RE: The Wretched Rite - Round Three - DSRS Darwin
06-26-2013, 12:02 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-11-2023, 07:44 AM by Ixcaliber.)
Vera had lived her life in the sure and certain knowledge that every action she took was the action she was supposed to take; that no matter what she decided it would lead her to her inevitable success. Vera had lived a life where she could do no wrong, where she could make no mistakes, but recently she had been having doubts. Back on Paradiso Alpha she had reluctantly contemplated the terrifying notion that perhaps fate had no sway here, but back then it had just been an idea with no evidence to back it up. If she'd tried hard enough she could have probably explained away the discrepancies between what she was experiencing and what she had been expecting.
After a long time spent immobilised by a robotic angel with nothing to do but contemplate her fate, Vera had briefly found herself once again amongst the other 'contestants'. It was then, in that brief sliver of time that she had decided to do something she probably should have done sooner; read their fates. Despite everything she hadn't expected to find proof that would invalidate her worldview. She'd expected reassurance; that their fates would be uniformly short and that each of them would end with their death at her hands, or, considering that their fate wasn't noted in hers, their deaths at each other's hands. She wasn't interested in the specifics of what their fates might have been, all that mattered to her was that this was not their fate.
The contestants were frozen in place and Barrabas briefly introduced their next locale to them, but his words were wasted on Vera. Before she knew it she had been deposited into a vast and almost empty submarine dock. Almost empty because while there was a distinct absence of people, there before her was a massive grey vessel idling in the murky black waters. The jetty was dotted with cargo containers here and there and it seemed as though nobody had been in here for a little while. But this was barely relevant to Vera who was busy desperately trying to reconcile this new information with her understanding of the world.
Though it might have seemed that this new information should have conclusively quashed all possibility of fate, beliefs are seldom dismissed as easily as that, especially beliefs which have been demonstrably true for the bulk of someone's life. Vera struggled with the new information, looking for some way that it could be persuaded to fit in with fate as she understood it, and after a moment she had it; one tiny glimmer of a possibility. Fate was vague; an overview of a person's life with very few specific details. To the desperate Tsote it didn't seem beyond the realm of possibility that this entire battle was one overlooked detail. Just because it wasn't specifically mentioned in your fate didn't mean it wasn't fated so to speak. It was something of a reach, that fate would overlook such a circumstance, but it was easier to accept than the alternative.
It didn't take Vera long to realize that if this supposition was true then this would have to be the final round of the battle as neither she, nor any of the other contestants were fated to die so soon. The desperate logic that had brought her this far struggled with this for a moment before finally concluding that the only way that everything would add up would be if they were to escape the battle and return to their home worlds to live out their remaining fate in peace. With this impressive, though largely faulty, piece of logical acrobatics complete Vera really ought to have felt relieved. Unfortunately she did not. There was a tiny nagging doubt that maybe she was wrong that just wouldn't leave her alone, and it was this doubt that prompted her to action, to help ensure that the fate she so desperately wanted to be certain of would play out as she had predicted.
With this resolved and a newfound sense of purpose Vera turned her attention to her surroundings. If she'd been paying more, or really any, attention during Barrabas' introduction she might have paid more attention now to the submarine (apparently named the Beagle) before her. As it was there was no immediate indication that she was deep underwater; there were no huge windows looking out into the depths, or messages left from the architect of the DSRS explaining his philosophical leanings and the reason for the station's construction. The only thing of note was the exit at the far end of the jetty, so she headed for it.
As she made her way to the exit (she was back to her usual stride, though it lacked the confidence and conviction she had once moved with) she fancied she heard something moving nearby and instinctively she reached for her razorwhip, only to find it missing. It took her a moment to remember that that damned Archangel had confiscated it in the previous round. She might have been irritated but she was heading home anyway, she'd just have to get herself a new one. For the moment Vera was pleased, though not surprised to find that fate had provided her with a new weapon; a rusty wrench discarded on top of a nearby cargo container. As a bludgeoning device it was of course woefully inelegant, and substantially different from the deft weapon she was used to, but it was hefty enough that she figured that even inexperienced as she was it would still be effective.
