PRIVATE MEETINGS

[andexecutioner]

If you'd like to have a private meeting with the Adjudicator, this is where you should go! The Adjudicator is available at almost all hours of the day; just knock and he'll answer.

Comments are screened for privacy; no eavesdropping, that's rude.

Comments

[oasisrose]

... 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.]

[andexecutioner]

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.

[oasisrose]

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....

[andexecutioner]

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

Somehow I doubt you're volunteering...?

[oasisrose]

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.

[andexecutioner]

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.

[oasisrose]

[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?

[andexecutioner]

[...]

Yeah. Yeah, that's possible, actually.

[oasisrose]

[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?

[andexecutioner]

[...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.

[oasisrose]

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.]

[andexecutioner]

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.

[oasisrose]

What? Why not?

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

[andexecutioner]

[...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.

[oasisrose]

[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...?

[andexecutioner]

...More than enough.

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

[oasisrose]

[This has been a lot to take in for one day.

She needs to take this all back in, process it, figure out what to do next. Figure out her actions for tomorrow. They're doing well -- no murders the week before. And this week, the incentive feels like another stroke of good luck. If it had come just a week prior, she might have been pushed to the breaking point, when she was so heavily distraught over the knowledge that her training as an assassin had been to harvest blood for a blood god. But the next dream brought clarity and peace, and now...

Well, if she could handle it, couldn't everyone else? Her faith in the people around her feels stronger than ever.

So, it's high time she made her exit...

... ... ...

But she really wants to say one more thing first.]


... I don't think it's right, you know. Even if you say that it has to be that way, and you're not bothered by the lack of agency...

To have the resources to access so many other worlds, meet so many other people. And then, to never actually get to use any of them except for things like this?

[She pauses, looking around at the games, the toys -- trinkets that, to her, read as symptoms of cabin fever -- and back to Juri.]

It just... seems like a shame.

[andexecutioner]

[He's quiet for a moment at that.]

...Have a good day, Jean.

[And from the sound of it, that is going to be the end of it.]