friday afternoon; week 9

[tevinteriscoming]

[It isn't until Friday afternoon that Dorian manages to get away from his babysitters. It's been - infuriating, actually, to sit on this for over a day, feeling like a sullen child trying to sneak out of his house. But he knows he can't risk Adrien and Marinette learning of these communications. He trusts the two of them, of course. He also trusts that either could be a host for one of the parasites. Either way, it is best for him to keep the information limited for now to those who are already in on it.

He's with Grell, left in her supervision, but will go find Adam and Luke and have them brought back to his room to talk.]

Comments

[erythristic]

[all of them looking at her like that means she practically rolls her eyes before letting herself back down to lie on her back and look to the ceiling.]

You don't trust what he had to say, I can tell that much. But I will tell you information that those that already searched my room last week have, and that is that Kazuma trusted me enough to give me his final request while he was alive. And I have every intention of honoring that request for as long as I am capable of it. His spirit had no reason to mislead me now.

[the last words of his avatar are still ringing in her head. stay safe.

but yes, information. why does she have to be the one to give out her information first? whatever, she has no authority as she didn't call this meeting.]

Kazuma said several things. Yes, that they synced the servers, but more than that. That this isn't the real Cradle Project - something horrible happened, when it was intended to be something good. That the aliens - the Souvlaki, he called them - cannot find out no matter what. They want to kill everyone like they did before. That Lady Alice is broken, and she's not behaving right. [here, she closes her eyes.]

And he left me with another request, which is to look into the name of the ship. His exact words were "It's important - what it was supposed to be."

[tevinteriscoming]

Cole isn't a ghost. He's a spirit, a spirit who takes the form of a boy who died once because he was drawn to him, and because he can help people that way. That doesn't mean Cole is that boy who died. It's been known to happen - a benign spirit imprinting on someone who is gone, using the memory to help them take form. A benign spirit, an AI, I have no idea how to distinguish these things. In the end, it's the same. Echoes, and nothing more.

[That's how it works back home, at least. And here? He needs to believe this to have any chance of remaining objective. Once it's really him, how can he have the appropriate caution these entirely suspect messages require?

He's rubbing at his temple.]

At any rate, it's no matter. If you'd prefer I preserve this fiction, that is what I shall do. I've notes I'll share, but the gist of it:

The "ghosts" are in something called the Cradle. The Cradle Project was described to him as intended to "bring us all together. To keep loved ones connected with those that had passed. It was a way to keep living." We, on the other hand, are onboard a ship called the Pygmalion. They're in communication with an Admiral Perkins, who was the captain here before it all went to shit because of those things.

Interesting tidbit - Admiral Perkins already knew all of their names, and she claimed that they, we, were part of her crew, her last line of defense. Whatever that means. She wasn't surprised they didn't remember.

The demons - the souvlaki - got onto the ship and hunted them down one by one. Once they've chosen a host, there's no way to distinguish. But they've a Queen of some sort somewhere as well.

[antietam]

[ Adam frowns at the explanation of Cole. That's a bit different than what he was expecting, honestly, and he can see why Dorian might be more suspicious that way. Still, that isn't how Noah worked. He won't argue about it, though.

It sounds like they have all the information he did, so it doesn't seem like anything can be gained from keeping it from them. ]

That sounds about right. Arumat also said we were part of the crew but we lost our memories at some point. The AI seems to be a mystery even to them. What she was originally for and why she wouldn't remember that.

[ But wait. Pygmalion. ] Pygmalion is... the guy whose statue came to life? [ He looks over expectantly at Luke. He's probably met Pygmalion or however this Greek stuff works. ]

[chiseler]

[That's a lot of information to take in. He's pointedly not thinking about ghosts because he's from a world where ghosts and zombies exist. He shakes his head subtly as he absorbs everything and he's taking it in stride, letting words tumble around his head. He can’t help but smirk lightly at Grell though he won’t openly admit what he’s thinking about Alice, already thinking about the aliens again. This kind of matches with the idea that they’re in a virtual reality setting if this isn’t the real Project, though it doesn’t settle well that they maybe were part of the original crew.

“The Cradle.” What the hell was the Cradle, how was it connected to all of this, how had this happened? If this was to keep loved ones connected with those that had passed, what about people that were already dead? Everyone in this room already knew he was dead, so it’s not hard to fathom what he’s thinking. He almost appears blank as he’s listening, but then Adam mentions the name, and he remembers Grell’s original words from Kazuma.

