[That announcement nearly goes in one ear and out the other beforr Guy marches out the door ans starts looking for the cabinmate that decided to disappear overnight. She's not in the cabin. She's not in the slowly gathering mob outside the Director's Office. The mess hall is only his next choice by proximity, so of course he's poking his head in.]
[ there was a barricade here last night. it's gone now.
but 45 is against one of the walls, pushing herself slowly to her feet with sluggish, affected movements and a gaze that doesn't seem entirely focused on reality.
maybe reading all the fun diagnostic messages that have decided to crop up overnight? hm. ]
[ her gaze flickers over toward him, but without the usual false focus of the optic modules the faintly glowing gold might be just a little bit offputting.
or maybe it's just another cause for concern. who knows. which is it, uncanny valley not quite approaching humanity, or disoriented being only slowly regaining their bearings? ]
I appreciate the concern, but there's no need for the coddling. I was here, yes, when we were all locked in.
As for what...
[ wait, hold on a moment. the chair he offered her. ]
You... didn't have any trouble getting through the door, did you?
The uncanny valley would be a lot harder to deal with if Akira hadn't already spilled the beans on what 45 really was. As it is, Guy doesn't seem too perturbed.]
[ gee, subdivided, how come you get portals to all these places. portals within portals!
in any case, 45 has been spending a fair amount of time in this particular one. abandoned cities, ghosts of urban areas, they're more familiar than some of the other places have been, lush and vibrant. this portal is grounding in a way, a reminder of sorts.
which is why, probably, she's just now returning to the gas station where the rest of the motorcycles are lined up, riding in on the back of one herself. maybe sometimes you just need a joyride?
[ eeeeeyyy it's the isolation cabin, topping off guy's no good very bad terrible horrible weekend to date. it's going to be a little bit after trial, but not too long, things aren't too dark yet.
but she'll just make herself comfortable, settling down in front of his door. ]
... I imagine you've already gotten plenty of apologies, so I won't bother with them.
But you were right, you know. That we clearly weren't focused enough the first time.
[ can you believe that we might or might not be down to uno plasma by tomorrow. but it's not clear whether or not she really expects an answer to that question, since while she does pause for a while, her next comment seems like a non-sequiteur. ]
Hm. There was more urgency this time, maybe, but to what end? Some people had decent ideas, doubling up on strip checks, actually verifying alibis.
Do you think we tried hard enough, this time, and our best just wasn't good enough?
[Part of him wonders if she's heard more. Had Yu talked to her? Asch, maybe? 45 is kind of a mystery party, one that he's not sure whether he can admire or be sceptical of within the same breath.
But she's intelligent. Her next response shows that much.
...]
I won't blame people for their efforts. But if we really tried hard enough, would we have been floundering so much when it counted?
I can only account for what I saw. Everything else is left to chance. Maybe we missed something. Maybe someone intentionally looked past something. Maybe we're giving the benefit of the doubt too easily.
Haha. ♪ I said the same thing last week to someone else. Can we really say that everyone is trying their best to find the culprit? We have very, very vocal individuals among our number who disavow the confines of the game entirely.
But that does mean that it's easier for quieter sorts who don't think the same to go under the radar.
[ maybe some of them are taking the game more seriously than others. maybe they're playing to win. ]
I saw plenty of angry, tired people. I saw some attempts at organization, like you said.
I also saw a lot of wounded bodies, and at least a couple people hesitant to remove their bandages. There was a second bullet, right? It has to be somewhere, and I saw at least some people being reluctant, though how that turned out was something I didn't catch. Akira had me under scrutiny for a while at that point.
So if the bullet was definitely shot... why didn't we find it?
Right, that second bullet... A lot of things about those bullets is questionable. Trajectory, where it was fired at...
The casings were right in that circle, right? Or close enough to it, anyway. But the one bullet we found was just on the ground. If the team who'd investigated mentioned anything about it looking like it was fired down into it versus otherwise I must have missed it... Either way, if Hikage had fired on his attacker, wouldn't the bullet have flown off--
[ gestures vaguely. ]
Somewhere. Into the distance. Whichever direction his aggressor had come from? The other explanation is that whoever killed him managed to get his gun.
But assuming that it wasn't Hikage firing the gun at that point, wouldn't there be very little reason to miss?
[ hikage would have been, presumably, eyeless and poked through in the stomach, most likely prone on the ground to some degree, so yeah, where was that second bullet? ]
A squad shrouded in mystery. ▓▓▓▓▒ has met them once, and others can only guess at the members' identities from rumors. Members of the squad all have advanced AI and high capacity for independent operation. Rumor has it that Squad 404 usually deals with ░▓▒▓▓▓▒▓▓▒▒▒░░
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WEEK ZERO - FRIDAY
Date: 2020-06-13 04:23 am (UTC)45! 45, are you in here??
no subject
Date: 2020-06-13 05:14 am (UTC)I'm here.
[ which, if she were human is one thing, but a robot? ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-14 04:05 am (UTC)UHH????
