week 1

[airlockedmods]

Week 1

[After the initial introduction of the Overseers on Sunday, the Champions were left to their own devices in investigating the part of the ship they have access to to their hearts' content. However, the doors that Jamie and Bolton came through are locked tight and cannot be unlocked via PIP.

On Monday morning, the same voice that awakened them the previous morning chirps at them again from their PIPs at 7 am on the dot. There's also a pop-up message waiting for them: a notice announcing "office hours" for Bolton in the library and Jamie in the art room every day from here on out.

Enjoy your week, Champions.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

Comments

[voltrounds]

[AAAH SOMETHING LOUD JUST HAPPENED IS THIS THE BEGINNING OF MURDERTIMES oh. No, no murder, just a very freaked out Thomasin.

She'll just. Cautiously approach.]

[curdle]

[ So much for that minimizing vulnerability thing! She presses the picture face-down onto her lap, though there's still totally a window of visibility, and looks up at Ricky. ]

It's been but a two-day.

[voltrounds]

[At least Ricky isn't trying to get a look at it.]

The thing they're offering to change?

[curdle]

Nay, since they took us.

[ But her guess isn't far from the truth either; it hasn't been even a week since the wood took Sam. ]

How could they be so desperate?

[voltrounds]

Maybe it's because they know we're mostly getting along.

[curdle]

They crave of our blood. [ As she goes on, it's less and less clear whether she's talking to Ricky or to herself, though she's still looking at her; her gaze turns distant. ] They will have us against each other and care not what they promise. So too did the devil tempt Christ in the wilderness...

[ She stands up a little too quickly, still holding the paper to her lap. ]

Forgive me. I must scrub the floors.

[voltrounds]

I'll help.

[Because Thomasin is Clearly Very Distressed.]

Temptation. Yeah, that's probably a good comparison.

[curdle]

The fault was mine -- I'll to it.

[ Of course, if Ricky wants to also get a ton of napkins, she's not going to stop her! Thomasin sets her motive down on the table, blank side up, before pulling her dress out of the way and crouching to start cleaning the mess. As awful as it is, she can't let it be dirtied. ]

Temptation is not so cruel.

[voltrounds]

[Yeah, Ricky grabs a crapton of napkins. Where did they even come from? Did she leave enough for everyone to use at dinner? IT IS A MYSTERY.]

I'm guessing you don't want to talk about it, but...

[curdle]

I...

[ Can she trust her? How can she trust anyone? And if she tells people about Sam, will they turn against her too? ]

If one tells a truth, does it lose its power?

[voltrounds]

...my father always said I should be upfront about things.

[That... sure isn't actually an answer.]

[curdle]

So too mine.

[ Well okay "lying is a sin" is a slightly more intense delivery method but the message... is the same... ]

My brother was taken by a wolf. He was in my charge -- he was right before me.

[voltrounds]

[Well that got serious fast. Not that she should have expected differently.]

...I'm sorry.

[curdle]

[ Thomasin looks up, and for a second she looks both miserable and ready to snap, the way she'd driven her brother away three days ago, but then she remembers how she felt after Caleb did go. She drops her gaze back down and tries to sound mild. ]

Pity me not. I was the one what brought him to the edge of the farm. I was playing peek-a-boo with him. He was laughing. I covered mine eyes for a moment, and--

[ Her hands go still. ]

Sam was vanished. They made sport when they wrote of me in our ledger. They do now, too. They must know everything of us. [ ... ] All of us.

[voltrounds]

[Geez.

Oh no that part in her profile about peekaboo.]

It isn't your fault. You couldn't have known something like that would happen.

...but you're right. They know things about us they shouldn't be able to.

[curdle]

No matter. It is done.

[ It cannot be undone. Mother's grief, and her blame, cannot be changed. Back to cleaning up that mess!! ]

Frederica... I am sorry. Each of us is burdened thus. I need not add this weight to thine.

[voltrounds]

No, it's fine. I was the one who asked.

[And yet, she frowns as she gets back to work.]

[curdle]

[ it's a frown party down on this floor rn ]

I cannot return all your kindnesses as they were given -- I cannot read to you. But if you wish it, this one I will.

[voltrounds]

[Ricky's quiet for a moment, debating with herself whether she should say what's on her mind.]

It's a different kind of problem, but...

[curdle]

[ She waits, not wanting to press or even make eye contact if that is unwanted, but if Ricky does look at her face she'll see quiet encouragement there. It's a look she hasn't had any opportunity to use since she came here. ]

[voltrounds]

Before I was here, I was in a town called Etria. I've made friends there, who are helping me with an important mission that I have to complete. It's a nice town, and everyone there is very friendly.

[She takes a deep breath.]

If I complete my mission, the town will be destroyed.

[curdle]

[ It sounds... so foreign, and fantastical, but everything here is. It surely would make her distress no less real. ]

... why, then? What have they done?

[voltrounds]

Nothing, except build their town in just the wrong place.

[How to explain this...]

It's like if a bird built a nest in a tree, and then I absolutely needed to cut down that specific tree.

[curdle]

[ She nods, her eyes wide, to show that she can grasp the analogy at least. ]

Your mission must be of dire importance.

[voltrounds]

It is. There's a being I need to stop, or it'll destroy much more than one town.