FINAL TRIAL

[bathymetric]

Alright, that's enough snooping around for one day. There's a door in the underground tunnels that lets out beyond the vault door, just use that to get to the elevator. One of you has a damn staff keycard now, might as well just have you use it, since apparently I'm down both of my Assistants. The code is 020594.

[ As you head in and punch in the code, the elevator rises up to meet you one last time. And one last time, you take the ride down into the depths, evidence in hand. Something stirs in you - hope? Dread? It's hard to feel nothing at a time like this, don't you think? Even if it's just being really angry at The Professor.

When you reach the bottom, the dome is the same but you find the setup itself changed wildly. There's no sign at all of the original podiums or where they were, just a number of sleek new ones and a box of frosted glass. It stands out in stark contrast to the inky blackness of the sea outside. The lights don't reach out of the dome at all, and within the dome they illuminate the silhouette of a man, sitting at a desk, hands folded in front of him.

The Professor is here. You hope. Do you have any choice but to believe he's here? ]

Take your places, boys and girls. It's not what I think any of us anticipated, but it's time for your final trial. There are several questions I expect you to be able to answer, the largest being, well... tell me where you are and what you're doing here. Though I suspect first you'll want to talk over your... evidence.

[ Welcome to your final trial. ]

Comments

[nothingcanstop]

...Look. I'm an idiot, alright? You knew that.

[ She exhales. ]

Okay. Okay, then. If you're not going to obstruct anymore, then- then what do you think of all this?

[fivestagegod]

[God. Okay.]

I think Rin's right, and that most if not all signs here point to this being some sort of virtual reality. Which, if I'm not mistaken, actually answers one of the questions we've been asked - we don't know where we are, location-wise, but we know where our minds are. We've got the...maps and atlases and stuff that can be used to narrow this sort of thing down, maybe, but for the time being that's what we have as far as a location we're mostly certain of. Some sort of VR space.

I also think Therion is correct for the wrong reasons - I don't think it's what they could teach us during the dead space, but what we're already capable of. He mentioned that this hinges on what the Professor wants us to be the best at, and I think there's some merit in that. I think he wants to see our potential, whether it benefits anyone or not. It doesn't matter whether Alice would ever kill and attack a human normally, he wants to see what happens when she does. It doesn't matter what any of us are willing to do, but what we're able to do - what we can manage when we're backed into a corner, to see how much potential we have as good little grifters and assassins. All of this is speculation, but it's what I've got.

[philoxenia]

.... Some of us might never experience a situation like this, or even one that's high stress. Looking at our pasts might not afford the best answers, but put someone in a situation like this and apply enough pressure, and their potential can show very quickly, is that about it?

... After that, it's a matter of wiping memories and coaxing that potential out. I wonder, just how selective is that process?

[fivestagegod]

Yeah, I think so. Look at how quickly things tended to escalate, this entire process has been absolutely hideous.

I'd say it's probably...Angel's memories seem to imply they can be overwritten with pretty much anything. I don't know how selective the memories that can be removed are.

[nothingcanstop]

[ ...Does this mean that guy literally had no potential, holy shit, rip in hell William Schuester???

Uh, okay. No, she listens and she nods along and it's enough to shake the funk that seems to have set in. Theory time with Birkin is actually remarkably soothing, despite how much it's Wonderful People Saying Wonderful Things. ]

Something about the VR is... I think you're right, but something feels weird about it all? Like, why use the same facility, with the busted wall? Is it some kind of mix on real space and virtual space?

If it's about testing our limitations... Not our willing limitations, but our physical ones. Our potential... That makes sense to me. Even if I have no idea what the "rock and roll" thing is, the rest kind of...yeah, that scans.

[fivestagegod]

...Della, I'm pretty sure that's referring to the type of personality you have...

[NOTHING CAN STOP/ALWAYS DOWN FOR EVERY ADVENTURE EVER etc]

[nothingcanstop]

...Really? I wasn't the one with the college band...

[ SHE'S AN IDIOT! ]

[fivestagegod]

I'll explain it to you later, Della...

[hardnosed]

If the existence of this place depends on Angel, maybe it's just what she remembers from the last time. Without the details.

[nothingcanstop]

Oh... Oh, that could be it. If it's based off her memory.

[bathymetric]

I'll take that as an answer to where you are, with that much figured out.

One more answer remaining.

[nothingcanstop]

Oh, you're just gonna take our answers as we go, huh?

...It can't just be that you're looking for new recruits. Getting us from our own worlds, that's a little too much effort to go to...isn't it?

[bathymetric]

Once you've figured things out well enough.

It would seem that way, wouldn't it? Why would I need recruits from other worlds?

[ladygeryon]

Well, if you planned on extending your operation to other worlds, having a foothold in them would be useful, wouldn't it?

[bathymetric]

[ He laughs a little. ]

Opening branches of the organization in other dimensions... it seems like an awful lot of effort, don't you think?

[bolderfell]

...Maybe because the only way to send agents to other worlds is if they've already made the trip.

[hardnosed]

[ WOW, HATE THAT ]

[ladygeryon]

I mean, depending on the type of abilities some of us might have compared to people from his world, not necessarily. Could even be that part of the "experiment" is seeing whether or not it's worth the effort.

[mouflon]

...Not all of us, but plenty have skills that might be of interest to someone in his business. Skills that people within this world might not be capable of. I'm sure the services of a spirit hacker would be valuable to a modern day band of thieves, wouldn't they?

[nothingcanstop]

...There was something about energy too, wasn't there? And about...mixing togetherness and isolation.

[philoxenia]

... And someone with the ability to not only feel but influence emotions could be very, very useful.

[hardnosed]

... It's not like he targeted us. Getting the means to transport anyone across universes was the real work. After that,they just put in the guidelines, and they're taking what they can get.

That might be part of the experiment. They select subjects at random, with those characteristics, and see what they can do... ugh, I'm not good at this.

[mouflon]

...Dig through enough dirt and you'll eventually find gold, huh?

MODS

[nothingcanstop]

No, no, keep going. I think you've got something. I was starting to think we were targeted, but...

Hey, Mr. Charmless! Can you confirm whether all the first round group came from other worlds, like Angel?

[mouflon]

If it's been in operation continuously, unless someone made the decision to change it, the environment would stay the same. And if it was apparently important that Angel didn't realize this whole place was an autonomous simulation...