I mean, HUGE sigh of relief as he pushes forward to take a look but
where.... is she
is she on the floor]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-14 04:20 am (UTC)but 45 is against one of the walls, pushing herself slowly to her feet with sluggish, affected movements and a gaze that doesn't seem entirely focused on reality.
maybe reading all the fun diagnostic messages that have decided to crop up overnight? hm. ]
no subject
Date: 2020-06-14 04:29 am (UTC)he darts forward
and freezes up almost IMMEDIATELY on getting a certain distance away, despite himself. Damn it. Damn it.
Okay. Let's... let's grab one of the chairs and unceremoniously drag it over. It's something. If her legs start to buckle, it's something.]
Easy, take your time...
What the hell happened? Were you out here the whole night?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-19 12:32 am (UTC)or maybe it's just another cause for concern. who knows. which is it, uncanny valley not quite approaching humanity, or disoriented being only slowly regaining their bearings? ]
I appreciate the concern, but there's no need for the coddling. I was here, yes, when we were all locked in.
As for what...
[ wait, hold on a moment. the chair he offered her. ]
You... didn't have any trouble getting through the door, did you?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-19 02:45 am (UTC)Looks back at the door.
Then back at her.
The uncanny valley would be a lot harder to deal with if Akira hadn't already spilled the beans on what 45 really was. As it is, Guy doesn't seem too perturbed.]
No?
Why, did something happen to the door?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-19 02:54 am (UTC)[ she tsks, closing her eyes and shaking her head. when they reopen they're sharper, and more properly focused.
though, she does go and make herself comfortable on the chair he dragged over. 'low power-' bullshit, she was fine before they all got knocked out. ]
... Fine, I suppose it's more of this nonsense, then.
WEDNESDAY, w2 probably late afternoon eveningish?;
Date: 2020-06-25 07:47 pm (UTC)in any case, 45 has been spending a fair amount of time in this particular one. abandoned cities, ghosts of urban areas, they're more familiar than some of the other places have been, lush and vibrant. this portal is grounding in a way, a reminder of sorts.
which is why, probably, she's just now returning to the gas station where the rest of the motorcycles are lined up, riding in on the back of one herself. maybe sometimes you just need a joyride?
in any case, hi, Guy, what's up. ]
SATURDAY, w2 post-trial;
Date: 2020-06-28 04:02 am (UTC)but she'll just make herself comfortable, settling down in front of his door. ]
... I imagine you've already gotten plenty of apologies, so I won't bother with them.
But you were right, you know. That we clearly weren't focused enough the first time.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 04:07 am (UTC)It's part of why I pulled that stunt with the rocks. Yu was... [A firm exhale.] He deserved better than the damn poor performance we gave there.
At the very least, I can say there was far more urgency this time. Even if the answers still came up wrong.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 04:48 am (UTC)[ can you believe that we might or might not be down to uno plasma by tomorrow. but it's not clear whether or not she really expects an answer to that question, since while she does pause for a while, her next comment seems like a non-sequiteur. ]
Hm. There was more urgency this time, maybe, but to what end? Some people had decent ideas, doubling up on strip checks, actually verifying alibis.
Do you think we tried hard enough, this time, and our best just wasn't good enough?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 12:01 pm (UTC)[Part of him wonders if she's heard more. Had Yu talked to her? Asch, maybe? 45 is kind of a mystery party, one that he's not sure whether he can admire or be sceptical of within the same breath.
But she's intelligent. Her next response shows that much.
...]
I won't blame people for their efforts. But if we really tried hard enough, would we have been floundering so much when it counted?
I can only account for what I saw. Everything else is left to chance. Maybe we missed something. Maybe someone intentionally looked past something. Maybe we're giving the benefit of the doubt too easily.
It makes you wonder.
no subject
Date: 2020-06-28 09:26 pm (UTC)But that does mean that it's easier for quieter sorts who don't think the same to go under the radar.
[ maybe some of them are taking the game more seriously than others. maybe they're playing to win. ]
So, Herr Cecil. What did you see?
no subject
Date: 2020-06-29 01:17 am (UTC)I saw plenty of angry, tired people. I saw some attempts at organization, like you said.
I also saw a lot of wounded bodies, and at least a couple people hesitant to remove their bandages. There was a second bullet, right? It has to be somewhere, and I saw at least some people being reluctant, though how that turned out was something I didn't catch. Akira had me under scrutiny for a while at that point.
So if the bullet was definitely shot... why didn't we find it?
no subject
Date: 2020-07-09 09:04 pm (UTC)The casings were right in that circle, right? Or close enough to it, anyway. But the one bullet we found was just on the ground. If the team who'd investigated mentioned anything about it looking like it was fired down into it versus otherwise I must have missed it... Either way, if Hikage had fired on his attacker, wouldn't the bullet have flown off--
[ gestures vaguely. ]
Somewhere. Into the distance. Whichever direction his aggressor had come from? The other explanation is that whoever killed him managed to get his gun.
But assuming that it wasn't Hikage firing the gun at that point, wouldn't there be very little reason to miss?
[ hikage would have been, presumably, eyeless and poked through in the stomach, most likely prone on the ground to some degree, so yeah, where was that second bullet? ]