[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]

He's my Composer.

[purrtagonist]

[holy shit]

Ah. . .

[slowly, while he processes this]

Are you angling for a promotion?

[concertmaster]

Fuck no. I told you, I'm not going for the erasure myself. I'm trying to get someone else to do it.

[purrtagonist]

Who?

[a friend?? a foe??]

[concertmaster]

Anyone. I was going to pick from the Player crop next Game, but I'm here instead.

[purrtagonist]

Hm. Slight detour in your plan.

Why do you want to kill your Composer?

[concertmaster]

[... he shoves his hands in his hoodie, glaring at akira sullenly]

Reasons.

[:/]

[purrtagonist]

. . . you know I'm going to ask, right?

[concertmaster]

It's... fucking complicated, okay. And a long, bullshit story.

[purrtagonist]

It's okay. I'm not in a hurry.

[looks up from his letter to watch Max catefully]

[concertmaster]

[ he mostly looks reluctant. ]

I... Okay, so I told you I was in a shitty fucking summer camp, right. When I call it a scam, I'm not kidding. Camp Campbell was run by some guy trying to get as much money as possible from a bunch of sucker parents by getting kids to sign up to a camp that did any and all activities. It didn't do any of them well, obviously. It was a fucking scam.

[purrtagonist]

[and as always? Akira is patient, letting Max go at his own pace]

Sounds like the kind of guy who would've been targeted by the Phantom Thieves.

[concertmaster]

... Sure, I guess. Anyway, through some fucking shenanigans, that guy? Cameron Campbell? Ended up Composer right before I played the Game.

[purrtagonist]

[oh my god???]

How. . . does a scamming camp owner become something as powerful as a Composer?

[concertmaster]

The camp shit? That was one of his small misdeeds. The guy was a wanted criminal on a lot of counts. Prime Minister of Thailand at some point, sold platypus eggs on the black market, ran the fuck away to Russia a few times, wanted by the FBI, I'm not gonna gonna list all the incredibly illegal shit he talked about doing whenever he popped back into camp.

[purrtagonist]

[wow. huh. definitely a target for the phantom thieves]

On second thought, I can see how someone like that would lie and cheat and kill their way to the top.

[concertmaster]

Yeah. The guy died not too long before I did, in something called "Super Guantanamo"? I don't fucking know.

[purrtagonist]

[SUPER GUANTANAMO, FUCK]

That-- [hm]

Sounds like a fun story, but one that both of us will just have to continue wondering about for the rest of our un-lives.

[a pause]

He's the Composer who ran the Game you played in, right?

[concertmaster]

[ and he's back to hunching in on himself, glaring at the ground ]

... Yeah. He was. That guy-- I wasn't there. When he went to super guan or whatever the fuck. But it happened at camp. I guess partly because-- it's not like he remembered me on that front. But, uh.

[ he surreptitiously wipes at his eyes real quick, shaking his head ]

The camping accident that caused my death kinda got the whole camp. Ten kids, two counselors, and I guess the quartermaster lived? I don't think that guy can actually die. Anyway. We all ended up in the Game.

[purrtagonist]

[. . . the temptation has always been there. but for the first time, Akira actually reaches out to touch Max's shoulder. it's gentle. Max can push him off if he wants to]

[quietly]

And you had to compete against your friends.

[concertmaster]

Yeah, maybe two of those were my friends, don't get overemotional on me, Joker.

[ ... But he hasn't removed the hand yet. ]

I paired up with one of them. That's not the point. Do you have any idea how fucked up a Game gets when the Composer has it out for everyone participating?

[purrtagonist]

[as long a Max doesn't remove it, it'll stay there, warm and heavy]

Even more fucked up than this one has been.

[. . . he can't even imagine such a thing]

[concertmaster]

[ huffs ]

No shit. This is why I keep calling you all fucking spoiled babies.

[purrtagonist]

[a brief hesitation, before he presses]

What happened in the Game, Max?

[concertmaster]

Me and Nikki-- my partner-- made it. We... We were the only team.

[ he laughs, humorless ]

I mean, what a joke, right? We barely make it, and the only reason I fucking tried at all was out of spite.