andexecutioner | PRIVATE MEETINGS

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....

Depends on the Competitor, and the reason they would have for staying.

Somehow I doubt you're volunteering...?

Are you kidding? I've been suffocating here since I first arrived, and I get this funny feeling I wouldn't have much more freedom when the game's over.

[She scowls. She doesn't want to admit this next part, but honesty is worth a shot for more information.]

... I have considered it, though, because I can't afford not to. I'm in the same boat that Naoto was -- I might not have a world to return to. Not a living one, anyway.

Edited (you know what I was going to write more before I submitted by mistake but this works too) 2016-08-25 04:59 (UTC)

You'd hate it here.

[It's bluntly put, but it seems more like a statement than a pointed attempt at deterring the thought. Earnest, if nothing else.]

I wouldn't be opposed to allowing it, but you'd absolutely hate it.

[She nods, numbly. Part of her wants to probe for more into why -- a world is a large enough place that a nomad should be able to find somewhere to roam, unless it's all enclosed spaces outside of here as well.

But as much as she wants out of here, she also has been plagued with doubts and worries about the end of it. About what's coming, and what life if any she can have after. She's just as unhappy asking about this, in case he'll say no, but...]

What about going back to someone else's world? Would I be allowed to do that?

[...]

Yeah. Yeah, that's possible, actually.

[She doesn't make any effort to hide her relief.]

Then I think that would be much better for me. [And after a moment's consideration, since once again he's proving that he's not being needlessly cruel about all of this,] .... thank you.

[She already has one in mind, too. Though it's not the sort of thing she should be deciding on her own -- maybe she could talk it over with Yuri tomorrow?

Still, there's another problem to consider: The story might not be over yet. It's a million to one, but there's always the faint possibility that, somehow, Zophar was defeated. Right? In that case, the choice gets harder. How do you pick between old friends and new ones?

But if the technology existed...]

... is it a one-way trip, or...? What if I wanted to visit someone else, or even come back here for old times' sake -- is that even possible?

[...Oh, that's...hm.]

It's pretty one-way, yeah - though I'd think this really isn't a place you'd want to come back to, anyway.

Maybe not, but... I think having the option is better than not. If there's no coming back, it means I can't leave here with any unfinished business.

[Even if she's dying to cut and run as soon as possible. Somewhere, anywhere but here.]

I actually don't have a lot of say when it comes to whether you'll come back here, or if you'll get to see the others all that much; the chances are good that you won't see me again after all of this, though.

What? Why not?

[It's direct, which is what she's avoiding, but -- how could she not when he puts it like that?]

[...What in the world has gotten into you, Jean-

He just sort of stares for a moment before he shrugs.]

It's not my decision to make, when it comes to what you do from here. As for me...well, I've never run into the same people twice.

[That's the curse of a bleeding heart. You don't have to like someone to care about what happens to them.]

... and how many times have you done this, to be so sure that you won't...?

...More than enough.

[It's not exactly an answer, but it's going to have to do for now, maybe.]

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