expiationnet | video; return of the radio show (forward-dated to march 10)

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video; return of the radio show (forward-dated to march 10)

[Okay, so when Goro Akechi asks nicely for a favor, Kotone isn't one to turn him down. People are probably more likely to listen if it's not-him saying something! Besides, it's kind of fun to pretend to be a real news anchor, sitting next to Minato at one of the desks in the club building, holding a piece of paper in both hands. In light of recent events, though, her usually-bright smile is a bit more subdued as she mouths a few words, skimming down the paper, and then immediately makes a face.

It's so obvious to anyone who knows either Minato or Kotone that there's no way what they're reading out loud are their own words. Their broadcast goes live not long after Ragna's post.]

Good evening Aldrip!

I'm certain that we all are aware of the current events. Especially since the perpetrator behind the latest explosion decided to grant us with a live broadcast and-- [She pauses, scrunching up her face, because what's written next is so passive-aggressive about "the person in question not having a plan, and how no one should be surprised that person didn't have a plan." She'll just leave that part out and skip ahead,]

Considering the nature of the Council, it'd be foolish to think this attack will be left unpunished. However, we aren't sure if they will come to us as a whole or just target the perpetrator. Honestly, both are plausible scenarios. Which is why I believe we need to gather all the information we have of The Council.

[ Why is this so long?? Minato leans over a bit, squinting at the mess of handwritten notes in front of him. ] A lot of people have theorized that they are the ones responsible for our presence here, or that they are godlike creatures. While I believe this is an important theory to keep in mind, I’m not sure that’s the case here.

The council was originally absent when The Chosen arrived here for the first time. They only became active back in October after we went through the Maze. [She makes another face, because the maze sucked.] For those who weren't here back then, here's a quick summary: One night in September the town transformed into a gigantic maze with different levels that we had to clear while facing our fears, insecurities and memories related to the crimes in our parchments. After a few days the maze disappeared and town returned back to 'normal.' That's when 'Jerry' appeared and began to act on behalf of The Council to rehabilitate the criminals.

…‘someone' suggested that we might have entered a whole different timeline after coming out of the maze. [ He takes a moment to shuffle through his papers because, what maze…? Minato glances over his shoulder at something off-screen with a puzzled expression before looking straight ahead again. ] There’s no concrete evidence on this, but we shouldn’t ignore it either. The odd behavior from the locals would suggest it. They’ve been seen freezing in the middle of action before suddenly changing their opinions and behavior, along with being… unable to offer any proper information about the world they live in.

It could be that the world is preparing for another world-altering change right now, just like back with the maze. [Maybe they should have led with that?]

We also believe that we are hardly the first group of The Chosen who have arrived. There have been mentions of previous "cycles", indicating that there were others before us. These cycles were mentioned in the graves that we came across during October's witch hunt — [ He glances at something out of view again with a curious tilt of the head. After blinking a couple times with a frown in that direction, he turns to his notes again. ] — along with… an underground grotto where we found pictures of the people from past. [ Minato frowns a bit because that’s… mildly concerning if true. Frankly, he doesn’t know whether anything in these notes is true at all. ]

The biggest indicator, however, that we are not the first ones here are the sudden images, video and audios clips we received after our expedition with the fairies back in July. [Her mouth opens in an "oh" as if she's only just realized something herself, then shrugs and continues reading,] Those clips showed people from the past discussing about their "crimes" very similarly to our own. They also mentioned dealing with similar trials and monsters like we have. So, it would make sense if we assume that everything that we have gone through has happened before, and that we are following some sort of a script...? [HUH?? Now it's her turn to stare off-screen mouthing 'what?']

Or at least, that was the case until the destruction of the City Hall. [ Finally, something he actually has firsthand knowledge about and doesn’t need to glance over his shoulder to make sure he’s reading things correctly. ]

[Apparently whatever she's looking at off-screen is prompting her to continue, because she makes a face but checks her papers again. And then makes yet another face, deciding to paraphrase what's written there.] The Council is really powerful and can alter people's memories and bodies, but maybe they're not the ones behind the maze...? 'Cause apparently we don't have any proof that they can change reality. So maybe they're just a product of maze instead of the ones behind it. [She scrunches up her face and checks the papers again, a little doubtfully,] Maybe like Jerry, they're being used as tools by someone with greater power...? [She's kind of regretting agreeing to do this... she should have made Akechi read his own hypotheses...]

We don’t know who or what that powerful being may be. It could be the ones that locals call Those Who Were Here, but they seem to be deities only to Aldrip. None of the other towns have shown any signs of religion as far as we know. They might be a red herring set out to mislead us. [ He speaks flatly with an impassive expression. Minato clearly doesn’t actually believe or agree with anything that’s coming out of his mouth right now. He maintains his focus though, eyes trained on the notes in front of him. ] Whatever it is, we believe we can all agree that their excuses and explanations about wanting to rehabilitate us is bullshit, along with our 'crimes.' [ Minato looks off camera again and gives definitely-not-Akechi-Goro a thumbs-up. ]

[Kotone puts down her papers and sticks out her tongue a little as if trying to figure out how to talk normally again after all that formal language.] Anyway, that's just a summary, so if anybody has any other information, go ahead and let us know! How was that, Goro?

