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[identitycrisiscore]

[ When Cloud rolls out of his bed at the inn, he squints at the skyline of Aldrip. Squints at the phone-like device on his table, squints at the incoming light as if somewhat offended at how it's not making dealing with the last month of... whatever that was.

He decides the best course of action is to not get out of bed about it. ]

okay, so, like
let's say i have a friend
and this friend might be a little confused about the city.
and maybe this friend is having a little trouble with like

[ ...He was going to say memory issues, and maybe "hey what the fuck happened for the past three weeks", but you know what — until he's sure he's not the only one experiencing them he's just gonna. Not. Talk about that. ]

let me start over
i'm new here.
did aldrip always look like this?

Comments

[identitycrisiscore]

great.

[ You can feel the sarcasm dripping off that response. ]

maybe if whatever comes next isn't also just as disorienting.
do you think this is a high water mark, or an escalation?
genuine question, here. i figured i'd ask someone with more experience than me.

[bulleting]

An escalation, maybe? There have been extremes, but as I stated, nothing this extreme. But we also haven't experienced such an outward attack on the Council before now, either.

[Her guess, it was something to do with that. It was a running hypothesis, anyway.]

[identitycrisiscore]

[ Honestly, it makes sense to Cloud — even with no context, the idea that there would be an imminent retaliation for something of that scope was a given. The destruction clearly didn't affect their captors' operations, if the past month of muddled memories and the brand new city outside his window was anything to go on. ]

yeah, what -was- that about, anyway?
i'd only just gotten my bearings when the city hall went up in smoke.
and the guy who did it sure didn't seem keen on answering questions.
it's not like i like being stuck here any more than anyone else,
but i feel like i'm missing some context clues, here.

[bulleting]

Given I barely know the culprit, I can only assume, more than anything. But I believe it was a compilation of things. The situation that we're in itself, but also, the punishments some have received. I'm sure you've heard about sentencing and what happens with that, by now.

[It did happen just after Jinx's harsh punishment. It wasn't hard to connect the dots there. But it was still just an educated guess. If he has questions about the sentencing that she's witnessed, though, she'd be happy to answer.]

[identitycrisiscore]

only the bare minimum.
haven't had one yet, myself.
we're here for some crimes, i assume we've all got a ledger miles long.
these sentences seem to be pretty harsh.
and once they make you pay for one crime, another takes its place.
else some people wouldn't be trapped here for, what, close to a year now?

[ This is what he's put together, at least. It's very basic, and there might be some wrong assumptions. ]

so someone got punished super hard,
someone else took it badly, and one explosion later—
no more city hall?

[bulleting]

They only pick a few people at a time, so you may be safe for a little while. It's only every other month, too. I was sentenced at the end of last year. It was difficult. It seems like they make it a point to be. I passed, but not everyone does, and there are punishments if you don't. My crime didn't change, but I suppose it doesn't matter one way or another, since it's a false accusation. But the sentencing didn't start right away. Some people were here for several months before it happened. It started shortly after I arrived, which was about nine months ago, now.

[He seems to have a good idea of what's going on, but she doesn't mind sharing her own experiences.]

That sounds about right. At least, that's my take on things.

[identitycrisiscore]

[ The explanation she gives is... sobering. He's already known a couple people here have been here close to a year, but hearing how these things have stretched out really does a lot to put just how rough this gilded prison is in perspective. ]

nine months, every other month.
so there's been five sentencings since then.
what for? sure, it's presumably for 'rehabilitation', but.
there has to be a deeper reason.
especially if some of the accusations aren't even true in the first place.

[ But he frowns. So someone took a punishment too seriously. ]

i guess i can see how someone would react that way.
not like i haven't been involved in some property destruction for a good cause.
but it sure doesn't seem to have slowed them down any.
which i guess begs the question — what would?

[bulleting]

This month will make four, actually. If the trend continues, that is. The first month it occurred was October. It's been an ongoing pattern since then that new arrivals appear around the same month as sentencing begins, and alternate with a month of some sort of city wide event. An example would be what we just witnessed, but one month, the city disappeared and a maze replaced it. One month was a giant monster attack, and so on.

[It seems wild to her now, how much time had passed since she had arrived. But it hadn't been quiet, in the slightest, in the four months before sentencing began.]

That is the question, indeed. Many of us wonder if the Council even inhabit the building, given they appear to have survived. We've been trying to put our heads together for an answer, but unfortunately, there are a few here that wish to take matters into their own hands, making things worse for everyone here.