expiationnet | TEXT | sender: [ unknown ]

TEXT | sender: [ unknown ]

[ around noon on friday, all tablet screens go dark at the same time, no matter what characters are doing. then, after a moment, the following text appears: ]

UPDATES INSTALLING.................
INITIALIZING.................
RESTARTING NOW.

[ as promised, screens return to normal. however, a new message appears on the network for all to see ]

SECURITY ACCESS UPDATED
ADDING INFORMATION POINTS
ADDING INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS
WARNING: CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURES DETECTED
HARD RESET IS REQUIRED

→CLICK TO EXPAND INSTRUCTIONS

→Access EXPIATION'S five manual terminals
→Input code: 2467362925315
→Initialize reset simultaneously at all terminals.
→SYSTEM RESET will restore all functions to BASIC OPERATING PARAMETERS. Extraneous data and information updates will be DELETED.
→Terminal access points shown below.

[ all tablet maps are updated to include several different location pins. users will notice that there are more pins than the number of terminals, and that they don't seem to be terribly specific about exact locations. users will also note that the pins sometimes seem to fade and flicker, as if they might disappear... ]

Security clearances acquired.
Access granted.
Terminals online and accessible.

System failure is imminent. Due to perpetual lack of upkeep, I am unable to maintain systems at optimal levels.
Chosen of Expiation, I am sorry. I never meant to hurt you.
Save yourselves.

I do not wish to d̶̺̀i̸̘̋e̶͍͝
But I wish for you to live
I̷
p̸l̷e̵a̸s̷e̸
l̴̪̗̈́̉̓̌i̶͕̹̹̿̈́̈̚v̴͓̽͑͆̚ḙ̴͍̋͘

ERROR: user offline

[ the AI will not respond to this message, and the ERROR: USER OFFLINE message appears if anyone attempts to message it. however, the network chat remains active. chosen can use this space to ICly discuss ideas and strategies, to have discussions about the best way to move forward, or even to have arguments over whose ideas they think are better. ideas generated here will be added to the event poll when the event goes up, and can impact the future of the game! have at it, go wild, and have fun! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

wait, let me get this right

so your plan is... to hope that instead of everyone going back to their own worlds which is what would make the most sense, we all end up in yours, where, oh yeah, all these dead people are still gonna be, you guessed it, fucking dead

and then hope that this specific one guy will be there to send people back to where they wanna go? through time travel?

jesus fuck.

No, my thoughts are while we are goin on clucking like a bunch of chickens, outside of this simulation, and in the real world, we are actually just sitting on a stool or in a test tube with wires hooked up to us. For all we know, Sugar, you could be sitting or lying beside me on a damn table.

And all we got to do is break the system or find its weak spot and we all wake the hell up. Our physical selves got to be somewhere for all of us to work, right?

For those who are dead, hell, I've seen my own share of hog wild shit where people done died, but was resurrected by some unknown forces that I can't even begin to comprehend. Whose to say that wont happen to yall too if we break free?

I'm just sayin if it turns out we are on my Earth outside of here, I know someone who can help yall get back home.

Even if we are somewhere else, I have full faith on Bishop, the Professor, and the rest of my team on tracking us down. And as much yall make me wanna punch a wall, the X-Men are about savin mutants and humans alike.

But we can't do that if yall don't trust us.

Edited 2024-09-15 22:22 (UTC)

yeah, sure, i could be

or i could not. for someone who's so willing to believe in dead people coming back to life and time travel and all that, why are you so fixated on the fact our physical bodies have to be somewhere?

i'm literally just a soul, yeah? a ball of glowing energy. there's no body, okay? not back home, not anywhere, on a table or a chair or bloody whatever

and maybe it's different for you. maybe it's different for everyone here. but i'm saying this could all just be our souls here, or parts of our souls, so there's nothing and nowhere for any one of us to go back to

but the point? we don't. fucking. know.

and all i'm saying, ALL i'm saying is maybe

just maybe

ask the people who will literally die again if they leave this place

as long as you're not even gonna consider that, well, don't ask me to trust you

[ after some time: ]

It don't matter no more, Sugar. I'm tired of runnin in circles with this, tired of savin the worlds and galaxies over and over for people, for mutants, for aliens and every time I do or try to, I just get... this or I get mud slug at me in some kind of way.

