Of The City (A Greek Mythos Sci-Fi Quest)

[Incon]

Story proper starts at scutwork 1.1
Before is just votes. Though I would recommend reading Setting The Stage.

Updates whenever I can get my brain to let me write.

Go to the first thread mark if you wish to skip the first iteration of the quest.
The original attempt will be left up un-threadmarked.

 

[Incon]

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[Incon]

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[Incon]

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[Incon]

Hello again ^ v v ^

For those who have been here, I have rewritten some of the options and added in new ones. So though you can skip the intro I do recommend reading through the boons and curses.

For everyone else.
This is my (second) attempt at a quest set in the universe of The Mechanisms, specifically The City from Ulysses Dies at Dawn. I listened to the album and just had to have more and I thought it's exactly the type of a thing a quest is perfect for.

The main premise to the quest is you are a young being (not necessarily a child but we'll get there) and are in The City. For anyone who does not know this fandom I will explain all terms and this quest should be fine without knowledge. However the album is only 1 hour long and I highly recommend it.

Spoiler: Terms and Background (light spoilers for album, but very light)

The City is an ecuminopaleis of unknown size. As with all Mechanism albums it is based off of, and uses myths and stories. In this case it's the Greek ones. The city is controlled by the Olympians, people who are rich enough to buy immortality. Below them lie everyone else literally and figuratively. The Olympians and higher households own all of the surface and thus most people go their whole life without seeing the sun.

The Greek myths are all interpreted and translated into this sci-fi setting; examples from the albums include the cyclops eye being a giant crystal or the most important thing The Acheron.

When people die their brains are taken to be put into the Acheron to use as processing power. Thus dying is not even the end and simply considered the beginning to an eternity of being trapped within the Acheron. And of course presiding over the Acheron is Hades.

If you have any questions just ask.

Last in larger stuff this is a narrative driven quest. There may be some stats to give a general sense of things, but it will be for vibes at most.
I will try my best to make all choices obvious and results sensical. If you ever want more info on an option just ask and I will probably give more or state my reasons for keeping it hidden.
I love and crave feedback so please give any that you're willing. Whether it's that I was unfair in choices or just that you have ideas or thoughts. As for turns I'm planning on starting vaguely action by action but depending on what this quest turns into switching into a more structured week or month turns and if we get far then possibly year long turns.

For our first vote we will be setting the stage. You have 1 moirai token to start.
Boons cost moirai tokens.
Curses give you more moirai tokens.
Spend your tokens to create what type of quest it's going to be. Voting will be in plan format. Extra tokens are kept and can be spent in minor ways later on. This is a bonus though, not the intended use of them so please don't make decisions based on this fact you will be sad if you do.

An example of a plan may be:

[X] Plan Masochist Mode
-[X] Boons:
—[X] Squandered Chances -7
-[X] Curses:
—[X] Child of the City +0
—[X] Tartarus +2
—[X] Debt to an Olympian +3
—-[X] Hades
—[X] Frail Child +1
—[X] Infamous +1

Though I probably wouldn't recommend this.


After the basics have been established we will move on to character creation in a more detailed way.

Write-ins are always accepted and encouraged though I will veto any I don't think fit or don't want to write.

Lastly all votes (besides this one and parts of the next) are in character unless stated otherwise. Your PC may have incorrect assumptions and your choices will reflect them.

Voting options condensed for ease of use at the bottom.

Boons:

Boon of Hestia -2

There once was an Olympian known as Hestia. To the upper city she has been forgotten, replaced by Dionysius and more fanciful people. But the lower city remembers. They remember she was kind. They remember she cared for them when no one else did. You grew up hearing stories about how she would walk the levels no other Olympian dared and gave rations and credits to any who asked. Many a hearths still fire in her name and many still await the day she'll come back to help. But you know she won't. For when you were alone, you found home in an orphanage with a caring old lady as its keeper. She taught you kindness, she taught you how to love and survive, she taught you a healthy distaste for the olympians, she cared for you when even your parents had left you to rot in the streets. And when she died she whispered her name. Hestia. And names, are a powerful thing indeed.
Whether you choose to carry on your mother in all but names legacy is up to you though.
(Knowledge of a god is not something to scoff at. And you carry the final wishes of one)

Boon of Fate -2

The Moirai control everything and are the mind of the city. You have an uncanny ability to read and understand their logic. Allowing you to understand the City in ways few can.
(allows you to predict the working of the city in strange ways, such as always knowing when the next train is going to arrive to the schedule for the drones)

Boon of Destiny -2

The prediction algorithms and processes have determined you're destined for greatness. This gives you more leeway in your actions as less would dare get in the way of someone as prophesied as you. Though the designs of fate cut both ways.
(Choose a fate. It will come true though maybe not in the way you expect.)

