shiftybladesofcray (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
shiftybladesofcray) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
e22021-08-16 07:38 pm
shiftybladesofcray) wrote in e22021-08-16 07:38 pm
SENDER: @ nefelibata | RECIPIENT: @ All
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
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.
no subject
For now, he focuses on what Fukawa has to say. She's trying not to implicate herself in this "game" she was forced to play in where the players were encouraged to do fatal harm to each other, but she's not doing a very good job of it. He won't point it out, if only for her comfort. (And because he is in no place to judge.) ]
The only way to win was to not play by their rules at all, is that it? [ If that applies here, then none of them have done a particularly good job of it. Ardbert's followed all the instructions given up until now. On the other hand, they haven't been asked to do anything morally reprehensible. (Yet?) ] Was it ever discovered who was behind such a sinister plot?
Danganronpa Spoilers
And the less time spent thinking about her, the better.]
They were a stickler for the rules. But when th-they decided not to kill anymore, they tried to skirt around them. That's how they convicted an innocent person for a murder they had committed themselves. One participant called them out on it, and they h-had to agree to a do-over of the last trial to f-find the real culprit, because they were broadcasting the killings the whole time. The point was to prove that despair would overtake us all, and that couldn't be t-true if they were breaking their own rules on the way. The whole world was watching.
[What was left of it anyway.]
Yeah, they revealed the mastermind's identity. But it's...L-look, it's much too convoluted to explain over a ph-phone! There were many layers of deception and it's just...not all that relevant here. I haven't seen signs that the s-same people are behind this at all, outside of a fake replica in that creepy museum, but there was so m-much confusing stuff in there. I think it's just to m-mess with our heads.
no subject
As she starts to back off for the subject, however, Ardbert realizes that he can't blame her. ]
My apologies. I didn't mean to dredge up something that's no doubt difficult to relive. [ He'll need to be more careful in the future. He still isn't all that used to talking to anyone who isn't Aria. ] To return to the subject at hand... you believe that something similar, if not exactly the same, could be taking place here? Or it's at least a possibility worth considering.
no subject
Anyway, he's giving her an out and she'll gladly take it. There's a little grunt and a soft sniff.
There. That's the end of it. She's done, she's not gonna sit here whining and she's not going to rehash things that don't matter. Ardbert has more questions.]
I...I don't th-think it's exactly the same, no. Just similar enough. [Monokuma would have shown his ugly mug by now if it was the same.] And I don't think they'd have the power to do, um. This. Unless it is a s-simulation — that is, a sort of...invented place? A f-fabrication that our minds were brought into, wh-while our real bodies are asleep. Does that make sense?
[Heaven help her, explaining VR to someone who didn't know what a lightbulb was. What a joke.]
The biggest similarities are w-waking in an unusual place, some sort of memory gap about getting there, being locked in and having objectives set b-before you can move on. Though...in those games it was motivations. Incentives. Not j-just challenges. And there weren't these c-creepy numbers on anyone either...
no subject
Some sort of sense, yes. I have no way to prove that's not the case, so you may be on to something. This train is also called the Existential Express, isn't it? That may be a clue as well.
[ There are quite a lot of similarities that Fukawa cites, however. It's enough to make Ardbert suspicious, and when she brings up the numbers he can't hold back on a sigh. ]
Yes, I don't suppose anyone has sorted out what those mean? It's all rather cryptic thus far.
[ He also can't quite shake the idea that it's only a matter of time before the truth of this train comes to light in a most unpleasant fashion. ]
no subject
[Her fists clench, unseen over the phone. Why was she cursed with such a loathesome body....if only her breasts were a bit bigger, even just a sliver!]
No, as far as I know all we've got is theories. Whether it's b-branding, like livestock, or price tags, or just a headcount of people on the train...we'll have to look for answers in the next train car.
also wrapping!
As for the numbers, that's more or less what he expected. Thus far, he's found that his number seems to be on the higher end of things, and he doesn't know if that's good or bad. He's inclined to think it's bad, but there's truly no way of knowing. ]
In any case, I'll be sure to keep my wits about me. I appreciate the warning, Fukawa. Hopefully there are others who do as well.
[ With that sendoff, he ends the call, hopeful that he's made her feel at least a tad bit better. ]
no subject