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(ROLE) CULT 6.0
cult.
On Monday at 10 PM, Luxanna, Dimitri, Manwol, and Ichiro receive an encrypted e-mail.
No one is in the halls as they creep to the abandoned classroom circled on the map. The normally locked door opens, revealing the room inside.
There are no windows and the lights are off, leaving the room cast in near darkness. Only a handful of candles, in what's probably a fire hazard, keep it illuminated; the fog being emitted from a personal fog machine doesn't help with visibility. What was once the teacher's desk has been pushed to the center of the room, with chairs seated around it. For some reason, there are cat decorations everywhere, mixed in with various (garish) occult items and patterns.
As of Week 3, a lamp has been added to the room to give it some light.
As of Week 5, the fog machine has been turned off.
As of Week 6, all of the junk has been shoved to a corner so that Manwol can put whatever she wants in the room. This is just Manwol's free room now, apparently.
There is a cat-shaped bulletin board hanging on the wall, which reads:
As of Week 3, more notes have been added.
d4rkness@Wiwaldi.edu
Come to classroom 1304; see attached map.
No one is in the halls as they creep to the abandoned classroom circled on the map. The normally locked door opens, revealing the room inside.
There are no windows and the lights are off, leaving the room cast in near darkness. Only a handful of candles, in what's probably a fire hazard, keep it illuminated; the fog being emitted from a personal fog machine doesn't help with visibility. What was once the teacher's desk has been pushed to the center of the room, with chairs seated around it. For some reason, there are cat decorations everywhere, mixed in with various (garish) occult items and patterns.
As of Week 3, a lamp has been added to the room to give it some light.
As of Week 5, the fog machine has been turned off.
As of Week 6, all of the junk has been shoved to a corner so that Manwol can put whatever she wants in the room. This is just Manwol's free room now, apparently.
There is a cat-shaped bulletin board hanging on the wall, which reads:
» This world is trying to assimilate all of you, who started this year, into its setting. If it succeeds, you'll remain trapped in this school, your souls drained until you cease to exist.
» Each week, this place will make active efforts on a few select students. Once the weekend hits, they'll all be beyond saving. However, if any one of them is killed before then, they'll all be freed from the link, at least for the remainder of the week.
» Death isn't necessarily permanent. Those who died can potentially be saved. However, no such option exists for the fully assimilated.
» At the start of the week you'll be informed if you may recruit one person to join the cult. Provide a list of 4-8 people you want to recruit and you'll be told which one of them is approved. If you extend an invitation and they accept, they will join the cult the following week.
» Preventing the assimilation aside, even the original cult was meant to be a secret, so it's important that word doesn't spread. If anyone else learns about your involvement in the cult or your task, whether from your mouth or another's, this world may enact consequences. No guarantee on who they might affect, so it's up to you to decide if risking harm upon another is worth it.
As of Week 3, more notes have been added.
A summary of what the others were told previously:
» This world is forced to act according to an internal logic. It isn't always aware of everything going on, and it can't break whatever rules it wishes. This would presumably be why you all arrived here with your minds intact, rather than already assimilated; it's possible that this defence mechanism has manifested in other ways as well, to try and correct things to how they should be.
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... I think that you are being pessimistic about the progress everyone is making with the time we've bought them, Ichiro. Please do not imply that we are not learning anything.
And it isn't as if we are trying to get caught. But I think we should be realistic. At this point most people know that I am carrying out these tasks, or involved with them. Trying to hide it is a waste of effort. Whether clear or unclear, I am a back-up vote that many are trying to avoid, and I am responsible for my actions, so this is fine. I am also the one person in this group who is already known, and as such there is no new risk in my being caught if it should happen.
I understand you want there to be more of us, but I truly do not think it any better for there to be one less from the numbers of the rest than for there to be one less from our numbers.
[ at the end of the day, it will always come down to voting for one person. getting caught doesn't change how many people die. and sure, this group is presumably safe from assimilation, but... it'll just move on to someone else. it'll just be someone else. ]
no subject
"it's a difficult conversation, but i'm grateful to have it." there is so much that they can only argue about with each other. ]
I am not chasing death, just accepting of the possibility. Perhaps we should have made this clear, but... we are not acting presuming that this will go on forever. Hugo conjectures that this world is likely to strike out against us all soon, with 'graduation' coming up. While we cannot be sure of that, it's not a matter of killing each other indefinitely, but making sure that we do not lose people to this world before we can save everyone in it.
People have already found out our motives, even if we cannot confirm them—they are clever, and making progress. I trust in everyone here to find the solutions we need, before the worst falls upon us.
[ but. someone has to die thursday. and someone has to die on sunday. if not them, it will be another—someone perhaps compelled by this place to act, who will be haunted because they never had a choice. or someone innocent, who they cannot speak to defend in trial.
there is no good option. but at least he chose to be here. ]
...I can bear whatever betrayal Sakyou feels if I were to strike him down. And all that may follow, whether it be death or life. But I could not explain to him that I chose to kill someone so young because they were the easier target.
no subject
She looks towards Hugo, who i assume has been listening to all of this, then she looks at ichiro,]
I understand your feelings, Ichiro. And I appreciate that you spoke up -- even though you're new, that doesn't mean your words mean any less than ours. ...I think you're just unfortunate enough to have joined a group with people who are more or less just like you.
