« C L O S E D »

[complices]

Who: Mosley (complices), England (unionjackoff) and some surprise guests.
When: OOC: 1/6, IC: 5/3 at 10 PM
Where: The research tower, where nothing ever bad happens ever.
What: England's been hired by CERES as a Test Subject. They've finally come to collect.
Rating/Warning: Heavy gore and death. This log is the product of player and mod contact. Please feel free to contact the mods at any time if you would like to interact with the NPCs. We're always open!

---

[ At night, the research tower is a beaming beacon of light in the middle of a rather dark district. The surrounding buildings power down and with the medical facility and the police department being just a bit too far away, it leaves the tower as one of the only open buildings during the evening within a wide span of city blocks. To some, this is a reassuring sight. To others, it is not.

As scheduled with England, Mosley will be one of the lone figures in the lobby of the research tower this evening with most of the staff having gone home hours before. Instead of standing and waiting by the elevators as is typical of him, he is sitting on top of the reception desk, legs crossed and swinging underneath him as he waits. The only sound in the lobby is the slight buzzing of the lights overhead and the steady thump of his feet hitting the back of the desk. He seems to be busy with his CereVice.

The other figure in that lobby tonight is a reception-bot, sitting behind Mosley at the desk and staring straight at the door. Once in a while, it glances towards Mosley but otherwise keeps staring at the door. They both seem to be waiting for something. ]

Comments

[unionjackoff]

[waiting for something, or someone? perhaps both. perhaps whatever something they were waiting for has just arrived.

England appears at 10 pm sharp, dressed casually. he's long since gotten off from work and changed out of his fancy waiter's uniform into slacks and the typical cardigan that he usually wears. even with the weather always sunny in Cerealia, he's wearing something which could be considered stuffy. at least he left the tie at home.

he'd actually arrived a few minutes before 10, in order to psyche himself up. England has no idea as to what CERES has planned for him this night, but he doesn't think it will be good. the words test subject bring images to mind, and none of them pleasant. he isn't worried about the pain, just worried about the resulting effects. as a being that has never died before, that, too, is a scary thought that he must take into consideration. he has to keep reminding himself that this is necessary, a way to get him involved with CERES. of course that has been England's goal all along, to gather information. whatever he sees here tonight will be cataloged for later.

because of the uncertain nature of this meeting, England gave strict orders to his fairy friend to stay at home, and promised it that he would return soon. England doesn't know how soon, but, he knew he'd come back eventually!?

so when he walks into the research tower that night, it is with outward confidence, and inward trepidation. he sees Mosley sitting on the desk....... swinging his legs...... what a weird guy he is]

Good evening. I hope I didn't keep you waiting long.

[complices]

[ Mosley looks up from his CereVice then and the receptionist immediately starts typing away at their computer. Any thumping beforehand is replaced with the clack, clack, clack of computer keys and Mosley slides off the desk to stand. He gives a short wave, nodding towards the elevator for England to follow him.

In person, Mosley is perhaps stranger than he is via text. The bleach white hair, and equally as white skin makes him nearly blend into the background of the sterile lobby. He's expressionless, voice flat and unwavering. It's a wonder someone so static could be... well, who he is. ]

There's always work to be done, Mr. England. You needn't worry about me. Have you eaten? I can have some sandwiches brought up with us. Just tell me what you prefer and they'll be there as soon as possible.

[ And as if on cue, the elevator immediately opens for the both of them to go inside. Coming along, England? ]

[unionjackoff]

[right to business, as usual. England is certain his stomach jumps with the first step he takes to the elevator]

Ah, I had dinner, and then tea just a short while ago. So, I'm not hungry. [even if he was, England believes he probably wouldn't be able to keep anything down. he's too nervous. thank god he's a good bluffer, one of the best] Thanks, though.

[complices]

[ Mosley just nods, as if understanding and presses for floor 162. Pretty high up but don't worry, the ride's quick. ]

Quite prepared, aren't you? What do you imagine we'll have you doing tonight? I always like to ask, to get an outside take on the situation.

[unionjackoff]

[floor 162... This is quite a tall building. There were only a few buildings on his world that could compare. England rubs the back of his neck, surprised at Mosley's question. Should he answer honestly? Make a joke? Hnnn]

I've had a few ideas. [he finally says after thinking for a couple seconds] Trying new products, or ViViD levels, maybe testing space-travel or weaponry... I imagine whatever it is, it would be for the benefit of the colony.

