I have somewhere I'm staying, don't worry. It's just for tonight. [It's a purposeful choice, more than an attempt to withdraw. Quite frankly, he wouldn't leave them on their own if it wasn't important.
He also doesn't seem to have any intention of doubting Sora's conviction--no attempts to convince him that it could've been anything other than intentional foul play. He just nods, serious and focused.]
Just...be safe wherever you're going, okay? [he does not want to deal with more people dying at the moment, and he does like leo enough that he would like to see him stay alive.]
I haven't found anything new yet, but...I've been trying to think of who would even kill him.
[that's his riku??? that's very rude of them.]
I don't even know if it was one of us or if it was the gas station anymore.
[He would also prefer to not die, because then he can't help Sora and Kairi catch a murderer? That wouldn't help anyone.
It's a little hard to tell, as always, but his expression softens slightly in sympathy. For the situation in general, yes, but...
...as horrible as it was, as much as it weighs down on his soul, at least he saw what happened to Elliot. He knew, for a fact, who was responsible. For Riku to have simply collapsed like that... well, the most obvious thing is poison, and anyone could do something like that.
(Sei handed him that tea, but would she really have done something like that? It seems so obvious, but so implausible. Still, at this point, they can't rule anyone out.)
It would have to be someone incredibly foolish, or incredibly cruel, he thinks, but he doesn't want to say that out loud. Instead--]
[thanks for living, leo. sora doesn't quite catch the way his expression softens, but he does at least seem to sense the shift in his demeanor small though it may be. he isn't sure what leo's thinking but sora himself is just in a state of frustration that there wasn't anything they could do, that someone had really hurt his friend and just left him to die.
on the one hand, at least riku didn't burn alive. on the other, it's not like he's unaware how poison works. so. hm.]
It could be this place, or that rat, or people here are just going crazy from the gas fumes. I don't know. But we can't rule anything out yet. [...] When Riku and I went exploring, we found a couple of things, but I keep thinking back to something we found in this notebook. Like a slogan? "Known for our quick turnaround."
If we're all "truckers" and this truck stop is known for its "quick turnaround", how do we know that killing us isn't the quick turnaround?
[Hmmm. Leo rests a finger on his chin, thinking this over.]
You saw those notices, didn't you? [On the door.] They had that written on them, too. [So following that line of logic... if they're considered customers, then this place is meant to provide them with a service, and Sora's wondering if that "service" is death?] If that's the case, then "the management" may not be involved. Otherwise they likely wouldn't have described this as "tragedies".
[Well, probably not. It could be meant just to appease them, but he finds that kind of doubtful. But he's still thinking it over, running through possibilities in his head.
Hmmm.]
...Do you suppose it could be possessing the people here?
Yeah, we saw them. [he's not thrilled either way.] Kairi said that she and someone else got a heads up that something big was going to happen Saturday. That was on Monday, before Iris even died. If the deaths weren't planned before that why would they get a warning?
[so. he has to wonder how tragic "management" truly finds these things. that's an interesting question though and he sort of mulls it over. it's not like possession is a new concept to him.]
...it's a possibility, sure. And if someone's possessed they might not be able to even tell us they're doing these things. But then we would have to figure out how to break the possession, wouldn't we?
[Ugh, that's a fair point. He nods, thinking it over as he explains his thought process.]
We're meant to be customers, but I haven't seen anyone from this place anywhere. [No shopkeepers, no cleaning staff, nothing.] If I understand the meaning of the phrase correctly, and your theory is correct, the station may be taking control of us in order to complete that task.
[Since it's not like trucks have hands for moida... but he sighs, because this is, of course, all totally guesswork. And Sora's right--even if it's a correct theory, what can they do about it?]
After last night, I suspect more of us might've begun searching for answers. [Because haha hoo boy being locked in and forced asleep was not fun.] We'll have to ask tomorrow, if we can.
[If it's not like. A surprise death match like Nuwa predicted and they aren't all busy trying to survive or something.]
It's possible. When Riku and I were in that office, there was a mug on this warmer thing sitting on the desk. Like someone had been there recently. I don't know if that means someone else really is here or if we're just supposed to think so.
[neither answer is great.]
Have you heard anything from anyone else yet? Kairi, Riku and I were going to try and get everyone together today to share information and stuff, but...that didn't happen. [hard to care as much at the moment when your best friend dies!]
[Well that's concerning. And it kind of points to the idea that their captors have been here all along, observing them--okay, no, now he's looping back around to the mass experiment theory. Not the time for that.
He shakes his head slightly, though.]
I spoke to Miss Nagiko earlier. She didn't say anything specific, only that she might have a some way to find a clue. [She didn't seem super confident about it, but he won't say that.] I haven't spoken much to anyone else.
[Or rather, most of the people he has spoken to are fucking dead or assholes, so.]
[now is not the time to loop back to that even if leo might be on to something. instead, there's a hum of understanding or acknowledgement from sora. ]
I think Kairi has something to help, too. [... ] If we are supposed to figure stuff out tomorrow, I know we should try to help everyone. But Kairi and I need to find out what happened to Riku. We need to know so we can bring him back.
[so. sorry everyone else. sora will be helpful to a point but he does have priorities.]
