week 3

[airlockedmods]

Week 3

[Come week 3 of the Champion Excellence Program the high-flying feelings that came with the dodgeball game last week has dissipated, especially after the...everything that was that trial. Satan Mask sure was a thing that happened.

Just like last week, right on the dot at 7 am, the mechanical woman's voice chimes to awaken the remaining champions on Sunday morning. After the initial wake-up call though there's a new message tacked on:]

Congratulations, Champions! By surviving your second trial, you have unlocked the third 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.

[And again 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 3, everyone! Check-in has begun and don't forget to submit your memory regains!]

Comments

[damnfourthemerald]

[Okay. So. This week sure has been a downer, huh? Hedgeface spends more time in the art room lately, this time with some pencils and watercolors. A lot of yellows and blues being used, and it's starting to almost look vaguely like something that could one day quite possibly be person-shaped.

In the cafeteria, Shadow's doing plenty of note-taking on his PIP, munching on a pepperoni pizza he shoved in the kitchen's oven. Anyone want a slice? Or is it all for him? On another table is a fruit basket full of apples, oranges, grapefruit, aaaand a pineapple. Who could've left that? Surely not him.

At the game room, he's got a deck of beautifully designed cards. They each have names, and the box says tarot, but what the fuck is tarot, he's trying to find a game that might correspond to the word or the designs, the cards spread out over an entire table.] Do you happen to know what kind of game this is?

[It's late when he ends up in the gym, kicking and punching the everloving shit out of that punching bag, and then taking a run around the perimeter, throwing in a few sick jumps and spins. Either someone's got energy to burn or someone's just burning off anger. Or both.]

Game Room

[imnotfat]

[What's Togami doing in the game room? Playing with cards he recently received from the Benefactors, that is. Oh, and Shadow is over there. Togami raises his head from his Solitaire game when he hears Shadow ask that to someone.

Those designs...]

That's not a game. Those are tarot cards. They're for "divining the future".

[How many times did Hagakure try to read someone's fortune with it just to say something outlandish and useless?]

Don't waste your time with it.

[damnfourthemerald]

[Oh wow, Togami isn't creating another 'test'! Interesting. With a glance over, oh, he actually recognizes the game--at least, he's pretty sure he does.]

How do cards-- [He shakes his head. They wouldn't divine the future, that's why Togami means not to waste time with them. Still, the idea strikes him as very silly.] It doesn't seem in your wheelhouse. Are these a common item where you're from?

[imnotfat]

They're relatively common. Fortune-tellers and psychics claim they can use those to predict the future and give their 'clients' advice.

[Togami scowls, focusing more on his own game of Solitaire]

It's almost always a scam, useless entertainment for the plebes who want to toss their money away for random reasons.

[damnfourthemerald]

A lot of entertainment seems to be just that. [Throwing away money, etc. He uhhhhh doesn't exactly have money or has ever needed to exist in a capitalistic society! So. Who knows.]

Seems a waste to make such elegant designs for something so...pointless. A fun little game, perhaps, but nothing more.

[imnotfat]

It's not even good as entertainment. Someone I know once used those cards to claim one day I'd have to play the trumpet while standing on a tub of jello to "broaden my perception of the world".

[Thanks, Hagakure]

[damnfourthemerald]

...Given the music room and some of the items people have acquired, it's something you could do. [The idea seems to entertain him, because imagining Togami doing Ridiculous Shit is a good time.] I don't think it would do anything but be an embarrassment, but maybe embarrassment might broaden your perception.

[imnotfat]

I'm not going to do that.

[He won't do it no matter what]

[damnfourthemerald]

Unless someone makes you. Would it be better or worse than the baby carriage and doll and that...awful cone?

cafeteria

[ratherdoweddings]

Hello! You got a fruit basket, too?

[damnfourthemerald]

Is it a common 'gift' in the dumbwaiter, then?

[He'd considered gifting Thomasin with an apple, but in light of...certain things, that seems unwise. She might think he's making fun of her plight.]

Seemed wasteful to just leave all that food in my room.

[ratherdoweddings]

Mine was a little different, but I've already gotten different versions of the same thing, like two bags of ground coffee with different labels.

[damnfourthemerald]

I've only gotten a scarce few items of use. I don't know what these are even for. Or where they're from. It's concerning, but I'll not waste a good thing.

[ratherdoweddings]

That's true. But how did they even get these things? I've gotten three things that belong to me so far, and one was a stack of paperwork. Another was the blueprints for the Nadesico!

[damnfourthemerald]

If they can cross dimensions and universes and times to snatch us up, it doesn't seem far-fetched for them to be able to grab some of our own items. I'd count yourself lucky on that point, just for having something of yours.

