westwhere | ( closed ) I've got no strings to hold me down

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( closed ) I've got no strings to hold me down

WHO: Jim Kirk, Finn and Wrathion
WHEN: Now
WHERE: The Trek flat
WHAT: Jim's burlap mannequin daughter comes to life.
WARNINGS: A mannequin being "alive" and moving?? Just in case that freaks anyone out.

Since Jim's broadcast, it's been an eventful week, and not particularly in a good way. Jim's time has been divided between looking after Bones, working on fixing the music box and welcoming a number of visitors to see either the box or the mannequin; and on top of all that he's been keeping up with his work and the resistance group, just so he doesn't get any unwanted attention by suddenly vanishing and becoming a recluse. It means he's getting a little tired at this point, and probably looking a bit less put-together too, but at least he's not about to pass out around the house. (Yet.)

He's got Finn around on occasion, which actually helps him keep his focus, even though trying to get Finn not to freak out on occasion over the mannequin is equally its own task. It's been a calm morning so far, when Wrathion comes by to finally check out the mannequin, and Jim doesn't waste much time to lead him into the room where they're keeping it, Finn close behind them. The room is fairly dark, only a bit of light coming in from the open door, but Jim turns on the lights to show the mannequin lying down on a bed against a corner of the room. He's a little hesitant but walks over anyway, standing next to the bed, then glancing at Wrathion as he gestures down to it.

"Here it is."

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It truly is strange to look at.

Unnerving, especially knowing they somehow come to life. Take on the guise of skin, of humanity. He tilts his head slowly, narrows his eyes as he moves around the bed to get closer. One finger reaches out to gently swipe through the grease on one of its joints, and he sniffs at it curiously.

"The same as on the key, and inside the droids. This grease is being used everywhere. This mannequin also has a trace of something we've encountered before, a dark water we've seen repeatedly. Wrath mentioned finding a whole pool of it in the Remembrance headquarters, that they were infusing these sacks with. It would make sense that it's a part of whatever they're doing, we've seen this water cause strange mutations in humans and wild animals both -- it obviously has some power to it. When chilled, it was also able to heal injuries."

Finn has absolutely been hovering around. Though, he is sorry about freaking out on occasion, he can't really help himself. The thing moved, they all saw it. And, yeah, sure, he can understand wanting to save it, really. But he's not so sure that it's just as compassionate.

For pity's sake, look at it. Finn can't even get a solid read on the thing half the time, like it's somewhere between living and-... Well, not dead. Unalive. Sure. Hence why he doesn't like this.

But he's making efforts to be calmer about this whole thing, so he lingers near the door with his arms crossed, craning his neck to look at it from this distance. Then he perks up.

"Should we try to dry it out, then?"

Jim would be more concerned if Finn were hanging around the mannequin too much, but he seems more interested in keeping his distance, which works just fine for him. Honestly, Jim gets it. He's been around it a few times, trying to detect any signs of life and noting any details he might've missed before, and he's not really as afraid of it as Finn seems to be, but there's definitely an eeriness to it, something that causes him discomfort by merely being around it.

It's easier being in the room when he's not alone, at least. He even feels at ease enough to sit on the edge of the bed, so he can slightly move the mannequin to give Wrathion a better view of the joints and other minor details.

"Not discarding the possibility that all the beings here are animated mannequins of some sort," he points out. Both halves of the citadel do insist the other half isn't human— perhaps neither of them are. He glances back to where Finn's standing near the doorway. "I don't know that we should. If it's what brings these things to life, then... we could let it happen. It might be able to tell us something."

It certainly might. Wrathion folds his arms, narrows his eyes in thought at the mannequin.

"I'd agree it seems likely there are more of them, if not everyone here. All the same, we have far more questions than answers. Are they being granted life from nothing, or infused with life that belonged elsewhere? The latter is far more destructive, after all. You mentioned a box, too? That played music?"

Given Arabella's reaction to key words, he wonders if the box might tell them more about how these trigger phrases work.

Okay, well, first off, Finn hates that the theory 'everyone living here is a mannequin' makes sense. It even makes his second issue a little more complicated, that being keeping the thing from coming back to life is his main goal right now. Unlike James. Apparently.

If everyone here really is like this thing, though, maybe he's not wrong. Maybe helping it come to life is a good thing? Torn over the situation, Finn walks a little further into the room, nervous about Jim being so close to the mannequin.

