That Time They All Met in the CQ

[chiseler]

[Let's be honest, nobody had time to info-share Monday what with motives going live after they came down from the top-level deck and also…you know. The whole awkward thing with the corpse. That happened.

Arrangements are made, the whiteboard's been moved and…there's a wedding.

What the fuck, Cradle.

Either way, assume that Luke found your character in person, sent a message via Furry Passing or contacted them via some other means to inform them about a group meeting up in the Captain's Quarters after the wedding to talk about their findings from the day before.

He's not a leader, and it's probably clear from the way he's leaning against the wall next to the whiteboard and dumping handfuls of space-brand Skittles into his mouth.]

All right…so this happened. [This, of course, being the top deck.] We were all up here yesterday and so we should probably start figuring stuff out. It weirds me out that Alice let us up here now after all this time. [He shrugs.] Who wants to go first?

Comments

corner room #1

[antietam]

Well, everyone already knows about the admiral. [ That happened. ] And that the AI doesn't have access in here.

More specifically, when we went in, it was cold and didn't look like any robots had gone in there for cleaning. There was glass all over the floor and Jason ended up stepping on the admiral's wrist. From the looks of it, she was poisoned. Maybe by herself.

The issue with that—she was relatively preserved due to the temperature of the room, but Jason said she must have died 1-3 months ago. So either just before we arrived or sometime after. The AI didn't seem to have any idea about it.

[toprotecttheworld]

And that's the problem!

How could she not have any idea? We were supposed to be let up there, apparently, but what did she think the Captain was doing during all that time? How could she have missed that?

[antietam]

She mentioned something about her memory... I don't know, what would she gain from lying about that?

[chiseler]

Did Alice say anything when you guys asked her about it? Or was it her typical "I cannot help you right now" deal?

[antietam]

When Jason told her we found the captain's corpse, there was white noise and then she played some sad music. She asked us if we were sure, and when we were, she said she didn't know how it happened.

She said there might have been a problem with her memory, something about unaccounted for time. [ There's a pause. ] For what it's worth, I thought it was weird how... emotional it sounded. She seemed to hesitate at some points. I just don't know how an AI can do that, you know?

[muties]

Yikes, that sucks. Maybe we should give her a funeral? To at least make up for Jason desecrating her corpse.

[ ... ]

Actually, we should really give everyone who's dead some kinda funeral, that would have been a good thing to have been doin'. We're all kinda assholes, aren't we.

[antietam]

I mean, there's nowhere to bury them. I guess we could do a vigil or something each week if that'd help anyone.

... Would it help anyone?

terminals

[refactor]

Clover, Grell and I checked out the terminals, 'cause, uh, of course I checked out the terminals?

[ Jack scoffs, but then waves his hand idly as he gets to explaining. He'll actually be fairly helpful and factual here, so you're welcome. ]

So, first thing's first, got a big map of a galaxy I didn't recognize. The ship was displayed in it, so it's on some kinda course, but couldn't tell you what just based on looking at it then. Couple planets were highlighted on it, just with some generic IDs, XCS 111 through 113. All three of 'em were uncharted, but other than one of them definitely being where Butt Stallion is from, only thing of note is that 113 was potentially habitable.

[ Jack shrugs, since if you want more detail on that, you'll have to go look yourself. He doesn't remember the exact details here, since he's not a demon with a photographic memory, alas. ]

But, way more interesting than that? Got a hint why we're all here. Grell touched the map again, and we got a different map. Just a shitton of datapoints for that one, but there was info on-- Okay, well, can't speak for them here, but considering Pandora was one of them, can say with pretty good certainty that we were picked for a reason here. Each of the planets, or Helios, in my case, gets a blurb. Mine mentioned "keeping it in mind" because anyone from our part of the universe is, and I quote here, "one tough S.O.B. to take down." So, yeah. Wanna go see how you were being spied on? Go take a look.

[ Though at this point, Jack's expression gets more serious, and he shrugs. ]

Last part was a ECHOlog on the terminal. Started out with just normal video diary stuff of a guy named Jasper Jones. 99% of it was uninteresting and I don't care, so, skipping ahead to the juicy part? Saw how the guy died. Kinda familiar, considering how the alien that took over Rhys reacted, but guy and his girlfriend get pulled up into a vent, super murdered, blah blah blah. [ He's so sensitive ] But, last part of that video? Something came out of that vent, but it was gone too quick for any of us to get a good look at it. Best I can tell you is that it was black, had scales, and was screaming loud enough to make you want to kill the fuckin' thing even more.

