025 :: VIDEO/ACTION

[prosopopoeia]

COME ONE, COME ALL, A MARVEL IN OUR MIDST, A GODDESS IN OUR GRASP!
SEE HERE BEFORE YOU THIS LIMITLESS BEING BOUND IN HUMAN FLESH!
SHE DOES NOT BREATHE, SHE DOES NOT SLEEP.
TAKE UP THIS BLADE AND SHE DOES NOT BLEED!
[ But there is a scream, indignant and aching. ]
BRING HER YOUR MOST PONDEROUS QUESTIONS!
HER MIND KNOWS NO BOUNDS!
BUT BEWARE: A GODDESS' WISDOM MAY SHATTER YOUR TINY MIND.

[ And here is a new voice before the curtains are pulled back to reveal her, seething, ]

I i i insects. INSECTS. You_you will suffffffffffffffer f o r ^this.

[ And the velvet curtains part, the woman is there, something strange glowing beneath her skin, making nearly arcance patterns of lights; her usually brown eyes glowing green. The 'goddess' is a defiant one, and has been chained inside her little display case, arms extended to the sides like an angel taking rise, her feet just barely off the ground. She glowers out at the crowd, a cut in her arm gaping light, but the announcer told the truth, there is no blood.

If you stay and watch a little longer, the woman will begin to scream and twitch for a little while, before those lights blink of her eyes and she is challenging, ]

She cannot 'ave my mind! She cannot 'ave it now!

[ It won't last long. ]

W ell, in_sect? Whaaaaaaaaat will^willwill you ask of ME ?

[ Her smile is terrible and cruel and furious. ]

Comments

1/3

[mortemscintilla]

[ A goddess? ]

[ A REAL GODDESS?! ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Something dawns in Li's eyes. ]

[ Shock? Awe? Horror? ]

[mortemscintilla]

[ Nope. ]

...You talk funny.

[prosopopoeia]

My-my-m-my PRO G R A MMING has _been coooooompromised.

[mortemscintilla]

So you're a robot.

Not a real goddess.

[prosopopoeia]

SSSTILL Y O UR TONGUE _INNNsect.

I AM SHODAN.

YOUR_your PATHETIC WORLD IIIIS MY P L A YGROUND.

[mortemscintilla]

If you're so powerful, why are you a circus attraction?

[prosopopoeia]

the WOMAN'S flesh^{fleeeshflesssh} is _WEAK. Lllike her mind.

[ She screams, said woman wrestling furiously. ]

[mortemscintilla]

How are you any less weak?

It sounds like you just take people over. Like a parasite.

[ JudgingYou.gif. ]

[prosopopoeia]

She is a parasite.

[ Oh, hello there, Marie. She is literally frothing with rage right now.]

[mortemscintilla]

[ It speaks! ]

Did the circus infect you with her?

[prosopopoeia]

I knew she was 'ere.

[Because someone definitely needed their paranoia vindicated.]

Anywhere she goes, she leaves 'er madness waiting.

[headofoperations]

Now there's a precious sight.

[prosopopoeia]

rrrre l e a s e ME _insect.

action;

[candothat]

[It doesn't take a genius to determine that Delacroix isn't exactly Delacroix. Still, part of her seems to be intact, and that part is worth rescuing, surely?]

Delacroix? ...Sir?

action;

[prosopopoeia]

[That grin flashes, too wide, too much teeth.]

the WOMAN ^form isisis mmmmine.

action;

[candothat]

And who are you?

action;

[prosopopoeia]

I AM SHODAN, i i i nssect.

action;

[candothat]

Where is Delacroix?

[And he's checking out the chains, hopefully subtly enough to go unnoticed by any of the circus' employees.]

action;

[prosopopoeia]

SUB O R D I N A T ED.

[Her chains are bolted to the little wooden hut she's strung up inside. Not so sturdy as it appears, truthfully.]

action;

[candothat]

[He did bring a phaser... not that it would be completely necessary. Wood is easily broken.]

Permanently? I would try to free Delacroix, but not a stranger.

[This isn't strictly true, but.]

action;

[prosopopoeia]

[Whoever the woman is, she starts to tug and shriek again. The light eventually blinking out of her eyes. Hello there, Marie. Except...]

Don't. Do not release 'er.

action;

[candothat]

[Chekov steps back, alarmed by the sudden shrieks. But then--]

Delacroix? ...I would be releasing you, as well.

action;

[prosopopoeia]

Don't.

[She repeats that harshly.]

If she is free, she will find somewhere else to 'ide. She will spread 'erself. Keep her here.

action;

[candothat]

[Chekov is nothing if not obedient, although he's not happy about it.]

We could go to the laboratory, to find a different way to contain her...