SENDER: @ nefelibata | RECIPIENT: @ All

[shiftybladesofcray]

To Whom it May Concern;

Let's assume anyone capable of receiving this message is, like myself, a captive on board this train. While nothing can be determined unequivocally, I've come to some conclusions that bear weight enough to consider.

Thus far, we are only permitted to advance upon the completion of objectives as set by an unknown puppeteer. This "clownductor" assumes an affable but absent persona, and so their true nature cannot be ascertained. The motives are paraphrased below:

1. Read the Instructions
2. Message another Passenger
3. Request Friendship with Another Passenger*
4. Assist a Dog
5. Retrieve Part of Your Person
6. Collect Seeds in Exchange for Personal Information

(*Meaningful connection is not required)

While each appears innocuous on first blush, they aspire to two functions: fostering connections and gaining intelligence. There could be strength in numbers if we come together as one, true, and sharing secrets can bolster such bonds, but let's not be fooled.

There's a strong possibility we are being set up for darker purpose. If on a future car, the motive becomes:

7. Murder a Fellow Passenger

Will it not be all the more devastating after we've bonded? Without hope, there cannot be despair. Despair can breed subjugation, a loss of self and morality, a weakness of character that's easily exploited by those in power. It can breed violence.

I've seen such games put into action myself. Anyone may turn on their fellow man if the correct pressure is applied. If there are sensible people among you, these notions may have struck you as they have me. I'm sending this now as a warning.

Do not play into their hands. They control our passage through the train. They may be watching us. We cannot assume they have our best interests at heart.

Conversely, even if you are able to stay your course? Never assume your neighbor can do the same. We are each uniquely strong and uniquely weak. A miscalculation may cost you your life.

I cannot say whether this is a dream, a simulation, or an alternate reality, though the latter requires tremendous suspension of disbelief. Regardless, we cannot assume that our actions on the train are without consequence. Act with caution, but most urgently, act with hope.

I appreciate your time in perusing this missive. I understand some find reading difficult. If you're so encumbered by your illiteracy, ask another passenger to read it for you. I will not be providing summation.

Thank you.

- Fukawa Toko


****ADDENDUM: Should anyone be approached by or glimpse a half white, half black bear, DO NOT ENGAGE. Contact me immediately and I shall deal with it.

Comments

[shiftybladesofcray]

[Meanwhile in train town you fucked around and found out.]

I'll just wipe my tears in the dirt whrbr I belong

Leave me alo ne

[Slams door to room, blasts Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo]

next day for sanity

[shiftybladesofcray]

[Trust Issues, the collective]

well now we know there's a large subsect of cretins.

Some people are admitting to thinking the same now, which is good. We can't all be off frolicking around without a thought in our head.

[shiftybladesofcray]

Don't worry.

No matter how difficult life becomes, no matter what impossible choice we're made to face, I will never succumb to despair.

[Oh what's this? A message from a "boarprince"?]

[testgasm]

well clearly this person thinks murder is the default so i though it was pertinent to note that i've got no interest in it

didn't want anyone getting the wrong idea

[shaft]

Is this also from experience?

[shiftybladesofcray]

oh what do you care

just go ahead and make a mockery of me

it won't matter what i say will it? it's always the wrong thing anyway, just because it's coming from my ugly mouth

[sociably]

[ Sorry Vidal, your fate is now to educate the 20 boomers on this train.

Anyway she is following his instructions to the T.....putting two fingers on the screen.....moving them away from each other.....











!!!!!!!!!

Two minutes later, he gets another picture. Extremely blurry, but maybe he can make out the corgi eye and half a nose that's managed to wedge itself in the picture. ]

like this??

[philandery]

[ HE DID BUT HE DIDN'T REALIZE THE FATAL ERROR IN DIMITRI'S UNDERSTANDING OF THE NETWORK (okay but sylvain prolly doesn't know shit either) ]

Definitely. Those are amazing!