[ He pauses, then shrugs ]

So, yeah. Good time exploring.

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[in his goddamn wedding suit, because who has time to change on this ship more than once?? and because it's funny. Adrien's stuck on the last part of that description, sorry Jack you gotta suffer the furries more:]

That black form... Could that be what the aliens-- the "Souvlaki"-- what they look like without a host, do you think?

[todorable]

Probably... I wonder why they want or need hosts for, anyway? They seem more than powerful enough to hold their own against us without the body swaps.

team hallway update

[chiseler]

Dave, Roxy and I took the elevator up and checked out the hallways right off of it first. Dave decided he wanted to go left…found a door that was pretty much frozen shut. Fog drifting out, too cold to touch, all that stuff. Locked tight. Roxy managed to get inside--you can ask her for the pictures--but it looks like we've got a bunch of pods hanging out in there. Frozen pods. Who knows what that means. [Dead bodies tbh.] Door also had Electric Sheep Room labeled on it. Don't listen to Dave and Roxy, I don't want us to be robots.

Anyway. We found another door at the other end of the hall but this one had Gaea on the door…for those of you just tuning in, Gaea's the earth goddess. This door was also locked and too big for Roxy to phase through…but not locked enough I couldn't break into it. [Shrug. He leans back then to reveal a drawing on the whiteboard of the floating ball of water they saw.] Not sure what this is other than a floating ball of water, but Alice figured out I busted open the door and she slammed it shut after that. Couldn't get back in after that.

So…now taking bets to what that was.

[parodeity]

Hey, it's not my fault electric sheep is a ref to androids? But frozen pods mean bodies or robots, p sure. Either seems like a fair guess.

corner room #2

[todorable]

So, Elizabeth, Emily and I checked out the computer in that corner room, guess it was the captain's quarters? We found a video from the ship's captain, Sonya Perkins. It's a message, to us...it's probably best if you watch it. I took a copy on my phone in case the PC here is as janky as most of this place.

TL;DR version is, we're boned. Humanity's basically extinct, so Captain Perkins programmed Alice to steal us, of all people, and they invited the gyro aliens into the vents 'cause they were thirsty, and BTW, the aliens come in packs of four or five. But it's okay, 'cause "we don't take shit like this lying down." ...Except when that shit is getting stepped on because you're too dead to move out the way, I guess.

Re: corner room #2

[tevinteriscoming]

There's a lot to unpack there. Are we to take that to mean our dear Admiral has been having Alice minister this game on purpose? To what end, I wonder?

[baptizer]

Thank you again, Totty. I don't think it would be quite as easy to explain without the video...

[ But rewatching she picks up on it: ]

River... Alice isn't her name, but - is it River? [ But, she thinks for a moment, wanting to choose her words carefully. ]

She said to ask River to connect the Cloud - I wonder if we got all of the information from those machines... [ The terminals. ]

statue update

[tevinteriscoming]

This is why fashionably late is so overrated; if you haven't any means to make an entrance, you'll just be overlooked.

[All of your info was so cool. But what can he do.]

Marinette, Adrien and I investigated the statues in the middle of the room. Not entirely enlightening, but they give some good color. May as well recite some poetry while I'm at it.

The first statue, of Pygmalion and his would be bride, I must presume, has the inscription:

"Constructed on February 9th, 2933. Acquired by Harlan on June 10, 2954, for placement aboard The Pygmalion. The statue is an enlarged replica of an already existing but missing statue. In a way, it exists as a postmodern exercise in art. A copy of a statue of a statue. The creation of life from where it did not exist before. Therein lies the pathos of our mission. Never forget this."

There's also a complementary poem:

"Woe is Galatea, skin of iv'ry
The hubris of Pygmalion did bring
her to life. But what God would recognize
Her as more than a mimic, facisimile
Of what Pymgalion did wish to see?
Agalma is she, not woman or doll."

Then we've the other statue. Woman with scales for legs and rather in a state of undress, holding up a portion of the sky.

