15strangers | WEEK 3

Entry tags:

*round 7,
*week 3

WEEK 3

WEEK 3

[The week begins as last week began. But there's is a great difference-murder. It has happened. Blood has been drawn; it cannot be undone. The Game has made itself known. The Game is paramount. The Game simply is.

As morning dawns, those who were not present with the DEAD lock will find that the doors that were locked are now gone-and a whole new area has finally opened up to them. They will also find that they remember something they had not been able to recall beforehand. The question is, was it worth it?

And-is it you, or is the ship getting...colder as the hours go by? No, it's not just you. By the end of Sunday, the ship has started to dip into freezing temperatures. It might be difficult for people to bundle up-unless you're Brain, who will find his closet inundated with winter clothing that fit him perfectly.

Yup. This is going to be a long week, as if last week wasn't bad enough.

There are currently 16 strangers in this place.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...?

[You okay there, sir?]

Ah, just....the 'backup' that you mentioned is...eerily similar to my own condition.

[...Yeah, he hella bled, so he's not a robot.]

You have a backup...but you're not an AI or robot of any sort?

No, not at all. It is...hm, how to explain...

[He ponders for a moment.]

I am...someone who has once died, but while I lived - I placed my mark on history to the point that humans would remember me. In a sense, I became a 'hero' - or, more truthfully, an 'antihero', an example of what not to become - and my very soul became engraved on a 'server' of sorts called 'The Throne of Heroes.' At any time, if I am needed - and if there is a connection - I can be summoned down to the mortal world, stronger than I ever was in life.

[....]

Except, unfortunately, I may be incomplete...and liable to be thrown away, in the end - as I am the dregs of James Moriarty, his 'good morality', so to speak, while the actual man cast me aside without memory in the streets of Shinjuku. I've not the foggiest what would happen to me if I were unsummoned or killed - most likely 'I' would merely vanish, without even a trace upon the Throne of Heroes to mark I ever existed.

[Still, he...doesn't really seem upset about the prospect. Instead, he almost seems to...accept it?]

. . .Is that why your doll said what it said?

....Said what, exactly?

..."Planned to kill an entire planet."

Ah....that.

[With new memories, comes more perspective on his actions.]

No, it's...twofold. One is that I did, in some sense, plan to kill my planet - by writing a book about the sheer force required for an Asteroid to completely destroy the earth.

[And here comes the harder part.]

Two, is....well, my other self planned to destroy an small, enclosed world with an asteroid, using extremely convoluted means. A destruction of a sort, the 'perfect crime' I'd written of before it was censored.

Well, either way, that's not really a nice thing to do. What did the planet do to make you want to destroy it?

....

It was mere intellectual curiosity.

[YOU ARE NOT A HIGH ENOUGH BOND LEVEL FOR THAT INFO]

A small, enclosed world...? Sort of like an offshoot of the human world?

A Singularity.

[Yeah, that's a Capital Letter you're sure hearing.]

Due to a certain demonic collective attempting to use the entirety of humanity's death by immolation as fuel to forcibly go back in time and re-write history, 'bubbles' of human history where things proceeded in very different ways than normal arose as part of it, as a way to solidify humanity's full extinction.

The Incineration of Humanity was reversed, but the 'aftereffects' still remained - Shinjuku was one such aftereffect, that wasn't connected to the timeline of human history, but still existed for a time. A 'Fictional Shinjuku', one could say.

[The words 'humanity's full extinction' cause him to tense, and his tail swishes behind him.]

Demons trying to eradicate humanity, huh...guess some themes just like to repeat.

It's not quite so apocalyptic in origin, but the idea of a fictional reality with no direct impact on human reality is a familiar one. My home for the past while has been a fictional world created and defined by movies.

Well, they were called demon pillars - but they were more akin to magecraft constructs. Goetia - the being that was at the head of their collective - and the 72 Demon Pillars attempted what they did out of their pity towards humanity's suffering. Something about wanting to reverse time so they could 'fix' humanity.

[...How does he know that so intimately? Huh.]

