PEACE WEEKEND

[airlockedmods]

[It's your first week here, and you've been offered a fantastic prize for killing someone: an all-expense paid vacation! It's a pretty standard prize as far as reality game shows go.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), this isn't exactly a game show.

It seems that no one has died this weekend, and the deadline for the prize is now expired. There's no announcement from the Overseers to that effect; in fact, none of you have seen either of them since Tuesday. Maybe they'll make a reappearance soon, but for now, it seems that you've got a moment of peace.

Hopefully nothing happens to it.]

Comments

[photoshooter]

[He swings his arms idly as he comes towards her, surveying his work with a critical eye.]

Uh-huh. I was just thinking, I don't want to mow anybody down in the hall when we've only really got the one. And...

[Once he's close enough, he lowers his voice.]

If it does come to a breakout by force, I wanna be ready.

[challengesfate]

[She'll lean in slightly closer when he lowers his voice, just to make sure she catches what he says, but otherwise Lucina just nods.]

It...does look like fun. What exactly would you do to clear the obstacles?

[She might want to play...!]

[photoshooter]

Well, the idea is... [He starts to lift a finger to explain, but stops himself.] Well, why don't I just show you? Easier that way, right?

[challengesfate]

[She raises her eyebrows slightly at the pause, but nods. Alright buddy, show her what you've got.]

[photoshooter]

All right! It goes like this, so watch carefully!

[It starts with a straight mad dash towards the first hurdle--a set of literal hurdles made of stacked chairs, lined up neatly with a slightly taller one at the end. Then there's a sharp turn and a set of dishes scattered all over a section of floor so that you have to hop with precision to find your footing without breaking one. He vaults over one table, then slides under the next to bellycrawl under the subsequent table-tunnel. Then, the final challenge: He jumps from a chair to another table to a high point on the wall where he's stuck a blue circle as a target, which he smacks with his hand before dropping and grinning up at her.]

Get it?

[challengesfate]

[Whoa.

That.

Was.

Awesome!!

It really was! Lucina finds herself mouth agape at the display, and when Prompto finishes, she applauds, looking quite impressed. They never had anything like this for the Shepherds, but it's definitely something she could see being useful.]

Amazing! Do you mind if I try?

[photoshooter]

Of course not, knock yourself out! I didn't realize other people would be interested in something like this. Too bad we need to put everything back for meals or maybe I'd leave it for everyone.

[He bows a little and gestures her towards the start of the course.]

[challengesfate]

It looks like an excellent way to keep in shape! I wish we had a facility for that here...but in the meantime, this should be just fine.

[She takes a moment to look over the course again, remembering how Prompto had tackled each obstacle - because that's how you've got to do it, obviously, before setting off on it herself.

Lucina doesn't clear it nearly as quickly as Prompto - her speed is good, but he's a speed boy and she's an all-around girl - but she's got some good jumping and leaping skills, her turns are on point, and she has some dang excellent coordination. When she jumps up to hit the target, it's definitely a miracle that nothing's been broken, and she looks slightly flushed, but in a good way - and she's smiling.]

That was - that was excellent! I love it!

[photoshooter]

Whoohoo!

[Prompto cheers, claps, and even whistles excitedly. Applause for the Exalt!]

Way to go, Lucina! That was awesome for your first test run on this course! If I hadn't put it together, I definitely would've broken a plate. That was incredible! You're amazing!

[Those turns, the movement of her hair--that triumphant face of hers at the end, if only he could have captured it all.]

Man, I've never missed my camera so much!

[challengesfate]

Ah - it was nothing, really. You're the one who made all of this - we should be cheering for you instead.

[His camera...ah, that takes portraits, doesn't it? The realistic ones, and the moving ones. Lucina looks back to the target, then at Prompto.] Do you often take portraits of...action?

[photoshooter]

[Still grinning, he only ducks his head modestly and shakes off the praise. But no, really. Please pat his head and tell him he did a good job.]

Photos, you mean? Sure do! Heh, sometimes the guys yell at me for not paying attention in battle when all I'm doing is getting a quick shot in. [Insistently, like this is a cheerful argument he's had a hundred times:] It's always worth it!

