[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

[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.

[concertmaster]

[there there, buddy... there there... the report on noise isn't out yet,,,]

Yeah, that's about what they serve in general. Reapers can control Noise. Officer ranks and up can also turn into Noise.

[purrtagonist]

[listen he never had the chance to summon his own Noise buddies. . .]

Ah.

Like a fursona, only Noise-ified.

[hm]

[concertmaster]

I didn't need to hear that, ever.

[purrtagonist]

Kidding, I'm kidding.

[I still can't believe I typed that, I hate myself]

But I'll keep what you said in mind. If no one else is asking these questions, I'm thinking it's time I at least tell the Players what I know.

[concertmaster]

[consider yourself lucky i didn't make a joke about yusuke being the furry in the PT]

You think they'll listen?

[purrtagonist]

[wryly, with a lopsided smile]

I don't know.

[but?]

But even if some of them do? That's enough. Enough to get them talking.

[concertmaster]

Your hopes and dreams disgust me as always.

[sips coffee]

[purrtagonist]

Related to said hopes and dreams, if I wrote an anonymous message to the Players, would you deliver it?

[concertmaster]

... Please tell me you're not going to ask me to deliver a fucking calling card.

[HE READ YOUR FILE, JOKER]

[purrtagonist]

[I MEAN. . .]

You realize that'd out me to at least three people here.

[icly, oocly it'd out him to like, everyone]

No. Something more straightforward than that. [. . .] And I may want to send a separate letter to my Reaper. . . "friends."

[concertmaster]

[the look he gives is the "I expect nothing from you so of course I thought that" equivalent but he moves on.]

For Reaper-to-Reaper contact, you'd have to ask your Conductor. But yeah, I can deliver to Players.

[purrtagonist]

[perfect]

How much am I allowed to tell them? Because I was thinking, oh. You know.

Everything.

[concertmaster]

[........]

Yeah, it might get censored on the way out depending on what "everything" means.