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Ah, didn't quite catch up in time to vote, but I think "someone else entirely" is a good pick; signs point to Mercury passing whatever test Odin has in store, and therefore Odin probably supporting him in some way. Either that or Odin himself is going to get fed up and step in and retake control.
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Feb 9, 2024 15:27
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 [BGM: Danrasu]  I moved uncomfortably in my chair. I never really felt comfortable sitting in public areas like this. That probably wasn't a good trait to have. Though, perhaps it was understandable, considering everything. Still... well, she wasn't here yet. I'd have to kill a bit more time. I took out my phone. Was there anything interesting going on? I looked around the phone for a bit. And then...  What's this?I was so taken aback I spoke up audibly. Well, I think surprise was an understandable reaction, given what I was looking at. The Devil had finally decided to send me a message. How considerate of him. Originally, I thought he might've died. ...Well, now I hadn't thought that. Still, I was dubious as to whether or not I'd get another email from him. But lo and behold, what had fallen into my lap? Well, well, well. Isn't this quite interesting? Might as well check. See what he has to say. I opened the email.   Dear Olif, Apologies for the delay. Sad as it is to say, real life events took priority for a time. I do not wish to divulge too much; needless to say, past events have been... trying. Because of that I have not had time to check my computer for, frankly, anything. The website has been similarly unmaintained – which is a shame, as so many suspicious activities have occurred in my absence! Further proof towards the God undocumented. I need to get on that post haste... and I shall. But first, I figured I owed you an email. If for no other reason than to let you know I am alive and well. So then, now you know. I am fine. So I can continue aiding your investigation into Panthea. Hopefully, in my absence you've continued to collect evidence, bringing us closer to the singular and undeniable Truth. If you have, I'd be pleased to hear more about it. Yours, The Devil. I read over the email a few times with bemusement. Huh. Well, thank God the Devil was still alive. What would I ever do if he wasn't okay? Still, the lines about him being busy with real life over the past bit felt weird to me. Is that what you're going with? Huh. I thought about why he would say that. Was that possibly true? What would he have to do that kept him busy over that period of time? Hm. I settled on that being a lie. Though I couldn't quite place why it was being told. Anyways. I tried thinking up what I should respond with. ...All right, this was probably the best way I could put this.   Hey, Devil! Glad to hear that you're well and alive. To be honest, I was getting a little worried. Sorry to hear about your life problems. It's a dangerous world out there. I'm sure you have your problems. Hopefully, they're resolved at this point. Anyways, onto the matter at hand. I have actually come across some interesting information, stuff I'd love to get your opinion on. I'm almost certain you'd have some good insight. But before we get to this, I'm sorry, I'd like to backtrack a bit. In my last message, that you never really responded to, I had some questions. Specifically, about the audio file that you sent me. Like, how did you get that audio? Again, I understand if you don't want to give specifics. Another question, do you have any idea who Marduk could be talking to? Or do you know what they talked about before or after the clip you sent? After this clip? I think those questions are essential. If you could answer that, I think we'd be a lot further to solving the mysteries of Panthea and reaching the Truth. Thank you, Olif. And like that, the matter was settled. ...Well, not settled. But at least, I refused to move away from the sticking point. The Devil didn't forget those questions on a whim. He intentionally tried to move past them. He didn't want to answer them for some reason. Of course he didn't want to. Still, I wasn't letting him get around that so easily. If he wanted to keep this conversation going, he'd have to address the main issue. I had a feeling he'd continue to evade this main point. But who knows, maybe I'd get lucky. After sending that email, I turned my attention to Kamapa. A bit of mindless scrolling. And then. [BGM: Bidding]   Uh, hello?I looked up. Oh. Looks like she was here. Lara, right? Um, yes, that's right. And you're... Eris? That's my name. Don't wear it out. All right, cool. Uh...Lara paused awkwardly, looking at me. What? Nothing, nothing, just... I feel like I know you. You most certainly don't. Are you sure? Because, I swear, I recognize you. Ah, that. Yeah, that makes sense. You're Duat-affiliated, right?A little hesitantly, Lara nodded. Okay then. You're probably recognizing my sister, then. She's kind of a big shot detective or whatever. Since you're, you know, a criminal and everything, you probably have been briefed on her or something. ...No... No, I don't think it's that. Yes, I do think it's that. I mean, you sure as poo poo haven't seen me. Not many opportunities for that. I... I guess you're right? poo poo... I swear, I'm remembering something. Why am I blanking on this? Don't you have bigger things to worry about? You're right. You're definitely right. So, uh. How do you know, uh...Lara trailed off. She didn't want to say the name here. Fair enough. I just shrugged. I don't really. Huh? Don't really know them that well. What? But, almost immediately, he gave me a note with your email. I mean, I'm online friends with them. ...Maybe 'friends' is a strong term. I'd classify it more as acquaintances, but maybe I'm just cold. My point is, I've never even met them irl. So see my surprise when I ended up getting your email. I mean, uh. This whole thing seems massively over my head, to be quite honest. But you know. I'm selfish. And greedy. And your situation seemed manageable. So I said yes. Still though, for me to be the first person for them to recommend... this must be a pretty desperate situation. That or they really don't have many friends. Probably a mix of the two, if I had to guess. Fair enough. Anyways, as luck would have it, I used to be a lawyer, which means I should be able to help out somewhat. Again, they shouldn't have known that, so it's quite weird that I was the person recommended, but let's not dwell on that. Well, that's a small relief. You look super reliable, so I'm really happy to have you on my side! Oh, uh, thanks, I guess. Still... even with your help, I can't help but feel nervous. This situation that I'm in... it's really rough. I mean, you're just a normal citizen?Uh... We can go with that. I kind of feel bad about getting you involved. Because this is dangerous. And tricky. I've become a target on all sides. I mean, you used to be a lawyer? That's really cool! Probably could be useful. But I don't think that's going to be enough in this case. Seriously? Were you always this much of a pessimist? Huh? 'Dangerous situation' my rear end. This is the epitome of looking a gift horse in the mouth. The only reason people have turned on you is because this city is full of selfish assholes only out for themselves. But that's a good thing. Right now, an extremely useful asset has fallen into your lap. You can treat it like a burden if you want. That's the dumb outlook. God, you are lucky that you were connected to me, huh? Huh? Look, Lara. We're about to turn this 'burden' of yours into a huge asset. This should solve most of your problems. We just have to be smart. ...Well, I have to be smart. I'm smart! Mhm. Why are you saying it like that? Look, when you make a claim, it needs to be backed with evidence. Right now, I've yet to see that evidence. You know, I've just been nice to you so far. Yeah, don't bother with that. I find that sort of rear end-kissing wholly unnecessary. Okay then. You're kind of a bitch, you know? Oh, I'm aware. But I'm the bitch you have to rely on right now, right? ... Cool. Jeez.[BGM: Pip Count]  How did I get to this point? I sure as hell don't know. I just have a vested interest in making sure you live to be a thorn in shittier people's sides another day. Right. Right...Lara looked down. I could tell that she was having second thoughts about this whole endeavour. I could hardly blame her. I mean, for her to trust me with no context like this... good for me, I guess, but it really signalled how lost she was. ...No, not lost. That didn't feel right. Rather... shaken up? That might be a more accurate descriptor. Made a bit more sense too. Motive aside, the end result was the same: Lara here wasn't on her top game. Well, she wouldn't need to be for this next bit, as I planned to do most of the talking. Still, I thought it probably worthwhile to boost her spirits, at least somewhat. Didn't want her making a fuss of things and blowing it when it counts. Hey, listen. I know you're going through some poo poo. A lot of people in this city are. But I'm going to need your eyes on the prize. From what I've heard, you're a pretty strong individual, yeah? I mean, it's that strength that's landed you here? That's one way to view it, sure. Good. Use that.Lara nodded, though I could tell she still wasn't fully 'in.' Oh well, I tried. Look, Lara. I know this must be weird for you. From your perspective, you have absolutely no incentive to trust me. However, you more than anybody should recognize that this is a tenuous situation. We need things to go exactly right if we want to make out ahead. I've already gotten things lined up. I can do most of the work. But given the tight schedule I've set up for us, I don't think I'm going to have time to fully explain the plan to you. What?! I know, I know, not ideal. But Lara, you're just going to have to trust me. Can you do that? Can you put your faith in this complete stranger, trust that I actually thought things through and did my homework? ...This is stupid. This is so drat stupid. But fine. As you've already so delicately put it, I'm kind of out of options. So fine. That's the spirit! Is it? It's a spirit. It's good enough. I operate in 'good enough.' That's not making me feel better about this arrangement. Look, just follow my lead, and trust me, you will be leaving me today a happy woman. Probably. ...Hopefully. To be honest, I'm kind of playing your hand for you with this arrangement, which is sort of lame on my part. But trust me that this is, in my opinion, absolutely the best move you can make. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, I know you said we were on a tight schedule, but it seems to me if you can make these sorts of metaphors, you can give me the abbreviated version of what I'm about to walk into. That fair? It is! That is, uh, extremely fair. So, uh, the long and short of it. Let's see... how to explain it? ...Do you know what your biggest problem is, right now? This does not seem like the fastest way to explain your problem. Right now, you've been put in the crosshairs of a lot of people. That's because of the will stipulation. I'm aware. Well, if that's what's drawing a target towards you, then you simply need to rid yourself of said stipulations. Honestly, if you just wanted to reset the situation, that'd be incredibly easy. But that's a waste, and I'm greedy. Instead, what we need t–I paused, interrupted by the man who had just entered the room. I don't say this about a lot of people, but this guy really did command attention. Not just his status. He had the personality for it, as much as I hated to admit it. Anyways, his entrance meant that we were now in the plan. [BGM: Golden Point]  Walking into the Olympo building's first floor waiting room was one Art Deisma, dressed in his business best. To his side, he carried a nondescript briefcase. He tried his best to put on a neutral face... but his eyes belied a simmering anger. Which, in this case, may have been understandable; as far as I understood it, things had not been working out well for Art as of late. Luckily I was here to remedy that. ...As if. My, oh my. Lucky us. We seem to be graced with the presence of Art Deisma, right before our very eyes. Oh, please. There's no need for any of that.Art took a seat at the other side of the room.  You must be Eris Smyth, correct? Wow, and you even know my name. I'm so honored! Mmm. If I understand it, this isn't your first time sitting in this room? Ah. Guilty as charged. I know nothing was proven... however, I can't help but feel a bit of indignation towards you. That might be fair. But to be clear, anything I may or may not have done was done completely impersonally. Honestly, I have far more resentment towards my Judas sister for pointing your direction towards my presence here than I do towards you. For the record, your sister is the only reason I am entertaining this little meeting. I would hold off on disparaging her, were I you. Oh wow, someone actually defending Laverna? That's a real first. Were you charmed by her unstable charms? Got a thing for lunatics? Okay, this is getting puerile. Is this how the whole meeting will go? Oh, come off it, Art. I'm just trying to break the ice. I wanted to know how deep the stick in your rear end is plunged. Now I know. Hm. And you... you must be Lara, correct? That's right. Nice to speak with you. For, uh, the first time. Subtle. You know, your appearance totally matches your voice! Surprisingly, I can say the same to you. Oh, you charmer. Uck. Let's just get started. Let's. I'd quite prefer not to have a known Duat member seen in my building. Tarnishes the reputation. Are you serious? You didn't have to meet here, you know! I didn't pick the meeting spot. I was just trying to be cordial. Come to you. We could've met in my office. No, I'd rather this be done in public. Hm. Tch. 'Don't want a Duat seen.' You saying you're better than us? Yes. Why you...Well, that went south pretty quick. You must have some guts, acting so above it all given what you tried to pull earlier today! I did nothing. And that was simply business. As a gang member, I would have thought you'd understand that. Business! Something we should be talking about. Did nothing? That how you see that? Naturally. Wow. You know, I've met a lot of scumbags. I'm friends with a lot of them. But actually thinking you're not as much of a sinner as any Duat member? That's a level of self-delusion that's even new to me. Bold words for a self-obsessed tramp. E-excuse me? What, are you surprised that I would have objections to you seducing my father? If we're talking about lows, that must be the record-setter. Seduce? What the gently caress are you talking about, you creep?! Really trying to deny it? Remember who you're talking to. Oh, I'm keenly aware. And I'm keenly aware about the weeks you spent living with Odin alone in his mansion. This was a novel money-making scheme, I must admit. Never thought Odin, of all people, would fall for it. That's not... you've totally misread the situation! It wasn't like that at all! Oh really? Then you mean for me to believe that my father decided to name you his chief inheritor because, what, you particularly impressed him? You think I know what goes on in that crazy gently caress's head? And also, do you even know your own dad? Of loving course he'd throw his kids to the curb if he thought I was more worthy. Exactly. He'd have to think a tactless lowlife thug Duat was somehow more worthy than his eldest son, who's followed in his footsteps perfectly. Wow, look at the ego on this guy. It's not a matter of ego. Odin looks down on the Duats. He'd never accept you. ...Lara had nothing to say about this. Probably because she agreed with Art's assessment. Now felt like a good enough time to speak up.  Um, I'm just going to interject for a second. Maybe Odin's reasoning for this whole thing is weird. Surprise, surprise, the man's unpredictable. But because you couldn't accept his explanation, Art, you decided the reason to be that Lara slept with a senior citizen? That kinda feels like a leap on your part. And more to the point, regardless of what actually happened, calling Lara a tramp like that during a business deal? I mean, talking about 'tactless.' Just saying, this ain't a good look for you. Real ungentlemanly, or whatever. ...Being honest, I expected to get some blowback from this. Art to try and suppress some rage. And, true, I spotted an initial flash of annoyance. But after that annoyance, Art's face took on a more contemplative expression. And then, after another moment, I saw... maybe I was getting this mixed up, but that seemed to be embarrassment. Huh. Art actually seemed ashamed with his behavior. Didn't expect that to actually work. You are entirely correct, Ms. Smyth. Apologies, Lara. My behavior just now was entirely unacceptable. You must forgive me, these past few days have been trying, as you well know. I have accumulated a healthy amount of stress. And I fear that, combined with my anger at Odin, culminated in the outburst you saw. Still, such language towards a lady is completely improper. So, sorry.Lara seemed equally surprised at this response from Art. Subtly, I elbowed her in the side. Genuine or not, it'd be best if Lara just apologized now. It'd smooth things over quite nicely for the meeting. Luckily, Lara seemed to catch my drift." Uh, I get it. I mean, I also don't know what Odin was thinking. And I mean... you pretty much spent your whole life following Odin, trying to get him to acknowledge you as his successor, right? So to hear him say that he was willing his Olympo stock to me in the case of his death... that must've come across as a total slap in the face.Art didn't say anything, but once again, his expression wasn't as hidden as he probably wished it to be. Yeah, that probably would be pretty rage-inducing. So I'm fine to just move on to what we're here to discuss. Aww. Once again, we're one big happy family. Eris, were you not the one pushing for us to focus on business? It seems you are now the impediment on that front. Yeah, yeah, don't get your panties in a bunch. I've got the papers right here.I reached down into my bag and rifled through some papers. I looked carefully, making sure I took out the right sheet. Finally, I placed it down on the waiting room table in front of Art. Drafting this up did not make me miss the law profession, I can tell you that. Contract work is a total snoozefest. Although, you know, I do like debating... and it'd be a waste to let the degree become meaningless... Maybe I should try transitioning to a trial lawyer.[BGM: Challenger]  As I mused to myself, Art began reading over the papers with a discerning eye. Given the nature of this meeting, Art had chosen not to bring any personal lawyers – thank Christ. But he also was far too savvy to fall for some trick like hiding a clause in the litany of legalese. To save us both time, I made the arrangement as brief as I could make it. Anyways, this is just the standard stuff. Transferring the stock to you, et cetera. It is?Art looked up from the paper. Is it just me, or does it sound like you didn't actually know what these papers did, Lara? Pfft, what? No, I totally read over the papers myself.That was quick. Looks like Lara really did decide to put her fate in my hands. Art, stay on target. Lara is well aware of the arrangement. The question is, do you understand it? It's not an awful lot to understand. If I sign this, upon Odin's death, any shares in Olympo owned by Odin willed to Lara will automatically be transferred under my control. In exchange, I pay her the agreed amount. Exactly! And the contract in your hand specifies just that. Hmm...That 'hmm' gave me pause. It felt like that represented not just a pause as Art read the contract, but also a pause as to whether to take this deal. Time to push. Say, Art. If I'm right, you have a 30% stake in Olympo, right?Art raised an eyebrow at this. You know this... Hey, you two aren't the only people who know things. My point is, right now you have a plurality stake in Olympo. But not a majority. That means your position as CEO is, in theory, at risk. But, if you combined Odin's 25% with your 30%... well, I'm sure a talented businessman like you can do the math. Yes, I am well aware of these factors. Still, that is only true when Odin passes away. He's old, but he's fierce. Who knows when his time may come. Yeah, who knows? Old man like that, an 'accident' could happen any day now...Art was actually taken aback. Are you implying... Hey, it's the Deisma way to take what you're owed, no matter who gets in the way. I'm sure Odin would respect you for taking control in the most effective way. ...Time to give a final push. And you know, this deal isn't exclusive. I'm sure your brother would be able to put a 25% share in Olympo to good use, don't you think? He should be around here somewhere, right? Okay, okay. Point abundantly made. There's no deliberation to be made. This deal is the only option, the best option, for both Lara and I. And the agreed upon price... a small one to pay, for what this grants me.Art nodded. Then, he took out a pen from his pocket. He leaned down, and without another moment's hesitation, signed the contract. Awesome! Now Lara, you just have to sign, and we can be settled.Lara gave me a side-eye. For the first time since Art walked in, I could sense that feeling again of her, unsure of whether to trust me. However, it only lasted for a moment.  Pass me your pen, if you would, Art.Art complied, and Lara signed on her side. And there we go! Deal made. Contract formed. Indeed.Art picked up the signed deed, clearly treasuring it quite a good deal. Then, if there's nothing else to discuss, I'll write you a check, and I can be on my way. Uh uh. Excuse me? Not credit. Cash. Cash? You're serious? For a deal like this, you expect me to give out that amount of cash? If at all possible, that'd be nice. As much as you'd like to pretend otherwise, I'm sure that office of yours upstairs easily has that much tucked away somewhere... just in case Big Brother decides to take just a little bit of a closer look at those accounts of yours. How clever. Mind going up and fetching that cash for us, Art? I'd prefer not to. Art reached down and lifted the suitcase. Then, he handed it out to me. Here. The agreed upon amount.I opened up the suitcase, as Art got to his feet. Sure enough, there was a buttload of cash in here. Holy... I thumbed through it quickly, making sure it was all legit. Sure enough, this was it. This was all real, the agreed amount. I closed the suitcase and handed it to Lara. That'll work. I thought so.Art began to make his way out of the room. Before he left, however, I had one last question for him. Hey, if you brought this down here, why'd you try and pay with a check? Ms. Smyth. Lara. This has been a pleasure.And just like that, Art Deisma left the waiting room, a suitcase loaded with cash poorer. Woah. Did that really...I checked the time. Yeah, I think that went pretty well. And I'm glad we were able to turn that around so quickly. Honestly, I thought I cut it too close when I was setting these up. Wait, setting what up? It's fine, it's fine, we finished in time. In time for what?As if on cue, the door opened right up once more... and another Deisma brother entered the fray.
