Week 5

[airlockedmods]

[As with the weeks before, life in the Fantasy Sweet returns to something resembling normalcy with shocking efficiency. The second floor rest area and Adventure Zone Death Orb Room are spotless again, the demon glitter has been vacuumed, the deflated orbs have been replaced. It's like none of it ever happened, like three more friends aren't dead and stored away in the guest house morgue.

There's a new floor to explore, their "reward" for a job well done.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday



[ooc: Don't forget to to turn in your activity for week 4, submit your memory regains and put in your threads for the Benefactors!]

Comments

[brokencode]

Like an A.I.?

[Both what Rhys told her earlier, as well as what he had revealed weeks ago stuck out. Why was this such a common tie between the people in this place? Why was it always A.I.?]

Your friend... were you able to help her?

[myocordial]

Yes. His old partner did the same thing. Created the method, actually. I should have... anticipated that my creator would follow suit.

[He should have seen it coming. Destroyed that damn tablet that housed Banno before any of this could happen.]

...I could not. Something like that was beyond me. All I could do was stay near her. [Not entirely willingly. It's complicated.] It only makes sense to reprogram her instead of someone else, really. It provided my creator with leverage over me. And more importantly, she is... the only Roidmude with the ability to heal. I... We... needed her.

[Take her away and all Roidmudes become weaker.]

...But he had another reason for needing her.

[brokencode]

[Angel chewed on her lip, mulling over his words. Breaking control like that wouldn't be easy, but maybe if she could get there... She had at least some experience with hacking, and if nothing else, her technopathy had its uses, didn't it?]

Maybe when we get out of here... [But she trailed off, listening to the last of what Heart had to say.]

What reason is that?

[myocordial]

[He doesn't say anything to the first part. As for the second part...]

Among us Roidmudes, there are those who have managed to evolve further than anyone else. Those who have reached their Ultimate Evolution. For his plans, my creator needed four of these Ultimate Evolutions.

Because of the nature of what he is, he himself counted as an Ultimate Evolution. Then there's me. And then Medic.

[Three out of four. Almost all of the promised number.]

...All he needed was one more.

[brokencode]

[Angel grimaced. They were so close, to what she didn't know. Judging by Heart's demeanor, though, it wasn't good. Especially if it was someone he felt so negatively towards.]

Do you know who, or where, the fourth is? [A pause.] And what is it that he needs them for, anyway?

[myocordial]

It's... When all four reach a specific place at a specific time, apparently it would grant the power to create a Global Freeze. [A term he hasn't mentioned to anyone before...] ...Stopping time entirely, for ordinary humans.

[So. Nothing good, indeed.]

The fourth is actually the first of any of us to reach that level of evolution. Brain. [There's a moment, right after Heart says the same, where he averts his eyes from Angel. It doesn't seem like a conscious act, but almost as if he drifts away briefly.] ...My first friend. He and Medic are my closest friends, out of everyone.

...When I realized what my creator... Banno... what he was planning... I realized that all I could do to fight back was to prevent him from gathering all of us. I ordered Brain to disappear. To stay away at all costs, lest we give Banno exactly what he wanted.

[...]

He listened... at first.

[brokencode]

[It was a little hard to fathom, the concept of stopping time. There was the unbelievability of it, for starters. But also... what good would it do, to stop time for humans? Other than removing them from the picture entirely.

Could that be it then?]

You said at first. I am... guessing he came back at some point.

[myocordial]

Yes. He showed up, suddenly, saying that he had changed his mind. That he wished to join Banno... Submit to him. After everything we'd done to fight him...

[It had hurt. A betrayal like that, from his closest friend. It may have been the most alone he'd ever felt, right then and there, in that room.]

...It was the last thing the plan needed. I... the exact sequence of events is difficult to describe. But the process of combining our powers together was engineered to destroy Medic. And she...

She almost...

[Almost...]

[brokencode]

She almost...?

[She willed his answer to be something positive. 'She almost died but... she got away.' The more memories she learned about, the more she learned that her friends were losing those she cared about. She wallowed in her own misery, but at the end of the day, what happened to her was her own doing.

Watching friends and loved ones die? That was entirely different.]

What happened, Heart?

[myocordial]

[It's harder than he expected, talking about this. Maybe... because actually putting it into words, discussing it, makes it real. It means he's admitting that this happened, that he can't just pretend it was all a bad dream.]

...One thing you should know about my friend Brain. Just like his name implies, he's a genius. As it turns out he never betrayed me after all. And somehow he managed to... to reverse what Banno had done to Medic. Restoring her free will. And... pulling all the power that was being forced into her... into himself instead.

["Quite the last minute assist, wasn't it?"]

