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trial #5 - execution
 Complex Population: 15 At 7PM, a tone rings out, but it's not Judy's voice that filters out over the intercom. "TALLYING VOTES. . ." The voice is mechanical and robotic, and a pause lingers in the air. It seems that the voting system is run by some kind of AI. "CONSENSUS REACHED. MAJORITY VOTE. OVERSEER CIEL PHANTOMHIVE, EMPLOYEE ID VTMGMT62270567. STATUS: INNOCENT. CIEL, PROCEED TO THE JUDGEMENT THEATER. CHARGING..." There's the sound of clicking, though it's not Ciel that receives the shock. Rhys, who had started to stir nearby, is the one to receive it. It seems there was a last ditch effort to try and save Ciel, at least for now... But at least as promised, when everyone leaves, you'll find (almost) every door in the Complex open. "DESIGNATING EXECUTIONER. . . ALICE. ALICE, PROCEED TO THE JUDGEMENT THEATER. CHARGING..." The second person will receive the same treatment. No one else will be able to step into the judgement theater after them without receiving a nasty shock before they can step too close, and once they're both inside, the door closes behind both of them. There's a clicking sound from the walls, and the panels on the right side of the room are pulled up to reveal a thick glass that allows you to look into the Judgement Theater. It seems justice is meant to come from the the hands of the jury. ic rulebook character statuses character profiles votes |
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It could be how they brought us to this complex in the first place, though. [He's quiet for a minute, brooding on that.] I asked Judy, once if we weren't allowed to leave, or if it was physically impossible. She wouldn't answer. I always thought that meant the latter, but... they had to get us all here somehow.
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[Alice studies the pods from a distance before creeping closer to get a better look at them. Do they all look more or less the same, or are there any noticeable differences between any of them?]
If they used these to get data from us somehow before the experiment began, then all they'd have to do would be... to activate it on the server, somehow.
[A pause...]
I wonder if you'd still be missing a foot on the other side, if you died.
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Are they connected to anything, or do they stand alone in the room?]
If they were scientists worth their salt, then they needed a way to continue collecting data during the experiment, didn't they? [The monitors.] So I suppose it would depend on... what... point in time the data was from. The last thing they'd recorded. [Or something. Maybe? HE'S TRYING.]
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[And it's not like she really likes admitting that, but it's the truth.]
But Veronica was whole, wasn't she? Or at least, I assume she was, if she was managing to talk to us somehow. So whatever they had on file for her was taken before she got chopped up.
[She wants to start poking around, but that's easier said than done with her hands occupied keeping Leo up. So:]
I'm going to put you in one of them so I can have my hands free, okay? Tell me what you see from the inside.
[He better protest if he doesn't want her to actually do that, because she's walking up to one and turning so that she can deposit him into it. Why.]
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Anyway, he sighs, but he doesn't actually protest. She'd have to put him down if she were to climb in there anyway, so whatever.]
Just try not to "forget" me in there, will you? [Because that is absolutely something she would do HE KNOWS YOU ALICE, HE KNOWS YOUR PASSAGG WAYS.]
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[And with that, she sets him down into one of the pods before heading over to crouch down and examine the points where they connect to the wall. She's being very careful because she already thinks this place might have something to do with the dead people, so no risk of property damage from her, at least.
Don't break anything or she'll seriously kill you, Leo.]
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Is there anything interesting for him to see in there?]
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As for the pods, there's nothing in particular about the pod itself other than the fact that it is quite comfortable to sit in. They could close the pod and see what happens, but this may not be a good idea before they figure out what they are. Maybe this information is somewhere else in the Complex... ]
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[Alice comes away from the wall and sits down, leaning against the pod next to the one Leo is sitting in.]
...it's obviously important somehow, or else it wouldn't be here. We'll just have to look for more clues later.
[For now, she supposes they can rest. She'll never admit it (because she's strong, dang it) but she's tired, and she's absolutely taking this chance to rest. Leo can just sit in the pod for a little while longer.]
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dreaded comfychair, staring at her with an unreadable look on his face.]Was it satisfying? [Killing Rhys. Killing Ava. The revenge she'd wanted and been denied; he isn't going to judge her for it, the same way he hadn't really judged Adam for killing Fran. At least not when he'd thought it had been for Luke's sake.]
