TNDG day 6

[keybroad]

[Holding a bag of fast food and a glass of iced tea, Lotus walks out of the fast food buffet towards a table, giving a wide berth to the bar where sits a reeking corpse.

As she sits down, she locks eyes with Rohan, who is presumably somewhere in the common area.]

Hey there, Rohan. Are you having lunch soon? I know it's disgusting, but we probably shouldn't outright skip it.

Comments

[manuscripture]

[ The fast food diet is getting old. This man has been living on french fries and the occasional chicken sandwich when he can. ]

I'm picking at it just to keep my stomach at a dull roar. I can sit for a while though. Did you need something?

[keybroad]

[In an impression:] With your talent you have days to yourself. [Normally:] I really hope you remember to take the time and eat all that awesome European food. But whatever, you do you.

[Slightly noncommittal tilt of the head.] Need is a strong word. I sort of just wanted to hang out, but there's definitely been game stuff weighing on my mind a lot. So I guess if it gets you to stick around, I could say I need to know what you think about some things.

[manuscripture]

[ If it gets him to stick around. ]

You aren't the only one who the game is weighing on. It's hard to say anything with all of the encroaching ears. You can start.

[keybroad]

Alright. [She puts her chin in her hand and uses her other hand to start rooting through the bag.] How much chance do you think there is of us escaping? [She retrieves a single French fry held between her fingers.] Because I think it's literally exactly as likely as this tattoo you gave me flying away, but hey, you're a really good artist, maybe that could happen. [She puts the French fry into her mouth and begins to chew thoughtfully.]

[manuscripture]

That's a loaded question. [ Mostly a loaded gun. ] With powerhouses like Junpei, Niles and Santa? I'm not counting on it being likely. I should be less pessimistic but people like them consistently gather the most votes and it's only a matter of time until our numbers thing out enough that, well...

We won't be as lucky anymore with just one each.

[keybroad]

[Her eyebrows jump up.] Wow, you really jumped into the heavy stuff. I didn't mean, like, "you and I surviving". I mean, like, overall, do you accept the reality that your choices are final five, hotel, early grave. But it sounds like you do, Rohan. [Leaning in.] So. You realize that even those powerhouses have a problem if things go the way Zelda wants where everyone gets one or zero votes. Everyone but five people, Emily, and Natsuhi has a problem if things go the way Zelda wants with no more hotelling. It's simple. Santa and Jumpei came here in our group of seven people, which was reduced to six now, but still. More than five. That's before you count the people they've met and made out with here. So even though their power could probably take them through to the final five, they don't necessarily want to go to the end with everyone else dying.

You don't have to trust them about that, but can you at least see that the big alliances would be less stable if death or the final five are the only options for members of their alliance comprised from more than five people? Most of us can count. [That's kind of the whole thing of the 999s. Lots of math jokes.]

[manuscripture]

I have to accept one of those, don't I? [ Also leaning in. ] I risked death at home more than once for causes less empty than this. Trust me, I don't want to die-- especially after what I just got out of back home. Not everyone is what they seem. Parsing that into enough people who may make it into the final five.

I don't think I am going to make it that far because I can't trust most of the people here as far as I can throw them. I can use either arm to draw with but I can't throw for shit. My lack of a desire for extended alliances is my own fault...

[keybroad]

[Nodding at the lack of desire.] It's inconvenient, talking with all these people. [She's often more comfortable at home behind her computer - it's even part of her consolation prize, not that she can bring it up - and he's presumably more comfortable behind a desk with a pen, or at the wheel of his own car. Maybe it's part of why they get along.]

So, if there's another art challenge before the end, maybe the top ten isn't out of the question for you? And there's a shortage of "people I know are thinking about only three options" who are also "people who told me they'd actually go to the hotel". Most of my friends are really obviously not interested in going through with it themselves - they could have volunteered before Emily and had people they trusted absolutely to give out the exact number of necessary votes, but they didn't. I mean, trust is hard, I won't be offended if this is creeping you out and you wanna go it alone.

[manuscripture]

I'll go as far as they let me go. [ Rohan's gaze falls downward. ] Selfish as it may be, I'm not one to go through sacrificing myself for anyone. As far as this conversation, I'm surprised that you trust me enough to confide in me.

