uncurtained | pc catchall for junpei (crashout)

[He frowns a little at that.]

A lot and not a lot all at the same time. [He pulls his legs closer into his blanket nest if she wants to sit on the couch with him.] Edelgard and Nikkari got the worst of it, I think, with the slashes and Nikkari's broken leg. [He's currently just drained for the rest of the week and has a hard time staying awake.]

We fucked up, Beck. [And that's the first and most important part.]

[She does take a seat, looking his way with a worried frown.]

...I bet you didn't. But - why do you say that?

Because we got a game over. That only happens when you fuck something up, and we didn't even get anything out of the room except for the audio clip before we started playing.

...Can I ask what happened? All of it.

[She's still assuming that, whatever happened, it wasn't his fault.]

From the beginning? [Ugh.] Nikkari had a key, so we were able to just unlock the door and walk in. Everything looked pretty old and abandoned...Edelgard got the lights and the only thing that seemed to be up and running were three different game cabinets. You know. One for each of us. Two fighting games and then Donkey Kong.

The door locked so we didn't really have any other choice. We had to play, so...we put our names in and everything. All of the games had the avatars that changed to look like us, and these cables came out to bind us and also plug into us. [A gesture to the burns on his wrists and also to the back of his neck.] ...Edelgard and Nikkari were being controlled and had to act out one of those recordings. I have the transcription written down, but...it wasn't anything good.

So the two of them had to fight each other, and I was playing the game. I was plugged into the breaker box, too, and the display had a power reading at the top. Player Power and Power Source. The player power started at 100%, and I think the power source was, like, 70%. There wasn't much I could do for Edelgard and Nikkari but that's how they got their injuries. All I could do was play, but...[...and here, he mentions it because he thinks Beck may understand.] The princess looked like Akane. And she was being guarded by some eyeball thing instead of a giant monkey. And I know it isn't real and there's no possible way but it was like...what if?

The game kept glitching, but when I took damage the power source boosted. The lights were flickering and I thought maybe that was the point. Maybe we had to give power to stabilize the room. For every 20% damage taken, 10% would be restored. By the time I realized that, the power was down to 60%, so...[If Beck does the math, she'll see it means he tanked himself down to 20%.] The other two were taking damage and nothing else was working, and when I got to the top of the screen she was right there and I figured I had to win. But there was a barrel in the way and I was down 5% of the power, so...I let it happen thinking the whole thing would be over.

And instead we got a game over and I woke up, like, eight hours later.

[That's a lot to take in, and it takes her a moment to decide the best way to respond.]

Junpei... That isn't your fault. You were doing what you thought was the best way to win, right?

I mean yes, obviously, but. [They didn't win, and that pisses him off entirely] I should've been paying attention or I might've realized there was something wrong with the cables. They were, like, pulsating. [...] I was just...tired and I wasn't thinking right and that's on me. And maybe if I'd figured it out we could've avoided Nikkari breaking his leg and gotten somewhere.

[She sighs softly, reaching over to put a hand on his arm.]

You shouldn't beat yourself up about it. It's not on you, it's on... this place.

[...he's just shifting to kind of lean against her. Hewwo.]

I know you're right but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. Edelgard told me to solve it, and then that my solutions weren't needed, and we still fucked up somehow. And I kind of feel like an idiot telling you to stay behind.

You're not an idiot.

[But... Well, she can understand being frustrated.]

You said you got something, though, right? That message.

Ah, yeah. [He digs in his blanket nest and pulls out a notebook, opening it to the appropriate pages.] Read that and tell me what you think.

[The writing is a little sloppy, but:

?: Holy shit, what are you doing?!

H: Trying to shove this lance up your fucking asshole! What does it look like I'm doing?

?: It looks like you've lost your goddamn mind. Calm down, H, and we can talk about this.

H: Are you seriously asking me to calm down? You must think I'm a moron. I bet... I bet you always think you're the smartest guy in the room, don't you?

?: I don't know what you mean. (Paraphrased)

H: Hah-- Of course you don't. You think everyone on this fucking ship loves you, right? You don't think anyone talks about you behind your back. I'm such an idiot for thinking we were friends, when it's your fault that my brother is dead. I've been talking to M. You know what she told me? That she and the other two Cockblockers planned to (protect? save?) my brother, and you said no. And you know what else she dropped along the way? That you specifically told them to keep any information they found away from me.

?: It's not what it sounds like.

H: Don't waste your breath. It's midnight and we're both awake. So either you're possessed, and here to kill me... Or they've given me their blessing to put you in your place.

?: So we're really going to fight over this?

H: Yes. But look at the bright side, (?), you won't have to send pictures of your ugly dick to talk to A anymore.]

Edited 2019-11-08 07:23 (UTC)

[She reads all of it, and after a long moment:]

...That's awful.

Yeah. It's also a little interesting to think about if you consider the fact that they were both awake and prepping for a fight.

...but then again, kind of gives us an idea of why our last group tore themselves apart.

[She nods.]

I guess I didn't realize... just how similar it was. I mean - they even had roles with the same names. But it kind of makes you wonder where those roles came from, right...?

The name "Cockblocker" wasn't used but I inferred enough from listening to the recording. I think it's a little weird that they had the same names, too.

There's a lot of questions I have that people have been bringing up. I'm still standing by the idea that we're supposed to recreate some sort of situation. But I haven't figured out what yet.

I wonder...

[There's a thoughtful pause.]

There's information that I was able to get a task for later into this situation that I wasn't allowed to hear at all at first. Maybe if we try asking questions we couldn't hear about at the start, we'll get lucky.

It's worth a shot. I've been asking questions but maybe they're just the wrong ones. Or there's something left to do.

What would be the first one you asked?

...If there's anybody besides our group here, I think.

A good question. [He nods in agreement.] We've always sort of felt like we're being watched, but we haven't had any proof.

pc catchall for junpei (crashout)

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