Event: Consolidation Theory, Part One and Two

[snowblindmods]

Characters: red-marked characters
Location: ???
Date: Morning & Day 353
Summary: You wake up in a cell.
Warnings: general horror warnings; please note in subject lines for anything specific that comes up

Consolidation Theory OOC Post
Part Two OOC Post

Comments

[howdull]

[Stephen already knows that he jumped so he sees no reason to reiterate it now, though it's interesting to note that he did eventually go in as well.]

I wonder how many of us managed to survive until the end of that particular experiment, one way or another.

[thewarningafter]

I'd tell you if I'd been around to see it. Remind me to put it on the census.

[howdull]

Yes, do that, it would be useful to have solid numbers in case of future separation and experimentation.

[thewarningafter]

Yeah, no one's going to answer that if I pose it as a question to the network.

[howdull]

Why not? The need behind the question is rational enough.

[Surely people aren't that stupid.]

[thewarningafter]

People didn't even want their names on it when I first started. Rational has nothing to do with it.

[howdull]

Idiots.

[It's muttered half under his breath.]

I'm always surrounded by idiots.

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen huffs out a little laugh.]

I'm not disagreeing with you.

[howdull]

[The laugh tells him that Stephen is no longer as agitated as he was at the beginning of the conversation, and that's good.]

Why would you? I'm right.

[thewarningafter]

[It doesn't occur to Stephen that Sherlock might care whether he's agitated.]

I could conceivably worry about whether you're including me in that assessment, but....

[He shrugs.]

Wouldn't matter.

[Because he'd be wrong and Stephen has no reason to doubt his own intelligence.]

[howdull]

Of course it wouldn't. My opinion of you has no impact on what you really are, something that a lot of people fail to grasp.

[It's why he doesn't care, generally, what other people think of him. He knows who he is, and their judgement changes nothing.]

[thewarningafter]

[But he'd like people, including Sherlock, to confirm for him how brilliant he is. Just because he knows already doesn't mean he doesn't like hearing it from others.

But he can pretend he doesn't mind.]

Exactly.

Any thoughts on what comes next?

[howdull]

Torture, likely.

[It's not something he's looking forward to, but he can't say that he sees a way to avoid it.]

So far this scenario shares some commonality with the 'converts' in the tower, I'm sure we can expect to be tortured in a similar manner.

[thewarningafter]

...Yeah.

[Ask an obvious question, get an obvious answer. Stephen draws in a deep, careful breath, letting it back out equally slowly.]

Assuming he has control of the nanomachines we won't be able to effectively fight back when they come for us. That's how it was there.

[howdull]

We try anyway.

[It's not usually in him to give rousing speeches, but he'll be damned if he goes to torture without a fight.]

And if we fail, then we observe what we can for later analysis.

[thewarningafter]

Well, yeah.

[Frankly, Stephen doesn't think he'd have it in him to go quietly even if he wanted to. He just hopes he can hold it together well enough to fight effectively.]

Have you ever been tortured before?

[howdull]

[Is there a point to lying here? But admitting the truth is giving vulnerability out, and he hates that, so he'll go with the truth in a lighter tone.]

Naturally, you have met me, haven't you?

[thewarningafter]

[Stephen lets out a hopeless little huff of laughter at that.]

Guess I don't have to pretend I have any advice for you, then.

[howdull]

Even if you did, I'm afraid that I've proven myself rather incapable of taking advice.

[He sounds half amused.]

But I may have some advice for you. Sleep now, while you have the opportunity, you'll be grateful of the extra strength later.

[thewarningafter]

Nice thought, but I'm not much for sleeping these days.

[Still, he lets his head rest back against the wall. It's not the worst idea. It feels like the worst idea because so much in him is screaming that he needs to stay ready, stay present, stay prepared...but there's nothing to be done in the interim. If he could sleep, now would be the time. Meditation, perhaps. He could probably do that much.]