week 6

[airlockedmods]

Week 6

[Six weeks. Twenty-three Champions whittled down to just seven. Where the halls of the station once felt crowded and loud now they're empty and echo when someone speaks too loudly. Again, the Champions will find themselves experiencing strange dreams on Sunday night but outside of the usual wake-up call there is no new floor announcement from CECE.

Like the trash compactor last week, the infirmary is pristine and sterile once again. As if nothing had ever happened.]


Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday



(( Welcome to Week 6! Don't forget to submit your memory regains and turn in your benefactor threads for sweet loot, too! There's going to be no AC this week.))

Comments

[le_mat]

[He doesn't answer at first, focusing on crushing the garlic with heavy 'thumpthumpthump's of the flat side of the knife]

But why? CECE said there was no purpose for the Ultimate Champion other then... getting an Ultimate Champion. She might not know why they need one, but there has to be a reason.

[playthedamncard]

Whatever the reason is, I can't see it from here. If we can get her phone...but she'll expect that now.

[le_mat]

[ The garlic crushed, he pulls out the skin, tossing it aside]

Well, let's look at it from the other side. We're being watched, there's a competition where the winner doesn't matter outside the win itself, and now a timeframe. What has all those things?

[playthedamncard]

...That's even more insulting than just testing out a virtual system illegally.

[le_mat]

What, you don't wanna be a tv star?

[He smirks wiry- Kaiba was probably on tv more then anyone in the station alive or dead, let's be honest]

[playthedamncard]

I wouldn't want to be one through shoddy editing and the nightmare scenario of bloodsport for entertainment.

[le_mat]

Editing...

[He stops spinning the knife, chewing his lip]

There's no way Petuu has time to edit the massive amounts of daily footage. CECE said she just reviews it.

It has to be sent out to someone else, if we're running with this theory.

[playthedamncard]

So we're considering a greater conspiracy at play. An actual gameshow. With an audience, editing, networks, sound designers, advertisements, the whole lot.

[le_mat]

It would explain being able to afford this place- or the maintenance if we're assuming it's a sim.

...hell, it being a sim goes hand in hand with what I said to Petuu. For all we know simulated versions of people don't have legal rights. They could use us as actors with legitimate reactions but not have to worry about any outage.

[playthedamncard]

[It doesn't have to mean they're right, but it's a good conclusion to come to. Puppets for the masses with no recourse?] Our bodies still have to be somewhere. You can't suggest that's not kidnapping no matter what universe we're in.

[But it makes him angry, it makes him restless, and it makes him react. The nearest glass gets hurled at the wall. And after a moment, another glass follows it.]

They've been manipulating us for ratings.

[le_mat]

[He tenses at the crash, sucking a sharp breath through his nose, but otherwise doesn't react: after the Metaverse his nerves are steel. Instead he reaches for the cooking oil, coating the pan]

It's just a theory. Circumstantial at best.

[playthedamncard]

It's as good as anything we've got. [Because they don't have much, in retrospect.]

[le_mat]

[While the pan heats he turns, lightly touching Kaiba's arm]

It's still something we can pursue, too. Though if you wanna wreak stuff go for it- just make sure no one thinks someone is getting murdered in here.

[playthedamncard]

I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm in control. [Is he?] It's just not the most pleasantly plausible idea anyone's had.

[le_mat]

...

[He adds the garlic to the pan]

...does the idea of being stolen out of your body bother you?

[After their talk about the afterlife, he wonders. Their minds/souls being made into puppets is a terrifying thought, even if it's one they can't prove.

....the ghosts showing up later won't make this better]

[playthedamncard]

I've already been trapped in virtual worlds, had people try to steal my body out from under me, and my soul stolen away several times. [all because of children's card games] So yes. It bothers me. Willingly uploading your consciousness, or willingly adding your mindset, your soul, to a network- that's different. That has consent to it, at any rate.

[le_mat]

[He stares down at the skillet, at the garlic slowly browning and starting to smell nice, brow furrowed]

There's something about even doing it willingly that scares the shit outta me.

[playthedamncard]

...I think that's only logical. Sane, even.

Having it taken away from you, all your physical agency, being reduced to nothing more than a thoughts in a void, it's not pleasant. And being trapped in a virtual world for years can warp what's left of your mind. Experienced the former, witnessed the latter.

At least if you remove 'you' from 'yourself' willingly, you have the option to go back whenever you want.

[le_mat]

I guess so. Still, I think I'll stay rolling around in the dirt for awhile longer.

How do you take your meat?

[playthedamncard]

[Even if it's true, even if they've unraveled the 'plot' of this little game, there's nothing they've been able to do about it. Even if the anger's still there, and he's eyeing another glass to throw, it's exhausting to run around in circles changing nothing.] Medium's fine. ...Thanks for cooking.