[ he's not even being facetious about the corgi blurs or the thumb. there's no ink or paint back home that gets anywhere near this level of detail... ]

Wish I could show them to our class. Even the Professor might crack a smile.

[reznikolai]

I certainly didn't intend to imply that you're slobbering or hunchbacked. It's in poor form to insult someone who can answer your questions.

I simply wanted to know what a simulation is, in this context.

poor thing... (he was 100% part of the problem)

[philandery]

Right.

And while I don't disagree with what you're saying, I think it's going to be tough to trust each other. We're all complete strangers. Who knows if we're going to have the same objective all the time.

[ for instance, what if someone lied about their directive? ]

Not trying to accuse anyone, of course.

[ and at the end of the day... he's probably not going to try and fight it either, if someone does backstab him. but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be said at all. ]

[shiftybladesofcray]

well good because I am neither.

[Though she has been known to drool on occasio—that is beside the point.]

What, do you need the Oxford definition?

In this case, I'm saying it's possible this is a digital replica of a world, with each of us being copies of our original selves, only able to exist within a virtual reality. It would explain why they're able to warp the laws of nature so easily.

into the burn book you go

[shiftybladesofcray]

Yes, it's tougher. And yes, it's impossible to understand a man fully without crawling inside of his skin.

But if the enemy aims to drive a wedge between us, hope is all that binds us together. Maybe we cannot trust everyone, especially with numbers as large as these. But we must trust in someone. Otherwise hope won't stand a chance.

[Is that good? Is that more like what Naegi would say? Maybe he's not inventive enough to think about "crawling inside a man's skin" but Toko's given that a lot of thought and...well...it may be a metaphor, but there's something stirring about it, isn't there? Especially if you consider the buttery smoothness of Master's skin...

Oh where was she]

Of course not. I wasn't either. I just hope these people can stop being stupid for five minutes and consider the stakes before it's too late.

byeeeeee

[philandery]

Yeah, wouldn't do to fall apart on ourselves before we've even gotten halfway through the train.

[ because he has a feeling they've still got a ways to go...

also toko please control urself ]

Well, it's hard to think straight when you've been abducted from your home, and made to do a bunch of strange things. So it's nice to think someone cared enough to send out a message like this.

All that to say, thanks for writing it.

[shaft]

Now now, I'm just trying to determine your level of experience here.

If it's something you encountered before, then knowing how you solved the problem is important.

[constrainer]

How many people would you say were in that "game," if you don't mind my asking?
I've seen things like it myself, though with many more people involved than are aboard this train.

In either case, without knowing everyone aboard's numbers, and enough about our personal histories and backgrounds, I doubt we'll be able to deduct the meanings behind the numbers. For all we know, this could be an "exam" of some kind, and these are merely arbitrary identification numbers.

[shiftybladesofcray]

yes your faith in me is as palpable as your faith in "the power of friendship"

[He does have a point though...except it's nothing that would be helpful here.]

Again, I didn't solve anything.

But those involved were given different parameters. They were locked inside a school and told the only way to escape was to murder another participant and get away with it in a trial held thereafter. If the killer eluded detection, they alone would be set free and the rest would be executed. If the killer was found out, they were executed and the game continued.

Eventually they were able to root out the hidden mastermind, and had them executed in one of their own trials. Only then were they able to go free.

It was a game where the rules were laid out from the start, and every few days motivation was given to spur violence. Threats against loved ones, money, exposed secrets, etc.

The second time a killing game occurred, it was in a city overthrown by a rebellious faction. The hostages were simply expected to outlast and defeat the perpetrators. They were outfitted with bombs that would go off if they breached city limits, and left to fight for their lives.

We're not in the same situation, but it easily could turn that way. We're at their mercy.

[soulshard]

[ Given how composed Fukawa had been in her initial message, Ardbert's taken aback when the voice he hears quivers with held-back (or already shed) tears. ]

Fukawa, have you been crying? What's happened?