"It... starts out sounding like music, but it changes pretty fast. Like something inside is warped, maybe." Broken, something that can be fixed, hopefully. He doesn't like to think that the sounds it makes are what's intended.

He doesn't like it any more than Finn does, but it's better to consider all options than let it catch them off-guard. At least it won't be too much of a shock if it does turn out to be true.

He'll still hope it isn't, though.

"Oh, I've managed to fix it, actually," he says, nodding back to the door where Finn is. "It's back in the living room. I've played it near the mannequin and it did nothing, but we can try again. Come on—"

He starts to get up, ready to walk back out of the room, when suddenly something curls around his hand. Not too hard, but definitely firm enough that it's not just a nudge. Jim's heart leaps in his chest, blood chilling as he looks back down to the bed to see the mannequin's hand clinging to his own.

"So, uh... something's happening over here."

They fixed it? Wrathion immediately has follow up questions: how? Did it seem sabotaged, damaged, naturally deteriorated? A deliberate modification that was thought out? Now that it was fixed, did they learn anything new? He opens his mouth to begin asking, then closes it and refocuses at the follow up.

The... mannequin?

"It appeared inert," Wrathion says, curious. "So whatever process this is takes time. I'd keep some distance, if I were you, in case it isn't happy to wake up. How long ago did you play the music box near it?"

Could it be that? Arabella had reacted swiftly to the words directed at her, but perhaps this was slower? Combined with... something else? The dark water?

Finn's blood runs just as cold as soon as he realizes what's happening. The mannequin hadn't moved since they left the room they found it in. At least, Finn certainly hasn't seen it move since then.

Instinct tells him it's about to attack. Something else tells him that it doesn't want to be alone. Finn likes neither of these scenarios, and walks forward slowly so as to make no sudden movements, getting himself next to Jim and his hands on his's torso, like he intends to tug him away or get between him and the... creature? He doesn't pull, though, or reach out to the mannequin itself.

"I agree," he says quietly. "Distance. Distance sounds good."

The mannequin doesn't really move much at first, but Jim's not sure if that's much of a comfort. Actually, he's pretty sure it makes him even more nervous and terrified of what might happen next. To his credit, though, he does manage to look perfectly calm.

"I can't move right now, Finn. It's holding onto me."

And then the weirdest thing happens when Jim talks: it turns its head as if it's looking right at him, then it clings to his forearm as it wobbles itself onto a sitting position. Jim doesn't move away still, instead reaching out on instinct to help it seat upright.

"Whoa— okay. Okay, we're... we're fine. Let's... all of us stay really calm and very still."

How... interesting. This certainly is quite the mystery.

Wrathion drops one hand idly to rest on the hilt of his blade. The mannequin, it seems, is waking up quickly now. Better to be prepared.

"There is no... groundswell of magic, no sudden activation. An interesting process to watch."

He frowns in thought, considering it. It doesn't appear to be immediately changing its outward appearance. At what point, he wonders, does it do that? How does it choose its appearance?

"The ones that awoke before did so in a panic, I'd say we want to avoid that if nothing else."

Finn lets go and slowly steps back as Jim tries to- tries to help it sit up. Even though he's not having a good time right now and really wants to act, the mannequin seems... calm. So, yeah, he agrees once again. Best not to upset the thing.

"What's different this time?" he asks softly, quietly. "Why isn't it panicking?" The music box? The environment? This doesn't feel to Finn like a trap or a delayed reaction.

Then, to Jim: "Is your hand okay?" He doesn't know what kind of strength these things have, okay?

"I don't know why it's not panicking. Maybe— it remembers me?"

He did take it from that horrible room, so who knows. It could be grateful, or at least feel safer here than it did while chained to that bed. It makes sense, if there's any shred of consciousness and sentience in it.

He doesn't dare look away from it though, especially as it leans into his space and seems to just let its weight gently rest against his chest, as if it's too tired to move. "Yeah. It's not... grabbing me, or hurting me. It's just holding on."

Wrathion isn't certain if it could remember him or not -- it was inert before, so far as they could tell. Did it have a sense of its surroundings, even then? The way dragons do even before they hatch? Not impossible. Yet equally, what memories do these things keep of that room? Certainly, none of the other Serthica citizens seemed to ever acknowledge themselves as anything but 'human', but the droids stopped serving them knowing they were not.

