murder --4; voice

[heltersskelter]

[Tate is standing in the disaster that's left of Crane's abandoned room when he makes this broadcast; and while the video evidence of what Tate's done to the place isn't there, there's a waspish crack to his voice that betrays how upset he is, an upending that's left him teetering on the brink of something awful.

but then again, he's never spoken like this over the network, and anyone who knows him might be able to tell that something's terribly wrong, even if the monologue sounds like nothing more than conspiracy. but his words sound eerily like an epitaph.]


You know what's the most fucked up thing about this place? That we're pulled up here like it's some kind of game. We just get plucked out of our lives like puppets that've been waiting on the shelf, and you know what we do about it? Nothing. Because it's like hey, we've just been taken away from all our problems back home and that's nice, right? This is one big goddamn vacation. And then they give us all these people that we're supposed to work with, people we've never met and people who don't even know what a fucking computer is and it's like fucking Survivor.

This thing, it's playing with us. It gives us people and we're happy about it and then it takes them away and all it does is make everyone scared. When is the next person gonna be gone? Who's gonna die next? And you know what? Soon someone's not gonna be able to take it anymore. People are gonna turn on each other. Like animals. And that's exactly what it wants.

We jump when Smiley says jump, and we cry and we kill because we're part of some kind of bigger plan this thing is weaving for us. This place has got everyone spooked, and you're all just worried about the ghost in the machine. About figuring this shit out.

But it's fucking pointless. It's no different being up here than it is on planet Earth. We're gonna be up here until these things in charge decide they don't want us here anymore, and then we're all gonna be fucking wishing that we'd never tried in the first place. We're all gonna be wishing that whoever snapped first just fucking did it and put us all out out of our misery.

Comments

[ voice ]

[amethysts]

So what's your plan? Snapping first?

[People going on a list: YOU.]

[ voice ]

[heltersskelter]

[his lip curls at his device, but this is the whole reason he didn't use his video function. it smooths before he speaks, so his voice is deceptively calm when he speaks.]

No. I'm just pointing out the obvious.

voice;

[20mentholkools]

[It's the most open display he's seen from this kid so far, and that's interesting. For someone who seemed to play up, partly, how weak and normal he was, this was the weakest Riddick had heard him. And he already knew he wasn't normal.]

You get something taken away, Tate?

voice;

[heltersskelter]

[his grip tightens, white knuckled, on the communicator when Riddick speaks, and the seesaw between hateful rage and some kind of obsessive compulsive greed (he'd already checked, he knew everyone else was still here; saw them in their rooms and going to the kitchens without their knowledge he'd peeped) is so harsh that for a moment, he can't respond.

because Riddick hit it right on the head. not that he'd been subtle, but having it called without a you're crazy was new.]

Tell me one person who hasn't.

voice;

[showbizpanache]

Tate...

Are you okay?

voice;

[heltersskelter]

Nothing went wrong this month, Kurt, didn't you notice?

[he answers, voice low, insidious, pacing the room he's in with the communicator lifted near his mouth.]

voice; encrypted 100%

[cons]

[ no, she doesn't know Tate that well. not that well. but she does know that he's not normally like this, not so blunt or so wordy. it's enough of a difference to get her to speak up. maybe she should be careful, walking around eggshells when he's like this, but she's not. ]

What happened?

voice; encrypted 100%

[heltersskelter]

[he's notified of the encryption and pauses; he's upset, god is he upset. he wants to take it out on the entire ship. he wants to take this legacy that's been left behind and burn everyone into the ground.]

What do you think happened?

video| private

[entrapments]

[ seriously? seriously?
in the moment before she turns the feed on, Hayley presses the heel of one hand to her eyes and reminds herself that there's a reason Tate's a ghost. because he's too emotional and too volatile and does shit like this. ]

What'd you expect?

video| private

[heltersskelter]

I don't know!

[he snaps, pivoting from where he stands and pacing the length of the room.

Hayley's different. Hayley knows, and so he doesn't hesitate to accept the video feed, to let the video pinwheel as he carries it the same way he'd been speaking into it before.]

[theyalldieforme]

Bad day?

[heltersskelter]

Was it obvious?

[voice]

[jurisimpudent]

What is your name, if I might ask?

[voice]

[heltersskelter]

[oh he knows you, Edgeworth. he knows what you do, and so when he answers there's no fear in his voice, no defensiveness; only open hostility.]

Why?

voice:

[felinely]

[ HELLO TATE. Don't mind Selina, she is just going to be fishing for details, okay? ]

I've noticed that since I arrived, quite a few seem to be gone missing. [ or more - but that is clearly left unsaid. ]

Is this a standard practice of this smiley person?

voice:

[heltersskelter]

[he doesn't know this voice or number, but in the heat of the moment? he couldn't care less]

Smiley's just a piece of this.

People vanish every wave, just as easy as they turn up.

audio;

[suddenlycaptain]

Pull it together.

[ There's a new edge to her voice, one that came out in the dark while arguing with Johns back when the Tranquility was nothing she had ever heard of before. ]

If that's what it's doing, if this is a game, you're definitely giving it one hell of a show.

audio;

[heltersskelter]

Maybe it'll be over faster and you'll all thank me for it later.

[voice]

[circumitus]

As far as I know, people turn on each other all the time. People come and live and die or leave or both. No different than before, and no different now. Once you expect it, there's no reason to be afraid anymore.

[Whether or not if Rey actually believes any of that, it's all up in the air. It's what she likes to keep telling herself, since the people she's confided in seem to have this penchant of disappearing shortly afterwards. Somehow, it has a way of lowering her expectations of them.]

[voice]

[heltersskelter]

You don't give a shit about anything. [he sneers, and while they have a repertoire, all Tate wants to do is hurt right now.]

text, locked;

[tumbleweeds]

some of us are already a little closer to animal
just comes down to sheep or wolves
and then who has the better bite

[ And, because she's curious about this ghostboy, she's done a bit of reading. Which leads to... ]

edgeworth will want to investigate any disappearances
he'll push and he won't back down
even if you threaten him

text, locked;

[heltersskelter]

everyone backs down once they're scared enough.
and if they don't, they'll just be first in line.

[it's cryptic, but purposefully so. Tate finds fear and bathes in it because it's something real in a world of bullshit.

what's funnier to Tate is how many people have a vested interest in the little fuck.]

PLACEHOLDER.

[spider]

My condolences.

S

[ That's a bit of a joke in itself, but he might be the only one laughing.

Now, you oh, you've got this spider crawling out after some silence ( a moment of silence, you could say ). He's betting you're an interesting one, so hello. ]

screeches happily

[heltersskelter]

[he knows you, through Crane, even though they haven't spoken.]

Liar.

[logicals]

People can be remarkably resilient when they need to be. Still, as far as your rant goes, no one cares.
SH

[heltersskelter]

That's rich coming from you.

video;

[sweetmotherofgod]

Tate?

Tate, where are you?

[ and then, with total disregard for the fact that she needs and answer to that first -- ]

I'm coming.

voice;

[heltersskelter]

It's already over.

[the bite hasn't left his tone, so it's clear that what he means isn't his own reaction, but whatever has happened to make him this way.]

text; private

[redhotsummers]

I agree with everything you've said.

[Yes, Alex can see that something's wrong. He's spent enough time with Tate to see that.

But that doesn't mean what he's saying is bullshit. Because it isn't--not completely.

Everyone has their heads up their asses, and don't fucking know what it is like, to be pulled by strings.

A rabbit stuck between two predators. It's what most of the people here, are.]

text; private

[heltersskelter]

then you're the only fucking person who gets it
everyone else is up on their goddamn high horse
thinking they're better than this or that they can figure it out

voice;

[jilt]

[ the loss of sherlock is still a raw, painful thing. irene's quiet for a moment, picking her words so very carefully. ]

What a bleak perspective to take.

voice;

[heltersskelter]

It's not bleak. It's blunt.

voice;

[scamp]

So just do it then.

voice;

[heltersskelter]

I don't see you volunteering.