week 6

[airlockedmods]

[That certainly was a rude awakening. The champions may have lost their nun and their Doctor but they've gained two very important things: freedom from the simulation they've been living in for the past several weeks and a demoted Xander. Some of them may still desire his head on a plate but, like it or not, he is one of them once more.

There's no sign of life in the spaceport aside from PAL's omnipresent voice and SIS, the helpful asSIStant who has some control over certain heres and theres in the spaceport. She is available at all times and can appear anywhere if called.

The only area unexplorable so far are the double doors by the laundry room. They're locked tight and no amount of kicking or warpstriking will open them. But perhaps they'll open in due time.]


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(( Don't forget to check in, and check your memory regains!))

Comments

laundry room

[ratherdoweddings]

[Yurika hesitates outside the door and steps in.]

I suppose we should have expected it. Anything that gives us hope, they'll try and turn it into something that hurts us.

[misanthropicprinciple]

More like whatever gets us to move is fair game to play.

[ratherdoweddings]

It could be either. They're prepared for anything, or at least they want to look like it. Even this place was already set up to replace the VR if we got out.

[misanthropicprinciple]

You don't think us breaking out was scripted?

[ratherdoweddings]

What purpose would that serve?

[misanthropicprinciple]

I don't think they would have this entire place set up if they weren't intending to use it. Wouldn't it make more sense to seamlessly back us up into another VR environment, if that's where they wanted us to be? It could have even been a copy of the mall, we'd never know the difference.

[ratherdoweddings]

Back us up? Like reloading from a save file?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Or whatever. Put us on pause while they reconstruct the simulation. I don't know enough about VR to know how our brains hook up, I can only compare it to video games.

[ratherdoweddings]

I guess it's possible, but it's not something you'd really want to think about, is it?

[misanthropicprinciple]

As opposed to everything else about this place I love thinking about?

[ratherdoweddings]

Okay, you're right about that one. They did have this place ready in case we escaped, but it could just be that we've gotten out before and they're prepared this time.

[misanthropicprinciple]

Yeah. They know us. They know how to get us to act, to do what they want. So there's no reason to assume we do anything but what they want.

[ratherdoweddings]

That could be, too, but that just means that even every good thing in this place was something they wanted.

[misanthropicprinciple]

That's what I'm implying, yeah.

[ratherdoweddings]

Don't you think that's just a little defeatist?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Think that depends on your definition of 'defeat.' If your whole conception of this thing relies on pure 'us vs. them' logic--if your idea of a win means foiling them completely, an all-or-nothing zero sum game--then yeah, I guess it sounds defeatist to you.

[ratherdoweddings]

Okay, now I'm just confused. If winning isn't saving everyone and making sure their upper hand ends completely, then what do you say it is?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Saving everyone. Full stop.

Sure, I want to kill them. I want every single son of a bitch who did this to us to suffer. But that's not a condition of winning. Those are just my personal feelings.

[ratherdoweddings]

I guess you're right. I'm just worried, since we've apparently escaped them before.

[misanthropicprinciple]

If that wasn't something they wanted, too.

[ratherdoweddings]

But because of that, we'd just be running scared as long as they're still around.

[misanthropicprinciple]

Hm. I see what you're saying.

I want to know what their true intentions are, jerking us around this long, before I decide we have to break them in half. 'Profit' is pretty vague as far as motivations go.

[ratherdoweddings]

That's true enough. It can't just be ransom, with all this setup, can it?

[misanthropicprinciple]

There is literally no possibility of me being here for ransom.

[ratherdoweddings]

You don't know anyone?