W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[strangerpeople]

W͜͏̶Ę͏E͝͠K͝͞ ̧1̵͟

[The national council just announced the blight to the country.

There was no sugarcoating it anymore. This was a critical time. Saving all of the vines is paramount, but what does one do when the blight hits? It keeps encroaching on the grapes, day by day. Entire clusters, entire bunches, dead and rotting, while allowing the blight to spread, and the leading botanists and viticulturists cannot identify the origin or the cause. They can't even successfully isolate the culprit in their labs; it seems to disappear like air no matter the precautions taken.

It is a catastrophe that seems to be beyond science, and it will result in the complete collapse of the entire country's wine industry. Already, embargoes on this year's crop have forced other grape-growers to close shop for the year after they'd sold their previous stock; it is all too possible that no grapes might ever be grown here again if a cure cannot be found. The tourists have stopped coming. The towns have grown silent.

You, meanwhile, are devastated. With the way your business is going, it will be on the brink of bankruptcy within the year. You will soon have no choice but to close shop and let every grapevine die, let the land go fallow. There must be a cure for this, there must be. Yet everything that can go wrong is.

Then, as you watch the news, it happens. Breaking news. The blight has been found in another country.

It is a pandemic-and it is only getting worse.


-

Well. This is...what else can can anyone say? You all know the deal. You all know what situation you're in. All that is left is to figure out what you can do about it. If there's anything that can be done.

You still feel that compulsion to distrust. To know you cannot win. To know that only the hosts have your best interests in mind. It would be easy to just do all that. But would it be the right thing to do? You can't be completely sure. Indeed, nothing is certain here, except for that damned ticking sound. If only you could stop it.

But you can't stop it. It is inevitable.


There are 15 strangers in this place.]

Comments

[beguiledcard]

I've never done anything to you or anyone here - not that it apparently matters.

[ Then he's just. SIGHING and dragging a hand over his face. And just... snaps, his tone as sharp as his gaze. ]

With all due respect, I don't care if you forgive me for... whatever it is you think I did.

[comesaround]

Akira.

[ Karma's tone is sharp and he is almost wanting to get up from where he's sitting. ]

The last thing we need is everyone being at each other's throats so soon. [ He looks to Vita with a somewhat firm look. ] I only know of him being in one game and that was with me, and he hasn't killed anyone.

[illusionarymelody]

Can you confirm though that after that he didn't end up in another place in a similar situation after that? He told us about the Mall. That's how I knew Loewe was one of the people there. Jonathan can also vouch for the fact that both of us have met him at the Base.

[beguiledcard]

[ Karma's words seem to have an effect on him, at least. Even though there's still some bitterness in his expression, he tones it down in his voice. ]

I made it out of the Mall alongside Kurama, Karma, and many others.

Besides, just because you met a version of me, doesn't mean you met me. That's just how the multiverse is. One of my boyfriends is- dating another version of Akira Kurusu. [ gaze going distant and dimming quite a bit ] I stood in the same room as Goro Akechi's original Akira and everything.

[illusionarymelody]

So you're trying to claim that there is another version of you that also was at the Mall alongside the same people? The one at the Base spoke of events at the Mall. There was one person from my world there, name of Loewe, his title among you was the Winds and had a power involving ice. One with the title of Bodacious died in the first week and murdered for money. Is that accurate?

I'm sure Karma can verify that he didn't tell me any of this and I brought up Loewe first when we spoke.

[backuphero]

[WHY THIS... Vita please don't start a fight, he doesn't know what this Akira can do in one, yet!]

So... it's not just that timelines don't match up. There could be - hell, for all I know there's a me out there wondering where the hell his Charlotte went and she's stuck someplace like this.

[And over at Akira - ]

It's like I said yesterday, then, and we met a you. Maybe?

[unwittingking]

[…thinking about that...]

Uh, just wanna check, your talking about Charlotte Aulin, right? Long brown hair, magical abilities, technically related to Dracula in some way?

[And yes, King was just letting this fight be, but then some memory came back up and now he has questions.]

[backuphero]

I -

[Congratulations, King, you have ALL of Jonathan's attention. And he's abruptly gone damn near chalk-white at that name... and the accurate description....]

I - how do you know her?!

[Fear makes him angry. This time, though, anyone could tell he's terrified more than enraged; his voice is pleading and horror-sick as much as it's loud. The thought of his best friend, his kid sister, the one person in all the worlds he's hurt the most by not thinking things over before jumping into them... and someone who's been through things like what he and Vita have knows her full name and that terrible genealogical tidbit too!?]

[unwittingking]

[Wow so apparently his special talent is making people upset?? Awesome

That may be fear in Jonathan's voice, but King's still taking a step back regardless. He's not in the mood to get grabbed by this kid or anything.]

Sh-She was on the train. Went through a lot of terrible stuff-but she's okay. She should still be with The Empress.

[Along with the others...he hopes they're still with her...]

i literally don't have an upset enough icon for this lmao

[backuphero]

She was - she was - God, no....

[He's just kind of sinking down to halfway curl up in a ball on the floor, King, don't worry.