Ah, truly? How interesting! So each movie is a world unto itself, or are they all mashed together?

Sounds as arrogant as some demons.

[A huff and a shake of the head.]

Each movie is separate, but with sort of...shared borders? It's possible to get between them from inside if you know what you're doing, but they don't directly interact with each other.

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hatesdeerstalkers - 2023-06-30 22:51 (UTC) - Expand

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superstylishsquid - 2023-06-30 23:58 (UTC) - Expand

[Oh....she sees how that's the same, and yet also different. And it also stirs up some fears she's been trying to keep taped down in favor of focusing on the current situation.]

I see... Then, we'll need to make sure you get out of here safely. That's all there is to it.

I would appreciate it, but if I cannot...well, at the very least, I have enjoyed being 'me', for however short it is.

[He gives a smile.]

And with you - we'll have to get you a much better body, hm?

[Y'know. one that isn't rotting.]

[Ritsu's breath catches. There's that stinging sensation under her eyes.] ...You sound like Sensei...

[She does smell worse and more rot-y than she did last week.]

R-Right. Somehow...

Sensei? ....If it isn't too difficult for you, I would love to hear about him.

[Hearing about a fellow teacher always is a good thing, if her Sensei left such a mark on her.

As for her body, it's not like she can help it, so he's politely ignoring it. Though he does hope she'll get a new body before skin starts sloughing off that one, as that would most likely be distressing for everyone involved.]

I'd offer my own, but I hardly think you'd want to be a man of my age! Wahahaha!

[...That's not really funny, Moriarty.]

[She actually does laugh, just a little, at that comment. As for Sensei...

Deep breath.] Sensei... Korosensei. Our unkillable teacher. He was three meters tall, usually a bright yellow, although his face changed color with his mood, produced thick mucous, and had many all-purpose tentacles. He could move at a speed of machine twenty. He was the greatest teacher in the world and, before that, the greatest assassin.

[Breath. Breathe, and then...the words start spilling out. She can't stop.]

He was...silly. A bit of a pervert. He loved sweets, maybe a bit too much, and taking pictures - he whisked us all all over the world, once, to get class photos at major landmarks all across the globe... He had, there were certain pairings of students he liked, and would try to push together - you know, romantically. He was self-indulgent and easily baited, and would get flustered when inconvenienced.

...but he was still clever, and observant, and knew many things in many different fields. He always had time to listen to us, and help us with any kind of problem. He could tell us exactly where any given scheme went wrong and how to fix it. He...saw value in us, all of us, when no one else ever had or would. It's so much to explain, he- he saved Class E. I wasn't there for the start of it, but I learned and grew, too.

[She's forced to pause for breath, and- she's...crying? She doesn't know if there are tears, if this body can cry, but she knows she is.]

...What he wanted, more than anything, was to be weak...and our mission was to kill him.

So did he get killed?

[HERMES.]

Hermes.

[THAT WAS VERY RUDE???]

Whaaaaaat? There's no good reason to put us all in suspense and not finish the story!

[She flinches-]

I... He must have. I- I think all of them must have been.

[Regardless of the rude intrusion, he'd listened to the account.

And, despite the...man's?...foibles, it sounded as if he were a truly good teacher, in the ways a teacher should be. The mission to kill him...well, considering the description, he's not surprised, especially if he'd made himself known to the world at large. The 'being weak' though...there was something more going on there.

But, after a moment, that's not what he's focusing on the most.

The pauses - even if there are no tears, it's obvious what she is going through.

So, despite the rotting body...Moriarty places a hand on her shoulder, in whatever small comfort he can offer.]

I think I understand, Miss Ritsu.

This Korosensei...he sounded like one of the few that deserved to be teachers, those rare souls that can lift up the ones they are meant to teach - and guide them to the correct paths.

But he didn't have long, did he? Given your reaction to my comment about enjoying my time, no matter how brief.

[...]

For what it is worth, I wish I could have met him. I may no longer be a professor, but I recognize those who excel at the profession, no matter what they may be.

Edited (SPELLING) 2023-06-26 19:22 (UTC)