andexecutioner | PRIVATE MEETINGS

[She concedes,] That is true enough. The only rules you've added... well, they actually clarified more options. Even if those ones are more of a last resort.

[AZ is still casting a shadow on her heart.]

... ... ...

I know there are other ways this could be done. You've said as much yourself, and the others have mentioned that there are even other games going on. That to some degree, this was your own design.

But... [She pauses.] If you'll humor me for a moment. If you had total control, absolute freedom. If it wasn't just a job. Would there be other things you'd change?

[In other words, does he think this is a necessary evil, or just necessary? But you know. In a way he might actually respond to.]

[He leans forward over the desk at that, abandoning the sketching he's been doing in favor of propping his chin up in one hand and toying with the pen idly between the fingers of his left.]

Absolute freedom...?

[He repeats it slowly, like it's something he doesn't quite understand.]

I don't... How do you mean?

[...Sometimes it takes him a second to comprehend what's being asked; this looks like one of those times.]

[What the...? Well, that's gotten her curiosity.

Is this really so hard of a thing to grasp? She didn't think so, but... on the other hand, it's interesting that he picked up on those words. It's the only absolute she believes in, the dream she's always aspiring towards.]

Look. You're answering to a higher set of rules, right? Well, what if you weren't? What if your employer said, "Do whatever you want," instead? That kind of freedom.

Edited 2016-08-20 05:02 (UTC)

[He just...keeps playing with the pen at that, really.]

It's not even worth thinking about - that sort of freedom is something I'm never going to have, just because of the way things are here. The rules can't be changed, and challenging them is a bad idea.

...And I've been asked before if the lack of agency pisses me off, and it doesn't, before we go there.

[...Well, then.]

[This is pretty deeply concerning, but it is starting to explain a lot about why he was so adamant about all this. And for a change, she can understand it extremely well.

It has shades of the same mindset she had while she was part of the cult. You killed and proved your value, or you died. Which she almost did, when she rejected them.]

... ... ...

I apologize if this is an abrupt change of subject, but... a long time ago, you told me that we weren't on my world. Since then, though, I've wondered about something else.

Are we on your world?

[It's not actually a change in subject. But you never know -- maybe he won't realize why she'd be curious about that.]

[...That's an interesting question, really.]

It's the only world I've known. So yeah, I'd say it's mine.

[And that's an interesting answer, but not quite the one she was hoping for. In fact, it's just raising bigger questions.]

The only one...? Well, did you grow up here, or did you wake up here like we did, or something else?

I woke up here.

[...yeah.]

[She's taken aback, but not for the reasons one might expect.

That had actually been an early theory she had, something to explain Juri's strange mix of commitment to his job and... lethargy, maybe? Towards everything else. But when she had been pressing him for more information about his level of control, and he clarified his role as someone who was not their friend, she discarded it.

And picked it up again briefly, because of things Luca and Mozu had said, and then discarded it all over again when he started to show signs of his real sadism.

And now here it is again, the return of the wayward truth. If she had stuck to her guns and asked about it anyway, they could've been on much different terms for this whole game.]

But unlike us, you've left this facility, I presume?

No, I haven't.

... ... ...

[This is the rabbit hole, all right. Each answer is just leading to a pile of more questions -- Were you in a game? Did you lose? Did you WIN? Are you still playing it? Has anyone actually left this place, or is our grand prize a great big lie?

She sorts through them all, and finds the one that's both interesting and least likely to cause more internalized screaming.]

But... then... where's your cat? I'm sure someone said you had a pet cat...?

[...Well, that's...huh.]

I don't know where she is. I haven't seen her in a long time; I didn't bring her in here with me.

In here -- as in our game and the rooms we've unlocked, or as in the whole building?

Your game.

I see...

[So they'll have to keep an eye out for this cat. Jean knows more than enough about cats to know that they're great at getting into places they don't belong.

... although...]

Wait, no, I don't see. How does a cat end up in a place like this facility? I have a hard time imagining one as a competitor in this game.

Edited 2016-08-21 20:24 (UTC)

That doesn't really matter.

[Back to stonewalling for the time being, looks like. Sorry about that, Jean.]

I know, but -- still.

[All right. Come on, Jean. Back to the real issues.]

Were you ever part of a game yourself, before you started this job?

[Something seems to strike him vaguely oddly about that; it's easily dismissed, the sort of thing that looks more like a mental blip than anything, nothing too bad. But still.]

I wasn't.

[Jean finds the answer equally odd, but she doesn't dismiss it. There's a question she badly wants to ask, but somehow, she's guessing it's too far out of the scope of the game for him to talk about. Instead, she muses about it aloud.]

... it's strange to think of someone waking up here for any other reason, though. Maybe it's because I still don't know what this game is for or how it fits into the grand scheme of things, but if all these people are being brought in for this...

Even with how many have been getting killed, there's still more than a few to start pitching job offers to.

Unless these weren't always a part of the grand plan?

[...See, that's interesting, though.]

So...what, you think we're recruiting you for something?

It's far from my only theory, but it's as good as any of the others.

Even if that's not the point of this, I can't imagine everyone leaves here in the end. If they wanted to stay, asking for that would be a reasonable request, wouldn't it?

[It doesn't sound like she's looking for an answer on that, because she already has it. Naoto brought up last week that Juri had made that very offer to her.]

And I imagine it's as true here as anywhere -- those who don't work, don't eat. If someone were to stay here after the game, you'd probably have to find a job for them to perform as well, right? Why not running a game?

Because not just everyone is allowed to run them, that's why.

[Well, that was immediate.]

Trust me, none of you guys here would be qualified to run them; the closest is maybe Ferid, and he still wouldn't allowed near them.

... why do I feel like the answer to why he wouldn't is because, as you said before, this isn't supposed to be punishment? His creativity seems like it would have the potential to be... well... dangerous.

[Just how dangerous? Well, she'd see that the very next day. For now, though, her attention turns back to the pile of stuffed animals that he crafted. What was that saying about idle hands?]

So you have some people who run the games, and some who play them... [... hmm.] Is it just our group, or is there something that splits the two off -- something that'd make it so you'd also never see a potential judge as a player?

[Because she might have a hunch on what that is, given their argument. The one where Ferid took the side against her -- something understandable, given his distance from humanity.]

There's definitely something else, yeah.

[He shrugs.]

As for why Ferid wouldn't...that's actually not it. There are a couple of reasons why, but his potential to be an absolute mess actually isn't one of them.

If that's the case, I'm not sure I want to know how much worse we could have it right now.

... so, if there's such a line between us... what would a life here for a Competitor be like, if they stayed? I already know you offered as much to Naoto, so....

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