It was only supposed to be him with this kind of luck. She was supposed to be safe. They'd won, hadn't they? And of course someone here would say that and then say "she's okay", they'd want to try to pacify him, try to keep him from finding out what really happened....]

Tell me they didn't make her a killer. I know you're probably lyin' about some of it anyway but tell me they didn't make her kill somebody, please -

[unwittingking]

[Yeah...upsetting people is definitely his special talent...

Ignoring the whole "you're probably lying about something" part for now, he'll try to be a bit more comforting.]

They didn't. I promise. She got out alive, and didn't...she didn't kill anyone.

[He was going to say hurt, but then his mind went back to that rat thing she fried, so...]

[backuphero]

Thanks....

[It's the least he can say, really. That odd little hitch, and that emphasis, did not escape him... but right now, Jonathan's just staying here, sitting down, hoping the room quits spinning sometime soon. Hell of a thing having shock and fear spike your heart rate like that out of next to nowhere....]

She's - she's important to me, it's complicated but....

[illusionarymelody]

[Congrats King, you stopped the argument because upsetting Jonathan will get Vita to stop and she'll go to comfort him with a hug and let him get all clingy if he needs it.]

It's okay, she's fine and there are others who can vouch for that too. We just saw her not long ago too.

[backuphero]

It's crowded in here, we shouldn't - aw, what the hell. They already know you're weak for me....

[It's oddly graceful, how he leans into her embrace for a moment before drawing them both upright and her into his arms. It makes dropping his voice to a volume only those immediately nearby can hear make sense, too.]

We saw our her. Caleb said he recognized me because the her on the train was fighting for my sake, and I didn't want to believe it. Multiple timelines for sure. It's a goddamn spiderweb all right....

[beguiledcard]

Are you trying to claim you're an expert on the possibilities within the universe? For the record, that's not accurate. Dio never murdered for money and he'd be super offended that anyone ever thought he did.

[ He nods at Morris. ]

I'm willing to place my bet on 'definitely' at this point.

[backuphero]

[He does nod back, but before he can speak the rug's pulled out from under his feet by King.

They should talk later, probably.]

[illusionarymelody]

Yet you indirectly confirm I was correct about the title and him committing murder and fail to deny the rest. Didn't the people in the Mall also have their memories tampered with? The same was true at the Base. That seems far more likely than yet another coincidental double that betrays people's trust. Either way, you're not someone I would trust anywhere near me or Jonathan if we want to stay alive and well.

[And that having been said, she's going to go try and calm down her husband now and will be ignoring Akira and Kurama for the rest of the meeting.]

[byanyother_name]

'Coincidental'.

[There's a cold, angry disdain to the word.]

Bringing an innocent version of him to face your scorn sounds like an excellent way to sow further division and distrust. In which case, congratulations on playing right into their hands.

[Kurama shifts closer to Akira, a gentle hand brushing his boyfriend's arm. Vita is very welcome to ignore them; Kurama will be doing exactly the same to her.]

[incendiarize]

In the mansion, our memories got tampered with - they got changed. I thought a good friend had turned against my guild, when she never had. If memory tampering's a constant, then we can't guarantee that's not what's happening here.

I'm not saying you're wrong, just that maybe that's a bridge you should cross when you get to it instead of right now.

[illusionarymelody]

[She does hear Arthur and the other two, but she's focusing on her husband first. However, once the meeting is over, she's going to approach the boy again.]

I get what you are saying about the memories, but I also recall clear distrust for him before coming here and that distrust came for a very good reason. I know what they are doing to us, but I can't resist it for someone who I couldn't trust before in a situation like this.

[incendiarize]

[A little unexpected, if he's being honest.] They changed my whole relationship with Ricky, so I wouldn't say that's necessarily proof your memories of him weren't changed.

And no one said you had to trust him, but insisting he's the same guy when there's no proof yet isn't useful. Time's a load of crap to begin with.

[illusionarymelody]

It would be rather difficult for a living person to add a memory of being murdered. At least with that much detail. I'll give you that changing who it was is possible, but I can't trust him on a possibility and my husband recalls him and what he did too.

What is a fact is that the one who killed me came from the Mall and many of the details are the same. Even if he is a double, I've met one who also killed.

[incendiarize]

Literally no one said to trust him. But treating him like he's already a criminal, when this particular one might not've done anything, is just being mean. Watch your back, sure, but don't make it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

I'm sick of people being at eachother's throats all the time, trust or no trust.

[illusionarymelody]

That's what you don't understand. To me the Akira from the mall already is a criminal who was executed for his crime of my murder. The best I can do is agree to stay away from him and if I need to be in his presence to make sure we're not alone ever again.

But would you mind if we change the subject? I did have a question I wanted to ask you.

[beguiledcard]

[ Ignore him all you want, Vita, he's getting within feet of her, right in her line of sight and loudly saying-- ]

And what makes you think it'd be just one of us who's got their memories messed with, lady? I'm not fucking special.

[ Then walking off, lightly shaking hand taking Kurama's upper arm, gently, as he goes. ]