“Look into the name of the ship. It’s important - what it was supposed to be.”

He looks at Adam again before sighing heavily, a hand coming over his eyes and groaning to himself. Why is it always Greek shit?]

Pygmalion's the guy whose statue came to life, right. He was a sculptor and according to history the guy sucked at finding a girlfriend, so he carved a statue to look like Aphrodite. Ended up being so far off the deep end he fell in love with the statue. Aphrodite herself is pretty vain, so she was pretty touched by that and during her feast Pygmalion went to her temple to ask for help in finding a woman as beautiful as the goddess herself. Aphrodite's all about love, so of course she granted his request and brought the statute to life as a beautiful woman that returned Pygmalion's love. [A beat.] Anybody else think it's weird that Alice communicates with us through statues?

[There's a further pause.] Also souvlaki's a type of food. It's meat and stuff served on a skewer because the original word means skewer. So...appropriate for aliens that want to kill us if you ask me. [He's looking in his notebook then to review Jack's notes, but he'll let everybody digest that information first.]

[erythristic]

[her eyes fly open and she sits up fully at these words. what had that update said? something about test runs with "Catherine" - and then a mention to not speak of someone's late wife. suppose she entertains this ridiculous, perverted situation for a moment - that would explain it, wouldn't it?

but there's no way. no way she or any of them could be anything other than what they are, because lost memories cannot explain the impossibilities they go through. the things they are capable of, the various worlds they lived in. unless...unless she checked. but she won't check, not now. too risky.

Pygmalion. the story rings some vague bells - her Greek mythology was rusty, along with her general exhaustion, but hearing it from Luke means she trusts what he's saying. bringing a statue to life. all that's running around in her head is ideas, far fetched concepts, and she wants to think on them before truly voicing them aloud.]

Not weird so much as fitting. Proper symbolism and all of that - it wouldn't be half so lovely without it.

[turning, she lets her legs dangle off the side of the bunk so she's truly facing them.]

But parts of this story don't make sense. If we lost our memories, then why is it that we all remember different things, different places and times? Shouldn't there be a commonality somewhere? And...the very notion that you can subvert death through manmade procedure. It's outrageous. It's wrong. That's not how it works.

[and it causes her distress, if the way her hands are gripping the edge of the bunk are any indication.]

And now we've got a Queen to worry about.

[tevinteriscoming]

[Why is paganism so much fun.] You have to respect that. "Please find me someone as stunning as you are, so I don't have to work out the mechanics of being intimate with a slab of marble." Rather than try to find someone comparable, she pointedly brings an exact likeness of herself to life. There's an old Tevinter fertility goddess who's portrayed similarly in stories. Though perhaps a mite less attentive, as I've yet to be smited even once out of envy.

[This is all super relevant to their discussion, of course.]

Just because it's impossible to truly subvert death doesn't mean it can't be attempted. History is full of mages who have attempted to do exactly that. Often with disastrous results.

So, we've got this ship. The Pygmalion, named after a man who was a little too fond of statues. We've got Alice, a highly intelligent program who presents as a statue, but who isn't alive, just intelligent. Learning. We've got the Cradle Project, an attempt to subvert death. It all relates, doesn't it? Bringing lifeless things to life, bringing dead things to life. Different projects, similar problem.

And then we have these things, the souvlaki. Also alive, but parasitic, making themselves at home in hosts and killing us one by one. Perhaps the exact sort of experiment gone awry one might expect from such a hubristic project?

[antietam]

[ He looks awfully proud of Luke. Look, bringing him was useful and not just an act of codependency. ] So we had some people who were pretty into Greek.

[ But a lot of people borrow from Greek myth so he doesn't think it's something to worry about too much. The only thing to worry about is what it means. Adam raises an eyebrow at the talk of subverting death. It doesn't sound crazy or impossible at all to him since he's seen it happen multiple times before. But alright. ]

I don't know if it's quite as complex as that. We're in different servers, right? Even if it's just through Furry Passing, there must be some way to actually bring them through. If the servers become merged, maybe.

But maybe the way to getting through to the AI is through figuring out the original intent. So—life and love. Someone's wife died, right? Maybe it was an attempt to bring her back.

[ There's a mildly surprised look at Dorian. ] Do you think the souvlaki might have been created here as an accident?

[chiseler]

[Oh my gods Dorian. Luke’s only looking at him for a moment before slowly shaking his head. That clearly was the point. However, he’s taking into account what Grell says as well. They shouldn’t have memories of different things and different places, though he thinks back to Jack’s notes instead.

