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For Helena
[The situation at three in the morning is as follows. Dio had gone to bed all at once in the same clothes he wore the whole day, halfway ready to throw out the entire experience as a bad dream. This scheme failed. He couldn't sleep... and he remembered some place out in the mall that had bothered him. And so, he sits down on a chair in there.
One cat sits on top of a palm tree, pawing at the top hat. A second cat is sprawled across his lap, and Dio is petting it. He's gathered some sushi from "Yay!" set out for them. A third cat pads across the floor and nuzzles against Dio's ankles in the process of getting at the food.]
There you go...
One cat sits on top of a palm tree, pawing at the top hat. A second cat is sprawled across his lap, and Dio is petting it. He's gathered some sushi from "Yay!" set out for them. A third cat pads across the floor and nuzzles against Dio's ankles in the process of getting at the food.]
There you go...
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... looks like I'll be living off canned food then.
[ And it shouldn't bother her because fancy food is basically like fancy clothing and everything that surpasses the necessities tastes of prestige and arrogance... but the thought is still a little jarring. ]
Might as well have late dinner while I'm up here though.
[ Now if only she could cook................... ]
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[He adjusts his hat, resulting in Cat 1 pressing both paw pads against the palm of his hand. Dio really thinks for a second about how unusual it is that Helena seems to have a self imposed conviction that preserved food is a necessary evil. A preference for that taste would be one thing; while he's personally enjoying all this fresh meat and everything immensely, Dio is extremely accustomed to packaged food, so he could understand someone else finding it familiar and comforting n It doesn't cost more Monopoly money, right? Then why not just come out here?]
So. Helena, right. [He defaults to the Romance language pronunciation, obviously only reading it.] What's your damage, don't like muzak playing where you're chowing down?
no subject
I'm a societal drop-out.
[ Judging by her intonation she might as well have been saying she's right-handed, but as she continues more force enters her voice. ]
I'm tired of participating in a world that cultivates the meaningless and lets people feed on costy illusions. This mall perfectly encompasses all that is wrong with the world - have you seen the price differences down in the stores? We're not equal even in a death game. We're defined by numbers on our digital bank account, that's all we are until we're out cold. It makes me sick.
So until I think of a way to leave this place behind for good, I'm planning to reject any and all participation in the foolishness of it all.
[ It's not the best plan right now, but it definitely pleases Helena more than the idea of playing along does. They want her to live here? She'll reject it, reject the other participants as far as she can, reject buying anything more than the dire necessities... and eventually... well, something is bound to reveal itself? ]
FFR, VLR spoilers
You're... separating yourself from... worldly greed?
[He has never once been in this situation before, and he doesn't know what to think. She's clearly not an initiated believer - for starters, she doesn't recognize his face. So how would an outsider come to those conclusions...? Maybe she's just in the outermost circle. Well, even in that case, risks are out of the question; he has to prioritize his own existence, as one of Left's bodies. Dio ends up breaking eye contact as he continues the conversation with bright force that wouldn't be out of place on a normal person.]
I don't know where you read that, but, you've got a point, I think. I'm already down to eighty thingamajigs after like a day. How are we ever supposed to afford any of their diamonds and pearls? They're just taunting us. Gilded cage or whatever you want to call it.
no subject
Helena nods, maintaining eye contact with Dio. ]
Even that doesn't quite cut it - a gilded cage might make things readily available to placate us while keeping us captive neverytheless. But like this... what are we supposed to do once the money runs out, when stealing puts us at risk? They'll have us wrapped around their fingers, begging for them to give us work so we can afford the barest necessities.
Buying those luxurious items here tempts us to go out of our way and exhaust our resources early, making us even more desperate. Yet they can count on it that concepts of prestige are ingrained into us - we're brainwashed into thinking the more expensive and rare things elevate our self worth, which is why binge buying when you feel down is so common.
[ In a way, the design of this trap is to be commended, if you felt like complimenting your jailers. Just a few weeks earlier, Helena would have fallen victim to the very same flaws she's pointing out now. A chilling thought. ]
no subject
[He is suddenly very self conscious of the golden chain around his neck and tries to pull it down beneath his shirt. Unfortunately the collar of his shirt is much too low, because, if you can tolerate a little slenderness, he has a conventionally handsome chest, and he cannot be tamed. Dio put too much thought into this outfit! Regardless of how "ironic" his interest in "disguises", this really is the sense in which he appreciates "fashion", cultivating a single personal aesthetic ideal rather than following external trends to create an ongoing supply of multiple passable outfits.