• To bring the sun
• To be an Olympian
• To destroy the sky
• To anger the Moon
• To kill a god
• To revolutionize life
• To be something new
• (write in)

Boon of Asclepius -1

You were sickly as a child. You were also lucky, scoring a spot in a limited research study. Now your body heals quicker than most and your life expectancy is high.
(all but the deadliest wounds will be fully healed, and even those can be escaped.)

Artemis's Boon -1

You lost an eye as a small child due to a misplaced shot from a Huntress. Miraculously they paid for a replacement. Due to a mix up you got a then state of the art eye. It can see where most cannot and has allowed you to know more than you should. Being able to make it glow any color you want is also a bonus.
(allows you to see in all spectrums as well the ability to record a limited amount)

Hermes Boon -1

You were born to a Skytrain™ engineer. You grew up in the tunnels of the city's transportation network. Your mind is a map of the city, or a part of it, and your knowledge of it allows you to get where your going quicker then most. (gives you knowledge of the environment more than most both in the general sense and specific locations.)

Iris's -1

You were left at a post office as a baby. The workers took you in and raised you as their own. A big family made you a well socialized child and you never had doubt about what you wanted to do when you grew up.
(Addresses and locations stick in your head from years of deliveries and you have access to the mail of some of the city's elite, if you're willing to break the law.)

Boon of Aether -1

When you were a babe your parents sneaked their way to the upper levels. Somehow avoiding all the security and making their way higher and higher. You don't remember it but you know in your soul that you've seen the light and breathed unfiltered air under the sun's warm glow. It doesn't matter nobody believes you, you've touched the sky and it gives you strength to continue.
As you grew up you always felt a yearning to feel the sun again, and that desire has brought you in contact with a peculiar group of people aiming to do just that.
(gives your extra willpower and health (non literally) as well as connections to a certain group)

Child of Sirens -1

Your father was a siren and taught you some of his ways. Your voice is yours to control and your knowledge of relaxation and minds is well taught. As a child you used it to get an extra sweet from the baker or get the other kids to play the games you want. As you grew you trained your power and now are capable of far more.
(allows manipulation beyond normally possible)

Child of Hyacinthus -1

Your father was a consort to Apollo.
When he died under suspicious circumstances you where given all you need to have a comfortable life in the middle levels. As well as the ability to call upon an olympian once.
(instead of growing up in the lower levels like the vast majority you experienced a life of relative luxury.)

Taverns Child -1

You grew up in a bar learning curses from the workers and cards from the sharks. You've got a taste for (insert alcohol) and know how to deal with all types of people. With connections in near every circle and a finger in most pies your social network is surprisingly big for someone so young.
(allows you to say "I know a guy" to solve problems and accomplish your goals.)

Street Rat -1

No home besides the one you've made for yourself. You've got skills to survive and know how to get away from trouble just as much as you know how to get into it.
(Add if you have any friends/family you live with on the streets)
(Your street level knowledge allows you to escape from almost anywhere through the alleyways. And you have a plethora of random skills to call upon.)

Prodigy -1

You are a prodigy in an area of your choosing.

Squandered Chances -X

Waste your tokens for no reward. Put whatever number of tokens you want to squander in the X. (This is not a trick, it's just to get rid of tokens. There is no hidden reward if you do it.)

Write in: -?

Write in your own idea that fits within the world of Ulysses's Dies at Dawn. @ me and I will give a value asap.

