Catch-All for Julius

[specialdog]

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Week 1 | Wednesday Morning

[specialdog]

[ Sometime before chucking a puzzle box at Julius's head, Akane spots him out and about... Somewhere... I should have asked and didn't. Oh well! They haven't really talked since their first day here, when they were joking about what sort of situation they're in. So she figures she may as well just pick up, there. ]

So it's like an And Then There Were None situation.

[autocatalysis]

[ It's a shame the reference goes right over his head because... JRPG world, who's Agatha Christie. Though who knows. Anyway um. Um. We can say it's the library through the gateway or the casino. ]

I... Don't think I'm familiar with that particular work, I'm afraid, but I think I understand what its premise might be, considering.

[ Hell yeah context clues. ]

[specialdog]

It's like a classic. [ she hasn't read it. ] I bet it's in the library.

But... A group of people are killed off, one by one. That kind of thing.

[autocatalysis]

I haven't bothered much with the fiction sections here. [ But then again, the nonfiction sections are also somewhat unhelpful sometimes, so maybe he might as well read a novel or two while here. ] And I'm assuming it was never written on my world, because I've never heard of the title, let alone it being a classic.

It sounds fairly on the nose, though. [ ... ] I suppose they do end up dwindling to none in the end?

[specialdog]

[ Fair point on the whole 'totally different universes' thing. ... But Akane shrugs, because she only knows about it through osmosis.]

I don't know. Never read it.

But--actually, I wonder if we'd be better off reading a ton of mystery novels. Do you think it would help us figure things out when someone gets possessed next?

[autocatalysis]

[ guess they're both shrugging through that particular point!

Drolly: ]

Mystery, or horror? [ but more seriously, ] It might help. But Mary didn't act differently from normal or seem to remember anything that happened until the darkness was revealed in spite of itself. It might be that it got to her early and we didn't even have a baseline to compare with. Sol and Lune didn't specify exactly when the corruption occurred, did they?

[specialdog]

Horror might help us figure out what to expect, but if we're going to have more of those trial things... Mystery sounds better for that...

[ But, hm. Akane blinks at that. ]

... You think she might be have been corrupted before she killed? Like, way before?

[autocatalysis]

[ He just lets out a tired sort of sigh. ]

I don't know, is the thing. It's why I'm asking. What if there might have been signs earlier in the week that we didn't know to look out for. And if so, could we have done something about it. Or is it really that rapid onset, a latent seed of infection that... what, seizes control of the host only during the more extreme darkness of that particular night?

Admittedly, I keep drawing parallels to other things I've seen before-- but given how unprecedented this likely is, I'd imagine too much confirmation bias is would be far from ideal.

[specialdog]

Even if it ends up being wrong, the more information we have going into this, the better... Have you...

Has stuff like this happened to you, before?

[autocatalysis]

It had to do with soul energy before, and a breakdown in whatever processes were involved in the proper purification and distribution of. [ Souls, yeah. ] You might have heard me ask Lune about it when they both first appeared to us.

[ You know, in a public thread, which is why he is being so candid about this in the first place! Even if he's still being incredibly vague about it. ]

But the thing about people seeming on the surface to be as generally fine as anyone else-- unaware, even-- until threatened with the means of their destruction... Well. Regardless of how it apparently happens, that kind of transformation is unfortunately something not unfamiliar to me, no.

[specialdog]

That sounds tough to deal with. Or - I guess I know that it's tough, now that I've seen it first-hand, too. Has it happened to someone you know? A friend?

[ not the best way to pry for details, Akane. God. ]

[autocatalysis]

More than a few times, though I'm not sure I'd call them friends. It's probably more tiring generally not being able to talk about it.

[ he's ... surprisingly? flippant seeming about it, so. no harm no foul...? ]

[specialdog]

[ yesss, got away with being rude af... score... ]

Is there a solution? Is there a way to fix people?

Someone told me that a strong heart could fight off darkness, but that sounds stupid, to me.

[autocatalysis]

Who told you something like that?

[ said in the tone of someone who also finds it patently stupid, so,,, ]

Strength of will doesn't stop an infection. At best it just prolongs your ability to function before it's too much to deal with anymore. 'We're so sorry, your illness is terminal, but if you take good care of yourself from here on out you might be able to get five years instead of three.'

-- That's something a little different, but. Either way, talking down a divergence catalyst is a fool's errand at best.

[specialdog]

Saix-san. He said it could be overcome with strength and bonds or something--but it's pretty idiotic. What do bonds help, when a person could be guilty and not even know it themselves? Trust in their usual character can't mean anything against a corruption like that.

Darkness, or... A "divergence catalyst." Or even just an illness... I don't think we can treat this like anything we're familiar with.

w1 Friday; post-announcement

[autocatalysis]

[ hey akane wherever you're at, surprise. it's this guy again. he looks as if he's debating on whether or not to ask her something, but- ]

... A game, you said?

[ yeah he heard that. ]

[specialdog]

[ She's out and about, probably just around the shrine or whatever. She looks up from her cell phone that she's been staring at. Even though it's clearly dead.

... She's coping well. ]

Mm. An escape room.

[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?

[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. ]

[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. ]

[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.

[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?

[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.

[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?

[autocatalysis]

From an idealist's viewpoint I suppose those with strong enough bonds should be able to know when something's wrong, somehow. Though what good it does from there comes down to whether or not they'd be willing to say anything about it.

[ like how leaxel attempted to ignore what people were saying about mary until it all came to a head. ]

But, yeah. I doubt drawing too many parallels to what we've seen before will help. Though it seems the best thing to do regardless is treat them the same way as a catalyst: eliminate them, regardless of who or what they look like.

[ it'd probably be easier for everyone if the darkness didn't allow the victim to act so normal first. ]