chiseler | You better trust that voice in your head that your world is not what it seems [Tues night, Week 11]

[ Adam is still awake, working at the desk like he's been doing since he decided this would be the week he kills. He's not really writing his plan down, more just trying to predict how the people in the trial will view each piece of evidence, all represented in circles and lines and a code of his own. It's indecipherable, basically.

He's too caught up to pay much attention to the datapad, only glancing over when Luke says something. He stops writing. ] The captain. Trying to do what?

[ He shakes his head and picks up the datapad, expression becoming more pensive. ] There's more. Did you get more?

[He'll burn the evidence later. Right now he's busy sitting up and staring at the datapad as it plays the audio file, eyebrows narrowing and lifting with the words of the song because this makes zero sense. It all makes zero sense and once it stops he freezes again.]

Dunno what the captain's doing, but yeah...there're six more messages. [He looks up again, questions written all over his expression.] From the graveyard again? [He shakes his head and immediately vaults off of his bed, nearly tripping as his foot gets caught on one of his sheets but it's fine, he's up and moving to the desk and casually grabbing for a pen and a spare sheet of paper.] Something's up.

[ Adam listens quietly to the song, wondering if there's a secret message hidden in there. Maybe if they play it backwards or something, but he just rubs at his eyes. Why does it always come at night?

He almost jumps up when he sees Luke get caught in the bed sheet, but alright, he can probably take care of himself. Sometimes. He looks back and starts to open them up one by one. ] Still messed up. Why does it take so long? There's some from weeks ago.

[ He gets to the Kazuma letters and makes a face, holding his head in his hand for a few moments. ]

[Sorry about your roommate, Adam, sometimes he gets ahead of himself. He'd expected that they would need a bit of decrypting and thus the need for a paper and pen. He doesn't want to write anything but the final message in his notes. In the end he settles on his bed again and he shakes his head, already starting to open Allen's.]

I don't know. The last time we got these was right after we learned about the souvlaki the first time…I remember that much. [Which is strange. But he obsessed about those letters the first time so it's not that weird, he thinks.] You think there's something on the other side stopping them from getting to us? Who'd you get letters from anyway? [He's busy scribbling, mostly trying to read but letters are swimming in his vision and this is Really Difficult okay. Ugh.]

Seems like a pattern, doesn't it? [ He hadn't noticed, but Luke is right. What does that mean? Are the souvlaki the ones keeping the dead from contacting them? ]

Um, it says, Allen, ... Kazuma, Shelley, Arumat, Bull, and Machias. You? [ He looks over and remembers, right, Luke's dyslexia. He has no idea what that's like, but this can't be good for it. He gets up and goes to sit on his bed with him, reaching for the pen. ] If you don't mind me reading them, I can try writing them down.

Either that or it just takes a month between letters. [But it seems more likely that it's the former and the way he says that indicates he believes such. Let's be real, it's hard to forget a giant "I'M WATCHING" from beyond the grave only a few days after watching a friend die.

He's mildly frustrated already by the time Adam joins him, but he easily gives up the pen and holds the datapad instead to scroll through messages.]

Two from Allen, and one from Arumat, Lavi, and Adelina…there's an audio message from Shelley, too. Kinda sounds like we're being contacted by some of the same people, at least. You sure you don't mind? [At least it gets their minds off of murder for a bit…]

A month between aliens. [ God, he hopes not. But with what Dorian told him, he's hoping this week will bring them out. He's still working on his plan in case it doesn't work, but... ]

An audio message? I didn't get anything like that. Play it. [ He holds the pen and looks over Luke's shoulder. ]

I'm not looking forward to spending another month here if that's the only way to do this. [But he really hopes this week will be self-preservation week, too. Regardless, he nods and fiddles with the datapad before he presses play on Shelley's recording. It's muffled of course but it's clearly Shelley's voice and the message comes through clear enough. He isn't sure what to say immediately, so…you know. He doesn't. He just sort of stares at the datapad and then at Adam for his assessment.]

They know about Nuwa?

[ Adam suddenly misses Shelley, but he's glad she sounds happier there than she was here. If that's possible. But apparently it's not just a peptalk. ]

I mean, they can see everything. They probably saw the live feed too. But—it sounds like she knows more than we do. How would we get in contact with them?

[There's a lot of good people they've lost over the last couple of weeks, but it's not about sentimentality now.]

You got all of that down, right? [He's already opening Allen's messages instead.] They can see everything. Some of those hostages had to belong to them. Dunno which ones. [He's anxiously tapping his fingers on the datapad.] I have no idea how to get in touch with Nuwa. Alice said she didn't even talk to their AI until, like, a week ago.

