WEEK 1

[akudamods]

So, the first day is over. You are confined in various ways for the foreseeable future. There are two overseers you can bother, and pods they want you to get into, but many of you would rather do anything else. Honestly, even the flurry of posts on social media don’t seem particularly interested in talking up this prospect; when searches for the titles start to get results, they’re mostly about the posters’ own avoidance or occasional morbid fascination. There are even one or two newly taken pictures of the particularly outrageous and photogenic poses. At least photos are rare enough that you can be confident not every move is being watched. Conditions are much better than Saturday to wander all the way down to the Execution HQ Ruins, take the shuttle to the police station, or investigate other parts of the setting. As the weather forecast said, Sunday and Monday are smoggy and sunny.

What will you do?

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Comments

[saucerous]

[He's being really casual about this, for someone who doesn't want to participate...!

Marcille shows more eagerness in her body language: Once she arrives, she doesn't lean against the wall or hang back at all. She stands on her tiptoes to get a closer look at the equipment and the upcoming action.]

Not really? For me, it's more like research. I'm interested in how it works.

[intimations]

[It's hard not to notice her clear interest in the process even if she hadn't spoken up about it, but that just leads to a faint hint of amusement leaking into his voice.]

Oh, you're another one of those types? Seems like we're brimming with curious minds here.

[saucerous]

And what's wrong with that? [She waves a finger.] If there's even a chance of me agreeing to do something like this, I want to know everything that I can about how it works first! It's not like we have a lot of time to make up our minds!

[Marcille drops back down off her tiptoes to stand like a normal person. There's probably a lull in the activity on the treatment center floor.]

But it looks like you probably already have.

[intimations]

Now, now. I didn't mean anything by it, promise.

[He still sounds amused though, so that probably comes off as far less sincere than it could be, oops.]

Anyway, I didn't realize I was that easy to read. Did I expose too much of myself?

[saucerous]

[Marcille freezes in her indignation.

She's not going to comment on his probably very intentional phrasing, but while Marcille is stuck in a moment of flabbergasted silence, her eyes do briefly flick downward in blushy horror. No way! They're in a place of healing...

Fortunately, it looks like Belial's words were just that. Marcille's faculties boot back up again.] So you're not worried about painfully melting out of existence? What's already happened feels like real damage, so I doubt it's easy to come back from if you don't stay alive.

[intimations]

[There's a small chuckle when he sees her embarrassment, although he'll at least let it pass without comment. He's a trash man but he can show some discretion, probably(?). There's also more interesting things to talk about anyhow, as his attention shifts solely to her. Lucilius has the pods covered anyway.]

Mmm, I do enjoy some pain every now and then. Besides, doesn't it make you question their information? They elect to provide a treatment to a group they've branded as criminals, all without asking for a rupie or a service in return. So why is that?

[saucerous]

[Marcille is curious, but she isn't stupid. And neither painfully exploding into rainbox particles of light or accidentally teleporting off a tall height sound more appealing than experimental treatments.] They probably have more use for us if we're alive. After all, Ms. Physicist said that she's a former X-Class, and now she works for them.

[Marcille grimaces a little bit; maybe that's the best outcome - being employed by the government condemning them - that they can hope for right now.]

Criminals don't seem to be put to death here, either. If somebody dies and can't be brought back, it's like they're responsible for it.

[intimations]

[There's no real change in his expression as he listens and for whatever it's worth, he does at least seem to be paying attention to what she's saying.]

Oookay. Let's go with that premise then. If the treatments fix us all up and they're hoping for our cooperation, what if someone decides not to play along?

[saucerous]

Let me see if I follow.

You think someone would go along with and complete the "six weeks" of treatment and then try and go off on their own? Or do you think they'd betray the rest of us?

[Betray here is maybe extremely liberal, given that none of them really know each other yet at all.]

I'm pretty sure those big metal creatures would take care of it.

[intimations]

Close, but not quite. I was talking about the risk to whoever's in charge... but you already have your opinion on that, I see. Well, I can understand your point if they're that confident in their toys. But it seems like we've gotten quite a few dominating associates with us right now.

Wouldn't the risk of collateral damage be pretty big?

[saucerous]

If they can monitor all of the Akudama closely, they must be confident in their ability to stop anything before it gets out of hand.

[But Marcille's brow is drawn together; that assumption can't stay in place for too long. There's just too much about the way this city seems to work that doesn't feel...right. It makes her squeamish.]

... No, I don't think they really care about the people here. They're too dismissive about what could happen. That's the only explanation, unless all of us are innocent.

[Even from the few short days she's had here, that seems like an impossibility.]