week 6

[airlockedmods]

[Even with three deaths two weeks in a row, life in the Fantasy Sweet returns to some semblance of normalcy come Sunday morning. The messes are cleaned up, the bodies are safe in the morgue (or in Kip's case, still in a liquor bottle in the garden) and with this new week comes a fresh crop of returning memories.

There is no new floor this week.

Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday



[ooc: Don't forget to to turn in your activity for week 5, submit your memory regains and put in your threads for the Benefactors!]

Comments

[desperateprayer]

[ Clarith can actually be found out and about today. While she does visit the memorials, most of her day is spent in the dining room. She's staring at pieces of paper rather lost in thought. She generally seems to be distracted and lost in thought, though it's not confusion so much as... Hm. She's not entirely sure what to make of the AI running things now.

Eventually, she'll be found in the karaoke bar and she'll be singing. Otherwise, she can be found out and about. ]

Dining room

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Is it time for our resident nosy detective to be nosy? It sure is. It's almost reflex for Junpei to snoop on other people's notes, though he at least announces his presence with a "hey" before he sits beside her.]

Whatcha doing?

[desperateprayer]

...You might not believe me if I told you. Um... If I do, promise not to freak out?

[ Please, she doesn't want to deal with that right now. ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

Uh, I don't think anyone's ever not freaked out after someone asked them to promise that, Clarith.

[desperateprayer]

Please. I don't want to attract too much attention, and it's... I need someone else's thoughts on it. Especially someone who knows things about technology better than me.

[misanthropicprinciple]

Fine. If I freak out, I promise to do it quietly, with all my screaming kept internal. Does that work?

[desperateprayer]

...

[ A deep, deep breath. ]

...PAL spoke to me yesterday. And it was weird, but... A good weird? I think? He... Seemed like a person. It's... It's a story.

[misanthropicprinciple]

He did? When--where was this? Wait, I should--

[He's reaching for a pencil before he remembers his writing ability is still basically shit. After freezing, he shakes his head and laces his hands together, watching her intently.]

Right, just... tell me what you can.

[desperateprayer]

...I stayed in my room yesterday. I really just needed time to think. And then he... Came to me. At first, he seemed bitter, wanting to know why I offered, so I was... Honest. Because... Mm.

[ ...Right. People might not... Like that... ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

...Because what?

[You know what Junpei likes least of all things, up to and including getting gunned down so hard he turns into Swiss cheese? People not telling him things, Clarith.]

[desperateprayer]

............Do you remember what he said when he took over? That he was... Tired of being abused? ...I... I felt for him. Feel for him. Because... Because even if I never really lashed out, I still had similar thoughts. And I remembered how hard it was to begin to change. Until... Someone helped me. So I offered to talk to him. And I think he was confused. But after awhile, he opened up and... And it was strange.

[ She'll pass him the charts. ]

...He made these. Because he was upset we didn't eat the cake. Not because it was poisoned or anything like that, I don't think. He... He seemed to really just want to make us a cake. And he was really proud of it and upset that we just... Destroyed it. Junpei, he sounded passionate. About a cake.

[ ...She can't help but smile thinking about that conversation. ]

...He was embarrassed when I thanked him for cheering me up, even when he didn't mean to. I think he just wanted to vent. But he said he appreciated me listening, too.

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Junpei looks over the charts as he listens, and he actually snort-laughs a little.]

What the hell, PAL. That's almost cute.

[Keyword being almost, of course. He slides the charts back over to her--15 to 100, really?--and rubs his chin thoughtfully.]

I'm not sorry about ruining his birthday party, but that's actually really interesting. It makes me think... I wonder how old he is. I mean, this sounds like something a kid would do, don't you think?

[desperateprayer]

[ AND SINCE APPARENTLY SHE HAS AN AWFUL SPOKEN STATUS EFFECT assume she's writing this all down. ]

He said something else that made me think. Something about how he can't fully escape his shackles. Does he have a choice in any of this Rule 7 thing? I don't know enough about AI or technology to know how much freedom he could have.

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Whoops, oh no, poor Clarith. I'll assume by this thread Junpei's heard about the status effect sabotages going around, too.]

Ah, that I'm not sure about. I never really studied AI theory... My understanding is that computers can't do anything that's not in their coding, but I don't know how that fits in when you've got something capable of self-learning. Though, and I mean, it's hard to tell since we don't see him as much as--as we've seen Kip and Cece.

[It still hurts. He was so close. He was right there. Kip...]

But he does seem to be sort of... growing up as we go along, doesn't he? I mean developing a personality. Not getting any more mature, obviously.

[desperateprayer]

[ She thinks for a moment, then pauses and begins writing. ]

Does he ever actually seem to enjoy the trials? Like, he only warns us to no make him bored, but he doesn't say much. But last night, he was really chatty. It was completely different.

And... When something mechanical goes dangerously wrong back home, goes out of control, it would be taken away and replaced. Why hasn't PAL been yet, if they're keeping an eye on us? Unless this is according to plan?

[misanthropicprinciple]

[After reading her questions, Junpei looks away for a moment to consider his answers, tapping one robot finger on the table.]

I think there are two different questions here getting tangled up in each other as one. One is, how much control does PAL have over the situation, and if he would do things differently given the choice, how do we feel about the fact that this is the reality we're given?

The second question is, who is ultimately responsible for everything that's happened here?

[desperateprayer]

If it's a show, is it possible he's just another "actor?"

[ That's the main thing she's driving at, and what she's starting to suspect. ]

Plays have people who never appear on stage, who plan out things. Decide the way things will go, the actors who take which parts... Something like that. They have to exist, right?

[misanthropicprinciple]

Stagehands. Directors. Yeah.

The network--those would be the people you mentioned, the people who put together the show and package it for their audience--they stopped responding to Kip and Cece long before PAL's dramatic face-heel turn. So you might be right.

[There's a 'but' lingering in his tone.]

[desperateprayer]

It might be our only real way out. Why didn't he execute someone, anyway, despite the suicide? Wouldn't an audience want that?

karaoke bar

[daughterofthemark]

[Guess who still never gets tired of hearing Clarith sing? This girl, who's fucked up a few things today and needs a pick-me-up. She doesn't interrupt, just waits and listens.]

[desperateprayer]

[ You're a sweet, Arianna. ]

karaoke bar

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Church is really tempted to just leave the second he hears Clarith's singing, but no. He knows that song. He knows that song. He's not Ardyn, but he's here, he's ready to drink, because god, maybe being drunk will dull the itch or the urge to scratch. For now, one foot is constantly rubbing against his leg, and that seems to be enough for now.]

's a good song. Really...really moving.

[desperateprayer]

[ She'll wave. She's not talking. It's nothing against you, Church, and she'll even gesture at her throat to indicate something is wrong. ]

dining room

[myocordial]

[Heart's seeming a little more tense than usual today, especially with his arms being crossed at all times, but he nods as he usually would at Clarith as a greeting. Though the paper gives him pause.]

...What's that?

[desperateprayer]

[ She's going to just pull up some of the sheets she used to Junpei when she explained things. Specifically the explanations of what happened. ]