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]

[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?

[curdle]

I don't know.

[ She says it very quietly. Why would anyone? Why would she?

There's no answer. Especially not for Shadow, who wasn't brought up on a diet of religion and predestination, and whose frame of reference is so far removed from her own. ]

I know we cannot trust them. I know... you loved her surpassing well. She must have been an excellent soul.

[damnfourthemerald]

She was the brightest thing in my life. And now my memories are a jumbled mess like everyone else, and I don't know how I went from where I was before waking up here to...places I am that my memories say.

I hate this. This isn't the first time my memories have been screwed with, and likely not the last. I don't like being toyed with when other peoples' lives are at stake.

[curdle]

I asked Bolton of that. He said they have no way of knowing what we remember, nor when, but that in time we shall remember all -- the process used on our minds loses its effect, and the order is but a matter of chance.

Knowing that helps little. I think it makes it worse.

[damnfourthemerald]

...At least that makes more sense than thinking these come in any sort of order. But...

[He loosens his death grip/hug on his art, looking down at the image attempted of Maria. Some of the color has smudged onto the white fur on his chest.]

I remember her every detail, even if I can't reproduce them. And yet, at some point, I'll forget even her. But I'll get that back...I don't know. [He shakes his head.] These memories are confusing. I don't know what they mean. But I forgot myself, or was made to forget. And even before I was here, my memory of her words was twisted by someone else. It's too easy to forget, to remember wrong, to misinterpret your own thoughts and feelings. It's too easy for someone else to tamper. We have to hold on to what we have.

[curdle]

[ What they have... ]

We must.

Shadow... what you said to me before, 'twas that maybe my memories might see a better end. I so hope yours may do that. This is wrong.