Catch-all: Taichi

[ercnerd]

Comments

[goalsides]

...the acceptance letter we all got was part of the script. And it was talking about the dorm wars.

[give him a second to think.]

"Lifelong friendships? Heated competition? Rivals to lovers? Lies and deceit, steaminess and hot-blooded intensity? Eat your heart out, XOXO Gossip Squirrel."

Like someone narrating the whole thing.

[ercnerd]

XOXO Gossip Squirrel? Is that supposed to be the author?

[goalsides]

Maybe the squirrels really are spying on us...or the geese. They did say to replace the bees with geese in case bees are needed later. And didn't we just have a class about bees?

[ercnerd]

Was there anything about the frogs and fish?

[goalsides]

Nope. But it's possible it just wasn't everything available. It was more like an idea...

...but you saw the applications of the dorm heads and the way things were written on them. I can't tell if the applications are fake or if the notes are, but considering that their names were in the script I'm gonna guess the applications themselves.

[ercnerd]

That seems likely. It makes me wonder if the Dorm Heads are being manipulated as much as we are.

[goalsides]

That's the impression I'm getting so far. I want to keep looking and see what other information we might find, but it's something to keep in mind. If they are being manipulated, it means we have to try to figure out how to fix it.

[ercnerd]

I'll tell everyone at the dorm. If those papers are to be believed, we're all being made to ad-lib this script. Investigating it further could also potentially lead us to the killers' motives.

[goalsides]

That's exactly why I'm telling you. I didn't get to share last night, and I'm locked out now so I'm leaving it to you. If I find anything else I'll let you know to update the others, too.

[ercnerd]

You can always ask one of us to let you in, you know. It'd save me the trouble of using my breath.

[goalsides]

I might. Maya, Sagihara, and Lucretia all said they'd let me back in whenever I wanted. But I figured they would listen to you the most about this kind of thing.

[ercnerd]

[He wonders about that. If it were him, he would've relayed the information to Lucretia.]

. . . Before you go, I have something to tell you.

[goalsides]

[it's fine. he likes sieghart enough and figures it'll eventually make its way through.]

Sure. What's up?

[ercnerd]

Did you ask the other three about what happened from the hangar and onward?

[goalsides]

Yeah. I talked to all four of you. Why?

[ercnerd]

Then you heard about how we died, right?

[goalsides]

Multiple times. The collars and everything, and every time it was just a bad end before you rebooted to the last place you were.

[...he at least looks a little remorseful about that.]

I'm sorry it happened to you guys.

[ercnerd]

My immortal body is used to it.

I didn't tell you when you asked for a reason, so I'm just making sure that you're aware of it now. We completed the map, but I have a feeling there'll be more of these to come.

[goalsides]

I get the feeling, too, especially now that there's the idea we're just a part of someone else's story.

I talked to Chad about maybe trying to see if they can track people when they disappear if it happens again. No promises, but it was something to consider.

[ercnerd]

[There's a beat before he sighs.]

I thought I was done being part of someone's story . . . It never ends.

[goalsides]

Destiny's weird like that. [there's a half-grin.]

But now that we know about this possibility, there's a chance we can change the story before it's over.

[ercnerd]

Stories like these are obstinate and prone to self-correction. It's going to take a lot of legwork to challenge ths one's course.

[goalsides]

You don't think people will put in the legwork this time?

[ercnerd]

It's not that I doubt it so much as I find it troublesome. If this were one of Rin's dreams, we could've prevented all of this just by standing still and doing nothing.

[goalsides]

[he seems to think...]

...who's Rin?