theairlock | week 2

Entry tags:

!round 1,
!week 2

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!]

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[Tuesday morning rolls around again and, just like last week, the voice that wakes them every morning adds on a message for all of them to gather in the gym after lunch for an announcement from the Overseers and, if possible, dress comfortably.

Post-lunch, once all the teleporting to the second floor is over and done with, Jamie is already waiting for them in the gym. His mood seems to be vastly improved from the last time they saw him as a group, standing straight with his arms crossed over his chest and a pleased, almost smug expression on his face. He's traded in his cardigan and slacks for a grey sweatshirt, jeans stained with different shades of red-brown, black, white and blue and white sneakers. A metal whistle hangs from around his neck.]

Morning, everybody! Hope you guys enjoyed your lunch because I have something real fun planned for you. [He claps his hands eagerly.] I think I've made it pretty clear from the beginning the last thing I want is you guys killing each other. So instead of a motive today we're doing a team building exercise that I'm hoping will help you guys work off a lot of built up frustrations.

[Jamie lifts the whistle to his lips and blows a quick phweet. A moment later Bolton comes into view pushing a large wheeled laundry basket filled to almost to overflowing with red foam balls. He's also changed his clothes, swapping out the suits and hideous sandals for, well, this. Why does he have aviators? Answer: why not? With the basket fully in view Bolton stands just behind Jamie, arms crossed and looking surprisingly nonplussed about the whole "this is not murder motive" thing.]

For the probably vast number of you who have no concept of the context clues going on here we're going to be playing dodgeball! I've already separated you into two teams [He taps the screen on his PIP and a list immediately pops up on the screen of each Champion's PIP.] Obviously you're welcome to decide team leaders on your own but I personally recommend Xander and Lightning.

Now the rules are super simple: each team is going to go to an opposite side of the gym and when I blow my whistle you're going to have to pick up balls and throw them at the other team. [Behind him Bolton is busying himself with picking up balls from the basket and throwing them across the gym in random locations.] If you get hit, you're out and need to go stand against the wall. Headshots are off-limits and if someone gets hit in the face the person who threw the ball is out. The first team to lose all their players loses and when one team wins three rounds they'll be declared the winner.

The winners will be getting a special treat courtesy of the Benefactors: an ice cream bar down in the cafeteria! The losers get to clean the showers for the rest of the week. A refusal to participate means you're automatically on the losing team no matter which one you started on. [Jamie glances down at his PIP, skimming over the screen like he's reading something.] What else, what else? Oh! In the interest of fairness, any non-natural strength or magic is going to be temporarily nerfed for the duration of the game. [He taps his screen again and all at once the Champions with any sort of super strength or magical abilities feel their PIPs become noticeably heavier, like they have a small weight attached to their arm.]

And speaking of fairness! [The look on Jamie's face shifts slightly, he's still smiling and keeping his energy up but there's a slightly devious edge to it.] Since we're unexpectedly down to an odd number of champions, Bolton has graciously offered to join Team A and even things out! [Bolton stops tossing balls across the gym and turns to look at Jamie, raising an eyebrow and letting his sunglasses fall down the bridge of his nose. Jamie looks back at him, expression unchanged.] Wasn't that nice of him?

[He turns his attention back to the group of champions.] Any questions?

[ooc: Welcome to the week 2 "motive", friends! As you can see, motives are going to alternate between the two Overseers and Jamie's "motives" are going to be a wee bit different from the usual sort. We're going to OOCly announce the winner of this game tomorrow and we'll be judging based mostly on activity and obviously how the events unfold. Have fun, ya'll!]

Edited 2017-02-21 18:43 (UTC)

[Everyone has gone to bed. Xander should be doing the same, but the cups need to be cleaned up and the white board wiped off and put back off to the side. And even once all that is done he knows he can't sleep.

So he'll just continue to read on his own for a bit. He'll retire soon.

...

He passes out right into his book, snuffle-snoring softly against the pages. It's been a long night]

[Not everyone is asleep, Xander (although Bolton very much was in bed, given his fuzzy knee-length bathrobe, bare chest, and lime green sheep-patterned boxers, though his omnipresent shitty birkenstocks are still there).

