theairlock | week 2

Week 2

[The second week in the Champion Excellence Program kicks off on a somber note. Chitanda, Toby, the Griffin- all three of them gone, two of them in one fell swoop. If anyone thinks to check the profiles on their P.I.P.s they will find that the dearly departed Champions' profile photos have been greyed out.

Right on the dot at 7 am the mechanical woman's voice chimes to awaken the remaining champions on Sunday morning, as she has for the past week. After the initial wake-up call though there's a new message tacked on:]

Congratulations, Champions! By surviving your first trial, you have unlocked the second floor of the ship. A new mini map has been added to your P.I.P.! To access the second floor please stand on the teleporter and select the floor you wish to be teleported to.

[The new floor isn't the only thing floating around the ship though, at least metaphorically. When the Champions are awakened they have regained one new memory from the ones they've lost. Starting again on Sunday, as well, Jamie and Bolton will be back to their usual office hours in their usual locations.]

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday

[ooc: welcome to week 2, everyone! Check-in has begun and don't forget to submit your memory regains!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Congratulations on figuring out the precise reason I made these. If you're correct, then the dread of seeing another portrait altered and the consequences displayed will effectively keep people from murdering. Guilt and disgust are two of the strongest motivators we currently have given all our attempts to think positive last week saw an innocent and defenseless girl murdered with complete overkill.

[ No, he's got the point, he's just from a world where hope and friendship and thinking positive nets you suffering and hardship. ]

[She snorts, shaking her head.]

You really don't understand people. You can break someone and make them feel the need to kill just to get away from these pictures. You could have someone fragile even try to kill themselves because of this display. Don't act like everyone thinks like you.

You're right, they don't. If they did think like me, then we wouldn't have even had a murder last week at all. If we go enough weeks without murders, I'll remove them, but until then, yes, I feel we need a reminder since everyone else seems content to sweep away what happened with pretty memorials to soothe their consciences or whatever.

[ He adjusts his glasses momentarily. ]

I doubt any of us are so fragile as to commit suicide over this--we wouldn't be picked for here if we didn't have that determination to live enough that we'd sooner toss other people into the sacrificial pyre.

[Yup. She can't stand this guy. Seth can't even see that there might be one or two people who might be pushed to that point. And some that would resort to murder in a heartbeat if they knew they could get away with it.]

They picked us for a reason. Those titles prove it. We all have something we would kill for, and some of us have limits that can cause them to sacrifice themselves. Don't act all high and mighty thinking that everyone here is as resolute as you. There is no way that everyone will survive. This game is rigged that way. All we can do is try to limit how many die and to make sure that the killer is brought to justice each time.

[She narrows her eyes at him.] Those memorials are kinder. There are people who need faith in something to keep going. What you're doing isn't a memorial. You're insulting us by forcing us to see the ugliness of those three deaths every day. You're just making yourself stand out as the next potential victim or killer because of this.... you're just as bad as Bolton and Jamie.

Is that how you help yourself sleep at night? By pretending you'd sacrifice yourself for the greater good? No, no, that's not why you're here. You're here because you're selfish. All of us are, in some way. Few people just like to admit that they are because it doesn't make them look good.

[ He's going to pull up some information on his PIP now. ]

Serah--your sister, I'm guessing, given your title... You'd do anything for her. Not because she'd want it, either. Her wishes wouldn't even factor into your decisions. I've seen it before, time and again. Once you want something, once anyone wants something, they won't stop until they get what they want. No matter how many lives they decide are worth that cost unless the consequences are shoved in directly into their face. Kind memorials have no place here where we're going to be given another reason to murder time and again--reasons that will see your kindness and trust thrown in your face again and again and again.

[ He seems legitimately angry. ]

And it's not about being resolute. It's about knowing enough to know that you should never take a deal unless you know you're actually getting what you sign up for and that the consequences you might pay are worth it. Never go into one just because you think you're coming out on top.

I would never do anything that Serah would hate me for.

[Serah was the one who asked them to save Cocoon, which is what they would die trying to do.] Her wish is the wish all of my friends have. The reason we haven't given up. [She clenches her fists.] I know we're sacrificing others. I know not everyone will be happy about what we're doing, but sacrifice is inevitable if you're trying to save as many people as you can.

[Light looks at Chitanda's picture.] Chitanda would have wished that we could get everyone out. We can't. Her murder confirms it. I would rather be kind and keep as many people as I can safe instead of shoving something like this in their face. You can't keep people safe without letting them know that it's okay to have hope, even in the face of potential death. Causing them to be afraid, to feel cornered, will end in disaster. Hope is important.

[Her eyes turn back to Seth.] And I don't think I'll come out on top. I know I will.

Hope is a meaningless word that people throw around so they can feel better about lying to people about the odds. "If you just hope enough, you'll get through." Nothing replaces hard work. Prayers go unanswered and hope is just what the desperate us so the don't have to blame their lack of initiative and ambition.

[ He's quite sour about this conversation. ]

You're not keeping anyone safe. You're keeping them blind so you can feel good about protecting them, whether you believe that or not.

Then you've never been in a situation that warranted the need for hope.

[~~That's because he's a little bitch~~ She snorts again.]

I'm giving them the same option I gave Chitanda. If they wish to learn how to fight, I will not turn them down.

I left a failing planet where all hope did was ruin lives. So don't talk to me about the "need for hope." We needed solutions, not some nebulous concept that does nothing. And we need solutions now.

[ He won't mention that he helped cause it fail. Because that's what he does. ]

We're trying to keep a world from falling. Hope has worked for us. [Six people.] We find solutions, we hang onto hope, we make our own miracles.

[She lifts her hand with a flick, sending a fire spell at her own portrait, watching it burn.] And I refuse to be a part of your sick spectacle.

Fine, then. Hang onto your lies you call hope. They obviously help you sleep so you don't realize you're just as selfish as everyone else. Worlds fall. It's what they do. So you move on and you do better next time.

[ He's annoyed. He worked hard on that painting. ]

There's no such thing as miracles. Just good hard work and those who refuse to attribute their success to what actually caused it.

I don't have time to explain just how wrong you are about the world I'm fighting for isn't falling the way you think it is.

[You're talking to a Final Fantasy Protag. There's always miracles happening in those games.]

Those who think like you in my world tend to die rather quickly.

Funny. Those who think like you either die or know endless suffering.

I haven't come across either of those in my life. [No, that's for a later memory regain.]

week 2

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