TEXT | sender: [ unknown ]

[spectates]

[ 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! ]

Comments

[melnik]

I wish that that is what would happen, but I am quite certain that we won't be going back. Not anywhere. We are not the first group of "Chosen" to be tested by this program. If we try to destroy it from the inside, we are only going to end up like they did.

[southernchere]

Then lemme ask ya this, Darlin', and I'm willing to talk civil with ya 'cuz everyone else I've been chatting with thinks we are just gonna flat out die, but I'm the kinda gal who don't look at my glass half-empty.

— See now, this is the first I've heard of a "first group experiment" talk, which would have been mighty fine if somebody done told us new folks about this lil' tidbit. Maybe all of this dyin' duck fits wouldn't be going off the train tracks.

You say we're not the first ones who've been through this and destroyin' it from the inside will end up like they did. Well, how did they destroy it, exactly? Is that somethin' we know?

[melnik]

You're right. [ It would be better if everyone was already on the same page. It would have prevented a lot of this fighting. The difficulty is, ] But by now it's too late for that.

I have to admit that even I don't know enough to give you a clear answer. At least not where the details are concerned. What I learned directly from the AI is that previous cycles were wiped out through total system failure. This system is the only thing keeping us "living" in this simulation. Someone who has been here far longer than me compiled a list of evidence for a personal theory some months back. That was the first I'd heard of it. He said they were shown gravestones of Chosen who had died here before us.

[ Now, he can't say for sure that it's all real. Maybe it's really all part of some elaborate scheme by the program to make them believe this is the right choice. ]

I don't know about you, but I'm not willing to bet on annihilating everyone just on the off-chance it turns out we're right.

[southernchere]

[ some minutes passes before he gets a response from her again, and that's mostly because she sent a recording of his message to her teammate. from then on, she and morph had a little brief heart-to-heart and finally came to the decision to abort this whole ordeal. ]

Thanks for the information, Hon. Really. You and 'em can rest easy that I ain't gonna go and smash anythin'. Whatever ya'll decide to do, ya'll do. I'm gonna make myself cozy on top of a mountain somewhere with a bottle of whiskey and drink 'till I forget where I'm at.

[ a big drastic change of mood change after just stating she doesn't see her glass half-empty. but, this all became extremely draining. ]

[melnik]

[ Since he's in communication with many at this point, he doesn't notice the delay much—but the drop in her mood, on the other hand, is clearly palpable. ]

Thank you for hearing me out. I... appreciate your thoughtfulness. I know it is a lot to stomach, but I hope that our actions here will keep us moving in the right direction. Towards the opportunity you were looking for. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think we had no other option.

[southernchere]

I understand, and... you're welcome. I just — [ she pauses, contemplating if she should even share something that's a bit personal. but rogue supposes she can be vague. ] — Even before I got here, things... hadn't been going right with me. I can't really remember the last time I had a kind day, really.

... I just... wanna go back to nicer times.

[melnik]

I think we all do. Well, most of us anyway. I hope we can get back to that...

[ But it's not so simple, is it? If it means getting them home, not everyone has nicer times to return to. ]

It's not going to be easy, but our chances improve significantly the more we can agree to help one another.

[southernchere]

I know you're right. I just ain't... that tickled pink with helpin' an AI. Not when all my life, all they've ever done was tryin' to kill me, my family, and... all mutant kind. Humans on my Earth saw us as a threat and were scared of us, so... eliminating us was their way of fixin' things.

[ a brief pause as she exhales out a small breath. ]

I get that this machine might be different and all, but...heh, hard to teach an old dog new tricks, I guess?

[melnik]

[ She'd mentioned the prejudice against mutants in her world before, but perhaps he didn't understand until now how much of a real threat that was to her... ]

It is understandable. Despite what it may seem, I don't find it easy to put my trust into a program either. It may act like it's sentient and is learning some lesson in humanity from us, but that response is just being generated by what it's observing. It was created by someone and we still don't know who...

I want to get to the bottom of this. Even if that means we have to work with it for now.

[southernchere]

[ she chuckles lightly. ]

I see why they made you Colonel. You're a good man, Miller. ...Maybe I can learn a thing or two from you.

— It just hurts my heart that we all gotta stay here longer than we ought to. You, me, and everyone else don't deserve to have our minds toyed with. We should be able to think freely and live how we want with no worries.

I know I haven't been long, but I don't got to touch none of ya'll to know the pain this place has put ya'll through. ... I see it in your eyes, and hear it in your voices.


It just upsets me.

[melnik]

[ Speaking of things one doesn't deserve, he's unsure how to accept that compliment... but if he ignores the context that only he knows, it must mean he's doing a decent job at getting his point across. ]

If you really think I have anything to teach you...

[ So he'll leave it there.

But it's strange. As much as he's been fighting for all of them to break out of this place, Rogue attaches this sentimentality to it that he never has. If that's how she thinks of it, it's no wonder she was so quick to jump on the plan to break the terminals. ]

Dwelling on that will only hinder us. If we live our lives trying to force the world to be a fair place, it will only lead to people giving up, one after the other. This isn't the first time I've seen it. When the situation seems hopeless, it is all too easy to wallow in your own misfortune. But as long as we are still alive, there's still a chance we can do something.

[southernchere]

[ there's a small pause from her side of the phone as she takes in his words, but she does speak after a little while. ]

I still think livin' in a simulation ain't really living or us being alive, but... if it's important to all of ya'll, and to Scott, then... — I'll do what I gotta do.

[melnik]

Thank you. That is enough.

[ Far be it for him to tell her how to feel about this thing that's very clearly happening to all of them. ]