TO994M | day 4 | morning | audio

[cactusy]

[There's the sound of footsteps on sand; she's walking as she talks, heading away from the beach and up towards the scrubby jungle.]

So I got got by what I think was a crossbow bolt. Kinda hard to tell for sure; it all came at me pretty fast. Got an arrow to the leg not long before that, but the one that came for my head seemed bigger in the point-two seconds of reaction time I had before it hit. And it did hit. Should've been difficult-to-impossible to survive, but here I am. Which tells me some things.

[She relays the news of her almost-certain death matter-of-factly, in the same flat-ish tone as her previous radio contributions. If anything, she sounds a little more upbeat here: it's not by much, but having (what she thinks are) answers is a relief. At least now she (thinks she!!) knows what she's dealing with.]

Look, guys; this isn't real. Fifty-fifty odds whether you're a part of it or not - maybe you're all artificial constructs and I'm the only real sentient person here, or maybe we're all hooked up to machines in a lab and we've been tossed into this simulated... thing together. Gonna be nice and assume the latter, for now. Point is, signs have been pointing to this for a while, and this proves it. But this is good news, kind of. It means that whatever happens here doesn't really matter. We die, we screw up, we do something our monitor overlord doesn't like - we just reset. I fired off three bullets, and they're back now, because the gun and the bullets are just lines of computer code that can be rewritten in whatever way the people running this want.

Priority number one shouldn't be escaping the island or long-term survival or whatever. It should be figuring out how to get out of the simulation. Then the party can really get started.

Comments

[ichoosefight]

[ ... ]

Does that mean you're ready to talk this through like two reasonable people, and not a couple of conspiracy nuts?

[cactusy]

Define "conspiracy nuts".

[ichoosefight]

You're really bad at this.

[ It's a yes or no question, Shaw! ]

[cactusy]

Then you're really gonna hate hearing that it's probably my fault that you're here.

[ichoosefight]

I'm going to take the word "probably" as a good sign. And it's not anyone's fault except for the people that actually did the thing, so don't even start.

Yes or no. Are you willing to discuss the possibility that you might be wrong?

[cactusy]

Depends. Do you seriously think parallel universes or time travel or-- aliens or whatever is a valid explanation?

[ichoosefight]

Yes. Does that matter? I'm not offering up my own theories.

[cactusy]

It says a lot, yeah.

[ichoosefight]

So does you assuming that all of this is about you. Answer the question.

[cactusy]

VL1 is right; it's the explanation that makes the most sense.

[ichoosefight]

That is not a yes or a no. I'm a little busy to be listening to you talk at me.

[cactusy]

Your question wasn't exactly non-rhetorical.

[ichoosefight]

Alright, I have stuff to do. You can keep talking if you want, but I'm gonna get moving before the sun gets too high.

[cactusy]

Did we ever find out what happened to Blackwood.

[ichoosefight]

...No.

[cactusy]

Anyone heard from him since he texted me?

[ichoosefight]

Not that I know of. If you're looking for a guilt trip it's in really poor taste.

[cactusy]

[For the first time in this conversation, she sounds genuinely surprised, unsure of where that conclusion is coming from.]

I-- what?

[ichoosefight]

This is all about you, right? The rest of us are just props.

[cactusy]

[Shaw decides to turn down the volume on her walkie as she takes her mid-morning break, leaning her back against a tree and staring daggers up at the sky. If John or Harold were here, they'd handle the people and she'd handle the firepower, and none of this annoying crap would be happening.

If John or Harold were here, her brain reminds itself, Samaritan would make you kill them. Just like it's probably going to make you kill this stupid, bullheaded girl. Maybe she should give up her gun. Maybe she should toss herself at a drone and get herself locked in a cell. What would the simulation do if she just plain refused to play?]

Not to me.

[She says tonelessly, ten minutes later, after she's started walking again.]

To them.

[ichoosefight]

You're sending a 19 year old girl into the jungle alone, blind, with almost no supplies.

Tell me again how much you care.

[cactusy]

Are you-- seriously? Now who's guilt-tripping.

[Your stupid choices are your own, she wants to say.

It would be nice if it were that simple.]

I thought about it. If VL1's right, and she probably is, you're owed an explanation. So you wanna talk? Let's talk.

[ichoosefight]

Yeah, I am. It's called 'people skills'.

[ You shouldn't be proud of this victory, Steph. ]

Say you're right. What's the point, then? Of all this. What's the big plan?

[cactusy]

Getting me to cave and give them the information they're looking for. Bargaining didn't work, bribing didn't work, trying to trick it out of me didn't work; I'm guessing they're going with full-on force now.

I don't know why we're still doing this in a simulation. Maybe shooting innocent people in front of me in real life is the step after this one.

[ichoosefight]

What's stopping them from shooting us right now? They clearly have the power. Why so much effort?