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Feb 9, 2024 17:01
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 [BGM: Dealing Hands]  Entering the waiting room was Polly Deisma, holding a satchel bag. Unlike Art, Polly looked genuinely relaxed. He walked over and sat down right next to Lara and I. Polly. What an honor to have a Deisma brother in our presence. Oh, stop. It's not an honor to have me around. Now, you bring in Art, maybe. But me? Nah, I'm not an honor. That seems overly harsh. You're as much of a member of Panthea's elite as your brother. That just shows you how little you know about Panthea's elite.Polly and I seemed to be getting along swimmingly. However I couldn't help being aware of the very nervous set of eyes looking at me from the side. Sure enough, Lara was very anxious with this turn of events. Which, fair enough. She wasn't given advance notice – my fault there. But I told her to just go along with it, trust that I knew what I was doing. That I was getting her the best deal. ...Well, me the best deal. But it'd benefit us both, when you think about it. I just gave her a subtle nod, and a reassuring look. This only seemed to make Lara more confused. Ah well. She'd have to just keep up. So, you're Eris Smyth, right? Oh, how'd you guess? I mean, you're the spitting image of your sister. Like, you look identical. You're acquainted? Yeah, actually, just a little bit. I had a talk with her not long ago at a crime scene thingy. Ugh. Was she annoying? Laverna? Uh, no, I don't really think so. She was actually pretty cool about things. Laverna? Cool? Are you sure it was my sister we're talking about. I'm sensing a bit of sibling rivalry? You could say. Ah. Well, I hope you're able to patch it up. But I understand if the differences are, well, irreconcilable. I mean, I don't think our situation is anything like yours, if that's the parallel you're drawing. Well, that's good. Polly turned his attention to Lara. And you! You must be the lovely Lara." Uh, guilty. Pleased to meet you Mr. Deisma. Really, it's exciting for me. Much the same! Man, I gotta know, what did you do to get Pops to actually formally respect you like that? Honestly? I'm not really sure. Yeah, well, that makes two of us. I don't know how many years of my life I've tried to get him to acknowledge me the way he did you. Oh, uh, don't take that as me slighting you or anything. For as flawed as that old bastard was, he tended to be pretty sharp. So if he decided to will you his shares, you must be pretty cool. Uh, thank you. That's very kind of you to say. But to be honest, I never really wanted those shares. Which is why what we're doing here today is such a great idea! Really, it's a situation everyone wins in. Lara here gets money. Who doesn't like money? No one. Right. And you, Polly, you get 25% of Olympo's shares! He does? He does! I mean, it's a bit trickier than that. You know, technically he will be transferred the shares that are willed to you whenever Odin kicks the bucket... but you can't imagine Odin to have that many years left in him. I wouldn't count him out. That man has energy. Pfft. 'Energy'. Energy does little in the face of disease. Is that right? Let's say it is. Polly, I know you've been dissatisfied with Art's rule of Olympo. You're looking for an in. Up until now, Art has appeared, to put it mildly, unassailable. ...But that was because he had Odin in his back pocket. Odin's shares combined with Art kept him completely untouchable, but this! This is your one opportunity! Make this agreement, and combining what you stand to gain with the shares you already own, you'll be the chief shareholder! You will effectively own Olympo. I know funds on your end are tight. Unlike Odin and Art, you don't have unlimited funds. But if there was ever a time to spend, now is the time. In terms of investments, this is a sure-fire deal that will pay out tens of times in the long run. You would be, to put it bluntly, a massive idiot to walk away right now. Hey, hey, you can save the pitching. I am already fully onboard. Gotta admit, the asking price for those shares is, uh, a little steep for my current budget. But as you said, it's more than worth it. And even putting profit aside, this is my one chance to put a stop to Art. He needs to be stopped. In his blind pursuit of Odin, he's become like our dad. ...That's not somebody you want to become like. Really, in a way, I'm doing this for his own good! Yeah, yeah, I don't really care about any of that. The question is, you ready to make the deal?Polly nodded.  I already came prepared. I've got my payment right here.Polly slapped the bag he held. Ready to give it to you as soon as we make the deal. Well then, let's make this deal and get paid! Uh, Eris? Are you sur– Oh, come on Lara. This is enough, don't try to fleece the poor man for more money. Jeez lady, you really want to up the price? What? No! With killer instincts like that, I can see why Odin took a liking to you.As this exchange played out, I reached into my bag once more and pulled out a near-identical contract. I presented it to Polly, who quickly skimmed it. Uh huh. Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay, all right, that all seems cool. I sign at the bottom? Yep. Do you have a pen I can borrow? Sure, give me a second. I reached into the side pockets of my bag, and fished out an older pen. I handed it to Polly, who swiftly used it to sign his name in the relevant space on the contract. Then he held it out to Lara. Here, you can use this to sign your part. I... Lara.I gave her a look. Vocally, I said nothing. But I hope my intent with the look spoke volumes. 'Remember what I asked. Trust me. I know what I'm doing.' Lara continued to hesitate. Then, her face steeled, and she reached out to grab the pen. She took a deep breath, and signed her name next to Polly's at the bottom of the contract. And voila! A binding contract is made. Congratulations, everybody, litigation has passed! Woo! Hooray. All right then Polly, make sure you take that contract, keep it safe. It acts as the actual proof of agreement. Without it, the deal is sort of null and void. I know! I understand contracts and stuff. I'm just saying, your brother seems like the type to not hold his punches. If he learns of this arrangement, he might try to steal it from you. So lock that contract up safe. Gotcha. Hey, shouldn't Lara have a copy of this too or something? I mean, that's standard protocol, but unnecessary. ...And we already left standard protocol a few steps back. Generally contracts like this aren't just assembled by non-practicing lawyers and signed in a matter of minutes. But it's legit, yeah? Oh, most definitely. People joke about the law being arcane and unfair and overly specific, but that usually refers to grand contractual law. The type of stuff that affects thousands of people. For personal contracts, the rules are a lot looser, and intent matters a whole lot more; honestly, the sheet I drew up there was a bit more than necessary. So long as there's some form of proof that there was an offer, an acceptance, a consideration, a mutuality of obligation, and that both parties were both competent and capable of entering into the agreement, it'll hold up. Huh. The more you learn. So, now I give you the money? That would be preferable, yes. Okay, here you go.Polly leaned over and handed me the bag. I, in turn, opened it and briefly checked it. At an eyeball's glance, it seemed more or less the amount agreed upon. I continued to pass the bag to Lara, who was still visibly uneasy. Great! Pleasure doing business with you. And me to you.Polly stood up, content with the interaction. However, I decided to throw something to him before he left. You know... like you said, you never know when Odin will actually pass away. Yeah, you know, it's hard to tell. In the meantime, you still won't have any way to stop Art.[BGM: Silence]  To put it another way, Art remains in control so long as Odin stays alive. Y-yeah, and?I just shrugged. Just something to consider. If you really do want to 'save Art' or whatever. ...Polly's face suddenly became a lot more conflicted. He wasn't actually dumb – he caught onto the bait rather immediately. And he considered it. Without saying anything else, Polly just continued to leave the waiting room. Finally, Lara and I were left alone in the room. For a moment or two, there was just silence. We were the only ones left in the waiting room. Our business done. ...And then, after a brief calm, Lara exploded. [BGM: Doubling Cube]  What the hell was that?!? That was me getting you off the hook. With - I might add - a sweet amount of cash. Off the hook? Off the hook?!? You absolute moron! You blithering idiot! How dumb can you get?! Okay, hurtful. Do you not get what you just did? I am so screwed. I am on the hook with two separate contracts consigning me to do two completely opposite things! Whenever Odin dies – which now seems a lot more likely since you just provoked both his sons into killing him, yes I noticed that, actually what the gently caress – I owe two separate people 25%% stake in Olympo! I won't be able to pay up. And I go into jail for at least a decade! Hey, hey, calm down. Relax. This is a relaxing situation. It is? I'm sure as hell not relaxing! Yeah, and see, that's a problem. I said to trust me, didn't I? You did. And for some stupid reason I believed you! Exactly. You trusted me. Now, give me a moment, and I'll explain exactly why that was the right decision for you. ...But first, why don't you just take a breath? ... Good. Now, let's review some facts. Right now, you and Art and Polly and quite a lot of people are laboring under the assumption that Odin decided to write in his will that you would inherit all of his stock in Olympo's company upon his death. Apparently, this is based upon some loose description of you 'proving your worth' to him. That, in combination with his sons disappointing him led him to this decision. Now, I ask you: does this make any sense? ...Any sense? I mean, it makes some amount of sense. Okay, bad example, this isn't flat-on-its-face lunacy. It is in the slightest way plausible. To rephrase, is this situation probable? No. No. Exactly, this doesn't make a lot of sense. You understood this. Art understood this, Polly understood this. Yet none of you actually thought about what that meant. As you pointed out, Odin simply doesn't respect the Duats. He might be disappointed in his sons, but he also absolutely views them as his legacy, everything points towards that. And, I hate to say it, but I don't think he'd ever actually consider you his worthy successor. ... At least, he wouldn't spring this on you without meeting with you. ...Okay, actually, maybe he'd do that. But still, this stinks to high heaven. So, when I heard this story from the person who sent you my way, I decided to actually do a bit of research on my own. Now, normally I like internet research, but I'm adaptable. I had another online friend who is... handsy. Good with getting into places. To make a long story short, I paid them to give Odin's mansion a little private visit, see if they could actually find this deadly will. And surprise, surprise, my friend did find the will.  Turns out, no additions or alterations have been made. You mean... That's right. You, Lara, are willed nothing. Which means, those contracts that Polly and Art just signed? They're worth nothing! Heh heh heh... But wait, that's... Exactly what I intended. Remember, you weren't signing away 25% stock in Olympo. You were signing away whatever you were willed whenever Odin died. If you were willed nothing, you owe nothing to either. ...For a moment, Lara just took in this information. But wait... no, that can't be right. Odin told Art and Polly about my inheritance. There was a video, I saw it! Odin was lying. The video must've been a fabrication. Who's to say, maybe he did feel disappointed in his sons. Maybe he thought this would light a fire under their asses. Honestly, trying to read that man's mind is a complete waste of time. Hold on though, doing this put a target on my head. I could've been killed, I almost was. Yeah. It's messed up. Odin's cruel. I don't... I don't think he'd do that to me. Odin wouldn't want to get me hurt.That is, if this was really Odin's idea in the first place...  I shrugged my shoulders. I don't know what to say, Lara. Other than you might be giving Odin's morality a bit too much credit. ...Lara didn't have a good response to that. There wasn't one, frankly. So then, what will happen when Odin does die? The shares will be distributed as initially stipulated. Art will get 20%, Polly 5%. I can't imagine either will be happy with you, but Art will still likely be in control, so he'll be manageable. And Polly will be pissed, but he presents no real threat. Especially when you consider that you'll probably be a major Duat hotshot – I mean, Lara, look at what you're holding onto. Art and Polly both broke major bank trying to get that stock. Turn that cash into your little gang, I have to imagine Marduk's gonna look pretty favorably on that. I mean, if I was a gang leader, if somebody brought back a payday like that, that'd be an instant promotion in my eyes. Use that money. It should buy you quite a bit of leeway.Lara just considered this for a moment. Then she nodded. She understood what I was trying to make her see; that actually, she was in an incredibly lucky position. Wow. That's... Thank you, Eris. Really. I mean, you didn't know me before today. But you really gave it your all. And, to put it frankly, you saved me. That really means a lot. Yeah, well... as much as I'd like to say I did it out of the goodness of my heart, I'm not exactly that much of a saint. Oh? 10%. What? 10%. 10% of the cash I just made you. I want it. That seems entirely fair. Oh, uh, right. Sure. I mean, you're right, that does seem fair. Great. You can load it into this bag.And for a third time, I opened the bag I had brought. This time however, instead of taking anything out, things were put in it. Lara and I took a bit of time to count out and deposit 10% of the day's profit into the bag. After a bit, I zipped it back up. There. So you see, I'm not some selfless angel. Just like anyone else in this city, I was just out for myself. Mhm. I get it now. Still, thank you. You're welcome. All right, well.[BGM: Silence]  It feels weird just leaving like this, but I guess this is goodbye? It feels weird, huh? Lucky me. It's nice for a departure to be weird. Yeah, wel– ...Lara stopped in her tracks. She then looked over me one more time. You... why? Why? ...It doesn't matter. Thank you. I hope you succeed in whatever you need to.And with those surprisingly solemn words, Lara walked away. Finally, it was just me in the waiting room. And now that I was alone, I took the opportunity to just collapse into my chair. Then, I began stretching out my limbs. Jeez. That was exhausting. And my work was far from over. Anyways, I wished the best for Lara, I really did. I mean, she'd need it. After all... [BGM: Dance]  A friend breaking into Odin's mansion? Seriously? She bought that? Well, desperation makes you eager to believe in escape ropes. Still, she should've thought a bit harder about that. The timeline of how things played out, how unreasonable my story was. Truth is, I have no idea what Odin's will said. It's not like it was a total lie – I did have a decent feeling that he was just bluffing. Then again, it was Odin. He might very well go for it. Either way, wasn't my problem. I had gotten what I wanted. Both Art and Polly had been separated from a great amount of money. That money was going right into the Duat's unreliable hands. Using that leverage, Lara would now likely push for the Duat headship – which, of course, would cause disruptions and conflict. And perhaps more interestingly, I had aimed Art and Polly's targets towards their own father. A move I could only expect Odin entirely counted on. Heh heh heh... I thought back to my aimless days of just searching the web for random poo poo. In retrospect, that really just felt like I was meandering, directionless. That wasn't productive. Comparatively, now that I moved with purpose, with intent... well, it was far more fulfilling. With that thought, I pulled out my laptop and checked my email. And surprise, surprise, the Devil had responded. ...Responded in a completely encrypted message. I guess solving that little audio file puzzle of his made him more willing to just encrypt poo poo he didn't want peering eyes looking at. Fine. I'd make quick work of it. [BGM: Doubling Cube]   You should probably, uh, also know that this hacking puzzle has red tiles. Last color variant, I promise. Yellow, red, blue, that's it. ...Anyways, uh, red tiles, explanation, right. So, there's going to be some red tiles with numbers on them, and some without numbers on them. A red tile with a number on it functions just like any other tile with a number on it. However, a red tile without a number on it must be a live tile within the numbered region of a numbered red tile. Basically, unnumbered red tiles must live inside the regions of numbered red tiles. It's pretty simple, trust me.  Oh, thank God. Overkill, thy name is Devil. [You won 7 chips!] Well then. Why don't we see what our good friend went through the trouble of encoding? [BGM: Dance]  Dear Olif. Those are all good questions. Important questions. Unfortunately, to answer them, I'd have to fully tip my hand. To explain them, I'd have to give away parts of myself that are pretty crucial. It's more revealing about myself than I feel comfortable with. Normally, under no circumstances would I speak about it. However... I can't help but feel like I'm running out of time, in a way. Panthea is getting worse. Every day, I feel like it. And after so many years, I've gotten almost nowhere. I need to make change. And Olif, I believe you may be that change. Partnering with a bona fide detective feels like the best chance I could get. So then... I'm willing to divulge everything. I mean, everything. However, I have one reservation... and that's this email thread. I know, I know, this sounds overly conspiratorial. But nothing online is truly safe. I get the feeling you understand what I mean when I say that. I'm going to encode this message just in case, but even then, that's no guarantee of anything. Maybe this is a little much, but I just don't want to leave things up to chance. So then, is there any chance you'd be willing to meet up in person? Your Friend, The Devil. I felt a smirk cross my face. I couldn't help it. I tried, but the smirk appeared nonetheless. So this was it, huh? This is what it came to? This was how we were doing things? All right. Okay. I could roll with this. I could more than roll with this. I wasn't quite sure what he was thinking. What he was planning. But having the Devil come out in person? I think I had been waiting for that for quite a bit of time. So then, there really was only one way I was ever going to respond to that email. Devil. Let's choose a time and place. ... [BGM: Silence]  Ah, the old hustle. A timeless classic. You got to hand it to Eris, they really played the situation with a precise hand. Art, Polly, Odin, Lara - she had them all dancing to her tune. Didn't think she had it in her. It's pretty clear that she resolved the situation by getting everybody to think what she wanted. Now, what exactly she wanted people to think and why remains ambigious at this point, but I'm sure we'll see the full picture before long. ...Hopefully. Speaking of motivation, what do you think of that Odin, huh? This whole will thing, it's certainly interesting. Odin isn't a man to do things lightly. ...At the same time, the old fool is something of a slave to his own whims. Perhaps it was a rogue impulse. Perhaps. Funnily enough, it seems as though Eris didn't actually know whether or not the will was real... I doubt she cared either. So we're left with something of a question mark on that end. Did the great Odin Deisma really entrust his fortunes to a common criminal? Or was it all a ploy of some type? That answer is somewhat lost to the shadows. What do you think? Does that will exist? Or not? I think the will exists. You think it exists, huh? ...You know, I said the answer is lost to the shadows. But that's not... entirely true. I know the truth. So then... are you willing to bet on your guess? Yes. Excellent. How much?1/3 of you said the edited will doesn't exist, so we'll be betting 8 chips. All right. Well, no use beating around the bush. I can reveal to you that the will Odin supposedly wrote was.... Entirely fabricated! Yes, while truly Odin is a man of strong whims, one who respects competence and loathes complacency, his sense of elitism far outstrips that ambition. If you ask me, his more outlandish eccentricities are skin deep. Something he likes to indulge in, but not something he can truly commit to. He's not so far gone that he would actually entrust his will to anyone not of blood-relation. And to me, that's even worse. Anyways, the bet. Gotta take your chips. Sorry. Them's the breaks. Anyways, if the will wasn't real, I wonder what the point of it all was? Just to gently caress with his sons? Perhaps, perhaps. I have some ideas, but I'm going to keep my mouth quiet. Let's just keep going through the stacks. Well, we should probably see how Mercury is doing... Mix. fucked around with this message at 02:10 on Feb 11, 2024 |
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Feb 9, 2024 17:01
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Yeah p sure he did
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Feb 9, 2024 18:20
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If Odin was impressed enough he was willing to let Lara live with him for some time, there's a good chance he did write her into his will. I haven't really felt engaged with this story, and I think this update kind of exemplifies why. Almost every character not named Odin, Lock, or Eris (and there is a good chance that the latter two are secretly some of our other viewpoints) can be at best described as 'bumbling' and at worst completely incompetent. In this update we had neither Art nor Polly bothering to check and see if the other would try and cut a deal with Lara. We had Lara just accepting Eris dumping her into a fatal situation, considering that even in the best case the Deisma brothers are going to be pissed at being scammed and look straight at her. It's one thing for a group of random death game contestants to be kind of dumb, considering they're randos thrust into a stressful situation, but these people are supposed to be the senior movers and shakers of Panthea and they come across like amateurs. The governor deciding to talk to Lock in person instead of just telling him to gently caress off, the Duat senior officers standing around a corpse like a bunch of muppets, and of course poor, useless Devon. Maybe that's meant to be the point of the story, that power and competence aren't really linked, but these easy scams aren't doing much for me as a narrative.
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Feb 9, 2024 18:44
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Hmm. Did 'Olif' ever tell the Devil that they were a detective? Anyway, gonna say no for the vote, just to be contrary. 
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Feb 10, 2024 05:16
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Sybot posted:If Odin was impressed enough he was willing to let Lara live with him for some time, there's a good chance he did write her into his will. I think the key to this is a reminder of all the mythological names: this is a story about humans with godly arrogance. It's the major connecting thread between Art, Aija and Yi, Polly to a lesser extent as well and Odin absolutely has pride even if he tempers it-they're all convinced that they're 100% in charge of their situations because nothing has ever majorly threatened it before. Pride goeth before a fall, and all. The interesting thing to note is that our protagonists also have quite big senses of pride, but not all of them, and it's a dividing line between the Top Four and the Bottom Three. Laverna extremely confident in her detective skills, Lock in his ability to con and improvise, Vels in their fighting ability and Eris in her hacking and knowledge. Meanwhile, Mercury's too busy fighting for their life to be arrogant, and is also the smallest story (they're not particularly important in and of themselves, and it's the most compressed time-frame wise, with each scene coming immediately after the previous one while everyone else has gaps between theirs), 'Fane' (Fake Thane, but it also sounds like 'feign', which I thought was cute) constantly has to portray outward cool and confidence, but inside they're constantly freaking out and nervous, and Devon's dealing with some serious depression, anxiety, survivor's guilt and childhood trauma. That being said, on the note of your other point-enough people have floated it that I figured I should ask: who do you think are actually the same person using different names? We do have some concrete moments of meeting. Devon isn't Lock, and Vels isn't Devon. Eris and Laverna talked over the phone, Lock contacted Vels at one point, Thane did talk to Laverna but we have no idea if that's Mercury's Thane or Fane.
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Feb 10, 2024 05:52
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You also have to consider people who've met multiple of our 'protagonists'. Lara's met Eris now, which probably means Eris isn't Mercury.
