Punishment [Warning: Graphic Imagery]

[cityship]

As the ship was going about its normal business of the day, everything is interrupted when Stacy broadcasts a message to the crew.

||Attention, crew. Your crew mate, Big Zero, has acquired 15 Violations. Therefore, she will now be given Punishment. According to the guidelines in place for Punishment, you are hereby requested to report to the Observation Deck to view the procedure. Though it is not mandatory, it is suggested you attend anyway.||

||It will serve as a reminder that there are consequences to breaking the rules.||

For those brave souls who decide to attend, they'd find Big Zero strung up, dangling from the ceiling of the Obs Deck by her hands, surrounded by a spherical force field.

It was to prevent anyone from...interfering.

[ooc: Warning, this post will contain some rather graphic imagery. Obviously, you don't have to participate in this thread if you don't want to. If your character would ICly go but you personally don't want to know all the nasty details, ping one of the mods and we'll give you the watered down version for your pup to work with.]

Comments

[cityship]

While it took only several minutes, to everyone, Big Zero especially, it would have seemed like an eternity.

At this point, Big Zero was strung up like some sort of dissection subject.

Then, just as slowly as she had taken them apart, she began to reassemble her limbs. It seemed to hurt just as much this time around.

Eventually, her limbs were slowly reattached, and she was injected with something, a compound that sped up the healing process. After that, the force field dropped and she was unceremoniously dropped straight onto the ground.

There would be no scars, no nerve damage. No physical reminders of what happened.

But she would remember every single excruciating detail.

[downloadtruth.livejournal.com]

She couldn't stop shaking, even through the pain. She was beyond screams now, past words. Instead she panted for breath and let out faint whimpers. Long gasps of pain and shock.

"Ahhhh... Ahhh..." She curled up into a fetal position.

It was over. It was over but it kept replaying in her mind. In her bones. She could feel it. She could feel it happening. They were gone. Her arms were gone her legs...

[fireforger]

For a moment after it was finished Daja simply stood frozen, horrified. She knew that Big Zero had attacked Billy, and she couldn't forgive such an action, but...surely no one deserved this.

Seeing that no one else was moving to help the woman, Daja moved forward to stand by Big Zero. Daja didn't ask if she was alright - the answer to that was clear - but she knelt down beside her, holding out a hand.

[downloadtruth.livejournal.com]

If she was actually aware of the hand, she actually would have taken it. White, black, or purple for all she cared. Problem was, she just didn't see it. She didn't even think she had a hand to use at the moment.

"Gone. Gone. They're gone."

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

She was hateful. She was hateful and deceptive.

But no one deserved that.

No one.

Skinny arms wrapped around her shoulders, and a soft voice was talking to her.

"You're okay. You're all in one piece. You've still got more limbs than I do, trust me. You're all in one piece."

[fireforger]

"You have your limbs," Daja said, her voice soft. "They aren't gone."

She looked up at Hiccup, feeling glad that she wasn't the only person here to help. "We need to get her to Medical."

[downloadtruth.livejournal.com]

"G-gone." She said, even as she slowly pushed herself up. She paused, now sitting upright, and held up her hand in front of her face. She slowly moved her fingers, curling them into a fist and then out again.

She burst into tears.

[i-saw-myself.livejournal.com]

Hiccup nodded, but as she wasn't spurting blood and it looked like her limbs were still moving, he was more concerned about the getting her up and keeping her from totally losing it emotionally part.

"Hey. Hey, look at me. You're all in one piece. You're okay. Can you stand? Do you think you can stand? We need to get you checked out."

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

Conflicted.

It's the keenest way to describe his current state of mind. On the one hand, this Female had threatened both himself and his Bonded -- gone so far as to injure his Bonded. On the other, is...that...what he'd heard entirely in merit?

Warily, the creature moves toward her scent. His expression's almost unreadable, warring between "eye-for-an-eye" contempt and the desire for mercy.

