day one - aftermath

[guestcontrol]

dreamland day one 41 players remaining. As the voting period comes to an end, a bell goes off from the ticket machine, and the metal bars blocking the tunnel at the end of the Hall of Mirrors lifts. A voice speaks over the loudspeaker: "Attention, guests! Please make your way onto the ride! For your safety, keep your hands and arms inside and do not attempt to leave your seat!" Through the tunnel, single cars on a track stop and wait for each remaining player to step on. Don't dawdle, or your bracelet will begin to beep a warning. Once in a car, the safety bar locks you tightly inside, unable to move. The car trundles along a dark, twisting track, nearly veering into cartoonish obstacles, but veering away at the last moment. Music and cackling laughter echoes loudly through the ride as you drive faster and faster. Suddenly, your car seems about to veer off to the left, through a set of tall doors, before abruptly spinning off to the right. With a powerful jerk, each car comes to the end of the ride. The safety bar lifts, and you can leave. It seems no one was executed tonight, but a list of votes has been pinned to the wall for your perusal. You now have the rest of the evening to explore the park, before night comes again. character statuses private conversations This is a general post-vote mingle encompassing the time from the end of the trial (about 5 PM until the fireworks at 11 PM). You are encouraged and welcome to backtag discussions in this post until the next day post, or to have afternoon private conversations.

Comments

[shortcutter]

Don't act like you knew what would happen. No one in that room, other than me, was prepared to take a life. There would have been children with tears in their eyes screaming in Legion's defense. What kind of argument could I have made to sway the majority? I announce myself now, explain my reasoning, and people are still demanding evidence where there isn't any. You're a fool if you think I could have turned that tide single handed.

But it doesn't matter. Let's wait until tomorrow to see just how persuasive my word is.

[shortcutter]

Tell me what was so great about the alternative, brat. Would you rather have kept relying on anonymous notes, playing a game of trial and error with innocent lives until you happened to guess right? And all of you weren't exactly willing to vote that way earlier. What sort of groundbreaking evidence did you expect to be handed to you?

And when? Tomorrow? In three days? A week? I wasn't going to stand back and watch innocent people die every day when I had the option to come forward.

[shortcutter]

It doesn't matter who sent it. All of you still would have been forced to kill Legion simply on the word of one random person.

[siggey]

Yeah, maybe, but you're not in this alone.

[ I scratch my neck. 'Not much', huh? And where does that leave the even more normal guests without any roles? Man...

...]

I want to ask you something. Everything you've said, from the reveal of the results up until now. Are you telling it like a playing detective, or as a fighting soldier?

[I remember when the army set up booths during high school and college. They always told me I had the build for it, and I've briefly considered.

In the end, I never enrolled. I wanted to focus on my studies, and USA's military was impressive enough as is. Still, I can imagine what an active one must have to deal with... A little, anyway. Not going to pretend I know much about what REALLY happens to a soldier on the battlefield, but I respect what they do. Simply being in the military fosters discipline and a sense of duty, so...

I think I understand the nuance, and I want to know.]

[mediumburgers]

Well that... that sucks!

[terci]

[Wow okay he's being called a brat. Thanks for that.]

Why didn't you say something during our discussion then?! If someone spoke up about leaving that message, I'm sure there would've been people who believed you!

warning: levi gaiden spoilers in the brackets woop woop

[shortcutter]

[Discipline he has. Duty, too, in spades. Before he joined the Survey Corps, he was nothing. Dirt. Scum. A thug and a crook doing whatever he could to scrape a living and to protect his friends. It took him joining the military, and loosing those friends in the field, to see the bigger picture.

To most, "duty" is a nebulous word — it could mean many different things. But to Levi, it's simply the willingness to sacrifice anything and to do whatever is necessary for humanity to survive and prosper. The circumstances in his world are so dire that every soldier enlisted must swear by this creed. Their salute, a fist over the heart, is a constant reminder of this commitment.

These are things Levi would never tell a stranger. But it's all there somewhere in the set of his steely grey eyes.]

I've made my decisions as a soldier who's been forced to play detective, and I already told you why. There's nothing worse than watching people die for a shitty cause. I'm going to stop it, or go straight to hell trying.

[shortcutter]

[Yeah, ain't he charming.]

Not enough. It was more useful for me to see how all of you would vote while I kept quiet. Afterwards, I was worried you would keep sitting on your thumbs while the VIPs got stronger and stronger.