[complices]

[ It's definitely the tallest in all of Cerealia. From the ground up, it hits the 200 mark. From the ground below, that's an even bigger mystery. ]

I can promise you that this is for the benefit of the colony. No levels or weapons tonight but if you're still willing, we'd love to have you aboard later on. It's actually quite hard to find someone willing to test out ViViD levels which, I suppose, is why they're so prone to the problems they run into. Hm, should probably work on that, huh?

[ The elevators ding open then and Mosley heads right out into the hallway. There's a reception desk right across from the elevator doors but no one is sitting at it right now and to their right is a set of larger wooden doors. Mosley heads right to them, opening one and letting England follow along.

Welcome to Mosley's office! Right across from the doors is a large wall of windows, overlooking all of Cerealia and even past it, towards the jungle. There's a desk there, with it's back to the windows and it seems to be Mosley's main workplace. The rest of the walls are lined with bookshelves filled to the brim with books in a vast array of different languages. To their right is a small seating area with couches and a coffee table and to their left is a refreshment bar. On the floor of the room is a big blue rug with the CERES logo.

Mosley heads straight towards his desk, sitting at the chair behind it and gesturing for England to take a seat at one of the chairs in front. ]

[unionjackoff]

[England is silent as he follows, taking everything in. it's a very nice office, and England quite likes the view. he can see practically all of Cerealia from here, even though he's not standing directly next to the windows. it must look different during the daytime, but it's a nice scene at night...

ah, enough staring. he nods a thanks to Mosley and takes a seat in the chair in front of the desk]

[complices]

[ Mosley's just going to pull out an... impressively thick stack of papers then from his desk drawer before setting it on the table. After that comes a very plain looking fountain pen and he sets it on top of the stack before pushing it towards England. ]

Now, you're more than welcome to sit here and read through this if you'd like but I assure you it's all very simple. These documents are to protect the both of us from harm, within it includes medical release forms so if something were to happen to you during a test, we have your permission to bring you straight to a hospital. It also includes a confidentiality agreement considering some things you might see while working with us are things we would not like our business rivals to know, haha! It's all pretty standard fare, but as you know, legal jargon does tend to be very ... thick.

[ A look towards the massive size of the pile. ]

You'll have to mark off your initials certain places but they're all marked and then you can add your signature to the last page. I've already signed it, so after this we can get right to work.

[unionjackoff]

[that is quite a stack of papers, and England is almost positive there is more in there than what Mosley is telling him. Probably a lot of detail about what's going to exactly be happening to him, as well as the confidentiality agreement. And he... Is not going to read all of it. Edgeworth would probably be furious if he knew England planned on signing without knowing all the details.

But the thing is, England already knows what he's getting into. Perhaps not every component, but he knows it's bound to hurt him somehow. And that's not the part that worries him.

He flips a few pages in, skimming one until he finds a place to initial. Like Mosley said, what he sees is standard, a medical release form. Then his eyes flick back up to the white man]

Business rivals? [a light smirk] Are there other companies competing with CERES? [because CERES had their name on everything in Cerealia, it seemed]

[complices]

[ Mosley's blank expression seems to break for just a moment in what may look like amusement. He spreads his hands far to his sides, gesturing to the whole wide world around them. ]

Mr. England, the galaxy is far and wide and much larger than your scope of things. It is without doubt that there is some company out there that wants to have what CERES has and will use any means to take it. We've very lucky to be the dominant force here on Tellus but before Cerealia and after Cerealia, there will always be a CERES out there and someone who would prefer if we weren't.

[unionjackoff]

[oh. right. there was the entirety of space to consider now, not only this one planet. England should know better, after everything he's seen. there were other solar systems, other universes out there. and England believes in alternate universes (he's still a bit iffy on aliens, though!).

he chuckles nervously as he looks for more places to initial. dammit, man, he scolds himself. you're not thinking clearly, get your head in the game! this is no time to lose concentration]

...Of course. I wasn't even thinking about the rest of the galaxy. [that makes him wonder, though, how far does CERES' influence reach? is CERES only on Tellus, or were there outposts on other planets? sheesh, space-travel... he feels like he's in an episode of Doctor Who, or something.

man, how cool would that be?

