Room 3

[testingphase]

[The room, once you've entered it, has a number of ear buds laid out on a table.]

Now, pop those ear buds in and we'll begin the test! Failure to comply will result in desyncing and forcing your team to pay for a replacement body.

Comments

[thatboyisamonster]

It has . . . a long history attached to it.

Navy?

[cloak_and_sniper]

How long are we talking?

Space. Earth's military.

[thatboyisamonster]

Eons.

Curious. Why would Earth need an army in space?

[cloak_and_sniper]

... Interesting. Named after a religious or mythological being?

We're not the only species with space travel. And when there are disagreements, well... it's best to be safe.

[thatboyisamonster]

The mythical being, in fact.

But there must be more. Threats have this way of cropping up.

[cloak_and_sniper]

Hm... Know anyone here, by any chance?

How do you mean?

[thatboyisamonster]

I do. Plenty.

A major threat you've had to deal with. Something that could . . . harm Earth and other galaxies. Something with inherent . . . mysteries.

[cloak_and_sniper]

Do you get along with them?

. . . You mean Reapers?

[thatboyisamonster]

From time to time. No relationship is perfect.

Go on.

[cloak_and_sniper]

Ever had a. . . disagreement that ended badly?

Giant, sentient machines that systematically harvested all advanced life every 50,000 years.

[thatboyisamonster]

Who hasn't?

It's a war, isn't it?

[cloak_and_sniper]

By badly, I mean did violence ever come into it?

Yes. And no one was prepared for it.

[thatboyisamonster]

Hmm. I'm not sure. Depends on the incident.

Weren't you?

[cloak_and_sniper]

I tried. I did as much as I could, but there's only so much one person can do when very few people are listening.

[thatboyisamonster]

What were the consequences?

[cloak_and_sniper]

Tens of millions of people were killed. And that was just in the first few days. I. . . didn't take any more notice of the numbers after that.

[thatboyisamonster]

. . .

Does that make you feel guilty? Or was there more to it?

[cloak_and_sniper]

I don't know. . . I was more angry over the numbers because if people had listened, if they'd prepared, the numbers could have been fewer.

[thatboyisamonster]

Communication. Are you trust-worthy?

[cloak_and_sniper]

[bristles]

I warned the Council against the Reaper threat and a Reaper attacked. It was taken down, I sacrificed Allaince ships to save their lives! When I tried to warn of more, they ignored me. And they continued to ignore me until the Reapers assault of Earth two years later. It wasn't that I wasn't trust-worthy! It was that they were unwilling to listen to anything that threatened their false-sense-of-security!

[thatboyisamonster]

Calm down. All I'm doing is finding the right answers.

[cloak_and_sniper]

I'm... sorry. It's a sore subject.

[thatboyisamonster]

Indeed. That's why I asked. Our secrets have always been a sore subject.

[cloak_and_sniper]

That wasn't a secret, though. I was publicly... dismissed.

[thatboyisamonster]

. . . I see. And then?