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]

Yes, yes, I'm at your service~

[columbidaring]

All right, then let's begin. We won't waste your time.

You were a previous idol who graduated, of course. In your run, did you lose your memories as well, or are we the first set to be amnesiac?

[ghostofissues]

The first set. To be honest, I think it's kind of gross, but it's not like I have anything to do with that kind of decision-making.

[columbidaring]

Are you allowed to tell me who does? Just out of curiosity. It's okay if you're not.

[ghostofissues]

I'm allowed to do whatever I want~♥

Almost all of this was arranged by Pythia and Asmodeus.

[columbidaring]

[ > Save keywords: Pythia ]

Okay, got it.

So, Exael made it seem like a sucker's bargain to follow in your footsteps, but it can't possibly be that one-sided or else no one would do it. What did you gain from the whole deal? And what did it cost?

[ghostofissues]

I came back from the dead.

[columbidaring]

... Well. That's a pretty solid gain.

[ghostofissues]

Besides, you can't trust anything out of that woman's mouth.

[columbidaring]

Because she wants us to take her side, right? And you don't care whether we do or not?

[ghostofissues]

You're exactly right, I really don't! I'm just doing whatever I feel like.

[ghostofissues]

But it doesn't matter what I'm like. Liars lie.

[columbidaring]

[ INTERNAL MONOLOGUE: ]

You're not wrong.

[ghostofissues]

Any~way~, you talked to her, didn't you?

[columbidaring]

I didn't, personally. But a couple of people did. I think the gist of it was, 'if you choose heaven you get to go home, and if you choose hell you give up your soul forever, and if you give up you give up your soul forever, so suffer for us until we decide you're good to leave'... or something.

Actually, why does Exael run most of the worst games? Are they the ones Heaven came up with?

[ghostofissues]

I make my own, but I don't ask about theirs. Should I try a little harder to compete?

[columbidaring]

I, personally, would rather that you did not.

She makes it sound like she has nothing to do with the planning process.

[ghostofissues]

Maybe she leaves it all up to her boss then. I don't really care.

[columbidaring]

Fair enough, fair enough!

Does everyone who graduates have to choose either Heaven, go back to where they were before, no changes, or specifically Asmodeus?

[ghostofissues]

No. But danna is more likely to make you an offer than just about anyone else. If you really hate him that bad, like I said, switching factions isn't even hard.

[columbidaring]

I don't hate him. We've never had a direct conversation.

You went over how we were chosen a bit - pretty much randomly - but who did the random selection? And who came up with the whole system? There's multiple factions, but one of them must have had the idea in the first place.

[ghostofissues]

How should I know?

[columbidaring]

[ S-SHRUGS ]

Thought you might, that's all. From where I'm standing, everyone knows more than me.

[ghostofissues]

Hey, did anyone ask Exael the question you've asked of me? "Why did you make this choice?"

[columbidaring]

I'm not sure if they did. They were too busy wrestling with the most basics. But if Heaven's offer sends you back home unchanged, then she didn't take that one, did she? Because she's still here, and not home.