Curses:

Tartarus +2

(Doing this will alter the first part of the quest greatly.)
You are the lowest of the low. The forgotten and scorned, thrown into the very deepest depths of the planet. To even get out of here and into the city proper is a task of its own. Whether you truly deserve this is yet to be determined.
(If chosen the first part of the quest will be escaping Tartarus or taking it over or some other thing in Tartarus. You will gain extra skills and strength from completing this endeavor though you will also gain enemies and curses)

End of the Line +2

(Doing this will alter the first part of the quest greatly.)
You've lived an empty life and are nearing old age. Your body is feeble and your time is near. But it's not over yet! Something has ignited your will to live and there are many ways to gain youth. (You must write in what has invigorated your will to live.)
(If chosen the first part of the quest will be obtaining youth. In character creation you will have more skills from a lifetime of work though you will only be able to carry a few to your renewed youth.)

Debt to an Olympian +1/+2/+3

(You can take multiple debts)
Choose which Olympian you are in debt to. Demigods and extended family +1. Most Olympians give a +2. Zeus, Posidien, Hades, give a +3. (Add in if you want how your family or you (though probably not as your most likely young) earned this debt.)

Charon's Acquaintance +1

When you were young you died.
The time had been called, and a Charon had come to deliver your mind to the Acheron.
Yet miraculously right as it was being transferred you came back to life.
A miracle it may not have been though.
Since then you've heard voices in your head and have trouble sleeping, worried you'll slip back into non-existence.

Nemesis' Nemesis +1

When you were young your family found itself on the wrong side of the law. You have memories of trial after trial, and in the end you were left by yourself.
Crime became the way you survived and deceit the rule you live by. You hate the city and dream of tearing down its legal system for what it's done to you.

Child of Cassandra +1

Your mother was a prophetic computer engineer. She helped fix a long standing issue with the second sister of fate and was known as the women who saved the city.
Or she was.
When she turned down a proposition by Apollo he got spiteful and used his power as an olympian to ruin her image and career.
She went from the darling of the technology sector , to scourge of the industry. Nobody would work with her and nobody would believe when she tried to say Apollo was at fault.
When you became an adult she chose to disappear, leaving you behind to bear the shame cast her way.

Dicey Relations +1

Drawn to gambling from a young age you made money throwing dice. As you grew up you continued playing and became a known gambler. Perhaps you played too much though as you lost all your money. You didn't lose your desire to give your life over to luck though, in fact it only got stronger.

Infamous +1

You will have to hide your identity lest you be found. Anonymity is your name and the cost of being caught is high.

The Mines +1

You were born in a mine hive colony. The belts are all you know and you know them well. Leaving this rock will be easy but the city is an unknown that you are ill prepared for.

Locked Child +1

Trapped in a room with only a window facing an empty alleyway as your entertainment. You were confined by scornful parents who hated your existence and have grown to despise small spaces and being told what to do.

Shortened Lifespan +1

Though you were avoided the worst symptoms of the sphinxes disease you where still affected. You know you will not live more then 10 years. All the more reason then to have an impact while you can.

Frail Child +1

Your body is weak, and you must rely on others for most physical labor.

Child of the City +0

(Choose No Boons. Or specify to choose boons for Flavour but will gain no benefits. Still uses tokens.)
Just another child abandoned in this cursed city. No boons to speak of, no parentage to gain from you have nothing except yourself. Of course this means all you ever gain is yours and yours alone. (I want to be clear this is not a mystery box this is not a secret option where it will be revealed you're actually special somehow. This is the hard mode option. The only thing to gain from it is pride and the ability to say you took everything yourself without any help from your upbringing. Of course it does make for a pretty fun character.)

Write in: +?

Write in your own idea that fits within the world of Ulysses's Dies at Dawn. Tag me and I will give a value asap.


A maximum of 1 childhood related option.
and 6 tokens spent total.