Inscription reads:

"Gifted to the Pygmalion on September 6, 2954 as a symbol of cooperation and connection. We keep this as a reminder that no matter how hopeless a situation may seem, there is always a way to repair what we have broken and move forward. As well as a reminder that no matter where we go, we are not alone."

And the accompanying prose, which Adrien was so good as to translate from the Chinese:

"In remote antiquity, the four poles of the Universe collapsed, and the world descended into chaos: the firmament was no longer able to cover everything, and the earth was no longer able to support itself; fire burned wild, and waters flooded the land. Then Nüwa smelted the five-colored stone to mend the blue sky..."

So! It's no video telling us we ought to fight the aliens, but it's a bit of insight into how the creators of this place saw themselves, yes? On the one hand, creating life. Not out of nothing, note the plaque. A statue of a statue of a statue. The Pygmalion story is of a statue brought to life, but here we have copies of that initial effort.

Then, on the other hand, we have our dear Nüwa, mending the sky for us. Fits with the post-apocalyptic theme. Rebuilding what was thought broken and making a space habitable.

Of course, I'd welcome input from anyone more schooled in the mythology or the art.

[monsieurchatastrophe]

[as the local chinese expert (shame, marinette. shame.) and still in full wedding gear with his pocket cat hanging out on his shoulder, adrien pipes up to add:]

Nüwa was said to have created life in ancient Chinese mythology, so it makes sense for them to have her as a symbol if that's what the Cradle Project is really about. [and now, theory time!!!] We're always going back to creating life or mending it, and with what the Admiral said about how she'd never meant to worsen our lives... We've talked about how Alice-- or, I guess, River? How she could've been reprogrammed, and I think she was... by the Admiral, before she...

[killed herself. yuck.]

The point is, the Admiral wanted us to kill the aliens more than anything, but the only way to truly get them is with those "executions". And I don't know why "River" is the only one who can separate the aliens from their... their hosts, but if this game is the only way to trigger it... Maybe I'm wrong, but the way she spoke, it sounded like something in the project could fix all of this. She didn't seem to have killed herself out of desperation, but to... do something?

[he deflates a bit, shaking his head]

I know that sounds insane. It's basically saying the only way out of this is to let those-- those things kill again and figure them out. There's got to be another way than just wait for them to make their move.

World Snooping

[chiseler]

[Well, while everybody's chatting amongst themselves Luke's going to slip out and head for the terminal. He doesn't know much about high tech, but he knows his way around computers for basic functions. (Plus, you know, his dad created the internet.) Regardless he remembers what Jack said about Grell touching the map and pulling up worlds.

So here he is. Touching things he shouldn't touch, looking up maps and also balancing his notebook in the cradle of his arm to write down the observations of all of the datapoints that'll come up. What do we have here...? He will be clicking through all of the maps possible that'll come up.]

[al2955]

[There's thousands upon thousands upon thousands of datpoints, and the vast majority of them are locked. With enough time, effort and patience though, Luke might be able to find the few that aren't. (Alternatively, he could just drag people in and make them touch the map to bring the files up automatically.)]

Well this is fine - World Snooping Results

[chiseler]

[And later, Luke will come back with various sheets of paper with the world info written on them. He'll approach the whiteboard and hold the scraps in his hand, and he kind of looks pissed but don't mind him.]

Went back to the terminal to see what I can find. There're thousands of datapoints we don't have access to. Couldn't hack into them, I'm not that good with machines. But I did find information for a lot of other things...check it out.

[Come find your papers and react, question, etc.] They've definitely been watching all of us.

[antietam]

[ He squints at his world info but Luke probably looks pissed for a reason, so... Oh.

He'll just go near him and clear his throat. ]

[baptizer]

[ LOOKS AT HER WORLD INFO. ]

...Why - why are they turned on?!

[tevinteriscoming]

[Well. That's alarming.]

Replicate the Fade? Impossible. If they were going to break the fabric of reality, can't they have broken it about 60% more?

[antagonize]

[Well. None of this bodes well. Don't mind Jason as he ignores the unfortunate implications and holds up the notes relevant to his world, left glove still off and red lantern ring on after #furryweddings. He seems oddly pleased by the data they gathered on Earth-One.]

Oh, yeah. They definitely did their research. Gotta give props to them for that.

[parodeity]

[ dave snorts at the description of the medium. ]

I mean. Fair.