He does not think that there is any correlation between receiving permission to create his own disguise and Helena's description of a pacifying gilded cage.]
I'm confused about one thing. What the hell kind of work would they have in mind? The only thing they really recommended is [jokingly dramatic] murder, which supposedly gets you a ticket out of this place. Then you wouldn't even need the Monopoly money here. Of course, that could be a bullshit promise, but I don't see a reason to doubt that and worry about punishments for stealing.
no subject
A fourth
challengercat appears by then, curiously tapping into the space between the conversing humans. ]That's the question. They're very insistent on the murders being done one-at-a-time with only one final winner, so it would definitely get us more time to get through than we have money for if the group cooperates.
Which I for my part don't intend to do.
[ And she hopes this sanity is shared by others. ]
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[He had been partway through telekinetically nudging the plate towards the fourth cat, and he is sufficiently surprised that it goes in the other direction, so the cat pounces forward.]
I mean, of course the rules say some bozo could get caught for killing, and executed. And after that, everyone else would still be trapped, so it could happen again. But... I don't know, I never thought about that part. Forget about how none of us have lost our cool and busted out brass knuckles in the first place. Doesn't it seem pret-ty hard to solve a murder here? There's no way to test for drugs, or get fingerprints, or... uh, you get the picture.
no subject
[ Then she falls silent for a moment, considering the second part. ]
You're right though... if we fail the investigation we get 'punished'. Are you assuming punishment is an execution or did that get confirmed? Because if so...
[ Then that's a game seriously skewed in the favor of whoever attempts to kill and she's Not Happy with it. ]
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[He pops open his phone and then starts jabbing his thumb angrily at the screen when that word "executed" doesn't pop up again.] This stupid little... would it be so hard to--? [Finally he's shutting it off and looking at Helena again.]
Okay, look, the prissy little detective boy was going on and on about some killer who gets away with it escapes judgment, and the Life Coach was just all, "no, like, judgment isn't the same thing as execution~! Execution is just one type of judgment!" And on about how getting away with it is the killer getting a nice judgment instead. So doesn't that make it sound a lot like getting away with it means not getting executed?
[He's honestly more worked up about the possibility that he had misunderstood something than the very harsh reality as he had previously understood it.] Look, don't get me wrong, if the punishments aren't ten-year-old speak for death, that's great! It would be nice to not get shot for busting a hole in the wall of this place. Just... [He's giving himself a headache. Strategies about who would die when, Dio knows those like the back of his hand. But this game where he has to think how a corrupted person would react? It's driving him out of his mind.] ...man...
no subject
[ She says this line fairly quietly. His frustrated trailing of is understandable and the box of horror he opened by bringing up the impossibility of a proper investigation doesn't make anything better. Helena wants to escape the world. This does not at all equal to dying. ]
For investigating, we'd have to rely on the detectives and trust them not to be the killer. Ugh.
no subject
Hey, Helena, can I ask you something? I've never actually been to Japan, so this is probably just something that you see all the time on the streets when you stay there long enough, but... is it really hard to get a little pin that ~proves~ you're a law officer? Like a decoration. Not a bar code or anything.
no subject
I've only been in Japan on vacation, but I wouldn't know this to be any different from police badges elsewhere. You could make a counterfeit, but they have security measures that make them hard to replicate accurately and hold up to scrutiny.
[ A pause. ]
I couldn't tell you what qualifies a Japanese one for real though.
no subject
[When she puts it that way, the audacity involved in Akechi presenting it that way is astronomical. He's got to shelve his suspicions that it's some little toy - maybe it's a relic of the analog age. What a blessing that Helena could set him straight before he tried to turn the whole group against Akechi.]
Anyway. The trial "system" is pretty screwed up. Lotta conflict of interest. The killer acting like a detective the way you said, not to mention some guys deciding what happens to the people they already know? I don't think that would fly with HR in a real police department.
no subject
Here's to hoping whoever snaps is sloppy in their panic.
[ She gives a lopsided grin, certainly not too optimistic but unwilling to give in to despair either. ]