Week 3

[airlockedmods]

Week 3

[Two weeks in, and all at once four people are dead. Chitose, Miki, Lucina, and Tsurugi - whatever the circumstances, however any of you may feel, their rooms are just as empty at the end of the week. If you check your P.I.P.s, you'll find that their pictures on the profile page have gone monochrome.

C.E.C.E.'s morning announcement comes like clockwork on Sunday. This time, though, there's an addendum to her usual message:]

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.

[In addition to the new floor, the Champions will find that they've gained another memory this week.]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday



(( Welcome to Week 3! Don't forget to check in and submit your memory regains! Turn in your benefactor threads for sweet loot, too! ))

Comments

[quadjumps]

Huh?

[ letters? for what? yuri goes over to where there appears to be other pieces of paper laid out...and there's one with his name on it.

what would miki naoki have to say to him, out of all people? ]

...Did she know she was going to die?

[photoshooter]

No, I think. I think she just wanted to be prepared. ...That's the kind of person she was.

[Smart Miki. Brave Miki. Miki who looked at things with skepticism and sympathy both, and applied both with prudent generosity.]

She didn't know what would happen, but she wanted to make sure we'd--we'd be okay.

[quadjumps]

[ yuri looks at prompto for a moment, and then at the letter miki wrote for him. she's sorry for hitting him with that book....huh. but then she goes on to accuse him of being scared, and tells him not to isolate himself...

he wants to crumple it.

but he doesn't. he just folds it and stuffs it in the pocket of his jacket, scuffs the ground with his heel. ]

[photoshooter]

Yuri?

[That's one reaction to have, buddy.]

Did she say something?

[quadjumps]

[ normally yuri would say "mind your own business" or something, but this is prompto--

maybe he really is following miki's advice. talk to someone you trust.

hesitantly, he takes the letter out from his pocket and hands it over to prompto. ]

[photoshooter]

[Prompto blinks, then reads it, then smiles sadly, faintly, painfully. Oh, Miki.]

Maybe it's a theme with her. She said the same thing to me.

[And he offers his letter over, too. When Yuri's had a moment to read it, he says softly:]

You wanna talk?

[quadjumps]

[ yuri looks through prompto's letter--bad dreams? huh. yuri had no idea. the mention of lucina is ironic, and he frowns deeper before handing it back to him.

he slumps against the wall next to prompto. ]

I don't know. I don't--I don't talk about this kind of stuff with people. Ever.

[photoshooter]

Me neither. Like... it's just not a thing we ever did. Me and the guys.

[They all knew how the others were feeling; they were all there, always, constantly on top of each other in the tent and the car and the motel rooms. They all lost the same home. All suffered the same injuries.

But maybe not talking is what left them so messed up, after Altissia. Prompto breathes out slow and tips his head back against the wall, looking forward instead of at Yuri.]

I can go first if you don't want to. Sort of... test the waters, maybe?

[quadjumps]

[ me and the guys... it's a feeling yuri's never felt before. having a group of friends. he's just...so used to being on his own, used to shutting people out, that this is....

ah. he just...leans forward and scoots his legs upwards so he can rest his head on his knees. ]

You should go first. You're supposed to be the mature one between the two of us, aren't you?

[photoshooter]

Well, apparently I'm a whiny child the size of two grapes. [He bumps Yuri's shoulder gently with his own.] But okay. I'll go first.

[It's easier said than done, though. There's so much, and so much of it isn't anything he can even begin to address without breaking down once more. And Prompto's so tired of being broken.

Crossed arms unfold halfway as he slides one hand down the length of his arm, coming to rest over the cloth wristbands he cannibalized out of Chloe's shirts.]

I--uh. Have you been having those dreams, too? The ones that... feel really real?

[quadjumps]

[ a whiny child the size of two grapes, huh? sounds like yuri himself, tbh.

anyway. he leans forward a bit, arms hugging his legs, and he just stares at the floor beneath them. ]

Is that what Miki meant by you having bad dreams?

[photoshooter]

Uh-huh.

[After a moment, Prompto sighs shakily and curls up tighter, too, cradling his arms to his chest.]

...The first one after we got here, I dreamed--I dreamed my best friend tried to kill me. He chased me, and... pushed me off a train.

[quadjumps]

What the fuck?

[ look--he can't help it. that's just... ]

Holy shit. Do you know why?

[photoshooter]

...I didn't, but... I think I do now.

