15strangers | (no subject)

W̡͜E̶EK ̵̕2̕͠

[The blight would not stop.

The world's leading experts have been trying to find a cure, to no avail. Th blight keeps changing, keeps foiling all attempts at being fully understood. It's almost sentient, or at least more sentient than any disease that's been encountered before. People fear the disease jumping from what's left of the grapes into other plants, into animals, or even humans.

You can only watch as entire economies and ecosystems collapse. You can only bury your head in your hands as your own business comes to its end. The destruction of the clusters of grapes has not simply destroyed the wine industry, either-other businesses are being destroyed by the plague. Food, transport, retail, nothing is untouched.

You look on your own vineyard, its yield almost entirely blackened and dead.

This can't keep going on.

-

A week has passed since everyone's arrival. No one has died, yet. But surely no one is holding their breath to see if they would survive this unscathed. They are veterans of the game, and they must know that whoever it is that is in charge demands their pound of flesh. The question is when it will happen.

It is the second week, after all-and when the second week of the game comes, death is not far behind. Not even when you wake up, feeling something different in your mind as you remember the truths you originally woke up with, deep in your mind. You feel...lighter, somehow, when you realize there is a change.

Even so, there are 15 strangers left in this place.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

You're not wrong. Obviously, this would help our leader, like literally everything we do.

But it's simple. There's three options.

[He puts up his fingers and everything.]

One, every single stranger submits to our leader entirely, despite their valiant resistance over the course of the past eight days.

Two, we introduce reality to your minds more directly.

Three... we make a broadcast on the television where you can find out what to make of the situation for yourself!

It'll be airing again at other times, if you're that concerned. Just don't put it off too long.

[A part of him is screaming that this is a trap. They're trying to mind control him, like with what happened to Jonathan and Kurama. Something like what happened at Perdurance to the other people there. He shouldn't trust it...

But something is telling him he should. It's a risk, but if it means getting information about the situation, he'll have to risk it, and hope for the best.]

Fine. If I have the time, I'll try to watch it. Maybe. Happy?

Exquisitely.

[Wow, that was downright beatific after all the nastiness earlier. But in fact, Hiyori is so happy that he doesn't even have anything else to say to King, or books to read. He's just standing there, beaming.]

...tip about imitating normal people; they don’t usually put so much emotion into one word, especially for something so normal.

[Yeah, he’s still convinced they’re both possessed. By what? Who knows. He’s just sure that they are.]

You must be so much fun at parties.

More fun than a guy possessed by a smarmy, over-acting, misleading, evil celestial being.

[And now he'll just go back to his book, ignoring whatever else Hiyori has to say. He's got his mind made up about those two, and no one is changing it.]