WEEK 7.

[trustharder]

WEEK 7 Two more Survivors have left you; Aqua was killed in cold blood and Mettaton... well, your thoughts on Mettaton probably vary depending on how close you were to him, but either way he chose to end Aqua's life and paid the price for it. There are so few of you now. Saturday is given to regrouping and sleep; there aren't any bodies to be found on Sunday morning. But that doesn't mean the night was uneventful - it seems something else may have brought you some newfound clarity. Or perhaps not... Once again, that spiral staircase leads farther than you remember, clear up to a previously inaccessible seventh floor. Go ahead and explore as much as you like; you've done well. You've earned it. SURVIVORS REMAINING: 12

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY
[OOC: Welcome to week six of Trustfell! Save your threads for coins and the coming week's activity check; don't forget to check in to this week's activity check and submit your memory regains!

The text and calling posts are still active, for the sake of contacting the jerk who's keeping you here, to be used at your leisure!]

Comments

Nighttime

[sleepingkogoro]

[Well, Bruce, looks like you finally have fallen all the way to the bottom of your despair. Mouri did know you were trying to not to break down, but here you are.

There's a notebook. Mouri feels it'd kind of be an intrusion if he tried to read it. Mouri had come to understand that already]

You look like there's no hope. Is there anything I can do to help?

[amygdalae]

[Bruce takes his hand off his face and looks at Mouri. They're red rimmed and its clear at some point Bruce probably did cry a bit.

For a moment it seems almost as if Bruce wants to say something, but he just ends up shaking his head.]

It's... nothing here will be of much use.

[It's not that he's thinking lowly of you, Mouri. It's just. There's nothing to do for him in this case. It's all far beyond his reach.]

[sleepingkogoro]

I see.

Then it sounds like what's bothering you is from back at your world. Today is Sunday so it must have been a dream.

...is it really so bad?

[He doesn't mean to disparage your dreams but maybe you are overstimating how bad things look. That's the kind of supposition someone who doesn't know a thing about your dream would think, of course]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce doesn't blame Morui for his skepticism. It's not as if he can expect Mouri or anybody else here to know anything about him - not when Bruce knows how num he has been about himself. It's just how things are.]

Its... [He trails off, trying to find a way of how to phrase this well. Even now he really doesn't want to say much, but he knows leaving Mouri hanging won't help either.] I suppose if my dreams are true, then I've lost everything I had.

[Again.]

[sleepingkogoro]

[Sympathetic wince. The only comparison Mouri has was his own realization his fame as a detective was badly-earned. Yeah, he hasn't realized Bruce's problems are much bigger than that]

Okay, that IS really bad. But maybe all hope isn't lost yet. There's always next week's dream, it could show things may be getting better.

[Or...Bruce may not have another dream, because that is what happened to Mouri. No dream at all]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce knows that its supposed to be comforting, but it really, really isn't.

As it is though, Bruce only shakes his head again.]

It won't. But that's... something I'll deal with after this.

[Or maybe he won't. He doesn't know.]

[sleepingkogoro]

Got a plan, at least? You don't seem to me the impulsive type, like those who would jump into without planning something first.

[amygdalae]

[Bruce can honestly only shrug at the question. Even thinking about it now makes him what to curl up somewhere and ignore the world, but he can't do that. Not with everything else that's happening. He's just... so tired.]

I'll think about it when we get out of here.

[Not because he doesn't believe they won't get out - he holds to that strongly - but because he just doesn't know where to start with that particular mess. There's just... too much baggage.]

[sleepingkogoro]

I suppose that's okay. But - and I don't mean to depress you any further - maybe you should have some sort of Plan B in case...we aren't able to return to our worlds.

[Better to be ready for anything]

[amygdalae]

[Honestly right now Bruce doesn't want to care too much about his own world. After all if what he dreamed is true, its not like it needs him anyway, if they ever needed it. What kind of world would ever need a monster like him?

...he could say the same here, too, but he know that he still needs to stay alive here. If only to ensure that the rest will be able to get out of here safely.]

