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un: blackhat | text
Before we all head into the labyrinth, I figure we should have a level playing field for making calls about risk.
If you die here, apparently you don't stay dead. You're down for two days or so, then you resurrect wherever your body happens to be. So it's probably a nice gesture, if you see a corpse in the maze, to drag them somewhere not totally inconvenient to wake up.
The temporarily dead also come back fully healed of injuries, but the penalty is some kind of personal loss. Think scars, tattoos, a digit, possibly more intangible qualities, etc. I have no idea what the rules are on that, so if anyone has any useful speculation, consider the floor open.
In fact, if anyone is familiar with this kind of thing back in your universes, you're invited to share with the class. The more we know about resurrection in general, maybe the more we can figure out about how it works here. Bonus marks if you have first hand experience.
If you die here, apparently you don't stay dead. You're down for two days or so, then you resurrect wherever your body happens to be. So it's probably a nice gesture, if you see a corpse in the maze, to drag them somewhere not totally inconvenient to wake up.
The temporarily dead also come back fully healed of injuries, but the penalty is some kind of personal loss. Think scars, tattoos, a digit, possibly more intangible qualities, etc. I have no idea what the rules are on that, so if anyone has any useful speculation, consider the floor open.
In fact, if anyone is familiar with this kind of thing back in your universes, you're invited to share with the class. The more we know about resurrection in general, maybe the more we can figure out about how it works here. Bonus marks if you have first hand experience.
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Yeah, a little over two years now.
( one of her three friends. the whole entire reason she'd had crosses on her person in the first place, after all — how else do you contain a vampire? )
So I've seen. I'd say that's surprising to hear, but my benchmark for what's considered normal has shifted dramatically. It tracks though. Why go to the trouble of electing champions, dragging them all the way here, and letting them die for good before the fate of their world's even been decided? Echo'd either have to go for his second choices or discount the world entirely at that point, right?
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He seems like a decent guy.
[ What else do you say? ]
On the other hand, someone dying would be a convenient way to eliminate them from considering. Thinning out the choices makes it less work.
Not that I'm advocating for that. I appreciate the safety net.
[ He appreciates that she didn't stay dead, for all the good that does either of them. ]
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On the other other hand, "thinning out the herd" would have also padded the survivors odds of saving their worlds and could turn this whole place into a slaughterhouse if a few were particularly determined. So maybe that's also what Echo is trying to discourage, murder isn't entirely on par with teamwork after all.
( not that clarke entirely believes echo to be so magnanimous and faultless, simply looking out for their best interest and putting mechanics and taxes in place to keep them relatively peaceful. they'd already been urged to kill doubles, who's to say in the near future it wouldn't be the real things? this place isn't so different from the last, and the one before — people get scared and do desperate things to save the people they care about. )
Anyways, I like your suggestion of sheltering the dead in the maze. That's considerate, and hopefully people will keep it in mind.
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Anything that serves as a deterrent for things getting uglier here is fine by me.
[ He already knows she, like him, thinks it will get uglier anyway. He doesn't have to dance around it. It's an odd relief. ]
And just so you don't start thinking I'm too considerate: I'm mostly thinking of myself, here. I don't want to wake up face down in a mudpit or stuck under a rockfall.
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Same. Even if there aren't written laws around here, at least we're learning there are still rules, right?
( and, god, that second part of the message sure does remind her of someone. far away, still at home, theoretically stuck in space at this very moment; involved but loudly objecting to being invested. clarke can't accurately discern from text alone if it's a part of an act or not, but baby wipes and gas station runs to the middle of the outskirts indicate otherwise. )
Sure. A little self preservation is healthy, especially when you're about to walk into god knows what, but still. ( all she'd bidden him was to warn people, the call for good acts was entirely his own.
... )
You really think we're going to have to deal with mud pits out there? I was assuming it'd be monsters.
