Birkin is to be trusted, anyway! Which he's not, probably, but on this matter she's inclined to take his word for it. ] Even you've got to have better things to do all the time than that.

[mouflon]

[ excuse you, Rin fully plans to be dead before she hits thirty ]

What, understanding why the people in charge make the decisions they do isn't important? When you live somewhere, its layout is just a fact of life. You think it's a waste of time to understand the reasons for something as basic to your everyday as that?

[hardnosed]

You really don't get what being a Gem is at all. You're made with a designation and given objectives. You complete those objectives, and you don't ask questions that don't pertain to your job, and that's it. That's all that matters.

[ And if you're not up to snuff, if you ever stop doing, you die. ]

You can look down on that all you want. It's not going to change anything.

[mouflon]

I don't need your permission, Jasper. But, don't worry, I intend to. It's sad that you can't even realize what a pathetic excuse for life that is.

[ actually, reminds her of Anna??? ]

[hardnosed]

[ She looks down at Rin, for an exceptionally long moment, before snorting derisively. ]

Have it your way, Rin. [ And, with that, she turns on her heel and starts to walk out. The last audible thing to come from her, before she leaves the room, is: ] No wonder you two get along.