[ Drinking very well. It's great to have a high tolerance. ]

They were on track, technically. The theories were interesting.

[ I can't say stupid because all of what happened was stupid. ]

It doesn't take a genius to press a button on a roomba.

Seriously, especially when everyone's seen them by now. It's not like they're some mystifying unknown technology to anyone at this point.

It also takes a button to connect them to a remote.

[ so funny. ]

Either way, maybe if they had more time... Not that it matters since we have enough to come back, but I'll have to have a word with Rupert after.

[ and i need to have a word with anders about his hypocritical bullshit. god. ]

Did you want them to vote for him?

I don't think it matters, but maybe for his own conscience it would have.

[ However, he is still a bit peeved about it. No one LIKES dying. ]

What are you going to tell Anders?

[ yeah that's completely valid. he doesn't really give a shit about dying in theory, it's just not fun to do (and kind of embarrassing) so he wanted to avoid it. ]

That he's a hypocritical little bitch and it's not cute at all.

I mean, spewing chunks about justice in a production like this is insanity in itself... But I assumed it helps him keep his head.

[ And Jacopo is sympathetic that it may not be entirely Anders' fault. ]

Was there something specific?

He was going out of his way to focus suspicion on me the week I got voted for when he knew who did it, and he just didn't want them to get voted out because he liked them better, which is like, the opposite of justice?? While he was still saying some bullshit about "the truth being important."

[ and he didn't even talk to me afterward???? ]

And then this week he was harassing other people who didn't want anyone looking at them and then refused it himself while still acting all holier-than-thou about it. Ugh. Kazuki-kun really should have punched him.

[ Right... The Saturday that for some reason I was conked out. Me having to see the voted while going out to drink like oh mygod. ]

Right, that does sound hypocritical and aggravating, body dysmorphia and whatnot aside. There's no justice here in a place orchestrated for entertainment. At most it's evening the odds, equaling the pain.

[ At least that's how he sees it and funnily enough Jacopo is a very fair and just person. ]

In the end, he doesn't want to lose and it would be better if he accepted it than dress it righteously.

[ Lose people he likes, lose what's left of his dignity, that sort. ]

Exactly! If you're going to be a selfish asshole, you do you, but don't act like you're doing it all for the greater good and talk down to everyone else.

You might need to be careful when you talk to him, seeing as a number of people feel to need to support him.

They might come after you like a mob.

[ rolls his eyes. ]

Yeah, well, they already kind of did that once, so whatever. At least I don't have to worry about votes anymore.

I am just worried that Wis'adel may stab you to atone for Anders, but if you say so. Maybe her guilt doesn't run that kind of deep.

[ UnSure. ]

You'd feel better even though likely Anders won't change?

It's not like I'm killing him, I'm just telling him he sucks.

[ i guess i appreciate the concern, though... ]

I feel like he needs to hear it specifically because he has so many people supporting him.

[ memshares this ]

... It does feel like an echo chamber of sorts, but it's hard to see it as anything but coping.

[ ...hm. yikes. but it... looks like that was a curse, probably...?

(also isn't that the random guy who showed up in the airport that one day, wtf) ]

Echo chamber's probably a good term for it.

[ shakes his head. ]

Some of these other teams really have pretty messed up dynamics.

[ THAT'S OUR TILL!!! ]

I do agree... I heard someone say they'd sacrifice their team to save one person. Sure, we can all sympathize, but it's a bit much to vocalize where several people can hear it.

[ who said that??? ]

Jeez, I was thinking of the opposite situation where some of them are too weirdly attached for their own good, but I guess it goes both ways...

[ sips his drink. ]

I feel like our team has been both civil and mostly sane the whole time, so I'm glad for that even if it got us last place.

They're extremely attached to another version of their old gang, I think... But maybe they've figured themselves out by now. I don't know. It's not my problem and if they make it my problem I'll make sure they regret it.

[ Drinks a lot. ]

Australia doesn't really matter. We're just getting points to make living comfortable and what can producers do if they're dead?

[ ah, okay, that does kind of give him an idea who...

anyway, he nods. ]

That's definitely the best approach. On both counts. Just get through this with at least a few shreds of dignity intact without getting caught up in other people's bullshit.

[ he has... kind of failed the first half of that already but through no fault of his own!!!! ]

Do you just go home and forget all of this happened?

[ like


how do you cope? he's curious. ]

Mm...

[ he takes a slow sip as he thinks about this. he's not really the best person to ask, probably, but. ]

I guess it depends on what kind of place your world is, and what the situation is at the end of the game. Like, with some of these other ones, they had phones they could message each other on afterward, or really easy ways of instantly traveling to see each other. So I'd imagine things might have changed more for them, if they were looking to stay in each other's lives. And if you've got one of the incentive items, or you get some kind of wish or something at the end, you might be able to make a big change to your world.

[ ... ]

But for me last time... yeah. I pretty much just went home and didn't talk about it too much, because I didn't want to deal with the questions. I thought I'd changed a lot, but it turned out to be easy to fall back into the same routines and habits.

[ and there's a brief memshare from a conversation from his last night in scawwy. oof. ]

... I come from a regular world, one that many would consider modern. Smartphones and computer are not strange to me. My immediate goal is to further my career and claim my promotion.

[ So, like he's normal or claiming to be. ]

I do not think Heaven allowed people to visit each other, but frankly... I do not think I care to see anyone. [ Though his emotions harden when he says that, steeled. ] They have their lives. I have mine. I wouldn't have known anyone there or here before these series of events.

[ He watches the memory, frowning. It's actually a sweet one. ]

What's stopping you from trying again?

I mean, you saw—

[ hm. ]

Wait, were you still conked out during my execution too?

... I was a bit out of it and Gaston being there didn't help.

Your life's a sitcom or something, right? That's what it was trying to say?