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[ Unwritten rules. The kind that evolve out of tacit negotiation between people operating in a system with only so much give, limiting the damage that they do to each other not out of the flimsy kindness of the human heart, but the practical cause of overall survival. They're all in this together, up until all of the ways that they're not. ]
And, well. Not like it's much of a sacrifice for me to suggest other people do something.
I'm thinking monsters and obstacles. If it was only monsters, it'd be theoretically possible to go it alone. Not smart, but possible. But if you add in, say, terrain challenges? Puzzles? Traps? You have more avenues to force teamwork.
[ He's not going to admit he's assuming all of that because he's thinking of video game dungeon design. People can put that together on their own, thanks. ]
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( or they won't and this whole place will dissolve into chaos the second a mission implies that the salvation of their home worlds is rooted in interpersonal violence. t b d.
clarke griffin, who heavily favors first person shooters in her limited experience in the belly of an arcade, will not be among those who put two and two together; has no basis to make the connection between a dungeon crawl and a labyrinth. she's actually pausing in deep consideration, and decides — yanno what? if there are going to be terrain challenges, she'll need better shoes. and after this conversation will promptly be visiting roxx to source out a pair of heavy war boots with a steel reinforced toe. just in case. thanks for pointing out one new thing for her to be worried about, krouse, it'll help her prepare. )
I hadn't fully considered all of that. Guess I'll need new shoes, and to brush up on my wordplay. At least we've been given a few days to brace ourselves.
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Just long enough to come up with hundreds of brand new worst case scenarios to stew over, not long enough to cover more than the basics.
Still! This time, the ominous lack of detail on what to expect is built right into the challenge. Not exactly what I imagine most people meant when requesting greater transparency, but it's good to know that our mysterious benefactors are getting the spirit of our modest feedback.
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Yeah, sure, truly stunning customer service here. I can honestly say that of my two experiences being interdimensionally kidnapped, this is the superior.
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I'm leaning towards a tentative two and a half stars out of five star rating, with room for improvement.
Aurora, when you read this: throwing in turn down service and those little pillow chocolates could bump you a half star. Just something to keep in mind.
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Another one for your consideration, Aurora: Can we get a public transportation system? Or a library? Or at least a general estimation of how long these trials of yours tend to take — months? Years? Forever?
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[ Maid services, public services. Essentially equivalent, really. ]
But just for fun: setting aside civic infrastructure, is there anything slightly less serious you'd want?
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I'd have to think on that one. What would you pick?
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It shouldn't be a hard question to answer. He could make something else up to go with it. Room service. A swimming pool. Complimentary toiletries. ]
A movie theatre.
Mostly for the popcorn, obviously.
[ A place to sit in the dark for two hours and not think about anything. ]
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I hear Aurora's taking movie requests and screening them in the apartment lobby. But I'm guessing that's not really the same thing.
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It's not bad, but it's not the same. Some things are better on the big screen. And there's the whole run up to the movie: the lobby with the weirdly celestial theme to the carpet, the sneaking in snacks, shelling out too much for popcorn anyway because you have to have popcorn, the AC always being slightly too cold. It's a whole experience.
[ Speculating on the plot before you head in, risking getting shushed for leaning over to whisper to whoever you're sitting with, the conversations in the long hallways on the way out to the parking lot. The opportunity, if you were lucky enough - if it was a good day - to brush your fingertips over the back of someone else's hand on the armrest next to yours to ask, silently, for permission to slip your fingers between theirs. ]
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( having to explain she just wants to stand in an aisle and sniff new paints, experience choice paralysis over colored pencil packs instead of life or death stakes: successfully dodged. also it really doesn't sound like a terrible time, movies are just another form of art, clarke likes art. so here's to dual ✨manifesting✨ the ability to watch manifest destiny: the lewis and clark musical adventure or something... )
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[ It's a smooth dodge. He respects it. That doesn't mean he's going to just let her get away with it. ]
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You're weathering it well though, Krouse. Keep your chin up.
( and this is arguably a fun, silly little conversation. which is how she knows it's time for un: griffin to sign off — instead of asking what his favorite movie is. )