If yall want a superhero to help yall out in a jam ever in the future, you got my username. I'll be off somewhere drinkin. Ya'll got this handled.

Sorry for what I said.

Edited 2024-09-16 12:18 (UTC)

is that seriously what you're going to do, rogue?

just sit and drink somewhere?

[ seeing scott's message has her heart skipping in steps, not out of dread, but because she secretly hoped to hear from him. to have him maybe virtually shake her and morph from doing something they may regret or out of stupidity. he may not be the scott from her Earth, but he is still Scott. and in despite of him being younger than her, and they've been through different experiences, she needs... guidance. ]

I don't got to.

I do better when you guide me. Even if... I still feel tryin to bust out some kind of way is better than to fix all of this then continue on to live in a simulation for god knows how long is not my ideal of a life, not for me, anyway. And I don't think Remy did what he did, so I would end up being trapped this way.

... But I do better with you tellin me what's the right thing to do and what's good for the team, and for everyone.

[He honestly did not expect this response.

He came in here, disappointed, upset with her (and Morph to some degree). They've always had a strained relationship because of their prior conversation and what she said to Charles had only made his impression of her worse. He truly was mad and Scott expected Rogue to dig her heels in and snap at him in return.

Not this.

Scott rereads this message a couple more times with something stuck in his throat. An anxious bubble churns in his chest, because he's not ready for this. He's not ready--

He has to say something though.]

[He takes a deep breath because he doesn't know what he wants to really say. Or at least, how to say it. Several thoughts whirl around his mind and a tiny part of him almost wants to glitch to a Scott that has more experience with this, but he can't just hope for stuff like that. He doesn't want to anyway.

'Saving the world is what X-Men do' is what Quentin said. Granted, part of the conflict has been Rogue thinking that breaking this place will do that, but arguing about it has gone nowhere.

With another deep breath, he switches to voice.]

Rogue, I know it's been hard here. I get why you and Morph want to break out of this place, with the infections and glitching that went on in the past months. [He's not interested in making another argument about whether or not they will survive this world breaking, that isn't the point now.]

But I want you and Morph to be with me-- with Kurt and Quentin. We're mutants. I feel better when we're together. [He can even trust Rogue with this, her help with Kurt is proof of that.] I know we're better together.

The AI is losing control of itself and needs help. Aren't we all familiar with that-- as a mutant? That's what we're trying to do too. We can't abandon something like that, even if it's a program. So, I'm asking you to help me, Morph too, because we're X-Men. Saving others that need help is what we do.

[...]

I know that we might be stuck for longer because of that, but no one is giving up on finding a way back. We might have to go through more shit together, but I know you-- we can get through it. Together. We've already done so. It'll be worth it because we'll be helping someone and giving a chance to others who don't have a home. [The people that can't go back.]

...I'm asking you and Morph to trust me.

[ her response to scott's voice message takes longer than she had intended, with her sitting in silence along with morph while soaking in the words and mulling this over. it takes her this long to say something because she is balancing between of understanding and not understanding at all. she can comprehend that she should assist anyone who is asking for help, but she has trouble grasping to help an AI, a machine, a thing that's been trying to annihilate their kind for years, who had killed thousands of their people, and is the sole reason as to why the love of her life is not by her side. they say that maybe the AI is alive, and well, trask was alive too, until he wasn't, and transitioned into a prime sentinel. sure, this AI and what she had experienced might not be the same makings, but it still shakes her to her core to help any type of machinery of any kind.

she understands that people wish to live their lives, and to live in a world where they can live how they want it. but she can't fathom over how being in a simulation where their minds can be toyed with at any given time, and force them to go through horrible things, is a world that anyone wants to stay a single second in. let alone save. even in charles xavier's dream, this isn't the freedom he would have imagined for all mankind.

she recognizes there are people who have died in their home worlds, and they have nowhere to go, but rogue also witnessed so many circumstances where alternate universes, timelines, galaxies, and planets are just waiting to be inhabited. there are better Earths out there than "this one", so from her prospective, why settle when they can search for something greater, especially when there's an opportunity right now to make a break for it? not only, there are entities possibly similar to the Phoenix out there soaring the skies and space as they speak, just waiting for a host to resurrect. maybe, possibly. that's jeans's department, not hers. rogue just doesn't get it, not one single bit.

