come_sailaway | BATTLE ROYALE EVENT: SHIP

[fortunately, not signing up for the shore excursion doesn't mean the passengers still on board don't get to have a little fun. on the contrary: they'll get to have some of the most fun of all!

about an hour after the tender leaves, at about 9AM, every screen on the ship, from the cabin TVs to the one above the pool, begins playing a live feed of the events on the island, starting with Friday's introduction video and transitioning to the passengers leaving the bunker. from then on, the camera (?) seems to always know where the action is, bringing close-up views of each fight, each death. when little action occurs, highlight reels play. there is no audio, however, outside of the droning, inane muzak of the stream and the kitschy sound effects of the reels; time to brush up on your lip-reading if you want the hot goss on scene!

in the atrium, near Friday's desk, is a large piece of construction paper, titled "PLACE YOUR BETS," showing a table with the names (some true, some not) of each competitor, with a space to write down your name next to who you think will win. the captain has already made his choice! what are you betting? don't worry about it.

the screens will play the game 24 hours a day. destroying the screens wholly will buy you only momentary respite. so, sit back, and enjoy.]

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And Watson has yet to die. It's been disturbing to see the bodies pile up, especially people that he's cared about. So, César has again decided warm food is a good distraction.

He nearly jumps out of his skin when he hears Maximilien's voice and realizes how close it is, looking quite awkward. "Oh! ... hello, Maximilien."

Even someone as bad at reading human emotions as Max can see how distracted César is. He tilts his head trying to recall what Mizuki had been saying about cognitive dissonance and trauma and a bunch of other things he only vaguely understood.

"Are you alright?"

There's a little oh, shit expression before it's wiped, and César jerks his head towards one of the TVs without looking at it. "No."

Maximilien killed Rin....

Maximilien most certainly did. And he is not at all apologetic about that.

"I appreciate the honesty. Apparently no one is enjoying any of this. I've been told it's traumatic." at least he doesn't shrug or do one of those dismissive hand gestures.

Jerk.

And thus, César sees an opportunity. "... has no one told you how humans—and likely, organics like us—operate? This is pitting two of our deepest instincts, billions of years in the making, against one another. I have a moment, if you care to know. At the very least, it'll be useful for your dealings with humans in what to avoid triggering."

Edited 2022-05-17 04:16 (UTC)

"I already had Mizuki provide some useful psychoanalysis, thank you." His tone slightly dismissive.

It had been interesting, and helped him understand what was going on slightly better, but the truth is: He doesn't care. No one went through the trouble of understanding Omnics, he's not going to sit in Human Behavior 101 and be a diligent student. He knows what he needs to know, and now almost knows too much thanks to Mizuki.

"And I want to avoid doing that?"

"Ah." César has to breathe a moment to keep his cool. "And yes, you do. It'll make your life difficult if you don't."

He forces himself not to look back at the screen when he thought for a moment he caught sight of Watson. "... While I care for many of those off ship, someone deeply important to me is out there. So I'm on a bit of a short fuse myself, and you probably noticed I have a laid back patience."

"Oh that almost sounds like a threat." He sounds very amused, "Very well, feel free to enlighten me on my transgressions."

He doesn't know that Watson is important to César yet, so he's not sure who out there he's talking about. But it's someone who's still alive on day two, and that's fairly impressive.

"Well I hope they win then."

"I don't make threats, and I don't attack for momentary anger or irritation. Others might."

He looks down at the food containers, tracing their outlines into equations before he looks up again. "I'm just high-strung now. And... I hope he doesn't. I hope he dies quickly and painlessly. It's what he would want."

César forgot to keep it gender neutral for the first sentence, then just rolled with it for the rest. And it's too bad what he wants for Watson won't happen.

"Your loss then." Sometimes stabbing someone for a minor transgression in a moment of intense rage is cathartic. Though César likely has healthier outlets for his emotions, where Max is still not fully ready to admit he even has them in the first place.

"You'd rather him die, then win the battle."

Everything that Mizuki had patiently explained is now falling apart around him. Maybe he doesn't understand anything. "Why?"

Yes, he has much healthier outlets. They're called boyfriends.

"The calculus changes when people come back from the dead." César glances towards one of the TVs, risking it to emphasize his point. "Ending the situation swiftly and painlessly for him would be best. He wouldn't have to deal with the guilt of having killed anyone, and he'd be safely back on the ship. A swift death is more merciful."

"So let me see if I understand this: it's traumatic if they die, it's traumatic if other people see them die, it's traumatic to kill them, and it's traumatic if they have to kill someone else. But somehow it's better if they get killed so they don't have to be the person doing the killing. And then what about the person who does the killing? Are they supposed to lie down and wait for death at that point?"

He's not pacing around flailing his arms in exasperation but his tone is pretty damn close.

That actually earns a smile as he glances back.

"You've got the gist of it. Maddening, isn't it?" César shrugs. "Not sure about the lying down part, though. We aren't generally good at that."

He makes an extremely frustrated mechanical noise, a true sign of being annoyed - when he actually starts sounding like a computer.

"None of that makes sense!"

"Correct!" César's actually feeling amused for the moment; what a lovely diversion. "It's why I went into physics and biology."

Why are humans.

"You still have to live it regardless of what you study. How do any of you function?"

"Honestly, not sure," César shrugs elaborately. "Especially since I have a condition that make my emotions harder to regulate. Apparently, I feel things even stronger than most people? I'm just lucky I was gifted with enough willpower to keep it mostly internal."

"Oh so it can be worse? Of course it can. Why not." At this point Max wouldn't be surprised if humans could feel enough emotions they literally explode.

"Well, enjoy your food. And avoid the screens I suppose. I'm not going to say I hope all the people you love die painlessly because that sounds awful even to me. But, " he gestures in frustration, "whatever it is you want to happen."

"And better for the highs." César quips. "Works both ways."

"Oh!" César looks down at the food he's holding, having completely forgotten it despite holding it in his hands. "Right, this is getting cold...."

He looks back up to Maximilien and smiles a bit sadly. "I know what you're getting at well enough. Thank you."

BATTLE ROYALE EVENT: SHIP

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