[ ooc: Replies will mostly be from Akechi, but possible peanut gallery-ing from Kotone and Minato!

Also please feel free to tag each other too! Hop on in and let’s start cooking some theories \o/ ]

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Well, regardless of theories, it's at least clear that we're dealing with something powerful here, right?

[ If anything, she views the theories as mostly being about what said something could be. Whether it is the Council, or something beyond them, just like was spoken about just now.. ]

Even if we don't know its nature, it does mean the odds are against us. Clearly none of us are powerful enough to try and deal with it on a similar level. That means we need to find some sort of loophole instead. [ Hence the question about optimism.

Since it's not like Ange hasn't heard people deny the possibility of said loophole existing in the first place before. ]

[ No matter how many people seem to have fantastical powers here, the fact of the matter is they were all abducted by this powerful whatever they're dealing with and they ended up here. So she's with her so far.

It's about finding it. ]

Oh... so that's where the optimism comes in. Yes. I agree with you.

[ The path to figuring it out could not possibly be so direct as launching an attack on City Hall. ]

It was mentioned that locals have been seen acting odd. And there was the part about the whole location shifting and changing. I haven't been here long enough to see it for myself, but it does make me wonder if trying to poke holes in the weakest parts of this place wouldn't yield some answers.

[ Of course, that would be assuming there's something to the theory that this is scripted, or a simulation, or something of that nature. ]

[ Judging by the way the girl hums, she does seem some merit in that idea. Especially since she definitely has seen some stuff that could point towards it during all these months she's been trapped in this place. ]

That does bring some risk with it though.

[ Something she's sure he already realises. He sounds like a rather sensible person so far, after all. ]

So that makes the question how much risk we're willing to accept in order to find out more.

That's true. We may have had our chance to remain inconspicuous torn away from us, too.

[ If there isn't just a complete omnipotence in effect, at least, they're really going to be under scrutiny after the City Hall thing. ]

But seeing as we're basically just sitting ducks for whatever comes next, I don't see that we have much choice.

Yeah, I guess you've got a point. If we're in for a penny, we're in for a pound. That sort of thing, yeah?

[ Even though it wasn't necessarily their collective decision to be in for a penny.. Ragna just made that decision for all of them. But exactly because it's Ragna who did that, Ange is having a harder time complaining about it, instead just brushing it aside. ]

Maybe if you wanted to try and poke more holes into this entire thing, you could try talking to the locals about it. The way they react to stuff happening here is often pretty.. weirdly extreme. Maybe they'll let something slip that would give us more information in this case.

Exactly.

[ On the other hand, since the perpetrator is a stranger to him, he is pretty mad about it — but he also realizes it's completely useless to just stew in that outrage. It's already happened and now they have to deal with it, one way or another. ]

I was thinking something like that myself. Even if they can't really offer anything useful, it's possible that we might be able to dig up something by seeing how they react.

[ Like if they're freezing up, as the information presented here suggested, or suddenly making a behavioral switch, it could serve as another clue of some kind. Anyway, pour one out for whichever poor saps get Miller grilling them with twenty questions. ]

I'm going to give it a shot.

[ Honestly, she.. is kind of wondering if he's just going to grill the locals, since he doesn't exactly seem to her like some friendly small talk sort of guy..

On the other hand, Ange doesn't have many warm feelings towards the locals, so she isn't really bothered by the idea either. The more important thing in the end is getting the information they need, right? One way or another. ]

Thanks. That'd really help. I'd suck at talking to them, so I'm glad you're willing to do it.

[ Sorry, Miller. Ange is just far too antisocial to consider going around and talking to strangers as her personal way of gaining information.. ]

I could take a look around and see if I can find anything that looks like a clue somewhere. I'm used to weird powerful beings playing with people like toys and throwing them into random worlds. Maybe my experience with that might help me spot something around here in the wake of this entire mess.

[ Oh, he doesn't mind. Not to say he isn't appreciative that she helped him come to this conclusion... but now that he's come to it, he'd have decided to go through with it by himself regardless. It's just a bonus that she's interested in collaborating on their findings.

A history of twenty plus years of paranoid leadership doesn't lend to very subtle interrogation tactics, unfortunately, but the willingness to go there at least? ]

No problem.

[ And hearing things like that is becoming less shocking as time goes on, but still, that's got to be the closest he's heard yet! ]

If that's true, I'd say you're more fit for the job than anybody. This has happened to you before?

Yeah. I suddenly got moved from one world to another one time.

[ .. maybe that's why she can speak of it so calmly. Like it's just normal to her, rather than something that might shatter a regular person's sense of existence as a whole.. ]

It was a little bit different from this, I guess, in the sense that I shifted to a world that was parallel to my own, rather than a different one entirely like this. But a whole lot of other stuff feels very similar. It makes me think that the entity in charge of this place and the beings that did that to me back home surely can't be all that different.