Mannequins too, he suspects. Mannequins that do not recall ever not being mannequins.

"I'm sure it's frightened," Wrathion says finally. "However if we are not a threat, it has no need to add us to that source of fear. It has woken up somewhere unfamiliar, and if we are not to harm it then so far as it knows we might help."

He tilts his head, curious, then looks between Finn and Kirk.

"I wonder if the others woke up this way. The droids claim the citizens here are not human. If they aren't human, this is what they are too most likely. The question is, did Remembrance create all of them, or adopt the project? Were they placed in homes, to wake up there?"

And, still, how are they gaining sentience? He frowns.

"You said it was chained to a bed?"

"Help it with what?"

Presumably to get out of the situation it had been in? To find something better? That's what a living being would want help with at this point, but Finn's question is quiet because that's exactly what he's trying to discern. Is this a living being?

The thing is, he feels... something from it. Life of some sort. Energy, awareness, but it's flickering like a candle flame. And while that's certainly concerning, it doesn't reflect on whatever kind of being the mannequin is. It's not bad, has no anger or resentment, but is just calm and maybe scared? All the same, he'd rather treat it like a wild animal, with caution, so Jim being that close to it is making him antsy.

He doesn't move, though. Just stands there and watches.

"I don't plan to come across as a threat," Jim assures Wrathion. The fact that Jim actually does want to help makes it that much easier too, despite how weird this moment right now is. "And it was chained to a table. They weren't exactly focused on comfort."

Not that Jim would have found the scene any less horrifying if it was chained to a bed instead of a table.

While they talk, the mannequin leans further into Jim's personal space, resting against his chest, as if it's using him as a wall to shield it from the other two people in the room.

"Help it be safe. If it is alive, ensure it will stay that way. Possibly, find out if there are more like it."

More like it? Well --

"I strongly suspect many of the Minaras locals, at least, are like it."

Had they not guessed? Wrathion gestures with one hand idly.

"Arabella reacted to trigger words, the same way it seems these mannequins had phrases or songs. The droids do not detect the locals as human. If they aren't human, but they look human superficially, well -- these mannequins, once they finish their transformation, fit that category."

Unsettling, perhaps, because they don't appear to know what they are -- but so long as they are... content, and not harming anyway, he supposes it isn't the worst thing he's seen.

Jim's answer has Finn relaxing, miraculously, because it adds a layer of innocence to this that he hadn't been acknowledging. Help it be safe... Hopefully, there isn't any harm in trying.

For a beat, Finn forgets his own situation and takes a breath to address the actual signs of life here, the concerning flickering that's really making him worried. But then he remembers that they don't know about him, about the Force, and he finds himself sighing instead.

Another beat- "Maybe the real question here is what's causing this and why. Not the water. I mean-... Someone must be behind all of this, someone that was here back during that plague. The Remembrance, supposedly?

"But whoever or whatever it is, they-" He gestures a little towards the mannequin. "They might want this one back. Keep us from learning things they don't want us to know."

"Except the Minaras locals appear much more human. For all we know, if they are mannequins, they may not even be aware of it."

Which is a whole other issue aside from the mannequin currently very much alive and undoubtedly clinging to him. Jim's got a feeling it won't be so easy to make it let go, even if he were to stand up.

He glances back to Finn, a frown set on his face. "I'm not handing it over. Not unless I'm sure they won't hurt it or experiment on it. It's not right."

"I suspect they aren't aware," Wrathion agrees. "Perhaps the one you have here simply didn't have enough time with the dark water, or perhaps the transition will be... slower."

Perhaps, eventually, it will come to look entirely human. He frowns in thought, studying the mannequin as it clings to Jim.

"The motivations do seem... muddled. I would have liked to speak to members of Remembrance, to know what they thought they were doing."

He has a sense what they think and the results may not... line up entirely. That things may be warped. Chrichter is, after all, clearly an unstable leader.

It's abundantly clear that Jim has no intention of handing the mannequin over, and Finn's not about to try convincing him. It's the potential upcoming fight that worries him. Then again, sort of feels like there was always going to be a fight at some point.

Maybe that's just his own experience talking, though.

