cool motive, still murder

[niffin]

Who: Alice Quinn (niffin), Alan Bradley (alan_1), and you
When: 17th - 22nd-ish.
Where: The Hold, where you hold stuff. 
What: Post-trial. Alice is hanging out in the hold, because apparently convincing minors to arm disastrous deadly traps is frowned upon outside of Jumanji. 
Warnings: Probable discussion of character death and violence

[ If you'd like a specific starter, just let me know OOC. ]

Comments

[niffin]

"Thank god." Or, well: Various aliens. Alice breathes out slowly, eyes flickering shut. She can't bring herself to ask about J. "And. Thank you."

She turns away, paces into the cell a few steps, turns again. Sitting still right now is an imposition.

"No one's been telling me anything." It's something of an outburst, unexpectedly loud, angry. It almost seems to startle her. A hand gestures up, drops loose, the wordless symbol of: Don't, I get it. It's maybe the only part of the system that feels like an effective deterrent. "On the video, I didn't. I wasn't sure."

They wouldn't try a dead crewmember. She's not so sure about a dying one.

"...When you take it to them. Get crew support first." Her voice stills. Alice isn't about to help, but she feels like she owes him a little, after that. "They've listened to it before. If it doesn't impact the ploiatos, they have no practical reason to deny you. They won't want the conflict."

[beautifulspaceraptor]

"It's been... hectic in the aftermath."

How should he tell her about J? The res failed, after all. Alice didn't need more guilt haunting her while she was in this cell, but she also deserved to know the truth.

"I can try to answer any questions you have," Nihlus continues, tones even, opting to wait and see if she'd ask for the time being. "Asides from the trials and growing tensions, things have been proceeding as... well, about normal for this ship as far as I can garner. Mind you, I have only been here for a little over a month, so my context is a bit lacking."

The Spectre listens to Alice's advice, wondering just how much context he was lacking.

"The ploiatos?" he asks quietly.

[niffin]

"Trials and growing tensions are pretty normal for this ship." Bitter, but this isn't the time for it. Nihlus is helping her out, here. "Skeleton thing. Killed a captain. More recently, injured some crew. They keep it locked up."

Alice tips her head to the side a little.

"You've been in here before. Have you ever heard that, um. That. Chime?"

Faint, soft as a bell. She'd call it her imagination if it weren't for the rest.

"Maybe that's it. Or maybe it's something else. But the point is, it's not just current crew that are in here. Decisions like temperature affect them — it — too."

A beat.

"Can you," Pause. "Can you tell me if any of them came back?"

[beautifulspaceraptor]

He's assuming it's not one of the skeletal crewmen they had since they weren't locked up last he heard.

"I did," Nihlus says when she mentions the sound, expression curious. "It seems to happen a lot just before I nod off. The hold's temperature is very comfortable for me and I, well, tend to get a bit drowsy during visits."

Come to think of it, Alice didn't see Shepard carry him out that one time, did she? Bit embarrassing, that.

Then she asks that question and Nihlus takes in a slow, deep breath.

"... The res attempts have not been successful with either Spearfall or Austen."

she has absolutely seen shepard carry out sleepy cockatiel

[niffin]

Alice punches the wall.

As decisions go, it's not her best. She recoils immediately, swearing, and flexes her fingers experimentally. Bruised, but good enough. Good enough for now.

She has a feeling she's going to need them again soon.

Alice presses her arm out again, this time to steady herself, and turns away. She doesn't want him to see the way her expression crumples.

"Thank you." It's quiet. She coughs her way around something wet and heavy. "Someone needs to tell Peter. Later."

LMFAO

[beautifulspaceraptor]

Nihlus doesn't even flinch when she punches the wall: it's an expression of frustration that he's seen far too often. He does look concerned however, and the frown deepens at the tone of her voice.

"I'll tell him. If no one else has by then."

If nothing else, he's had a lot of practice breaking bad news to people. Spirits, poor Peter. He can't imagine the news will go over well in any manner of speaking, but he had to know.

"... Would you like me to call one of the clinic staff?"

[niffin]

"No." She pauses, swallows hard. "It's fine. Thank you."

The last thing she can imagine doing right now is dragging in medical, they've got enough on their plate with this mess.

"Listen. It's not that — I appreciate this, but I'm probably not great conversation right now."