Fortitude Round 7

[mamarosa]

It should be a familiar scene by now, Dolorosa standing on the platform with her ever peaceful expression, flanked by her ever growing number of Prefects. There are five others with her now, Nanami, Lelouch, Yuri, Sonic, and Jade. It's hardly noticeable but Dolorosa is purposefully keeping her distance from Lelouch after some recent revelations. But nothing else has changed, everything else is normal and in order to keep the peace she begins her speech as if everything is normal. Although you may be feeling a bit sick

"Good morning, my students. I know you have had an eventful round, the first dungeon is always exciting and it is something you will always remember. I still remember my first dungeon," she smiles fondly but doesn't tell the story of her first dungeon, "This is usually the point where I announce battles, but because it was a dungeon round there was no battling even if there could have been. I am very proud of all of you."

That would be another difference, the battle records do not appear behind her, nor does she announce who won the round. Instead she explains that because the results of the dungeon have been publicized before she will save time and go straight on to the Players for this round.

"This is Round 7, everything goes back to normal this round. You are expected to to vow with Weapons and battle Conquest. Now that we have been here for some time and I know the abilities that all of you have, I know you have both the ability to win graciously and lose graciously. I am proud of all of you."

"Without further ado, the Players for Round 7 are:

Dave
Kanaya
Equius
Zoey
Anya
Dirk"

Her smile falters for a split second as she glances at the board behind her, almost expecting something like what happened during Round 5 assembly to occur again. After seeing that, no, the board was not going to light up and show Fortitude the Conquest assembly, she concludes her speech.

"Have a wonderful round everyone."

Comments

[mamarosa]

[Come talk to Dolorosa?]

[knightime]

[Do you ever worry about the trouble Dave gets into? Welp.]

can we get people moved???
like not schools
just dorms
just you know
curious

[mamarosa]

[All the time]

Is someone causing you trouble, Dave?

[knightime]

they didnt really appreciate me mixing music
actually im pretty sure they kind of dented some of my shit but i kind of dont give a fuck about that
but living above them kind of sucks if i cant do jack shit
i mean its not like i can do anything else of the noise variety

[mamarosa]

We could penalize them to pay for the repairs of your equipment if it is damaged but we are not in charge of assigning people to rooms, just as we are not in charge of assigning Players. I would be happy to talk to them and see if we can work out an agreement that allows you to keep making music without thread of personal injury.

[knightime]

thatd be cool
i kind of got my best friend thrown out a window
and another friend who was a prefect got involved
not exactly something i wanted
but i guess not everyone appreciates music
i just kind of want to be able to do it without getting mauled everytime
not getting mauled in general is pretty fly too

[mamarosa]

Is there a way to do it so only you can hear the music? Who was it who through your friend out a window? I will have to punish them for such an action, we cannot have meaningless violence here.

[knightime]

i can jack the headphones in
but the bass causes shaking
and if i put it down then john cant feel it
and he cant hear it normally so thats the best compromise i could find
idk
some bitch
i mean
snowman
i think she lives underneath me
i mean
im willing to keep my headphones in
but im not willing to turn the bass down

[pencilpremonition]

[Not talking, just gonna slink up and start drawing your portrait.]

[mamarosa]

[She glances over at Becca and sees that she's drawing, so she returns to her previous pose]

Sketching, Becca?

[pencilpremonition]

Uh-huh. You don't have to hold still.

[mamarosa]

Won't it ruin your drawing if I move?

[pencilpremonition]

If I were a newbie, yeah, or if I was trying to do something fancy. But I'm just sketching, so it doesn't matter.

[mamarosa]

Oh, okay then. [She turns to face Becca and gives her a smile] How have you been fairing child? I hope everything has been going better.

[pencilpremonition]

I'm not seeing a lot of action, and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. I kind of want to get some upgrades, to see if this thing actually does something better. But that means convincing somebody it's a worthwhile weapon, and....

[disparaging laugh]

Yeah right.

[mamarosa]

How many Raks do you have? I would be happy to give you some so you could purchase a few upgrades, I have more than enough that I am not using.

[pencilpremonition]

Fifty. I figure I need to get all my upgrades to make it worthwhile, though. Did I ever even tell you what mine is?

[fracturedsoul]

[ Even while he's searching for a Weapon, Dirk is just going to keep an eye on Dolorosa all nonchalantly. See what she's up to.

Wow why is Dave talking to her what is he doing does he even know any better.

He's not gonna say anything though.

Just watch. ]

[mamarosa]

[But she sees you]

Hello Dirk, how are you doing today?

[fracturedsoul]

[ Welp. ]

Not bad. Just hunting down some weapons. You know. Playing along with all this Exaclan stuff like a good little puppet, just letting those strings pull me wherever.

[mamarosa]

I don't know if I would call you a puppet, you do have the ability to make decisions.

[fracturedsoul]

Oh, but isn't that what's expected of me? Of all of us? To play along with the system? I could just cut my strings and flop right down in a pile of wooden joints, true -- What do you, with your expertise and experience, think that would accomplish, Dolorosa?

[mamarosa]

You do not trust me, I see. I would say that it is just the opposite. You are not expected to play along with the system, you are expected to rebel against it, as many have already. We staff are here to guide you and help you return to your home, we have been in your position, rebelled according, and eventually found what the system wanted us to do. Oddly rebelling will only set you back, it is participating that moves you along, but you have the ability to choose your path.

[fracturedsoul]

[ Hah, so she's figured that much out. He's hardly been subtle about that point. ]

Then you and the other staff members have a separate will from that of the system as a whole. You used to be like us, and now you're here to assist us. Fair enough.

What's the end goal we have to meet? If we go along with this system and fight, what's eventually going to happen? Do we all become prefects? [ From what Jade said, it sounds like that's at least a possibility for them. ] Or what?

[mamarosa]

I cannot tell you the end goal, but many of you will become prefects along the way. Only two will become the new head prefects. Or what? Then you remain here.