Week 4.

[trustmods]

WEEK 4 Ashley Williams and Asuka Langley Shikinami have joined the ranks of the deceased. Two more deaths, two more people whose absences will be felt by the group; a bit over one-fifth of the Participants are dead. And this week, it seems everyone is feeling it. They say three times can be considered a routine, and the fourth week of the exercise isn't breaking pattern any. Saturday can be given to rest and sleep; on Sunday morning, the clock chimes the hour at seven o'clock. There are no more bodies, no more bloodstains; there's nothing else to be found this morning. Unless, of course, you count whatever you found last night, strange dreams or otherwise. Once again, there's a new floor to explore; after everything that trial decided to be yesterday, you deserve the reward. And for the second time, there are rule changes, effective immediately. You might want to take note of them. PARTICIPANTS REMAINING: 23

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[OOC: Welcome to week four of Trustfell! Save your threads for coins and the coming week's activity check; don't forget to check in to this week's activity check and submit your memory regains as well!

The Letters and Switchboard posts are still active, for the sake of contacting the jerk who's keeping you here, to be used at your leisure!]

Comments

[perpend]

I... I dooon't know what I can do.

[He can't do anything. Jowd is dead, and now that he remembers something, Lynne could very well be dead too.]

We have to get out of here. Somehow.

[decrees]

[Logan shakes his head again. He remembered something that changed everything as well, but... he's already been the most self-centered person in Cabanela's direction before, so his shitshow memory can wait. Forever, maybe. The less he thinks about it, the better.]

I know. We need to get as many people out as possible, but... it doesn't look like that's going to be easy.

[It's either attempt to play the game or wait it out.]

[perpend]

[To be fair, absolutely nothing will surprise Cabanela right now.]

I reeeeally hope we find a way to get everyone out of here soon.

[Can either of them really afford to wait this out?]

[decrees]

...I'm not sure we will. I don't want anyone else to die, but it's looking as though there's nothing we can do.

[Another incentive in a few days, another death by the end of the week, another trial, another execution. Then what? A new floor and the cycle repeats?]

[perpend]

[How many floors does this damn place have? It's ridiculous.]

I've been writing to the Conductor.

It's strange, how "normal" he acts in the letters. Sometimes he almost seems bored.

[decrees]

...Some of the others believe he wasn't the one who brought us here. What do you think?

[It's been easiest to blame the Conductor for everything, but what if there's more to it than that?]

[perpend]

He told Ashley as much.

I believe him; he hasn't outright lied to us yet.

[decrees]

I wish we knew why this was happening. Why we were chosen for this. There doesn't seem to be anything we all have in common. Many of us are regaining horrible memories, but not all of us. I had thought that maybe that would be what we had in common.

[But Elise is here and she's remembering cute things. How lucky.]

[perpend]

I wonder what it could posssibly be.

It doesn't add up right now.

[decrees]

Nothing does.

[He hesitates for a moment, then shakes his head.]

I'm not sure if it is the same for everyone, but I believe my memories were taken in an attempt to get me to act on the incentives.

[perpend]

I... haaaave a feeling the same is true for me.

I guess trying to use the holes in our memories against us isn't too low for him.

[decrees]

No, of course not.

[Logan is quiet for a long time, draining more of that drink.]

...I remembered a... battle. A "rebellion", though that's not what it is, it's a coup.

[he's kind of offended that they're not calling it by the proper name, okay]

My sister and my mentor are alive. They allied with the Aurorans against me and...

[He shakes his head and draws back a little where he's sitting so he can touch the sash across his chest. Logan isn't playing with it like he normally does; the gesture is almost protective.]

...I'm going to stand trial. My sister is going to become Queen. Everything I have worked so hard for...

[It's all falling apart, a year before the Crawler attacks.]

[perpend]

A coup....

[He falls silence.

Likes: executions; dislikes: traitors.

You sure can pick your allies, Cabanela. You sure can pick them.]

You've been gooone nearly a month now.

[It.... doesn't sound good. This doesn't sound good. What the hell is the point, if so many of them are going to return to a place they don't recognize? It's not even a matter of ending the exercise; it's a matter of wondering what the damn point is.]

[decrees]

Yes. She's most likely wondering how I escaped, and... and when I return...

[The trial will be a formality, just like all of the hearings he held after he returned from Aurora. She's already made up her mind, hasn't she? Fleeing after all of that... it's admitting his guilt. She wouldn't believe a word of what happened here.

Logan's grip tightens on the sash and it isn't long before he's shaking.]

She's not prepared, she never will be. She doesn't know how to lead a country. She doesn't know how to handle that and there's no way she can prepare for it in a year. Albion cannot recover from a coup quickly enough to hope to face this threat.

[Why didn't he tell her? Why didn't he stop her?]

If I return home, she's going to--

[All he can think about is Reaver's execution. Is that what she'll do? No, perhaps it would be more appropriate to have him shot. Make a display of it, like he did for Swift. The people of Albion would certainly celebrate, wouldn't they?]

[perpend]

Jesus, Logan...

[He wants to yell at the man. You should have told her. He should have joined forces with her, should have resorted to actually trying to defend Albion instead of devolving into tyranny, which he clearly did, because why else would he have "executions" listed as a like?]

She'll.... she'll probably kill you if you return.

[decrees]

Of course she will, of course-- she'd be crazy not to. There wouldn't be any way for her to justify such a decision--

[His words are speeding up and his usually perfect speech doesn't sound anywhere near as composed anymore.]

I have to return home though. There isn't another option; I need to take responsibility for my actions--

["Take responsibility."

Suddenly Logan feels very cold.]

[perpend]

"Take responsibility."

[He echoes the phrase, sounding bitter and cynical.

Is this what they've been reduced to? He's never going to be able to disassociate that phrase with death.

Even if Logan is a tyrant king, he's in that awkward category of "hasn't killed anyone here." Three weeks ago, he wouldn't have complicated such a thing, but now...

The group needs to stay together.]

There must be something we can do. This group... we don't look aaanything like the sort of people you'd normally associate with, I assume. Maybe there's hope in audacity.

[decrees]

[Logan rests his elbows on the bar and lowers his head into his hands. He's still shaking, but he's trying to get himself under control.]

...I don't know. Maybe I'm still missing some memories. Maybe I'm...

[already dead]

I... I'll be alright. I haven't let anything break me and this won't either.

[He lowers his hands to the bar, then moves to sit up properly. He means it. Nothing is going to break him.]

[perpend]

[He shakes his head, grips hard at the glass in his hand. No, he doesn't want to hear Logan finish that sentence. He doesn't want that to be true.]

We'll get out of here.

[And unstated there's the "we'll make the Conductor pay."]

[decrees]

...We have to. We need to get as many people out of here as possible.

[Regardless of what he has to go back to, Logan needs that.]