END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[sailmods]

[the prisoners wake up on cold, hard floors.

the lights are bright, glaring, a sterile cell with sterile bars facing a sterile hall. the prisoners with you, across from you, and no one else. no rocking of a ship in waves, nothing. just the prisoner and their prison.

time passes, one assumes. the rhythmic click of Friday’s heels down the hall. it’s almost like the ticking of a clock.]

Comments

[sictransitgloriamundi]

As long as it doesn't touch you, you're fine... It's a sort of... primordial force, from the reality where I hid... She's native to it, as well.

[all] time to move

[not_the_last]

Some have already left the prison corridor, while others are still milling around, finding their closest ones, searching the area, talking increasingly loudly. Rather than shout for attention, Cassandra hurries the length of the hall and speaks briefly to each individual or group: come on, we're making a break for it, this way.

Once she's got everyone's attention that she can, she rejoins Crichton and whoever else she's gathered, by the door Friday first entered by.

Raising her voice this time: "So far as we can tell, there are only two ways out of here, and they lead to the same place. We can try to join up with the others who went to the bridge, or search the ship and see what else we can find. I don't think there's anything else to be gained in here."

A beat.

"Let's go."

[light_mischief]

[Questions continue to pile up in his mind. he needs to know so much -- Where did he hide? How did Malin and him become aware of each other? Has her presence helped him remember things he'd forgotten before? Did she trap the chest on the island? Can they convince the Fog to work against her? -- But they are incredibly pressed for time, and he can't spend any of it in interrogation. thankfully, the most pressing questions are the ones that have been on his mind the longest, so dragging his attention from the meandering avenues isn't nearly as hard as it usually is.]

I want nothing more than to dig into this history you and Malin have, but my first duty is to get us out of here. That means getting our abilities back, or at least some weapons. And it also means finding some way to keep you away from the confrontation. [Which is easier said than done, he's sure -- but he's also certain that between the Captain, Maximilien, and himself, they can find some loophole to work.]

[makesomedeals]

[ Maximilien glances around at the darkness surrounding them.]

Where are we exactly? And is this place somewhere she wouldn't think to look? I'm trying to ascertain if it's better to stay here and plot our escape, or to break out of here first and plan later. Much as I'm delighted by this touching reunion.

[sailmods]

[okay so the fingers definitely take the lifesaver. there is then some crunching.

but now the fingers are back.]

[sailmods]

[a seamless door has popped open on the robot's chassis like a tube of crescent roll dough, and a headless corpse snaps free of the wires binding it and flops wetly onto the floor.]

[stormpirate]

[agonal breathing but muffled.]

[sictransitgloriamundi]

Generally, or specifically? We've not yet left my realm... Specifically, well... She told me to go lock myself away somewhere, out of the way. So I suppose I just ended up going here.

[inhairently]

( he considers slapping them and even goes so far as to raise his hand to do so before he thinks better of it, and gives them a nice, gentle pat instead. maybe if he's calm they won't smush him like a bug. )

[decohere]

[covers both Fio's and her own eyes because ew.]

[teethoftherisk]

[He can't tell if he's helping at all. It's hard to get a tight seal when their mouths aren't the same shape, and he can't pinch her nose. Siffleur turns his head to call for help-

And catches sight of a headless body on the floor. Is that-

Huh. Well. He carefully picks Jenny's head up and carries it over.]

[teethoftherisk]

[Carrying Jenny's head by her hair, Siffleur comes over and sets her down beside the corpse, checking to see if the headless body matches their bodyless head.]

[light_mischief]

She's as uncreative as I thought. [It feels good to be smugly correct about something again, after what feels like months of being awash in uncertainty. Even if Malin's noticed something amiss, she's not likely to wind up here. Not unless the Captain wants here to find him.] Seems like a bad thing to be when trying to boss around a jinn as brilliant as you. And to do it in your own realm...

[He's honestly a little baffled. Her shock and awe tactics are formidable, but she's lacking the will to follow through.]

Does that mean that Friday is still yours? And that you know where everyone is right now? [ooooh boy the gears are turning, there is a Plan coming into fruition here]

[makesomedeals]

Overconfidence is so predictable. [As if he doesn't fall prey to that as well.]

So as of right now she still believes herself fully in control? We can use that. Best if she doesn't see any of this coming.

Is there a reason why we haven't left your realm? Can you leave it? [Unconsciously thinking back to Ava's wish idea - a safe place to go...]

[sailmods]

[don't worry the corpse is wearing clothes. like that's the problem right. that's the only problem here.

the head and body match!]

[sailmods]

[the fingers pinch the collar of his shirt

and then just kinda. stay there for a moment. like if making sure the pocket's occupant doesn't bite or something.]

[sictransitgloriamundi]

[shakes head] All that I am belongs to my master. That includes everything I've ever made.

[pause]

Though, considering the quality of my work, perhaps that's a benefit for us, rather than a detriment.

[teethoftherisk]

[After some consideration, Siffleur gives the stump of the body a lick - and the stump of Jenny's head a lick too - and both sufficiently wet, he nudges them together. Maybe that will be enough to make them stick and put her back together again. Or at least stop the super laboured breathing.]

[inhairently]

( there is no biting, scratching, or any other sort of violent resistance. he calmly accepts his fate. )

[light_mischief]

[Every word the Captain says makes it harder for Skulduggery to separate what needs to be done from what he wants to do. There's no visible reaction (because, y'know), but he does let out a short, guttural huh, that somehow manages to convey his disgust towards Malin better than any longwinded speech about freedom of choice and doing good could manage.]

Maximilien raises a good point. We have... an idea about escaping, but it won't work if you can't leave. [Because Skulduggery won't be able to join in the unanimous wish-making.]

[makesomedeals]

[Friday as a double agent would have been too much to hope for; but it would have been nice. And he'll just skip right over the existential horror of asking if all the passengers count as being "made" by the Captain as well.]

There's going to be major hurdle in this plan if you can't leave. [Skulduggery.] And a secondary one if Friday can't. [Siffleur.]

But if you have any ideas in the meantime, I'm fully open to them. We ought to use this clandestine meeting location to it's fullest.

[If he has to be trapped in a literal closet with two lovebirds it might as well be worth his while.]

[stormpirate]

[the body seamlessly reforms into a whole, and, for a while, that's all that happens. there is no more movement, and no more sound.


until there is a distinct blech, and the former corpse sits up.]

Why does my mouth taste like cat ass...?

[teethoftherisk]

[Head tipped to the side.] How do you know what a cat's ass tastes like?

tw: eye gore, honestly from now until forever

[sailmods]

[Steve is gently lifted from the pocket. the scene before him is as such: two men, the giant that took him originally and also some other guy, are sitting on the floor of what looks like a nondescript hallway, a bit similar in style to the cells they'd been put in. if he didn't know the substance he was covered in was blood, he sure knows now, since it's sluggishly pouring from the now-buttonless eye sockets of both men.

and yet, they both seem to be staring at him.

Some Other Guy waves.]

[stormpirate]

[flatly] An idiot brother who not only refuses to take any form but a cat but also constantly acts like a cat because he's a little shit.

[she takes a moment to do an inventory on all the important parts of her body. arms? set. legs? set. tits? amazing. okay, everything important seems to still be there.]