specialdog | Catch-All for Julius

specialdog

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From:

autocatalysis

[ he's also fine! ... if you somehow miss or ignore the scent of ozone that follows him around. though jury's out on whether or not he'll stay that way, given that he and the atmosphere of the shrine don't get along. ]

In the mansion we were at this week? ... What, behind one of the locked doors?

From:

specialdog

[ Akane nods. ] We--Nana, North, Four and I--were brought there.

We had to purify the corruption, or whatever.

[ Her voice is a bit flat. Mostly because she's deeply uncomfortable remembering it, but wants to sound casual, and isn't doing a great job of it. ]

From:

autocatalysis

[ he would tell her not to bother, that he doesn't care, but then again, he doesn't know if the the attempted casual-ness is supposed to be for him or for her. ]

... Would it be too much to ask you to clarify further, or is this not ideal?

[ Nana is dead, and while Four and North are other possible options, North is... North, and Four. Hm.

There is something about Four... but that's digressing. ]

From:

specialdog

[ It's more for herself than him. She's barely spared a thought to the fact that he's got no partner now.

... But she does think about it, now. It's probably the only reason that after hesitating, she nods. ]

It was on Tuesday. There were some typical puzzles. Buttons to switch off an alarm, turning the lights back on... Then harder ones. Being separated by the darkness. Seeing from each other's eyes instead of our own.

But we all made it out just fine.

From:

autocatalysis

[ he meant actually more her usual. face for other people, rather than his lack of partner, but when the end benefits him...

(he can't stand pity. do something, if you feel bad, but don't just feel bad for the sake of easing your conscience.) ]

It sounds ... difficult, being forced to rely on someone else in such a manner. But ... Making it through. That was enough to dispel the corruption, then?

From:

specialdog

[ Maybe it's pity. She doesn't think of it that way--she just thinks: he's been fine to talk to, so maybe it would be good to let him be armed with as much knowledge as possible. ]

Yeah. We fell all over each other for a while, but... We were able to get rid of the corruption. As far as we know.

From:

autocatalysis

It's not your fault, if we trust what Lune and Sol keep saying. Or at least, all that wasn't completely pointless.

[ probably. he's not great for the reassurance or support thing. ]

Do you personally think there was room for doubt?

From:

specialdog

[ Akane normally wouldn't think of blaming herself. She really wouldn't, even knowing that the corrupted may not remember what they do. But for some reason, in this case... ]

How do you know it's not my fault?

[ . . . She shakes her head. ]

I don't have any reason to doubt that we did everything right. But...

From:

autocatalysis

I don't. I can only trust that what you're telling me is the truth, and that Sol and Lune are in turn telling the truth about how it helped. You completed a mission. That's done and over with. Thinking what you could have done better doesn't do much good now.

[ the corruption thing he ignores as a given. if she wouldn't know then neither would he, and therefore there's no point in him giving reassurances about that, just that whatever they did in the escape room probably wasn't responsible for people getting corrupted.

of course, what does he know? ]

You did everything right, you said, but you're wondering now if you missed something before, right?

From:

specialdog

[ She brightens a bit at the reassurance, even though her mind is definitely on... A different track than his reassurance is addressing. Still, it's a nice gesture. ]

I don't think that Lune would lie. But I also don't think they know everything.

Maybe we did something wrong. Like... Touched the wrong thing. Or something.

From:

autocatalysis

Of course they don't. If they did they wouldn't keep being blindsided by these things.

[ ... ]

Maybe you did. Maybe you didn't. Maybe the corruption snuck away elsewhere and those two mistook it for being dispelled-- how did that work, anyway?

But there's always also the possibility that it wasn't related in the least.

From:

specialdog

It was just a darkness. It was in objects at first, then took over the rooms. When we solved puzzles, it went away. Like... It was purified.

... But... I guess it could be unrelated.

From:

autocatalysis

... the murders. I meant that the deaths could be unrelated.

[ not that. everything they were doing was faked, despite what he was saying just last tag.

he breathes out a tired sigh. ]

Right, look. I'm. Going about this all wrong, probably. Were there any particular kinds of objects the darkness started out in, if any?

From:

specialdog

[ That was what she meant - that even though they purified the darkness, it could just be that the murders this time were a Fresh Batch Of Darkness. ]

Mm... A cassette tape. We had to play it as part of a puzzle.

From:

autocatalysis

That is... admittedly, not what I would have expected an apparent vessel of the darkness to be, but fair enough.

[ he also can't talk, ingame there's literally a divergence catalyst that was a fucking wedding ring, for example. ]

And its contents?

From:

specialdog

"Revenge isn't the only purpose of darkness. There's another reason... to save someone. To save someone, you must save yourselves."

... But I think it just meant because we were in the dark, guiding each other since we were seeing through each other's eyes...

From:

autocatalysis

That is entirely the kind of cryptic ridiculousness that makes it sound as if the corruption was planted there by someone, rather than a natural consequence of - whatever it was, that got us to this point.

[ Given that it both functioned as a guide in the dark, despite being the source of the darkness...? Are there different darknesses involved?

Hm. Not sure what to make of this. ]

From:

specialdog

You think so? Like, there's some entity out there that's sabotaging the core or something?

I guess that does make the most sense... More sense than this sentient thing just manifesting out of nowhere.

From:

autocatalysis

Too early to say. I'm just saying that in this particular case it's a maybe. Not assuming anything, of course.

But yes, something sentient just manifesting out of nowhere... It doesn't sit right with me, not with the apparent level of power it seems to have? Did no one catch it sooner, before it got this far?

From:

specialdog

It sure is frustrating helping people out who don't have a clue what's really going on!

[ She's. So annoyed. ]

Mostly because it's frustrating not knowing what's going on for myself and having noooo one who can tell me.

From:

autocatalysis

[ Welcome to the club, Akane! They've got- jack all but salt, apparently. ]

And of course what little they do know, they're not allowed to tell us. Not freely, anyway.

Really makes you wonder what the universe is playing at. Are we here to rescue something that doesn't want rescuing?

[ because if that's the case, suck it up, universe. None of them signed up for this. ]

From:

specialdog

Mm, like the universe having made the corruption itself...? Something like that?

I'm sure it wants to be rescued, but it's like--why does that fall on us? Learn to deal with your own problems, you know?

From:

autocatalysis

I don't want to think that the universe is that self-sabotaging, but for all we know that might be the case. [ which says more about how much they do and don't know than anything about the universe, but. ]

Lune and Sol say they volunteered. Why weren't we given the same option, I wonder?

[ what does the universe want from them. ]