[Week 4, Friday: Setz]

[purrtagonist]

[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]

Comments

[purrtagonist]

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?

[subordinacy]

[...]

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.

[purrtagonist]

. . . 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]

[subordinacy]

Maybe to have a broader pool of test subjects?

[purrtagonist]

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?

[subordinacy]

That the Games are worth it?

[purrtagonist]

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.

[subordinacy]

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

[purrtagonist]

I don't really know that for sure.

[not yet. but they still have time to figure it out, don't they?]

But remember how you said in your second letter it was the Players's choices that would determine whether the Erased will be revived or not?

Maybe the Composer is banking on the Players turning this cruel Game around in an unprecedented way. . . just like the one mentioned in those notes.

[subordinacy]

... It's possible. [AND THEY'RE DOING A TERRIBLE JOB IF THAT'S THE CASE.] How to do that is another question...

[purrtagonist]

[THEY SURE ARE??? THEY SURE ARE!!]

Yeah. It is.

[but]

It's a question we may find the answer to in the coming weeks. We still have time.

[subordinacy]

Yeah. [...] I'll keep trying, no matter what happens.

[purrtagonist]

So will I.

[even if it's the Players' actions that matter the most in this Game. . . Akira will do his best to survive until he is no longer required to do so. until the Players have their answers]