[ AUDIENCE: LUCRETIA ]

[dormheads]

Comments

[inaccordant]

Mm.

[there's a pause, before he pulls out another item.]

By the way, your bid for the auction has been accepted.

[ambiography]

What-?

[there's surprise there, at first, and she just-- blinks, before a sense of relief settles in and she exhales.]

-that should help. If there's anything we can learn from their side, that could be exactly what we need. I-- thank you, Hugo. I'll have to discuss with Claude as well, but-

[whew.]

Is this something we're going to need to keep quiet on, or?

[inaccordant]

[he hands what... looks to be a visitor's pass?]

Keep in mind that there may be things they're not willing to openly say. [because possible consequences.] Though perhaps there'll be cues you can read.

[just might be best not to expect direct answers.]

You can tell other people.

[ambiography]

Believe me, after yesterday I'm not going to fault any of us for-- being a little more cautious.

[she takes it with a nod, though.]

Do you know anything about other limitations?

[inaccordant]

Write the name of who you want to see. You'll have to decide who goes, between Claude and yourself, but if you go to the edge of campus, it should take you to somewhere you can speak with the person. It works once per week, every week.

[...]

I can probably make a few guesses, but I doubt I have anything to say that you haven't considered.

[ambiography]

So I take it that it'd be advisable to go ahead and do so before the new week.

[hm. she considers, a few moments.]

Maybe you don't, but- why don't you say it anyway, Hugo.

[she considers a lot of things all of the time, but why ignore potential info if she overlooked anything.]

[inaccordant]

[he shakes his head.]

It'll only start working next week.

[no using it this week, in other words.]

... It may be that Otome was involved in something meant to be limited, and the act of sharing it invoked a punishment. Alternatively—or secondly, as the reasons may not be mutually exclusive—Otome was telling the truth about trying to protect people from this world, then it might be that the world realized what she's been doing, and punished her for the act of killing in the first place.

[ambiography]

...I've wondered about how true that really was, though of course she must have believed it to be. I talked about it with someone else, and they made a fairly good point: if you were trying to protect people, why wouldn't it be the ones who needed it the most? People who are younger, more vulnerable in general? The patterns don't... really make sense, unless she was trying to protect others from the people she killed, and we have-- no indication of why that would be.

[actually edits bc i realized i forgot a question before i accidentally moved on--]

Oh-- before I forget. Are Claude and I going to be the only ones who could use the item? Is it locked specifically to us?

[inaccordant]

... Well, we still don't know enough to make any real conclusions from her motives. Those aren't necessarily the only possible options.

It isn't. You could, in theory, give it to someone else to use.

[ambiography]

...I'll keep that in mind. Hopefully Claude will agree, if it's necessary.

[look if molly does not come the fuck back this Will be handed off to one of the critroles for a week, she trusts them to get any information they can while also getting to see him.]

[inaccordant]

Well, it's yours now to do with as you please.

[ambiography]

Then I'm going to do what I can to help resolve this.

[inaccordant]

Good, because I wouldn't have accepted your bid otherwise.

[ambiography]

I didn't think you would.

But I hope that you believe me when I say I meant it. That's-- all that I want to do, here.

[inaccordant]

To me, the auction system is annoying, but you offered what I hoped for.

[help for everyone else, because hugo didn't want anything for himself.]

I think most people have that intention, even if it doesn't necessarily mean much on its own.

[ambiography]

I think enough of us have it to make it mean something.

[she has to hope so. god, she hopes so.]

...Hugo, while I'm here, do you mind if I ask you a little more about yourself?

[inaccordant]

[...]

What do you want to know?

[ambiography]

Do you remember the memory that I saw, the other week?

[inaccordant]

[he's silent for a bit.]

... Yes.

[ambiography]

...do you have anything to return to, after this?

[inaccordant]

... Does it matter? I made my choices.

[ambiography]

It matters to me, yes, but-- I also wanted to ask why.

[just what drove him to that-- why it needed to be done.]

[inaccordant]

Because the world had to change, and that was the only way.

[and that was far more important than his life.]

[ambiography]

Change in what way, Hugo?

[there's... well, there's no judgment, because she does understand making that kind of call. she's always had to preserve her own life, because she was the only one who knew the truth. who could fix it. but she's familiar enough with doing drastic things to change the world.]

[inaccordant]

[...]

A long time ago, a god became corrupt, and the other gods chose to seal him away instead of trying to purify him. However, even then, his corruption continued to seep into the land.

A false peace has been maintained by eradicating the symptoms that manifest, but...

[there's a stab of emotions past his wall—grief, before it gives way to resolve.]

Like that, nothing would ever truly get better. The only way was to take a risk and unseal him, so that the corruption could be cleansed once and for all.