WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[You now know why you're here, Titled. The question now is, is there a way to get out of here without invoking the rules? What will those who brought you here do to get you to kill?

Time will tell.

There are fifteen strangers in this place.]

Comments

[foolishjustice]

I was concerned by the same thing. Kurusu-kun and I already discussed the possibility of someone here having reasons to be tempted. If they do know such thorough details about us, they would be aware if anyone is in a desperate financial situation...or, if they believe they are, at any rate. Our fractured memories mean that they could get away with offering an incentive that might not actually matter at present, so long as we don't remember it being rendered irrelevant.

[theirmagic]

... Fractured memories?

[ THIS IS THE FIRST SHE'S HEARING OF THIS??? ]

E-excuse me, detective, but... what?

[foolishjustice]

Ah, you haven't noticed? Everyone I've spoken to thus far has mentioned reason to believe they're missing portions of their memory. Even myself, there are...events that don't follow properly, as though I had simply paid so little attention to what I was doing that I couldn't commit it to long-term memory despite something significant clearly having happened.

And, before you make the obvious suggestion, I've never touched alcohol in my life.

[theirmagic]

Well, I was going to say I hope so, seeing as you seem a bit too young to be drinking.

[ Anyway. ]

Professor Croix and myself do not seem to have anything like this going on, though. All of our memories match up perfectly fine, and I can remember everything that's happened in my life recently with perfect clarity. Croix, do you have anything you feel is off?

[ She turns to ask her friend. ]

[scienceofmagic]

...........When I woke up, I wasn't in any clothes I recognized wearing. Likewise...

[ She'll gesture to your hair. ]

I thought it a little odd at the time, but now...

[theirmagic]

... Your clothes?

[ WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT??? HER? HAIR? HAS BEEN BLUE THIS WHOLE TIME, definitely, ahahahahahaha.. ]

Oh... that's right. Weren't you wearing that odd ensemble? It's very... not what I recall you wearing at all when you came back to Luna Nova. You were rather grandiose.

[foolishjustice]

Yes, it's not all in blanks. There's more minor inconsistencies...both in memories of clothing, and profile details.

[theirmagic]

... That's... very strange. I was definitely wearing what I always wear. My teacher's uniform. But Croix... she doesn't exactly adhere to dress code at Luna Nova, and they kind of... well, let her. You'd know the outfit if you saw it, believe me, she had a cape.

[foolishjustice]

[The way his eyebrows lift at the mention of a cape doesn't exactly seem...judgmental. More like he'd have loved to see it.]

Have you noticed anything in your profile that seems unusual?

[theirmagic]

Ah... well, let me think about it...

[ She'll pull out her phone again, read it, and then shake her head. ]

... No, it's all fairly correct...

[foolishjustice]

Then either you've somehow managed to escape the memory alteration, or very little has changed in the time you've forgotten. Given it would break the pattern with no established reason, I'm afraid Occam's Razor suggests the latter...

[steelmagnolias]

[ Well, he's managed to parse enough from this exchange to bring up this point. ]

I brought this up at the meeting with Coach-chan yesterday, but...my profile said I was a few years older than I actually was.

I thought at first that was a mistake, but I woke up wearing this.

[ Once again, gonna flash that ring. ]

[scienceofmagic]

I prefer that right now--the more dramatic clothing. But this wasn't that. So it's very strange...

[ Now she's thinking. ]

[theirmagic]

... So why weren't you wearing it? It's certainly unlike our dramatic Professor Croix to not be wearing her harness and cape.

[scienceofmagic]

I don't know. I think Akechi's theory about missing memories is correct.

[ ...Which fills her with dread, but she's hiding it very well. She knows what she was working on, what she was doing... ]

[theirmagic]

... If it is, Croix...

[ She tugs a bit at her hair for a moment, then chews her lip. She'd assumed it was because her glamour wasn't active, here, but what if--

What if there was another reason?

What reason could she POSSIBLY have to want to openly be Chariot again? ]

... I'm worried...

[byanyother_name]

[-kun, is it? Perhaps unsurprising given the other boy is literally listed as one of Akechi's likes, but still worth noting. Kurama nods slightly.]

Frankly, considering that this game itself is sign enough of a twisted nature, I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it would appeal to them more to bait someone into killing with a prize they've forgotten they no longer need.

[foolishjustice]

[They are good friends, of course he uses a familiar honorific!]

Nor would I. And even setting aside the cruelty potential, there's also the possibility that the target, with their memories intact, would have nothing they would be willing to kill for. In that case, they could use the damage to our memories to motivate us in ways that wouldn't work otherwise.

[byanyother_name]

[Of course. Clearly Akechi's formal tendencies don't go quite that far.]

Agreed. Which I suppose lends some weight to the idea that our memory loss may have been deliberate, as opposed to a side effect of our trip or of whatever rummaging was done to create our profiles.

[foolishjustice]

[He's still using his last name, isn't he?]

Considering that possibility, they may have even been deliberately suppressed in order to cause their desired reactions.

[His lips thin for a second, as he considers an ugly possibility.]

Let us hope that suppressing is all they've done.

[byanyother_name]

[True enough, but for lack of desire or lack of invitation?]

Possible, though perhaps not entirely for that reason. The gaps in my own memory are haphazard enough that I find it difficult to imagine them all being related to providing me a motive.

[Besides, he can't see his motive changing for much.]

It seems more likely. At least in my own world, it's quite difficult to truly destroy a memory permanently. Far easier and less work to suppress them.

[foolishjustice]

[...Maybe more the latter.]

That assumes their only desired reaction is murder. They may also simply find our confusion entertaining.

[He shakes his head.]

Complete destruction of memories isn't what I was thinking about.

[byanyother_name]

[Imagine that.]

True, though... I think we have a significant problem in our lack of knowledge about how many parties are involved. There are things that might be inferred by the attitude of the text-sender, but we have no idea how many different personalities are responsible for all of this.

Tampering, then? That's an unfortunate possibility as well.

[foolishjustice]

We don't yet know what they're capable of, after all. And it would make sense for them to sow as much doubt as possible.

[A frustrated sigh.]

At the moment, I'm suspecting a large group. Both the resources they've displayed and the fact that they were able to abduct us from such varying locations, even across multiple worlds, makes me doubt this is the work of a few individuals.

[byanyother_name]

Of course. The more uncertain we are, the less likely anyone is to act decisively in ways they don't expect.

[He seems to think over what Akechi said for a moment before tilting his head. Kurama doesn't precisely disagree, but...>

That's most likely true. But we aren't likely to be directly dealing with all of them. While we will need to hunt the rest down, I think there's a natural limit on how many will be actively involved in controlling this 'game'. Too many cooks, as it were.

Besides, the one who sent the text doesn't strike me as one who thinks enough of others to work with them easily. They even felt the need to point out that they are not 'a blundering idiot like some others', which implies they don't think much of their fellows.