Voting Condensed

-[ ] Boons:
—[ ] Boon of Hestia -2
—[ ] Boon of Fate -2
—[ ] Boon of Destiny -2
—-[ ] (Insert fate here)
—[ ] Boon of Asclepius -1
—[ ] Artemis's Boon -1
—[ ] Hermes Boon -1
—[ ] Iris's Boon -1
—[ ] Boon of Aether -1
—[ ] Child of Sirens -1
—[ ] Child of Hyacinthus
—[ ] Taverns Child -1
—[ ] Street Rat -1
—-[ ] (Insert any friends or family here)
—[ ] Prodigy -1
—-[ ] (Insert what skill/field you are a prodigy in)
—[ ] Squandered Chances -1
—[ ] Write in: -?
-[ ] Curses:
—[ ] Tartarus +2
—[ ] End of the Line +2
—[ ] Debt to an Olympian +1/+2/+3
—-[ ] (Name of debt holder here)
—[ ] Charon's Acquaintance +1
—[ ] Nemesis's Nemesis +1
—[ ] Child of Cassandra +1
—[ ] Dicey Relations +1
—[ ] Infamous +1
—[ ] The Mines +1
—[ ] Locked Child +1
—[ ] Shortened Lifespan +1
—[ ] Frail Child +1
—[ ] Child of the City +0
—[ ] Write in: +?


If there are any questions I encourage people to just tag me. I love discussion and communication. Voting will be open 48 hours. And I'm aiming for updates at least once a week.

 

[Incon]

Focuses

Disclaimer: Some lore is universal and exists no matter which option you pick. Other details and lore only exist in one option. Just because a detail is stated in one option does not make it true for the other. These are OOC votes and are shaping the world itself. Characters and plot lines even if shared between options are not necessarily the same people and stories.
Also! Though this is an OOC vote individually each option is still shaped through the MCs lens. Information is not complete and that is on purpose.
To make each option interesting to read some details have not been repeated that would've been otherwise.

Become

TLDR; This will focus on politics in Olympia and building a name for yourself in an effort to become an Olympian. You want them to feel powerless, and nothing will stop you.

You were born to the darling of the Olympians. You grew up in opulence and fame. Until Apollo made it disappear along with your mother. He left you an orphan on the streets. No knowledge of the skills needed to survive, only the ability to understand the city in the way your mother had.
He left you to die, but instead you were saved.
An old lady named Vesta took you in and gave you a home, with many siblings, and constant care. She knew who you were and accepted you anyways.
You loved your new home, but it never got rid of the stain that had been ridden upon your family name. It never made you forget how much had been taken from you and that rage fueled you to retake your rightful name.
It was not to be.
The second time you were saved was many years later and by Asclepius. You had gotten sick but had not accepted your fate. Somehow you were picked for a medical study by the most renowned doctor in the city. You swallowed your disgust at having to rely upon an Olympian, and the son of Apollo no less, to live, to give you hope.
After numerous tests and medications failed you were resigned. As another surgery came to a close you let yourself die.
The Charons came to collect your mind, and you were halfway uploaded to the Acheron when your body came back to life. The surgery had worked, and your body was once again healthy, healthier in fact.
Your mind less so.
Contamination with the Acheron is a dangerous thing that is rarely studied and no one had ever returned from so far over the brink. How you didn't immediately get taken as a test subject you don't know. you do know that it cost you a debt to Asclepius.
When you told your second mother in all but name about the voices you heard in the silence or the visions you had of other lives she believed you and gave you comfort.
You lived peacefully for a while, caring for the other children and ignoring the delusions of grandeur you once held. Eventually, as all but the Olympians do, Vesta died. But not before telling one final tale.
The tale of Hestia, the oldest women to die, and the first women to live.
The knowledge left you burdened. You had never truly escaped the Olympians had you.
The knowledge left you angry. The Olympians would not escape you.
Your first mother had risen from nothing to near Olympian status. Why not you?
It would be hard. No one could find out whose child you were. No one could realize whose ideas and values you carried on. But your house will rise, and the gods will kneel.

Fight

TLDR; This will focus on forming a revolution and taking down Olympia to end the current system. You want the Olympians gone, and nothing will stop you.

