15S R6 IC Contact

[mermaidkin]

[The greetings on the other end of the phone line by time of day.]

5 AM to 11 AM: Good morning, Stranger!
11 AM to 12 PM: Good day, Stranger!
12 PM to 5 PM: Good afternoon, Stranger!
5 PM to 11 PM: Good evening, Stranger!
11 PM to 5 AM: A little late, isn't it, Stranger?

[And then:] What can I do you for?

Comments

[mindless self indulgence voice:] IT'S 3 AM (saturday week 2)

[poorlovefool]

I couldn't sleep thanks to your fucking monsters. Thanks for showing us that, you asshole.

[Eric snaps at being chided once he calls, his voice as groggy as the 'excuse' suggests.]

Why were there people there? People I know. No one, no one could tell me whether or not that was real... that's not going to happen to us, is it? It can't, right?

[mermaidkin]

Yooooooou're welcome! [chirps the thanked Hiyori, just dumping honey the fuck on to compensate for the unique misery of having a schedule where you wake up at 5 AM, and getting awoken at 3 AM.]

That's a lot of different questions... If I didn't explain why Kazuaki Nanaki made his choice, can I really explain why anybirdie else was on that stage? [He laughs.] God, the things I've had to read up on in this line of work, you know?

I'll tell you this for starters. Your individual familiarity with Yusuke Kitagawa and Futaba Sakura was not the reason that you all saw what you saw.

[poorlovefool]

No. I don't. You think you're being so goddamn cute, don't you? [this is him not being amused by 'anybirdie', sorry hiyohiyo]

Okay, all right...

[that at least makes him feel less like he is being directly threatened here]

Then what about the rest of it.

[mermaidkin]

I'm not cute, I'm being culturally sensitive...! [That pretentious counterattack is even more cute, even if it's true.]

Back when we presented the execution, we had plenty of time to explain it to you if that was our plan. But on the other hand, providing a welcoming attitude over these phone calls is—is also our plan!

[He had to quickly, politely stifle a yawn there. This faint sense of desperation makes it perhaps seem like Hiyori is genuinely conflicted between these two options and stressed about that, not just playing with his food.]

The execution wasn't performed by "people". Rather, by Noise. In this case, they were clearly subdivided into two groups.

[poorlovefool]

[Should he feel sympathetic? Because he totally doesn't!!]

Right, I get it. It's always some big plan with you people. Great fucking job. You know, if you don't want to put up with me, you could always transfer the call to one of your many bosses.

[His swearing has apparently doubled, because he is more tired and cranky than Hiyori and don't you forget it >:/

but the explanation does pacify him a bit. The clarification that it wasn't by people. He wouldn't say that if noise were also people, right? Then it doesn't matter to him what a noise is, his main source of worry is cleared up and he can focus on this subdivision thingie. Two groups seems pretty straightforward as hints go.]

...Oh. So that's why...

[mermaidkin]

[Maybe people can turn into noise... but what does that matter? They're not people anymore. Perhaps Eric will find the video of Yotsuyu turning into a bird troubling.]

I've got lots of them, but they pretty much all have even bigger plans. Us two are here giving you the human touch! [Don't you enjoy it!!! No, the crankiness is real, of course. On a note related to that:] There have been lots of attempts in these games at demoralizing executions - the one in the Mansion even had a role dedicated to it - but this time we're just. Cutting to the heart of things. Other individuals. It's such a... personal game, after all.

[He can guess what would happen to Eric.]

[poorlovefool]

All? Does it mean they're not even the same bigger plans? Why's it so complicated up there?

[Eric listens to this and his eyes narrow.]

I see what you did there...

[mermaidkin]

Guilty as charged... [The bosses tho.] There's so many different worlds to worry about! What I'm saying is, the division that focuses on this darling little neighborhood isn't that big. A lot of people who make way more than me are working on basically similar projects that are just in totally different places.

Not saying those are death games, though.

[Sing-song sigh.] This is why we depend on IT to help us accept that it's so complicated!

[poorlovefool]

But you're not NOT saying it.

[what does basically similar to a death game even mean. that's not helping.]

It's been a while since your voice got all freaky. Is that what IT does?

[mermaidkin]

[Death Game a la carte with olives]

Yeah. That's the whole point; that we can do both. Employees like me and Link, I mean. We also have some of one type, some of just the other.

Hmmmmm... If you had to choose, what type would you want to be?

[poorlovefool]

[Eric sputters.]

Don't just ask that! [IT'S CREEPY. But he'll pretend that's not the sole reason.] I still know basically nothing about why that happened.

[mermaidkin]

Hmmmm... [He can tell Eric is trying to make a save, but that's actually a pretty good question, very abstract and high-level. Hiyori gives it some serious thought.] Basically, we're aligned with IT because we're both mentally and physically weak. He tells us what to do and how to do it. In a physical fight like that, I needed more information about how to do it. Make sense?

[poorlovefool]

Nnnnot really. What information would it give you that you didn't already have? You already know everything about us in the past. Could it predict our movements?

[mermaidkin]

Knowing everything and having access to that knowledge isn't exactly the same thing. Haven't you ever heard of a tool-assisted speedrun?

[Ya nerd?]

It sees everything. On either side of the fight.

[poorlovefool]

[Heard of it, yes. Have any idea how it works? Absolutely not! Eric frowns a bit, then decides the summary at the end is enough for him.]

Hm, I see... thanks for actually telling me that.

[mermaidkin]

You're very welcome.

[It seems the pace is naturally slipping a bit, as well as the resentment... maybe Hiyori's done a bit of his job atoning for the Noise disturbance? He'll just plant the seed.]

Feel free to call me again if you have any more questions.