I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. [As much as he doesn't want to think about it too Bruce knows he has to return eventually... but all of that is for later. The present is what he has to focus on now, despite--everything else that he's feeling in this moment.]

[sleepingkogoro]

...okay, that is a good enough answer, I guess.

[Sigh]

But you know what, we're not doing so bad right now. It could be better, but despite our situation I think our chance for freedom may not take long to arrive. We're counting with you, Bruce-san, so be ready for anything, alright?

[Not that he thinks you won't, but a reminder doesn't hurt]

[amygdalae]

['We're not doing so bad' Mouri fifteen of us are dead.]

...I'll do my best.

[He gives a small nod here.]

[sleepingkogoro]

[geez way to be negative nancy oh my god]

Good. Come on, stand up. Tomorrow will be a better day.

[Mouri feels rather optimistic today]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce isn't sure just how much better he is going to feel but... okay.

He'll make a move to try and stand up now. It takes a bit since he is 45 and his knees aren't as good as he likes them to be, but he manages.]

[sleepingkogoro]

Here, this is yours.

[Take the notebook that is on the floor. Mouri unsubtly averts his eyes from it, as if he expected it to be a diary of sorts.

Still...he did see the Avenger part scribbled on it. He wants to ask if he had found out something about that, because really, Bruce, avenging something? Maybe it's his future]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce takes back his notebook with a soft mutter of thanks, only giving it one last look before he snaps it shut.

...he's still a mess, but there'll be time to try and brood over that later.]

--did you need me for something?

[Mouri did come to find him after all - or so he assumes. It's not as if there's really... any other reason to come to this side of the rooms now, after all. Not when everyone else is gone.]

[sleepingkogoro]

...actually yes. There's something I'd like to consult you about. You seem the best person to talk about this.

What do you know about virtual reality environments?

[amygdalae]

[It takes a moment, but Bruce blinks once the question sinks in, and it helps to distract himself from things he'd rather not think about right now.]

I'm no expert, but I know a bit. [Well, at least from his dreams, anyway. He and To--Stark did tend to use projections to test their data.]

[sleepingkogoro]

Okay, how feasible do you think it would be to place twenty-something people's minds - or brains or whatever, I don't know - into a virtual environment, for one reason or another?

[See where this is going, Bruce? Because it seems Mouri is completely serious right now. It is his most recent theory, after all]

[amygdalae]

It's...

[Bruce trails off as he thinks about it. After talking with Glory earlier in the day he had been thinking about it a bit himself, if he had to be entirely honest.]

I wouldn't say that it's impossible, but it'll certainly be something to manage a feat like that. Being able to fully immerse one mind alone into an entirely believable world takes a lot of work, let alone twenty over.

[sleepingkogoro]

I wouldn't be surprised if there are worlds with enough technological progress for it to be possible.

Lately I have been thinking that's what is going on here in the Vault, it'd explain many things. I don't have definite proof but it is the best theory I have right now.

[amygdalae]

If it really is that... [A pause as he trails off.] It'd be hard to prove. Finding any kind of proof would perhaps even be impossible.

[If you had the power to recreate and shape a world that others perceive, it would be all too easy to erase anything.]

[sleepingkogoro]

It's worth a try. There are tiny details here and there - the stairs, that strange dream we had just before waking up, the missing memories - but nothing that can prove it without any doubt.

And it also could mean...nobody is truly dead. If this is a virtual reality maybe their bodies are still intact and away of here.

[Which would be quite a boon]

[amygdalae]

[Bruce really wants to be hopeful. He really does, but--]

...if a mind can be so fully immersed, it could be just as easy to induce a way to make the mind shut down.

[And since the brain is what controls the body.... well.

It's still hard to be hopeful.]

[sleepingkogoro]

I can't deny you are right. I'm trying hard to look at the positive outcomes this all could have, but it's not easy when one knows the chances of that happening are so low.

Hm, I don't think this theory should be brought to everyone else yet. There's not enough proof yet. If anything happens to me please keep the theory alive, just in case, okay?