Bolton appraises the situation silently for a moment before aiming his PIP at Xander and gently lifting him from his seat in an anti-gravity field. He walks down the hallway, sleeping prince in tow, and opens the locked door at the end of the hall. Once he's gently lowered Xander to the floor, he turns off the anti-gravity field and leaves, slamming the door loudly enough behind him to wake up the prince.

What Xander will find in the room is wall to wall paintings of clowns.

He'll just wait right outside the door to see how this unfolds.]

[He jerks away like he's been shot, eyes wide and blearily, clearly not seeing anything right away.

At the trial he hadn't screamed. But the trial he had been awake and fully aware. Right now, he most certainly isn't.

Enjoy that manly hollering, Bolton]

Edited 2017-02-19 19:38 (UTC)

[After the "party" on Saturday night, though more like Sunday morning, McBurn decided to head over to the media room to unwind a bit by watching some good fight scenes. But since he's alone and is unfamiliar with the titles, he ended up picking an incredibly boring movie and breaking the rules a second time by falling asleep to said boring movie.]

[At a much more sane hour and once the new areas are open, McBurn will definitely be exploring. He'll check out each room, but the ones he'll spend the most time in will be the gym and zero-gravity room

The gym is something he gets and obviously someone got the hint that some of them needed an open space to spar in. He's not familiar with the actual games meant to be played here. He'll try out throwing some of the balls. Hopefully no one is walking in as he does so since he throws with a rather large amount of force.

In the zero-gravity room he's more confused about it than anything else. He'll push the button eventually and then mess around with floating in there.]

[ Seth Twiright, Champion Serpent, is not dealing well with everything. He takes a brief look to the media room, before just entering the library. He doesn't eat the entire daylight hour stretch, instead burying himself in research. He takes his time, pouring over every bit of information about space stations as he can. He must be able to find something on this place, some design that shows escape pods somewhere.

Later in the day, he can be found in the art room trying to make portraits (although nowhere near artistic and more scientific) of a number of other Champions. Most notably, he seems to be studying anatomy in his art pieces, including paintings of Chitanda, the Griffin and Toby.

After "night" hits, he can finally be found in the diner. There, he picks at a greasy burger with fries and a chocolate shake. He doesn't seem to be doing well, no matter what.

All day, he is wearing the same emotionless expression he had during the entire afterparty. ]

[Waking up to a dream where Lightning is actually on Gran Pulse was strange. She remembers those faces beside her, their names, and how much they mean to her. Snow, Fang, Vanille, Sazh, and Hope. Her companions, no, her family, that were branded by the Fal'Cie Anima with her. Of course the first thing she checks is to see if the brand was still on her chest.

When she finds it isn't there, confusion sets in. One way to find out if she was ever branded is to try out some magic. Thankfully the second floor has a gym. Unfortunately a basketball is sacrificed to a Fire spell, the smell of burnt rubber in the room now.]

How... Only l'Cie should know magic...

[After that poor ball has been put out with a Blizzard spell, it was time for food. And the diner provided that food. This was going to be Light's favorite room for now. There's nothing better than chowing down on burgers and fries after a week of MRE's and whatever food that was served to them during mealtimes. This means good food all the time, right? Anyone who walks in can see Lightning with her food and five different milkshakes in front of her. She's set on trying them all while they're here.]

Edited 2017-02-19 19:51 (UTC)

[It was truly difficult to fall asleep last night, and Jane's dreams are hardly restful. In fact, they feel incredibly real. She can almost feel keyboards under her fingertips and...hands...whilst slamming onto a laptop...chiding herself for her stupidity...

GG: Screw it!
GG: Ask him out.
GG: Just kill the suspense already.
GG: Become boyfriends and such.
GG: Have some babies!!!
GT: Whoa now!
GT: Jane the decision to sire children with your best bro is not one to be taken lightly.
GG: Okay I think I have to go.
GG: I have this stupid game to play.