[ Adam is furiously scribbling it down, yes. He's a good note-taker at least. ]

Might be lying. Probably lying, actually. At the very least, River's known about it this whole time. [ He squints at Allen's messages and writes down what he can. He's trying harder for Luke than he usually does with his own messages so he manages: "... definitely not to get killed in the most outstandingly idiotic way possible but it happened... just hope the same doesn't happen to anyone(?) else. Please stay safe.

PLEASE don't be an alien." He shows Luke what he got, then reads it out loud. ]

Any idea why he suddenly sent that last message?

It just doesn't match up with what Arumat told me when he was still alive. He said that Al--River couldn't connect to other satelites or anything, so how did she suddenly connect with Nuwa? Is it possible maybe he was just…wrong?

[Adam's the best and Luke will owe him, but he does lift his eyebrows. That. Sure is something.]

…I guess because he doesn't want me to be an alien? I have no idea. I don't think I have anything that would make me a good alien host anyway. [Other than prior experience being a host but uh. Let's not talk about that. He's opening Arumat's letter, giving a light snort of amusement at the new watermelon.] Try translating some of yours next.

Well... Since they're both AI doing the same project, it might be that they have a built-in connection. I think we should ask River about it.

[ He shrugs, obviously not too concerned with Luke being an alien. He has to trust someone. ] Just being an unmatched swordsman and the ability to break into most doors.

[ It's a joke. He writes down Allen's letter to him, then goes for Kazuma's three letters because... he's morbidly curious. He reads those out to Luke. ] Guess I should really hope that I don't die.

What, like walkie-talkies? They're just integrated to work together? [Sure Luke, let's go with that. He smirks faintly.] And while I can see those being appealing to aliens it's nothing on some of the other powers people have around here. [Which is both great and unfortunate.

But he wrinkles his nose in response to Kazuma's letters, slowly shaking his head.] That better not be a threat. Forgot he was kinda creepy.

[Kazuma can you maybe not say foreboding shit about Adam's life? But he looks at Arumat's. It's small enough, simple enough he can kinda squint and he takes the pen from Adam's hand to scratch down "killing people in project isn't the objective." He also opens Lavi's which is, miraculously, the easiest to read as he writes "keep trying your best."

There's a weird sense of guilt in the pit of his stomach and he hovers over the page, staring at the words instead of at Adam.]

…I remember hearing that the Cradle Project wasn't meant to be a killing game. But why is it being repeated now? [And Lavi's message doesn't help him either. His best? That probably doesn't include murdering someone.]

[ He'll just. Keep on ignoring Kazuma. That's worked out so well. He watches Luke write things down, then goes through his own letters. He smiles a bit at Arumat's, but Bull's... makes him think. You've got this and it'll be alright in the end. Does he? Will it? He swallows and closes that message out, then moves to Machias's.

Which almost entirely unreadable. The few words he can make out seem to be talking about another person, which might either be someone they met in the Cradle or Machias's hostage. Given the date, he thinks maybe the latter. He takes another minute to read out the last part, then grabs the pen again. Maybe they should have two pens. Anyway, he writes down: "Find a means to establish contact(?). You've proven yourself to be intelligent and capable..." He stops writing then because he doesn't really want to write out praise to himself.

Just because, he also writes out the parting sentence: "AND TELL THAT SMUG BASTARD I SAID FUCK YOU I CAN'T STAND HIM HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE HE BETTER NOT SCREW UP OR ELSE." ] Hey. Did you make Machias mad or something? [ He smiles and then looks over the message again. ] I think... he was trying to tell me about his hostage. And then the part that I can read is saying to establish contact. Just like Shelley.

[…don't mind Luke for taking that pen back and wordlessly underlining that sentence. Adam should remember he's intelligent and capable and Luke's fairly sure that Adam isn't described that way to his face often. (He's been around him long enough to realize that Adam's opinion of himself is shit anyway.]

I'm gonna pretend that last part isn't about me even though it absolutely sounds like it could be me. [A grin. It's sort of funny and part of him almost (?) misses Machias's hollering. Even if he did accidentally kick his head. Sorry Machias. But he does find it interesting that Machias has said the same thing.] Why are they sure we can establish contact? That seems almost impossible right now.

[The last message is from Adelina though, and while it takes effort he finds himself reading it out loud as he puts the words together. All he comes up with is "seems to me you have become something like a leader to people", and though he sees it, he doesn't read out loud the portion of taking care of himself. Or what he assumes that says, anyway. It's the message that causes him to pause and he stares at the paper again.]