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Feb 10, 2024 15:38
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Junpei posted:I think the key to this is a reminder of all the mythological names: this is a story about humans with godly arrogance. It's the major connecting thread between Art, Aija and Yi, Polly to a lesser extent as well and Odin absolutely has pride even if he tempers it-they're all convinced that they're 100% in charge of their situations because nothing has ever majorly threatened it before. Pride goeth before a fall, and all. That makes some sense. I guess having overconfident incompetence apply to multiple characters at once is making it feel like its overused. Junpei posted:We do have some concrete moments of meeting. Devon isn't Lock, and Vels isn't Devon. Eris and Laverna talked over the phone, Lock contacted Vels at one point, Thane did talk to Laverna but we have no idea if that's Mercury's Thane or Fane. I'm pretty sure Lara's initial reaction to Eris and the bit at the end of the chapter means that Eris is actually Mercury, and despite the phone call I'm not convinced the twins aren't actually the same person either. Thane is probably someone, but there's nothing concrete that I've seen, though Vels was asked a pointed question recently about where they stayed in the their downtime. Let's see if anything more concrete comes up.
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Feb 10, 2024 21:42
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I think the will exists. You think it exists, huh? ...You know, I said the answer is lost to the shadows. But that's not... entirely true. I know the truth. So then... are you willing to bet on your guess? Yes. Excellent. How much? 1/3 of you said the edited will doesn't exist, so we'll be betting 8 chips. All right. Well, no use beating around the bush. I can reveal to you that the will Odin supposedly wrote was.... Entirely fabricated! Yes, while truly Odin is a man of strong whims, one who respects competence and loathes complacency, his sense of elitism far outstrips that ambition. If you ask me, his more outlandish eccentricities are skin deep. Something he likes to indulge in, but not something he can truly commit to. He's not so far gone that he would actually entrust his will to anyone not of blood-relation. And to me, that's even worse. Anyways, the bet. Gotta take your chips. Sorry. Them's the breaks. Anyways, if the will wasn't real, I wonder what the point of it all was? Just to gently caress with his sons? Perhaps, perhaps. I have some ideas, but I'm going to keep my mouth quiet. Let's just keep going through the stacks.Well, we should probably see how Mercury is doing...
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Feb 11, 2024 02:10
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Also, while I'm not gonna post anything specific about the third game until the LP is done, I will say it's definitely a lot closer to Zodiac Trial than Divine Deception in terms of vibe and concept just based on the setup and details given so far.
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Feb 11, 2024 02:11
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 [BGM: Tsumo]   Are you... are you threatening us? In so many words.Odin's statement, about having to earn our way out, immediately rubbed me the wrong way. Oh, God drat it. What did this old coot have up his sleeve this time? Odin, is this really the time for this? Life does not choose when it wishes to challenge you at times that are convenient. In fact, it has a way of striking when you simply can not afford to leave. You're going to try and fight us? Bad idea. It's two versus one, and no offense, but age isn't on your side. Oh, you mean this?Odin gestured to the weapon in his other hand. This was just to make a point.Seemingly to prove it, Odin dropped the sword as soon as he had lifted it. Even I am aware that I can not face you two in a physical duel. Now, were I in my prime... Ah, but that is a different story, from a different time. No, this battle will be of wits. Cool. And what's going to stop us from just overpowering you and leaving? Mercury! Keh heh, such defiance in this one. Normally I'd look down on such behavior, but for some reason, it rather suits you. At any rate, barge out, if you wish, but know that the simple security measures you circumvented were far from the only defense in my castle. Already, the two of you have been captured on camera breaking in. If you refuse to play by my terms, I simply have to answer in kind, by sending that footage to the relevant authorities. And believe me, when a man of my stature calls upon the police, they are wont to listen....poo poo, that could be bad. Bad for Lara, too. Of course, were you to permanently silence me in this cavern, I could not fulfill that threat. ...But then, you'd have murdered Odin Deisma. And surely even you know that there are consequences for such an action.Yeah, as much as Odin was an rear end in a top hat, I wasn't exactly eager to jump to murder either. Okay, fine. What are your terms? Simple. I subject the two of you to a test. A game, where you prove your worth. If you win? You can make your way out of this sanctum unfettered. And if we lose? Keh heh heh... And if we lose?? Keh heh heh heh heh heh! Hey, answer please? Mercury, if he was going to answer, he would've spoken up already. Okay, all right, sidebar?I grabbed Lara's arm and pulled her to the side. Then I spoke in a slightly hushed tone. All right, so, how are we feeling about all of this? Are you asking me if I want to indulge in this? Then, no poo poo, obviously I don't. But if you're asking me what we should do, I'd say the answer's similarly obvious. I don't want to piss off Odin... and you don't, either. Yeah, that's probably opening a whole can of worms. But Odin's not talking about the punishment! Scare tactic. Besides, if we lose, we just bum rush him like you suggested, and then we deal with things from there. I don't love that plan. loving duh, do you have a better one?I didn't. So I moved back over to Odin. Okay. Deal. Bah, I dislike that term. It makes it sound as though you had any choice in accepting this arrangement.I bit my tongue. So, what's this test? Or, er, game? Instead of answering, Odin absent-mindedly walked over to another one of his displays. He took down a circular wooden shield, the type a Viking might wear. Then he walked further away, and opened a cabinet. He took out four golden chalices. He opened another drawer, and took out four golden coins. Finally, he walked back over to us, and put the items on the table next to us. Now then... let the rules commence!Odin shouted this with a fury. Lara and I just stared at him. After a moment, he cleared his throat. Did it not occur to him as he made that declaration that he was the one who had to actually explain the rules? You two shall attempt to make the journey to the afterlife.Though he hid it, I could detect a hint of embarrassment in the old man's voice. You recently passed away. How? Murder. Murder? Who killed me? You don't know. It was a gathering of your family and friends, but when the lights went out, you felt a stabbing sensation in your back. Lara, I sincerely doubt this is going to be relevant to the game. I'm just trying to buy in. Also, wait, were we both murdered? Was it the same gathering? You two are twins, both faced with the same dilemma. The gathering was for both of you. You both were stabbed. Both of us had our friends and family gathered? Was it our birthday? Does it matter? I bet it was our birthday. It'd make sense if it was our birthday, that's why it happened at the same time. Now, each of your undead souls trek forth, and are met with two figures. The brother gods of the afterlife: the God of Death and the God of Life. Each one may grant you passage to the world beyond... but before either shall aid you, you must first acquire their services. Luckily, before you, between the two brothers, there floats a wheel. A wheel upon which four golden coins are evenly spread about. Payment of four golden coins to either brother would get you where you need to go... But? But, each brother is awfully picky, each incredibly vain. The brothers both will only accept coins which praise their name to the sky.Odin lifted up one of the golden coins and held it so we could both see. He first showed us the side with a human face on it. Life.He flipped it around, showing the side with a skull. Or death. Man, my immortal soul is on the line here, and these brothers won't help out unless the coins I give them are facing a certain way? These guys are some jerks. Most gods are. All right, fine, flip the coins to all be facing the same way and give them to one of the brothers. Ah, ah, ah! Life, or in this case death, never is so simple. Of course not. As your spirit approaches the wheel, four chalices materialize. Chalices of human sin, of earthly regrets. These chalices, they are proof of your past life. Only you can see them, touch them. To the gods, unburdened with a soul that was once mortal, it is as though these chalices simply do not exist. The chalices are, despite their size, incredibly weighty. However, you retain a bit of strength remaining from your past life. Enough to barely lift the chalices. Since you possess two hands, you can lift two chalices at a time. When a chalice is lifted, you can see the coin beneath and flip it. Wait, if we're holding two cups with both hands, how can we flip the coins? You are now a spirit, not constrained by the physical realm. Your essence has the strength to flip the coin on its own. In that case, why can I only hold two cups again? The chalices are human sin and regret embodied - they require a physical presence to raise. And my spirit essence can't travel through them? Indeed. It is linked to your human soul, after all. Seems incredibly contrived but whatever. You wish to make all the coins face the same way - honoring either Life or Death. However, there is a snag. Shocker. These chalices are placed upon the Wheel of Fate. And as we all know, the Wheel of Fate is prone to spin whenever the scales are shifted. Therefore, as soon as the chalices are placed back down over the coins, the wheel will spin rapidly before you. It shall spin in such a manner that you shall completely lose track of which chalices you have just raised. Oh no! Oh yes! To make matters worse, your physical strength is fleeting. By the second, you feel that form you once held dissipating. At most, you will be able to raise both chalices a total of 5 times. How specific. The gods are not without mercy, however. If at any point the chalices are placed over four coins which all praise their name, they shall take this as payment, and move you to the place beyond. However...[BGM: Furiten]  If you are unable to make payment, if you are unable to lift the chalices once more and the coins remain unaligned, you shall be doomed to wander limbo in perpetuity. Understood? Barely. I get it. But wait a second - why did these chalices fall on top of the wheel in the first place? That's your question? You do not know. You can merely speculate. We don't know any of this, why are you holding that detail out? Oh, but you do. We do? We know about the brother gods and the afterlife and the payment and whatnot? Indeed, as you walked upon this path, this knowledge seemed to come to you naturally, as it does to all spirits. In fact, it is as though you always knew these truths, but the curse of life prevented you from remembering them. Okay then. So we don't get to know why the chalices are there, huh? Maybe it's a test to get into the afterlife. Maybe it happens for everybody, and you need to overcome it if you want to move on. So you're saying that the determining factor as to whether you get to pass on as a spirit is if you can solve a logic puzzle? That seems like a pretty messed up system. ...Hold on a minute, why am I engaging with this in the first place? None of this is real! Odin, could you just explain what we need to do for your test? Ah, but I just did. Could you explain it without all the mythology nonsense, like, just the physical actions and rules that will be required.Odin sighed. The great art of storytelling is dead, and we have killed it. Very well then. I thought the rules should've been clear by now, but I shall enumerate them more clearly for the dimwitted amongst you.The phrase 'amongst you' had a very different meaning when there are only two other people. There are four coins. There are four chalices. The chalices will be placed over the coins. You shall not get to know what position the coins are when we start. You get to lift any two chalices on your turn. When the chalices are lifted, you can observe them, and turn them however you wish. At the end of your turn, you will put the chalices back over the coins. Once the chalices are back over the coins, I will tell you if all four coins are facing the same way. If they are, you win. If they aren't, you will close your eyes and I will spin the wheel upon which these chalices and coins are placed on. When you make to choose the chalices, you shall point at the two you wish to lift, and I will have another opportunity to spin the wheel before you lift the chalices that occupy those positions.I had been listening along intently up until this point. However, this was the section I felt the need to interject. Woah, woah, hold on. What's that about? A mere formality, Mercury. A little addition I added to make sure you do not rely on mere chance. Your victory must be airtight.I wanted to argue. Instead, I shrugged. Good. You have a total of 5 turns. If, after 5 turns, you can not make all 4 coins face the same direction, you lose. The only actions permitted are the ones clearly defined in the rules. While I appreciate creativity, that is not a weapon permitted within this battlefield. No marking the chalices in an attempt to keep yourself navigated. No trickery involving magnets or other tools. No placing the chalices in a specific way, or leaving the coins on their edges, or any nonsense like that. You shall live and die by a single attribute: logic. Is this simple enough for you?Odin asked this question pointedly at me. I took a second to think. Then I nodded. I hadn't yet cracked how to play this game... but at the very least, I understood the parameters well enough now. No lore bullshit, this was just a logic check. I could handle logic checks. I took a moment to appreciate Odin's variety with his trials. To enter the sanctum, I had to solve a puzzle you could see in an escape room, one that primarily relied upon creative thinking and abstract connections. In contrast, this challenge clearly relied on basic and straightforward principles of logic and deduction. He clearly wanted to test different modes of thinking. And yet, all the while he had a penchant for dressing things up in weird, abstract metaphors and fables involving gods and myths. It was an odd fascination, to say the least. Odin would surely be an interesting person to study. Understanding the way his mind works, how he came to be this person... a job for someone more empathetic, perhaps. Yeah, I think I get it. Sounds good. I like this test. Agreed! I'm sure we can handle this. Excellent, excellent... very well then, let us begin. Who wishes to challenge the Wheel of Fate first? Excuse me? Oh, did you not pay attention? You may be twins, struck with a similar fate, but you approached this juncture at separate periods. Similarly, the two of you shall both face this puzzle alone. Seriously? You didn't say anything about this! You didn't ask. Odin, I don't think– A poor habit to develop, girl. You ought to do a lot more thinking. Hence why I aim to separate the two of you. I've found that the weak often use each other as a stepladder to rise above their rightful station.And... what would you call the whole Zahhak thing? The two of you approaching this together could bounce ideas off one another, discuss, and do all sorts of other completely unsportsmanlike things. How is discussing the problem unsportsmanlike? A task designed for one mind should be faced by one mind. By combining two heads, the difficulty is effectively halved. No, no, no. That won't do at all. You two shall face this task separately.I exchanged a look with Lara. Neither of us seemed pleased with this development. But there was but so much we could do about it. Okay then. But, Odin, what if one of us wins, and the other loses? You shall succeed and falter by your own skin. If one among you passes this test, and the other fails, then the rewards and punishments shall be justly delivered. Meaning... The winner may leave. The loser may not. ... That's... It's fine. It is? I mean, I can handle this, so at least I'll be able to escape. Hey! I also have this, easy. Excellent! Then this separation shall pose no threat. I guess not. Good. Then, Mercury, if you would be so kind, could you make your way to the corner? The corner? Seriously? Indeed, and if you could face into it, that would be for the best. Oh, and naturally - no talking, no exchanging hints, nothing of the sort. That would defeat the whole purpose of this exercise.Being told to face the corner like a child wasn't massively exciting for me. But, no choice, right?  So, kind of awkwardly, I walked over to the corner of the room. I stood, facing the wall. And then, a few moments later, I heard movement from behind. It must be starting. Hm. Well, I should take advantage of the time I have. Unfortunately for Lara, she has a much more limited period of time in which she has to come up with a strategy. But I had the benefit of foresight. Foresight... Speaking of foresight, a thought crossed my mind I noticed something hanging on the wall. I didn't like being completely devoid of tools. If I took any weapons, that'd probably be noticed. I can't imagine Odin would be happy to part with any of his (likely expensive) murder ornaments, but hanging up next to one of those ornaments, as a part of the decorations... I noticed a long wire. That could work. Subtly, without looking back, without much movement, I reached out for the wire. And then? I pulled, and took it. Finally, I put the wire in my pocket." Good. There. Hopefully that'd come in handy. ...Or, actually, hopefully that wouldn't. But, you know, if it would come in handy, I now have it. So that's good. Back to the matter at hand. The game. The coin game. Let's see... hm. How to guarantee all the coins face the same way? I racked my brain, but I was coming up empty. How? Was this even possible? I mean, in theory, it was incredibly likely that I'd be able to. If I just decided to make them all heads, or all skulls, either way, it'd probably be possible. I mean, I get to check 2 cups 5 times. That's 10 checks. The odds I get to check all four coins is incredibly high. But... things weren't that simple. Odin was controlling what cups I'd actually get to pick. Basically, he could ensure my worst possible luck. Any strategy that relied on a 'probably' was dead in the water from the start. Thinking about it more... if Odin wanted, he could make sure that I never even got the chance to look under one of the cups. In that case, how could it be possible? It couldn't, right? How would you make any progress? Think. What information vectors are there? ...Well, for one, there was the win state. Odin's keeping track of all four coins. If at any time a turn ended with all four coins facing the same way, it'd be over. So, alternatively, when the game continues, we can be sure that the four coins aren't all facing the same way. Maybe that's obvious, but it'd probably be important. Still, there had to be more than that. If that was all I had to work with, then winning was impossible. Was that it? Was this an impossible game? Was that the trick? No, no, the way that Odin spoke, it sounded like there definitely was a way to get past it. I just wasn't seeing it. Think. What ways could I impact the game? I could flip the coins however I wanted, and I could pick which cups to flip. ...Except, seeing as Odin could spin the wheel after my choice, which cups I flipped were meaningless. But, wait. That doesn't make sense. If it was meaningless, why would he let me pick the spaces in the first place? [BGM: Danrasu]  Well done.My thoughts were interrupted by a commotion. Phew. That was close. If I ha– Oh! No, no, no! Not a word from you. Not while Mercury is yet to face the gauntlet. ... So, I can turn around now? But of course.I did just that. Lara was standing proud in front of Odin. Odin, for his part, didn't look particularly bothered to be bested. Lara, since you've already succeeded, there's no need for you to go to the corner. You can watch Mercury. Cool. So now, come, Mercury. Walk the path to the afterlife. Pay the piper. Without a word, I approached Odin. I was in no rush. After all, I hadn't quite figured out my strategy for approaching the game yet. But it didn't matter. I'd figure it out, and I'd come out ahead. If Lara could solve it, solve it with less time, then so could I. I walked right up to Odin. Ready to play? Yep. The trick is to not overcomplicate things. I just have to make all the coins face the same way. Simple as that. Keh heh heh... if that is your mindset, I wonder, can you truly find the way forward? I wouldn't be so quick to underestimate me. Talk is cheap. Now is the time for action. Couldn't have put it any better myself. Well then. Shall we dance? I thought you'd never ask. If you don't mind, let us d– Oh my God, just get to it.And with Lara's chastisement, both Odin and I shut up. Instead, we began to play. [BGM: Furiten]  How do I even start this? // How do I even end this? I mean, Odin gets total control over which cups I end up with. // There has to be a way to control what I'm selecting. No, no, I should ignore distractions. // If I [manipulate Odin/choose different angles of cups/mark the cups] I get some input on which cups I end up with. I want to - need to - come up with a plan with consistency. // I mean, there will be a difference between choosing two adjacent cups and two non-adjacent cups. I should try and spend the first two turns setting all the coins a single direction. // At the very least, I can guarantee a difference between choosing a straight line of cups or a diagonal of cups. I can get a maximum of [2 coins/3 coins/4 coins] facing the same way in 2 turns with certainty. // So let's apply that knowledge to the largest problem currently facing my victory. If I choose a straight line of cups, then a diagonal one, I'll guaranteed see at least 3 coins. // I need to be able to guarantee that I can make all coins face the same direction on the final turn. Flip them all the same way, and I know that after 2 turns I'd have a certain set up. // If just one coin is flipped the wrong way, Odin can just make it so that I can't flip it. So then, what comes after that? // I need to make 2 [straight/diagonal] lines of coins facing opposite directions. If I could just flip the final coin, it'd be over, but I'd most certainly not get the chance. // Yes, yes, on the last turn, I could just pick a diagonal line of cups. So then... with no direction, how do I make any progress? // If the diagonals have opposite-facing coins, then no matter which diagonal I choose, I can flip both coins and win the game! Just [flipping a single coin] (  Brainstorm! ) seems pretty pointless. // That leaves just one more question for me.Wait, that might just be it! What if I chose a diagonal line of cups to flip, and only flipped a single coin? // How can I guarantee a position of two diagonal lines of opposite-facing coins? In that case, I guarantee to flip one coin adjacent to the already flipped coin. // To guarantee it, I first need a position [of three coins facing one way, one facing the other/of two straight lines of opposite-facing coins/that isn't possible]. That way, I would ensure two straight lines of opposite-facing coins. // In that case, if I flipped over a straight line of cups, then flipped both coins I saw, my victory would be guaranteed! Okay, I've come to a conclusion. // Which means, the path to victory is somewhat straightforwards. Within three turns, I can ensure that there are two straight lines of opposite-facing coins without fail! // In the last two turns, if I start with a position of two straight lines of opposite-facing coins, I can win without fail! [You won 7 chips!]  With a strategy in tow, I began to flip cups and coins. Just as I predicted, Odin always gave me the worst option. ...So just like I predicted, I always responded with what guaranteed me progress. After a cutthroat five turns, I finally made my final two coin flips. So? Did I win? ...It would appear... that you have emerged victorious. All right!