[photonement]

Not yet... but... when we go to bed--! It's gonna happen again... and if they don't go for Levi... they're gonna just pick some random person who didn't choose this at all and nobody will be protecting them... maybe even two people.

yes o7

[chainjailer]

[Just in case Levi watching out for followers wasn't enough, Kurapika does the same.]

ngl i'm aot canonblind but just knowing the premise makes nothing surprising here

[siggey]

[ It's just like I though. I don't know what a soldier really faces. They wouldn't be keen to talk about their experiences either, for obvious reasons.

But one look in Levi's eyes was enough. The harsh metallic glint of his ash gray pupils not only reflect a resolve I'd expect of decorated veteran generals, they also carry something frightening and old that his appearance understates. It makes the blood in my veins run cold. Not a fear of him, but a fear of what he must have seen to be able to stare like this now. The natural fear encoded in the genetics of every human being honed by generations of evolution, an ingrained need to get away when one is faced against something incomprehensible that they cannot hope to stand against.

...

I swallow, but his words bring me back to reality.

...]

...That's true, yeah.

Do you think executing the VIPs is the quickest way to end this with as little lives lost as possible? The could be buddies with regular guests, too. That, and we still don't know why they've chosen to play to begin with.

[perfectstrike]

We are friendly with each other, do not misunderstand.

[She twines a bit of hair around her finger and hums quietly.]

It is just strange to think of having friends.

[perfectstrike]

Not yet. With more time, we will be able to discern a better answer. To solve this, and to escape.

I refuse to accept that it is impossible. The VIPs can not succeed.

[perfectstrike]

[Dryly,]

Would you find that surprising?

But it may be an item that, won by a VIP, could make our escape even more difficult. Or something more dangerous than it is worth.

It is not without merit. I just believe that the carnival should be watched carefully by a group of more than seven people -- or rather, in the future, more than eight.

[perfectstrike]

And what good will panicking do any of us?

[Peko reaches back as if she might draw her shinai to illustrate her point better, but is stopped by two things -- one, pointing a weapon at Koizumi is Not Allowed, and two, she doesn't. Have. Her shinai.]

If we are to solve this, we must remain calm, and think clearly. We have been through too much already to be stopped at this stage. The people on the island -- you want to return to them, do you not? Then all you can do is keep your eyes open and think clearly. Panic and fear will only aid the enemy.

[Does she realize the irony in talking to Koizumi about returning to the island? Yes. And is she turning a bit pale at skirting around things from the island? Yes again. But it has to be said.]

[terci]

[Yes he's just lovely..]

I guess, but what are we going to do now if we lose one of our detectives or possibly the only detective?

it wouldn't be my first fictional vacation destination

[shortcutter]

[That question hits on another grim reality: just as a commanding officer never knows for certain whether he's sending his soldiers to die for a cause worthy of the sacrifice, there are too many unknown variables at play for Levi to offer him a good, straight answer when it comes to this somewhat similar situation.]

We can only hope the asshole behind this wouldn't stoop low enough to stick an innocent person with a VIP buddy. It pisses me off, but playing the game as it's designed does seem like the quickest way to end it. We still outnumber them by a lot, and until the killings stop, negotiation is off the table. Whatever their motive, we have lives to protect.

The biggest break we could get is if the people running everything slip up somehow and we have a chance to overthrow them. But as far as I'm aware, that hasn't happened yet.

[shortcutter]

That's the risk. You can only hope they don't kill me.

[So encouraging, too!]

[poyoyon]

Ooooh! That could work!

[ no it couldn't, girls. ]

[mediumburgers]

That's the spirit! Go team not-VIPs! I mean. There's got to be someway out of this mess, that's just a given.

[edealistical]

...I see.

[She thinks she can slightly understand the type of person Peko is. A talented swordswoman...]

Well... I can't speak for them, but I'm sure they'd be happy if you thought of them that way. When you're in such rough situations... it's nice to be able to think you have people to rely on.

[photonement]

Are you sure we could get together a guard crew that big? [it's not without merit either, but...] That's nine people, and some people would wanna take breaks, plus actually play games themselves. Then when you factor in how many people would think they have better things to do or not believe in the prizes at all themselves...

Do you think we could do a sign-up sheet tomorrow, Peko-chan?

[perfectstrike]

Is that so...?

[She looks surprised again before she nods.]

Yes, I see your point. Is there anyone like that for you, here?

[edealistical]

Well... No.

I am glad for that as well - my life is not so important as those I am honored to call my friends.

But I am sure there will be, in time, nonetheless.

[perfectstrike]

There are still more than forty of us here, [she points out, twining a bit of hair around her finger thoughtfully.] So if you would like to make a sign-up sheet, I will not stop you. It may be of merit.