itscurtains | Is This Where You Wanna Be? Crawling On Your Hands and Knees?

[In a perfect world, Maya would have been able to isolate herself for the rest of the evening. It's not like her to wallow in her feelings, but it's also not like her to be trapped away in a murder school or part of an execution so... not like she has much choice there. Besides, between the influence of Janis, and the sight of her remaining dormmates, it's clear that Maya simply can't... let things go.

It's like she told the SQUIP. They look to her for hope. And so, hope she must be. It's her job to stand tall for the others. Thankfully help comes easier this time -- there's no need to scruff Discord, or try to keep Spongebob from making Hate Patties. Maybe that, in and of itself, is a good sign.

It's just another fluke. They'll be okay. They're together, after all. Even Salieri and Discord are getting along well enough to help.

Cutting potatoes proves to be an interesting task, considering the fact that most of the knives are missing. Maya has a few guesses as to how that happened, but she won't point fingers again today. She makes do with what she has -- two swords between her and Cassandra.

Potatoes, cakes, pies -- the arrangement is much the same. There's even cocoa (made by less experienced hands, unfortunately), and alcohol. It all feels like a repeat of last week, but she's trying to not think about it. She does her best to keep a smile on her face as she knocks on each door, inviting others to the cafeteria once more.]

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[ Orpheus hands him the cup and pours him a generous amount. No time like the present, right? ]

It seemed like he was. When we were explaining grief, and love. He stopped. He thought about it. And he lead us to the answer. I know we'd started to figure it out by then, but he could've kept fighting it, and he didn't.

[ Orpheus looks off into the distance, fidgeting with the bottle. ]

But we'll never know. How much he might've learned, if he'd had time.

[Angus looks down at his half-empty cup.]

He was curious. Most robots don't question actions, they act upon their orders. I think...he was close to understanding. Never had I seen a robot achieve that level of emotions.

["I am. Irrelevant." His last words to Angus.]

Of self-awareness.

You have - people like the SQUIP, where you come from? Ones who were created with codes like his. Is that what they're called? Robots?

AIs, if they only exist as code. Robots are designed for action, AIs are designed for planning. The SQUIP was the latter.

He was smarter than most mechanical beings, though without human empathy.

[ Orpheus nods. ] Right. Because he didn't have a real body to act with, just a little gray pill.

[ Orpheus sits forward, leaning heavily against the table, and sighs. ]

He thought he could get us all out of here. If he could find a way to activate that pill. But he couldn't. None of us had what he needed to turn it back on.

How? What would the pill provide that he did not have now?

[Angus never believed the SQUIP wanted them all out of here. Robots serve one master, not many.]

I don't know. He seemed convinced, though. I tried to help him find a way, but I think the Wizard knew what he needed to make it work, and made sure there wasn't any of it in the school.

[ Orpheus breathes out, slowly. ]

Maybe if we'd looked harder, though. Maybe he wouldn't have been so desperate.

[If they had only acted sooner...

Angus shakes his head vigorously. He can't follow that line of thinking, he can't. He...]

Just like Earth. If we hadn't assumed it would be easy...

[ Orpheus just goes quiet at that, thinking about what Angus told him before. Billions of people, all gone. ]

I guess there's no way of knowing. What might've happened, if we'd done things differently. But it still hurts, thinking about it.

There must have been so many like Connor on that Earth.

I never saw the faces of the dead there.

If only I could tell myself how to save them, save everyone here...

[ If only, if only, if only. Orpheus breathes out, slowly, and looks back up at Angus. ]

The first time I ever - lost someone, like this. It was a man named Hylas. We were on a journey, going by boat to the sea, and at one point we stopped to restock on supplies for the crew. Hylas found a spring with clean drinking water, and he was going to bring some back for us, but the nymphs that lived there - they were infatuated with him, and when he tried to leave, they... they dragged him under. We never found his body.

[ Orpheus takes another pull of wine before continuing. ]

I blamed myself, for a really long time? I thought, if I'd just gone with him, I could've stopped it. But one of the older men on the crew, he told me there wasn't any point in thinking like that. What's woven in the tapestry of Fate can't be unwoven, and trying to imagine what you could've done differently will just eat you alive unless you're using it to do better next time. That the only way to honor someone's memory is to keep moving forward.

[ At that, he looks away again, staring off into the distance. ]

I don't... know if I believe that? I still blame myself a lot of the time. But I thought it was worth sharing. I know one death doesn't compare to a whole world, but...

[Angus slumps onto the table.]

The Fires of Destiny cannot be contained.

[He's heard destiny be compared to a flame many times at home. Perhaps they were correct.]

They burn no matter what we do. It engulfs cities, a man's life, an entire army. We do not know its reason; only that it desires to consume what it can.

[ Orpheus reaches out and puts a hand on Angus's shoulder, leaning heavily against the table himself. ]

Not even the gods can turn back time. But at least we can - learn. And try to do better. We have to do better.

We have to. It is our duty as survivors.

[He leans back and claps his hand on Orpheus' back.]

Will you remain strong? Do you swear to have faith in us?

I will. I do.

[ He says it with all the hope and determination he can bring to bear. ]

It's the only thing we can do. Anything else would be - letting each other down, and Mumble and Elisabeth and Connor.

[Angus can be relieved, if just for a moment. It's just one person, and there are so many more.]

...Thank you, Orpheus.

[ Orpheus puts a hand on Angus's arm and smiles at him, weakly. ]

You too, your highness. We just - we all just have to keep believing in each other.

Is This Where You Wanna Be? Crawling On Your Hands and Knees?

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cw: non-graphic description of drowning

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