England finally comes to the last page and there it is, the line for his signature. he stares at it for a few seconds, mouth going dry, heart thumping in his ears. there was still time to turn back, to get cold feet. but England's pride is too great to back out now. he feels the need to do this, to get involved, to learn some of CERES' secrets, and this is the only way he knows how. he is no stranger to doing things alone.

each moment that passes seems like an eternity. at last, he is penning his name, England, Arthur Kirkland in neat, tight cursive. then he adds the date, the third of May. his stomach lurches and he sighs, placing the pen down once he is finished]

[complices]

[ Mosley waits patiently, hands folded on his desk and eyes fixed on England as the man goes through the papers and signs. His face is, of course, still expressionless and he doesn't show any signs of impatience at all even with England's hesitation. It's only when the man finally signs the paper, that Mosley gives one sure nod. ]

That looks to be in order. Now, I need to explain something to you. As CERES has explained before in our interactions with you and the other residents of the colony, you've been extracted here from your world to Tellus as pieces of code and with code comes to ability to rewrite it.

[ He pauses, to let that sink in. ]

Legally, I have to inform you of this after you've signed the document. It's explained in our little contract here what has just transpired but it is also my job as the liaison between CERES and the public to also explain these matters to you during this exchange. Part of our confidentiality agreement is the rewriting of your code. Not to an extreme amount, no, but only so you are incapable of actually sharing what happened and what will happen today to anyone but a representative of CERES. Namely, me.

[ Mosley reaches forward to grab that nice looking pen from earlier. He presses it to a piece of paper to write and yet, unlike with England, no ink comes out. ]

This pen is a tool to rewrite it. As you wrote your signature, it tapped into your code to edit the parts of you that are relevant to this exchange. Of course, it does not work for me since I am not code. But for you, it's an entirely different matter.

[ He sets down the pen and folds his hands again, looking back to England. ]

If this is upsetting to you, you're more than welcome to express it here. That's why I brought you up here early, just in case you had questions.

[ He lifts a hand to check his watch then. 10:34 PM. ]

We have a bit of time before we have to go, after all.

[unionjackoff]

[he knew it. he knew there was going to be something he missed. England's face almost turns purple from embarrassment and anger. of course he wouldn't be able to talk about this with people. of course!

he should have just tried to sneak into the bloody place as opposed to attempting infiltrate it]

...Can't say I'm surprised. [by now, his smile has faded, replaced by a cool stare. he can't even complain, because he signed the damn paper himself. he literally rewrote his own code, or gave CERES the authorization to do so] I suppose the only question I have for you, then, is, what other parts of me did it change? And will there be any other changes in the future?

[Mosley has been fairly honest with him up until this point...]

[unionjackoff]

[how was that jumping the firearm? Mosley said he needed a body to fill in for an old practice that involved giving something to gods. What else could that mean? England had seen quite a few sacrifices when he was younger, though, thankfully, most of them involved animals. The human sacrifices... Well, he had tried to steer clear of those, but he knew that they happened.

So now he is faced with his own dilemma. He'd signed papers to do this, and expressed that he wanted to help CERES in some way. Apparently, this would help the entire colony, at least that was what it sounded like]

...How on earth did you get involved in this mess? [he's still trying to be brave, to not show fear. He pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation. It was no wonder the gods were angry with CERES and Cerealia. If the gods and natives had some sort of contract, they would be upset that CERES barged into the middle of it]

[complices]

[ Mosley seems to kind of smile at that, a quirk of the corner of his lips as he sits back on his seat and crosses his arms over his chest. He opens his mouth to say something before closing it and just deciding to lift one of his shoulders in a shrug. ]

That's a bit more complicated a story and to be perfectly honest with you, Mr. England, I don't have the authority to share it.

[ He looks a little sad then, this one moment having the most expression Mosley has shown in this whole interaction. Any interaction, really. It seems like England's finally asked something that might be pretty relevant to, if not CERES, Mosley. He even looks positively human, for once. ]

Well, yet.

[ Then the expression leaves just as soon as it came and Mosley falls back into his typical inhuman, expressionless self. He pushes up from the desk then, knocking his knuckles on the top of it before beckoning England to follow him. ]

Come on, we can talk more on the drive there. Thank you for signing the papers, Mr. England.