Another noise, a splash somewhere nearby, snapped her back to reality. She spun in the direction of the noise to see a familiar face half submerged in the murky waters.
"Hey," Vera realized she didn't know Adelaide's name, "... puddle lady."
Adelaide turned and saw her, and for about half a second, a fleeting half smile passed across her face and then faded. "Oh. You're th'other one." she sounded disappointed. "Y'seen Alice?"
Vera looked thoughtful for a second before asking "Which one is Alice?"
"Looks like you 'cept she's usually angrier." Adelaide said. "I thought you two knew each other or somethin'." Alice had in fact explained the whole fated enemies to Adelaide during the previous round, but Adelaide hadn't really been paying attention. She'd got that they weren't on friendly terms and had mentally supplied the explanation that Vera was probably her ex.
"Oh right yeah." Vera replied distractedly, as she mentally tried to figure out whether Alice's presence discredited her escape scenario. "No, yeah I haven't seen her. I'm sure she'll show up." Vera couldn't help but notice that with that said Adelaide's attention span seemed to be waning and she opted to push on to the potential escape immediately. "Look I've been thinking and I think it's pretty clear that we need to get out of this battle thing now."
Adelaide had been a little too preoccupied with Alice to really give much thought to the battle itself, but considering the fact that the only person she really felt any attachment to was the person who consistently didn't show up during the transitions, she maybe didn't have all that much of a problem with it. "Well good luck with that then." she said.
"You'll help me gather up the others and find a way out of here." Vera said. It wasn't a request, but then again it wasn't an instruction either. Probably the closest category it would fit into would be a prediction.
"You're on yer own, red." Adelaide said. "Though if you want my advice, that's yer ticket outta here." she gestured towards the submarine. "I'm out."
Vera watched as Adelaide disappeared beneath the waters again. She wasn't really good at asking people to do things for her. She was good at telling people to do things for her, or finding people doing things for her because fate probably made that happen somehow, but asking was not something she was good at. But nevermind, she thought, this is fated; I mustn't need her help anyway. She took a look at the submarine and wondered how hard it would be to drive one of those things.
After a long time spent immobilised by a robotic angel with nothing to do but contemplate her fate, Vera had briefly found herself once again amongst the other 'contestants'. It was then, in that brief sliver of time that she had decided to do something she probably should have done sooner; read their fates. Despite everything she hadn't expected to find proof that would invalidate her worldview. She'd expected reassurance; that their fates would be uniformly short and that each of them would end with their death at her hands, or, considering that their fate wasn't noted in hers, their deaths at each other's hands. She wasn't interested in the specifics of what their fates might have been, all that mattered to her was that this was not their fate.
The contestants were frozen in place and Barrabas briefly introduced their next locale to them, but his words were wasted on Vera. Before she knew it she had been deposited into a vast and almost empty submarine dock. Almost empty because while there was a distinct absence of people, there before her was a massive grey vessel idling in the murky black waters. The jetty was dotted with cargo containers here and there and it seemed as though nobody had been in here for a little while. But this was barely relevant to Vera who was busy desperately trying to reconcile this new information with her understanding of the world.
Though it might have seemed that this new information should have conclusively quashed all possibility of fate, beliefs are seldom dismissed as easily as that, especially beliefs which have been demonstrably true for the bulk of someone's life. Vera struggled with the new information, looking for some way that it could be persuaded to fit in with fate as she understood it, and after a moment she had it; one tiny glimmer of a possibility. Fate was vague; an overview of a person's life with very few specific details. To the desperate Tsote it didn't seem beyond the realm of possibility that this entire battle was one overlooked detail. Just because it wasn't specifically mentioned in your fate didn't mean it wasn't fated so to speak. It was something of a reach, that fate would overlook such a circumstance, but it was easier to accept than the alternative.