[Here it is. The moment of truth. Does he tell? Will Yuri hate him, be disgusted? Was Miki right, is it easier to talk about it with people who aren't as close? Yuri's never had his home razed by faceless enemies, never suffered for a Crystal with the power to choose a king.

Max accepted it, told him he wasn't bad or wrong. Will Yuri?

Prompto opens his mouth, and no sound comes out. He swallows and tries again.]

Um. You know how my profile says I'm from Niflheim? You know, the evil empire we've been fighting?

[quadjumps]

[ yuri's confused by prompto's sudden pause and looks over. he can tell prompto wants to say something, but the words won't come out. yuri suddenly feels awkward, like he should say something but doesn't know what to say exactly--what do you do when someone's spilling their heart out to you?

god. he wish there was a manual for this kind of thing.

but prompto fills the silence again. ]

What about it?

[photoshooter]

It--it was right about that after all.

[It hurts like someone's squeezing all the air out of him, crushing his lungs, his windpipe, an arm across throat. He shuts his eyes and tells himself, breathe.]

I, um. I was created there. To be part of their army. I didn't know before, but I--now I'm pretty sure it's true. ...So there's that, I guess.

[quadjumps]

So?

[ the reply is immediate. yuri already knows what he wants to say. ]

You're not actually on their side, are you? You made that decision for yourself. Where you're from matters, but it shouldn't define who you are.

[photoshooter]

[His head comes up at the suddenness of the response, because what? Huh? Prompto blinks while that sinks in and then grimaces.]

Uhhh, it's a little more complicated than that? I'm confessing to more than being an illegal immigrant, dude. I'm, like. I-I'm not even sure I'm a person.

[Ah, that sure came out. He bites his lip a moment, then quietly pushes up those cloth wristbands.]

People don't usually come with bar codes like groceries.

[quadjumps]

...Oh.

[ oh....ohhhh. so... ]

So...you're saying you might be some kind of robot or AI or something?

[photoshooter]

I-I don't think so! Like, I bleed and get hungry and pee and stuff! But...

[He tugs the wristbands quickly back down, shuddering. He hates looking at that. He's always hated looking at it.]

All the robots we've been fighting--the things we thought were robots--they started out just like me. I mean, literally. Because we... we're all clones. And then they get turned into daemons and stuffed in a metal shell and, boom, y-you've got you a bona-fide Imperial Magitek Trooper. A soulless killing machine that isn't weakened by the sun.

...And I'm one of them.

[quadjumps]

You're not a soulless killing machine!

[ now, he just sounds angry. ]

You're motherfucking Prompto Argentum. I don't care if you're a clone or whatever your world wants to call you, because you'd never do something like that. Ever. Look--you can sulk about it all you want, but if anyone gives you shit about it while we're here, I'll punch them in the dick.

[photoshooter]

[Prompto looks up, startled by the outburst, but just like that, most of his fear is gone. Yuri doesn't care. Yuri's still his friend.]

Yuri...

[A feeble smile quivers at the corners of his mouth, and then he nods firmly, swallowing.]

Heh. Um, appreciate it. So... uh-huh. That's what's going on with me.

[He's not gonna prod Yuri to take his turn. He just waits, twisting his hands together, quiet and fidgety as always.]

[quadjumps]

Yeah. You were scared of telling me, weren't you?

[ honestly...prompto had nothing to worry about. he already has yuri's loyalty and that would take a lot to change. then prompto gets quiet and fidgets with his hands, and yuri is yet again at a loss for what to do. comfort him? no, he already did that-- ]

...I'm telling you right now that my shit's not as deep as yours. It sucks, but it's not like that.

[photoshooter]

That's okay. It doesn't have to be deep. I think we've all had more than enough depth for now, or we'll have to start breaking out the life preserver rings. Or the spelunking gear.

[His smile's still weak, but it lingers a little longer.]

Just lay it on me. ...I was scared to tell you, yeah, I'm scared to tell anyone, but now you know, you and Max, and I feel... I feel a lot safer knowing you guys still have my back.

[quadjumps]

[ yuri scoffs a bit--life preserver rings, huh prompto--but, well, it goes without saying that yuri definitely does have his back.

as for his own issues... yuri's feelings turn into frustration, and his words come out venomously. ]

Victor Nikiforov. He's the greatest skater in the world, and he agreed to choreograph a program for me when I made my senior debut. But he ran off to Japan to coach that stupid pig... [ he growls ] And completely forgot about his promise! And now I have to compete against that damn fatso to win Victor back!