[unionjackoff]

[...huh. that was quite the odd expression for Mosley. England is almost certain he's never seen that face on him before. then again, it isn't as though England has spent that much time around the man. maybe, because of this new arrangement, they would be seeing more of each other. maybe he would get to see more faces like that, learn more secrets...

he sighs softly, getting to his feet so that he can follow the other man. any other questions he might want to ask are going to be saved for the drive. apparently they need to go somewhere else. perhaps to the jungle again? his fingers twitch nervously before he balls them into fists] The drive? How far are we going?

[complices]

[ He leads England into the hallway, back to the elevators without hesitation. It's still there from earlier so it opens right away and off they go, off they go! Mosley presses for "B10" instead of the first floor. ]

Not out of the city but far, far underground. You're not claustrophobic, are you? That would make this pretty hard to do, haha!

[unionjackoff]

[u... underground... creepy!]

N-not really, no. I've been around long enough that most of my fears have since been nullified. [except for that fear of being left alone... oh! and that fear of dying... which sounds like it's going to be happening soon! wonderful...]

[complices]

[ Better suck it up quick, England! ]

Yes, you are immortal, aren't you? How's that going for you?

[ This is Mosley's attempt as small talk, by the way. ]

[unionjackoff]

[he's trying! trying very hard!]

Well, so far, it's seemed to work well for me. [he is considering what he wants to say, and his eyes flick up to the elevator's ceiling in thought] ...Normal things that could kill humans couldn't kill me. I've survived plagues, bullet wounds, stab wounds, falls from buildings... [here he looks down again, closing his eyes] But it's different here. I've noticed that cuts or bruises take longer to heal, and I watched someone from my world, someone who had the same powers as me, die. So I've been trying to be careful, which is something I never really had to worry about before. I don't believe I am a reckless man, but on my planet, my immortality let me do a lot of things other people could not do.

[complices]

[ Mosley just nods along as he listens to England's explanation. Look at him, being sympathetic. ]

An understandable reaction to a difficult situation. You know why you're not immortal anymore, don't you?

[unionjackoff]

[his eyes fall on Mosley, curious]

I assumed it had something to do with how the code is written. Or, to a lesser extent, because it wouldn't be fair for some to be immortal and others to not be.

[complices]

You're on the right track, though it has nothing to do with fairness. Like we've always said, none of you are real. Not in this universe, this galaxy. Someone like you, Mr. England, who is so bound to the physical reality of his universe, cannot sustain something like immortality in a universe you do not exist in.

[ The elevator door opens then, showing a... parking lot? Yes, it seems like a parking lot, one that is completely empty aside from a certain golf cart all the way on the other side of the room. Mosley gestures to England to follow him once again. ]

CERES is able to keep you here in Cerealia to exist as much as you possibly can while we restore your world. Of course, this isn't the full extent of your existence and why there are some oddities in the system, such as some people returning [ He air quotes this. ] "Home" for brief periods of time or some arriving here despite being dead back in their own reality but it's the best we can do given the restrictions currently in place. A half-life is better than a no-life, after all.

[unionjackoff]

[that is quite the fancy golf cart. England's never seen one like that before, at least not up close. he follows along, tucking his hands into his pockets as he walks. the explanation calms his nerves, as it does remind him of things he was told, but had forgotten]

If we are not real, then how can we die? [England is not trying to challenge Mosley, he's just asking a question. thinking about this brings his thoughts back to when they were all trapped in the Nexus Code] How do we feel pain, and bleed?

[complices]

You're mistaking reality for tangibility. As you exist here in Cerealia, you're perfectly tangible. You can walk and talk and bleed and hurt but the limitations on life others have don't apply to you. You can also remember. You're just... an echo, I suppose. Living here parallel to us only because CERES has the ability to sustain you here. Why do you think everyone nearly died when they were brought outside to the rest Tellus? Tellus doesn't have the technology to keep you all... tangible, haha.

[ Mosley fishes out a pair of keys from his pocket then, pointing the clicker at the golf cart which immediately beeps and turns on. He looks pleased with himself and as they get closer, he immediately gets into the driver's seat. ]

There are benefits to everything though, Mr. England. After all, if Ms. Recreare were to die, she wouldn't be able to come back. You can.