spacecoast | WEEK 4: DECOMMISSION

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.

LOCATIONS

MURDER

COMMS

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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

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

[ coming over to stand with him and offer a hand... ]

[ ...

takes it and gives it a little squeeze. thanks. ]

Whatever happens, we'll face it together. Okay?

Yeah.

[ ...

well then fast forward like 20 minutes to them entering the tower and finding rosamund hanging up there in the briars and bleeding. cool cool cool ]

[ ... it's too late for rosamund.

she just keeps holding his hand tightly. ]

[ places a hand on his shoulder i am going to touch everyone here. he's tense as he watches temenos and harley continue forward and finally come across the tower. ]

...she in there?

Probably.

[ ... ]

I kind of thought it would have been me in there if this happened.

[ the two self-aware fictional characters playing out a story. he doesn't know how to feel about being part of the audience for this instead. maybe their genres were always too different. ]