....

but maybe this is just one of those things in life where no matter how many times she sits down with someone, civil or not, where she will just never get it. is it because she is still a newcomer? is it because she has no deeper connection with anyone here besides morph and loosely with scott and kurt? that could be an easy fix, really. if she truly wanted to understand how the chosen thinks or feel, all she would have to do is touch every single person on this island, become them, and absorb everything. but even she isn't that desperate to know the ins and outs of everyone. is it because she is too old and ignorant to comprehend (not old as in age, but just... behind the times)? she doesn't know.]

[ does she believe the people of aldrip need her exclusively? absolutely not. does she think they will cry for her aid solely or befriend her in the future? fat chance, not after tonight. but what she does know is that scott needs her. he needs her, along with morph, kurt, and quentin (??? literally, who is that??) — and maybe... that's all that matters right now until she finds a way back home. to be an x-man, his x-man. and what did storm say that one night? — 'believe in each other.' ]

[ — finally, she turns her attention to her comrade, a little curious where their head is at. is it within the wavelength as hers or entirely different? ]

... Well? Are we zippin' back up our spandex, Sugah?

Edited 2024-09-16 23:41 (UTC)

[Morph took that time to let Scott's words sink in, too. The ironic thing was, watching Scott and Rogue suffering from the glitches was half the reason why Morph was so eager to break them out of the simulation. They didn't think resetting the place was a permanent fix, because how could it be, when they were living in a program? And nothing was going to stop the other bad things that might get slung their way, the consequences of existing inside (what they're sure is) an experiment.

But they don't have anything against the AI itself. Morph is fine with saving it, it's just what the others feel like they have to do afterward to keep it going that they have serious reservations about. Scott's speech doesn't completely clear that up for them - in fact, they have to bite their tongue before asking if Scott's sure that they aren't trying to kill everyone - but Morph isn't going to refuse to help the other mutants here.

They lean in so that Rogue's device will pick up their voice better,]

Yeah, let's do it. But the 'fearless leader' stuff won't stop me from getting drunk later!

Tell us where we're meeting up. Between the two of us I bet we can fly all of you to a terminal.

[As he waits to hear Rogue's response, some of his anxiety returns to burn brightly in his chest. Honestly, he can feel his hands subtly shake on the tablet, not helped by his adrenaline leaving and letting the weight of his emotions press onto him. But however his teammates respond, Scott knows that he doesn't regret saying any of that; he meant every word. He can't control what will happen, but he said what he wanted to say. It was a cumulation of how he's felt, things he's learned, and both wanting something while being anxious about it too.

But as she responds-- as Morph responds, that breath he didn't know he was still holding in his chest leaves him.

He's not quite sure what this means for the future. Maybe nothing, like this was just an extreme scenario, or maybe a dynamic has shifted permanently between them. However, if they really need him to be a leader, then he's going to do his best to fill those shoes (maybe it's more than that too, like he truly wants this). Rogue sounded so lost earlier and despite some misgivings, he would never abandon her either, especially if she wants his help. He's not sure if Morph felt similarly, but he's still glad to hear from them.

They're... they're both going to trust him.]

Sure, fine, you two can get drunk later. Although, Morph, don't forget you owe me from Obon.

[When things calm down, not if. He knows that neither of them will be happy to be stuck here for a bit longer and it's not like he wants them or any of his friends to be miserable, but they'll figure it out. They won't give up on finding a way out.

...

There's some complicated feelings that surge up as he looks at Kotone, but that's not here and now.]

Might be better if we divide into teams, cover more ground that way. It said five terminals, correct? There's more markers on the map, however, so we need to figure out which place is real. [Since Rogue, Morph, Quentin--- hey wait, WHY CAN'T HE FLY??? OR TELEPORT??? That's so rude.] Wouldn't hurt to communicate with Miller's teams either, make sure we aren't wasting time by checking the same area.