…you get the feeling they're counting on us to fix all of this? [It's mostly a sarcastic statement, but it's faint because it's a little too true.]

[ Adam watches him underline that but says nothing, just hunches a little like he's embarrassed. It's not easy to accept that after he was just figuring out his murder plan. He hates that all of this has him rethinking that. ]

Obviously it's not. [ If the dead think so, he trusts them. They've given them a lot of good information. He waits patiently for Luke to work out Adelina's message, reading while he speaks. He sees the part about taking care of himself and wishes Luke would say that too. He rubs at his face because, wow, the dead were not going easy on them. Combined with Dorian's talk, he wonders how obvious they were being. He ends up leaning against Luke's shoulder because. Fuck. ]

I think they're doing everything they can. And we're sitting here doing nothing. [ He glances to his murder paper on the desk. ] We have to ask River. If we can talk to the Nuwa AI or the—the passengers. [ God, what would he say to Ronan? ] But about what? What's going to help?

[Yes, well, how do you think he feels hearing all of this and planning the same thing? Damn you, dead friends. He also vaguely wonders if people on the other side knew that they were idly considering it. Lavi says they can't see inside their rooms, but now he was wondering if Lavi was lying to him. That's entirely possible. He drops his shoulder a little to let Adam make himself comfortable as he taps the pen on the page in thought.]

Nah…we were doing something, but it was the wrong something. [Were they really considering this?] You think River would actually put us in contact if we asked her? I mean maybe if we said please since she seems to like that but I don't…[There's hesitance there.] …you know how it goes. I ask for help and it goes ignored until it's too late. I don't want that to be the case with her. [He's also not sure he's ready to talk to Annabeth. But Adam's right. If…if they could ask, they would have to ask questions that would help.]

I'd like to ask the Nuwa AI why their project started. Arumat said that the project's objective isn't killing, but there're two projects running that're doing just that? Doesn't that seem weird to you?

Why not? What does she have to hide? [ Probably a lot. It's more than likely that they'll get a no, but... they were asked to do it and they have to try. If there's anything they can do, they have to. He keeps in mind what Luke says about being helped, storing that away. ]

If she doesn't help, we'll do it ourselves. We won't wait around. [ He nods at Luke's idea. It's a good question. ] Right. The admiral said she messed with River's programming because of what happened to the crew. So why would another ship be doing that if they don't have the souvlaki? What happened to their crew?

River said that the Nuwa AI knew about the aliens because her databases weren't blocked, which means she knows a lot more. We can ask about them, ask about the real project, maybe what's wrong with River and how to fix her... And how the project's going to end. There has to be something that triggers the end to it, right? We don't all just die or there'd be no point.

I don't know. She's an AI, you tell me. [But it seems that they've settled on this. Their friends are telling them for a reason, and he has to wonder why them specifically. Did anyone else receive similar instructions? He has no idea if he even wants to ask and he shakes his head slowly.]

If she doesn't help, I hope you have a good plan on how we're supposed to contact a ship. I don't know much about how the terminal or anything works. I do find it weird that they bothered screwing around with our AI's programming but not the one on Nuwa. Was Nuwa really a back-up? Those are good questions though.

[…] I always figured the end would be when we get rid of the aliens at this rate because nothing else makes sense. The problem is we don't know when that is and it doesn't answer when Nuwa's project will end. [A pause.] I don't want her on that ship for much longer. [The "her" in question isn't a mystery.]

We'll find a way. We're not stupid. [ No, Adam really has no idea how to deal with this technology. There are people who probably do, but is Adam going to ask them for help? Not on his life. He and Luke can figure it out, probably. ]

The crew here were also the ones who made Furry Passing, right? So I wonder how the dead are over there... [ But that's not as important. He's just curious, but it might relate to the true purpose of the Cradle Project. ]

We'll ask about how it'll end for them, too. I know. I know, Ronan doesn't belong there. He's not like me, I don't know if... [ More than anything, he doesn't want Ronan to kill. He looks over at Luke sadly. ] I don't think I can go through with it. I want to save us, but now the dead are saying there's another way. We have to trust them, right?

Not entirely. [It's lightly because yeah he has no idea.] But I think the future face of Harvard can probably figure something out and if that doesn't work I might have some ideas. [He rubs the back of his neck.] …my dad might've had his hand in some technological advancements. Some of that sort of passed to me, maybe.

[It's more like he can extend his lockbreaking to hacking, he hopes, but that's probably not how it works.]