[ratherdoweddings]

I've gotten things that belong to other people, too, though.

[damnfourthemerald]

[!] That...sounds like an unfortunate oversight. How do you know if they belong to someone and not just random items like food?

art room

[curdle]

[ With zero grasp on how the sewing machines function, it's no easier making clothing up two levels than it is down here, and she's used to working in the art room, so Thomasin just takes her cloth downstairs and gets to work.

Or she takes her cloth downstairs and gets to watching Shadow do art therapy. She makes sure he's noticed her arrival, and settles herself in to start stitching, before she says anything. ]

Well met, Shadow.

[damnfourthemerald]

[If only it were actually therapeutic. IF ONLY THERE WAS AN ACTUAL THERAPIST. Jamie seems like he'd be the type, but fuuuuuck that noise.

He doesn't so much notice at first, for people flit in and out of the rooms often, though with the rustle of fabric he looks up at her. He's not embarrassed by his artistic attempts this week, or he wouldn't be doing it in public, but still, he gets a feeling of almost something along the lines of awkward about it. Not gonna stop or cover it up though.]

Feeling any better today? Despite...recent events. [TUESDAY SURE WAS A THING HUH]

[curdle]

Yes, I... my mind is no more distracted.

[ She doesn't elaborate. He saw Bolton trying to comfort her, even though he misinterpreted it at the time; Shadow should understand more than anyone why her reaction was so violent. ]

But what of you? [ She hadn't thought of anyone else when she was flipping out, but the suggestion should have been just as painful for them. She still needs to say some words to Jane. ] I see you've kept busy.

[damnfourthemerald]

I've been trying. Ever since Seth... [Well. He's doing ART. That sure didn't happen before then.]

The motive is...tempting, in a way. If I could be sure of the timing--if the message could be sent back in time, if I could just get a warning out--

[He shakes his head with some force, as if he could physically dislodge a memory.] Otherwise, there's no point in contacting the dead.

[curdle]

Well -- I like yours fair better than his.

[ She listens closely to the rest of it. Thomasin looks concerned, but at least he's telling someone of it. Better to admit temptation than to let it fester, and Shadow is not religious, so confessing to God isn't exactly an option. ]

There are too many ways it might fail. And even if they lie not, even if such a feat might be done... they might yet not heed thee.

[ This is obviously part projection, based on how she's described her father in the past, but whatever, man! ]

Wouldst thou wish to speak of it further? We need not.

[damnfourthemerald]

[His brow furrows even further, staring down at his art in a way that might set it on fire from the force of it, and is silent for several moments. Still. You might even be able to make out the sound of grinding teeth.]

Okay.

[He gathers up his materials, holding them close to his fuzzy white chest, and goes to sit next to her. His look is still one of intense consternation, staring down at the table.]

You asked me about family, before. I said I had none. That's...true, in a sense. But you remind me of someone who was like family to me. A little bit in looks, a lot in spirit. She...died. In a way, it was because of me. And there is nothing I'd like more than to find a way to fix that. Had the Doctor not spoken of what he perceives as the rules of time, had I trusted the Overseers to keep their word--I might have been the one you all had to judge that first week.

[curdle]

[ She doesn't know if touching him is a good idea when he's in a state, but her arm hangs by her side, ready to grab that weird furry paw if ever he drops it and she gets the nerve. ]

But you were not. You are here.

[ If she had known all that would become of her family, and she had some way -- some sure way -- to make sure they never left the plantation, would she have not felt the same, committed the sin in mind if not action? She must admit her own selfishness, and the darkness of her thoughts. ]

Lightning said to me, when I was railing against all... would Caleb want me to die in recklessness? I knew he would not. But I'd not ask you the same.

That is the cruel nature of family, and why they say to love God above all things -- even them. Sometimes it matters not what they would think. It only matters that they would be here again.

[damnfourthemerald]

She shared with me a wish while she was dying. [His voice gets quieter, because these are things he hasn't spoken of. How can he become someone who lets her go? The memory baffles him still.] She is why I'm named the Champion of Promises. I was to fulfill her wish.

[And then the Professor twisted it in his grief. But that's not the important part right now.] If I had some way to save her, to make sure her kind spirit lived on to do good in the world she wanted to protect, I'd do it. But I don't--I can't--trust the Overseers to keep their word, that even if they or the Benefactors have their powers over time and space, there's no reason they should do as they say.

I lost everyone in one day, even myself. [Oh, the Professor lived on for some time, but clearly...clearly he'd never been the same man.] Even if I believed in some kind of god, why would I want to continue doing so after that?