spacecoast | WEEK 2: DECOMMISSION

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decommission

WEEK 2: DECOMMISSION

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.

LOCATIONS

MURDER

COMMS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[at first, sheba doesn't move a muscle, staring at shouxue from across the room.

but then she steps back carefully. one step, then two. she squeezes the small item in her hand once before bringing her hand up to tuck whatever it is - there's a brief flash of something that looks like it has a slightly rounded corner - into the pocket of her overalls, just over her heart.

but then she slides her multitool out of the same pocket, flicks it open, and very quickly brings it to her neck, intent on slicing open her own throat.]

[ shouxue's eyes widen and swallows before she chokes on her food. ]

Sheba, don't!

[ she won't allow this. she sprints towards the other girl and throws down the other thing that was in her hand. a snow glow breaks against the ground, causing a blizzard. ]

[ !

wind and snow whip around them, and the blizzard knocks the multitool from sheba's hand before she can do more than nick a small bit of her throat. she gasps, shifting back to try to avoid getting hit with more snow and ice, and shakes her head.]

I don't want to hurt you! Please—!

[ the blizzard keeps them separate for now. the snow and wind makes her hair ornaments struggle to keep her hair up. ]

I don't want to hurt you either, but I don't want you to hurt yourself! I don't want to watch you die like this.

Do not make me witness this.

[ her words turn sharp. she starts to glow pink. the atmosphere around them darkens. ]

I don't know how else to get you out of here! Last week the barrier opened after one of them went down, so I thought... I thought...

[she's shaking a little, squinting through the blizzard at the pink glow shouxue, her gaze flicking to the rest of their surroundings as the atmosphere darkens around them. it gives her an idea, and she focuses on her i.r.i.s. -

a weapon appears in her hand - not a mace, this time. a stave, curved at one end, with three bits protruding from it. it's not sharp. it's not something she'd easily be able to kill someone with.

but it's something.

her gaze flicks briefly to the multitool on the ground. the blizzard is still swirling around it - she won't be able to reach it easily, but if she can get to it, then maybe...]

You thought you would leave me to die alone? You think that would be a kindness? I do not need that kind of pity.

[ she holds out a hand. a pink flower appears, petal by petal. the peony blossoms, and she blows it into a mist.

pink arrows appear above where the blizzard swirls before they shoot down at sheba. ]

I won't allow it.

I was hoping you would survive!

[would this place allow that? probably not. they had both been named for execution, after all; this isn't an anomaly in the brig. but the one slim thread of hope sheba has here is that if one of them dies, the other might be alloewd to walk free.

more than anything, she wants it to be shouxue. she looks up at the arrows as they appear above her, and she tenses, digging her heels in to stand her ground as the arrows fall.

do not make me witness this, shouxue had said. sheba had thought doing it herself would be better than making shouxue attack her, letting her get her blood on her hands. but maybe this is how it has to be.

...

but.

at the last moment, her expression contorts into something furious, and without really thinking about it, she pivots on one foot, ducking back to avoid the arrows and dodging and weaving between them. she twirls the stave in one hand, and wind whips up around her - a tornado forms, electricity sparking within it, and she points to shouxue with the stave.

the tornado rushes toward the other girl, through the blizzard, a moment later.

(the multitool gets caught up in it and is flung across the room. sheba doesn't seem to notice.)]

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

[ the question rips from her throat, raw and bitter. her shoulders tremble, and her grief consumes her. wind whips around sheba, but it does so around shouxue, too. her hair ornaments fall out, and her long black hair falls as flower petals scatter.

she does not avoid the tornado rushing towards her, as she sends one back to sheba.

she can't see past her emotions right now, and even as she gets trapped in wind, all she can think about is stopping sheba and binding her with the wind.

about how she doesn't want to wake up to find someone else dead.

how many ghosts haunt her simply because of who she is? ]

[sheba doesn't have an answer to that question.

one of them is going to have to die, that much is a certainty. deep down, sheba wants to live. she just isn't sure, at this point, that she deserves to.

but shouxue has so much to live for, so many people out there who are watching this who care about her, and it burns her up a little that she can't think of a way to get her back to them.]

