purrtagonist | [Week 4, Friday: Setz]

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reapsody

[Week 4, Friday: Setz]

[truthfully, Akira had wanted to compare notes with Setz ever since Makoto, Miki, Yusuke and Magnus brought home those damp books. but considering the events of today (EVEN IF THERE'S NO BODY ANNOUNCEMENT YET), Akira is. . . uh. putting that on the back burner]

[for good reason]

[wherever Setz is, Akira is going to reach out to gently place a hand on his shoulder]

. . . hey.

[are you all right? no, he can't ask that. of course Setz isn't okay, and he doesn't need someone asking a question to which there is no real response]

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[... Ah.

And then, Setz understands—or at least he thinks he does. Guilt flashes in his face, before he looks away.]

That's... probably my fault. I convinced him of Jacopo's trustworthiness a while back, so he... asked me to pass on a message to Jacopo. That he was on standby and wouldn't kill without new information.

I... I think Jacopo told him about you, in that case.

[As part of his plans this week to stir up drama and motivate the Players into action, most likely.

God.

Setz really just keeps finding new ways to screw up, doesn't he?]

[SETZ NO. . .!]

[Akira. . . makes a face, one of displeasure and frustration. it isn't directed at Setz, or even Jacopo himself, just. . . in general, because he knows he is in the danger zone as far as survival is concerned. he wipes it away pretty quickly though, and tugs at his bangs with a sigh]

Chuuya knew about me as well.

[. . .]

[he can't say too much about that one, though]

I'd bet there are probably several other Players who know who I am, too. It's-- [hesitation]

[and then he shrugs, a bit helplessly. what can he do? if they go after him at the trial, all he can do is defend himself to the best of his ability]

I think there are still some Players who don't think extending the game to eight weeks is the answer. Convincing them that it is should probably be our next priority.

[... This really is getting to be a gigantic mess.]

I'm... running out of ideas on how to do that. I don't think my notes have helped at all.

If—if you're outed tomorrow, do you think I should...?

[Reveal himself? Or stay hidden? He doesn't know how he should react to the "revelation" of Akira being a Reaper.]

[IT SURE IS!!]

That's-- up to you, Setz. I'm not going to ask you to do something like that.

[he won't ask Setz to out himself just to keep Akira safe. that isn't fair. Akira is the Reaper here, not Setz. Akira is the one who should be risking his life]

[and in Akira's opinion, Setz needs to stay alive, no matter what]

But I do think out of anyone here, you could be the one to convince the rest of the Players to take the right path.

[because Setz is trustworthy, has put his all into trials and into figuring out the ins and outs of the Game. he thinks the Players would easily fall behind him, if it came down to it. for the good of everyone-- Erased and all]

[. . .]

[quietly, he might think that Setz makes a pretty damn good leader. someone Akira would follow without question, that's for sure]

[For a moment, Setz looks at him, surprised.

... It occurs to him, more than ever now that Jacopo is gone, how much he relies on Akira. He's his first real friend in this Game, the first person to encourage and support him; the only person who trusts him utterly with information, and the only person who, in any way, might need him.

Though he's known for a long time now that it could—perhaps inevitably will—happen, Setz doesn't know what he'll do if he loses him.]

I... I don't know about that.

[He's not the student council president here. Here, he's just the boring, socially awkward kid who's sometimes vocal in trials.]

But I'll keep trying.

[with Shin and Caren out there, likely looking for blood? yeah. Akira also feels like his death is an inevitability. but he was so convinced he was going to die this weekend from the moment Setz informed him that the other Reapers were suspicious of him, so that. . . that feeling is just going to persist]

[he can handle it, though]

Have faith in yourself, Setz. You've got great instincts. And since you're obviously a Player, I think. . . people will listen to you.

[better the information coming from a Player than a Reaper]

... We'll see. I'm not sure how obvious that is or how much influence I personally have—and I can't say this week has given me great faith in the other Players.

Still, nothing left to do but try.

It isn't like I have much faith in them, either. But we won't get anywhere without effort.

[. . .]

Hey, Setz. Did you read the material Makoto and Miki brought back the other day?

... Yeah. I did.

There was a lot of good information in them, honestly. But I think what stuck out to me the most was this part.

[and he starts reciting something from memory]

"To make sure Composers stay on track with their purpose, as well as the continuing well-being of their respective Games, each one is assigned one of our own."

... What about it?

Admittedly, I'm pretty new to this. It's the first Game I've ever participated in as a Reaper.

[second, behind the one in which he was just a Player]

But doesn't that statement kind of suggest there's someone above the Composer? Someone overseeing the Game they built?

I had no idea anyone like that existed.

... I asked Max a bit about that. The note found—the one signed "Yours Truly"—might have to do with that.

He told me I shouldn't think of them as an individual, though he couldn't say more on that. They aren't Reapers, so rankings don't apply to them—that is to say, they aren't necessarily "above" the Composer, as they're in a different category altogether.

They're not directly involved with the progress of this particular Game, but they are tied to why it exists to begin with. Max actually isn't too sure since he wasn't aware of their correspondence with the Composer, but he said there's a very high chance that what they're testing is related to what the Composer's out to prove.

. . .

Not too long ago, the Conductor asked me a pretty poignant question.

They asked if I thought it was crueler for Games like this to exist, or to deny the dead a second chance at living at all.

[a pause]

I couldn't answer them. What would you say, Setz?

[...]

Jacopo wrote me a letter a while back. In it, he said...

[And he recites, as someone who has read these words so many times as to have them memorized:]

"The Reaper's Game is not a bad one — it's another shot, a chance at navigating an inevitable fate. It's a game of love, of faith and hope. Those things cannot exist without death and sorrow respectively. It is the tragedy in our lives that allows us to dream, or even become one with others."

... If someone with as bleak of an outlook as Jacopo could write those words, then...

Yeah. That's right.

[smiling a bit at Jacopo's words. it's genuine, even if there's a touch of ruefulness in it]

And a Reaper's job has-- and always will be-- to guide players towards realizing that. Towards character development, towards achieving further growth, towards becoming better people. We exist as your support, to pull you up when you fall and encourage you to keep going, no matter what.

But growth occurs the most in difficult and adversarial circumstances, which is why Games are hardly ever kind.

[. . .]

What if there was someone out there who believed they could be, though? Who believed they didn't have to be harsh, or cruel, or filled to the brim with death and pain?

... Then, what do you think they would do?

Run a Game to try and prove just that.

[ah, but this Game is pretty shitty, so. . .]

There was another note that talked about a Game that was "turned around in a manner no one expected." The note surmised that other Games might be just as lucky.

What if. . . depending on the result of that test, these entities in another category were considering canceling the Games altogether? And just. . . completely erasing anyone's second chance at living?

[...]

Games are usually influenced by the location, and the Players are determined by physical proximity. And yet this Game brought in people from different worlds, with an utterly strange set of rules and in a location that isn't quite right.

... Max pointed this out to me. Maybe it's relevant.

. . . yeah. It might be. I did think early on that it was kind of weird people who had never heard of Shibuya before were brought here.

[but he can't think of a reason it might be relevant]

Maybe to have a broader pool of test subjects?

Mmm. That's a possibility, considering the Games are run across universes.

But you see what I was trying to say, right? You see what I think it is the Composer is trying to prove?

That the Games are worth it?

Not quite. Less that, more. . .

"Everyone deserves a second chance, and Games do not have to be cruel to achieve that."

[a pause]

That's what the Conductor told me that both they and the Composer believe. If they're trying to prove anything? I believe. . . that's what it is.

... How exactly would this Game prove the second clause, though...?

[Week 4, Friday: Setz]

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