WEEK 2: DECOMMISSION

[dropoffs]

WEEK 2 EXECUTION

WITNESSES REQUIRED.

 

ALL CREW PLEASE REPORT TO SIMULATION ROOM 001 AT 1300 HOURS. REPEAT, ALL CREW PLEASE REPORT TO SIM ROOM 001 AT 1300 HOURS.

ATTENDANCE IS MANDATORY.

CALLSIGNS FEATHERY AND TRUSTFALL ARE TO BE EXECUTED FOR THE ACT OF MURDER AGAINST FELLOW CREW. SENTENCE ░̴░̵░̴░̵░̴EN ̵P̴E̷R̸ ̵A̵░̶░̴░̵C̸L̴E̴ ̸8̴8̴░̶░̴.̵2̵░̸ ̴O̷░̴░̷░̶░̴ ̵I̷N̷░̵░̷░̴G̸A̸░̴░̴░̷░̷░̷░̶░̸ ̶░̷░̴░̷ ̴░̴░̷░̵░̸T̵ ̴T̸H̴░̴░̷░̶░̴ ̶C̷H̷A̷░̵░̸░̷░̶ ̶A̵░̷░̷░̸S̷░̷ ̸░̸░̸░̸I̶N̷░̸░̴ ̵A̵░̷S̸░̶S̶.

THOSE CONVICTED: PLEASE STEP FORWARD.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND COOPERATION.

As the clock begins to wind towards 1:00 PM, things on the ship are... quiet. The tension is thick in the air, trepidation abundant. You pulled off the impossible - but was it worth it? Some of you are with the convicted in the brig, waiting, waiting, and the Senior Crew among you are just as tense. A few sit in the brig alongside you, while others wait outside. Hope against hope, right? That maybe something can be done.

(If nothing else, Sheba and Shouxue aren't alone in all of this. You've made sure of that.)

But, much like at trial, there is a shift to the silence. A pair of pneumonic hisses resound in the brig, and the convicted are simply - gone. The tubes that are used to take them away to the brig from the conference hall are now used to transport them elsewhere. No one is expelled from the brig. No one is locked out. They're simply taken away. And then the Eudora's AI calls out across the ship, informing you of where to go. Even if you don't make your way there willingly, your feet will carry you there.

None of you have ever seen the Sim & Grav rooms deactivated in full, before, but you do now - the eerie, orange glow of the blank space, filled with a faint, pink haze when you first arrive, doesn't make a particularly inviting scene when you arrive. But you're brought to the main, largest room, used for large group simulations and zero gravity runs, where a sweet scent lingers as the pink haze fades. And once you've gathered together to one side, that's where you'll be staying - a shimmery barrier falls down to separate you all from what the Eudora has decreed will be an execution.

NAVIGATE
LOCATIONS STATUSES PROFILES AUDIENCES REPORTING PRIVATE CONVOS MURDER SUPPLY SHOP COMMS DOSSIER

Comments

[uncoincidental]

[sheba gasps at the light, and the flurry of petals, and for just long enough -

her hands loosen from around shouxue's neck.

but then her expression steels. she doesn't know what shouxue is intending to do here, but she's already almost there. and if this is some kind of attack - if shouxue comes back to herself and finds her dead...

how many times must I survive at the cost of someone else?!

...no, she can't do that.

she tries to ignore the petals around her and reaches out again.]

[ravenry]

[ as soon as the petals cocoon sheba, they turn into light to teleport her.

she is sent high into the sky, away from the lighthouse. ]

[uncoincidental]

[her hands close around nothing - just empty air.

there's a moment where she stares blankly in front of her, like she can't comprehend what's happening, but then she starts to fall.

...it's quite a height. she can see the lighthouse off to the side, can see shouxue there at the top of it, and can see the bricks on the outer part of it as she falls past it, past the clouds, toward the ground thousands of feet beneath her.

it's a long fall.

her hand slips back into her pocket again, and she grabs the small item she had stashed there, holding onto it tightly as she clenches her eyes shut.

it will be a long while, but eventually - she will hit the ground with a sickening impact. there isn't any way around that.]

[ravenry]

[ she manages to get to her feet and goes to the edge of the lighthouse to watch sheba fall. this is the least she can do, to take accountability and responsibility for all her actions. she has been a coward more than once. she can't be one again, even as all the dark emotions swirl within her.

the rain has washed all her dye out, and the lightning that flashes among the rain and sleet, highlighting the silver of her hair and the bruises on her throat.

liu shouxue is alive. she does not know how to feel about this after spending so many years afraid of dying. ]

[uncoincidental]

[surprising no one, sheba is dead.]

[uncoincidental]

[also, sharp slashes of wind break through the clouds - aimed directly at shouxue, standing at the edge of the lighthouse.]

[ravenry]

[ it takes her by surprise. there's no avoiding it. if she had more time to think about her situation, would she even have the energy to be bitter about it?

her silver hair would have gotten her executed in her world once. isn't it fitting that's what happens here?

the slashes of wind catches her in the throat and slices clean through, lopping off her head.

liu shouxue is dead. ]

[dropoffs]

[ and just like that, the execution is over. the simulation glitches out, and it's the eerie orange glow of the room deactivated.

liu shouxue is dead. she lays wide-eyed in a slowly forming pool of her own blood, head severed from her body, staining her perfect silver hair.

sheba is dead. her body is twisted, bones broken from impact, blood slowly oozing from her nose, her mouth, gaze wide in shock.

the floor is damp from rain water. it was real for them today. why wouldn't it be real for all of you?

the pink haze floats through the disengaged sim room again, fainter now, before it and the sweet scent fades completely and one of the mundane screensaver modes of the sim room kicks in. it's just a room, as if nothing happened. ]

PLEASE RETURN ALL DECOMMISSIONED CREW TO THE STASIS BAY.

[ the eudora's toneless AI announces this request, and then the barrier flickers, and the senior crew will be allowed passage to retrieve the two girls from where they fell to rest. once they do, the barrier flickers - then disappears, and everyone is free to go. your I.R.I.S.es will ping twice. happy sunday! ]