WEEK 4: DECOMMISSION

[dropoffs]

WEEK 4 ALERT

emergency detected

 

ALERT: EMERGENCY IN THE SIMULATION ROOMS.
LOCKDOWN SEQUENCE ENGAGING.
SYSTEM REBOOT LOCKED.

LIFE SUPPORT STABLE.
CLIMATE CONTROL STABLE.
FUNCTIONALITY WILL RESUME AFTER EMERGENCY ADDRESSED.
WARNING: PROCEED WITH CAUTION

REQUESTING CALLSIGNS:
INQUISITOR AND HARLEY QUINN
REPORT TO THE MAIN SIMULATION ROOM.

A barrier barred me from leaving my location and the other senior officers are not responding to messages. Tread with caution.

CALLISTO

It's somber, this morning, barring the sudden, clipped request sent out by the Eudora. Hard to not be, considering the proceedings of yesterday - the loss of two crew members that you had come to know over the past weeks. The sequestering of one in the brig, the other monitored in the medical bay. The truth of their actions, come to light. The night passes without fanfare, and the sleep is barely fitful, no matter where you have spent the night.

And then, the morning comes.

The walls of the Eudora feel looming in the silence, but duty calls. Temenos and Harley have been requested to investigate the simulation room. There's nothing to guide them through these hallways except their own feet and the familiarity of this alert from many weeks past; there is no compulsion, there is no guiding light, just a request from the synthetic AI voice of the ship herself chirruping over and over again. If others attempt to investigate in their stead, they'll find that they're given no access through the archway of the simulation room's entry, but these two individuals can make it through without trouble.

The simulation room is not off, like it has been the past couple of weeks.

Instead... it's rather different from before.

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

Comments

INVESTIGATE?

[dropoffs]

[ here, in the threshold of the simulation room as you pass through, is an enormous spectral wolf. its eyes fix upon the both of you, regarding you silently.

before you, a path of tangled briars twist and writhe slowly into one another, blocking your path. you will find that there is a... certain vitality to you as you enter the simulation room. some of your abilities has been gifted back to you, perhaps as a side effect of the sim room being on? either way, use them wisely.

how will you proceed? ]

[inquired]

[ not the fucking plants AGAIN

well, here we are. temenos has his staff on this terrible sunday afternoon as he stands at the front of the sim room, and the feeling of vitality is...well. this is deja vu, isn't it? he glances over at harley, then at the tangled path of briars, then the wolf. ]

This bodes poorly. [ but he will quickly pull up his iris and tap off a private message, and then test that vitality? ] With your assist... let's see if this works.

[ he holds his staff out to the briars and says - ] Illuminate the darkness. [ to cast a holy light spell on the briars immediately in their path, attempting to clear some sight into the sim room. ]

[messy]

[STOP GIVING PLANTS A BAD NAME 😭

harley's eyepatch is pulled up so it's more of a headband right now. she's doing something with her empty eyesocket for a moment, before she pulls her hand away to reveal a whole ass brand new eye. pink! because we gotta stay on brand even when replacing body parts.]

Shit... [she doesn't have any powers to simulate right now, but you what she can simulate? a fucking shotgun. she's aiming it at that big bad wolf while engaging in a staring contest with it.] Can you get through to anyone? This is, uh, more Rosamund's brand than Bradley's.

PEANUT GALLERY

[dropoffs]

[ you are trapped outside of the simulation room. fully. the doorway is open, however, and you all are allowed to stand as close to the barrier as possible to see inside. the view is, unfortunately, very clear, and you can watch as your fellow crewmates explore the scene in its entirety. ]

[applebough]

[ She feels the bitter aftertaste in her mouth when she's here to watch. That can't be a good sign... ]

[verminous]

What in the...

[hi yuri, he's here. a little disheveled, like he just slept in the clothes he's wearing.]

[naeddre]

[haha sorry callsign inquisitor? haha!

immediately SHOVES herself up to the front. get out of the way. she has a knife and she is going to try to stab the damn barrier.]

[discomfort]

[ oh. hmmm.

well, owner is here, wrapped up in his familiar blanket once again. he is standing a bit away from the crowd, even if it obstructs his view some. ]

[expiries]

[i can't believe i have to walk out the door at this exact moment help me

as soon as he hears those callsigns he's moving forward to the barrier, silent, but expression tense.]