Subverting death makes him uncomfortable, truthfully, because that’s exactly what he’s done according to what he knows. He shifts awkwardly, but then he moves to open the notebook with his notes from Jack. Even so, Adam will probably notice that Luke seems a little pleased with himself. He feels helpful. Codependency wins again.]

This whole thing about life and death matches what Jack told me, too. What interests me most is the notes about Harlan and what Harlan was meant to do. [And from here he pauses to read the original notes out loud.]

…pelagic comes from a word meaning open sea. [He frowns at the mention of water, though he won’t explain why. Fuck Percy right now.] So whatever this Pelagic Genesis was was something that maybe drowned out humanity? Something with no real beginning or end. Jack also brought up that it’s weird that the original members of the Cradle Project had to look into researching the epidemiological issues. I had to look up what that was but…you guys remember the role of the Trojan? What if there was another role spreading diseases and maybe that’s what happened to create our alien friends?

[erythristic]

[that is way too much for Grell to take in and process in five seconds. she's silent for a long moment, thinking about it. some attempt to give something life - giving a creation a soul, that's what it sounds like they're heading in the direction of.

the creatures, that's a topic to safely tangent onto for a moment while she tries to sort out how she feels on this.]

So...all of these creatures were originally human? Deformed, or just warped from whatever this procedure was about?

[tevinteriscoming]

Bring back the dead by merging the servers? Of course, that resurrection should be so simple. [His tone is a little harsher than he means it to be, but. Maker. He can't sit here and listen to this talk anymore.] This isn't a trick or a trap or a puzzle to be solved. Don't forget. I watched Arumat die. I raised his corpse myself. Do you think it will be all undone, for the victims and murderers alike to be freed from the consequences of all of our choices? Death isn't a thing to be reversed, not without far greater suffering, and fixating on the dead is the way of madness.

[All right. That got a little heated for a second. He taps his fingers idly against his forehead, lightly shutting his eyes and drawing a calming breath. It isn't Adam's fault, it isn't any of their fault, to want for a happy ending. But memories of Alexius, those long months, watching his passion and energy become something more desperate, watching the man grow brittle and afraid - he can't. He can't do that. The loss he's already felt feels insurmountable now, but he knows that it isn't. He'll move past it in time. The hope though. The promise of a second chance. That is what will destroy him, if he allows it.]

At any rate, that isn't the impression I got of the purpose of the servers. The Bull said that "synching servers" was what they tried to do last week, but failed, and turned off the power. They succeeded at it this week, hence their ability to contact us. The servers, as it were, have already been synched.

As for what the parasites were, and how they were created, that's nothing more than speculation, though it wouldn't shock me. The Bull didn't say. He only said that they destroyed the crew. They're dangerous, but they don't seem to know how to fight them.

[antietam]

[ Adam is quiet as Dorian knocks his idea, expression stony. Maybe Dorian has never seen it happen, but Adam has. ]

You're wrong. No, you can't ever reverse what happened, but it's not impossible. Sometimes it takes a sacrifice, but—what I mean is the servers and Furry Passing are... a connection to them. There's a hole in the barrier that separates the dead and the living. If we can expand that hole, we can get them through. It's a theory, but it can happen. I've watched it happen.

[ Yes, he got heated too. He huffs and looks elsewhere. ] No, we don't have enough information on the aliens. Right now we're going to have to start putting the pieces of what we do have together.

So—the Pelagic Genesis happened. Even before that, Harlan was some sort of group that existed. Plans to save Earth began to happen, and that's the original purpose of the Cradle Project, which goes into effect with the admiral leading it. Furry Passing is a part of it, too, including various ways to attempt to contact the dead. The souvlaki begin slaughtering the crew, we're some sort of final option meant to defeat them. We were apparently aware of this. How does that sound?

[chiseler]

[He’s grinding his teeth a little and trying not to take offense. Death isn’t a thing to be reversed. He knows that. And yet he has to wonder now and he doesn’t like it any more the longer they keep arguing about it. It’s a conflict of interest, really. Granted he’s also a little more defensive when it comes to Adam and he shifts just slightly like he’s shielding him.]

I don’t know if expanding them is the purpose we need to focus on because we could very well expand too far and invite something in that we don’t need. Maybe that’s another idea how the aliens came through.

The rest of that sounds about right but what I wanna know is where our memories went. And furthermore…Harlan only mentioned saving Earth. Three of us are from some form of Earth but what about everybody else who isn’t? How do we explain that?