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

[philoxenia]

[ Here we are. She's nervous as hell, but with Della and Therion next to her, and Zerinda not far away... it's at least better. ]

Why don't you start by showing us your face? You know, technology can be so faulty, it's good to make sure just in case. The playing field should be even, right?

[ It's said as she pulls the notebook and papers on the Subjects out. ]

[ladygeryon]

[Nira's got her sword with her, and she's basically using it as a second walking stick right now, letting it lean slightly against the side of the podium while she glares at the Professor.]

So what'd you do to the Atlantic Liner, hm?

[bathymetric]

[ The silhouette turns towards her - looks like he brought a full-on office chair down with him. ]

I will show my face once you've all actually made some headway, do not worry. Focus on the task at hand.

[hardnosed]

[ god she wants to punch the glass so badly BUT ANYWAY: ]

Of course you're still not showing your face. [ She's got the laptop with her, and opens it with visible agitation. Her followup is directed at everyone else. ] We found out what happens on Saturdays.

[nothingcanstop]

Aw, come on, Mira. You know the guy's too much of a coward to do that.

[ That funky fancy blue sword in hand and an assault rifle strapped to her back, Della rolls her eyes.

She addresses the rest of them, waving a memo around. ] The Prof here outsourced our "titles," to someone else. I guess a...student based on how it looks. Get this, the whole...reason why he wouldn't use Seteth's? It's 'cause the slacker couldn't think of a better one and was too insulted to just say DILF. If you're gonna put it out here for us to use, just buckle up, ya ninny.

[ ...Finally, the chance to insult him to his face. Finally. ]

[nothingcanstop]

Don't just stop there, Jas...per. [ SHE AT LEAST HAS THE DECENCY...TO NOT DO THAT...IN FRONT OF EVERYONE... ] What'd you find?

[mouflon]

Therion and I found the execution room, by the way. I figured they were being transported to some other facility, the same way we were transported here in the first place, but no, it turns out they were happening right under our feet.

It's like we all guessed — just a show. Hard light stuff, I think, and... Pretty customizable.

So were you writing the executions yourself, Professor, or were you forcing your assistants to do it?

[ladygeryon]

[That actually gets a smirk from Nira.] That's the risk you're taking when you outsource your work without giving specific guidelines!

[hardnosed]

Interrogation. It'll be faster if I just show you.

[ hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm, pulling up her own week one file, swiveling the open laptop so it faces Della, hitting play... ]

And it looks like you [ general you ] were right about... hypnosis, whatever. Does this sound like me to you?

IN THE RIGHT PLACE, WHOOPS

[philoxenia]

[ Oh my god. ]

Fine. [ She taps the notebook. ] This is a record of Angel's life. Back on Pandora--she was isolated by her own father and used for her powers from a very young age. She-- she was dying. That purple rock she was leaking when she came here is called Eridium, which boosted her powers, but-- it poisoned her. He was using her to charge something called a "Vault Key," which would open something called a Vault and result in his gaining something he probably should never have. ... He sounds like an absolute bastard, actually.

[ .... fuck Handsome Jack, basically. ]

... At the end, this is what she said: "Something brought me here. I can call it whatever I want: karma, fate... an algorithm, I don’t know, but I do know that I need to get them out of here. If I could just get in touch with whoever’s leaving them all these clues."

I also found information on Subjects Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. There wasn't much on Alpha, on account of their being-- dead upon arrival, but Beta and Gamma had the ability to manipulate spaces--Beta, for digital spaces, and Gamma, for reality itself.

[bathymetric]

Did you demand answers on your final exams in school like this, Tauros-Head? Share with the class, not me.

[ladygeryon]

[Nira grips her sword harder and harder as Mira describes Angel's life on Pandora, nodding when Mira describes him as a "bastard."] The worst kind of bastard.

[She "hm"s a little when the three subjects are described.] Sounds like Beta was responsible for designing that virtual reality execution chamber, then.

ITS COOL I DID THE SAME

[nothingcanstop]

[ Haha, look who's grip on her big ol' sword is growing tighter. ]

...She told me a bit about her dad. Just...not that that's who he was. It was his mask that got her to remember everything in her past that the Professor wiped away.

[bathymetric]

There's a remote access system. I wrote them myself, I'll say that much.

[nothingcanstop]

I know, right? Major oversight. Slacker.

[philoxenia]

Honestly, squandering all that hard work... if I were this student of his, I'd be insulted.

[nothingcanstop]

...Only by a technicality. [ What...the hell, she sounds so out of it. ] The bastard really did it, he hypnotized us.

[bogwife]

[Zerinda's got some important paperwork she's pulled out of her bag.]

You're part of a council that runs a kind of training school, Professor. You, a Doctor, a Coach and two others. Your best students become your agents and to hide it there's a cover company taking care of all the costs. [She flips through the papers, looking for the profits chart.] And if I'm reading this right it's doing very well right now.

[philoxenia]

[ ohhh no this hits entirely close to home--

it's fine it's fine ]

All of us-- ... I guess this explains how the motives seemed to be tailored to some of us especially.

[ladygeryon]

You never said we couldn't ask you for clarification here.

But fine. Angel had a whole map of all the robberies this guy's been delegating. Just the ones for technology stuff, which is apparently all at the "primary facility." Mostly just one- or two-person jobs with some help from what I'm guessing is his gadgets. No one familiar among the descriptions, at least.

[She did bring the clips along if anyone wants to take a look.]

[nothingcanstop]

From his favored agent, no less. I'd much rather have him have to call me "Holy Fuck It's A Duck" every time.

[mouflon]

I thought so. Whatever else I could say about them, they didn't seem like the type to come up with some of the things we saw.

You're a real creep, aren't you? Is that what you think is fun — coming up with some stupid "poetic" way for us to die? Were you sitting up overnight coming up with them, or did you have something drawn up in advance for all of us?

[bogwife]

He partly runs a school so delegating little things like "titles" to a student makes sense. [She clicks her tongue in distaste, shaking her head at Seteth's original title.] The absolute coward.

[hardnosed]

Seems like a pretty pathetic excuse for a mastermind, if he can't even figure out how to target us without asking nicely.

[nothingcanstop]

Did he have those for all of us? [ Yeesh. Shiver down her spine. ]