expiationnet | audio; un: spartan

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audio; un: spartan

[ It has been a couple of weeks now since the successful reset of the terminals. Now, the same voice that was heard trying to rally them all to that task, tired and thick with a Slavic accent, has come to speak over the network once again. ]

Greetings, my friends. Miller here. First of all, I wanted to thank everyone who assisted in our efforts to restore this place to its former self. If it was not for all your cooperation, I am certain things would have gone very differently. It is thanks to all of you that we are still alive.

[ He's proud, really. The change from when he first arrived in this place has been immense. ]

Which is why it is my hope that we can keep this spirit of camaraderie going. There has already been a lively discussion of the visions we encountered at the terminals. Now that it has become clear that there is truly no safe space to hide from the prying eyes of the "Council," I wish to propose a forum for us all to continue sharing information.

[ The creation of the Dark Web was an innovation, to say the least... but can one even really call that secure when the entire world they live in is simulated? Where he's concerned, it's time to be forthright. ]

Allow me to begin with this. I was summoned to the courtroom. Yes – the courtroom. I only recall the inside of the building, but I presume it's one and the same as the new structure in the city center. I have been part of this experiment for eight months now and it is my first time seeing this Jerry face to face. But I can't be the only one who, up until now, seemed to have forgotten that he even existed? So, please... I would like to hear all of your thoughts.

I don't know about all of you, but I didn't try to save that artificial intelligence because I wanted to go back to putting my head in the sand!

( ooc: so long as it's cool with both parties, feel free to threadjack to discuss amongst yourselves! )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It is thanks to all of you that we are still alive." - Is that really the case?

We were able to successfully reset all the terminals at once, so if there was any interference, it did not get through.

Unless you wish to confess something.

No confession, but an observation.

I accompanied a group as strictly an observer, and I couldn't help but notice that both ours and the team that came in later to support us left with a member less. That means that at least two people didn't return at all, since there weren't any revivals either.

Oh. Yes... unfortunately that is true. It seems that a handful of people have recently disappeared. Your account is not the first I'm hearing. It's difficult to say if this has any direct relation to the mission, or whether there is still some possibility that they might return to us...

Did something happen to the people in your team? Or did they just vanish?

We found some personal belongings close to the terminal. That's about all that I can say for sure.

And you were with them only moments before? Or did your team separate?

Our team was spread out all over the place, unfortunately. Due to ...unforeseen circumstances. [You know, like only two of the people present being actually interested in the whole resetting process while the others ran off to tend to their own whims, random mutants vs. power rangers showdowns in the close vicinity, builder-sized rocks falling,... stuff like that.]

I don't know how it was for the other team. But my impression was that they seemed to have been more coordinated and knew how move as an actual group.

[ It's okay. Considering how things went in his own team, he doesn't need that to be clarified further. ]

In that case, we seem to have no first hand accounts of the disappearances actually taking place. A pitiful amount of information to work with... but at least there may be some chance that they are still alive.

Goodness. So you're one of those....?

No, that was rude of me to say, please forgive me. Sometimes my age gets the better of me.

Hope is the most precious thing a human can have, after all.

[ "One of those" what? That does take him aback from a moment, but the quick apology lessens the blow. ]

Yes... that is often the only recourse in a hopeless situation. Although it was a makeshift operation, I wouldn't want to be responsible for sending anyone to their deaths either.

If you are not a human, what are you?

[One of those who insist that nobody is lost unless you drag the lifeless carcass of the person in question in front of them and drop it on their shoes like a cat does with a dead mouse. Which is kind of heartless to say, but in Douman's experiences such people tend to be more trouble than it's worth it when push comes to shove. It's always nice to save one or two lives that had been already thought lost, but if their faith is misguided it'll usually kill more than just them. How often has he seen humans that could otherwise have still been saved hem and haw over a lack of a body just to get swept away in the same tragedy, just because they wouldn't listen to him? All just because Abe no Seimei had had fun giving him an ill repute.]

An ayakashi. Or youkai, if you'd rather. It's a type of Japanese superstition.

[ It is a circumstantial judgment, in this case. When rangers die on the surface, anyone who would insist on returning their body to the Metro for the family to see would be a fool to do so. However, in this place where the concept of death is no more than a suggestion, it's difficult to believe that a person who disappears won't potentially reappear again later. It has provably happened before.

Though look, Miller knows he likely just said that for context and all, but ]

Seems like it's more than a superstition if that's really what you are.

