ITP: Elevators

[no_longer_a_king]

[Arturia had been among those in the elevator the previous night. Not that she remembers much of it aside from a loud noise and then.... something strange. When she had finally been allowed to move the next day--after the Glamour briefly glitched and she had the curious sight of floating within a pod of violet fluid, unable to move whatsoever--she had checked the Network and seen the bombing.

Arturia is not the best at being sneaky about things. She knows this. But this Tower changes people and she has resigned herself to the fact she cannot be honorable all the time. She no longer sees herself as a proper knight, no matter how she tries.

So she takes a page out of Archer's book, collects her papers and pens for mapping the Tower, and spends the morning mapping things out. When she reaches the medical clinic, she stands outside it, looking thoughtful. Then heads inside. Once there she asks aloud if there had been anything strange about her collar checkup on the third, as her recent resurrection had been unusual. The units do not answer, but Arturia scribbles down a message for R-037 and hands it over.

"Was it your group?"

The reply that is written is:

"It wasn't my group. I don't know WHAT that was."

Arturia asks a few more questions out loud, receives no vocal answer, then feigns a sigh and apologizes for wasting their time. They have duties to attend to after all.

To complete the deception, because she knows the Administrators' are listening, she spends another half hour pretending to try and map out the Tower some more, only to be distracted. Then she goes to one of the terminals on the media floor and makes a post:]

[Text]
To anyone who has died withing the Tower, has anything strange happened when you are brought back lately?

[Some part of her wonders what Archer would think if he knew about this little ploy of hers.]

Comments

[savedbyasong]

You have died seven times?

[no_longer_a_king]

[She has to think a few minutes before replying and count them up.]

Yes. Seven or eight.

[savedbyasong]

Are you anywhere near the library? I can come and share what I know.

[no_longer_a_king]

I'm on the media level, so close to the library. I can be there in just a moment.

[....maybe there really is something up to how strange death has been to her the last few times.]

[action]

[savedbyasong]

I will meet you there then. [He went to wait by the stair case, bundle of notes in his arms]

[action]

[no_longer_a_king]

Very well.

[And she finds him easily enough.]

Hello?

[action]

[savedbyasong]

Hello. I'm Shion.

Action until otherwise noted.

[no_longer_a_king]

Arturia.

These.... odd things about dying lately? You know more about it?

[She hadn't even thought much of it, only seen it as a good excuse to ask Aria about the explosion. Looks like this rabbit hole is going deeper than she thought.]

yes

[savedbyasong]

It happens when you die after the seventh time. It's as much a mystery to Jason as it is to anyone else though he seems to be getting better at controlling the reactions, it seems to be a case of us waking too early. Can you remember if you could move at all?

[text]

[fionnuisce]

I'm told the process carries some kind of flaw after approximately seven times. Is that your particular situation?

[text]

[no_longer_a_king]

Seven or eight. I have not been keeping track.

What sort of flaw? [Does Jason start screwing with his patients' heads at that point?]

[text]

[fionnuisce]

As I hear, it's some kind of glitch of consciousness or lucidity during the whole process. I can't yet determine what causes it or what it could mean.

[text]

[no_longer_a_king]

So that figure looming above me would have been Jason?

[text]

[fionnuisce]

That's the most likely option, yes.

[text]

[no_longer_a_king]

I see.

Then the more I die, the more aware I'll become of the whole process involved?

[text]

[fionnuisce]

I don't think I like the turn I feel like your train of thought just took.

[text]

[no_longer_a_king]

What turn?

[snowdriftassassin]

Oi mon... dat not be good.

Joo should be more careful yeah? I be havin' friends here in da past dat be dyin' too many times, an dey start ta lose more a demselves...

[no_longer_a_king]

Lose more of themselves....? [She hadn't heard of that.]

[snowdriftassassin]

Memories, personality, jus'... dey started jus' bein' husks? But den I don't see dem anymore aftah. I jus' be figurin' da Towah eventually took dem, or dey stopped bein' brought back mon.

[no_longer_a_king]

Who?

[Memories? Personality? Arturia knows she has memory problems due to how long she's lived, but she had no idea about the resurrection process stealing those, changing their personalities as well. People turning into husks? The revivals eventually stopping?

There's a limit on how much they can be brought back?]

[snowdriftassassin]

Dey went by Huntah, oda dan dat, dey were real sweet on me. Prolly one a' da first people I met when I be arrivin' here... whatever many years ago mon. Honestly doh, wit how often people come an' go I had jus' thought got sent back ta his broken world... Doh, it always botha'd me, da way he changed so mebe dis time was different.

[no_longer_a_king]

[She takes the name and pins it to her memory, something to look into for later. A husk? Will that happen to her if she keeps dying? What sort of effects will happen should she die again? Is it just becoming aware during the process of resurrection or is there something more sinister behind it?]

Thank you for telling me. I'll do my best to be more careful in the future.

[snowdriftassassin]

Aye, be regardless of wat ya be discoverin' mon... Life, it ain't a game. No mattah how easy it mite be ta come back, it shouldn't be someting ta be throwin' away yeah? Tink 'bout da ones who weren't dat lucky... in our worlds.

[no_longer_a_king]

[It just drives the point home. It's like when Merlin convinced her to stop going on adventures for the sake of adventuring early in her reign because if she died the country would fall into civil war. Her life was no longer her own and while she had every right to go with the troops into battle, she could not needlessly risk her life anymore no matter what she thought of it.

it'd been a hard lesson to accept, it's hard to swallow now that someone is telling this to her once again.]

I know. I should. There were many who were not as lucky as we, despite our circumstances here. Especially when we don't know what their fate actually was.