Agggh—!

[she's caught in the tornado that shouxue has sent her way, but she's still got her weapon gripped in her hands, and she raises it again, focusing as the wind whips around her and cuts at her skin. the air above them darkens with stormclouds, and there's the tang of ozone in the air before -

spark plasma rains down on them from above.]

[ shouxue is too emotional to think about how she's being watched right now. she simply wants all of this to stop some way. she's so angry about how unfair and how many injustices there are, and it tires her out down to soul.

she has never wanted to die, but she never wanted to watch anyone die either. there is enough blood on her hands that she should atone for, but what is this?

she was cast to the ground after sheba cast a tornado her way, and it's difficult for her to get up. she tries to push herself off the ground before the spark plasma rains down on her. ]

I—

[ her arms give out. she can't stop her scream when she's hit. ]

[shouxue's scream pierces the air, and the fury drains out of sheba as the plasma strikes her.

her eyes go wide, and her cheeks go pale, and she grits her teeth as she struggles to break free of the winds shouxue has summoned to bind her. her feet hit the ground, and she darts forward to her, dropping to her knees next to her and reaching for her ahoulder.]

No! No, no— Shouxue, get up—!

[ shouxue is still for a long moment before she reaches out and grabs sheba by her ankle. her grip is tight.

their environment changes. a palace and its courtyard that may be familiar to some appears. it is dark, and everything from the shingles on the roof to the walls is made of black materials.

shouxue coughs with her face still in the ground. ]

Why this? You should keep me down before anything else happens.

[she flinches a little at the grip around her ankle. the fingers of her free hand twitch; she slips her hand back into her pocket to grip the small item she'd tucked in there before and takes a slow, steadying breath. her other hand stays on shouxue's shoulder, as if she might help support her if she were to sit upright.]

Shouxue... I don't want to see you die any more than you want to see me die.

[her voice trembles a little.]

But I don't know how long I can keep myself from...

[ shouxue is spared from replying because pink flames suddenly light up the courtyard.

a ghost appears. he says in that bright and cheerful way that enough people know: ]

Monsieur Luke is learning shibari!

[

she just. stares.]

[ it's fine because very soon, a golden chicken comes and chases the ghost away. he disappears in a poof.

soon, scrolls appear in the air. it unrolls into bamboo panels, and words being to appear across them in black ink.

We've only just met, but you are dear to me. I hope you know that.

shouxue is lucky to miss this ill-timed ghosts, but she's not not lucky enough to not regain energy to try to get up. she lifts her head up enough to see this and immediately curls into herself. goodbye. ]

[sheba just looks at the chicken blankly as it chases the ghost away, at a complete loss for words.

...but then the scrolls appear, and words appear on them, and she sees shouxue curl in on herself. her heart plummets, and she turns to glare at the scroll.]

Stop it! Isn't this painful enough already?!

[...this is a simulation room. frantically, she works with her i.r.i.s., trying to disengage the simulation. her staff vanishes briefly, and their surroundings flicker and dissolve into static, giving a momentary view of the disengaged sim room -

but then the palace is back, and the scrolls are back.]

Enough!

[but no matter what she does

she just can't get the scene to shift or the scrolls to disappear.]

It would be quicker if you....

[ she doesn't finish her sentence because she knows it's cruel, but for once, she simply doesn't want to see what happens next.

More words show up, one by one.

I feel comfortable with you and I like talking with you, so I consider you my friend. Though... I'm glad that I can say something like that so freely without being ridiculed for it.

And I've always appreciated how you treat me. It's why I wanted to make sure you weren't actually alone.

Anyone who thinks they're capable of judging someone else's crimes all on their own is wrong. I don't care who it is. There's no one alive who hasn't done something wrong, but that doesn't make retaliation right. ]

Sheba.

[ her voice is quiet but trembling in her desperation. ]

How can we make it stop?

I don't... [her voice breaks.] I don't know. I don't know how to fix this.

