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

[decohere]

[knocks Jenny's forehead]

[teethoftherisk]

[While everyone else is right, Siffleur is caught on something else-]

If this isn't the Captain's realm, how is Friday able to keep her shape? I was told she collapses when she leaves it. But she was herself here...

[stormpirate]

She's got that weird, amulet shit! I don't know! Not like I get to fucking see anyone...

[a single door materializes against the nearest wall.]

There. Have fun. Leave me to die.

[decohere]

Nah, we're not leaving anyone behin-

[oh wait half their group is still missing

sigh.] Siffleur... can you round up the stragglers?

[teethoftherisk]

On my way.

[He bunts his head into Ava's knee, then heads out with Victor and April.

He's back rather shortly, bringing the others he can find - and news from the cells.]

One of Jenny's brothers was in the cells and he helped free some others, though nobody is sure where they went.

[sabigoe]

[ Fio's here too now, still with the toy spaceship cradled in her arms. Eyes a little red from crying about Voyager. Though reluctant to leave his side, the astronaut's managed to convince her to keep moving forward.

She's mostly silent when rejoining the rest of the bigger group. Until she sees Jenny's severed head, she quietly expresses her surprise. ]

Oh, Miss Jenny... [ Hello. Then she turns her gaze towards the new door. ]

[stormpirate]

[her eyes widen] He did get away--

[wait]

I am not going anywhere with you people!

[saltwaterlungs]

You can say that but I don't think you have a leg to stand on.

[ If they're not allowed to punt the head then they get to torture her with other methods, it's only fair. ]

[decohere]

Heh, gottem.

[tucks Fio protectively against her side, glancing down at the toy...]

Jenny. We didn't leave you behind on the island. Because Friday loved you too much to let you go. So now you get to help us rescue her from whatever that colonizing [covers Fio's ears] bitch [uncovers] is going to do with her.

[teethoftherisk]

Yes. You may die later, but for now, you will come with us for Friday's sake.

[And like before, Siffleur approaches the door, rears up on his hind legs and pushes on the door handle with a front paw.]

[sabigoe]

[ A little tiredly: ]

...You're coming with us. I want you and Miss Friday to be together again. I want you two to be happy too.

[ Fio leans into Ava. Doesn't even squirm or move much in the brief moment her ears are covered. She appears a little drained, but she remains alert, staring straight ahead at the door as Siffleur opens it. ]

[sailmods]

[just imagine Jenny is mumbling horrific curses under her breath this entire time. it's fine. she's friendly.

the next room they enter is clearly some sort of... control room? a security office? there is a wall of screens showing every angle of the deck, and one screen showing one of Jenny's brothers sorta trashing some kind of storage room? weirdly, none of the screens show the cells.

on the desk, there are a lot of switches, and three buttons. one red, one blue, one green.]

[decohere]

[hm. stares intently at the screens, immediately drawn to the action in the storage room. that doesn't look good.

reaches for a button and is immediately stopped by 6.]

Well does anyone have any better ideas?

[prince_of_beasts]

[ Dimitri's totally been here all along. He showed up when Fio did. Don't worry about it. ]

Coatrischie?! What -- what happened to his eyes?

[ Not gonna be thinking about eye replacement any more than absolutely necessary thanks. Dimitri wrenches his attention to the dashboard. ]

Leaving these unlabelled seems like a poor design choice ... Jenny? Is this familiar to you?

[stormpirate]

Well, red usually kills you.

[that's it that's the extent of her knowledge of the subject.]

That bitch is like the Captain, except she just steals magic from the dead instead of being a nerd and learning it.

[decohere]

What, she kill Neil Gaiman? [because as Dimitri points out, those button eyes sure are giving Other Mother.]

... So if not red. Blue? I like blue. [this feels like an escape room but with less clues. there doesn't seem to be any obvious connection to what the colors might represent... which makes her tempted to press all three at once. but that feels even more disastrous lbr.

curiously wiggles one of the other switches on the control panel instead. sorry it's just her nature.]

[prince_of_beasts]

[ Bewildered: ] What does a man's sexuality have to do with anything?

[configuration_birdwatcher]

[ Bastion arrives a little later than Fio, because the ceiling on their capacity for rushing around is pretty low right now. Dimitri and Okie probably helped them get over here as fast as they did. ]

// Why not blue. I doubt there are any instructions here.

[teethoftherisk]

[To Dimitri-] April said Malin seems like the type to enjoy hate crimes.

[He comes over to study the buttons and nods.] No labels, so likely no instructions either. She must know what they all do. And we should move quickly, before she or her crew notice the escape underway.

[Perhaps another person would wait and take a vote from everyone, leave things up for debate, but Siffleur feels very confident in his actions here. He slaps his paw down on the blue button, eyes on the monitors to see if he spots a change.]

[sabigoe]

[ ...Pouting. Not because they didn't wait for her vote. Blue was her choice as well.

She just wanted to push the fun pressy button. ]

[sailmods]

[nothing appears to have happened.]

[teethoftherisk]

[Hmm. Siffleur considers pressing it again. He looks at the sliders instead and after a moment of thought, he shoves them all upwards. Maybe the effect was small since the sliders weren't at the extreme end.

He also notices Fio looking sad, and gives her a gentle nudge towards the control panel. Her turn.]

[sabigoe]

[ Fio lights up, shuffling (a little excitedly...) forward to the control panel. ]

Hm. [ Is it broken? Siffleur seems to have made a few adjustments with the sliders, so... ] Let's try pressing it again!

[ Again, she pushes the blue button and doesn't remove her palm. A brief glance back, as if making sure everyone's watching her like she just did something very impressive... then back up at the monitors. Any changes now? ]

[sailmods]

[nothing appears to have happened.]

[sabigoe]

...Huh. [ Drops one arm to the side, swaying it lightly. Her other is still wrapped around the toy ship, by the way! As much as she wants to press the buttons again... ] Does anyone else want a turn?

[ Because it's polite to take turns! ]