You were born to two nobodies. Your mother Cassandra, a computer engineer who struggled to find work and your mom Vesta, a matron of a small orphanage.
Your childhood was mostly filled with love and many siblings, there where some odd things. The way your cuts healed faster then the others, how your mom never seemed to age. But life was good.
And then Cassandra found success, going as far as to entreat with the Olympians. Nights of distracting the other kids as your mothers argued downstairs, stressful days when you didn't understand how an ostensibly good thing made your life bad. You grew to resent the Olympians, hate the system they had made and the ways it twisted your family apart.
And then fortune turned even worse. The wraith of the Olympians is no trifle and your mother had earned it. Soon after she disappeared.
Your mom seemed broken by the loss and retreated into her work and herself.
You where furious and took it out on the world. You joined riots against the Olympians, and took every opportunity to spite the people that had ruined your family.
Your mom tried to get you to stop, worried about you and what could happen.
She was right.
You where caught, and for your defiance you where set to go to Tartarus. When you resisted you where killed.
Yet when the Charons came to upload your mind you revived, though not without taking a toll you had yet to discover.
Running away you made it home to receive a hug and an explanation.
When you were naught but a baby you became sick. Medicine didn't work and doctors failed. Not knowing what else to do your mom took you to the only man she knew who had a chance at saving you. Asclepius.
It worked.
Possibly too well.
She took you and disappeared hiding you from the Olympians sight.
When your mother started mingling with them, well it wasn't hard to figure out what some of the fights were about.
And then you learned the most important detail that explained why you were even treated by the most prominent doctor in the city, and why your mom despised the Olympians so much.
She used to be one.
Eventually she saw the harm that was being done and decided to leave her stature doing all she could to help the people she had ignored for so long.
And then you were born and cursed. And she chose to stop fighting to protect you.
At first you were angry at her.
You screamed, you raged. Your mom was what you despised and had hidden her sins.
You left the house not even saying goodbye. It is perhaps the decision you regret the most in your life.
When you got back it was to fire. Not even corpses remained of your mom or your siblings.
A man stood in front of the building tapping a cane with the head of a snake.
For a second time you ran.
The Olympians had killed your family.
They had destroyed your life.
And they where going to pay.
Voices and memories you didn't know gave you ideas. Skills from your mother allowed you to twist the fates. A soul nurtured by your mom gave you strength.
You didn't care what you had to do.
You would use the gifts your parents had left you, and the gods would fall.

Use

TLDR; This will at first focus on doing tasks and scheming in an effort to kill Apollo and possibly others depending on your judgment. You want revenge, and nothing will stop you.

You were born to the women who saved the city. She had stayed mostly anonymous and at first was known only by name.
And then you got sick.
She used her fame and fortune to higher the worlds greatest doctor. And he saved you. But it was at the cost of life beneath the Olympians cruel gaze.
Now in the spotlight your mother was at the whims of people more powerful then her.
She danced for them as best she could providing miracles and pleasing their egos. It wasn't enough.
For a sin unknown to you Apollo ruined your mother. He destroyed her credibility and stained her image. You have one memory of him. Your mom terrified as a booming voice sounds from behind the door, whispering her love as she made you go upstairs. A single image of a wide smile and sharp eyes as she opened the doors, caught from peaking through the banister.
She didn't return home.
The remaining few years of young adulthood passed quickly. You used the wealth that your mother had accumulated to live and did your best to not draw attention to yourself. Eventually the money dried up.
Life was meaningless, so you went in search of death.
It did not wish to be found, and instead of joining the Acheron the Acheron joined you.
You awoke to a man whose eyes you recognized, yet quickly they softened and you knew it was not Apollo.
Unconsciousness took you again but not before being told that you would be called upon.
For the second time you woke up in an unfamiliar place.
A women looked at you with kind eyes.
And so you came to live with Vesta.
For a while you were bedridden. Your mind was a disjointed mess and your body struggling to heal.
As the months, then years, passed though you found your place.
Vesta became the best friend you had never had. And for a time things were at peace.
And then you received a letter in the mail. It was addressed simply to the child of Cassandra, and had one word written in bold. "Ring"
Vesta seemed disturbed by the letter and retreated to her study leaving you alone to pack you stuff.
Before you left that very same night, she called you for a conversation.
She knew she need not warn you of the Olympians so instead she told you something else.
She spoke of her own life, of how she once lived beneath the sun, how she choose to leave. She knew she didn't need to warn you of the Olympians. So instead she warned you from becoming one. "There are no good gods. Even I am only paying off my sins."
No more words were spoken and you left with a promise to return as yourself.
For one year now you've worked as Asclepius's hand. Your looked down upon as your mothers child and you tread carefully. But your gift for technology and understanding the fates makes you a valuable tool.
Asclepius even seems to trust you, though to what extent that relies upon him knowing your secret of returning from the dead you do not know. It binds you to him and has kept you in line, so maybe it's not misplaced.
Then again, you are plotting his murder.
He is Apollo's son after all.
For now you wait though. Escaping attention by having little power and doing your tasks.
You're patient after all. You know the time will come, and at least two gods will die.