He saved her life... at the cost of his own.

[brokencode]

[She had found herself hoping for Medic's safety, but not at the cost of another friend. It hardly felt like a victory, hardly felt like celebrating, when at the end of the day, he still lost someone he cared about.]

I'm sorry. [She considered his words for a bit longer.] If Brain took the power into himself that... means that this -- this Banno person still has the ability to freeze time, right?

[myocordial]

[Heart is actually just... silent, at first. The memory of Brain's death is so fresh, still. There's no telling how long ago it happened, not here, not when he doesn't know what other memories he's missing, but it feels as if it just happened.

Just the other day he thought his closest friend was fine.

Now he has to accept the reality that Brain is gone. His core shattered. And there's no restoring that.

Angel's question does register and he takes a deep breath. Trying to stay composed. She doesn't need to see him break down.]

...Yes.

[Even saving Medic had been impressive. Saving Medic and stopping Banno was... too much.]

I don't know... exactly how he intends to use it. But it won't be anything good.

[brokencode]

[Caught up in his story as she was, she had forgotten she had taken hold of his hand in the beginning. Without hesitation, she gave his hand a tender squeeze, knowing that it wasn't enough, would never be enough to make up for whatever it was he was feeling.]

I'm sorry. I know it does not mean much, but I am so sorry, Heart.

[myocordial]

[He'd almost forgotten it too. In a way he almost feels as if he's disconnected from himself. But despite that and even though it hurts, it does... help. That a friend knows. And is helping in her own way.

It doesn't stop the aching emptiness inside him, but it makes him feel less alone.]

...Thank you. And it... means more than you might think. Really.

[brokencode]

I only wish there was something more. That I could whisk myself away to your world and put a stop to this Banno. Surely someone with powers like mine could shut him down.

[It might have been too late for Brain, but maybe... Maybe she could save everyone else from whatever that awful, awful man seemed to be planning.]

[myocordial]

Possibly... It's hard to say.

[Banno seems to have plan after plan keeping him alive, who even knows.]

...I appreciate the sentiment.

However... I plan to kill him myself. No matter what it takes, I'll be sure that he pays. [Stopping him was almost secondary. Almost. Revenge is certainly a huge part.] I've done it once before, I'm sure that I can do it again.

[brokencode]

Heart. [The grip on his hand tightened all the more, her heart lurching at the thought of something happening to him. She understood the need to take the man out, who knew what he had planned. But after losing friend after friend, the idea of one more getting hurt...]

No matter what happens, please... take care of yourself.

[myocordial]

...Are you that worried for me?

[A bit of a wry smile finds its way to his face. It comes across as very hollow. The expression of someone who has lost enough that losing even more seems almost ridiculous.]

I don't intend to die... To him, or anyone else. I haven't come this far to allow that to happen.

[brokencode]

[The smile did little to make her feel better. Rather, she continued to stare at him, serious look in her eyes and a frown on her lips.]

I am worried for all of my friends, in both their lives here and back home. It seems no matter where we look, no matter what we do, danger follows us.

[myocordial]

That does seem to be the pattern, doesn't it...

[None of them seem to have safe lives. Anywhere.]

...I've been fighting my whole life, in one way or another. For a long time, simply existing meant to fight. [Every second he's alive an act of defiance.] I'm not planning to stop.

While I still have a single friend left to protect, I will not allow myself to die.

[brokencode]

[It wasn't exactly reassuring. Angel knew, perhaps better than anyone, that life wasn't like a storybook, that sheer power of will didn't keep people going. He had friends to protect, but she was certain that Lilith, or anyone else in New Haven, had thought the same.

But she wanted to believe in him, if nothing else.]

Is that also true here? You will stay alive as long as you have someone to protect?

[myocordial]

Yes.

[Is that at all realistic? No. But at this point, when his powers have been weakened, he's unsure how much worse things will be back home, and everyone keeps dying... What else does he have to hold onto but his resolve?]

And there are many here that I wish to protect. Ideally everyone, but especially my friends. [Friends. Human friends... It's still strange.] Obviously that includes you, of course.

[brokencode]

[Angel hadn't been fishing for an answer like that, but it was appreciated nonetheless. Her skin flushed a soft shade of pink, and she glanced away for a moment before meeting his eyes once more.]

I feel... safer already, knowing that. But please, do not put yourself at risk for my sake.

[myocordial]

Hm. My apologies, but that's not a promise I can make. I've never shied away from putting myself at risk for the sake of my friends before. I'm not about to start now.

[brokencode]

I should have expected an answer like that. [A small, humorless smile stretched over her lips.]

I hope we get out of here, Heart. I hope you are able to get home, stop Banno, and be happy.