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[She draws her knees up and settles her head on them, her gaze flicking up to Leo.]
...Ava was more satisfying than Rhys was. But I'm glad they're both dead. [Ava especially - her identity as a staff member had seemed clear enough to her after the hints Veronica had given out, so of course she needed to die. Alice hadn't been sure she'd get the chance to take a crack at her if she waited (even if there was another trial, even if they did sway the vote toward Ava, what were her chances of getting picked to be the executioner again?).
It had worked out for the best. She loathes relying on others, but she'd gambled on it and had depended on Shijima and Alfendi, and they'd succeeded. It's a strange thing, accomplishing something through teamwork.]
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[An answer he'd more or less expected, really. She'd never been shy about her eagerness for torture and bloodshed, which had been the main reason he'd approached her about the monitors in the first place. Still, with everything they've learned about "death" in the last few hours...]
They'll end up in the same place as Elizabeth and Bigby, though, won't they?
[Is that fair?
And is that for them to judge?]
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[And she's not entirely certain how she feels about that.
Elizabeth and Bigby deserve better than to be stuck with people like them for eternity, or however long it takes to find a way to do something about their situation, but they also deserve the chance to deal with Rhys and Ava as they see fit.]
...it's a little much to hope for, maybe, but I hope Bigby gets the chance to tear their throats out. [That kind of thing might not be permanent, though.
She falls silent for a few moments, and then she sighs.]
What do you think, Lee-Lee? About that... other place.
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As for her question... he's quiet as he mulls it over, fiddling with his glasses. Their absence from his face doesn't seem to bother him much right now.]
I'm not sure how well I understand it, honestly. Where I'm from, we don't have anything like this. [Not just the technology, but the idea of the dead not really being dead, even in a changed form... it's not something he's ever really heard of.]
They seem to like it alright, though. It seemed like most of them prefer it to-- whatever's outside. [His face, mostly stoic and thoughtful until now, seems to cloud over. "Whatever's outside" being death, destruction, and horrors, according to the dead.] If they're right, and what we were taken from doesn't exist anymore... then I'm not sure it matters.
...I thought escaping would mean going home.
[He'd hoped, rather. He'd had a niggling feeling, since the moment Judy refused to tell them if they could leave, that whatever awaited them beyond the walls of the building wasn't good. Still, he'd held out hope. For Elliot's sake, he'd tried to hope.
But if they're right, then... what's the point? Why bother leaving without Elliot to go back to? If he'd had anyone else to care about, he has no memories of them now. And to live just for the sake of living, to fight and escape and run just to keep a heart beating... it's not really his style.]
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[The words are spoken with no small amount of bitterness.
For all her bravado, Alice knows that it's not easy to pick things up and start from scratch. It had taken time and effort - blood and sweat, though perhaps not tears, not from her - to reach the point she had been at in Sylvarant, to have carved out a place for herself.
And she has unfinished business. There are things she needs to do -
A person she needs to see -
...but no. She can't afford to dwell on that now, but as she watches Leo, her expression softens somewhat.]
If it's not possible to go home, then... what would you want?
[She refuses to die. It will be difficult, but she'll carve a place out for herself in whatever hell is waiting beyond these walls.
...but that might not be so easy for some of them who remain.]
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Yeah, he's pretty bitter about it too.
He'd lived through the death of his parents, through self-imposed isolation at the orphanage, even through-- whatever rocky relationship he must've had with Elliot to get to the point they'd been at. He'd had something closer to "happiness" than he'd ever thought he'd get, and all he'd had to do was keep one person safe.
And he couldn't, it seems, even manage to do that right.
What would he want?
Penance, maybe. He may not have had any hand in the supposed disaster beyond their prison, but that hardly matters now. Maybe this was his penance, for... he doesn't even know. For letting Elliot into his life in the first place. But no amount of suffering, moping, or even fighting to survive on his part is going to summon Elliot out of the air.
What would he want?
To have never been given this... chance, if one could call it that. Elliot would've made-- well, maybe not better decisions, but. He would've been stronger. He would've fought harder. He would've deserved to stay breathing when so many others had fallen. It never should've been him in the first place. He still doesn't understand why it was.]
