Day three; before trial

[siggey]

[ I wait until we're in to close the door.

After a deep breath. I shove the (folded) note I found on the floor in front of my door this morning to K, probably frowning like an old man trice my age. ]

I stopped after the second line, but what the hell, K?!

Comments

[siggey]

Fair enough, but this is still a huge pain... Did you see the note Levi left, too? His reasoning didn't occur to me, but put it that way, it's possible Legion is a regular guest after all.

[ I nod. I'm still reluctant, but with more and more coming to light, I can't stay like this forever either... ]

Mind if I ask when did Missile first get in touch with you?

[jingler]

Yesterday, just a short time after the explosion that killed Yuya. Why does it matter?

[siggey]

So a good ways into the day already?

[ That's... odd, I think, but then again, this is a dog... A cute and good dog, but I do still think there's a problem with how things played out yesterday. ]

I'm trying to work it out in my head. Does that mean you submitted the note about her being VIP?

[jingler]

...I will refrain from answering that. However I will say that I only understood the meaning of how Missile communicates his results after Levi's trial.

[But of course, that could be at any time after that - even after he read the paper and saw the note.]

[siggey]

...

Fine, I'll trust you on what you're saying. Maybe someone else could've gotten the photos too, we can't know that.

[ If K is telling the truth, then this must be the reason why Edea's picture hasn't been brought up until today.

I sober up to look at him in the eye - or well, the eyes on his mask. ]

What're you going to do today, K? Say the trial is successful. If you think you were at risk last night, you still can be tonight.

[jingler]

True. However all of us are at risk every night, no matter what. Though if I wasn't killed last night, maybe there was a reason. Either way...you still have that letter.

[siggey]

Screw that letter, I don't want to read it! If you have something important to say to me, you can tell me directly. Besides, if you're cleared, it does put you more at risk, even if that can also be helpful for regular guests playing.

[ I don't feel right saying that, but I don't think I can look back anymore. ]

But I want to hear more from you, first. How would you want this to end, K, and what are you willing to do to get there?

[jingler]

...

I want us to live. You and I. Or at the very least one of us make it out of here. There are seven people who need our help even now. If one of us doesn't make it out...I have the feeling that they may not make it out at all.

[siggey]

[ With all that's been going on, I completely forgot. The Nonary Game K mentioned from the beginning, a game that I'm supposed to participate in but don't even remember it ever starting...

No, that's a lie. I've thought about it before. Wondered if there were any more similarities, than what K alluded to at the start.

But what he just said now is painfully sobering. He's directly stating that outside of this twisted game, him and I are directly responsible for the lives of 7 other people. So that means, if we don't get back...

...

I can't even phantom how, but the importance of it sinks in, now. ]

These seven other people. ...What're they like?

[jingler]

[K thinks for a moment, wondering how to describe them.]

There are four women, two men, and one boy. Most of them are good people...I'd say only one of them is an unsavory person all things considered.

[siggey]

[ I wonder if the smile made it to my face. K answered my question while staying cryptic, sticking to the most basic denominators of describing a person, and while that might've been annoying under a different context, it's striking me as more funny and quirky right now, somehow.

...Yeah. Maybe it's good, to just leave it like that. I can't imagine why I'd need to know stuff I don't know, not to even mention how little sense that'd make. ]

Did we work well together?

[jingler]

I would like to think so. I mentioned this before, but you and I were never partnered in an AB game and so we didn't search the warehouse together. However I found you to be likable and well natured.

[siggey]

[ ...Well, this is still awkward. Of course I appreciate hearing that, but it's still pretty embarrassing. ]

...Thanks for the vote of confidence, K. I'll admit, I've been wondering a bit more about the Nonary game. Like if you've found more similarities between it and what's happening to us now, that sorta thing? This has been pretty exhausting... I'm still having a hard time coming to terms with so many things. But if the two are really that alike, I really donno if I'd do well in the other one...

[ I hold no delusions over the facts. I'm pretty bad at what we're 'playing' now... I'm not even sure if I can vote for Edea, even now. ]

[jingler]

No, I'm afraid the similarities have diminished over time. If anything, this game has become far more gruesome and dangerous. In the Nonary Game, there was at least parameters set for an escape where no one would have to die.

Here...I wonder if we would truly be allowed to leave even if we get rid of all the VIPs.

[siggey]

That's... good to hear.

[ I'm having some trouble myself in believing what I just said, but it is. Then again, I don't suppose it'd take much, to be not AS bad as what we're forced to "play" through now... ]

Right. It's like... what Mahiru told me last night.

[ After Levi's trial. ...And she's dead, now... ]

There has to be an overarching mystery or something, and we may have to deal with it one way or another before anyone can leave.

[jingler]

Hm...there is one thing that has stuck out to me in the rulebook. The last rule stated that the game could end in three ways.

The first way: for the VIPs to all be dead
The second way: for the VIPs to outnumber the guests.

And then there's the last way. The "sudden death round" that lacks any description. Finding a way to trigger that could end this game without abiding to the "kill or be killed" mechanics. Perhaps that is how we can end things with no one else dying.

[siggey]

...


You think something called "sudden death round" wouldn't involve death, K?

[jingler]

Perhaps not. "Sudden death" is usually a phrase that could mean "all or nothing." So we either win it all or lose it all. Better than dragging things out.