Your personality will be shaped by the focus and I have decided things such as your appearance and other physical details already.
Unless I come up with some important vote on exact starting positions the next update will be a real chapter, though length, as always, is left to the fates.

As usual if you'd like any clarifications just ask. (^-^)

P.S.
I enjoy that due to the combo of Asclepius and Cassandra you have come out having a grudge specifically against Apollo and his family. What a fun coincidence.
Also I really don't envy having to vote here as I genuinely love all these options and am interested in the story each of them would tell. It was basically just re-arranging the same four plot points in different orders, but it was surprisingly fun and I think has yielded 3 tempting pathways.



Some things are set due to being Cassandras child. You have reddish blonde hair that sits in tight curls no matter the length. Your eyes are dark brown and seem to catch the light with flashes of sliver. Your on the shorter side and have a roundish face.


-[ ] Become the power
-[ ] Fight the power
-[ ] Use the power

Closes in 48 hours.

 

[Incon]

–A/N–
Had some writing troubles this week
Should be back to weekly.
And yes I'm aware the tenses are messed up.

Spoiler: Winning vote

Use the Power

Scutwork 1.1

–To help, Or not to help. That is the question.–

-w-

Scissors.

You hand the scissors over to Asclepius, not even paying attention as he cuts the gauze.
It's nothing you haven't seen a hundred times before.

Instead you mindlessly look around the operating room for what feels like the hundredth time.
Unlike the large cathedrals and hightech environments of Olympia, the space has equipment older than you and is covered in a layer of dirt and dust.
It wouldn't surprise you if no one had touched the room since when the two of you had last been here 6 months ago.

"(Name)."
Asclepius's strict tone drew your attention.
You had found your thoughts drifting more and more recently. Easy to get caught up in your mind, talking to yourself.

"(Name)"
It came with a snap this time.

"Sorry Sir, repeat what you said."

"We're leaving. Get the bag."

You look down.
The person that had been lying on the table was gone along with the bloodied tools.

"Yes Sir."

You grab the organ bag.
If you squint it looks like a normal gladstone bag. Stiff brown artificial leather, stretched over a rigid frame.
The rhythmic thump, not quite that of a heart, and sides that seem to breathe ever so slightly keep that notion away.
But you had gotten used to the weird device by now, picking it up without a second glance.

Asclepius was already at the door walking through.
You would think it rude if he didn't outrank you in every way that mattered.
That was a lie, you still found it a bit rude.
You'd come to accept it though. From what you saw arrogance and indifference to those around them was part of being an Olympian.

You follow quickly behind.
As you cross the boundary of the door, noise bombards you. People wailing, babies crying and moaning. The worst however were those who were begging.
"Please save my child!""Sav–""Help my brother." "He–" "Please i'm dying." Save me please!" "Save my baby."
A mass of sick and hurt people only wanting to not die. Reaching for Asclepius's miracles.
Yet he's done dispensing them for the day, and walks through uncaringly. Trusting none are stupid enough to touch him.

When you had first been here 6 months ago, you had stopped and tried to help. Even if it was only to give some pills or patch a wound.
The next day you woke up in agony. Every wound you had healed inflicted upon you tenfold. Kept from death due to your unnatural body.
Two days later you were begging on your knees for relief.
It was granted, but only after another two days.

You had considered helping people again and just accepting the pain.
A single look while you were in the transport vehicle told you the punishment wouldn't stop at your own body this time. His glare reminding you much too much of his fathers for your liking.

And so as you walked in step behind Asclepius you stared at his feet and did your best to ignore the throng.

"Please! Please just save this child!"
A voice cut through the crowd, a melodic tone piercing the noise and quieting the room.
Kneeling directly in Asclepius's path was an older person holding what you can only assume is a baby.
With skin like fresh marble and facial features that seem to meld into their skin it was hard to tell.
"Please. They're going to die if they can't be healed."
The voice seemed to slither into your ear. Liquid persuasion to your unconscious mind.
Despite the words being no different from the countless others you found yourself compelled.