If I had to, I would convince Okuyasu to go to the hotel if it meant saving my own hide. He is my only connection to anyone outside of here, but he by far one of the weakest links here. My strategy in general is to find those links.

And not end up becoming one. That's why I was so pissed at the last game when I didn't get a shot at being in the top. I didn't appreciate having my skill look inferior to those who don't deserve it. It made me look like a weak link.

[keybroad]

It's really not fair. They made it look like giving and receiving would both be rewarded the same. [She shakes her head because she just knows she's going to get so into this. Then she winces. This was too much stress on her healing neck.]

Nothing too crazy will happen for a while. Weak links will probably get flushed out this round, maybe even all ones and zeroes. Too early to rock the boat; those of us who are playing competitively are covered for now, like we established right after the last challenge. It's not like I told my group, "I'm gonna tap Rohan to get hotelled right this round, I'm not gonna let him die." [While she uses finger quotes to make it clear that this is a counterfactual statement, the very even tone of voice suggests that this idea is far from repulsive to her. Maybe she trusted him so much precisely because she didn't expect him to be quite so selfish. Whatever the case, disgust doesn't show on her face. She hasn't directly reacted at all to the assertion that her level of trust is strange.] What I did do is tell them I was gonna talk to you at some point soon. I want to see how much the rest of you would freak out about us discussing things like hotelling, or mentioning by name the people who nobody's voting for. We're trying to get a head count of how many people actually agree with Zelda about how to play. Though I am still in favor of keeping an accurate public voting record.

[manuscripture]

I'm going to believe that Zelda is playing fairly for now. Her recording power and organization will come in handy.

[ He snatches a fry from her bag unceremoniously-- ]

Do you peg her as someone who-- once the herd thins out --will start... Say, swaying the views of others to keep those close to her in the green zone? Hypothetically.

[keybroad]

[She looks at him, thinking about this, not at all bothered by the pilfering of the fry but reminded by the opening of the bag that there is also a sandwich in there, so taking it out and unwrapping it as she thinks.]

Honestly... no. The way she matched up voters and stragglers doesn't seem to have a pattern, I legitimately think she's fair pretty deep down. Frank being the one who had to vote for Naoi-kun was so random, I don't think she planned it. It would have been really easy to deliberately recommend someone else last instead. Like, Charlie Kelly. [WELL, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN.] I think that this fairly adjudicated first come first serve basis won't be threatened by Zelda protecting herself or someone - not until really late in the game. It depends. I mean, most of the people closest to Zelda are doing okay in the first place.

What could change... something else could change that. Like, maybe if we say we're gonna both vote for Okuyasu to get him in the hotel, she might be like, wow, that's not so nice, you're not entitled to use my list anymore. She might not, either, just nothing that extreme has really happened yet, so I don't know how she'll act.

[manuscripture]

[ Oh. Listen to this: ]

Did I tell you I almost gave Frank my first vote?

[keybroad]

[Bright gossip tone:]

No way.

[She begins eating the sandwich, settling in for story time.]

Was Kyrie not the first person she asked?

[manuscripture]

[ Chinhands. ]

I had two votes at the time. One I gave to Nijimura because he was too lazy to get any. The second I had not made a decision on yet. When Zelda spoke to me, she told me that Frank had not figured out what to do with his vote yet.

I wasn't sold on letting it go yet, so I was intending on asking you first. When you politely declined, my vote went to Emily instead.

Oh~ Look at how that could have turned out~

We wouldn't be having this conversation!

[keybroad]

[Lotus puts one hand over her face. She manages not to belly laugh out loud but her shoulders are shaking.]

Ah, wow... I was thinking at one point "of course I trust you, Rohan, we have both voted for each other and technically saved each other's lives", but now I feel bad, I didn't realize it got that close.

[Sad little nostalgic smile. She looks down at her sandwich, takes a bite of it, speaks again.] You managed to work things out... I feel bad for Naoi-kun. He had problems, he really wasn't cut out for this game. Even if it was random that it happened to him instead of Sion or someone.