[carrieswar.livejournal.com]

Pain. Was pain really the answer to this sort of thing? When it was over, a million thoughts ran through Jr.'s mind. What the hell was that?! And that technology ... whatever it was that Stacy had just used to reassemble her limbs. That's-- that's not right-- Was it? How many times did a person have to screw up to gain a punishment like this? Did they know something like this would happen? These were Stacy's rules and Stacy's punishments ... was something like this fair? That they'd have to obey it even though they didn't choose to be here? But at the same time, if they weren't here ... this was the only way they could possibly make a difference.

He was torn. Definitely shocked and somewhat disgusted, but torn.

[alterniantaurus.livejournal.com]

Tavros sat in silence for a few moments after it was over. It had been terrible to watch, and he hadn't enjoyed seeing the odd human woman in pain, but... honestly it wasn't as bad as he'd been expecting. Obviously it had been agony, but it was apparently bloodless, and then she appeared to have been neatly reassembled by Stacy. She was alive. That was more than a lot of people got.

When it was all over, and shortly after the punished creature burst into tears, he quietly left. It had given him a lot to think about.

[morphitudinous]

'Sick' was an insufficient word to describe how Billy felt. Yes, Big
Zero was hostile to most of them and had hurt most of his friends, but nothing and no one justified this. It went against everything he believed in---never escalate a conflict with excessive force?

This was just cold-blooded torture for crimes that were nowhere near equivalent. And since he'd been the last straw...

"I'm sorry," he whispered, bowing his head. She'd still make his life hell later, of course, but wouldn't he deserve it?

Should've ignored her back there. Should've left the lab quietly.

[neverwastenaya.livejournal.com]

Tenaya had watched the entire thing in silence--entering and witnessing in a quiet out of the ordinary for her. No sarcastic remarks, no mental comparisons to how much worse she'd seen, just...silence.

But Billy was a friend, and she could hear him as he blamed himself. And she knew she was going to have to try to say something.

"It's not your fault," she said softly.

[morphitudinous]

When he finally tore his eyes away long enough to look at Tenaya, she'd see the fear and regret he felt.

Would she have earned 15 Violations sooner rather than later? Of course, he knew, but nothing would stop him from feeling just a little responsible. "I didn't want this. Nothing she did warrants it."

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Katara had sezied his hand. There were a lot of reasons for going over to Big Zero right now: everytghing was telling her how wrong this was, how she wanted to make sure the woman that had hit her bonded wouldn't suffer this indignity.

But Billy, she knew, would blame himself. His nose was Big Zero's latest infraction, and she had specifically baited him enough for thsi to happen. So she locked eyes with him now.

No matter how horrible this is, it is not your fault. DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENT.

[bluebrassmonkey.livejournal.com]

Renne's not far behind Katara in this. Determined, flashing eyes blink uselessly and for several minutes, Renne's glad they don't work. He'd heard -- felt -- quite enough. Thus, he'd gone to face the Female that had struck his Bonded.

But now...

"Bee. Is noh Bee fawl-t. May-bee, yeu ahn-d Tarrr-Tarr ahn-d...who-ehverrr wahn-t, come wi-th Rrrr-enne."

His active little mind's working overtime now.

[morphitudinous]

It would be hard, so hard, but...Billy trusted her more than just about anyone. And the entire point of their exercise yesterday had been to boost his confidence, hadn't it? He needed to think this through, like he'd thought through building a barrier. Billy whispered his thoughts.

"...I hope the others agree with you. Most of us know that nothing would've stopped her from racking up Violations, right? I could have left her to find someone else, but I didn't leave because I wanted to keep the others safe. Left alone, she could do so much.

But there's a good chance she'll attack me---not in a way that will earn more Violations for herself, but to make my life hell. Maybe she'll trick me into earning Punishment myself."

Billy shuddered, squeezing Katara's hand. "I'll wait and hope it isn't as dire as I fear. If it is, I'll have to be ready."

His other hand reached to squeeze Renne's paw in the affirmative.

[bonnypiperlad]

Jamie had been standing a small ways back, shaken enough that it had taken him a few minutes before he could respond. At those words, however, he steps forward to rest his hand on Billy's shoulder. "Aye, maybe so, but I'd say she's not going to recover from that easily. Ye may not have anything to worry about, Billy."