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Feb 13, 2024 02:58
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 [BGM: Hatei Tsumo]  I felt like jumping in the air in joy. ...I restrained myself, obviously. But still. Good feeling. Very satisfied. I knew I could do it! Nice work, Mercury. Thanks. Oh, uh, good work you too, Lara. Wanna take another shot at that one? Nope. If I may ask – what was your guiding light through this task? You mean, what was my strategy? To be less poetic. Oh, I read your poem, and I don't know if you get to lay claim to that epithet. Anyways, it was simple enough once I figured out that lifting up cups in a line was substantively different than lifting up cups diagonally. I knew if I started out doing both of those back to back, I'd get to see 3 of the coins. Setting them all the same way felt like a good first step... and since the game didn't end then and there, I knew the 4th coin was the other way. After that, I was kind of hoping that by choosing a diagonal, I'd be able to find the 4th coin and set it right. But seeing as you were never going to let that happen, the next best thing was flipping one of the coins back. That way, I knew for a fact that there was one straight line of coins facing one way, and another line of coins facing the other way. From there, it was checkmate. If I lifted two cups in a line, and I got two coins facing the same way, I could flip them both and be done with it. On the other hand, if the coins were different, I would still flip them both. Because then, the coins would still be separated into two lines of different faces. Only this time, the lines were diagonal. And no matter how you spin the wheel, if I lifted two cups diagonally, I was certain to be able to put things in order. Good. Very good. Nice to know you didn't just stumble into the correct answer. You really think that of me? One can never be too sure. Stranger things have happened.drat. Odin really didn't believe in me? I don't know why, but despite not caring about Odin at all, it still stung a little. Poor Deisma children. Very well then. I am a man of my word. You have passed to the afterlife. ...That is, the life after this bunker. Keh heh heh... Proud of that one, huh? Thank you, Odin! So glad you could help us like that. Ah, don't mention it. Now, if everything else is settled... Hold on.I cut in, before Odin could keep speaking. A part of me wanted to cut my losses. Get out while the going was still good. But... I was curious, sue me. Before anything else, I want to ask you another question. Mercury? Another, huh? How greedy.Odin examined me, stroking his beard. He was giving my request deliberation, which perhaps was more than I expected. After a bit of time, he nodded. Okay then. I see no foul in this. Ask. Thank you, Odin. That means a lot. Okay, so, I want to know. Zahhak... where is he now? Oh? Did I not inform you of the end of his story? You told me he was in jail. But, depending on what he was charged with, I doubt he was put away with a life sentence. So then, where is he now? Underground, I'd imagine. Huh? You mean, he's dead. Indeed. drat. drat, indeed. Taken from us too soon. He lived a long life, but passed away before he could be released from prison. Disease, if I remember right. That's a shame. Sorry to hear that, Odin. Wait, I'm not done with this line of questioning.I wasn't about to toss a softball and call it a day. The Zahhak lead felt important. What about relatives? Did Zahhak have children? Keh heh heh... quite thorough, this one. It is true, that men of stature oft pass down their will through legacy. Marduk and myself have certainly taken this route. Indeed, Zahhak did have a daughter. However, she, too, passed away quite some time ago. Unfortunately for you, sometimes answers aren't that simple. Okay then, what about relationships? Zahhak had a wife, right? What about her? Ah, Echidna? Too weak-willed, I fear. After her daughter's passing, considering her husband's imprisonment, there was nothing left here for the poor widow. She moved away from Panthea, and as far as I know, she's had nothing to do with this city's affairs for some time. Tch.drat. Looked like I wasn't going to get an easy solution after all. Well, I guess the 'Zahhak 2.0' explanation was a little simplistic in the first place. I guess it was possible that I was overinflating the importance of Zahhak on the current state of Panthea. He may have shaped the city, but time has passed. Things were different now. Okay, let me tackle this from a different angle. You claim that you don't intend to meddle with Panthean affairs anymore. ...At least, not to any major extent. Indeed. I am in my twilight years. My eyes are set slightly closer to home. If that's the case, what's with those files I found? Did I not explain this already? Just because I do not wish to meddle, doesn't mean I don't wish to stay informed. Okay, but the files had threat levels. They talked about 'protecting' something. They were clearly written with an agenda, one that seemingly will be acted upon. ... Were the notes even written by you? ...Keh heh heh... I believe you've asked your one question, did you not?Ugh, poo poo. He was right. drat it, why did I waste time on the Zahhak thing? That information was stuff I could get on my own time. Very well then. If that matter is settled, we should then move back to the topic I was going to say... that is, your leave from my house. I am aware you were being pursued by an assassin-type. But the moon has moved far. At this point, daylight approaches. I find it unlikely that this assassin has laid in wait all this time... especially knowing of me and my nature. Simply put, it would be too great a risk on their part. Therefore, you should probably have safe passage through the forest. Now, does this assassin know your identity? Uh... In that case, if you reach your home, you should be safe. He definitely knows me. Ah, but you can still protect yourself, can you not? Yeah, uh, I've got some wiggle room. Very well then. It is then proper for you to now make your leave.I nodded, and Lara followed suit. Again, thank you. Yeah, thanks.'I guess.' ...I kept that last part to myself.  We made our way to the stairs. However, before we could make our way up– Ah, one last thing.Odin spoke, and we stopped in our tracks. Lara. I must say, you never cease to impress. Oh, uh, thank you. This is not idle flattery. Both of you should be commended for facing this trial. However, Mercury had a bit of time to plot. You, however, were immediately thrusted into the gauntlet, and still emerged victorious.I wanted to interject that I could've solved it too, but that seemed petty. You impressed me similarly during your stay at my mansion. You have your sensibilities. You have a keen mind, if unpolished in some areas. Chiefly, you have potential. That is a rare and cherished thing. You can go far. Aim far. O-oh. Well, that's, uh, super generous of you to say. I'll be sure to do just that. This was the first time I had heard such clear praise from Odin. I guess he really did hold a high opinion of Lara. That wasn't something that could be won in a single night. Probably has something to do with the time they spent together beforehand. And Mercury? Oh, you've also got something to say to me? Indeed. You... I may have been too quick to judge you. Uh, thanks? You, too, have potential yet. However, whether you will reach your desires at the end of this quest, or if your efforts will be all for naught? That is much harder to see. Either way, I am certain that your journey will be quite fascinating, and that's all I can ask for. I shall be watching over you with great anticipation. Do not disappoint. Uh, I'll try not to? Very well then. That is all.[BGM: Silence]  And like that, just as quickly as Odin had interrupted us, he turned back away, and began making his way over to the table. We were done. There was a lot to process about that whole encounter, but first things first... let's get to safety. Lara made her way up the stairs, and I followed close behind her. She pushed open the hatch above us, and just like that, we were back in the weird room with the statues. We kept walking in silence out of the room, through the mansion's halls, until we took an unfamiliar turn. Before I knew it, we were standing at the front door. And then, we moved through it. We were outside Odin's mansion. We were, for a lack of a better word, free. As Odin speculated, it didn't appear that Thane was in sight. And the trail that led out the Forest and eventually back to Panthea properly was well within view. [BGM: Tsumo]  Well then. Well then indeed. That was... certainly a thing. Yeah, you're telling me. Odin... Odin's quite a character, huh? Yeah, and not really in a good way. No, no. Though, I have to imagine if divorced from context, his whole gimmick would play a lot better. Agreed. Anyways, the important part is that we made it through his game, and back out into the world. Yep. Sheesh, that game. What was the point of that whole story? Why add any of it? It's just aesthetics. I noticed you definitely got into it. Hey, look, I was just going along with him. Thought it'd be easier that way. Mhm. I'm not a part of your little gang. No need to act tough in front of me. Not sure what you're implying, but it sure as poo poo isn't true. Hey, hey, no need to get defensive. I'm just saying, you should look into playing some RPGs. Seems like you'd be into it. Whatever. Anyways, I guess we're, uh, safe? For now, at least." Yeah, for now. But, I mean, you've got to go back to work with him, right? ...Well, 'work.' How's that going to work out? Well, I'll tell you I'm sure as poo poo not going to be leaving the V-Hall without a number of eyes with me. Probably want to invest in home security. But how to actually deal with it...?Lara seemed to trail off somewhat. Seems like she was putting off thinking about this part. I don't know. Like I said, this whole encounter was something of a draw. I learned his dirty secret. He learned mine. Hard to say which, if either, matter to Marduk. Worst case scenario, it could blow up both of our stations. So, uh, it's weird. I guess I'll just, uh, not do anything? Not do anything? Seriously? It feels wrong. And I mean, if he brings poo poo up, obviously so will I. But just, without harder evidence, without a better position, it's difficult. I worked hard to get where I was in the Duats. I don't want to risk that. Thane's also been put in a riskier position after the whole affair with Gil. He probably wants to play things safe as well. So, there we go. Stalemate. All right then. That's good? Good enough.I nodded. Then I took a moment to scan the perimeter. Again, I didn't see any signs of Thane. So, it looks like Odin was probably right. I can't imagine that Thane is still lurking around. Especially with daybreak coming any minute now – too risky for him. You're right. We can probably just go home now. Still, I won't feel safe until... well, I don't know when I'll feel safe. Understandable. Say, do you want me to walk with you until you're safe back home? I mean, I know that sounds a little weird. But just, you know, as a precaution?For a moment, I entertained the idea. After a second's thought, I shook my head. Nah. I mean, I appreciate the offer. I just don't think that's really necessary. I mean, don't get me wrong, super thankful for everything you did tonight. But, well... don't take this the wrong way, but I kind of want nothing to do with either you or this after tonight?A look of shock crossed Lara's face. As if she hadn't expected this response. Then, she nodded her head in understanding. Right. That's fair, that makes a lot of sense. And I mean, it's not like we owe each other either. We just both happened to run away at the same time. Right. Like I said, I appreciate your help up until now. But beyond our shared interest in not being murdered, I think that's as far as this relationship goes. Lara nodded again, this time more sure of herself. Okay then. I guess I'll just start leaving now.Lara took a few steps towards the trail. You coming? ...Actually, I think I'm going to take a minute. Just, you know, to collect my thoughts. Okay then. Well, I guess this is goodbye then. We probably won't see each other again. I'd imagine not. In that case... it was nice knowing you. You too. I hope everything works out for you with the Duats. I really do. Panthea deserves a better leader for the Duats.Panthea deserved to be rid of the Duats, to be blunt. Thanks.And then, for another moment, Lara hesitated. You know, it's funny. Even though there's no real reason for it, I kind of feel bad for leaving right now. That right? Well, thanks, I guess. Thanks? Yeah. You just reminded me of a saying that... that an old friend of mine would say now and again. 'If you have trouble saying goodbye, then you've been blessed with a meaningful connection. In that case, simply smile, and thank the other person.' Huh. I like that. I always found it overly sentimental to the point of being cheesy. But, it's a nice sentiment I guess. It is.And with that simple final sentence, Lara turned back around, and walked down the path, out of the forest. ...And there I was. There I stood. Free. ...Alone. It was... I didn't know how to feel. There was a liberating feeling, sure. But also something of an empty one. I couldn't help but feel conflicted about this night in general. A lot had happened, to be sure. But had I gotten anywhere particularly? ...Well, I certainly got somewhere. I got out alive. That alone should be a victory. And I learned of the Mandjet. I learned its true nature. That was good, I thought. But... I had far from learned all the mysteries that boat had to offer. ...Well, maybe I had. It was hard to say. But there was definitely some truth I had failed to grasp. The question of how I even wound up there in the first place. The mysterious case of my fainting. What was the deal with that? Was it... just coincidence? Or was it the will of a hidden ill-intent, one I had yet to locate? Or, could it be, a mixture of the two? People oft would pin things on singular causes. They like to think of reality as nice and clean. Or at least, that's what they imagine of the reality they can't see. But the reality we do see certainly isn't nice and clean, so why would our mysteries be? Is it possible that what landed me in that container was a combination of multiple things, some intentional, some not? ...Well, even still, there has to be some concrete cause in it all – the thing that caused me to pass out like that. [BGM: Ones Are Wild]  At this point, it dawned on me that I wasn't actually leaving yet. But that was fine. It had already been a long enough night. What was the harm in staying out a bit longer? I was on a thoughtstream; I didn't want to get off. This night had brought about a lot of truths, some less pleasant. For instance, I was far less safe than I liked to think of myself. One thing was for sure, I needed to be a lot less impulsive in the future. I mean, from the start, I knew this journey Jacy had sent me on would be dangerous. But up until this point, I had always been cautious, had outs. This was, to put it lightly, a dangerously close shave. Something that I couldn't afford to have happen again. And speaking of Jacy... ugh. No, no, don't get sad. Don't get emotional. Detach. Was I still dealing with this? What a pain. ...But yeah, Jacy's death was always the assumption. Even still, in light of some recent information, I had begun to cling to this weak hope that somehow, she might still be alive. In some way, she was wrong in that video she sent me. That she had made it through the other side of the storm alive and... well, she never was going to be well. But alive. That's all I would've wanted. But in light of the discoveries I had made tonight? I had to face facts. True, I still had yet to actually see a body. But that was because there was no body to see. Jacy was murdered on the Mandjet. To think otherwise... that was no more than a false hope. The product of emotion, not what someone thinking straight would believe. ...Ah, well. Standing still was wearing me out. Since when did I like to stand still? I should walk around. I was faced with a uniquely beautiful setting, anyways. This twilit forest, right before the break of dawn.  I decided to take a slow walk through the trees. I would make my way to the main path soon enough, to be sure. But what was the rush? As I walked though, my mind turned over to more dark thoughts. I may have escaped Thane for now. ..But. Could I really be safe? For one, how did I end up passed out in that construction crate? It wasn't natural, it couldn't be. Even though it didn't really make sense... was it possible that there was someone there when I passed out? Someone who drugged me? If so, then who? Thane played dumb, like he didn't know I was there, but was that the truth? Probably. But the Mandjet was Duat property. I had to assume if somebody was on the boat with me, then it was another Duat member. Maybe they knocked me out, thought they killed me, decided to just leave my body there for the foreseeable future? Ugh, it just didn't make sense. I didn't remember being manually knocked out at all. Regardless, that wasn't the only danger to be worried about. Even if Thane knew nothing, he was still a threat. I wasn't sure how the situation with Lara played out. That seemed complicated and political. But my situation? That seemed a lot more straightforward. Thane didn't want a civilian like me to live and tell tonight's tale. He'd probably continue to hunt me down, and not just him. Even though he was hiding his actions from the Duats, he could probably get them nipping at my heels, all the same. He could make up any number of stories as to why I had to be disposed of. ...Well, would he really send them after me when I could tell them what I had witnessed? No, that could easily be circumvented. All he'd have to do is ensure a 'kill first, ask questions later policy.' Hopefully Lara could help me out somewhat on that front. However, I wondered how much she could really do. Thane got a good look at me. He would probably give a very thorough description of me. He'd try to paint the clearest picture possible. So then... considering my appearance, that could be a problem. And with some other information, it was possible tha– ...  Instantly, I stopped in my tracks. My breathing stopped. My heart went still. I could feel the slight breeze pushing on me, and I pushed back. Because I couldn't dare make the slightest movement, the slightest sound. Not when Thane was so close. Not when he hadn't noticed me. I just stood there, petrified. Please. Please. You stay still, too. For a few moments, this was the only thought that could possibly enter my brain. However, after enough time had passed, I realized something. Thane wasn't moving either. He was also perfectly still. In other words... so long as I didn't make an obvious noise, I'd be safe. Okay. That was good. That was step one. Step two was figuring out what the gently caress was going on. Why was he... I tried analyzing the situation. His position. His stance. His motives. And then I realized what he was up to. He was hiding behind a tree close to the actual path that left Odin's manor. The path back through the Forest. If I had to guess, he was probably waiting for his prey to pass by. So he could ambush them. ...Wait, that was the same path Lara had walked by earlier. Why had nothing happened then? Hmm... the answer I ended up settling on wasn't exactly satisfying, but it was probably the truth. Thane initially counted on the two of us leaving at the same time. He must've tracked us down to the mansion. Decided that at some point, some point before too long, we'd leave it and try to get out of Panthea's forest. So for his part, he just had to wait. Soon enough, the chance for his ambush would come. He hears vague chatter from a distance. He knows it's coming soon. He waits... then a person comes into sight! Except, it is just one person. It is just Lara. And Thane has to make a snap decision. If he kills Lara, I'm likely to hear this, to flee. Likely to get away. So Thane decided to let Lara walk by without doing anything. To spare her, essentially, in order to gun for a bigger threat. ...That was me, I guess. The bigger threat. That in itself was probably worth some thought, but now was not the time. He was in an ambush position. When I walked down that path, he would've popped out, and that would've been that. I certainly would have been killed. And yet. A whim. It felt bad, it pained me to my core to admit it. But really, what had saved me was a whim. A whim to not rush. A whim to think. A whim to pace off the trail, which had moved me to this location in the forest that Thane absolutely could not have predicted. So then... with Thane there... …  Thane was a bad person. Nobody could dispute that. I mean, Panthea was filled with villains. But Thane was a monster. Mechanical. Violent. Murderer. The longer he remained, the more atrocities he would commit. He was a public nuisance to the nth degree. And it wasn't like rehabilitation was a likely option to work on him. He was a bad person. Nobody would dispute that. Nobody would miss him. And more to the point... I was practical. ...And practically speaking, Thane was a threat. A threat to a lot of people. A threat to me. He could describe my appearance. He could rally the troops against me. In general, he stood between me and my goals. He was... he was a danger. If I left him alone, he wouldn't leave me alone. And to that end... this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. An extreme coincidence. The type of luck I don't like to believe in. I had the drop on Thane in a way that I doubted I would have again any time soon. So then... … It was... obvious, right? Logical. Slowly, very slowly... I walked towards Thane. Step. Step. As lightly as I could manage... No matter what, I couldn't let Thane notice me. So my approach was slow. But I had to keep approaching. Take too long, Thane might get too restless. A difficult balance to manage, for sure... but I made progress. Closer... Closer... Before I knew it, I was quite close to Thane. A distance where we could have a normal conversation. But that wasn't close enough. Closer... Now I could probably reach out and touch Thane. He could reach out and grab me. ...Don't think about that. Don't think about anything. Just... Closer... Before I knew it, I was close enough. Too close, even. Close enough where he might hear my breathing. Every second I stayed at this range was a second he might notice me. I couldn't waste any more time. With a weird mix of speed and caution, I took out the wire I had tucked away in my pocket. And then?  In an instant, I wrapped the wire around Thane's neck. And I pulled tight. It was weird – I had never done something like this before. You always think about it in the abstract, as something hard to conceptualize. But when you're in the moment? It's actually quite easy; just motions you'd do in daily life. This wasn't strangling. This was pulling, pulling tight. Thane immediately started struggling. He realized what was happening, and tried to do something with his gun. However, the moment I saw him going for that move, I kicked the gun out of his hand. I scanned my memory; then, I kicked the back of one of Thane's legs. He fell to his knees, and I continued to pull. Thane tried to reach out back, but from his position on the ground, it was incredibly awkward. I slightly moved, and he couldn't even touch me, much less do anything. My muscles began to strain, keeping the wire this taught. ...But I couldn't feel too bad, because Thane was having a much worse time of it. He began to paw at his throat, trying to do something about the wire... but he didn't have any implement to remove the wire. So that pawing was completely ineffective. Finally, he just held his body up with his hands. I could hear, beneath his mask, a desperate choking sound. He was coming to the realization that there was nothing he could do to prevent the current situation. He was realizing that his life was leaving him. So for a few more seconds, we just stayed in that equilibrium. ...And then, I was doing more than strangling. His arms let go, and I had to keep his body up with the wire. A part of me wanted to let go; enough was enough. But I wasn't falling for this if it was a ploy. I used all my strength to keep Thane's body up, to keep pulling. And pulling. And pulling. ...And then, once it was completely unreasonable to think Thane was acting, I finally let go. Thane fell forwards, and I collapsed onto the ground backwards. I was panting heavily. Sweating profusely. I could feel my vision becoming splotchy. My stomach was ill. There was a simple fact that I didn't want to accept. Lying before me, was a corpse. I had just murdered Thane. … [BGM: Silence]  Everyone makes a big deal out of murder. I don't see it. So many people die every day. Does it really matter if the number of those deaths you're responsible for is 0 or 1? People like to assign more meaning to things than there is. ...Hey, want to hear a fun story about murder? ...Not really. Well, gently caress you, I'm telling it anyway. This one time, in the middle of the night, an old man heard a knocking on the door. He hesitated for a moment, then stopped what he was doing and, after putting his tools away, went to the door. At the door was a police officer. 'Excuse me, sir, do you have security measures for your home?' the officer asks. 'Um, not really. Why?' responds the old man. 'There's been a horrid string of murders as of late, and just earlier tonight, people reported a suspicious figure in this area,' said the officer. 'I wanted to make sure everybody around here was safe.' 'Gosh, how horrible. Thank you for informing me, officer,' replied the old man. 'Oh, just doing my job,' the officer said with a grin, unaware of the body under the bed inside the old man's house. 'Actually, if you want, I could get some security stationed around here for you. Make sure you're protected,' the police man offered. 'That won't be necessary,' said the old man. 'I'm a wood carver, I have plenty of tools to defend myself lying around.' 'A wood carver, huh? You don't hear about that profession every day,' said the officer. At this point, a slight look of irritation began to cross the old man's face. 'Sir, thank you again for the warning, but it is late, and I want to finish my latest work before going to sleep. Would you mind leaving me alone?' At this, the police officer wavered. They wondered if they were being rude, and what the right thing to do was. Finally, they nodded their head. 'Sure thing, I don't mean to keep you waiting.' With a smile, the police officer turned and walked away, and the old man closed the door with a smile on his face. He went back over to his workshop, to continue his final masterpiece. And the body under the bed began to move. Getting up, pulling out a knife, ready to do what they came for. ...And when the old man's body was eventually found, the police officer shrugged and said they did all they could do. The End. Ah, good times. Poor guy. So, before we go, I have to test your reading comprehension. What was the moral of the story? ...Patience is a virtue? What's this? You took a lesson from the killer's point of view? ...Heh heh heh. You really are perfect for this, you know? I wonder what “Thane” is up to now?
