glasshole | day one; afternoon; locked to Mahiru Koizumi

Not really. I'm not even super hungry for dinner since we had lunch so late. Why, what's up?

[Koizumi turns to face him, rather solemn after the proceedings instead of projecting an equally glad face. Otori wanting to talk, maybe even one-on-one, strikes her as acceptable although rather strange]

I thought we might talk. I'm still troubled by what you'd asked me earlier - the safe strategy.

Yeah? Sure. You're good at math, more than me. Legion presented the high risk as bad and all, but that's not the only way to look at the numbers, is it? And a dropbox is even worse than the bunbunmaru newspaper.

I don't exactly regret our vote today. At least...if all of us believed the note was real, we would essentially be agreeing to a random sacrifice to prevent conversion. And that troubles me. I don't want to see us in the habit of condemning someone at random.

Random sacrifices are real bad even in general... heck, lynching the VIPs - we gotta be careful, what if some of them are buddied up?

But that's another thing... as much as that matters, pretty much all of us have been saying we're singletons even though that's more likely than not a lie. And I don't want to turn that around, like every lone player would also be an acceptable sacrifice. There might be mixed-alignment teams - hey, should we write up the math on that? How likely the VIPs are to be buddied up?

[Smiling.]

I have to admit, that line of thinking occurred to me, too. Even though I want to be useful and do what I can to help, there are also people here I want to protect. I could hardly propose any of them as a sacrifice.

As for the math - it couldn't hurt, but we'd be assuming a random distribution of buddies. That isn't a premise I'm comfortable with.

Oh! So you think classmates weren't paired together, right? Or twins for that matter.

But then... do you think that principle holds for the VIPs, too? I mean, I guess you'd say so, since I know my class isn't a group like that, and your class would be the next likeliest.

Besides, I think there's a good chance the person getting converted tonight is a buddy or friend of a VIP. That's how most of us are acting, wanting to protect people.

...

[Actually silent for a moment.]

Actually, I don't. My personal belief is that the VIP are plants. You might think me naive for this, but I'm quite certain none of my classmates would cooperate with the VIPs.

[Her eyebrows take a rapid trip to the ceiling.]

You should know I don't feel the same way about my own classmates, Otori. We're a pretty hysterical bunch. And what the heck would conversion mean if the VIPs were plants? That they planted some people to be converted in advance, too?

[Thoughtfully.]

I see I've disappointed you. It's not merely sentimentality. I'm just fairly familiar with all of them through school functions, and find them all to be rather unconvincing liars. Even so, I make it a habit to be cautious. I don't intend to act recklessly on that hunch alone, and if I'm proven wrong, I won't protest. But I can't proceed without admitting my own biases.

That said, I'll give you the basis for my opinion. The most likely method of ensuring VIP cooperation would be blackmail. But you would have to avoid a scenario where the group decided the cost was too high, and refused to participate. If there was even a chance of such a thing happening, it would be all too easy for they and for us to reach an agreement preventing further bloodshed. To prevent that danger, you either plant seven operatives who can act to achieve the group's aims in the beginning, or you choose seven individuals who are particularly weak to blackmail and have nothing here to lose.

As for conversion...easier to control one individual at a time with threats when they know very well the game will continue with or without their participation than to convince an entire group at once.

But I know my reasoning has flaws.

Okay... let's just say for now that I see your point that they wouldn't really be good blackmail material, 'cause nobody's gonna get a lot out of me insisting that one of them should be a special guest - I have no evidence for that either and it'd just make you trust me less. We've both gotta keep open minds in case the game proves us wrong or whatever, anyway.

What about the distribution in general? It's not, you know, uniform, our ages and races and everything. If this is a social experiment - at least part of it has to be turning friends and family against each other. Why us? And maybe even more important... why here? The cliche thing would be a bunch of petty deaths first, the real mystery coming out super slowly. Or, do you think we really might all just duke it out to the end without some deep reason? [That question is sincere, not dismissive]

[sigh]

You may be right. About it being a social experiment, I mean. Will we betray one another? Will we be more likely to act if we're alone?

I'm not sure this is a mystery we'll be expected to solve. Their purpose seems to be for our deaths. They certainly aren't interested in money. It may be crass, but my classmates and I would be worth quite a tidy little sum if that was their goal. And yet, I have little idea what other worth we would actually be to any organization. Whereas you and your classmates all appear to be quite the collection of notables if I read your profiles right, and yet little to do with a game like this.