[it doesn't ring entirely true. she could kill her. dimly, she is aware of that. her fingers twitch, again, and her expression tightens. she can hear the desperation in shouxue's voice.

what if there really isn't any other way out? her vision blurs with tears, and she blinks furiously.

it would be quicker if you...

it would be quicker if she still had her multitool. she doesn't. it's somewhere on the other side of the room, flung wide by that tornado, so she doesn't have a way to end this quickly anymore.

slowly, she brings her hands to shouxue's neck.]

Is this... you want me to...?

[clouds darken above them, again, but this time, there's no lightning or plasma. it's rain that falls from the sky, instead.

at least that way it won't be so obvious that she's crying.]

[ More scrolls. More words.

For your honesty, I will tell you that... at the heart of it, I am simply too tired to worry over such injuries.

Though I suppose you were right. It would be easier if I disliked everybody.

Connections are a double-edged sword. There's no such thing as a bond that doesn't bring any pain. But if you look at the other side of that pain, you can find something warm.

...I don't know if I'll have the chance to say this tomorrow... but I just wanted to say... I'm really glad that we were roommates. I'm glad I met you.

I am not one to let others see me vulnerable. Especially in front of so many who do not know me.

Because I think there are just some people who are meant to be in your life.

Life is never that simple, unfortunately. So it is best to hold on while you can until you are no longer able.

...Not just because of this. You barely knew me, and still heard my woes earlier. About the dead. That sort of talk brings me more peace than a hundred compliments could.

I don't know how many truly understand how lost or trapped a soul can be. Even fewer people know how to help—whether it's giving peace to the living or the dead.

the last few words break shouxue. she glows a gentle pink even as tears block her vision, and she nods as sheba's hands wrap around her neck.

the rain falls and makes the words bleed off the scroll. the dye in shouxue's hair bleeds, too. ]

[sheba doesn't look at the words. she can't. her gaze is locked on shouxue's face, and fierce, angry tears are streaming down her cheeks, mingling with the rain as it falls. the other girl nods, and she gives a choked sob as she nods back, her hands tightening around her neck.

i'm sorry, she had said at the trial, and shouxue had said, do not apologize.

so she doesn't apologize now, either. if this is all she can do, then it's what she has to do.

do not make me witness this.

she won't. the multitool is on the other side of the room, far out of her reach. and shouxue's suffering has reached a point that she can't heap more on her by taking herself out. the best that she can do is to follow her wishes here.

the rain grows colder, more chilly, and sheba is so focused on choking the air out of shouxue's lungs that she doens't notice as their surroundings shift around them. the rain mixes with sleet, and they find themselves at the top of a lighthouse - one that stretches so high into the sky that it's impossible to see the ground below. there's nothing but clouds beneath them.

wind, rain, and sleet whip around them, bleeding the dye out of shouxue's hair, staining the ground beneath them. behind them, a dragon lies on the ground, grievously injured, while a floating rock with an eye hovers above them, watching. there are people on the lighthouse, too - at one mmoment looking like those who will likely be unfamiliar to most here, at the next flickering into familiar faces: anyone who has ever spent any real length of time with sheba here on the ship, spread out around the dragon, looking weary. but it's only for an instant; in the next moment, they all vanish from sight, glitching away. the dragon glitches, too - first into the form of all those who have died on the ship, and then into nothingness.

sheba sobs, her hands around shouxue's neck, and puts pressure on her to try to keep her still.

how can we make this stop?

this is the only way she knows.]

[ the cold of the rain against her face makes her look at her surroundings one last time even as less and less air makes its way into her. she keeps choking on air, her hand weakling wrapping around sheba's wrist, as her body's last instinct to survive.

her grief at being reminded of the connections she shouldn't have, of the atonement that she'll never live up to her builds as her vision goes black. there is a lingering hatred and rage within her that encapsulates her body in more pink light.

how can we make this stop? she said.

enough! sheba said. isn't this painful enough?

sheba has been doing so much to try and spare her. shouxue's mind goes blank. this is a request she can grant.

the pink light disperses into petals before surrounding sheba in a flurry of them. ]

[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.]

[ 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. ]

WEEK 2: DECOMMISSION

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cw: attempted suicide

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