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Feb 13, 2024 02:59
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Interesting. So Mercury's timeline just reached 'Thane's timeline. He killed thane in the woods right where that deck kicks off. And his deck still has cards?
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Feb 13, 2024 03:35
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FoolyCharged posted:Interesting. So Mercury's timeline just reached 'Thane's timeline. He killed thane in the woods right where that deck kicks off. Looks to be this way, the Mercury timeline could be continuing the investigation plot and the Thane deck is the pretend to be Thane plot. If this is the case, that explains why "Thane's" interactions with Lara are even more awkward than you'd expect.
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Feb 13, 2024 03:53
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Okay, I'm still not that engaged in the update-by-update story, but the overall who's-who mystery has been eating at me. Just getting my thoughts out there: Mercury is Thane. Straightforward, and understandable. Lara's reaction to Eris implies Eris is Mercury, or Laverna is Mercury. Lock has given a backstory but it could very easily be lies, and Vels has kept their cards close to their chest. I am imagining a world where all of them are actually the twins, or the twins (and thus the rest) are the same person. It sounds a bit crazy, but it was conspicuously highlighted in this update that Zahhak had a daughter who is conveniently dead which got me thinking whether she might be back to cause discord ("eris") in Panthea by disrupting all the majors players from different angles - Mercury/Thane within the Duats, Laverna within the police, Vels within Olympo, and Lock within politics. Ironically this would make Eris the Devil, so unless that email conversation is all in her head I'm coming back around to it being two people at most, though that goes against it being Zahhak's daughter if the twins really are twins. Devon is just Devon, unless there's some very wild swerves there.
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Feb 13, 2024 14:25
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I don't think Eris is The Devil. The Devil is almost certainly one the Duat players we've seen. It could be Mercury, now that we know Mercury = Thane; they're invested in searching for the truth. A bigger twist would be Marduk himself, if he's got some kind of plan. With that in mind, I don't think Eris = Mercury. Most of this is based on Lara's reaction: she seemed surprised that whoever she recognized Eris as would help her, and I don't think that would be her reaction to Mercury. Also, I went back to check some stuff, and I'm pretty convinced now: Laverna and Eris are the same person, putting on an act as if they're twins. They never refer to each other in their narration, only in dialogue to other characters, and the phone call between them was clearly just Laverna playing a recording, and reciting a script back. What clinches it to me is that as soon as Baldera interjected into that conversation, she hung up--because otherwise the ruse would be exposed. (And indeed, Eris's next line between them doesn't sound like she's responding to Baldera before she's cut off.) Edit: While I think it's unlikely that Eris = Mercury, because that would make Mercury, Thane, Laverna and Eris all the same person, I can't rule it out just yet either. Regarding who's who, I think we can rule out a few things at least. Devon can't be Vels because they've been in the same scene; similarly, Locke can't be Thane/Mercury for the same reason. I think we can also rule out Devon being the same person as anyone who's interacted with Odin (who would not fail to recognize his son), so Devon can't be Mercury or Locke either. ZCKaiser fucked around with this message at 16:04 on Feb 13, 2024 |
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Feb 13, 2024 15:48
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I think it's pretty safe to say Devon is his own thing entirely, unrelated to anyone else. He has too much going on to be any of our other viewpoints.
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Feb 13, 2024 17:40
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ZCKaiser posted:They never refer to each other in their narration, only in dialogue to other characters, and the phone call between them was clearly just Laverna playing a recording, and reciting a script back. What clinches it to me is that as soon as Baldera interjected into that conversation, she hung up--because otherwise the ruse would be exposed. (And indeed, Eris's next line between them doesn't sound like she's responding to Baldera before she's cut off.) So i've tracked down that update and i have to agree. What actually convinces me is this: quote:was going to respond... but then I felt my phone buzz. Ah, finally. I pulled out the phone and turned on the speaker.
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Feb 13, 2024 19:09
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Odin just wants to DM.
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Feb 14, 2024 01:05
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Random question for fun: What drugs do you think are being dealt in that one text chain from Polly's phone, from that Eris chapter? Most of the code seems fairly simple-the 'channels' are locations, times are just that, meeting times, 'ratings' are how good Polly thought they were, but what do you think the names are for?
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Feb 16, 2024 05:35
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 [BGM: Bidding]  Ah, the V-Hall. What a place to spend your days. You know, walking up here again, it really struck me what this place represented. This was the Duat headquarters. I mean, it's not like everything important about the Duats were there. In fact, to the Duats' credit, most important things are stored separately. But still, for all intents and purposes, this was Duat HQ. This was where people met up. It was right out in the open. And it wasn't, like, a secret or something. I mean if you asked your average passerby, sure, they wouldn't be able to tell you where the Duat HQ was. But if you looked into it? You could definitely locate this place. ...Locate it without that much trouble, for that matter It's not like most Duat members were exactly built for subtlety. The Panthean Police Force absolutely knew about this place. And yet, what was being done? Nothing. This place was allowed to stand tall, just as a public base for a gang. Was this not the city implicitly endorsing the presence of the Duats? Their rule? Maybe I was being overdramatic. But I felt like I also had a good point in there somewhere. I shook my head. Oh well. Not like this was teaching me anything I didn't already know. You couldn't trust most people to do more than live their lives. That's why you needed people like me. I made my way right into the front entrance of the V-Hall.  'Sup, Thane. 'To speak the name of the dead is to make him live again.' Okay, not in a chatty mood today, I get it. Without another second of hesitation, I continued into the building. I knew the drill now. I knew how to walk with confidence. Thane might've been an uncomfortable role not too long ago, but at this point, I was feeling pretty confident in my ability to pull him off. Things had gone well so far. Many of the things I feared might happen hadn't come to rest. The 'real' Thane never came back for vengeance. The secret contact Thane had never became a problem. I had been inventing issues, seeing phantoms where there were none to be had. At this point, I was borderline cocky that my identity wasn't in jeopardy. Case in point - coming to the V-Hall today. Functionally speaking, there wasn't much reason to. True, Yi had called me over for a casual meeting. But that had outs. I could say I wasn't feeling well, make an excuse, blow him off. Hell, I could ditch the Thane act now, it having largely served its purpose. But instead, without a stated purpose in mind when coming here, I decided to go and meet up with Yi. That's where the trouble starts. This complacency, actions without purpose, that's where I start to lose myself. I made sure to remind myself of that as I entered the V-Hall. It was easy to be cocky in the abstract. But when you're back in enemy territory, a mere mask standing between you and death, that previously built confidence starts to slip away. As I looked around the hall, I noticed there weren't many people around. At one side of the building, I spotted Lara. She was talking with three other Duat members, one of which I vaguely recognized. In the middle of the room, Zaochi and Xia were standing around, also in conversation. ...And in terms of Duat members in the main area, that was about it. Which, okay, I guess that didn't have to be a surprise. There wasn't a meeting happening, no particular reason to be at home base. Still, even for a casual day, this felt light. To a lot of Duat members, the V-Hall is like a second home of sorts. Oh well. Chalk that up to luck on my part. I looked around, and quickly noticed something: Yi wasn't around. ...Correction - Yi wasn't around yet. I had probably gotten here early, or elsewise Yi had gotten caught up with something else. Well, no biggie. I'd just kill some time. I walked around the main hall, somewhat aimlessly. Soon, I got within earshot of Zaochi and Xia. I had no desire to actually join their conversation – felt like a minefield that was easily avoidable on my part. Still, I wanted to hear what they were talking about. Simple curiosity, that. So, subtly, I kept pacing awkwardly and began to listen in. Here's hoping neither man would notice me and call me over. ...It seemed they were a bit too involved in their conversation to notice me. Win for me, as far as I was concerned.   Look, Xia, you're freaking out for nothing. It's Jia we're talking about. You know how she is. I do! That's why I know that this isn't normal. I mean, blowing me off, ignoring me, yeah, that's normal. Going MIA for a bit? Normal as well, sure. But it's been way too long for that. This isn't her going on a bender. This is her going missing. Aw. Now look at who's an overprotective brother. This isn't that, rear end in a top hat! I'm actually loving worried. Worried about what? What, you think someone got the jump on her? How likely's that? Anything's possible. Okay, yeah, true. Let me rephrase - you think that's gonna happen in Panthea nowadays? Without us knowing? This city's been Duat turf for a while, mi compadre. We've got ears everywhere. If something happened with Jia, we'd have heard about it. I mean, if it was just a normal something, yeah... What's that mean? Jia has been acting, just, weird lately. I'd been seeing her less and less. She got weirdly defensive about some things. I even caught her hanging out with Lara once or twice. So, what? You think Lara had something to do with this? I just... I just think there might be something more to her being missing. And I think you might be overly sensitive. Kick rocks. I wanted to keep listening in on this conversation. However, at this point, somebody opened one of the doors to the main area. Seems like Yi was, in fact, here already. He must've just been busy with Duat work; not out of character for him. Quickly, he pegged me standing in the middle of the room. I similarly nodded at him, and began making my way over to him. Yi just stayed where he was, leaning against the wall, waiting for me. Before too long, I had approached him.  Ah, Thane! How you been, buddy? How's life treating you? I've been fine. Fine huh? Fine's good. If somebody was fine all the time, they'd have lived an above average life, I'd think. I disagree. If somebody was only ever fine, they wouldn't be able to appreciate it. Happiness only derives meaning from sadness. Oh! How true! How valid! How oddly philosophical of you, Thane. You keep calling me a robot. I don't think it's fair. So I've decided to try and show more of my thoughtful side.Yi made an expression like I had just told a very funny joke. Yes. Do that. I think that'll be a lot of fun. Anyways, made any progress on looking for Lock?I simply shook my head.  Ah, yeah. Sad to say, it's the same for me. The whole 'Lock' thing is total B.S. Fake name, fake story, fake identity, the whole thing. Still, so long as the man intends to operate in Panthea, he'll probably keep the identity, unaware of the degree to which he's under investigation. Duat intelligence never fails. Next time he pops up, we'll know. And this time, I won't miss. Heh, right, right. ...About that night...A serious expression clouded over Yi's face. If I didn't know better, I'd say I could sense a bit of suppressed rage coming from him.  It's good we're over here. I want to, before anything else, just talk to you about this face to face. Before things have to go beyond that.I didn't like several of the phrases Yi just dropped. About 'this'? Oh, right. Silly me, you don't know what I'm talking about. Well...Yi scratched the back of his neck, taking a moment to breathe.  I got a report from Seth not too long ago. It was about the investigation of the Secretary Gani murder. He's keeping you in the loop? Of course. That's what he's for.I just nodded.  Anyways, he informed me of a very peculiar little piece of information. Directly at the crime scene, right by Gani, there was a burned cigarette left there. Seth hasn't done forensics on it for obvious reasons... but based on the brand of the smoke, and surrounding context, it seems pretty drat likely that the cigarette was mine. Wait, they found one of your cigarettes at the crime scene? That's bad. Of course they didn't loving find one of the cigarettes, that's what Seth's for. He handled it. Oh. Right. So, there's no problem? Not with the police, at any rate. That's good. Honestly, Yi, this sounds too close for comfort. You must've gotten sloppy, leaving something like that around. I didn't. Obviously, you didn't intentionally. But you know, smoking is a compulsion; it must've been an absent-minded thing.At this, Yi let out a little chuckle. You know? At first, that's what I thought too. I was cursing at myself, wondering how I could be so dumb. ...And then, I remembered. I didn't bring any cigarettes that night. In fact, I made a point of bitching about forgetting to bring them. I remember complaining to you about that. ...That's right.poo poo. Please don't let this be going where I thought it was going. That doesn't make any sense. You're right, Thane. It doesn't make sense. If I didn't bring any cigarettes, how did one of mine get there? That seems downright impossible. Unless...poo poo, poo poo. ...Somebody brought one of my used cigarettes. Unless a 'trusted ally' of mine decided to deliberately plant that cigarette in a half-baked plot to try and get me in hot poo poo. If that were the case, well, that would be straight up active betrayal.poo poo, poo poo, poo poo. Yi...[BGM: Ones Are Wild]  That bitch Lara.… ...That bitch Lara. I should've seen it coming, honestly. drat her.I shook my head disapprovingly. Honestly, what offends me the most is just how paper-thin her attempt was. I mean, a cigarette, seriously? Did she really think that that wouldn't get noticed by Seth? A super obvious piece of evidence wouldn't get intercepted by my contact? How dumb is she? Yeah, she's really is clueless, huh? Just goes to show the difference between her and us two. God, it's so annoying. Like, looking back at that night, it's so obvious. I mean, I thought it was fishy from the start. 'Marduk made her come.' What a load of horseshit. We all know how she is, she can twist that dude around with a finger. If she really didn't want to slum it with us, she easily could've avoided it. No, when she came here, she already had the cigarette on her. She was planning on pinning some poo poo on me from the beginning! The whole time, she intended on the frame job. I mean, the nerve. The nerve indeed. Just, ugh, unbelievable. You know what this means, right?I nodded solemnly, not knowing what Yi meant. We've gotta accelerate things. If she's pulling moves like this, this means she's also acknowledged the reality of things. This is war. Unfortunately, like most optics, there's optics against being the ones who fire the first shot. And the cigarette thing...Yi shrugged. It's a little weak as proof. We can't be explicit quite yet. But man, the moment an opportunity presents itself.I just nodded again. She is a problem. That said...I trailed off. I wanted to get the conversation going in a different direction. To do this, I'd have to try and pull off something a little tricky. Still, I thought it worth the attempt. Yi. I've been... having doubts. Doubts? Doubts about what? About this whole thing. The whole 'Duat' thing. Woah, woah, woah! Take it easy Thane. Where's this coming from? I don't know. In some ways, you know, I feel like it's always been inevitable that I'd get to where I am. That I'd be a Duat member. I haven't really stopped to think about things for a long while. But the other day, with the Gani thing... seeing Aija grieve like that.Yi nodded sagely. I see now. Running into some trouble with the whole 'mental separation' thing. I'll get over it, I'm sure. It's not like I'm going to turn over a new leaf, dedicate my life to the Lord or anything. Still... it's weird. I've never had a problem with the killing itself. It's just the way of things. "We're all mortals. We all can be killed. We can all kill. It was, to put it in a word, fair to kill someone. But seeing Aija grieve over Gani's death, someone I didn't even mean to kill...I shook my head. I don't know. It's been a while since I saw something like that. It was just a reminder how unfair death really is. I don't just hurt the people I hurt. I hurt the people connected to them. Every bullet I fire, it ripples through the sea of people. And that's not fair. Hmm. I suppose doxastic anxiety has some truth. Doxastic anxiety? Ah, well, I fear I might fall down a whole rabbit hole of digression if I try to explain myself too thoroughly. How to summarize it... basically, doxastic anxiety is the fear of knowledge. Fear of knowledge? Fear might be too strong a word. It's more subconscious than that. Like... You know how vegans always go off about how horrible animals are treated for the sake of meat-eaters? And you know that they're probably right, but you try not to actually think about it too much or seek out that information for yourself, because you're afraid that if you do you'll have to stop eating meat? And you really don't want to stop eating meat because meat's pretty loving good? Mhm. It's like that. It's this subconscious desire to not acquire or focus on information that contradicts your current lifestyle. It crops up in all sorts of walks of life; most people have tons of doxastic anxiety. Deliberately going against those anxieties, trying to learn information you might not like - some people have coined that as 'doxastic courage. They assign some sort of moral worth to the mere act of acquiring knowledge, the idea being that even if everything you do is the most moral it can be, it matters less if that's not an informed decision. Woah. That seems... confusing. Yeah, that's a lane of discussion that gets deep quickly and I find prone to logical recursions, but that's neither here nor there. Honestly, doxasim as a whole topic of study is quite fascinating. There's also doxastic logic, a form of logic that incorporates people's beliefs in the logical operations.  Doxastic logic has different types of reasoners and different levels of rationality, and it also proposes counterparts to both Gödel's incompleteness theorem of metalogic and Löb's Peano arithmetic. Uhh..... Sorry, sorry, see, this is what I'm talking about. I've got a nasty habit of tangents and to be honest I could talk about this particular subject for quite a while. Focusing, focusing... okay, so, you're struggling with the morality of it all again? Pretty much. Have you struggled with this for a while? No, not really, just a bit. Okay then. Yeah, I'd say that's natural. It is? God knows I've had these struggles. But I always ended up settling on the fact that it doesn't really matter. And I'm sure you'll end up there too. It doesn't really matter? Look around, Thane. Look around at any public place. You know what you'll see? ...Or at least, what I'll see? What? I'll see humans, for sure. But no humanity. That's just how we are as a species. People like to think they're 'better' than criminals. More moral. What a load of crap. I mean, I'm not so nihilistic to say that genuinely good people don't exist. Sure, there's a couple of defects. But by and large, the fact that most people don't end up where we are is a combination of fear and complacency. People say that murder's amoral. But I can guarantee you that if you put most people in a position where murder was the sensible choice, they'd kill. You can tell because whenever you can see humans acting immorally in ways they can get away with, they absolutely will. History's filled with evidence. You think it's a coincidence slavery was so widely adopted? It wasn't 'different times,' there were plenty of people who knew and argued just how amoral it was centuries ago. The reason it persisted then was because people were fine with it. It was allowed. And things on that front has never really changed? I mean, do yo– ...Actually, this comparison won't work, I highly doubt you follow celebrity gossip. Correct. Well, just take it on faith that the percentage of people who, when given any amount of power, use it to become complete creeps is incredibly high. And that's just the people we know about, the ones dumb enough to get caught. What's that say? That people willing to abuse power are more likely to seek it out? Mmm. See, that explanation would've held more water long ago. And maybe it's partially true. But in the modern era, people can accidentally become popular at the drop of a hat. People who don't even want to become powerful can become icons thanks to the monolith that is the internet. And you look at those people, there's no change in trends. So again, what's that say? That so many people are secretly assholes? I'd argue that's a much darker interpretation. No, no, it's proof that pretty much anybody would become just as hosed if you gave them power. That every human is really hosed, they just hide it, they never have good opportunities to express it. Give any one of them a Ring of Gyges, you'll see what I mean. Even when you think about it from an evolutionary perspective, it still makes sense. Working with a community, pretending to be friendly, yeah, that's useful. But ultimately looking out for yourself? You can sure as poo poo bet that's an evolutionary trait useful to pick up. From Hobbes to Xunzi, philosophers have been saying it for centuries: we're all hosed, deep down. Maybe you give a few dollars to charity to make yourself feel better, dollars that really don't do anything. Maybe there's the rare case of an actual angel who escaped the 'secret demon' trait the rest of us got. But by and large? Thane, none of us are good. So just embrace it. The pain you cause is unfair? The world's unfair. Everyone's playing a personal game in life, looking out for number one. You just be like the rest of them.I nodded. That makes sense.Surprisingly, that wasn't a lie. As much as I hated Yi, I couldn't deny that I resonated with a good bit of his spiel. Certain parts showed clear traces of being warped by Yi. But on the whole... So, that's what I fall back on when I start getting doubts. That, or someti– ...[BGM: Silence]  Yi stopped, and took out his phone. It must've buzzed with a notification or something. Huh. What? Nothing, just, uh... hey, could you give me a minute? There's something I need to look over. Go ahead. Thank you. I'll get back to you soon, this just might be important.And like that, Yi turned around. He walked back to the room he had come in from. ...And just like that, I was alone again. I wonder what that was about? ...Well, whatever. I guess I'd just have to kill some time. Hm. I heard some laughter coming from nearby. [BGM: Dummy]  It was Lara, and her group. All of the sudden, I got the strange urge to join them in the meantime. It was probably dumb... and yet, I found myself walking in their direction.  And what did you do after that? What did I do, Hao? Are you kidding me? I got the hell out of there!This elicited another bout of laughter. I mean, I think at this point I had well fulfilled my civic duty. I'd leave the rest of the night between the mechanic, the capybara, and God. Paid my tab and got the hell out of there.I'm sure this would've been hilarious had I context. It was at this point Lara noticed my presence. Her face instantly soured. I couldn't exactly blame her for that, but I still felt slightly offended. Oh. Look who it is, guys. Thane, the party animal. You decide to join us?I nodded. Huh. That's weird. You guys just looked like you were having fun. How sweet. So, you decided to kill some time by hanging out with us while you waited for Yi to finish ignoring you with work? Yes. Heh. He's honest, you have to give him that! Do you have a problem with that? I don't know, Thane. You tell me. Can you think of any reason why I'd feel uncomfortable in your presence?I stood motionless for a second. Then I nodded. Still. We are coworkers. I can't see why we can't put aside hostilities for some casual conversation. I'm just trying to be amicable. Hey, I can do amicable! I'm super open to being friendly. You just don't seem like the type. What can I say? I'm mysterious. You can say that again.The others seemed to be warming up to my presence slightly. However, this was interrupted by the sound of a door being opened violently. Yi exited the room he came from... and he did so with a smile that he couldn't quite hide. Instantly, he began walking over to me. ...No, not me – Lara. [BGM: Silence]  Hey everybody! Got some news to show. Might want to see this!Zaochi and Xia took this as a cue to also gather up. What are you doing Yi? What am I doing? I'm just trying to inform everybody of the current situation. Most importantly, I'm trying to inform... you. Inform me? Yi, what's going on? Relax, Thane. Just watch. Things'll become apparent soon.Before anyone could say another word, Yi held out his phone. He held it sideways, with the phone showing a video player. After taking a moment to be sure everyone could see it, I pressed on the phone's screen. And then, the video began to play. ...And on the screen was somebody I didn't expect to see at all. [BGM: Danrasu]  Heh heh heh... I, Odin Deisma, am of sound mind and body as I record this video. As you can see, I am currently in my study. Perhaps you can see a rather important document behind me.Sure enough, behind Odin, on a table, I could make out a fancy-looking document. Much of it was illegible... but I could see enough of it to know what it was. It was a will. That document is the discussion of this little video. Art. Polly. As my two sons who work at my company, and as the two people I consider my inheritors, I am sending you this video, because what I am about to say concerns you both... and I have always been fair. You all should get to know this ahead of time. Frankly speaking, I have found you both lacking. For Polly, I don't even need to justify myself. I don't know why you've recently been pulling this 'well-adjusted' act, and frankly I don't give a drat. Your most obvious defects that you've been polishing over are not the reasons you are unfit to follow in my footsteps. You are utterly lacking in business acumen, diligence, and ruthlessness. And because of that, you fail. But Art, this is the one that saddens me. You were so close, Art. So close. However, as of late, I can't help but view you as equally unworthy. You mimic my actions, son, but you lack my spirit. You can play an ode to my greats, but you lack the ability to play them as they once were. You are not as intelligent as you think you are, Art. You see the forest for the trees, lacking any perception of a larger picture, a grander vision. Simply put, you lack spirit. Art. Polly. I deem neither of you my successor. So then, who shall I pass my legacy onto? Well, none are fit to actually succeed me. However, there is one individual I have been consistently impressed with. Though lowly in station, she has great ability, greater ability than I had even first recognized. Had she been my daughter from the start, well, who's to say? I suspect she may have put both of you to shame. And so, in equal parts punishment to you two for your sloth and reward to her for her ambition, I name Lara Naomi my successor. Upon my death, she will be willed my stocks in Olympo, equaling a 25% stake in the company. That is not up for debate. It is already written. I'm sorry, Art, Polly. I'm sorry you couldn't live up to what you were meant to be. … Of course... the dead have no need for stocks. And I'm far from wasteful. As any intelligent man would do, I added a proviso to my will. Should Lara die before me, that line of the will shall become null and void. The distribution of my stocks will default back to the initial arrangement I had decided upon - 20% to Art, 5% to Polly." So then, do with that what you will. Keh heh heh...And just like that, the video abruptly ended. And just like that, all of us were in shock. Lara, however, was quick to realize what this video might mean for her. [BGM: Spot On]  I don't... No idea why that's the case, but, uh...As she spoke, Lara began quickly walking away from the group, towards the exit of V-Hall. It looked like she was about to break into a sprint away at any second. Yi, for his part, simply calmly bent down. Then, he reached underneath his right pant leg... and in a sudden motion, he pulled out a pistol he had stored away. Hey, hey, where are you going, Lara? I think we need to discuss this video, don't you think?Lara's face flashed with fear; Yi's with a grin. Both knew where this discussion would soon go.
