Endgame: This is the Way the World Ends - MACHINE ROOM

[animusmods]

Characters: open to those staying in the machine room
Setting: machine room
Format: any
Summary: The time has come to make decisions about what will happen after everything is over.
Warnings: psychological horror (eventually)

Comments

[crouching_sin]

I don't know. Perhaps she's not concentrating on hiding it anymore.

[Hm. He'd thought that it would be more recent, but perhaps not. He accesses sec003.]

[oathshackledbird]

So...either she doesn't care to hide it or can't because the others are keeping her too busy. Makes me wonder what is in that corrupted file...

[But the other files first. If there is information that might help in them, they don't want to miss it.]

[animusnpcs]

[A video begins to play. DAY -1395483 is displayed in the bottom right corner. It appears to be some sort of security video. Ruana is piecing something together. It's made of metal and wire and glass, but the pieces are in too disorganized a state to tell what's going on as of yet. Ruana doesn't appear to have aged at all, but her face is cached with blood and angry-looking tracks of torn up skin where it appears she may have clawed at her own face over and over.

The video ends.]

[fionnuisce]

...Why is it in negative numbers?

[Because that's what to focus on there, Waver. Good work.]

[crouching_sin]

My guess is that it's before something - either before today or before people started arriving.

[And now for sec004.]

[animusnpcs]

[A video begins to play. DAY -1432008 is displayed in the bottom right corner. Ruana is putting up a device on the outside of the Tower--it might be familiar to some as the device that was used to kill Riki and had on a couple of occasions come close to killing a few residents of the Tower.

Ruana installs it, walks back inside, and strikes it with some sort of psionic energy from inside. Then she walks outside again, looking a little hopeful. The beam hits her--but of course, it doesn't kill her.

All her hope vanishes. She begins sobbing, and then she begins laughing.

The video ends.

The terminal's list changes slightly.]


sec001
sec002
sec003
sec004
EXPAND

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid's eyes widen in shock.]

Is that... Did she just...

[fionnuisce]

Wait, she's trying to-

...Oh, fuck.

[How eloquent.]

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya goes quiet for a moment, before starting to laugh quietly to himself.]

I see. I understand that feeling all too well.

[He goes to expand the list. What else is there?]

[animusnpcs]

[Two more options appear. The first is a file, the second a folder. The folder is currently locked.]

DAY ZERO
REPORTS

[crouching_sin]

[Let's open the file first, then.]

Ruana...

[His expression has gone somewhat flat, and depressed.]

If you would let me speak to you... hm...

[animusnpcs]

[A video begins to play. DAY 000 is displayed in the bottom right corner. Many scientists buzz about the very machine room the residents are currently standing in. Ruana and a boy who looks like Zo are standing uncertainly in the center of it all. The boy is hoisted up to the back of the machine--it's where the Zo the residents know today sits in the machine. Ruana calls out to him--tells him to be careful--and he grins at her. She's left alone as the scientists hook the boy up. Then, with the press of a few buttons, the machine opens up to reveal the empty throne at the center.

A man--the Jason of many thousands of years ago--takes Ruana's hand and leads her into the center, hooking up wires and electrodes with care. The man asks if Ruana is ready, and she nods, but seems so nervous it's doubtful she would have said no even if she wasn't.

The scientists begin typing away at various terminals. After a few moments of silence, the machine whirs frighteningly to life. Ruana begins to scream, and the boy a few moments later.

Ruana's soul is removed, pulled out of her mouth in a process that will feel nostalgically familiar to every resident watching. At that very moment, there's a bright flash of light, and every other person in the room has their insides pulled violently out through their mouths. Their souls escape and twist and warp, turning into frightening but familiar monsters. Ruana's soul is left the only one unharmed.

Of course it was always the very process of soul extraction that ruined everyone's worlds in the first place.

The reports folder is unlocked.]

[crouching_sin]

[He opens the reports folder. He's not stopping for the others now - he has to find out. He has to figure out how to help, not only for his sake, but for hers.]

[animusnpcs]

[The reports folder opens to a short list.]

REPORT 001
REPORT 002
REPORT 003

[crouching_sin]

[He opens the first report, trying to keep his breathing normal.]

[animusnpcs]

SUBJECT 037 (RUANA)

Subject is young female possessing the ability to manipulate ambient psionic energy and absorb the abilities and memories of others through consumption of their soul and body. Given subject's high level of abilities and their direct relation to the soul, this subject is the most promising candidate for the project. Subject is mostly compliant; when she misbehaves, isolation punishment has been shown to be most effective.

[oathshackledbird]

[It's probably for the best Naoya's not really waiting. All Diarmuid can get out passed his shock as he waits for what will be revealed next is a barely whispered phrase.]

She doesn't want to be alone.

[He knows that feeling.]

[fionnuisce]

[If one thought Waver was simultaneously turning pale and radiating a very quiet aura of absolute rage, they would not be mistaken.]

Why...fucking why did any of this even-...What was this supposed to accomplish, I don't...

[witchoftheweek]

...no idea. It's sick.

[Very few words, but that's her style. It's easier to be quiet in the middle of this than it is to say what she's actually feeling, which is a mix of shock and horror.]

[crouching_sin]

I don't know. I don't know, but I do know that if I find their souls I will tear them apart.

[On to the second report.]

[animusnpcs]

At its heart, immortality is the preservation of the soul on this plane. It is our duty to study the limits of the soul's potential. With the psionic abilities of children whose souls are still growing, it may be possible to separate a soul from its container and in doing so create effective immortality. The personality and memories would be preserved, and a powerful psionic such as these children would even be able to project a body outward without the aid of the glamour systems, though raising the children in such an environment does make their souls more used to the idea of such projections.

If it can be done with a powerful psionic child, it may be possible to work the technology toward making it available even to those without manifested abilities.

[crouching_sin]

[Naoya is shaking. It's difficult for him to stop at this point. He has to pause at the terminal to catch his breath, but he doesn't say anything. He just moves on to the last report.]

[He will destroy them. He has to. There's no other answer. If any shred of them remains in any universe he will stamp them out until they're ground into dust. And then he'll laugh, until he can't laugh anymore.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Diarmuid eyes dart off in the direction that he guesses the fight with Ruana is taking place.]

Immortality. Of course...

[He almost spits the word.]

Congratulations. Your experiments worked. It's not so great as you all thought, is it?

[crouching_sin]

... Lancer.

[Naoya's voice is very quiet as he opens the last report.]

Do me a favor, please. Shut up.

[animusnpcs]

1369's abilities, that of barrier manipulation, are a perfect compliment to those of 37. With 1369 even the barriers between points of time can be manipulated, so he's the best option for balancing out 37 when placed in the machine. If something goes wrong, he could work as a failsafe in that manner, specifically by

[The rest of the report appears to have been deleted. There is nothing else.]