hey mom, dead mom, i need a little help here

[nothingcanstop]

[ ...All of that happened, huh. That's the sentiment each and every week, and it's no different this time. Except, this time they've lost more people than before. Five.

The gathering invitation is slipped under everyone's doors, but it specifies something a little different. ]



[ That's a good two hours or so of difference. Enough time to wander around, for sure.

But, in the garden, at the appointed time, there's a variable arrangement of fresh-cooked food. A good amount of beef stew, some Chinese hot pot, and...watermelon? Just, an absurd amount of watermelon, cut up and set on plates. All the food's set on tables that seem to have been moved from the library, and the ground is littered with blankets, for those who don't want to sit on the grass.

And yes, she did not lie. There is, indeed, a variable fuckton of alcohol. (And coffee, for our underaged.)

This has become routine. But, we're still here. We're still alive. ]

Comments

[mouflon]

Hey, you're the one that said the people who perform the execution have to be "real" in some way. Or do you think the Professor actually has Ernesta sitting around somewhere?

[ladygeryon]

Oh, definitely not. [A long sigh as she looks up at the ceiling.] I don't know much about virtual reality at all, so I'm just throwing ideas around to see which one sticks.

[mouflon]

Another option is that it isn't VR at all, but instead a projected illusion. If Angel has some sort of superhuman ability that he can access, maybe he has another person over there beside the failsafe, taking care of that aspect of the execution.

[ladygeryon]

Could be that, too. Guess we won't know unless we can find that room while it's inactive.

[mouflon]

We know he can transport us in pretty fantastical ways, so... Do you think that room is actually somewhere we can find? Or is it in another facility somewhere else?

[ladygeryon]

Depends on how instantaneous his method is. [Nira taps her fingers on the table.] But still, the transport mechanism would be somewhere in here, even if the actual location is somewhere separate. Though I suppose there's currently no real reason to go out of her way to hunt that room down. [If they find an escape route they should just take it.]

[mouflon]

Didn't Therion say that Cullen was gone as soon as the lights went out? Either way, if any part of this facility is meant for transport, I'd imagine it'd have to be that "courtroom."

[ Man, Rin has hardly any respect for the law, and she still looks like it pains her to call it that. ]

Something under the floor, maybe.

[ladygeryon]

Under the floor, and capable of aiming. It doesn't require the target to still be at their podium, after all.

[A pause.] Wonder if it'd still work if someone tried climbing onto one of the podiums.

[mouflon]

Or if they moved to stand with someone else, first. Would whatever it is be able to select only the right person?

Another possibility we have to consider is that the podiums are only a beacon. We know our bodies have been tampered with, so it's a possibility that we've been tagged in some way.

[ladygeryon]

...that could also be it. The x-ray machine actually seems to work now-I suppose we could check to see if it could pick up anything.

[mouflon]

Huh, that's true. We do have that thing, and Birkin knows how to work it...

[ladygeryon]

Yeah, I suggested using it just to get a sense of if anything about our bodies in general has changed. And he's offered to teach me how to work it as well so he doesn't have to be the sole handler.