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Feb 17, 2024 02:36
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 [BGM: Spot On]  Time to break the flow. Yi, you carry a pistol? What? loving, of course I do, how do you not know that? I don't know. You usually brandish that short-sword knife thing. I kind of thought that had you covered on the whole 'weapons' front. Not at all. You know, there's a good saying about that: 'those who live by the blade die by the hands of those who don't'. Anyways, as Senior Officer, I get to bring actual weapons into the V-Hall. It feels like a waste not to abuse that. Anyways, I've gotten way off the point. Lara, I know your natural instinct is flight, but this is big news. And the message accompanying this was also pretty big. So unfortunately, you have to stay around for just a bit longer. Got it? ...Lara hated this with every fiber of her being, I could tell. But she also didn't have much of a choice." Yeah, so... obviously, Art isn't super happy with this development. You know, he... actually, you know what? Lara, would you mind taking a seat before we continue? Is that a choice? I mean, everything you do is a choice, in kind. ...Lara's face flushed with equal parts anger and fear. Ultimately, she relented. She walked over to a nearby chair and sat down. Awesome! And then, you know, just for, like, super sure safety, why don't we just tie Lara up. Just to be sure. The hell?Immediately, Xia, who was standing nearby, put his hands on Lara, keeping her down. Zaochi, for his part, immediately went rushing away, likely looking for an implement to do the tying up. At first, Lara began to struggle with Xia, trying to get up. She basically succeeded, before realizing that Yi still had his gun out, and he still had it trained on her. When she understood what further resistance would get her, she sat back down, reluctantly. The other Duat members watched this unfold at a distance. It was clear that they were none too happy with these proceedings. However, they also weren't going to interfere at this very moment. And me? I was Thane. Stonefaced, I stood, with my arms crossed. Eventually, Zaochi came back, and with a bit of difficulty, he managed to tie Lara to the chair. Then he and Xia backed away. Is this really necessary? Lara was trying to put on the airs of casual annoyance. Most probably bought it, but I could see that in reality, she was just as scared as before. Probably not. I trust you to have the Duat's interest in mind. But, you know, you can't be too sure; you've got a tendency to get emotional. Don't want you 'acting out'. gently caress you. What was Art saying? Right. So, to those who don't know, this is supposed to be something of a secret, but at this point the cat's sort of out of the bag. Art keeps us on his payroll for some pretty big bucks. It also keeps Olympo to themselves, so we can keep to ourselves. Maintaining this relationship, to put it lightly, is extremely important. You could even call it crucial to the Duat's survival. Do we understand that?Yi took a moment to let his words rest. Good. So, now, obviously this video has caused a rift between the Duats and Art. He has, to put it lightly, questions as to why Odin is granting this stock to Lara. He doesn't believe this to just be some accident. ... He can not stand for this stock falling into the wrong hands. As far as he sees this, Lara convincing Odin to will him this stock is an act of war. The question is, is it war by a rogue indiviual? Or war by the Duats? To help us answer that question, he's provided us with the carrot and the rod. If we dispose of Lara before Odin passes, nullifying the cause, he has offered us an incredibly generous offer. One that goes beyond pure cash, it's a multifaceted proposal. D-Dispose of? Hold on, what's goin– Alternatively. If we refuse to follow through on this offer, Art will not take this lightly. He will view that as an act of war by the Duats. ..And while he still controls Olympo, he will use the full force of it to see us crumble. Now, we got some decent leverage back at him. I'm not saying that Olympo can crush us like bugs. Honestly, Olympo's got a lot more to fear from us than we have to fear from them.This last comment elicited a bit of cheering from Zaochi and Xia. But... Art isn't being rational. He isn't thinking about the best thing for his company. And the sad fact is, if we piss off Olympo, that is going to cause problems. It will take a toll. We will pay a price. Which leads us to a choice. A choice? What loving choice?! You're seriously thinking about killing a Duat member because some rich gently caress said so? Is that the Duat spirit? I'm a Senior Officer, and this is how you're treating me? What a joke! Well, I don't know, Lara. That depends. Are you just an innocent Duat member? Huh? Why did Odin give you that stock? Just chance? That doesn't seem very likely. I don't loving know! The man's insane. Oh, so this is just the act of a madman, huh? It certainly isn't a plot by me! What crazy conspiracy poo poo are you on, Yi? Well, if this was the only evidence, this would surely sound ridiculous. But... You know, there's other evidence that you've been plotting things. Rallying special Duat members to your side. I've been sitting on this evidence, because, well, I had no proof, but thi– Is this really the track you want to go down? Because buddy, you're not the only one who has some poo poo to tell! If we're talking about disloyal Duat membe– And why would we believe anything you have to say? Wh-what? These things you have to say, do you have any corroborating evidence? Because without any of it, given the current situation, it will likely seem that you are just making things up in a desperate ploy. I mean, anybody with eyes can see that you are scared for your life right now, and acting irrationally. I don't think any claims you make right now would hold much water. ...Lara's face was pure hatred. But she couldn't respond to that. Well said, Thane. Well said. Look, I don't give a poo poo about the shares! I'll give them up, it doesn't have to be like this. Give them up? Give what up? Lara, you don't have shares to give away yet. You can only do that once they're in your possession, after Odin dies. And who knows what position everything and everyone will be in then? Who knows if you'll actually give them up then? What a load of poo poo! I think...Yi turned to look at everyone. [BGM: Last Dice]  It was pretty obvious what Yi wanted right now. This was the perfect chance. The power struggle of theirs could be ended right here, right now. But... unfortunately for him, there were other Duat members present. Ones with pretty strong Lara sympathies. He couldn't just kill them all. And if he made a unilateral decision right now, one without proper justification, word would spread. People would grow discontent. It probably didn't help that I had yet to do anything to really endorse his actions so far. Yi feared the backlash would focus on him. That Thane would end up getting the Duat headship, being the only viable candidate among the Senior Officers left. Simply put, optics prevented him from sealing the deal. So, he was caught. ...that I should report this to Marduk. I mean, he leads the Duats. He should get to make the final decision. ...Fine. I trust Marduk's decision making. He'll see through this obvious bullshit.Lara said this, but I could tell she was unsure. She was right to be unsure. I also thought there was a pretty decent chance he'd rule alongside Yi, especially if he was the one who got to spin the story. Marduk had established Olympo sympathies. He was the one who wanted the Duats to avoid going to war with Olympo. Great! It seems we're decided. So, I'm just going to head into his office, give him the scoop. You just stay right here, okay Lara? We'll be back with our decision shortly.Yi looked over to Zaochi and Xia. Make sure she stays put. Of course. And with that Yi began walking over to Marduk's office. Lara was tied up, unable to do much. Zaochi and Xia stood on either side of her chair. Neither had weapons, but they were proven fighters. Nobody would really want to take them on in these conditions. And the others? They grouped up, out of earshot of Zaochi and Xia. Clearly, they were having their own discussion, deciding how to handle things. ...Whether or not to intervene. Please! Reconsider what you're doing here! This isn't rational. You're being swept up in the moment! Surely there are better solutions than this! You are being taken advantage of. Shuddup!Zaochi smacked Lara in the back of the head. Think about what you're doing, all of you! Put politics aside. Personal feelings, your desire to rise up in the ranks, everything like that. Just put it aside and think! Look at what's happening right now! I am a Duat member. Us Duats are supposed to be a family! One blood? Our only allegiance is to each other? Except, I guess not! Look at how eager Yi was to go along with someone else's request to have me killed. To go along with Art Deisma. Isn't he, like, the antithesis of what this place is supposed to be about? And we're listening to him? Look at how quickly Yi threw me under the bus! What does that say about him? If he's willing to do this to me, what's to say he won't do it to you? If being a Duat member doesn't protect you, what sort of precedent is that setting? What path is this creating? ...[BGM: Silence]  I know we've had our differences. But please, everyone, think about this! We're all humans. I'm another human. I know that morality has never, like, been our thing here, but we had one oath. Stick together. Strength in numbers. Duats Never Die. If you kill me now, that last shred, that one oath is broken. If you do that, you're truly hopeless! You have no borders, no conscience, you're an amoral monster, the type kids are warned about! None of you should want to be that! None of you are! There's a difference between being a criminal and a villain! This is that difference! If you keep yapping, I'm gonna get Yi.And with Zaochi's last threat, Lara went silent. For my part, I just paced around, thinking. What should I do... what could I do... On the face of it, the answer was obvious: nothing. Simple as that, I'd just do nothing. I mean, this was what I wanted, right? Cause schisms amongst the Duats. Well, this was a loving schism. If I let things play out, a minor civil war was likely to start. And that sure as hell seemed like a groundbed for opportunities. I could just let Yi do the work for me. And I mean, anything I did do to try and stop current events would obviously blow the Thane character for good. It'd be danger for no good reason. I didn't owe Lara anything, not really. I barely knew her, grand scheme of things. She was a gang member, a criminal. She asked for this life, got into it with two eyes open. This was the risk she assumed. Maybe she didn't deserve death... but you couldn't call her a good person, not really. I didn't need to do anything. If I was smart, I shouldn't do anything. But Lara's words resonated around my skull. Did I not, at least in name, act for justice? Was there not some element of making a better world, tearing down a worse one, in my actions? I would never kid myself into thinking I was a great person. But did I not at least think myself a good one? In the past, the suffering I had brought about was always in the name of something better. The people who got hurt deserved it, or at least, had knowingly brought some part of that pain upon themselves. The actions I did were my only real choice, when you thought about it. I did them for some sense towards the greater good. But those excuses, they didn't really hold up here. None of them really did. Letting Lara die here was a bad thing to do. I have a way to get her free. Letting Lara die didn't really serve the greater good. ...Or even my good. I mean, thinking about it some more, sure having Lara die here would cause schisms. But when you thought about it more, having her live out of this situation would probably cause schisms just as well. If she died, power would be maintained by Art. Why was I doing Art's dirty business for him? ...Actually, thinking a few steps ahead... if Lara could... and then... if I then used... … Okay then. This didn't need to be a moral choice. Not anymore. Because, with a bit of thought, saving Lara actually happened to be the perfect opportunity for me. It was in my self-interest. So I didn't have to make a hard decision. I just had to make an easy one. [BGM: Grand Slam]  So now, how to actually get Lara away? ...Hm. Well, it wasn't an advanced plan, but it'd probably work. For starters, in the name of time, I did a bit of pre-pro. I walked over to a spare sheet of paper sitting on some table. I quickly jotted something down, then tore some of the paper and stuffed it in my pocket. Great. Now, to start the actual escape attempt. I kept to my casual pacing. I just altered the direction a bit. Don't rush. I had time. Slowly... slowly... Now. I was walking by the other group of Duat members. Not right next to them, but close enough. These were all Lara supporters. They should be willing. As I walked by, I spoke in a very low voice. One that only they'd be able to hear. There's a power breaker in the nearby room, right? Cut the power, kill the lights. Do it, Lara lives. Tell anyone I helped, you die.I didn't turn over to them. I didn't stop. I just lightly said this as I walked by. ...And then I kept moving. Hopefully, one of them were listening to me. ...And sure enough, I heard a set of footsteps moving. Probably going to cut the breaker like I asked. Awesome. ...Which meant I had a limited amount of time to get in position. Better hurry up. ...Except, I couldn't alter my speed without arousing suspicion. So I just casually paced towards Lara, tied up next to Zaochi and Xia. I paced right past them. Then, I turned to the left and began walking right behind them. I had already established I was just pacing by myself for a while. ...I mean, that's what I legitimately had been doing for a bit. So this shouldn't be suspicious. The question was, what's the distance I'm looking for? Let's see... I minded the space between myself and the chair. How many steps in that direction? ...How many now? ...What about now? Now? And now? ...God, what was taking so long? The breaker box shouldn't be far. Maybe I should have told them to hurry. If this takes any longer, I'd pass right by them. ...Probably not enough time to pace in this direction again without being more overt. So it really needed to happe– *clack!*  Just when I needed, one of Lara's supporters followed through. The lights in the V-Hall all cut off at once. Everyone was temporarily blinded. ...Emphasis on the temporary. There were some windows, doors, et cetera. Light would make its way in before too long. People's eyes would adjust before too long. ...But I didn't need long. I needed exactly a couple of seconds. Immediately, I began bolting towards Lara. I took the number of steps I had counted out in my head. ...Hopefully, I was accurate enough.  Yes! I felt the chair. Great. As I was rushing over, I pulled out the knife I had stuffed in my pocket. See, bringing a gun kind of felt like overkill, but I'm not stupid. Always have some backups. A simple knife afforded me a lot of options, both in combat and at times like this. In the darkness, I tried cutting through the ropes. Hopefully, I wouldn't stab Lara. But if I did, oops.  Great! Without too much effort, I was able to break the ropes. However, I felt a force coming to my left. One of the guards was blindly reaching out. Time to act quick!  I threw a knee blindly. It ended up contacting something. I heard a shout of pain, and that was that. Alright, exit strategy – now.   I grabbed out to where Lara should be, and felt something that seemed to be an arm. That'd have to work. I gripped tightly, and began running in the direction of the front exit. I heard a higher pitch shout. Must be Lara. She had no idea what was happening. The idea of being grabbed and pulled in a direction must not have seemed too appealing. However, either she caught on quick, or she felt truly out of options, because after a second of resistance, the arm began running in the same direction as me. Great.  The two of us ran as fast as possible to the front entrance. At this point, it was less memory, and the bit of light coming through the bottom and top of the door. At this point, I could see where we were going. Great. That also meant that people's eyes were likely readjusting. I wouldn't have a lot of time. That's fine. It's possible I'd be abandoning the Thane character here and now. But I wasn't doing this thoughtlessly. I had bluffed my way through everything before this. And I had left myself enough pieces to use. I'd just have to make my last and greatest lie as Thane... and we'd see if it stuck. Regardless, that was in the future. For now, I was running... and I had reached the door. I burst through. [You won 7 chips!]  And just like that, Lara and I were in the outside world. What the hell?!? Keep running!I let go of Lara as a sign of trust, and kept running away from the V-Hall. Lara's face was confused and scared and annoyed, but through it all, she kept running in the same direction as me. What's going on?! What are you going t– I'm not going to do anything. You are going to escape – you're welcome. I don't... Huh? Why? After everything, why are you saving my rear end like this? Why, huh? Let's just say I'm paying it forward. ...Actually, that's stupid. I'm doing this for myself, like always. It helps me if you don't die here. I don't get it. You don't need to. Look. I took out the crumpled sheet of paper. Then I handed it to Lara as we continued to run. Contact this person. I know you don't trust me, but if you want your best bet at making out of this situation not only alive, but ahead, they're the person to contact. Really? So, what, I trust them? They can be difficult. But I trust they'll know what to do. More than me or you, at any rate. …I don't have the slightest idea what's going on. But... thanks.And like that, Lara picked up her pace. And for my part, I slowed down... until eventually, I came to a stop. And Lara made her escape. ... [BGM: Silence]  Well then, well then, well then. How about that, huh? Personally, I'm impressed. ...Why? How to go about this... ah, I see it. So, you're familiar with the trolley problem? I know, I know, it's a cliche, relax. I'm going somewhere with this. Simple stuff, there's 5 people on one trolley track, 1 person on another. You flip a switch, you redirect the trolley to hit the 1 person. Should you flip the switch? Obviously, yes. Pretty much everybody says that, you're not unique for being utilitarian in the easiest contest. But then we have the follow up that philosophers love to follow up with. What if you could stop a trolley going to run into 5 people by pushing a fat person onto the tracks yourself? Ooh, now it's different. Now people don't want to do the utiliarian thing. What a clever trap! How intelligent these question-askers must be! What a load of horseshit. People change their minds not because of any 'culpability' argument, they change their minds because in this scenario, you're just pushing a dude onto some trolley tracks! In what world is that the rational line of thought? You wouldn't know that shoving this person in front of the trolley would stop it. And even if you did, you wouldn't trust yourself enough to know that you're right. In all likelihood, if you pushed the fat person you'd just be killing 6 people instead of 5. The question is dumb. And, by the way, why does the person you shove have to be fat? No, it's not because the fat person could block the trolley, because that's not how anything works. 'At first I was unsure if his body would actually stop the trolley, but then I remember Tom'd been hitting up the Steak Shack pretty often, and I figured I'd chance it.' I think philosophers just like killing fat people. I digress, the point is this question has some issues. I actually think the better follow up question is this... You are a famous and talented surgeon. In your hospital, you have five patients dying of critical diseases. One has an infected heart, another infected lungs, a third and infected spleen, and so on. You are out of organ transplants, and the patients will die if they don't receive immediate help. At the same time, you have one patient doing a normal check up, perfectly healthy, with five clean organs ready for the taking. So then, do you kill the poor shmuck to save the other five? Yes, this sets the stage much better. You have time to deliberate. You're an expert, you can be sure this'll work. You know you can get away with it too, as a medical genius you can make the healthy patient look as though they passed through natural causes. So, become a killer to save five lives? The question isn't an utilitarian one, that's already been settled back with the trolley. All six of these people did nothing wrong, the ones with diseased organs just had bad luck. The right thing to do is absolutely to sacrifice the one to save the five. The question is... can you live with yourself if you do it? It's a question of agency. Agency is an important thing to have. We like watching people with agency. I mean, imagine a story about someone who gets kidnapped, forced into a dangerous situation, and reacts the whole time? Total snoozefest, right? Who'd want to see that? It's one thing to control your own reactions. It's another thing to have the power to influence others proactively. It is that second trait that we all admire, really. We covet it because it's something most people lack. Most people don't have agency in their life. They just wander from day to day to day, reacting to their schedule. ...Which brings us back to Thane, and why I'm content. Letting Lara die was the easy thing to do. The passive thing, no harm, no foul, another sinner down. But Thane decided to take agency into their own hands and make a proactive move. That's the initiative I love to see. Might they have had an ulterior motive for doing this? Eh, that's fine. I don't really care about that. I just care that Thane played by their own terms. And that's why I was impressed. ...Oh, and just in case it's not clear, I'd obviously make the right choice in the surgeon scenario. I'd kill the person with the infected heart and use their other organs to save the other four. Easier to disguise their death, you see. And last, but certainly not least, it's time to see how Devon's investigation is going...