Everybody here is worth something -- [and Koizumi says that with a bit of a sneer. Rich people asserting their superiority always strikes a nerve with her and oh my god I'm suddenly so upset OOC that she will not have the pleasure of meeting Fujioka]

So I think you're right that it's not the goal. Kuzuryuu-gumi would pay a huge ransom for a certain someone. There are three princesses [n.b. counting Miko] and a nobleman, plus some other ranks that might be major where they came from. [though she's rather unsure about some of those cosplayers tbh] What kind of "game" would this be if it were rigged for all of you guys to be kept alive or not depending on outside money?

They really seem like they want to watch us die for fun... but it's less entertaining if we were all just shot. So what do they even want to do with anybody left alive at the end? They have a sudden death round, they really must want a proper ending with at least a couple survivors.

[He seems surprised, and raises his eyebrows. He didn't expect that much to offend her; even though he does happen to think he's superior, he took some care not to show it. He had been showing her a little more honesty than usual, but clearly now it's time to pull back on that; he affects an air of mortification.]

I'm afraid you may misunderstand me, my point is precisely the opposite. Personally, I find it rude to discuss the subject, but so long as we're brainstorming reasons for this experiment, I wanted to be honest about circumstances. Our families might pay ransom, but it's clear something like that is of no use here. I only wish I had some of the practical skills at my disposal that others have.

My meaning is, we're quite a strange group of captives, aren't we? There are other people whose disappearance would attract less notice...so I wonder if that isn't part of the goal?

[Koizumi's not stupid, she grumbles in her head; does he really think she can't hear these suddenly self-effacing verbs? It's a game, not a cage match, and even if he can't lift much more than a cell phone, she--

--needs to rely on his intellect. Stay calm, like Peko said in her own strangely uncalm way.]

Throw the outside world into an even bigger panic than 42 random disappearances already would? Yeah, that might spread despair. [The strangely specific poetic word fits just fine on Koizumi's plain lips for some reason.]

Then what do we do about that? Break the security cameras so they can't watch?

Personally, I'd rather try to stay alive.

That'd be nice. I don't want to sacrifice other people for my own survival or anything, more than we all have to, but I just want...

[She sits down with her hands in her lap, shoulders finally sagging.]

I know. Plans and speculation are one thing, but this sort of unpredictable situation...

[Still sounding self-effacing and worried, but this time it feels sincere. Maybe.]

[He doesn't finish the sentence. It's eerie, to Koizumi, and hammers home that the sky is less than 50% bright by now. She realizes that he probably doesn't really want to tell her anything - or maybe he did, but she didn't pass the test. A chill runs down her spine.]

Can I ask you a question, Otori? [Pause.] Do you think it's stupid to have fun or make friends here? I don't mean, doing that instead of playing. But maybe, like, look forward to the sunrise over that castle, or a shelf of the candy shop Honey managed not to pillage?

--Sorry, I... [being vague on purpose.]

[Yes. Alliances are one thing, but it's very stupid to make friends here. Anyone should be able to see that. The fact that the very few people in the world he cares about are almost all here is the most terrifying part of this.

But that's not what he says.]

I think...if the purpose of this game is to instill distrust and division, coming to know one another can only help. Why do you think I sought you out? I find your thoughtfulness and your perspective refreshing.

As for having fun, it's more in my nature to worry, and to try to work hard, but because of that...it would be a relief to me to know that someone is helping all of them get through it.

That sounds like you... it's important to take care of everybody. [And... did she expect him to say anything better or different? He's doing his best. He's a serious boy. He flatters her. She is pinned between friendliness and skepticism.]

You definitely already understand that there's gotta be this "division" anyway. Just like there is within my class. [To be fair at this point Koizumi just thinks at least one of them is also lying about not having a buddy. Possibly that jerk Kuzuryuu.] Even though we're both probably perfectly regular players... we can't just pledge to give each other all the information, cause what if we get converted, or that info spreads to our friends and they slip something up?

You still wanna know how I think. That makes sense. It's one of the hardest parts of this game. All the strangers. And I wanna be better acquainted with you too... You probably are a halfway decent guy outside of this, you know? [Real polite there, Koizumi.]

See you tomorrow. I've got some stuff I wanna do to pass the time.

day one; afternoon; locked to Mahiru Koizumi

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