imeeji_frontstage | (no subject)

Who: Exael and the Unlucky Contestants
Where: The Game Tower
When: 86, Evening

[ Between one step and the next the walls (or streets, or open air) around you changes. The sight before you is a room inside the game tower, a new pressure at your neck. Reaching up or looking at the people around you reveals it to be a collar, titanium with a small green blinking light set in the center. ]

[ the screen flickers on, on your cellphone. It's a half-second, blink and you miss it— Exael, chewing on a nail, looking uncharacteristically nervous— then the moment's gone and she waves both hands and smiles for the camera. ]

"Ladies, gentlemen, honored guests! Units of all stripes and sizes! I come offering you a game and a few familiar words, rearranged for the occasion!"

Her carnival barker demeanor shifts for a moment as she lowers her head to say: ] "Glory to the highest, and on earth peace—" [ her head snaps up, her pigtails bouncing with it, and she's grinning again, all pomp and energy ] "even if we're not getting much down here! So let's kick up a ruckus, put on a show, and see how much good goodwill alone can manage! If you wish to save your fellows, now is the time speak!"

[ The rules appear on your phones. ]

[ Rules ] [ Rooms ] [ Results ] [ Endgame, Revivals & Winners ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

...Is that true?

[Frowns.]

Because I could. I've got a long list of them, but... now I can't go back and change what I did,t who I chose over others, the things I said... The people I cared about personally suffered, and the team that has backed us into a corner escaped unscathed thanks to my decision.

And that's... You're fine with it?

......

[...He's not, not really.]

I'm the one who decided to defer to everyone else's judgement. So, ultimately, I can't complain about the result.

But do you want to...?

It's... okay. Lavender, you don't have to agree, just because you didn't want to make the choice then. I won't hold it against you, even if you are angry with me.

I'm not angry with you.

[quiet, but he means it

it's another moment before he figures out how to put the rest, though]

...It's laughable, isn't it? Whenever I've tried to assert an opinion, I've tended to regret the result that came of it. So I thought that if I didn't, if I just let things happen as they would, then maybe...

[Maybe he could not regret the outcome, for a change. Not desperately look for something he could have done to make things go differently. Better.]

There wasn't a good course of action we could have taken. Your choice was just as valid as anyone else's...

I wish I could offer you more, but all I can say is that it is... it is the fault of the game runners that people died. We made decisions to the best of our abilities, but no one should have had to die.

[Was it really just as valid?

...is what he doesn't say.]

Mm... In the end, they are the ones who have the power to run these 'games' or not. All we can do is mitigate the damage, even if it's only a little.

It's true...

We did the best that we could, given the situation. I don't think anyone else went for Wild City, but that still means others were sacrificed that needn't be.

I hope that this informs you in the future, and if you need to talk about it with anyone, I'm here for you.

Mm...

...Are you upset with me, for withholding my opinion?

[Shakes his head.]

No, I am not upset at you. I think that you genuinely did what you thought was the best for you, and that's all anyone should ask of you... right?

......

[...he doesn't really have a response, to be honest.

aside from the question of whether 'what's best for himself' even matters, but that's not really something he can vocalize]