[Week 3, Tuesday: Max]

[purrtagonist]

[wherever Max is, someone is bumping the back of his head lightly with a cup of-- GASP-- coffee! it's Akira. of course it's Akira. who else would it be]

There has to be a better place to hide that coffee maker than in the McDonald's bathroom.

Comments

[purrtagonist]

Then whose concern are they? The Composer's?

[concertmaster]

[he sighs]

I know you've got the whole rescue everyone shtick, but seriously, you might want to concentrate on saving yourself first.

[purrtagonist]

. . . [a sigh. his shoulders droop, gaze flickering down to his coffee, which he's now cradling in both hands]

I know.

[lord, does he know]

I'm. . . trying.

[using this break week to run plan upon plan upon plan through his head, things to present to Undine for her approval, to prepare for next week]

[concertmaster]

[... one whole sympathy gains Akira an awkward pat on the back]

Look. You should be thinking carefully about what you need to know, on top of what you need to do.

[purrtagonist]

[a laugh, humorless and short. thanks, Max]

I have been. Since Saturday.

[and coming up with solutions is. . . difficult]

I need to know more about what the Composer's endgame is. I know you said you couldn't talk about it before, but-- will there ever be a time where you can?

[concertmaster]

If they give me permission to. This Game... is a lot more complicated than it seems. I can tell you that much.

[purrtagonist]

I know. I gleaned that much from what you and Maya told me. Has no one else been asking you those same questions?

[concertmaster]

[.....ehhhh]

Outside of you and your partner? Sekreuz, I guess. That's pretty much it.

[purrtagonist]

[well, he knew about Setz, since that's something they talked about. but his partner?]

Ichigo? What kinds of things has he been asking?

[concertmaster]

[a beat]

Okay, that's my bad, should've clarified. I meant Undine. [a shrug] I guess Makoto and Yusuke asked a couple of things too.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . oh. pfffft]

Partner has many connotations in this game.

[he says with a bit of wry amusement]

That's good on Yusuke and Makoto. They're inherently rebellious, just like I am.

[concertmaster]

Wow. I'm shocked by this information. The "Phantom Thieves", rebellious? You don't fucking say.

[purrtagonist]

Surprise, right? Total shocker. Never saw that one coming.

[you'll never see it comiiiiiing]

. . .

Hey, Max. Is this the first time you've worked with this Composer?

[concertmaster]

Yeah. First time I've done this kind of shitty job too, so right now I'm batting zero on the enjoyment scale.

[purrtagonist]

[ah, damn. swing and a miss]

I can't ask you about their previous Games, then. . .

[huh]

Actually, do you know if this is their first Game ever?

[concertmaster]

They're probably up there in terms of longevity for Composers, honestly. Why?

[purrtagonist]

Trying to find another way into their mind, I guess.

[tracing the edges of his cup with his index finger]

Everything else has been mostly a dead end thus far. "There's more to this game than what's on the surface" and "the Composer is trying to prove something" don't tell us much.

[concertmaster]

[he sips from his own without answering for a second]

You ever wonder why the Games exist in the first place, Joker?

[purrtagonist]

[he pauses, because actually. . .]

. . . that's the one question I never thought to ask. So, no.

[concertmaster]

That doesn't surprise me. It was the first thing I fucking asked, but I don't believe in a benevolent benefactor in any instance, not even if it's bundled up in a nice "no, this is a test" pretense.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . huh]

[huuuuuuuh]

Then let me bounce the question back to you, if you have an answer: why do Games like this exist?

[concertmaster]

Like everything else in this universe, the Games exists because someone benefits from its continued existence. [a beat] That's as much as I can say on that.

[purrtagonist]

[something suddenly slips neatly into place, like the final piece of the edges of a puzzle, the frame complete but the center still empty]

Noise.

[because he remembers, after the live house, talking to Setz about the Noise]

Is it related to the Noise? And how they feed off of negative emotions?

[concertmaster]

[hrm]

No, not... really. I keep forgetting you're a literal baby Reaper. You probably don't even know what Noise are, do you.

[purrtagonist]

[HE GOT EXCITED, MAX]

[slumps]

There was Noise in my last Game, they just served as. . . [waves. a hand] Random encounters and boss fights. The Reapers guiding us didn't exactly explain what they were.