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Feb 17, 2024 02:36
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The next update is tonight. Be ready.
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Feb 17, 2024 16:02
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Mix. posted:The next update is tonight. Be ready. instructions unclear, became a bread.
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Feb 17, 2024 19:26
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Mix. posted:The next update is tonight. Be ready. Well, that's omnious. And Thane still has at least one more card to do even after this?
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Feb 17, 2024 19:57
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That contact was for Eris, right? Hm. Is there actually a chance that Mercury is Eris (who may be Laverna)? It sounds like it would be pretty difficult to masquerade as both Thane and do the Laverna/Eris stuff, just timing wise... but might not be impossible.
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Feb 17, 2024 20:40
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I guess now's as good a time as any to ask if anyone's been forming a timeline of events.
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Feb 18, 2024 00:22
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 Tch. God drat it. God drat it! [BGM: The Pistol]  I walked down the Panthean streets with an unparalleled rage. ...Well, unparalleled may have been putting it too strongly. I had felt quite angry at various periods of my life. But still, this was a strong contender for my frustration. On that roof, I had dedicated myself to a cause. With a righteous fury, I made my intentions perfectly clear. Five targets. Six bullets. I'd clean up my mistakes. I'd clear the record. It was as simple as that. ...It was supposed to be as simple as that. And yet... drat it! I kicked a discarded can lying around on the sidewalk. This was a particularly bad part of Panthea. Less populated. That was better for me; I didn't want my walk interrupted. And if I ran into trouble, I wouldn't care. At this point, if I was going to get mugged or something, I might just whip out my pistol and fire two slugs into my assailant's stomach. That was how checked out I was. Not a one. Five targets. I had been unable to seal the deal, hell, get even close to touching any one of them. All for completely different reasons. And the other day... gah, that was the most embarrassing incident of them all. Well, shame on me, I guess. That's what I deserved for putting my fate so blindly in another's hands. This was my quest for redemption – obviously it wouldn't work unless I was the one carrying the search out. What was I thinking, heading there? But I mean, what was I supposed to do? At that point, I had already searched and failed. I was running out of options. So when I was gifted such confident sounding information regarding one of my targets... what exactly was I supposed to do?  I had to take the chance. I had made preparations. Got to the scene early. Subtly knocked out nearby cameras, prepared an escape. I know keeping myself hidden wasn't the top of my priority, but even still, I couldn't afford to be captured at this point... not until I had finished this. The meeting would be late, but not in the middle of the night. The chances for witnesses were very much present. And I wasn't willing to just dispose of anyone who saw something they shouldn't have. So then, escape route was critical. I also put on a disguise when I arrived at the ambush post; nothing flashy. This city had a thing for flashiness. Apparently, one Duat hotshot went as far as making this whole custom mask with a voice modulator and everything. Flair with no substance. I didn't respect that one inch. Jobs of this nature are not to be celebrated. They are to be carried out. No, I simply put on a maroon ski mask, gloves, and boots and called it a day. That would likely suffice. I still remember the thoughts that went through my head as I crouched there, holding my breath. Back when I still naively believed that things were legit. The anxiousness that tickled the pit of my stomach. Unfortunately, I had resigned myself to giving up on the ideal of killing all the targets in a single action. I realized quickly gathering so many people of disparate backgrounds in a single room, from my position at least, was untenable. Still, I could make the most of this encounter. Soon enough, I believed Laverna would be meeting with me. Laverna was a private investigator. A fairly good one too, if my research was correct. She had taken on a fair amount of cases, including the one in relation to my botched assassination attempt of Polly Deisma. I was confident she would have some information that would be useful towards my end. I'd extort that information out of her at gunpoint... and then, when I was confident she had no more use, I'd fire a bullet through her head. 1 down. 4 to go. It was a pretty good plan, I felt. ...There was just one problem: it hinged on entirely inaccurate information. As I'd soon learn, Laverna had absolutely no intention to visit me. In fact, I doubt Laverna even knew about the meeting spot. Right as the meeting time began to approach, I heard a dull whirring. Whirring? What the... what kind of... why was there a whirring? And hold on... why was it coming from so high? I needed to answer those questions quickly. Because the whirring was getting closer. And closer. After a moment, I realized what it had to be. It made no sense... it baffled the mind. It felt borderline sci-fi. But the only thing I could think of that would make a sound like that in a location like that would be a drone. Some sort of flying drone was entering the meeting area. Was it the killer variety? Was it attached to something? Luckily, I was hiding behind a dumpster. But that wouldn't buy me long. I reached inside my coat pocket. I almost felt like laughing to myself – I mean, I had brought it, but the idea that this would actually pay off had barely crossed my mind. Just another reminder to always come prepared for the worst 5 scenarios. At least I had learned one useful lesson from Odin; one more than I cared to admit. I didn't have time to look back. Instead I threw out the hand mirror I had stuffed in my inner coat pocket out from behind the dumpster, towards the nearby gate. From its reflective surface, I got a decent look at what I was up against.  Sure enough, it was a small helicopter drone with a clear camera approaching. Luckily, it didn't look super sophisticated or dangerous... but I didn't have time to give it a good look. I used the mirror and the noise to approximate the location of the drone. I pulled out my pistol. And in an instant, I jumped out from behind my hiding spot. *bang! ...bang!* I fired two bullets at the drone, and prayed. To my delight, the shots struck true, and the drone fell to the ground. Good. However, I couldn't be content yet. Far from it, I couldn't imagine sending a drone my way was the full extent of the plan. If anything, it was the opening barrage. I considered abandoning my escape route. What if it was compromised ahead of time? Maybe I should shoot off the lock of the fence behind me and run that way. ...But no, that was dumb. It was far more likely that whoever set this up accounted for me fleeing the opposite direction than it was that they anticipated my escape route. So I ran out and to the left. Then up, another right... mind blank, only focus on escape. Before I knew it, I was a fair distance from the scene, in an abandoned attic. And then? I just hid. For over an hour, I ducked behind a spare box and hid. In my experience, people were far more likely to assume you immediately tried to make a getaway. They never expect someone to hide out so close to the scene they started at. So I hid for a while. After hearing nothing eventful, I reluctantly got up. And then, quite cautiously, I made my way back to the scene of the crime. 'Crime.' Scene of the intended ambush, to be more accurate. My path back was quite slow and deliberate, careful to be sure I wasn't being watched or walking into a trap. Eventually though, I ascertained that there was, in fact, nobody waiting for me. I walked back into the alley, and to my slight surprise, nobody had bothered to take the drone back. Hm. This caused me to reassess how big a threat I actually was dealing with. That reassessment continued as I looked over the drone. This wasn't elite tech; this was commercial trash. As far as I could tell, the drone that had been piloted down this alleyway was the type you could order from an electronics store. A bit pricey, sure, but far from exclusive. It didn't even come equipped with many notable features. A few cameras, for one, let you actually see where you were driving it. A speaker as well, with a microphone presumably coming with the controller. And other than that? Nothing. No guns, no turrets, no bomb. It was unimpressive, unthreatening. Huh. So then, what was the purpose of this little drone assault? Just, what, to capture me on video? To get a clear look? Possibly. But that felt weird. The person who contacted me had access to my private number. Surely they would know me and my deal, right? Or... maybe not. Maybe I was assuming too much knowledge on their part, too much competence. They hadn't exactly been wordy when tipping me off. Hm.  I pondered these questions. I didn't have a clear answer then, and I still didn't. I thought about it more, still came up with no leads. It was a thoroughly weird interaction; frightening one too, at least on my part. But it left more questions than answers. And more importantly - more disappointingly - it was of little use to me. Negative use, if anything. It had wasted my time, a significant amount of it too. It had gotten my expectations up... all for nothing. I shook my head. Useless. Dumb on my part. How desperate was I for a lead? ...Pretty desperate, as it turned out. My search for leads was turning up painfully short. Ugh. Was this why I never really handled preliminary intel? Was I not really built for it? Was that the problem? No, no. It wasn't my fault. I mean, Ms. Aija also had trouble getting details on these people, and she hired the best. If there was little to be known about my targets, that wasn't an accident. It was quite intentional. ...But by who? The targets themselves, I supposed. Still, it was weird. For this many people to hide their presences so thoroughly... unnatural. My instincts were telling me that this was unnatural. See, it sounds easy to go into hiding. How hard could it be? But it's a lot more complicated than you'd think. Actually take a second to picture all the activities that comprise daily life. All the activities that you do. Now think of all the possible trails those activities could leave. Every single way that every single action that you do might ripple out, leaving a thread that connects back. Finding these threads could be hard, sure, but erasing them completely was harder. [BGM: Double Down]  Well, perhaps I shouldn't be so surprised that I was unable to dig up anything about Lock. He had a criminal's blood in him, no doubt. I tried recapping everything I knew about him... He had recently moved from a different city. He had recently made a habit of attending Nohoi's Nest – although, thanks to my little blundered attempt, that's probably come to a screeching halt. I had also learned that he was acting as Bach's campaign manager. I thought that might be a lead... but, despite the surveillance I put on Bach's apartment, it was no dice. My cameras had turned up nothing in the time that I set them up. And there was no telling how long it might take for them to actually pay out. There was nothing to suggest Lock actually met with Bach in person. Maybe they had a separate meeting spot... maybe they just communicated digitally. I couldn't say. Perhaps threatening Bach directly could get me somewhere, but Bach was Aija's campaign rival. There were pictures of me... no, going directly after Bach was a line I couldn't cross. Shouldn't cross. But in the absence of the Bach lead, I was completely without a direction in my search for the elusive Lock. It was like he didn't exist outside of the contexts I had seen him in. ...And that was likely the truth. See, there was one other piece of Lock information that I had recently come into possession of. Something very demoralizing. After another call with a reluctant Aija, I learned that Lock had actually appeared before her in her office. So, unbeknownst to Aija, I snuck back into her office when she was away. I combed the floor of the place thoroughly, and found a hair that exactly matched the type that Lock had. Given the placement in the room, against a far away bookshelf, I was confident that this belonged to the person who blackmailed Aija. I sent the DNA sample away for testing through a third party site, hoping that perhaps something would come of it. ...And something did. Turns out, what I sent wasn't DNA. Or at least, not the way I thought. That hair was from a wig. That's right. The grainy photographs I had of Lock didn't even capture what he really looked like. He was wearing a wig. With that in mind, who's to say what else might be a lie? Maybe he wore makeup. Maybe he had small stilts in his shoes. I couldn't know anything for certain about him. Not his age, not his gender, and certainly not his name. I mean, 'Lock'? Yeah, I had penned that for bullshit from the start. Anyways, the fact of the matter was, everything I thought I knew about this guy was pure smoke. In truth, my target was a phantom, one with no connections. I really had three options for finding him. One, I combed every inch of this city, looking to find where he stayed. Two, I pressured Bach into giving up his link. Or three, I somehow made Lock want to come out of hiding on his own. The third one seemed the most viable, but how? It was a brainteaser. One that hurt to think about. So lets not focus on Lock. Let's focus on someone else. ...Say, Laverna.  She should be much easier. She was a private investigator, after all, she was out doing work. It was just a matter of hiring, then killing her, right? Well, that was my first plan. I got in contact with her through her website – and true, at first, it appeared to be a promising lead. She responded quite quickly, intrigued by the fake crime I was offering to pay her to solve. I thought for certain I had her; she should be the easiest target! However, after I explained this crime in further detail, she rejected my offer! Called it boring. 'Not worth her time'. Excuse me?! That's not how private investigators worked! You don't accept or deny jobs based off of how 'boring' they might be! I felt like screaming. But, okay. Persistence. I'd try again. I made an alternate email account, waited a bit so as to not seem suspicious, and sent her another offer. This crime should've been more to her tastes. And yet, this time, she rejected me in a single email! The nerve. I tried this process three more times, but no matter my story, she'd reject the offer in a single email. What was even happening?! I tried to get in contact with her other clients to see if I could get more perspective. However, as I did some research, I stumbled into another shocking discovery: most of the reviews on her website were fake! Seriously?! It was one roadblock after another with this woman. Eventually, I did actually hit a real review. Turns out she did do some legitimate work despite it all. However, after meeting with the old lady, it was clear she wasn't going to give me anything useful. I changed my tune. I tried looking into where this 'Laverna Smyth' lived. But despite my efforts at intelligence gathering, again, I came up empty handed. Perhaps this wasn't a total surprise; detective work was a dangerous job, and setting up some precautions might have been warranted. Still, it presented a problem. There were basically only two ways I could get to Laverna. Create (in one way or another) a crime scene that would actually convince Laverna to come out and investigate... or ambush her when she's on the way, at, or leaving an actual investigation. Unfortunately for that second option, it seemed like most of her investigations these days were ones where the police were involved. Not great ambush material. While she was a far more public and attainable target than, say, Lock, she would be hard to get my hands on. Still, she was at least easier than my third target.  Polly. My brother. At one point, I would grapple with the morality of killing him... but I was over that. I was under no disillusion about Polly's true nature. He was as much of a snake as all of Odin's children, he just hid his fangs better than Art or me. ...Honestly, the thought of killing Art had also crossed my mind. I mean, if we're removing loose ends, he certainly was one. However, he had some deal with Ms. Aija. He provided support to her campaign. I had to reasonably assume that Ms. Aija wouldn't want Art dead. And so, I couldn't touch him. But if Polly died, Art would have to make good on his deal with Ms. Aija. He'd be in her debt. So, Polly was on the hit list. And if I had to just kill him? That wouldn't be much of a problem. The issue was killing him and getting away with it. Polly seemed to be making a deliberate point of staying either in places I couldn't reach or places with multiple people. He was far from a businessman, and yet he was working extra hours on that restricted floor in the Olympo main building. He was spending his nights with other people. Spending nights with other people in fortified places, not to mention. I think he had a bag of various security devices he brought from place to place. And most importantly, he wasn't staying with one person for too long. He was frequently on the move, which made tracking him down a pain, and planning an assault an even bigger one. If I wanted to kill him, he might have been the easiest target, but to make a clean getaway? It would be tricky. There were basically three possible tactics towards murdering Polly. I could try attacking him at night. However, since he moved so frequently, I probably wouldn't have time to prepare or do the required surveillance. I knew he was setting up multiple layers of security everywhere he stayed... and Polly was deceptively clever. If I went in blind, the odds I could stumble upon a trap of his were quite high. He had bodyguards before. It was a dangerous prospect. The second tactic would be to attack him at day. However, as I mentioned, he spent most of the day in Olympo's restricted floor. Just getting there would be a struggle, and getting out? No, an assault on the Olympo building was a suicide mission. I could only target Polly this way if he was the last of my victims. Kill the other four, then we could talk. Until then, this option was out. The final tactic was a miscellaneous 'other' category. Polly was unpredictable, and not always logical. There was a chance an opportunity would present itself where he wouldn't be under heavy surveillance of some type. If that opportunity came about, then I'd be sure to jump in and take advantage of it. The only problem was, I had no concrete ideas about how to create such an opportunity. Three targets down, and all presented significant problems in assassination... which brought us to Polly's bodyguards. Let's start with the slightly more tangible force, Krish. According to police reports, there was only one bodyguard. But there were two, and I got a decent look at both.  Krish was, apparently, a known figure in Panthea. A lot of people could speak to their character. 'Good kid' was the common sentiment. Which led me to a question: should Krish be on the list of targets? ...Of course. They had to be. They had seen me in action. They had stopped me from doing what needed to be done. They were a bullet, surely. Getting to Krish should've been easy. They were an extremely known quantity in the city. I could get a ton of info on them, and they weren't particularly powerful. So then, what was the issue? The issue was, Krish was missing. Yeah, apparently they had pissed off the Duats some time back. Nice going, Krish, way to make it harder on both of us. Since then, Krish had been in hiding. The Duats were unable to locate them. So, where could they be? I actually had an answer to that. ...At least, I knew where they were up until recently. They were acting as a bodyguard to Polly. I have no idea how that arrangement happened, but that was probably intentional on Polly's part. Clever of him, I had to admit. Untraceable bodyguards are hard to predict. ...Anyways. Somehow, with Krish on the run from the Duats, they wound up under the protection of my brother. Then I came and burned down Polly's house. With that in mind, I could make a decent guess where Krish was now. They must've been hiding out somewhere courtesy of Polly; only fair. Krish had held up their part of the bargain, so Polly was shielding them from the Duats. Only, inadvertently, he was also shielding them from me. This raised... issues. The Duats were even more prolific at getting information than me – anyone with ears to the ground knew about the Duat information network. Getting around them was a bigger hassle then getting around the police, and that's discounting Arrianne's influence on things. Part of the Duats whole shtick was that they had a monopoly on Panthean crime. Obviously, they didn't like the thought of some no-name assassin not working on their dime, so I had to be careful so as to not be detected by them. And I had managed it, but it was hard. So if the Duats hadn't found Krish, I had to assume that Polly was doing a decent job at keeping them under wraps. Still, normally I could work around this. Krish must've been close to people. I just had to get creative with use of leverage. Take their father – if I held him hostage, surely this would get Krish out of their shell. I could think of plenty of tricks like this. But there was one major issue road blocking them all: I had no assurance that Krish would actually hear about any of this. If Polly was smart, he would've told Krish something like... 'I'll handle everything on my end. All you need to do is stay hidden and stay silent. When the Duat problem is handled, you can leave. For now, just live comfortably in this pre-prepared hiding spot.' Krish was likely completely secluded away, both from prying eyes and extraneous information. That was the way to do it. With no desire to leave hiding, no way to compel them, Krish was basically invincible. There was exactly one way to get to Krish; I needed Polly to tell me where he had hidden them away. This wouldn't be such an issue, but then, see the problems with killing Polly. I could only reliably get to Polly in a last-ditch suicide attempt. Not the right context for extorting information out of him and then acting on said information. ...Well, there was always the chance that Polly had kept the information of where Krish was hidden somewhere else. But even Polly wouldn't be that stupid. Finally, we had target number five. The complete question mark. I had taken a single step towards identifying them.  