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

[roseoftexas]

[ oof indeed. ]

Technically we didn’t “catch” her. Not officially. Aside from everything that happened at the end of the trial, maybe that’s something to do with it.

[solesuccess]

That was my speculation, too. [ and maybe they shouldn't be speculating when temenos and harley are still going through this god-awful simulation, but sometimes you have to compartmentalize in order to cope. ] Like...like if we didn't do something about it ourselves, whatever this thing is would do it for us.

[ ...because honestly this looks bad, and his hope for rosamund still being alive is. low. he's not going to verbally say it is all. ]

[roseoftexas]

[ … ]

She did say she wanted to choose how her story would end. It could be a combination of the two.

[ if they don’t speak it out loud then it hasn’t happened. this is how things work. ]

[solesuccess]

Yeah. It...she should be granted that much. [ ... ] Not getting a choice in your life's story is...pretty brutal. I think. Maybe you're right and it's both.

[ something taking control, and rosamund fighting back. and now here we are and maybe if they don't say it she'll wake up and she'll be okay. ]

[roseoftexas]

Mm. If I knew how I wanted to go out, and something was trying to change that— [ he’s quiet for a moment. ] Well, I can’t create briars. But I’d resist it too.

[ … it’s the waiting around that’s the worst here. ]

[solesuccess]

[ he just goes quiet while watching whatever the fuck is going on with this tower actually sorry shu hold that thought. ]

[roseoftexas]

[ yeah he’s just 🧍‍♂️ rn ]

[solesuccess]

[ aaaaaAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH????? ]

It's a simulation! [ CAN'T THEY JUST. FIX IT??? ]

[frotag]

[ hey shoma brings up a good point, he's gonna yell through the barrier ]

HARLEY, SIMULATE A TRAMPOLINE OR SOMETHING!!

[solesuccess]

[ i love you ichiban. ]

Or the wind to catch him, something!

[frotag]

[ ok yeah that happens 🧍‍♂️ ]

... That's one way of doin' things, I guess.

[solesuccess]

[ he's about to say something but uh

uh.

yeah. well. there's...our princess.

...anyway he's just going to go quiet and watch this, jesus christ. ]

[roseoftexas]

[ ah ]

Simulate some wings or something.

[solesuccess]

[ he just.

frowns. ]

Or that works, I guess. [ a glitch is good. great, actually, so we don't have to deal with losing more people. but now we come back to the original problem of rosamund.

so...he waits and watches again. ]

[roseoftexas]

[ in this house we don’t mock the glitchy tower that saves fantasy catholics on easter sunday ]

[solesuccess]

[ no in this house we just bitch about simulations doing this in the first place :yell: BE STABLE.

though... ]

...this...had to be pre-designed, right? It's way too elaborate.

[roseoftexas]

Kinda like in that first week? The sim room looked like an office and everything in it was already set in place.

[ … ]

Does the sim room have admin privileges? I never really thought about it.

[solesuccess]

Not sure. That's something we can and probably should...

[ ah. temenos and harley reach the top of the tower, and then there's rosamund. so he sort of trails off on that thought. ]

... [ or maybe the simulation's just stuck this way because the princess is dead. ]

[roseoftexas]

[ ah.



well, they hadn’t wanted to say it. but it turned out to be true. ]

[solesuccess]

...guess we got our answer. [ they didn't catch her, officially, and yet...

this is so unfair. ]