theairlock | Week 3

Entry tags:

!round 4

Week 3

Week 3

[Two weeks in, and all at once four people are dead. Chitose, Miki, Lucina, and Tsurugi - whatever the circumstances, however any of you may feel, their rooms are just as empty at the end of the week. If you check your P.I.P.s, you'll find that their pictures on the profile page have gone monochrome.

C.E.C.E.'s morning announcement comes like clockwork on Sunday. This time, though, there's an addendum to her usual message:]

Congratulations, Champions! By surviving your first trial, you have unlocked the second floor of the ship. A new mini map has been added to your P.I.P.! To access the second floor please stand on the teleporter and select the floor you wish to be teleported to.

[In addition to the new floor, the Champions will find that they've gained another memory this week.]

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

(( Welcome to Week 3! Don't forget to check in and submit your memory regains! Turn in your benefactor threads for sweet loot, too! ))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It was. ...it doesn't get easier to see this place, though.

...guess not.

[Max is quiet for a moment, looking at the memorial rather than Thomas. There were things he'd wanted to ask the guy - he did mean it when he said he'd talk to him again - but he wasn't prepared to do that right this second. He'd been thinking of other things.]

But uh, hey, not your first time on the murder-go-round. You helped kill that girl you were acting so sad about, didn't you?

[he expected this, but it still brings up an urge to defend himself with what few facts make the truth kinder.]

I wasn't there. I didn't know it was going to happen until it did, and then- no one would have believed me.

....what, ‘cause you just knew without any proof?

[he shakes his head, turning half-away]

...Because of who it was. I know what he's like, but... he doesn't show that to just anyone. Who'd believe the man who keeps this town safe really wants something else?

[not until they're in too far to stop it, at least]

[...............oh. Oh, my god? Max takes a second to suddenly reframe every interaction he's ever had with Thomas. He is...he's basically literally talking about an abusive boyfriend, huh.]

Aren't those always the ones, though. People like that know how to put on a good face, else they'd never get to where they are in the first place.

That's-

-can we go somewhere somebody isn't going to hear us if they open their door? I don't want to explain things to... Penny, maybe, or Manaka coming through. If you want to say anything, it gives you some time, too.

.....yeah, okay. Second floor?

[He isn't afraid of Thomas, despite everything. Why go through all of that if he was just gonna try to commit a murder three days later?]

[a nod, a tight smile, and a slight loosening of tension as he follows Max to the teleporter. he has to work out how much is safe to say, but since Kaiba hasn't followed up on his threat maybe it's safer than he expects. he isn't dead yet. maybe he'll make it out alive, even though after this there won't be much waiting.]

[Well great, here we are, leeeeeet's...go to the diner? That's a decent place to sit down, though he's not sure if they can still get drinks from the robot ship or what. Max doesn't especially feel like getting one right this second anyway.

Thomas was the one who asked to come up here, so he just sort of lifts his eyebrows expectantly once they're settled.]

[okay, this place feels much safer; it's like a theme park version of home but he can live with that. he leans in on the table, hands pressed together, and brings them to his face and back down with a sigh before finally saying something.]

You said you know about people putting on a good face. ...I think that's part of why I said something.

I think a lot more people know about that than you give them credit for. People who've lived enough, anyway.

[He doesn't mean to imply that he's had some hard life, but he's older than almost anybody here. You see things. You learn things. Max wouldn't blame any of the teenagers for not picking up on...what he thinks he's reading from Thomas...but he's kinda kicking himself for not having taken the previous signs more seriously than he did.]

... I meant I couldn't keep mine up without poisoning someone. [he's not pleased with himself but it's an attempt at a joke?] It's really strange. Keeping secrets takes a lot of work, but... I thought I could stick to it.

[Was that a joke...? He's gonna let it pass.]

Not like there's any consequences to him for it here. Just you. You know a lot of people seriously probably won't eat your food now?

That's what you're thinking about right now? [and he knows Max isn't joking, but it's still kind of funny and he lets himself smile for half a second] No, I know what you mean.

Someone's going to try to take this incentive. I can sense it, I know what the cafeteria felt like. Someone who trusted me before was going to trust the wrong person if I didn't say anything.

[Max arches an eyebrow.]

You brought up poisoning, dude. But seriously, you really think that's gonna help?

I don't know. [He thought he had though this through. He thinks of more right here.]

It could make it easier for someone to get away with it. If they make it look like it's me, what I said makes it that much more convincing instead. I just- I couldn't hold it in or I'd really have done it.

I couldn't face that.

Oh, hey, c'mon. [His tone is reassuring, and it catches even him off-guard. So quick to fall back into comforting him, when this is only their second conversation after Thomas confessed to aiding and abetting a serial killer?

...but. He deserves pity, if nothing else. Right? And it was brave, to just come out with something like that. Max tries to pick up the flow of what he was saying again.]

It would've been stupid for you to say something like that and then turn around and do it anyway. We'd all see right through that.

It's true, but... I shouldn't be putting you in that position. Making it harder. [it's not his own death he's worried about, not entirely. it's likely he doesn't have much longer alive once he gets back out; at best, law enforcement doesn't last long in prison and at worst he'll decide he doesn't need any living witnesses.]

What would you have done? [he says after a long pause] If you were the kind of person the incentive was meant for?

...huh. [Max lets out a huff of breath.] Shit, I dunno. Probably nothing. I dunno if I could handle the fallout from something like that.

It'd be your new deepest regret.

Wasn't saying I'd follow it up with a murder. I mean, I dunno if I'm already a murder or something in this scenario.

[why are you coming at him over something that didn't happen]

[and he's quiet, considering: he knows Max is uncomfortable]

I- I know you don't know where this is going, but please, follow me anyway. What makes you that guy? The one who decides to do nothing instead of risk it?

...I don't know. You don't see me running around telling everyone about my stuff now.

You don't. [does it mean that there isn't much "stuff" there, or just that Max knows how to handle his? he can't picture repression, not with this guy, but he is envious of whatever's there that lets him live, lets him take care of others, whether it's a clear conscience or a personal strength.]

Were you ever like that, or- could you always live with who you were?

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