Thank goodness the PIP jolts her out of that obscenely mortifying exchange, and for a terrifying moment, she doesn't realize where she is - she was going to play the game, hadn't Dirk been helping her get set up to do that when Roxy pushed Jake in her direction and she just...botched everything?! But then she remembers - the chrome, the endless expanse of space, all the unusual people she'd met in the past week. Chitanda. It's...difficult to reconcile that all of this is still happening, especially after such a realistic dream, but that's the thing - was it really a dream? Jane thinks about it as she gets ready for the day, mulling over the events that came to her in the night, the inconsistencies in profiles...something was wrong here. There's no question that the actual event of being abducted to live in this place is a hole in her memory, but if there are more holes in hers than she can fully realize, then it must be the same for the others. There must be...a reason. A pattern?

If you pass through the cafeteria at breakfast, there's a note in cyan ink posted:

C&C Investigations will be holding meetings in Conference Room C until lunchtime.
I'd like to ask those of you willing to share about memories.
- Jane Crocker

PS: Mister Xander, you're more than welcome to come and take notes, but if you'd rather take the day for yourself I understand.

True to her word, Jane can be found in Conference Room C until noon, armed with her sketchbook of notes and a light blue pen to record things in. You might catch her writing down her own inconsistencies, or taking note of the new map on the PIP. After lunch? You'll find Jane on the new floor, having been immediately drawn by the promise of a music room. She'll give the place a cursory investigation and eye those recorders warily, but mostly she finds herself coming back to the piano present more than once, playing a haunting refrain from memory. She'll do requests if you're in the mood to hear something.]

[Oh he is.]

Remember Rule number 3 next time, Your Highness~.

[Same jammies as before - fuzzy knee-length bathrobe hanging untied, green sheep boxers, and shitty sandals - only this time there is no gentle carrying, nor a clown room.

There is, however, Bolton banging a metal skillet against a baking sheet.]

RULE! NUMBER! THREE!

[Hope you are ready for some very un-princely language, Bolton. He tries to bust his way out- but thankfully he at least has the foresight to try the knob instead of just kicking it in]

[Bolton's not blocking the door nor did it lock behind him, so the knob will do just fine to let Xander out.]

What did we learn?

[He hears it and all, but considering who it is McBurn thinks it might be fun to mess with Bolton. He doesn't open his eyes or give any impression of being awake and in fact gives a loud snore that sounds quite obviously fake.]

[After... everything the clown room was, he scurries back to his own room. Pray no one ever hears or sees his actions, because he'd never live it down.

(watch a tape of it be a motive)

Luckily he's exhausted enough that he manages to sleep even after that scare, his head barely hitting the pillow before he's out. He only has a scant few hours before the PIP wakes him back up, but this time he is grateful for it-

'I've made up my mind- I stand with Hoshido!'

And a more recent voice echo's along side it- 'The state of Nohr, as it currently stands, is at peace.']

Little Princess... gods, what have we done?

[He doesn't come out for breakfast at all. But eventually the drive that served him through 26 years of pressure wins out, and he lumbers outside. He looks like hell, curls all a-tangle, eyes blurry and decorated by dark circles. And his normal neutral scowl has evolved fully into a look of death- likely for anyone who tries to engage him in any way.

After a look through all the new rooms- he'd be more excited for the gym if he had the heart for it- he simply.... wanders about. In fact, you may find him in any of the available rooms, though he engages with none of them in any meaningful way. He is just... here, in case someone needs him.]

[I mean alright cool, sound was what woke you during the trial he just thought he'd try that first. The banging stops, and after a few footsteps for all intents and purposes it sounds like Bolton has completely left the room.

And then from the seat immediately behind McBurn, almost intimately close, comes six gunshots.]

[La la checking this out--]

Bwah! Fire! Get the extinguisher!

Oh, hi! [Yurika waves from where she's looking over the recorders.] I'm not sure why they'd have this on a space station, unless people were supposed to live in it long-term, but aren't they trying to get rid of us?

Twiright-san? [She hesitates.] Is this for the memorial Jane-chan and I were discussing?

[He shows up a little late, considering he missed breakfast. But eventually he does show up]

I apologize for my... absence.

...No. It's for my own benefit.

[ He's also got paintings of the Doctor and Angelica at work, and possibly more down the line. His response is short, emotionless. ]

I wasn't even aware you were making one.

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week 2

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

Incentive: If You Can Dodge a Wrench, You Can Dodge a Ball

Early sunday morning...?! Closed...maybe?

[mission impossible music] (cw: clowns)

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gym

music room

art room

Conference Room

...Poor Yurika.