'Vels.' That was the name. And... that was as far as I got. Vels appeared to be a complete enigma, even more so than Lock or Laverna. I knew nothing of Vels' motivations. I knew nothing of Vels' actions. I did know that Vels had arm tattoos of lightning, and I did know that Vels was seen every now and then with Krish. ...That was about it. And even that last piece of information, it wasn't even a frequent occurrence. The people I interviewed, they said they also barely knew Vels. What... what was Vels' deal? In this whole thing, this was the biggest question mark presented to me. I should know more about Vels, right? Then how... I shook my head. If I knew nothing about Vels, then plotting this bullet was very difficult. As far as I saw it, I had really one useful fact that might be converted into a tactic. If Vels was seen hanging out with Krish, then perhaps it could be intuited that if Krish was put in harm's way, Vels might make an appearance. It was an iffy bet, but it was the best one I had. One problem. To try and get Vels to come out, I needed to put Krish in danger. And to put Krish in danger, I needed to extort that out of Polly. And currently, I didn't know a way to get to Polly that wasn't either extremely risky or a guaranteed suicide mission. That's not even mentioning how I was going to get Laverna out to play. And Lock! Lock was barely less of a phantom than Vels. God, gently caress. [BGM: The Bomb]  Where did that leave me? ...Utterly directionless. It was so annoying; I could see the direction I needed to move towards, but I couldn't figure out how to move that way. It was like a really complicated puzzle. The objective is clear, but it feels as if I've exhausted every available method, and come back with nothing to show for myself. ...Except, with a puzzle, you're theoretically assured that there is an actual solution out there, somewhere. That some combination of moves would bring you to the answer you sought. But this? No such thing. It was a scary idea. Conventional wisdom says 'anything you put your mind to, you can accomplish.' But really, how accurate is that? You'd think if that was true, a lot more would get accomplished. Seems like an awful lot of people have their mind set to things, and have absolutely nothing to show for themselves. Was it ever possible for me to succeed Odin, surpass Art? Was there any combination of events that would have allowed that to happen? I mean, yes, physically speaking, there was probably some set of choices on my part that could lead to that outcome. But could 'I' - the me with my personality, my disposition - ever plausibly reach that set of choices? The more I thought about it, the more dejected I got. Maybe everything was possible for the best of us. Maybe. But categorically speaking, not everybody can be 'the best.' That's what 'the best' entails. Better than most people."And if you're not 'the best,' what is possible starts to shrink rapidly. Okay then, just become the best, simple, right? I didn't know anymore if it was that simple. Odin certainly seemed to think it was. But then... from what I could tell, humans could only reasonably control a few things. Our will, and what we do with it. That's useful, sure. But only so far. To think about it in another light, 'will' in itself isn't inherently useful. It's like, you could be put in a concrete cell and be given a spoon to break your way out. Theoretically, if you wanted to, you could eventually break out of the cell using that spoon. In the real world though, you'd likely starve before you made a dent. Similarly, you might have the will to become 'the best,' but for most people, that just wouldn't happen. It was unfair. And that was bad. And it was inevitable, maybe. At least, it seemed pretty inevitable as far as I could tell, though this whole thing was too high-minded for me. But what wasn't inevitable was how many people didn't understand this. I mean, I sure hadn't until very recently. I had always viewed things as Odin had taught me to, as much as I hated to admit it. But like most things stemming from Odin, my past way of thinking was toxic. I always thought that my failures were my fault. Was that right? Maybe. Sometimes, it definitely was. Like, that drone ambush? Totally reasonable for me to have not fallen for that poo poo. Yet I was also failing to find my targets in a reasonable timeframe. Was it possible to find them? To come up with a solution? Well, maybe. I had to think so, since they all existed in this city somewhere. And yet, the more I thought about it, the more unreasonable it felt to actually expect me to have killed them all by now. So then... ...Ugh, this was all too high-level for me. I wasn't good at this type of thinking, I never had been. Regardless of all that, the fact was, I still needed to find the five targets. That was how I made it rig – no, that was how I proved my worth. I had to find them. And my inability to do so was frustrating to no end. Perhaps I had reached a level of self-anger so extreme that I had defaulted to ignoring the problem in front of me by thinking about extraneous things. Whatever the case, I had to focus up.  It was a lie to say I had no leads. I had at least one way to get to each of them. I just needed to find the right combination, the right plan. Think! What will lure Lock out? How do I draw Laverna's attention? Is there any way to isolate Polly? Any other way to track down Krish? Is there another fact I know about Vels, one I can use? ...No. No, I just couldn't. I had been walking around aimlessly for what felt like hours, and I had come no closer to an answer. Despair filled my body. I felt once again like giving up. And then? *riiiiing...* Huh? Who was calling at a time like this? I took the phone out of my pocket. ...Oh. Tch. This rear end in a top hat? The number wasn't identified by my phone. It was identified by me. This was the rear end in a top hat who gave me that 'tip.' Who launched the drone at me. They somehow got my number and contacted me before. Now, they were doing it again. What was this for? Just to taunt me? I wanted to just hang up. But, well... I had nothing else. Why not? Let's just see what they had to say. *click.* [BGM: Danrasu]   What is it? Not feeling too good?I was greeted by a cold but familiar voice. One that was automated, twisted, warped. The caller wanted to remain anonymous, so they were using a filter while contacting me. Did I know them, then? Or was it just paranoia? Perhaps they had the reasonable assumption that I would run into them at some point or another. ...Ugh, why was I giving this so much thought? Matter of fact, I'm not. Sorry to hear that. Why is that? A lot of reasons, really. For one, I got totally duped by you. Duped? What do you mean? Oh, don't play dumb with me. It's not funny. I promise you, I don't think this is funny either. The meeting spot! You said Laverna would be there. You lied! Instead, I was ambushed by that drone of yours. Yes, well... ...Apologies, that was a miscalculation on our end.'Our'? Slipup, or misdirect? No, focus on the now. At any rate, you should know that you were not willfully deceived. Things happen. You should understand. You didn't happen to be compromised, right? Of course not. I'm a professional. Of course, right. That's good to hear. It'd be troubling to hear that you were put in jeopardy, Mr. Deisma.Dropping the last name card, huh? The voice hadn't gone for that little power play last time. Normally, I'd recoil at that. But by this point, I was a little numb to it all. That right? It is. Though, I get why you might be skeptical. Anyways, I call bearing some good news. Not interested. Oh? Why so sour? I just told you why. Oh, come now. Let's not let a poor first foot forward get behind a blossoming relationship. Blossoming relationship? Ha! If you want me to have any sort of 'relationship' with you, drop the voice alterer, then maybe we'll talk. I'm afraid I can't do that, Devon. Then that settles things. Aw, that's kind of sad.There was a pause. I didn't give the voice what they were looking for. Look, Devon, I want to make it up to you. What can I do to help? Is there anything I can do? Anything at all?... Telling the truth here was stupid. I had absolutely no idea who I was dealing with. What their possible agenda might be. For all I knew, I was about to majorly shoot myself in the foot. But, I was just so tired. Tired of beating around the bush, tired of being clueless. So, screw it. Why not play it straight? I want to kill five people. If you could help me with killing any one of them, then maybe I'd feel some appreciation.For a moment, I heard nothing. The voice must've been a bit taken aback, not expecting this response. Then, a few seconds later, the voice continued. Five people, huh? Someone's planning to be quite busy. Yep. Well, I said I'd do what I could to help you out. So, why don't you tell me who those people are? I'll see what I can do. Fine. These are the five names of the people I want to kill: Laverna Smyth. Lock. Polly Deisma. Krish Devaki. Vels. Hm. Heh heh, quite a list you've got there. You're familiar? Of course I'm familiar! That's the thing you're going to learn about me, Devon, I'm always familiar. So, you want these people dead? All right then. That can be arranged.I could feel my ears physically perking up. Stay calm. Don't let this jackass yank my chain. He was talking poo poo. That was all this was. Oh? I'm listening. Well, actually, this kind of ties into the good news I was calling to tell you. Look, I'm about to text you a location. Tell me when you get it.Seconds later, and sure enough, my phone got a text. I looked to check it, and indeed it was a set of coordinates. Going into the map app, I plotted them in and saw where it landed me. I found they led to a pretty cruddy hotel not too far from here. ...Huh. You see it? Yeah, yeah, I got it. Great. I'm also going to text you a link that'll take you to a website. When you're on the website, it'll give you a distance. That distance will change as you get closer and farther from the target. Get closer. The target? Yes, right. You said you want to be able to kill those 5 people? Right. If I'm not mistaken, this is the key to it all. The key? Right. Go to this apartment, kill the owner, search the room. From there, I'm certain you'll be able to clean out that whole list of yours. Is that right? And you're giving this out, what, for free? Of course not. The world doesn't work that way - I thought you'd know that, Devon. Fact of the matter is, I already want the target dead. So this helps both of us. Win, win! The best type of arrangement. Hm. Who is the target anyways? That's... well, I think it'd just be easiest if you go and find out for yourself after you kill them.I didn't like that response one bit. Honestly, I wasn't too fond of this whole phone call. Why should I trust you? The last time you gave me a tip, it went to poo poo. Why should I believe this time is any different? That killing this person will actually get me what I want? Why, huh? The eternal question. Truth is, maybe you shouldn't trust me. From your perspective, I'm sure this is all very sketchy. And the truth is, I have no way to prove I'm being genuine. That said... something tells me that you don't have a lot of options right now. That if you did, you wouldn't be talking to me right now. … That's what I thought. So, look, if you don't want to bother, that's perfectly fine. I've got other ways of handling this, the hard part's really done for me. But you know, I figured this'd be up your alley. Up my alley? You know I don't kill for fun, right? Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, I just gifted you the golden keys to the kingdom. Now, whether you use them or not? It's up to you. ...I'm rooting for you though.*click.*  And just like that, they hung up. Tch. Who did the voice take me for? Just some pawn who could be pushed around? I wasn't so easily manipulated. ...That said... this was a weird long shot to throw on the voice's part. I mean, it was an altered voice. Who's to say how legit it was. But, even still, if they were completely bullshitting, then they were doing a pretty good job of it. I really couldn't tell. Hm. What made me think that the voice didn't have my best interests at heart? Mostly the false ambush thing I guess. But the way the voice was talking, it sounded like they didn't expect things to end up like that. Did I buy that? ...Well, what would someone who knew my phone number and last name gain by sending a drone like that? Not a lot, I had to guess. Then, what had really happened? Maybe Laverna was told the meeting time. She got suspicious, and decided to send a drone in her place? ...Hm. That, on paper, sounded quite plausible. Although... from the bits I did know about Laverna, I had to say, I didn't quite peg that as her style. Though, making judgement calls on someone's 'style' was a pretty asinine way of going about it. Occam's Razor suggested, yes, Laverna sent the drone. So I could trust the voice? ...No, I wouldn't go that far. They were hiding their identity, after all. Weirdly, they didn't explain who I'd be confronting. The only person I could really trust was Ms. Aija. But, still. Did I not just give up hope? Had I not concluded finding my targets was an impossibility? In the face of that, really, what's the worst that could happen? That I die? Ha. I had been prepared for that possibility for a while. In comparison, if the voice was telling the truth, this could be the one chance for a breakthrough. I gave it some serious thought. I weighed the pros and cons. I tried to think through things myself. Finally, I ended up just sighing and shrugging my shoulders. In the end, I wasn't some mastermind type. I wasn't a detective. Not a schemer. I was an assassin, good for one thing: killing. From the start, this whole idea that I would be able to construct some master plan by myself was flawed. Just now, I had been pointed in the direction of the person to kill. I should follow through on orders. Simple as that. [BGM: The Pistol]  So, with nothing else to lose, I began making my way to the hotel. Usually, I'd prepare. Make a more thought out plan. I was done with that. I had the pistol, loaded with six bullets. A few other tricks up my sleeve as well. That's all I'd need. Luckily for me, it didn't take a long time to get to the hotel. The location was also in the bad part of Panthea. I entered through the front doors, naturally. I was greeted with a receptionist, as well as a camera. Ah, drat. Guess I really was on my last leg of life. I tried to work up the effort to care. ...I found it just wasn't there. I walked right past the receptionist towards the nearby staircase. As far as she was concerned, I was just another guest. Or, failing that, meeting up with a guest. When I reached the staircase, I stood next to a supply closet and took out my phone again. Let's see... sure enough, like the voice said, they had texted me a link to a website. I clicked on the link, and my phone's browser took me to a very simple site. It only had one thing on it: a counter. This must be it. I began to walk up the stairs some more, and the number went down. All right then. I walked up some more. Then some more. Flight after flight I climbed, until finally, I noticed the number increasing. I went back down, then walked around the floor. There. It was pretty clear that this must be the room. ...Hm. This hotel didn't seem particularly classy. And in fact, judging by the distance from the other doors, I guessed that this apartment was actually pretty small. Who lived here? ...Whatever. The door was locked, but it wasn't some fancy electronic lock. Good ol' fashioned knob lock. This was nothing. Learning to get past these was one of the first things I decided to learn when I dedicated myself to becoming Aija's unfailing weapon, her Gungniri. No mere walls would block my strike. I got down on one knee and took out my lockpicking set. A lot of the tools I kept on me shifted depending on what I was feeling, but I never went anywhere without these. Let's see how much effort this hotel decided to put into security? ...Not a lot, apparently. In but a couple of seconds, I could feel it give way. This was it. No turning back. Opening this door would be a threshold of sorts. It was a thoroughly irrational feeling. And I felt it strongly, nonetheless. That somehow, my decision whether to open this door or not would fundamentally shape how my life plays out. Maybe it wasn't such an irrational instinct though. I mean, I had already passed by a witness and a camera. I was entering with an intent to kill. If I finished through with the hit, almost certainly I would be eventually caught and arrested. So obviously, this was a decision. ...But no, that wasn't the reason. It was something else. Whatever. I opened the door. Nothing would stop me at this point.  Slowly, I stepped foot into the apartment. It was dark, with the main lights not yet turned on. I pulled out my pistol and stepped forwards very softly. I didn't want to alert my target that I was entering. They'd know I was there when they saw me holding a pistol to their skull. Inside the room, there was a closed door to the left. In front of me, there was a bit of a hallway which led to the main area of the room. And to the right, there was a closet, doors opened. I took a few more steps into the apartment, closing the door behind me. As I did this, the contents of the closet caught my eye. Huh. It was... filled with all sorts of different clothing. There was no common aesthetic to this wardrobe, I couldn't get any feel for this person's personality just by looking at this. Not like I knew a lot about fashion. Besides the outfits, I also saw a bunch of makeup. Tubs of foundation, meant for darkening or lightening your skin tone. Contact lenses as well. And on the floor were a couple of closed boxes. The voice said if I explored the apartment, I'd find leads for my targets... but that was after the job. Something far more important came first. I took a few more steps down the hallway, into the room proper, pistol at the ready. As I came out of the hallway, I nervously scanned left and right, looking for any signs of life. But... nothing. I didn't see anybody living in the apartment.  To the left, there was a bed - not made. To the right, a couch, with junk splayed upon it, as well as a chair in front of a desk which housed a laptop that was currently on. Slightly absentmindedly, I walked further into the room. Something on the couch caught my eye. Lying haphazardly next to a bag was a sleek black mask. One I recognized as belonging to the Shadow of Panthea – Thane. Was it a replica? Or was this... no, forget that. What interested me more was what was open on the laptop. The side of the laptop had some sort of USB plugged into it. However, currently open on the computer was some social media website. 'Kamapa'? I'd heard of it, yeah. I briefly clocked the computer owner's account. 'Olif.' I was going to check the computer for more information, but just then, I heard the sound of a door opening behind me. Instantly, I spun around, pistol at the ready. And I caught the figure dead in their tracks. Exiting from the door I passed by - which I now guessed was probably a restroom - was a figure. Instantly, I thought I recognized them. The pants they were wearing... it was unmistakably the type I had seen Lock wearing. But then, why were the figure's eyes silver? Silver just like Laverna's were in the picture I had of her? And then I noticed a detail I should've instantly noticed - that the figure's arms were encircled with lightning tattoos. With a jolt, I held the pistol up higher, aimed straight at the figure's head. My hands shook, my finger was right against the trigger. [BGM: Silence]  Who... who are you?! .....I can explain....  You know... I actually think I'll stay quiet on this one. Just one little thing to resolve. The bet. The text of the bet mentioned Devon gathering '5 individuals'. I don't think that's going to be happening. So, this is your win. Whether this is because you doubted Devon's competence, or something else... well, the point is, you won. As usual. ...............
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Feb 18, 2024 00:59
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There it is, I was correct that everyone except Devon was the same person, though I don't know how much it counts when it was only spotted a couple of updates in advance. Now to see whether I was right on their motives/background.
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Feb 18, 2024 01:17
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I've been refraining from this one this entire LP, but now I can't resist.
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Feb 18, 2024 01:19
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Feb 18, 2024 03:16
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Interesting. So now that the everyone is actually one person theory is confirmed it raises an interesting point: Thane got given a hit on themselves, so the "accident" with ghani was even more of a setup than presented. It was a deliberate hit on him.
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Feb 18, 2024 03:26
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Honestly, I'm a little surprised/relieved nobody caught on by the fact that I had our perspectives listed as 'Wild Cards' in the cast post... considering the only cards that by default are wild cards are jokers... and there's only two of those in a deck  Also, the spoiler you can pay Ez to give you is that Eris doesn't exist. 
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Feb 18, 2024 03:34
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See the problem is that you're expecting goons to know how to play cards. Honestly, trying to puzzle out how all the identities mesh together is part of the trick. The thread has more or less figured out how Laverna can be Eris and Mercury becoming Thane. Lock and Vels are a bit more confusing though. And the problem is that we've seen multiple characters interact face to face with several of the cast (Laverna's first card even has her interacting with so many other characters that are pivotal in other stacks, like Aija and Polly). ApplesandOranges fucked around with this message at 04:49 on Feb 18, 2024 |
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Feb 18, 2024 04:44
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Honestly, I think we're still working on the Timeline. Best I can give is that the Mercury suit has to start after Eris 4, since that's where they get the info on the Mandjet, and that when Vels "first met" Kane, they had clearly met him before: Going through things again, as soon as they noticed Kane coming along, they made a point to cover their head and face with their hoodie, implying that Kane would have recognized them if he saw them.
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Feb 18, 2024 05:56
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Kane's pretty much met Laverna and Lock face to face though, right?
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Feb 18, 2024 06:02
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I mean, we now know that Lock was wearing a wig and apparently Laverna has distinctive silver eyes that were never commented on previously. I assume they normally wore contacts when playing Lock.
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Feb 18, 2024 06:10
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Devon 1 posted:I looked over the file started on the optional target. It was... pretty threadbare. Still, I didn't think I'd have a problem with this one. She was pretty easy to find. I studied the blurry photo provided. The woman had long, dark brown hair and distinctive silver eyes. ...God, this picture was from a pretty bad angle. How was this the best shot we had of her? ...Whatever. It was enough. I'd make a meeting with her soon enough. And I'd make sure to make her another verse. Technically, Devon's known about "her" eyes since the start of the LP, but yeah, it's rarely come up Oh, I guess I should specify now, Mercury still uses neutral pronouns.
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Feb 18, 2024 06:34
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Okay yeah, I missed that somehow, that's my bad. Still, surely if Lock also appeared to have distinctive silver eyes, that would have been brought up. That being said, like. It's not actually a big deal that can't be explained just by contacts. My assumption is that the silver eyes are a distinctive feature not so much of Laverna, but Hermes themselves, and various characters remarking about how they "look familiar" is because most of the identities maintain the eye color and mostly just keep themselves hidden by changing their clothes and complexion. Judging by the fact that they covered up as Vels when meeting Kane though, makes me think there's not actually a huge difference in how Vels and Laverna look, at least.
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Feb 18, 2024 07:57
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