"We're not handing it over to anyone." He folds his arms over his chest, glancing to Wrathion. "I know I was talking about drying it out a minute ago, but what if we found more dark water for it? If it speeds up the process, maybe we can talk to them and get some answers."

Them being the mannequin. Feels weird using it suddenly. Also suddenly feels safer to help the mannequin come to life than speak to someone in the Remembrance one-on-one.

Jim hasn't been here very long, to be fair, but he too gets the feeling that a fight is inevitable one way or another. And while Jim would always aim for a peaceful resolution, he would never do so at the expense of others, even what is yet an unconfirmed life form. It just wouldn't be right.

He's relieved when Finn agrees with that much, although admittedly surprised by how he's now suggesting they speed up the process of reviving this mannequin when moments ago he wanted to delay that, but not about to argue.

"I don't really have any dark water, but— I'm not against that idea," he agrees, glancing over at Wrathion, regarding his observation. "They could be running experiments, or using these to infiltrate the Citadel. Maybe another group could try and figure that out— we probably shouldn't get involved again, they'd recognize us too easily."

Wrathion considers that a long moment, eyeing the mannequin.

In a way, he supposes this is no different to a titan-forged being succumbing to the curse of flesh. It's simply going through all the steps far too quickly, having no time to adjust to one form before another races to overcome it.

"I'd see how your new friend fares, first. This is a process we don't fully understand. It seems unwise to speed it up before we know how it works. Given our limited understanding of how the dark waters interact here, we risk doing more harm than good. They caused mutations in traditionally born humans, made twisted hybrids of them. Some balance of it is behaving differently here, and the wrong application may prove unwise."

Finn agrees, his stance has shifted pretty drastically in a short amount of time, but the situation is becoming more worrisome by the second. The life he can see flickering inside of it, getting steadily stronger, doesn't help his resolve. Especially with the way it clings to Jim as if he'll keep it safe. Honestly, they aren't wrong.

Wrathion's point makes unfortunate sense. Finn was hoping to get this over and done with, try to move on from whatever the hell is happening. Instead, he sighs. "One thing at a time, then..."

But Finn agrees with Jim, that they must be doing this for some sort of reason, and experimentation or infiltration are pretty good theories. "In the meantime, depending on how quickly this-" He gestures at the mannequin again. "-develops, we might still be able to get some answers from them. It does seems like this is happening... pretty fast."

Faster than he would think a mannequin could come to life, anyway.

Jim nods wordlessly. Any rash decisions right now could come with terrible consequences, and it's good that Wrathion's here with them, since it's sounding like he's the more reasonable of the three. Not that Jim isn't reasonable too, but he does lean towards some rash decisions on occasion.

"How about we make no decisions right now. Let's wait and see how this all works out. For all we know, they might go back to sleep." If it could even be called sleep, but he's sure Finn gets it. "For now, should we try to at least get out of the room?"

Unsure whether the mannequin's gonna let him, but he's all for trying.

"If you can persuade your friend of it."

He's... assuming Jim means without the mannequin, after all, and so far it seems quite content to keep a hold of him. As if it's latched onto him for comfort, and there's every chance that... detaching it, for want of a better word, may upset it. Perhaps if they... all remain calm, it won't resort to lashing out in a panic?

Only one way to find out.

The mannequin going back to 'sleep' is very possible, from what Finn can tell. The warmth inside it keeps flickering in and out, but he's pretty sure that even if it does die out again, it'll just come back. Probably stronger.

Speaking of the mannequin's strength, he purses his lips together and unfolds his arms. "If they'll even let go. If they panic, we'll... figure something else out."

Angering it doesn't seem wise, especially with it fixated on James like that.

"Well, we have to try at some point. I can't just stay in here indefinitely."

He feels just as confident as they do about trying, for what it's worth. Still, he does his best to push past that trepidation, slowly starting to rise to his feet. At first, it looks like the mannequin won't let him go, clinging tightly to him, but after a while its grip seems to fail, as if it's still too weak to hold on for long. It flops somewhat oddly on the bed, even tries to get up and follow after, but it just sits shapelessly on the edge of the bed.

Jim even feels bad for it, fighting back the urge to walk closer again and help it back onto the bed. But they really need to get out of this room at some point. It's fine, though, he can always come back later.

Not lingering a moment longer, he ushers the other two towards the door, keeping his eyes on the mannequin as he follows after them.

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( closed ) I've got no strings to hold me down

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