westwhere | ( 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."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

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.

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

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