[bonnypiperlad]

While Jamie had managed not to simply turn and bolt, he had found himself grabbing onto the nearest person and holding on for dear life, which had turned out to be Lash. It takes him a minute to let go, and when he does, it's only to turn away slightly and close his eyes. He doesn't say anything - he's too busy fighting down a wave of nausea.

[thewunderkind]

This was unlike anything Lash had witnessed before and that was saying a lot. Even now, in the back of her mind, she was fascinated how Stacy was treating the human body like a gigantic puzzle, removing pieces yet not killing the person.

So it took a few seconds for her to realize someone was touching her. Lash was unused to human contact, as Black Hole Commanding Officers not exactly knowing for their huggability. Hell, the last person who had touched her before that had been Hawke when he had grabbed his fellow CO in an attempt to secure his own safety. For a moment she stuck dumbfounded, amazingly more at the person gripping her in fear than the person being dismembered before her eyes and screaming for dear life. That, she was more used too (okay maybe not the space dismemberment, but she could deal with it).

She stood in near silence during the entire time, not realizing her cheeks were getting a little bit hotter than usual until he let go after most of it was over.

Lash then put a form grip on his shoulder, not sure what she should be doing. Hahaha man, being a good guy was so confusing sometimes. But Jaime was a teammate and someone Lash wouldn't be shy to call a friend now, so despite all her history she found herself being more worried than she lets on.

"A-are you okay?" Well that was a dumb question, of course he wasn't. "I-I mean...aww poop! I'm...I'm sorry. You're obviously not okay."

[bonnypiperlad]

Lash may have to get used to that. Jamie has always enjoyed a high degree of phyiscal contact - although, to be fair, the clinging is only when he's generally horrified or terrified by something. In this case, it's the horrified part that triggered it. He's seen a few things that have been quite bad, but never anything quite like that. Even the worst of the monsters he's fought tend to just kill you, rather than slice you apart and put back together again.

He opens his eyes again and turns a slightly haunted look towards Lash, then swallows and shakes his head. "I-I'm fine." He's not, really, but it won't do to be completely weak in front of his teammate. "I'll be fine," he says with more confidence than he actually feels. "Are ye alright?"

[thewunderkind]

She could only laugh somewhat bitterly. Oh if they only knew. Maybe one day she'd admit to all her past crimes. Today didn't feel like the good place to do so.

"Yeah. I'll be fine. I could say I've seen worse, but that would be a lie. I have seen things pretty close to this," she whispers, admitting. She turns towards Billy, but he was with Kitara and Renne and she knew he'd be in good hands. "You want me to walk you out of here?"

[bonnypiperlad]

If Jamie catches the bitter note in that laugh, he doesn't comment. There are some things that it's better not to push on.

"I'd not mind, if..." He trails off for a moment, blinking a bit as he catches a brief glimpse of Kaylee leaving with Kang. He's not thinking entirely clearly at the moment, so it hasn't quite registered yet. Give it a bit. At any rate, he still needs to check on Billy before he leaves him in the care of Katara and Renne.

"If you'd not mind waiting for a minute? Ye don't have to, though."

[thewunderkind]

She ties to smile a bit to make the situation a little less tense, but even she can't crack a small smile. Maybe it is for the best. She nods at his question.

"No, take all the time you want. I don't really have anywhere to go anyway." Yeah, words are just sputtering out of her mouth at the moment.

[astridhofferson.livejournal.com]

(http://photobucket.com)

She forced herself to watch. She had to determine with her own eyes and see the extent of the latent horrors their "mother vessel" is capable of.

Through it all, Astrid tensed, the hairs on the back of her neck bristling. She didn't react as badly as some crew mates nor did she try to leave, but she couldn't help visibly cringing and blanching a little during the worst moments, then resumed to steel herself. Horrible, but nothing terribly traumatic for Astrid. This was nowhere on the same level when she witnessed Hiccup's disturbing alien aftermath.

Yet, this whole thing felt eerily liken to the tales of sardonic, extreme punishments her Viking kindred were detested for, a distant pleasure of evoking fear and humiliation out of one's prey. Something within her sank as she despondently watched on, her arms folded and her hands drifting to her biceps to cradle her arms closer to her.

No matter where her tribe ventured, even in the vast star ocean, it seems they will never be able to completely get away from these principles.