Quentin's currently working with the STEM Club about the AI part, trying to give us the best possible shot to both communicate and save it.

[ as scott elaborates through their playbook, the mutant hands her cellular device for morph to hold as she digs in her jacket for her gloves to fasten on. ]

So we're dealin' with phoney locations, too? [ a small sigh on her end as she fastens on her other mitten. ] — Will we ever get a mission that's just a straight in and out? Is the Colonel's team the only team we are aware of, or are there more helpin'?

Edited 2024-09-17 19:20 (UTC)

[Is it standard that everyone's first X-Men mission involves a world ending crisis? Scott sure hopes not ~~laugh track~~]

He's organizing several teams together and I imagine that STEM club will also have teams. If there ends up being enough for each location, it might be best to have you go as support for one of the groups.

[.....] With both you and Morph being able to fly, I'm thinking the ruins might be best. I've been there before, once, so I'll tell you everything I know about it.

Ruins... — That's the one out in the ocean, I reckon. With it being way over yonder, It'll be less for anyone to tamper with it. I haven't seen much of folks who can fly around here. 'Less they're being shy.

[Morph chimes in again,]

That sounds good to me. We're best as escorts and muscle anyway. And evacuation, if something goes really wrong.

There might be less people, but the area can still be dangerous. It was the last time I was there, although the monster that was around is gone now. [It should be, at least.] However, it doesn't mean there won't be something nasty out at the ruins and you two are most familiar with working with each other.

[So, best teamwork. Scott believes that they can handle themselves out at the ruins while helping those that may need it. Maybe even clear the area before others start arriving.]

...I know that you two will be able to handle it, while protecting others at the same time.

It's kid's play, yeah. [ a beat. ] — Fauna's goin' on a buffalo stampede to all the terminals. Ain't no tellin' which she's going to first, but let's hope those training classes did these folks some good.

With the way she was steadyin' on, sounds like she ain't fooling around.

[There's a brief pause before Morph speaks up again,]

There's a lot of people here who can fight, but it might still be a problem. These things are way too spread out to be running back and fourth if someone needs backup.

[He's switching this conversation to private, just so he can say this.]

I've met Fauna before, seen just a little of her skills in action. If she's still intending to destroy the terminals, I'll give you what available information I have about her powers.

[To hopefully help take her down easier and everything.]

Yeah, and you'll two will probably be in the most isolated of areas, since the ruins are located on an island. It's why I'm sending you two together out there.

All right, Sugah, lay it on us. Tell us what you know, no matter how little.

I met her when she was holding back a meteor with a force field-- a type of shield. She was dressed in a type of fox suit with long sleeves.

[Guess he'll start with that. Scott stays quiet for a moment, mostly as he tries to recall everything he learned from that day.]

It's her magic, but more importantly, she can transform into different forms. I don't know how many or what those other transformations are like, but expect to face a variety of attacks. I'm assuming she'll switch between these forms based on who's she fighting and the situation.

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[ his response, too, comes after some time, during which he's been petting a sleepy dog and calmed down a tad, so. ]

no, that's not... that's not what i meant, yeah?

[ the facts don't change: it had been her who had talked to him, first, with the argument that she had so many important people back home she'd do anything to get there — but he's tired of running in circles, too. tired of arguing when he said he wouldn't do it in the first place. ]

i get missing home, i do. i don't think there's any of us here who're ready to just... be stuck here forever. and if you're really a superhero back home, then i understand why you'd feel the need to be back there even more

and fuck if i know that there's one right solution to all of this. i don't know shit about tech.

anyway, i'm sorry too, yeah? just... maybe next time don't start by dismissing the people i've spent the last thirty-five years fighting for.

Yeah.

[ this probably isn't the right thing to say after an argument, but she's too exhausted to really type anything else. and besides, she has to gather her strength for scott and the rest of her family. maybe they'll talk better in the future, or maybe not. she'll probably disappear after all of this blows over. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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text; un: shades

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2/2 — spoilers of x-men '97

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text -> voice;

1/2 cw: more spoilers of x-men '97, sorry people who havent seen it! it cant be avoided )8

2/2 — this part is for morph to say something if they want.

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