[challengesfate]

[Soft boy gets heaps of praise from princess, news at 11.]

Well, you're certainly fast enough to know when to take that opportunity...I suppose you've taken quite a lot of dynamic portraits that way.

[photoshooter]

I really wish I could show you some of them. Hopefully they didn't do anything to my camera.

[His baby. :(]

I've got some great shots of, like, Noct posing in front of a catoblepas, or Gladio slicing an MT in half...

[challengesfate]

Are those creatures from your world? What are they like? The...Catoblepas and "Em-Tee", I mean.

[We are not asking if the Noct Gar or Gladio Cup Noodle are native species to Eos]

[photoshooter]

Oh, man, how do I begin to describe a catoblepas. Uhhh... well, first of all, it's a huge beast. Seriously, building-sized--easily fifteen stories tall. [He stretches his arms out vertically to illustrate.] Probably half of that's in the neck, but it needs a lot of muscle to support that weight, you know? Not a creature you wanna tangle with.

[He gestures around his general upper area.]

It's got a bunch of spikes on its head and some around its shoulders, and it uses them to root around for food in marshy grasses and stuff. It doesn't usually attack people, thankfully. It's really strong.

[He's quiet for a moment before continuing.]

An MT... isn't anything like that. It's, um. It's not an animal. It's a soldier made by the Niflheim army.

[challengesfate]

That's...y-you're sure that's not some kind of dragon?

[Because that sounds like a relatively small Earth Dragon to her, and that is terrifying and how is it a herbivore when it's that large?????

At the MT, though, Lucina tilts her head.]

They're...made? [Why does she get Risen vibes from this.] How? Is it...through dark magic? Or the dead?

[photoshooter]

Dragons have wings, don't they? I don't know, I've never seen a dragon in real life.

[Anyway.]

No, MTs aren't anything like that. [Haha. Ha.] They're--the name 'MT,' it's an abbreviation. It means 'Magitek Trooper.' They're... machines. Like the microwave or or the coffeemaker, only powerful and deadly.

[Like a whirling blade pitcher on legs.]

They're shaped like people. But they're not people. And when you kill them, there's nothing inside. That's why we call them MTs--because they're empty.

[challengesfate]

...Someday, you should! Perhaps - we could visit my realm for a time. You could meet my friend Nah. She loves to be in her dragon form.

[She listens to the explanation, brow furrowing.]

Machines...Max had said that there might be machines cleaning up the rooms at night. I...hope they're not like the MTs. [Another pause.] They...sound almost like the Risen, but...in some other form, almost.

[photoshooter]

The Risen?

[That's probably bad.]

[challengesfate]

[Yeah it's kind of bad.]

The corpses of the dead, reanimated through dark magic by the Grimleal. They...worship Grima, and use the Risen as footsoldiers. I've been fighting them for most of my life.

[photoshooter]

...You know, they do sound similar. Our MTs and your Risen.

[Or at least the effects they have.]

I don't think the Empire started using MTs until around when I was born, but it feels like... I can't even imagine what Lucis was like before, without them looming over every horizon. That's always been my world, even if I was safe in Insomnia.

[challengesfate]

...I'm sorry to hear that. [She sounds incredibly sincere when she says that.] Living in fear of what roams beyond a town's walls...I know what that's like. I wouldn't wish that sort of life on anyone. At least my friends and I could fight the Risen off, for a time - what of you and your friends?

[photoshooter]

Um. We fight the Imperials a lot, yeah.

[Because the fuckers fucking SPAWN constantly when I'm trying to catch frogs in PEACE]

But there's only four of us, and the MTs... they never end. So we've been on this quest all over the world so Noct can get the Crystal back and use its magic to finally stop them.

[challengesfate]

[Wow rude why can't they respect four dudes contributing to scientific research what the heck]

...There...are more than four of us, but, I can understand...unending waves of foes. [She grimaces a bit.] They march on, relentless and merciless...and there's no reasoning with them at all, is there? No way to get them to turn back.

[photoshooter]

[He shakes his head.]

Nothing to turn 'em back to. They're just... metal and wires, all powered by Magitek. Nothing to think with. If we tried sending them back to Niflheim, they'd just turn right back around and march right over us.