[ Considering he wouldn't have even believed something like that before all of this, he has to assume she's right. If it exists in the first place, there's no way it's not connected. In fact— ]

Are you sure they're different entities at all?

[ Apparently Ange doesn't have to think about that one for long, considering how quickly her answer comes. ]

No.

[ She's a little less certain that they are the exact same than she was when she first showed up, sure, but even now she's still not fully ruling it out. ]

I still wouldn't be surprised if it was the case. I don't think it's the exact same entity as I was dealing with back home, but it's entirely possible that it's a different one of their kind. There are many of them out there, if what I've seen back home was any indication. The only strange thing about it is that they usually love drama, so it's hard to imagine the one running this place has been able to keep themselves from showing up in front of us for this long.

[ Yes, he figured she'd had to have at least considered it. What an interesting description of all-powerful entities though... ]

Right. They've been using a representative. Jerry, isn't it? Did you ever manage to deal with your entities directly then?

[ Clearly they've communicated with her, but if she knows a way to fight back, that seems like vital information. ]

It doesn't seem like baiting them out is doing anyone much good.

No. [ In regards to that last part. It's not like Ange thinks staying totally still is a good idea either, but.. well, there's got to be some sort of balance when it comes to this stuff, or they'll just shoot themselves in the foot. She knows it. ]

As far as I know, the only way to beat beings like that is to beat them at their own game.

[ .. a slight pause, and then she adds to clarify: ]

Literally, I mean. Back home those beings were playing a game with us. I have considered the same thing might be going on here, it's just that they're less overt about it. In that case we'd first have to figure out what the game and its rules even are. It can't be the same thing it was back home, since it's too different for that.

[ Exactly his sentiment. Pushing the envelope by messing with the locals he can deal with the consequences of, but he's too new here to consider making a scene as big as that. Though it doesn't matter much anymore. What's done is done.

And this conversation has given him a lot to think about. ]

Hmm... If I had to guess, their game involves us being sentenced and properly repenting for our "crimes." I'm still not convinced that they're all-powerful deities myself, [ although her personal experience certainly gives credence to the thought and that's why he kept asking ] —but unless it's all one big red herring, there must be some reaction they are hoping for.

.. entertainment.

[ It's a simple answer, but it fits her own past experience. It's why she has to at least suggest it, even in the face of not having a whole lot of evidence for it. ]

That's what they could be hoping for. I don't believe that any of this is really about us repenting. It would make no sense if it was. [ Especially since the circumstances only seem to create an even bigger desire to rebel in some people trapped here.. It seems entirely counterproductive to her. ] So maybe they just find it fun to watch us be trapped here. To watch us struggle.

It would explain all the weird random stuff that's constantly thrown at us. One time we all got trapped in a maze. Like we were the hamsters in one of those dumb hamster maze races.

[ No, it doesn't make sense, but he's not sure he can ascribe motives to them that necessarily would. That being said, he's glad to take her perspective on it into account given that it is all just speculation at this point anyway.

And well, that anecdote is pretty ridiculous. ]

What the hell? [ There's a pause as he shakes his head unseen. ] Yes, it is definitely the easiest explanation. If that is true though, it gives us very little to go on...

[ As he considers it, the natural lull to the conversation makes him realize he still doesn't know who he's talking to. ]

I am Miller, by the way. What is your name? After I try to talk to some of these locals, we can reconvene.

[ Sorry, Miller! Her world is just.. very weird, but at the same time it is giving her some experiences to go off when it comes to the way she views this place. ]

My name is Ange. Ange Ushiromiya.

[ She can't tell for sure if Miller is his last name or first name - or maybe just.. singular name, there's definitely people here without a last name at all, she knows - so the girl just gives both of hers. ]

You can reach me on the network here whenever. Even if you have some information later. I'm always up for talking about anything that could help us learn more about this place. [ And so far he seems reasonable enough. Like a guy who might actually just stick to talking to her for important information, rather than all that dumb socialisation stuff other people force her into. ]

[ It's a bit of a mouthful to introduce yourself as Sviatoslav Konstantinovich Mel'nikov to strangers who, at least up until this point, have all appeared very much non-Russian to him. So "Miller" it is. He's not sure of the origin of her name either though. ]

Good to meet you, Ange.

[ He gets a similarly reasonable feeling from her, so he is glad to have made the connection. Also she's not wrong... carefree socialization is not exactly his forte. ]

Same here. It is of the utmost importance to me to gather as much useful information as possible and I can only see it benefitting us to collaborate.

[ Not even just the two of them specifically, but all of the Chosen willing to go there. ]

Sure.

[ She sounds so casual about it, but even though she isn't saying it, she's so glad to have found someone reasonable.. There's no way Ange would want to thank the people in charge here for anything, but if she absolutely had to, then this is at least one thing she could thank them for. Tackling this place feels more manageable when it seems like other people are also taking it seriously. ]

Then I'm sure I'll talk to you soon. Until then.

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video; return of the radio show (forward-dated to march 10)

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