[baebladie]

[ ...The oddities are clear; hard to ignore, impossible to turn away from.

What kind of result will be awaiting? And, perhaps, the price...? ]

[solesuccess]

[ what the fuck now.

as usual he's here, mostly at the front of the barrier and keeping an eye on what's going on inside the room. "why is he at the front" listen he is shorter than the entire game, let him have this.

two of them this time, again. ]

...just like that first time. [ that first time when two people went and discovered something horrific. but...they can all see now? y...ay... ]

[sexyasmieu]

[ coming up to see what's going on in the simulation room... and wincing at the sight of all those briars. ]

... Oh, this is bad...

[murdergate]

[ nodd has his jaw clenched shut, visible tension along the line of it.

briars. fucking briars. ]

What's the fucking point! HUH, Jeff! What's the fucking point!

[ feral looking at the ceiling as if jeff or another dark god might be hiding there. he cuts himself off when it's empty. a hand over his face. steps back. he'll find a spot to vibrate in place while they watch. ]

[riverbeans]

[putting a public text message here for everyone]

ganymede just collapsed in the brig. probably the same for the others - guess that's why no one's responding to callisto right now.

[drymonster]

[ oh, he just looks nauseated as soon as he sees the briars. ]

No, no, no... not like this... come on...

[roseoftexas]

[ hm. all those briars aren’t a good sign.

this is a bit too much like the first week for him to be entirely comfortable. ]

[teenrebellion]

[ yesterday was bad enough, and now this? it calls temenos, and then there are. plants. twisted vines full of briars, and it's really just too familiar. it makes kazuki lock up where he's stuck watching, eyes are wide with fear and locked onto temenos. please be okay. you have to be okay. ]

[bladeward]

[ im still not awake enough for this. girl help.

keith WAS HERE, until seeing that message from charles and then he’s just leaving and going to run around the ship like an insane person. he’ll be back…. eventually.

kosmo is here tho!! its therapy dog hours, come get your good boy pets. ]

[kabari]

[ this is giving me goat sacrifice vibes ]

[inequals]

[ Is it het yet ]

BRIG

[dropoffs]

[ bradley bain is here, and those of you who are in the brig with him will see that a large holovid stream appears for you all to see precisely what is going on.

bradley, you will be able to see precisely what is happening in the simulation as well thanks to this holovid. seems like you are to remain part of the captive audience as well. ]

[dropoffs]

[ well.

turns out that ganymede was the officer on duty in the brig, when all of this happens. but instead of everyone being expelled out, he had grabbed at his helmeted jawline in abrupt alarm and tension, convulsed, and then hit the ground heavily, unconscious - before a shimmery barrier went up.

however, it appears that junior crew - sans bradley, still in his cell - can pass through this barrier? their hands (or bodies, if they throw themselves at the barrier without testing it first) go right through.

ganymede is alive but unresponsive so is more of a set piece than anything else. ]

[riverbeans]

[UH

THERE'S A LOT GOING ON RIGHT NOW charles is going to check up on ganymede first because he's not going to just ignore the guy who FUCKIN CONVULSED AND COLLAPSED

but as that happens with an unresponsive ganymede charles will look to the others in the brig in alarm]

[perfectpower]

[Bradley is right there at the barrier to his cell, hands on it like he's trying to push out.]

Oi, Space Leader! Hey!

DECOMMISSIONING . . .

[dropoffs]

DECOMMISSIONING

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, the following crewmate's user data is being sent to the CSS Eudora's backend. All located belongings of the crewmate have been surrendered for safekeeping, unless otherwise indicated, and access to the system has been revoked. Stasis pod disengaged from primary network. Thank you for your service.

ROSAMUND DU PRIX

STATUS D͠ECO͢M̴MI͡S̢S̵I͟O͞N̵ED

Not this time. I want to start over. I need to start over. I can fix the ending.

Will I wake at the beginning again? Or will I be trapped with the rest of them?

....

...

It doesn't matter. I'll find a way to change it. I'll come back for everyone.

I love you all.

I love you all.

I love you.

❝ mors certa, hora incerta. ❞