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

4.5

[configuration_birdwatcher]

[ Dimitri's fragile rest is interrupted by a warning sequence of loud, evenly spaced blaring beeps, and then the loud, harsh sound of groaning metal. Bastion's seized hold of the bars on the front of his and Fio's cell and is slowly but surely twisting them apart. Not all of the sounds of metal under pressure are coming from the bars. ]

[prince_of_beasts]

[ Dimitri bolts awake like a startled cat, with a shout and an explosion of limbs that somehow ends with him on his feet, off-balance only as he grabs for a weapon that isn't there. His head swivels, then snaps towards the sound of screeching metal. ]

Bastion! [ Dimitri leaps to his side of the bars. He's got none of the leverage he should, but he thinks he helps. A little. Maybe.

He worms through as soon as he's able, twisting his hips and shoulders to make it through the gap, and gasps the first full breath he's taken in what feels like months. ] Goddess bless -- [ That shrieking alarm does not bode well, nor does the smell of hot metal. ] -- are you alright?

[configuration_birdwatcher]

[ They stop it with the beeping when they let go of the bars; they'd intended to get Dimitri's attention and then cancel the sound, but a fresh burst of errors all came in at once and lagged their processor enough that they didn't notice it continuing to play. ]

[ Their left shoulder joint is crumpled inwards at the socket, they're struggling to unbend their elbow where the double-ended linkage has been pushed into their armor, their wrist joint and the spot on their chestplate closest to their power supply system are hot enough to burn human skin on contact. They've dented the plating on their gun arm and above their knee where they've been bracing against the walls. And that's just what's perceptible from the outside. ]

// No.

[ Bastion hates that that's their answer, but lying about their remaining capabilities will only make the situation worse. And they need to say it out loud, because their wireless transceiver is offline and they can't send their status as data-- but that wouldn't work anyway, these are humans. ]

// I can't open another cell.

[ The audio tone comes out as a quiet wail. They still need to rescue Nimona. She's desperate to escape her cell and her human shape and they promised they would help her. They can't do that without tearing themself apart. They wouldn't survive it. ]

[prince_of_beasts]

[ Dimitri doesn't know much about machines, but he knows Bastion isn't supposed to look like that. Goddess, if he could only use his Crest he could at least ask if trying to unbend any of those pieces would help.

The news wrenches in his chest, somewhere deep he'll grieve when this is over. He leans in and braces one hand on Bastion's forearm, and hopes that the gesture is as reassuring to an omnic as it is for a human. ]

You've done well, my friend. More than well. We'll find a way to free the others. No one is being left behind.

Who else have you freed?

[sabigoe]

[ Fio has been awake the entire time, sometimes spacing out in a daze. Until she's alerted by the loud beeping and the sound of metal, she steps away from the bars, observing as Bastion breaks open their cell. ]

...Bash? [ Once the opening is wide enough for them to escape, she doesn't immediately jump out into the corridor. It takes her a moment to snap out of her shock. She steps forward to stand by the omnic and rests a hand on their side. ] Thank you for your hard work. Rest up, 'kay? Dimi and I will take it from here... [ Like Dimitri, she doesn't know much about machines either. But still, she tries to provide reassurance: ] And when we all get outta here, we'll get you all fixed up and feeling better again.

[configuration_birdwatcher]

[ Dimitri and Fio can feel a feverish heat under Bastion's metal skin. It's beginning to fade now that the pressure is off, like a kettle that's been removed from the stove. ]

// Okie, Darcy, Gwen, and the Starrs.

// Thank you. [ They appreciate the humans' kindness. They need their self-repair system to fix most of this – the only human on the ship they would expect to know how to help is César, who has no tools – but taking time to rest will give their overheated components time to cool down. ] // I need to speak to Nimona.

[prince_of_beasts]

Can I help you there? [ The offer is compulsive; Bastion looks to be limping, though Dimitri's not sure he can provide any meaningful support. ] Nimona's in the right direction for me, it's no trouble.