It didn't take Vera long to realize that if this supposition was true then this would have to be the final round of the battle as neither she, nor any of the other contestants were fated to die so soon. The desperate logic that had brought her this far struggled with this for a moment before finally concluding that the only way that everything would add up would be if they were to escape the battle and return to their home worlds to live out their remaining fate in peace. With this impressive, though largely faulty, piece of logical acrobatics complete Vera really ought to have felt relieved. Unfortunately she did not. There was a tiny nagging doubt that maybe she was wrong that just wouldn't leave her alone, and it was this doubt that prompted her to action, to help ensure that the fate she so desperately wanted to be certain of would play out as she had predicted.
With this resolved and a newfound sense of purpose Vera turned her attention to her surroundings. If she'd been paying more, or really any, attention during Barrabas' introduction she might have paid more attention now to the submarine (apparently named the Beagle) before her. As it was there was no immediate indication that she was deep underwater; there were no huge windows looking out into the depths, or messages left from the architect of the DSRS explaining his philosophical leanings and the reason for the station's construction. The only thing of note was the exit at the far end of the jetty, so she headed for it.
As she made her way to the exit (she was back to her usual stride, though it lacked the confidence and conviction she had once moved with) she fancied she heard something moving nearby and instinctively she reached for her razorwhip, only to find it missing. It took her a moment to remember that that damned Archangel had confiscated it in the previous round. She might have been irritated but she was heading home anyway, she'd just have to get herself a new one. For the moment Vera was pleased, though not surprised to find that fate had provided her with a new weapon; a rusty wrench discarded on top of a nearby cargo container. As a bludgeoning device it was of course woefully inelegant, and substantially different from the deft weapon she was used to, but it was hefty enough that she figured that even inexperienced as she was it would still be effective.
Another noise, a splash somewhere nearby, snapped her back to reality. She spun in the direction of the noise to see a familiar face half submerged in the murky waters.
"Hey," Vera realized she didn't know Adelaide's name, "... puddle lady."
Adelaide turned and saw her, and for about half a second, a fleeting half smile passed across her face and then faded. "Oh. You're th'other one." she sounded disappointed. "Y'seen Alice?"
Vera looked thoughtful for a second before asking "Which one is Alice?"
"Looks like you 'cept she's usually angrier." Adelaide said. "I thought you two knew each other or somethin'." Alice had in fact explained the whole fated enemies to Adelaide during the previous round, but Adelaide hadn't really been paying attention. She'd got that they weren't on friendly terms and had mentally supplied the explanation that Vera was probably her ex.
"Oh right yeah." Vera replied distractedly, as she mentally tried to figure out whether Alice's presence discredited her escape scenario. "No, yeah I haven't seen her. I'm sure she'll show up." Vera couldn't help but notice that with that said Adelaide's attention span seemed to be waning and she opted to push on to the potential escape immediately. "Look I've been thinking and I think it's pretty clear that we need to get out of this battle thing now."
Adelaide had been a little too preoccupied with Alice to really give much thought to the battle itself, but considering the fact that the only person she really felt any attachment to was the person who consistently didn't show up during the transitions, she maybe didn't have all that much of a problem with it. "Well good luck with that then." she said.
"You'll help me gather up the others and find a way out of here." Vera said. It wasn't a request, but then again it wasn't an instruction either. Probably the closest category it would fit into would be a prediction.
"You're on yer own, red." Adelaide said. "Though if you want my advice, that's yer ticket outta here." she gestured towards the submarine. "I'm out."
Vera watched as Adelaide disappeared beneath the waters again. She wasn't really good at asking people to do things for her. She was good at telling people to do things for her, or finding people doing things for her because fate probably made that happen somehow, but asking was not something she was good at. But nevermind, she thought, this is fated; I mustn't need her help anyway. She took a look at the submarine and wondered how hard it would be to drive one of those things.
Heaven Help Us | Make Room!!!! | I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You