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Shimmer, Glimmer, & Gleam - A Quest of Loss & Gain

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Whatever we choose, I think Nattie and Marie wouldn't begrudge us either choice. Captain Isoldt might kick our ass though.

If it was just us, then maybe. But for all the nameless casualties...

We can also see this choice as an evolution of our choices up to now. We chose to stop the strangers from going to Bayview at risk of getting shot at, and we chose to help Project Throwback evacuate at risk to ourselves, even when they were just a voice - so now the choice is: don't you want to be selfish? To be able to choose something that would cause less harm to the people we care about?

[X] Inside, and you will destroy the Panopticon from within and reduce casualties amongst the Inmates
 
[X] Inside, and you will destroy the Panopticon from within and reduce casualties amongst the Inmates

The panopticon must be destroyed, so that no one else suffers
 
[x] Inside, and you will destroy the Panopticon from within and reduce casualties amongst the Inmates

We have orders, and Nattie and Marie will forgive Orchid for whatever consequences this has for them. Destroying the Panopticon was the goal of considering the prison in the first place. Plus, Marie, I think, would want to fight. Making sacrifices for the greater good here. Sorry, Marie. Hope you turn out OK.
 
[X] Inside, and you will destroy the Panopticon from within and reduce casualties amongst the Inmates

Goodbye, Panopticon. Let's bring it down, one way or another.
 
[x] Outside, and you will spare Nattie and Marie as best you can.

If it weren't Marie, I'd say stay. Orchid would take that path, even if it was Sasha or Jill, I think it'd still be likely to stay. But because its Marie, because it is someone young, I think Orchid would hesitate too much to stay and turn her from Kid/Teenager into an Adult, given its understanding of age now.
 
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[X] Inside, and you will destroy the Panopticon from within and reduce casualties amongst the Inmates
 
Party people I'ma need someone to get me a nice medicinal 2x4 upside the back of the head so I can sleep. Cartoon birds tweeting around my head optional, but preferred.

One hour.
 
And called!
Scheduled vote count started by Morrowlark on Jan 3, 2025 at 3:22 AM, finished with 24 posts and 17 votes.
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The Law of the Long Arm 10: Awakening New
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    • It's going to hurt, isn't it? Five years of memories contained within mere months; maybe destroying the Panopticon will help break the hold, but probably not. You experienced it, here in this dream of a prison, the citadel of the Law of the Long Arm, which hunts the weak, the vulnerable, and the unloved. You can have your revenge. You can make sure it hurts no one else. But there were five years in this place, and in that cell, with Nattie - whose blood is on your lips along with the ghost of her kiss - and with Marie, who never should have been here.

    There's going to be a lot to talk about. But first there will be blood.

    Is there really a choice? On the day you awoke to yourself you killed three innocent people out of fear and confusion, bloodied yourself in ignorance only to realize, too late, what you had done. And ever since you have been, what, making up for that? Trying to live without more regrets? Trying to punish yourself? There's no time, right now, to figure out the why, only the what, and the what is this: you will not abandon those Inside, not when you finally understand why you had those odd little privileges, not when you are loosed from the gaze of the Panopticon. You are guilty of terrible violence and negligent murder, but...

    ...Not like this. No one is guilty like this. You are not an Inmate. You are not a Convict. You have a NAME!

    (Across the bay, at the shore, another you is fading away, and babbling an explanation as fast as it can, confused but in the way someone is confused when they are focusing on doing something else. You're pretty sure Jill is listening. You tell her, over and over: the prison. You're in the prison, and an evacuation force is needed as soon as possible, as soon as, as soon as -)

    Your consciousness snaps back together, pulling yourself into one mental pile of Orchid. The bit of you that you were keeping in Barkley is not doing great but it's at least 'not doing great' as in 'I metaphorically fell asleep at my desk and now everything aches' as opposed to 'gods above there's going to be plush-based trauma'. You turn quickly and slam the door shut behind you, locking it with your blank key before leaning against it and heaving in air. You can't even look at the Chapel proper, you need a fucking second, if those guards kick their way in you're gonna be just dead - are there guards in here?

    You spin around and take your first look at the Chapel. It is, to your eye, subtly wrong, not that you've been in a sacred space of any kind since you came into existence (well...except the Everlasting Lady's realm of dreams, that one time...). The room seems bigger than it is because of the near-blinding sunlight coming in through the windows, but it is, in fact, quite small. There are no pews or prayer mats or places where people can congregate, merely a plain stone altar carved with symbols sacred to the Empire's state-approved gods, and a second side table where presumably prisoners would meet with the Chaplain.

    You're decently sure the robed figure lashed to the altar and surrounded by medical equipment is the Chaplain. You approach slowly, check its pulse, look at the machines. Is. Is it being kept in a medically induced coma? You gently open one of its eyes, and see the telltale signs of active oneiromancy; milky white clouds, shot through with stars, swirl in the Chaplain's irises. Your mind goes back to the people who were lashed to the front of SWAT's APC, used to manifest armies of cops. Parole...

    You have a bad feeling about what happens to people who make parole. You need to get back to Nattie and go after the Panopticon. You spare a glance for the Chaplain, wondering if you need to kill it, and then you realize: no, you don't. Stepping into this space freed you of the compulsion. You don't know how the Chaplain did it, or why, but this chunk of the dream that is Durance-on-Bay belongs to the gods and not to the Warden. You might be safe from the guards here...but no. No, it's time.

    You pace the room and realize that here, too, are those growths of glass that shoot through the rest of the prison, though their presence is far more destructive and widespread. No one to cut them back, you suppose. A result of the refraction? Whatever defended this place can't have just no-sold the end of the world. Either way, it's about to be useful to you. Those guards on the other side aren't going to know what fucking hit them.

    ...Probably...

    So about those guards...
    [ ] Don't risk it; no quarter
    [ ] ...There might be something here worth saving

    Lose 3
    [ ] Your okay health
    [ ] What's left of the element of surprise
    [ ] The lives of some Inmates
    [ ] Any chance that the prison could be converted to a different use
    [ ] All idea of where Marie got to or what she's doing
    [ ] A pound of flesh
    [ ] One Gift

    'An Unwholesome Past' is available​
     
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