[except for her of course, she looks grimly at Luxanna and Dimitri.]
I know the both of you have accepted it -- the burdens you all so badly want to carry -- and I'll respect that. But we carry those too. With you. You're all so frustrating. [manwol?] And yes we're here to stop others from having to do what we have to do, but we're all responsible! Regardless of whether the others know the truth or not! We kill, and then they vote, and then we're expelled, and then they have to kill us. We've all stained our hands.
...I tried to save Tsuyukusa, and this place ended up forcing him to kill Otome. And I killed Leo, even though I knew that Tsuyukusa loved him and that I'm not allowed to harm humans at risk of being destroyed. So if you're all going to accept responsibility, then you have to let the rest of us do it too, or I'll beat you all up.
[what was her point again... she doesn't even know anymore, she's just beyond frustrated that these are all the choices they have to make, GOD!! SHE LOST THE THREAD OF THE CONVERSATION!!! SHE'S JUST WORRIED!!! she grips her arm, grimaces. she just made a protag? speech too and now she's drained. she's going to eat everyone's onigiri now, thanks.]
no subject
except he's not into speeches and that's not a productive thought anyway so he just stays quiet. you can... continue...]
no subject
...he doesn't say anything back, though, just listening to everyone's points made, instead, and staring down at the ground, brows furrowed, mouth drawn in a thin, tight line. ]
...didn't mean to make it sound like I didn't think they weren't making progress. [ quietly, ashamed. he's just stressed. ] Can I be realistic and say I give a shit about you, too? About all of you. [ that i care? that i can't just watch you walk into death like it's nothing? ] I'm with Manwol. You don't have to shoulder it alone. I'm here now, too.
[ but, after everything they've said, his shoulders slump. ]
...just... try. Can I ask you to try not to get caught? Both of you. Especially if I'm staying behind, I just... [ his gaze shifts - specifically, it shifts to dimitri. ] ...Iris needs us to stay alive.
[ his thoughts are just - worried, and heartfelt. she can't take another loss. she needs us to come home. ] If you get caught, then... then you get caught, and that's that.
no subject
This is why it is best if I am the one caught instead of Dimitri. Rather, I have already been caught?
I do not mean this as any sort of slight because you are the newest of us, Ichiro, but as a matter of pragmatism for what those outside of this circle already know.
How many people are left who do not already know how many deaths I am responsible for? What, then, is the point in trying to confuse things? Whether the evidence leads them to it or not, they know that I am involved. I am a back-up vote, even should they not make sense of the pieces they are given. There are those who will avert their eyes, and those who will not.
I believe Manwol intends to help obscure the scene and I will not object to this. I find the compassion of it touching. But...
[ A shadow thrives beside the light, a shadow thrives beside the light, a shadow thrives beside the light. her smile is a little more strained. ]
I do not wish to die. But what is the point when I have been a dead woman walking for weeks?
no subject
Lux... [ he slips out of his formalities for a moment. ] It is as Manwol says. We are all responsible for these things—I will not speak of pragmatism in matters such as this. It is not better for you to be caught in my place. You do not deserve to see yourself that way.
no subject
You're the last person who should kill or get expelled, if we all truly wanted to be pragmatic about this. The marquee said to save you and Otome -- that means the people you killed made a decision different from your own.
Otome and Byleth were dead women walking too, and they both wanted to live. You have the right to want that too -- to fight for it.
no subject
The point is that we don't want you to die, either! [ he doesn't quite shout it, but that comes with heat, anger, desperation and care, all at once. ] You're not a dead woman walking. You're a living person who got put into this shitty situation, Lux, and I'm not letting you sit there and condemn yourself before anyone's even cast a vote!
Fuck no. I told you, I'm in your corner, even if you aren't, and - If you're not fighting for you, then I sure as shit am!
no subject
... I do not mean to condemn myself, nor seek my own end, but only to say that the group at large will do what they will do. I think that we are only fussing over control that we do not have, and choices that will not matter. But I will do whatever puts the rest of you at ease.
At any rate, let us get back on track. Who is it that we are killing? Sakyou? Or Malik? [ and, after a pause, to be polite: ] Or Taichi.
no subject
...I do not intend to obfuscate my crimes, but I will not fling myself at death's door, either. [ if someone tries to cover for him, though... well, it's probably fine. ] Nor will I stand by and allow you to take the fall for something all of us are responsible for.
By our metric thus far, Sakyou is the most able-bodied target, so that is my choice. We can put it to a vote.
no subject
She has so many thoughts but for once she's able to keep all of them to herself. Her expression is neutral. The only emotion she's conveying is in the way she balls her hands up into fists, then forcibly relaxes them.]
Let's kill Sakyou.
[they're killing him to save his soul. Manwol knows this and yet she phrases it like this anyway. spiteful and mean as ever, even now]
I'm coming along too. If neither of you want to cover up your crimes, then I'll do it.
no subject
Fine. [ fuck. ]
no subject
Sakyou it is.