[ There is genuine concern in his voice, if also some confusion. It seems to him that this girl is the sort who experiences emotions suddenly and strongly, given how she'd handled the korogus. But it would be impossible not to feel for her when she's putting herself down like this. ]

Can you tell me about the last time? Was it also on a... a train, like this?

[ Ardbert finds it hard to believe there isn't heavy use of magicks at play here, given how each car warps into something much larger than it can or should be. ]

[neriticism]

[ Look as long as they don't bitch about it like actual boomers, he'll pass the knowledge along. We train on the cute dog pictures so when something important pops up, more people have the capacity to capture it. Or something to that effect. ]

Nailed it. Works best for things that are real far though.

You oughta be sending these to all the other folks in this thread, you're running circles around them.

[shiftybladesofcray]

Less than twenty. I can't imagine a game with a group larger than what we have here. At that point it's just war.

I have noticed that they range fairly broadly. From roughly 100 to 1000, have you found the same? I haven't deduced any cause or relation, there's not much in common between people with similar numbers I've seen. Young or old, strong or weak. Even when it comes to personality, it doesn't seem to matter.

Do you mind if I keep in touch with you? I can't promise I'm of any use, I'm only a novelist after all. But if I notice something about the numbers I'd like to have someone to bring that theory to.

[cuedoves]

[ i swear ill respond to the actual post but ]

how did you do that

did the message even send? how am i suppose to sen

[shiftybladesofcray]

[Considering how the rest of this post is going, and how winning this argument means she has to come up with a foolproof solution while all this girl has to do is say it's stupid?

It's time to leave this bitch on read. Hasta luego, middlefinger. Arguing online was a huge mistake.]

voice; un: zuzu

[cuedoves]

[ zuko is no fun allowed so ]

Most of what you're saying actually makes sense.

Except for the bear. What does the bear have to do with it?

come back here and face me like a mAN

[shiftybladesofcray]

[I don't want to hear this from dirty dick Sylvain.

Also what.

is that

sincere????? Appreciation??? acknowledgment of her existence???????????

It must be fake. No no, he (handsome?) has been very agreeable during this exchange, but you never know who is behind the username. HOLD ON. What if Beatrix has a boyfriend and she's sent him to deceive her? It would explain his willingness to humour her. Also, he did respond with familiarity to her new mortal enemy, boarprince. Even demanded more animal pictures. That just PROVES IT!

But then, she's already made ample fool of herself on this post. Enough so to make her blush, even a day later. Calling him out right now would be playing into their hands.

What if the player becomes the playee? She can dupe him into believing she's fallen for this cruel prank. Foster good relations. Then, the moment they meet in the flesh, she will enact sweet vengeance. Crush his spirit as he has hers!

Oho, you've been hoisted by your own petard, handsome. You're probably only slightly above average, aren't you!]

You're very welcome. 😊 [Emojis bely a lack of self-awareness, this should do nicely.] Always happy to lend a helping hand.

[BUT NOT TO YOU!!!!!!!!]

[shiftybladesofcray]

Y-you can tell, huh? [Anyone with ears could, really.] Oh, you know. I made this post to warn people. In return I get called s-stupid, paranoid, suspicious, unhinged, that I w-wrote too much, or th-that it's not enough, or it's all worthless. Then some guy puts up a picture of a d-d-dumb dog and everybody just looooooooooves that, and when I tell them t-to take it somewhere else, they tell me to get off my own post.

[aka, "Putting Any Opinion Online". It was doomed from the get go.]

Anyway....I just...No, no it wasn't on a train. It was in a s-school. There aren't any trains like this where I'm from.

[philandery]

[ okay that's fair he's disgustan... (he doesn't even KNOW beatrix but he WISHES he were her boyfriend!!!!!!!!!!!)

but he'd meant every word he'd written.......... ]

...Is that a smiley face? That's so cute.

[ how did she do that... aha! ]

😊