[Leo is absolutely rude enough to say "yeah I don't care about everyone else either", but he won't. It's not entirely true, anyway--he cares about Iris, and Hyth, and... honestly even the strangers, a little bit, insofar as it's likely their deaths will give them more answers overall.
But otherwise... well, look. Sometimes the pieces of the game fall a certain way. And Leo's always done what he wants, which isn't about to change now.]
No one will hold it against you. [He doesn't think anyone will try, but if they do, they'll have Leo to deal with.] Do what you need to do.
[leo...normally sora would encourage everyone to care about what's happening but. you know. there sure is something happening here that he can't exactly comprehend.]
Some people might. [he can definitely think of some people who might.] But I don't know if I care? ...thanks though. Really.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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I have somewhere I'm staying, don't worry. It's just for tonight. [It's a purposeful choice, more than an attempt to withdraw. Quite frankly, he wouldn't leave them on their own if it wasn't important.
He also doesn't seem to have any intention of doubting Sora's conviction--no attempts to convince him that it could've been anything other than intentional foul play. He just nods, serious and focused.]
Have you discovered anything?
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I haven't found anything new yet, but...I've been trying to think of who would even kill him.
[that's his riku??? that's very rude of them.]
I don't even know if it was one of us or if it was the gas station anymore.
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[He would also prefer to not die, because then he can't help Sora and Kairi catch a murderer? That wouldn't help anyone.
It's a little hard to tell, as always, but his expression softens slightly in sympathy. For the situation in general, yes, but...
...as horrible as it was, as much as it weighs down on his soul, at least he saw what happened to Elliot. He knew, for a fact, who was responsible. For Riku to have simply collapsed like that... well, the most obvious thing is poison, and anyone could do something like that.
(Sei handed him that tea, but would she really have done something like that? It seems so obvious, but so implausible. Still, at this point, they can't rule anyone out.)
It would have to be someone incredibly foolish, or incredibly cruel, he thinks, but he doesn't want to say that out loud. Instead--]
You think it could be this place itself?
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on the one hand, at least riku didn't burn alive. on the other, it's not like he's unaware how poison works. so. hm.]
It could be this place, or that rat, or people here are just going crazy from the gas fumes. I don't know. But we can't rule anything out yet. [...] When Riku and I went exploring, we found a couple of things, but I keep thinking back to something we found in this notebook. Like a slogan? "Known for our quick turnaround."
If we're all "truckers" and this truck stop is known for its "quick turnaround", how do we know that killing us isn't the quick turnaround?
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You saw those notices, didn't you? [On the door.] They had that written on them, too. [So following that line of logic... if they're considered customers, then this place is meant to provide them with a service, and Sora's wondering if that "service" is death?] If that's the case, then "the management" may not be involved. Otherwise they likely wouldn't have described this as "tragedies".
[Well, probably not. It could be meant just to appease them, but he finds that kind of doubtful. But he's still thinking it over, running through possibilities in his head.
Hmmm.]
...Do you suppose it could be possessing the people here?
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[so. he has to wonder how tragic "management" truly finds these things. that's an interesting question though and he sort of mulls it over. it's not like possession is a new concept to him.]
...it's a possibility, sure. And if someone's possessed they might not be able to even tell us they're doing these things. But then we would have to figure out how to break the possession, wouldn't we?
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We're meant to be customers, but I haven't seen anyone from this place anywhere. [No shopkeepers, no cleaning staff, nothing.] If I understand the meaning of the phrase correctly, and your theory is correct, the station may be taking control of us in order to complete that task.
[Since it's not like trucks have hands for moida... but he sighs, because this is, of course, all totally guesswork. And Sora's right--even if it's a correct theory, what can they do about it?]
After last night, I suspect more of us might've begun searching for answers. [Because haha hoo boy being locked in and forced asleep was not fun.] We'll have to ask tomorrow, if we can.
[If it's not like. A surprise death match like Nuwa predicted and they aren't all busy trying to survive or something.]
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[neither answer is great.]
Have you heard anything from anyone else yet? Kairi, Riku and I were going to try and get everyone together today to share information and stuff, but...that didn't happen. [hard to care as much at the moment when your best friend dies!]
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He shakes his head slightly, though.]
I spoke to Miss Nagiko earlier. She didn't say anything specific, only that she might have a some way to find a clue. [She didn't seem super confident about it, but he won't say that.] I haven't spoken much to anyone else.
[Or rather, most of the people he has spoken to are fucking dead or assholes, so.]
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I think Kairi has something to help, too. [... ] If we are supposed to figure stuff out tomorrow, I know we should try to help everyone. But Kairi and I need to find out what happened to Riku. We need to know so we can bring him back.
[so. sorry everyone else. sora will be helpful to a point but he does have priorities.]
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But otherwise... well, look. Sometimes the pieces of the game fall a certain way. And Leo's always done what he wants, which isn't about to change now.]
No one will hold it against you. [He doesn't think anyone will try, but if they do, they'll have Leo to deal with.] Do what you need to do.
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Some people might. [he can definitely think of some people who might.] But I don't know if I care? ...thanks though. Really.
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[Sora saw him beat up Sei for jumping on his head so like. Gestures. Sora is not the only feral person in this room right now.]
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...follow our lead, but if you can help us look I would appreciate it. We have some ideas of what happened, but no way to prove it yet.