I'd want to do what I could to make sure whomever wanted to live got out of here safely.
[Leo's not stupid. He'd known, more or less, that there was hardly any chance of leaving this place the moment he'd let Alice take a saw to his foot. He'd hoped they could gain something from him before he died, and frankly, he's still kind of shocked that never happened.
But now... with everything they've learned... well.
Maybe they'll find something helpful for him do, some sort of distraction while they make their escape. Or maybe the best he'll be able to do is make sure he isn't one more burden they'll have to worry about. With everyone against them but Ciel dead, he supposes he'll find out sooner rather than later, what his part in this story is meant to be.]
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Alice's brow furrows and she studies him quietly for a few long moments. She knows already, of course, that he doesn't look at things quite the same way she does - he'd been willing to have his foot cut off, after all. And while she had been willing to do it, she sure hadn't been willing to cut her own foot off, herself.
It would have put her at too much of a disadvantage.
But Leo... he did that.
What must it be like, she wonders, to be willing to inconvenience yourself for someone else's sake? It's something she has trouble wrapping her mind around, even with her attachment to her remaining roommates. She plans to get them out alive and to work with them, but she'd never let them escape and leave her behind.]
...do you want to live?
[Because it sort of sounds like he doesn't - or that he wouldn't mind dying, if it came down to it.]
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In the past, it would've been far, far too direct. Before Elliot--no, even after, but before the events of these past ten days, he wouldn't have bothered to answer. Even now, he still has enough pride not to say out loud that he'd rather die than live a life without Elliot. But his lack of an immediate answer is probably telling enough.]
It's not that I want to die. [He'd stayed alive when he'd been younger, fighting the other kids on the streets, finding ways to survive until they came to take him away. He hadn't exactly wanted to live then, but he hadn't wanted to die, either. Now...] But if it meant one of you could get out instead... why shouldn't I?
[And maybe, just maybe, find whoever Ciel must work for, or find a way to stop something like this from happening ever again. Something good, he thinks. In the end, it would be nice to feel like he'd helped do something good.
He doesn't say that either, though, because it's sappy and gross. Instead, he laughs quietly, mirthlessly.]
Besides, how far do you think I'd even make it past these walls? Even if I had a better way to get around, I don't even know what half of these things are. A place like this... it's not meant for someone like me. [That feel when even the 1940s is at least half a century in the future.] Besides, there's no way I'd let you carry me everywhere for the rest of our lives. Your hands are sweaty.
[LEO...]
it sure would help if i clicked send
[Alice huffs. It's not entirely true, but it's not entirely untrue, either. She doesn't want to take responsibility for carting Leo around, even though she's a big part of why he can't stand on his own two feet anymore.
But she doesn't want him to just be gone, either. Who else will she make petty, passive-aggressive snipes with all the time?
Still... he has a point. Even if he did manage to make it out of the Complex, if it's as bad out there as they've been led to believe, Leo would be eaten alive in no time at all.
There's something a little bittersweet about that realization.]
...I don't understand it. [Her brow furrows a little as she looks up at him.] I'd never be content dying for someone else's sake. How can you be okay with that?
buttons are tricky
[Not that he's ever taken jabs at his skinny ass as an insult. Makes it easier to catch people off guard when he throws miniature bookcases at them.
He does smile at that, though, and there's something pained and nostalgic on his face.]
That's the only thing I'd be content dying for.
[Except he doesn't mean a thing. He means a person, one person, and only one person. Why would he die for his own sake?
Why would he live for his own sake, for that matter, when there was someone so much better than him to live for instead? Two years of being dragged out of his shell later, and that's what he's learned from it. He can't, for the life of him, remember how they got to that point, but that's what he knows with certainty at his core, and he doesn't question it.]
I certainly don't want anyone dying for me. That would be a colossal waste and I would perish anyway from the sheer stupidity of it.
[He could always just try and tell her about Elliot, but that would be too easy. Would it even matter, at this point? Probably not. And if not, then... no. No, he'd rather keep Elliot to himself, his own personal memory of a supernova.]
Didn't I tell you I was a servant? Maybe I just got used to the idea. [It's complete and utter bullshit, but she doesn't need to know that.]