"Move."
The feeling vanished when Asclepius spoke, your thoughts left slightly hollowed from its absence.
When the person just looked up defiantly, he started walking. Going around the person who had put themself in an olympian's path. To normal people who had never been in an Olympian's company this seemed normal.
But you had been shadowing one for almost a year now and had watched many more. Walking around someone was not how an Olympian normally acted.
And yet he had.
So you followed behind assuming the altercation done.

A rough and wrinkled hand reached out grabbing at Asclepius white overcoat in desperation.

Asclepius kicked the figure away, fingers leaving a handprint of grime on the coat.
The crowd parted as they fell backwards with a loud grunt, wrapping themself around the child to protect it from the fall.

Asclepius looked down at the person with an impassive face before turning forwards and continuing on as if nothing had happened.

No one in the room spoke, and the two of you left the waiting room in silence.
You couldn't bring yourself to look back, instead focusing on the handprint staining the coattails with sorrow.

You didn't know how to feel at the fact you were mostly just grateful for his kindness in leaving without further conflict.

–

You sit in the soft seats, organ bag next to you and Asclepius sitting across staring out the window to the city.
He seemed more tense than normal.
Mouth a thin line set above a defined jaw, his eyes tight beneath slightly furrowed brows.
The only indicator of his mood, you had come to learn, was a slight tapping of his fingers. It was a languid motion that seemed to draw out time.
You'd learned it meant he was thinking.

When you'd been told 6 months ago that you'd be joining him on a day trip to the lower levels you'd been shocked.
When you had arrived in a small hospital that serviced more than triple its capacity and he had started helping a crowd of waiting people silently it had stunned you even more.
And then at some arbitrary point he stopped. And the two of you left leaving a trail of untreated patients behind.

You'd been fresh in his service at that point. Too hesitant to ask anything.

Now it was the opposite. You knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't take kindly to questioning his motives.

He seemed to be a step ahead of you.
"Speak. Your thoughts are clouding the car."

A trap. If you asked about why he came down to the lowest levels of the City to help nobodies for free twice a year he might get mad.
If you didn't respond he would definitely get mad.
And lying was even more of a gamble.

You placed your bet.
"Apologies if this is overstepping Sir. I was wondering why you do this. Coming to the lower levels I mean." You had learned to be precise in your wording.
Having to dust all 73 unused rooms of the manor had been an enlightening punishment.

Brows tightened further and the corner of his mouth flickered into a frown before setting back into his customary scowl.
"In my youth I made a foolish deal."

You could tell there was more. The words seemed to be playing in his mind, the story unfolding explaining why he used his time on a trip he clearly saw as pointless.
You wondered who the deal was with, what he had gotten in return, why he kept it. Olympians weren't exactly known for their honesty.
The answers remained in his thoughts, and the rest of the trip passed in silence.

–

Near half an hour later and the transport arrived at the manor.
Time had little meaning to the vast majority. Long before you were born the sun became a thing of myth and the constant light of trillions of people living kept most of the city in an eternal haze of dusk.
But to an olympian such as Asclepius, it still carried weight.
He had a house on the surface, and thus followed the rhythms of its cycle.
Or that's what you were told. You had yet to actually see it with your own eyes. Instead shuffled through corridors and from closed transports.
When asclepius had blindfolded you one day to bring you along on a trip to heal some demigod you had never heard off, you admittedly started to get a tiny bit suspicious.

Asclepius got out of the car and you trialed behind as always. You had been taken to one level below the surface, the only level of the manor you were allowed on.
The doors open on their own and you pass into empty halls.

Candles cast enough light to see the surroundings but not enough to make out the details. Thick drapes covering the windows to prevent ambient light from leaking in.

The two of your footsteps echoed as one. You intentionally syncing your step out of forced habit.

"Have it cleaned by tomorrow."
The white overcoat was tossed to you without a look and he advanced up a set of stairs.

You barely caught it with your free hand, waiting at the bottom of the steps giving a light bow as he walked up and out of sight.

Once you could no longer hear the click of his boots you relaxed marginally.
You knew that cameras still recorded, but the chance they would be checked was basically zero.

