thefoundation | WEEK 3 MINGLE

WEEK 3

Week three opens like the other two weeks, but when you wake up, you know there's been a change in the area. At first, nothing is wrong - but when you look at any window, you aren't greeted with the cheery sight of the outside - instead, there's just a cold, harsh blackness. Trying to leave out the doors is impossible, too - if you try, you just find yourself back on the couches in the lobby. On top of that....The Staff are beginning to act even stranger, their glitching out becoming more obvious. Sometimes, they seemingly go blank mid sentence and walk away, as if they were reset, and slur or stutter their words.

The weather is...well, non-existent, except for the courtyard, which is still pleasantly snowy. There is still music playing in the halls, and the cover songs continue with some low-key music for the week.

On Monday morning, another memory is returned to everyone. Another piece to the puzzle, one step closer to finding the truth of this place. Yet, it doesn't seem like you're any closer to solving this...

And time still ticks onwards, regardless if you're ready or not.

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[Ripley rolls her eyes before aiming the gun towards the targets. After pausing to adjust her stance, she fires, with the bullet piercing the outermost point of the target. A frown, and she adjusts and fires again. They seem to be pretty accurate, though none of them hit the bullseye.

After a few more shots, Ripley lowers the gun and hands it back to Snake.]

Looks like it's causing the bullets to spin to the left. [A pause.] Where'd you learn to shoot this? They used to only give these out to special operations units.

[Snake watches her shoot. She's pretty good, state of the gun and Ripley's experience considered.

He takes it, and raises his eyebrow to her.]

Don't you think you answered your own question?

[She pauses, and then grunts.] Huh. Mind sharing with the class, or is that classified?

[Spec ops...military-adjacent. Nothing she ever wanted to get into. Too much violence and death and having to make terrible decisions.]

[A hnnrrghhhhh.]

Wouldn't call it classified. More people know about me than I'd like to know. I'm something of a legend back home.

[A fact he, clearly, from his tone, isn't proud of.]

How much do you want to know?

You don't sound too happy about that.

[Which is completely understandable. She's similarly jaded by the whole corporate-military complex.]

But there must be a reason why they call you that, right?

[She's presenting him with a way to ease into talking about it without...forcing him to speak too much.]

[Snake grunts. It’s not that he’s unwilling to be open, but it’s not a pleasant truth.]

Yeah. There is.

[A pause as he turns the gun over in his hand.]

You know what that word really means? When they call me it?

Edited 2018-12-12 09:34 (UTC)

If I had to guess, it's because you've become an excellent soldier.

[Her mouth twists to the side as she crosses her arms. She can put two and two together, Snake--she'd just rather not assume anything.

if only i'd taken ripley from a later canonpoint, she could relate to being called a 'legend']

Edited 2018-12-12 17:23 (UTC)

[Snake would've expected Ripley to know what he means, and he's not convinced she doesn't. With her answer, she basically admits it.]

An excellent soldier's just an excellent killer.

[He's simply stating fact, though with a slight growl.]

I'm no hero, I've just done what I've been made to do.

[of course that's what he would say. Ripley's eyebrows crease together as she frowns.]

I figured as much.

[She turns to look at the targets, tapping her fingers against her arm. After a brief pause, she speaks again.]

That's one of the reasons I didn't want to seek out active duty, you know? I don't think I'd have been able to handle coming home every day, knowing I'd have been responsible for taking the lives of other people. [She shakes her head and snorts.] Though I guess it didn't matter in the end.

Some people aren’t cut out for it.

[He follows her gaze to the targets, brow tight.]

Shouldn’t be forced to, either.

[After a pause, still looking outwards.]

What happened?

[Ripley doesn't answer for a moment, her eyes intently focusing on the target ahead of her. There's no real easy way to say this, is there?]

The company I worked for--Weyland-Yutani--wanted us to bring back this alien they found on some far off planet. Even if it meant breaking the law and endangering the lives of all involved. Nobody knew except for the shrink they assigned us for a science officer. He was the one who was going to make sure that...that thing was going to make it back to Earth.

[She hesitates for a moment.] You can guess what happened from there. That's what happens when corporations--or the government--don't give a shit about their employees. [It's difficult to keep the bitterness out of her voice.] I told them not to bring the damn thing onto the ship, but they overrode my orders and....

[A pause. She should've stopped Ash, she should've been more forceful about enforcing quarantine law.]

[Listening to Ripley, an anger rises in Snake as he does, one he can only direct at the untouchable powers responsible. Killing, watching people die...it was different if you signed up for it, if you had a reason. That was fair game. This - having to shoulder a responsibility you were never meant to carry - wasn't.

In her pause, he asks a question he feels he already knows the answer to.]

How many survivors?

[Ripley glances towards Snake for a fleeting moment, then turns back to look at the target, her expression stoic.]

Two. [A pause. Her voice is even and subdued.] Me and my cat, Jones. Everyone else was killed by the alien.

[She falls quiet, her hand tightening around her arm. She seems distracted.]

I had to burn two of my crew members. They were going to be used by the alien for...God knows what.

[Snake lets that hang for a weighted moment.]

...You made the right call.

[It almost feels an empty reassurance; of course, logically, it was. But killing a comrade, someone important to you, no matter how necessary...it left you with a weight that often got too great to carry.]

They'd have thought that too. I'm sure.

[Ripley shakes her head, her mouth twisting to the side. Not that Snake's wrong, but...it's still difficult to think about. Which is why she has to keep going, keep working on trying to save people--for the sake of all of those trapped in here with her.

But how can she? She's way out of her depth here and she knows it.]

I don't want to have to make that call again. But it'll happen eventually.

[...]

Whoever decided to throw kids into this shit is sick.

[It will happen, with this place, and it won't be easy.

Snake's jaw tightens, and he lowers his head.]

If they're not getting killed, they're getting blood on their hands.

[He heaves a sigh.]

Feels like they're handling it a hell of a lot better, sometimes.

WEEK 3 MINGLE

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