[ But he'll take him at face value; he's past the point of disbelieving these things here. ]

I suppose you've observed humans for quite some time then.

Mh. Sometimes it's easier to be nothing but fiction and old tales in the minds of most. I generally prefer to coexist.

[There's a light note of amusement in his voice as he easily glosses over both his motivations and his way of living.]

Is that what you did before?

[ He can't say he understands what a youkai would desire out of life in general... but it is curious. ]

The selection process on who becomes a "chosen" is really all over the place.

I was never a youkai who preyed on humans directly anyway, so co-existence is fairly easy for me. All I want are what you too generally consider the good things in life.

[So booze, smokes, good food, willing partners, some gambling ventures for entertainment, maybe a little respect.... Give him those bare necessities and maybe a place to call home that's big enough for one + a spare room for potential guests, and he'll be happy. ~~Which is quite a jump from the overly grand ambitions Douman had held as a youth, and even further removed from what other peoples would have expected of such a "notorious" villain such as him.~~]

Do you have any hunch of what those criteria might be? My own guess right now is "either simply convenient or tasty for the one casting the net", but I might be thinking in too inhuman terms.

[ Were he not trying to make an effort to accept all of the strange circumstances of those sharing this space with him, he might have to question what "indirectly" preying on humans looked like.

But for now, it seems more helpful to simply bookmark that detail for a (potentially, if necessary) later date. ]

Doesn't sound like we are so different then.

[ Though if it gives him more of an insight into what inhuman terms might be like? That's probably a good thing. ]

Your guess is as good as mine. At first it seemed there was some element of choosing those with pasts subject to moral scrutiny... but that doesn't hold up in the slightest. [ There are literal children here. ] Maybe they're just looking to create variety.

[ Said with distaste, of course. It isn't pleasant to think of it as literal human experimentation. ]

Right?

....Variety, hmm? That'd fit with my thought of this being a feeding ground. Tell me, have you heard of those ominous graves as well? I was told that there were some that belonged to people who 'vanished' here before, but that they were lost during the ...rearrangement? Overhaul? Whatever changed this place into something more modern.

[ A feeding ground? ]

I heard about it, yes... I wasn't here to witness it myself. The fact that there were previous cycles of Chosen has been confirmed by multiple communications and visions from the AI. I have to assume that those graves belong to people from some previous failed cycle. As for the people who have vanished... I cannot say. There are people who have gone to their homes and then returned here. I would like to think that anyone who vanishes has simply gone home for good—but it can't be confirmed.

[Just his personal pet theory slash calling it by something that he's familiar with.]

No, they were from this cycle, according to my source. But that's the problem, isn't it? Finding out how much truth any information we get entails.

Is there a way to confirm that those who left and returned are really the same people?

[ He pauses for a moment. ]

No, I suppose not. Their memories align as if they were... but that is still not completely definitive.

[ And this is leading down the rabbit hole of wondering what constitutes being an individualized person in this place. It's deep and, frankly, it stresses him out. ]

How did your source know that? Did they see something?

It's a first-hand report, according to her. She said she found and interacted with them directly before Aldrip "renovated" itself into a more modern version of the town.

It might be insensitive of me, but the thought that somebody decided that there should be graves for the people who went missing seems more ominous to me than the sheer number of the people already lost.

It still isn't clear who decided that. They may have been just as in the dark as us. There's no guarantee there were any bodies buried there either.

[ Unless interacting with them means...? ]

But to be honest, I would almost prefer knowing there was some finality waiting for us than this endless dredge of forgetting and remembering, and cycling in and out of different realities. At least then there would be some way out.

Well, they probably didn't just grow out of the ground like mushrooms.

[He shrugs his shoulders, even though it can't be seen by his conversation partner.]

Oh? That's the first time that I hear anybody hear preferring death over countless what-if scenarios. What an unexpected draft of fresh air.

Look... it's not like I have a death wish, but we can't just go in circles here forever. That's not living.

[ At least not to him. If it meant saving Anna, would he just keep going like this forever? Maybe so, but there's no guarantee they are gaining anything from it at all. ]

We need to figure out some way to bring this to a conclusion and that may involve accepting some risks.

Very true. I wonder what would happen if this place were to 'lose' all of it's Chosen ones, by, say, group suicide.

.....Not that I'm encouraging that sort of idea, of course. [But maybe something that would make the system 'think' that that sort of thing'd happened- ]

voice; un: principal

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