You walked back down another side hall to the storage room. Walking inside you did a routine check of the humidity levels, though considering you could already feel your tight curls sticking to your face you could tell it was fine.
Going to the central table you hiked the organ bag onto it.
When you had first been tasked with keeping the bag healthy it took you over twenty minutes each night. Putting on masks to filter out the smell and gloves to keep your hands clean and then taking it all off having taken a good portion of that
.
Now you just accepted the putrid stench of viscera and meat and washed your hands with bleach afterwards.
The sting wasn't so bad once you got used to it.

You grab two tubes that dangle above the station pulling them down.
The bag opened like a mouth. Two screw valves reminiscent of a heart rising out of its maw.

The whole thing fascinated you. You didn't understand how it had been made nor exactly what the nutrient paste you fed it was. The outcome was clear enough though. With the correct input it could produce organs that matched the body of whoever was being operated on. Or, if your theory was correct, a whole body itself if fed enough.

Plugging the pipes in the slurping sound of slurry being consumed and waste pumps activated.

You walk over the sink and douse your hands in extra strength corrosive bleach.
A minute later and the top layer of your skin had been burned off.
Another minute and you're already down the hall, your skin healed back up.

Your last stop before you sleep is the laundry room.
Most olympians had a houseful of staff and servants to do the chores.
It wasn't the case here. From what you'd seen you and Asclepisu were the only two who lived in the Manor. Though the empty rooms implied that at some point it was filled with people.
But currently it was not, and so you did some of the scut work like laundry and keeping the equipment ready and healthy.

You take the cleaning product out of the cupboard and lay the jacket on the table.
A dirty handprint looks back impassively, a reminder of the child you left to die.
It wasn't the first time you'd watched as Asclepius abandoned those he could help.
It didn't make it any easier to do nothing.
You poured the detergent and threw it into the washer hoping that cleaning the jacket would wash you of the shared sin.

The walk to your room felt long, the image of the person kicked to the floor, baby helpless and dying replaying in your mind.
If only you could help them.
Wait.

You could help them.

You turn back around and quicken your pace to arrive in the curation room. Vials and phylacteries of chemical compounds fill the wall. Everything one could want to make any chemical compound.

From what you could tell the baby had the Medusa virus. It had appeared a few months ago, surprisingly starting in Olympia. You didn't know the politics surrounding that, but Asclepius had been called to make vaccines for olympians as well as a cure for those already infected.

The debacle had already been mostly forgotten by the olympians, but the virus had spread throughout the city.
If you were correct though.
Passing by the myriad of chemicals you reached another door.
Opening it you were in the storage room.
Hundreds of shelves contained thousands of cures and chemicals for healing. Asclepius's lifetime of work condensed into a single room.

Checking the log book you found the correct location and went to the shelf.
A rack stacked with over 30 vials of the correct cure.

You knew where the transport had gone.
If you sent it there it would most likely find its recipient.
You could save them.

You almost reach for the vial.
But was it worth the risk?
If you got caught Asclepius's hard earned trust would diminish. Not to mention the punishment.
You had plans. Plans that required that trust. Plans that would help a lot more than just one child.
Could you really justify risking it all?

Be careful in the company of monsters. Even if your goal is noble, it is hard not to become one yourself.
Vestas words echo in your mind.

You were thinking like an olympian. Putting goals and plans above the immediate good you could do.
You reached out.

But…
You had a justification. You couldn't do more good later if you were caught.

You'd be letting a baby die.

Every moment people were dying you couldn't help them all, what difference was this one. Just because you feel personally responsible? What about all the others you left untreated? Were you going to send medicine for them as well? Wouldn't helping this one child just be to sate your own moral superiority and re affirm that you're a good person? You didn't even know if it would reach the child.

Was being a bystander any better?

-w-

What Do?

- [ ] Send the medicine

- [ ] Don't risk it

- [ ] Write in (_)

Remember. All votes unless stated otherwise are in character and subject to the POV characters perspective.
Speaking of…

What is your name?

(Should be Greek. I hate naming peeps but will do it if no one has ideas.)

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Polls open at least 24 hours.

–A/N–

While writing itself is a teensy jank I'm quite happy with actual content and this fresh start. ^-^