[video]

[velocette]

The reason zombies can't work--can't work in world without magic--is all down to micro-tears. Say you could keep away the decay, say you could eradicate the little parasites we all have in our skin just waiting for us to keel over. You'd still last maybe a few weeks as a walking corpse.

If you're dead, there's nothing in your head and nothing pumped through your heart to mend and adapt, and you'd just fall apart, little by little.

This death tolling, maybe it's the Admiral failing to patch back up the parts of your brains that know how to adapt to the wear and tear of being alive.

Comments

[his_drededfate]

If I may, have you ever experienced this death toll?

[velocette]

A death toll, most of my life. The symptoms don't seem to be much different here, at least most of the time.

I can't tell how things are different now than they were a few weeks ago. Hard to say, unless someone dies a lot on board. [Which brings him to:] Have you died yet?

[his_drededfate]

[Most of his life? Curious.]

No, I have been fortunate on the barge thus far.

[velocette]

That'll probably change. The trick is just not to be afraid of it; you feel things more if you're afraid.

[his_drededfate]

I'll be prepared when it does.

[A pause. Maybe too arrogant sounding...]

As best I can, anyway.

Have you been here long?

[text]

[routemistress]

this breach wasn't a natural one. I think the ship normally takes care of that by herself - bridges the gap to bring us back into ourselves mostly unscathed.

she was being controlled this time, her purpose twisted. by someone that didn't care what damage he did to us so long as he could regain his personal cloudcuckooland. His delusion of control.

[Iris is really, really angry.]

I'm running tests on affected people as soon as I can get up again. If you didn't die I could use some blood and tissue samples, if you're up for it.

[text]

[velocette]

yeah i have some to spare. where are you?

[He has questions, but they'll wait until he's on her table giving blood.]

[text]

[routemistress]

darling, I got very killed, I can barely make it to the toilet and back never mind the lab yet. can you nip down to the infirmary and tell Bruce?

Re: [text]

[velocette]

is he going to know what to do with the samples?

[text]

[routemistress]

yep, he's keeping them on ice for when I can get up. I'd like to check people who were breached and didn't die for comparison purposes. thank you darling <3 <3

[bodilesswarrior]

[Barbara doesn't bother to hide the grimace.] That's one possibility.

[velocette]

[He shrugs slightly, helplessly.]

On a scale, how much worse is this than normal?

[bodilesswarrior]

Hmm. I'd say - if the first one was a six, this one's a ten. It's more persistent, definitely, more - it feels like death sunk deeper. [She knows that doesn't make much sense, and her smile is rueful.]

[velocette]

...Do you remember anything before you wake up?

[bodilesswarrior]

No, I don't. The last thing I remember was collapsing on the Barge.

[velocette]

I still can't decide if that's depressing or not.

[darknessb4me]

Conjecture.

[velocette]

Any good hypothesis comes from experiences and observable evidence. We don't have much of either, here, so I'm going off of what I know...I'm happy to hear other theories.

[darknessb4me]

I'm undead.

[velocette]

Most people here are now. You've probably got more experience, though, especially since most of them don't realize it. What has it done for you?

[darknessb4me]

No they're not. There's a difference between having been dead at one point and true undeath.

[velocette]

What's the difference?

[darknessb4me]

Everything. The undead belong to whoever raised them. Undeath is servitude. You're not bound to the Admiral's will when he brings you back. We have no heartbeat or body heat - not that we need them. We rot if we don't take steps to prevent it. We don't heal, but we're also harder to kill.

[velocette]

[This is new to him--but it makes more sense than the vague myths he grew up with.]

And what happens if, say, I die and get raised, and my- raiser? dies. Do I just drop back in the ground?

[darknessb4me]

It depends on how much energy has been invested already. If you're self-sustaining, you go free. If you were being maintained mostly by the necromancer's will, you die.

[velocette]

How do you decide who the best necromancers are, then? The ones with the self-sufficient undead?

[darknessb4me]

What, me personally?

The most they can raise, maintain, and control simultaneously. How complex and lifelike their thralls are. Or how powerful.

I also like ones that can follow orders without doing something stupid.

[velocette]

That's a real feat. They say even computers sometimes fuck up, make stupid mistakes.

[But an idea occurs to him.] ...What're the chances the Admiral's just following orders? That he's just someone's undead pawn?

[darknessb4me]

[Arthas grunts thoughtfully. He hadn't thought about that before.]

I still want him dead. But if it goes further than him... possibly. He never seemed smart or motivated enough to come up with this system on his own.

[velocette]

[He nods slowly; he can appreciate that.]

So if you saw him, could you tell if he's undead?

[darknessb4me]

I could tell you if he has a heartbeat and a soul. Some undead have one or the other, but not both.

[velocette]

Then...all we have to do is find him.

[darknessb4me]

Yes. All we have to do.

[velocette]

I know. But either he's on the ship, or he's transmitting onto it. Either way we'll have an answer.

[darknessb4me]

If you think you can do something that every inmate has been trying for a decade, by all means don't let me get in your way.

[velocette]

Oh I don't expect to have immediate success. I'm not even sure we'll ever know if he's real, but we're bound to find something if we start looking, even if it's completely unrelated. Most inventions began life with an entirely different purpose than they ended up with, after all.

[darknessb4me]

Good luck.

[It's honestly difficult to tell if this is sarcastic or sincere. Maybe both.]