unknownseas | WEEK 1

Well, you've now met the brains of the operation, as well as the shockingly nice-looking young lady in charge of day-to-day business. Now all that's left is to get used to your accommodations - there's 24 other people in similar shoes to yours to meet in this building, you know! And who knows how much longer you might have them...

The daily routine in the facility quickly becomes obvious - the only way to tell time moment to moment is to check the strange device The Professor gave you, but at the same time every day the lights in and out of the facility go up, and at the same time every night they go down. Otherwise, it's almost maddening sometimes, how little happens in here. At least you have a few rooms with enough to hopefully keep you occupied. Who knows what secrets they might hold? And there's always that vending machine, if you can find something that fits in the coin slot...

MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
FRIDAY | SATURDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Peace Week! Enjoy it while it lasts. Remember, office hours for The Professor's Assistant are over here if you're interested, while regains can be deposited over here! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I would appreciate it, yes.

[Technology is both fascinating and also witchcraft, but you know what, she's willing to learn so sure.]

You know how to read, right? [ Yes, this is definitely how it's going to be today. ] Look here. There's a panel where you can turn it on and pick whatever speed you want. Like this—

[ She hits a button, and then another, and the treads start to move. ]

Of course I know how to read.

[i mean not like she likes reading, she is still a barbarian woman at heart, but that's not the point!!]

Ah, I see, so you determine the speed and you can use it to run.

[...she's kind of looking at it moving warily, but she at least gets the concept now.]

Hey, it's not like I know that. If you don't know what a treadmill is, who knows what the literacy rates are like where you come from?

[ But Rin nods, and when she looks Aela, she hits a button again to turn it off. ]

Oh, yeah. You have to be kind of careful about getting on it, too. Keep your feet up on this part [ she taps the toe of her shoe against the frame ] until it's moving.

[ thanks for the gym safety psa, rin ]

[ty rin at least now aela will not land on her face and swear vengeance against the treadmill, you have saved it for everyone

Anyway, she looks from the treadmill to Rin and back again before moving to stand on the frame and then match pace with the treadmill. It's slow to start with, so it's easy enough to get on there and walk. Aela looks mildly surprised despite having the entire thing already explained to her.]

Interesting. Such technology would be pointless where I come from, but it should be useful here.

[unless you guys want the barbarian woman running up and down the halls, but no one really needs that.]

[ Rin stands back from the treadmill, hands on her hips as she watches Aela test it out. That faint expression of surprise is... a little funny, but she manages not to laugh. ]

Yeah, I bet. This is pretty much exactly the kind of thing it was designed for — well, minus the kidnapping and the sociopath with a doctorate, but you know what I mean.

Those who can't leave to explore the wilderness would benefit greatly from something like this.

[Now that she's figured it out, time to mess with the settings!! She's able to get it to speed up a bit, though she's not going to go too fast just yet.]

At least the Professor saw fit to give us this much. I wonder if this is something he considers a necessity for his "experiment".

[Keeping everyone in relative good health during an extended period of time trapped indoors and underwater. Y'know, nbd.]

It's pretty inhumane to keep prisoners without any form of stimulation, actually.

[ Rin crosses her arms over her chest as she says so, and there's definitely a grudging note to her tone of voice as she continues. ]

As much as the situation isn't, the conditions we're being kept in are pretty humane. We have free access to food, the beds aren't even the worst ones I've ever slept in, we even have a couple of ways to entertain ourselves... There are way, way worse ways to treat prisoners.

[Huh.]

I would have thought worse conditions would push his "experiment" faster, but now that you mention it, it is strange. Why did he ensure the conditions are decent for us?

[............probably because of it being inhumane otherwise, but look it's fine, we don't exactly have a concept of humane imprisonment in skyrim just yet.]

Do you want to hear the good option or the bad option first?

[ haha j/k Rin doesn't wait for Aela to answer before she keeps going ]

The good one is that he doesn't want to push the experiment. The only reason he would give us for this is that he wants to see what we do with the options given to us, meaning this situation was constructed to be exactly as bad as it is and no worse. The fact that we're living in otherwise decent conditions might be part of the point, even. Besides, how capable of killing are you going to feel when you've barely eaten or slept in days?

The bad option is that it's to give him leverage over us. If there's food here, that means he can take it away, or decide who gets it based on compliant or non-compliant behavior.

[th-there she goes anyway...]

Fair points. I won't claim to have any understanding what it is he's hoping to test with this experiment, but your analysis does sum up our situation well enough.

[...Give her a second to stop this so she's not having this conversation while on a treadmill, that's a little weird.]

All we have on his motivations is purely speculation at this point. The most we can do is attempt to gather more information and wait and see how this plays out.

I mean, I don't think any of us can claim to understand. He won't give us more than the barest reasoning for it.

[ And, for her part, Rin sounds pretty sour about that. ]

It's the wait-and-see part that gets to me. Sitting around and doing nothing is not my usual M.O.

It has always been the worst part of being a Companion as well. Being idle for too long dulls your skills.

[ Rin nods, but what comes out of her mouth is, ]

What does being a Companion mean, exactly? I mean, I assume what it sounds like, but...

[ But there are a lot of different things that could be, and it's clear there's some special significance to the term. ]

The Companions are an order of warriors. We're brothers and sisters in arms, sharing in the glory of battle together. We take on odd jobs throughout Skyrim as well, if there's enough coin in it.

So, something like mercenaries? I can get that. Sometimes there's just nothing on the table, so you have to keep yourself sharp on your own.

Right. I certainly don't like being here, but I'm glad it isn't any of my shield-brothers. They would be far worse off.

[She has like. slightly more restraint. Maybe.]

[ That makes Rin... smile? ]

I can relate, I think. I wouldn't have... wanted any of my comrades to end up in a situation like this.

Glad to see I'm not alone in that thought. Better us than them, and we'll make the Professor pay for putting us through this as soon as we can.

WEEK 1

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