Furry Passing was made by one of the crew members, yeah. You don't think they've got something similar on Nuwa? I don't even know what Nuwa's supposed to mean. [But he huffs slightly but it immediately dies down when he looks at Adam again.] Neither of them belong there. And…I don't know. We'll figure out something and I guess…what is this? A warning that we shouldn't be doing this? They've told us things before that've turned out to be right. [There's a heavy sigh.] …I hate trusting them with this when it's so complicated but they trust us. It's the least we can do, I guess.

[ Adam makes a face when he mentions Harvard, as if he's studied how to hack futuristic computer systems. ] Wait, what? What technological advancements? [ And also what he means in general by sort of. Stop keeping things from him? ]

... You don't really believe in coincidence, do you? [ Adam hates the idea of fate, but he also doesn't think these events have happened at random. It's just something in between. ] We're being told that there's another way. That I don't have to... [ There's a groan and the last of his defenses are breaking down. He's been pushing himself to repress these emotions, but he can't anymore. He buries his head in his hands. ] If there's any other way, I can't... I don't want to kill someone. I don't want that on me.

So—we need to think about this. Come up with a plan. Talk to River. Before anyone murders.

Um. My dad kinda created the internet. [End him.] We don't really talk about it.

And of course I don't believe in coincidence when my entire life has been planned out for me. But on the other hand...fate's such a weird thing on this ship. [He doesn't like it either, but when Adam buries his head in his hands Luke's immediate response is to bring a hand up to pet the side of his hair and pull his head closer to his shoulder. This has been a trying week for both of them and he's pretty fed up with not having a solid answer.]

We're not killing anybody okay? Promise me. Promise me you're not going to crack and I'm not going to crack and we will think of something. We're both smart enough not to play into her hands. We've just gotta think of something. [He frowns to himself.] I just wish we understood how she contacted the Nuwa. That's out most important part.

That— [ What. He's not an expert on the history of the internet but that doesn't seem true? But, okay, Hermes and travel, he's just... not going to argue. ] Right, so. Yeah, maybe you can do something.

[ He does believe it. Luke has a lot of cool abilities and maybe River neglected to take all of them away. His hands move away from his face and he just closes his eyes, tired and wishing he wasn't such a horrible person that he has to promise not to kill anyone. ]

I won't. I'll try. If—if Ronan dies, then Opal falls asleep forever. I know I still have a lot to do, but if they're gone... I lose everything. [ He takes in a breath. Thinking that way is going to kill him. ] Do you think there might be a way to get around her?

[Shrug. Listen he doesn't get it either, buddy, it just. Is. But he's tired and this is hard to think about and he hates that there's a lot of indecision so he leans back a little to make them both more comfortable even as he's reading the notes they have.]

It's going to be okay. [Somehow. He'll make it so no matter what. That much is certain.] I don't know if there's a way around her but...River usually harps on me about doing stuff myself and finding ways to find answers myself. What if we just asked her to talk to the Nuwa AI ourselves instead?

[ He wants to believe Luke. He knows he's said the same thing to Luke a lot in the past, so it's only right that he accept it this time. So he nods slowly. ]

Seems easiest. That'll be our first try. If she refuses, we'll have to find another way. But I can't right now. [ He's thinking about too much and he's tired and if there's even the slightest chance they can talk to the Nuwa AI, they need to be in the right frame of mind. He lingers with Luke a little longer, almost like he's fallen asleep, but then he sits up and gathers his things, then gets off the bed. ]

I'm going to sleep. You should try again, too. You'd just managed before the messages came up. [ Maybe he listens to make sure Luke is sleeping. ]

So don't try right now. [It's mumbled mostly because it's late and they're both stretched pretty thin and they both have a lot of thoughts to navigate through. So he's quiet and lets Adam stay with him even as they're both silent and thinking.

If they can talk to the Nuwa AI at all...who knows, maybe they can find another solution. They all have the same goals in mind so a solution would be ideal. He jerks slightly when Adam sits up and he blinks at him when the boy moves off of the bed, cracking a slow grin in return.]

I should be weirded out that you know that but at this point I've given up thinking I can get away with much around you. [But with Adam off of his bed Luke's stretching out and curling into a comfortable position.] We'll start putting together a list of questions and stuff in the morning okay? Go over the notes again and everything. [The notes, of course, which he's putting under his datapad next to his pillow. This is fine.] We'll figure it out. Promise.

You better trust that voice in your head that your world is not what it seems [Tues night, Week 11]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject