video.

[kneaded]

[ peeta's got the device propped up on something when he switches it on, and it stays steady when he steps away to take a seat on the edge of his bed. he's wearing the standard issue tranquility jumpsuit, sleeves rolled up against the heat in his room, and he leans forward onto his elbows as he begins to speak. his tone matches his posture; despite the arguably tense topic, he seems relaxed. ]

I know people are worried about what happened on the bridge. I agree that we should find out what went on inside, but others already have that covered — and I'm more interested in why none of the mutineers are dead. [ slightly harsh wording. nobody had expected them to get out of there, so there's no point in talking around it. ] I've only been here for a month, and people have a lot of warnings about the ship being dangerous, about how it's out to get us. Which makes me wonder why all of us aren't dead, either. Some of you have been here for months already, right?

[ it's a rhetorical question. he's heard months, over a year. he still pauses before continuing, if only because he's making a slight switch in gears. ] Where I come from, the people in charge have a system. They created it to make people frightened and to keep them from having hope. They could probably just kill everyone if they wanted to, but they still need us — they need us to work, keep their Capitol running.

I think the ship's the same. I don't think it wants to kill us. I think it needs us for something, and that the events I've heard about — the stations it brings you to, the trials it engineers, they're trying to push us to do something. But this is where the comparisons to the Capitol stop. If all it wanted was inaction, it would've killed everyone on the bridge, but it didn't. I think it wants something else, and it needs us to do it.

[ another pause, and this time he offers a slight smile when he continues. maybe a bit out of place, but it becomes clear enough that he's taking amusement at his own expense. ] But I'm new here, so I couldn't tell you what. Normally I'd say it wants us to fight, but I've been told that doesn't accomplish much. I guess that's why I'm asking you — if there's anything that seemed like a hint, or a command, or a reward.

Everyone's caught up on solving the mysteries behind these things. I know this is probably just because I'm bad at riddles, but I'm more interested in the results. How they make us behave and what we're being taught to expect. I have no idea if we want to listen, but I think it'd be a good idea to try to figure out what it's asking us to do.

Comments

locked.

[wolfchild]

You're going to get a bunch of idiots telling you they've been here longer so they know better. [ js. ]

And it's years for some.

locked.

[kneaded]

[ he does laugh, but— ] They're not idiots. They probably do know better.

It's just under a year for you, right?

[voice] i'm sorry

[jurisimpudent]

I fear there has been no such thing. No indication of its wishes. Just idle games, so far as I can tell.

[voice]

[kneaded]

That doesn't really negate my point, but I guess I have a different perspective on "idle games".

text;

[stimulations]

It could be argued that the riddle is in the results anyway. Motivation is the mystery I believe most are trying to solve, in the end.

text;

[kneaded]

That's true. I admit I've probably just gotten used to looking forward more than back.

What about you? Big on riddles?

text;

[endureandsurvive]

idk if its asking us to do anything but its taking control from us??

no engineering
no bridge
we just have shuttle bay and garden rly

but idk what that means rly the ship going haywire just makes most ppl more scared/dont want to look into stuff

text;

[kneaded]

Taking control counts, it's just asking less politely.

How much control did we have over engineering and the bridge before this?

video.

[favouring]

( there's sort of a lot going on with her brother's new people, and she's privy to enough of it to be rather distracted, but this still manages to catch her eye-- )

I'm afraid I've not been here long enough to have much to contribute to this discussion, but I am very interested by it.

video.

[kneaded]

[ peeta can't hide the knee-jerk response, furrowed brows and a slightly bemused smile. her appearance isn't actually that different from what he's seen at the capitol — but that recognition is exactly what gives him pause. ]

New perspectives are useful, too. Or at least I hope they are. [ the joke being that if they don't, he's wasting his time by participating in the discussion at all. ] How long have you been here?

[klutziness]

You aren't bad at riddles. This ship is just batshit crazy.

[kneaded]

I wouldn't be so sure about that. [ said with an amused grin, though the vote of confidence is appreciated. ] And I'm not saying it isn't crazy — but you don't think there's a point to any of it?

video

[woodlander]

It has issued neither order nor demand since I have been here, but those on the Bridge were clearly punished. Trying to take command is forbidden, whether they say that to us or not.

[ He seems like a young boy, to her, but he also seems thoughtful. Clever. His perspective is an interesting one. She wants more of it. ]

You talk of the ship's desires. Do you believe then that there is no person behind it, governing it? Do you believe it is a living machine?

video

[kneaded]

[ hello, ears. peeta thinks he may have seen modifications like that at the capitol, but somehow asking if they're natural feels a bit rude. ]

No, you're right — they were punished. I just don't understand why it let them go when killing them would have sent a stronger message.

[ there's a slight delay while he considers her question. it's not that he hasn't already thought about it; more that he's not sure how honest he should be about his opinion, and there's a trace of hesitation in his voice. ] I'm not so sure that distinction matters. The ship's the only thing we have access to until someone decides to take the credit.

voice

[welcome]

Well, whatever it is, they certainly aren't asking nicely.

voice

[kneaded]

[ can't help a grin, sorry. ]

Trust me, they could do a lot worse.

video;

[tumbleweeds]

It wants to keep you.

[ She's pulling at her hair, twisting it around and around in her fingers. ]

You're punished, if you go looking before you're ready. Everyone loses something. Time. An eye. Their sanity. But he says he's told us all we need to know. We just aren't ready yet.

video;

[kneaded]

[ the way she speaks and the way she fidgets with her hair — it's familiar. it draws up memories of annie cresta, the capitol's cells. ]

That's all happened? That list. [ just to make sure she's not talking theoreticals, here. he'll get to the ominous he part later. ]

video;

[suddenlycaptain]

[ Bluntly: ] You've been here before. Haymitch might have told you.

You don't think it's your Games, then?

video;

[kneaded]

[ haymitch sharing non-essential information, good joke. ] It must have slipped his mind. Should I be worried that this place slipped mine? [ he doesn't sound offended. or worried, actually; there's too much about this place that doesn't make sense for him to bother panicking about every inconsistency.

there's a brief pause at the mention of the games. not because he's reluctant to talk about them, but at the fact that she's obviously heard about them from haymitch. ]

Not the Games we're used to. But they're kind of in the habit of changing the rules, lately. [ something about a pesky rebellion. ]

[killarevolution]

Look at that- the boy figures it out.

[Or part of it. This has always been a Game to Haymitch, but maybe he has had it all wrong. Maybe it's the opposite.]

[kneaded]

Maybe you missed the part where I don't know what we're doing here.

[ which is obvious deflection, but he's smiling. ] How are you feeling?

[skjalf]

[ lizzie sees some small comparison between their worlds right away, but she doesn't mention them. they're pointless. what she, and everyone else here are interested in is the ship.

and he seems clever. recently-arrived like her, but incredibly clever.

and she wants to hear more of what he has to say. ]

There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the sorts of people brought here. We come from diverse background, places, occupations. Not all of us can fight, while others are experts.

I have wondered myself, though I have only recently arrived, just why we are all here. We cannot leave, and there are apparently demons about--yet we are mostly all still in the realm of the living.

We must be needed for something. And not fighting, else they would not have brought me here.

[ she tries to lighten this, a little. just a little. ]

[kneaded]

[ he's not expecting the accent. there's a brief pause to consider it (and remind himself that the capitol doesn't exist here), but peeta does offer a smile at her attempt to lighten the conversation. it's probably not for the reason she intended. ]

You'd be surprised. There are some places that make anyone fight, whether they're good at it or not. Just because they expect you to fight doesn't mean they need you to win.

video;

[cargojet]

Smiley insists that we know everything we need to. That seems to me like a command to solve the riddle, doesn't it you?

[ The taking of the bridge had been as much an experiment from his perspective as a mutiny. He was still studying all the results. ]

It seems incredible to me. The first person to look at this situation with any perspective is someone who barely arrived.

video;

[kneaded]

It could be. Do you think Smiley's responsible for the other signals we're getting?

[ it's an honest question. aside from the mutiny, he just has vague details of other events, keller's death included. ]

And I think that's part of the ship's training. If you don't have access to the real enemy, sometimes it's easier to just attack each other instead. [ there's a slight pause, then he offers a smile. ] Give me a few months. I'll probably start yelling at you, too.

(text)

[wrecktified]

Does "it" usually want people to destroy things? I can't see that going well if it escalates.

(text)

[kneaded]

You'd have to ask someone who's been here longer. I think there were a few broken mirrors last month, though. You think it's telling you to destroy things?

voice - locked, crappy westerosi style!

[wolfdreamer]

[Bran does not answer, at first, but listens to the message and the questions that it asks. And then he leaves it, only to listen to it again later--and again, still later. It is not easily forgotten. It comes so close to what he has spoken of, with Arya.]

Do you think it is a person, that asks this of us? Or do you think that the ship itself acts?

voice - locked, crappy westerosi style is probably about as good as cakecryption lbr

[kneaded]

[ even by voice, it's easy enough to tell that bran's young. that makes at least three children on the ship — that's not shocking, given what he's seen in the arenas, but it's not winning this place any favors. ]

I think there's someone responsible. But until they introduce themselves, I guess we're stuck with fighting a ship.

[ peeta's had a brief rundown of AIs, so he gets the theories, but that's one leap he hasn't really made yet. ]

voice;

[humanistic]

Something that's not just entertainment?

[ha ha it's like an inside joke! he even says it with some bitter amusement, maybe slightly more amused than bitter, because it's a good day.]

voice;

[kneaded]

[ yaaaaaay hunger games jokes !! that do actually earn a smile, but it's fairly humorless. ]

Entertainment and something else, maybe. Sometimes they manage both.

( text )

[pushfall]

I'm new here, too. Last jump levels of new. So I'm going to apologize if anything I say or ask is pretty stupid, just right off the bat. Do people think the ship is sentient or something?

( text )

[kneaded]

Don't worry, this is probably one situation where there really aren't any stupid questions.

And I don't, I just thought talking about the ship was marginally better than talking about a mysterious "them". But some people do think it's an AI.

video »

[arrowheads]

If they need us for something, it still doesn't explain why we're chosen. [ because she's 100% certain it can't be random, not some innocent coincidence. ] Or why others get sent home — unless the ship thinks they've already fulfilled their purpose, whatever that might be.

[ but that doesn't explain why they get sent back, in some cases, with or without their memories. it's not so much as an argument against the theory as it is a conversation, her own offering of a discussion. ]

video »

[kneaded]

What if we don't actually matter? Say they just pulled our names out of a bowl.

[ there's a joke there, implied in his tone, but he doesn't bother filling her in. ] But I have no idea why others get sent home. Maybe they're not playing along well enough?

[askedtobe]

We're not dead because we got out in time.

[ isn't that kind of obvious? ] But yeah, I agree. If the ship wanted to, we wouldn't be here anymore. Which means it's got a reason. Maybe something it wants, I don't know.

[kneaded]

[ thank you, peter. ] Or we could all just be here for no reason. [ seems to be a weirdly popular theory, though he can't quite wrap his mind around it. ] What I don't get is why it keeps holding back if it's so easy for it to mess with us.

[lostkings]

Think it wants a fight club?

[kneaded]

[ um. possibly?? ]

Maybe. What's your definition of a fight club?

text.

[battlesleep]

Your reasoning seems sound.

I am not versed on the history of the ship. It seems it is quite dangerous here?

text.

[kneaded]

[ so formal!! ]

Thanks.

And that's what we're told. I believe it's capable of being very dangerous, anyway.

[ which makes the lack of deaths a bit strange, frankly. ]

video.

[wigs]

These are all important questions, Peeta. But you shouldn't push too hard about getting answers.

video.

[kneaded]

Because you don't think I'll get them? [ which is the harmless take on it. the less harmless one is that asking questions gets you punished, of course, and he's not going to begrudge effie worrying about that after what just happened to haymitch. ] Don't worry, I'm not planning another mutiny.

text.

[bitchcrafting]

what if it's not about needing us to do something, but making us think we need to do something

so we just keep on worrying and worrying forever
like purgatory or something

text. SORRY latest

[kneaded]

Then it sounds even more like home.
Making us worry could be the point, but it still seems like it's playing nice.