DAY 60, B/E/ANUBIS/PINK GROUP CALL

[ghostofissues]

[ Sometime in the dead of night a few hours after the game, when all call participants are alone and in their dorms, they receive a series of messages from a display name with no number or email attached:

骸: To avoid sudden termination of your purchased video call or any mobile phone devices, please be considerate of the following guidelines:
骸: Do not record this call in any form.
骸: Do not attempt to contact uninvolved parties until after the completion of the call.
骸: Do not attempt to be overly familiar.
骸: Thank you very much.

And then their phones start to ring.

When they pick up, Mukuro’s face appears, beaming. The general angle and slight instability to the picture make it easy to tell he’s pointing his own phone at himself; it seems like he’s completely alone, wherever he is.

“Wherever he is” appears to be the courtyard of an old-style Japanese home, though it’s a bit disorienting to look at. Part of an old wisteria archway is in the shot behind him, but it seems to be, at once, heavily damaged, singed black in places and partly broken down; yet also perfectly whole and in full bloom even out of season; yet also completely chopped down and cleared away. The paper screens as well appear as two different styles simultaneously, the visuals of the two overlapping on top of each other; a worn but well-cared for framework in a darker color of wood and thicker screens, or a more modern-looking, cheaper framework holding paper with a machine-generated uniformity to its texture, or the first style again but with blood and rips and burns smashed and spattered all across it.

It’s probably easier to just look at Mukuro. He gives a cheery wave, with his marbled green nails. ]

Yaho~!

Comments

[ghostofissues]

That's right!

[worldlyafflictions]

What about people ready ta take a deal now?

[ghostofissues]

You won't lose or gain anything until the higher-ups let you out, but you can set the terms now if you're already decided.

[worldlyafflictions]

Just decide it in our hearts or like, actually contact somebody?

[ghostofissues]

I'll pass it along.

[worldlyafflictions]

Ah. Well thanks on behalf of potential interested parties, then. But ya wouldn't want ta be contacted about it privately right?

[ghostofissues]

No, I wouldn't. But if right now is no good, if you make it clear you're interested, I'm sure danna will take notice.

[worldlyafflictions]

Always good ta think things through before trying ta settle more fiddly stuff like terms. Ya said he's ah.. more accepting of 'humanborns'? but has he got that much attention ta give us? Might be good ta know what he'd prefer as an offering.

[ghostofissues]

If you're "Vengeful," he'll definitely notice.

[worldlyafflictions]

Hmm...

Is it like.. off ta be fodder with the rest! or does he have a use for other types?

[ghostofissues]

We'll take anyone who really wants it.

[worldlyafflictions]

I'm sure that'll get more tempting as stuff goes on...

Is he collecting for any purpose or is that not something he plans ta advertise?

[ghostofissues]

I don't think you guys really get it. Everyone goes one of three ways in the end; either you go with us, you go against us, or you end up one of the faceless. And that isn't to say "everyone we put on this show," but everyone. So of course he's "collecting you." It's at least better for danna if you fail than get strung along by Exael's ilk, I suppose, but those things aren't much use. So really, it's better for both sides if people like that kid grow a spine and stick to their units a little more.

[worldlyafflictions]

I remember being told we're not actually dead when I first woke up here but that really just sounds like sorting the dead...

[ghostofissues]

Just think of it like you're ahead of the curve ♥

[worldlyafflictions]

Mmm...

Sticking ta our unit shows spine, huh. I'll remember that too.

[ghostofissues]

Since your memories were taken, that's the "self" you were given instead. Like I said, it's kind of gross. Well, whether it's for the sake of "faith" or "desire" in the end, either way you'll need force of will.

[worldlyafflictions]

So it's gross cause it brings us closer ta being like the "faceless", I'm assuming. Unit identity, a sense of will, solidifying a sense of "self" either through experience or regaining memories, some combination of those are necessary ta move on successfully?

[ghostofissues]

Something like that. Work hard, ok?

[ghostofissues]

All done? Good, I still have an errand after all.

[ the camera feed jerks dizzily as Mukuro flings his arms out, shuddering to a stop pointed mostly up at the starry night sky ]

Something I should have finished a long time ago.

[ with the sound of an explosion, the video feed floods brightly red-orange-white for just an instance before the call cuts off. ]

[worldlyafflictions]

Sure, thanks for the encouragement. Please don't play so rough with us that we lose progress if that's how it is!

But it looks like everybody's done so I shouldn't keep ya.

[ghostofissues]

It's not my fault if you don't measure up ♥

But if you're all done, then I have an errand to see to.

[ the camera feed jerks dizzily as Mukuro flings his arms out, shuddering to a stop pointed mostly up at the starry night sky ]

Something I should have finished a long time ago.

[ with the sound of an explosion, the video feed floods brightly red-orange-white for just an instance before the call cuts off. ]