Catch-All for Shess

[specialdog]

stuff here later

Comments

[nonbelligerent]

[it's a bit callous by human standards, yes.]

You said something about a game to Lune. May I ask what you meant?

[specialdog]

... The four of us were stuck in an escape room. We had to do puzzles and figure stupid stuff out.

[ She realizes, after a moment, that she should clarify which 'four of us.' ]

Nana, me, North, and Four.

But we did it, so we should have been fine.

[nonbelligerent]

Lune did mention that some people made progress in clearing the corruption in the area.

How did you get stuck?

[specialdog]

[ Akane is usually a better actress than this? She looks uncomfortable at the memory of it and pulls her shoulders in like she wants to make herself smaller. ]

We just--suddenly opened our eyes, locked up in another place.

[nonbelligerent]

I see. That must've been frightening.

[specialdog]

It was fine.

[ it was not fine. ]

[nonbelligerent]

[hm.]

May I ask you something, Akane?

[specialdog]

Sure.

[nonbelligerent]

If you thought that you had cleansed the corruption, was there a reason not to say anything? It doesn't seem it was ever announced.

[specialdog]

[ Akane relaxes a bit, and laughs lightly. Phew! That's not a scary question at all! ]

I'm not great with public speaking.

[ but, more seriously: ]

It came after us twice, and never as a person. I didn't think we had done anything permanent.

[nonbelligerent]

It? You mean the darkness?

[specialdog]

Yeah.

[nonbelligerent]

What form did it take, if you don't mind me asking? Are you all right?

[specialdog]

... It was just darkness. In objects, at first, then the rooms.

[ And she goes quiet. Hesitating.

Then: ]

And--hands. Covering my eyes.

[nonbelligerent]

[uh]

That sounds highly unpleasant.

[specialdog]

[ Her shoulders hunch inward. She... Hated it, a lot, and spent basically the entire time in the puzzle afterwards just recovering from that one thing.

But she tries to laugh it off. ]

It was pretty annoying...!

[nonbelligerent]

[...]

What about the puzzles? What were they like?

[specialdog]

Basic escape room stuff. Hidden keys... Pressing buttons in the right order to shut off an alarm. Magnets and electric fish...

[ that doesn't sound basic?? but would shess know either way ]

Cassette tapes and players. Word scrambles.

That type of thing.

[nonbelligerent]

[he doesn't know what an escape room is, no]

How bizarre. I don't see what any of that has to do with darkness.

[specialdog]

[ Darkness... Darkness...

Huh. ]

The only thing I can think of... There was a recording. That cassette tape said... "Revenge isn't the only purpose of darkness. There's another reason. To save someone." Or something like that.

But I think that was just a joke about switching vision and being in dark rooms or something.

[nonbelligerent]

[er.]

I'm not sure I see the joke.

[specialdog]

Mm, well, we had to tell each other what to do, and some of us were in the dark and some of us weren't, so... I don't know?

Like, the ones in the dark had to guide the ones who weren't, since we were seeing through them? So we were saving them...?

[nonbelligerent]

Interesting. That sounds like it was difficult.

But where does revenge come into it?

[specialdog]

[ .......... she shrugs. WHO KNOWS, honestly. ]

[nonbelligerent]

Fair enough.

So what did you do that made you think you might've impacted the darkness?