[ After the meeting, Shinobu's first instinct is to go to the Saloon and grab herself a drink. On the way out, though, she locks eyes with Erika...who is undoubtedly one of the strangest, most unnerving people she's ever met.
She doesn't show fear, though -- she's less afraid and more tense -- and she stops. ]
The threat of execution is the main thing that would be preventing people from acting on the offer. Regardless, I'd give them a few days before someone breaks under the pressure and actually murders someone.
We're lucky our hosts are so helpful. This could have turned out to be more of a battle royale sort of situation, and there's not even any mystery involved in that.
That's what I'm thinking. Execution is a good deterrent and all, but it's only gonna do so much for some people.
[ She doesn't include herself in that bunch. She's pretty good under pressure, and life or death situations don't scare her as much as it would others. Still, this is a kind of pressure she hasn't experienced before... ]
You'll be entertained soon enough.
[ She hates saying it, but it's (probably) true. ]
...What would you say the odds are of anyone making it out of here?
Mm. The set up before a murder occurs is also a crucial part of a mystery. I assure you, my job has already begun.
[She has to think on that for a moment. The odds... well, it's hardly something she'd devoted too much thought to. She'll get out, of course, because the detective never dies.]
I suppose it depends on whether the offering actually does let people escape. We've only got our hosts' speculation to rely on after all.
[For a moment, she remembers Ange Ushiromiya. Who hoped for an escape from an inescapable tragedy, and who deluded herself into hoping her dead family was alive. They may be trapped here, just like they were. Dead and trapped in an eternal gameboard.]
For every murder, that's two sacrifices. The victim, killed by the culprit, and the criminal, executed by Makima-senpai and myself. Eventually there would be enough fruits for everyone left standing. [Leaving aside the possibility of any other means of escape for a moment. She has her own suspicions, but that's not her priority.]
[ She listens to Erika speak. She's quiet. Maybe the Detective would've liked talking to her, she thinks. Shinobu does the math herself, and...yeah. That sounds about right. ]
Mm. There's no way to really verify their claims until it happens.
[ ...however. ]
Did you and Makima strike up a deal or something? Why are you part of the executions now?
[ She feels a little embarrassed for jumping to that conclusion, oops. ]
So this'll be a walk in the park for you. Well, we'll be counting on you, then, Detective -- got any investigation tips you'd like to share, or are those considered trade secrets?
[A few hours after the execution, Erika stands at the foot of the tower. No doubt others have already visited, if they weren't too busy clapping themselves on the back for how bad they felt.
She glances sidelong at Shinobu as she approaches.]
Quite a show, wasn't it?
[She's being sardonic and snarky, more than genuinely malicious.]
[ Shinobu is not among the first to visit the tower, and she does so with some curiosity rather than remorse. Her feelings towards Sora are complicated at best, and while she didn't feel like partaking in the meal, she's got something else more pressing on her mind.
She sees Erika. She remembers Erika's meltdown at the trial. It's interesting to see her looking back to her normal (?) self today. ]
Hah, that's one way to put it.
[ She shakes her head, and she looks up at the tower. ]
I still don't think our "law enforcement" is being honest with us, but they weren't lying about the land working in strange ways. It thrives off of death. ... Can't help but wonder why.
Law enforcement never tells the truth, it's how they maintain law.
[She shrugs. Obviously Makima's goals are probably a great deal more sinister than that, but.]
I wonder if the existing buildings in town happened because of the deaths they carried out. It would explain how Adela-san and Makima-senpai have spots in town hand designed for them.
I was wondering the same thing, if this town was birthed by death. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if those two were responsible for most of the ones that supposedly occurred here before us.
[ It'd probably shock no one, really. ... Well, maybe Nine, but that's about it? ]
Not a mastermind, sure, but she's strong. Makima seems like the strategist between the two of them, and they probably work well that way. That's just my guess, though. I don't know what they're really like.
[ And she knows better than to trust her impressions, especially after...gestures at Sora.
Anyway. ]
The way the land works is bizarre. The ducks? Also pretty weird. A lot of this feels incredibly calculated, but some parts of it feel like it was left to chance. I don't know how or why we were chosen to be part of this.
[ She gives Erika a sideways glance and shrugs. ]
It's not like I've got a niche like you do...but maybe that's the point.
[Erika hums.] I do need to do further investigation regarding those two. Going forward, I'll need to work twice as hard...
Makima-senpai has some bizarre control over the ducks. I'm not sure what or why but they're terrified of her.
[She crosses her arms. Thinking. It's true, none of them have specifications like she does. Walter is a chemist, Dongrang is a scientist. That leaves literally everyone else.]
...My master recreated me as a piece to play these types of games. They're often capricious and ridiculous, and they rarely make any sense on the surface. Makima-senpai is closer to my level than my master's, but there is something higher than her at work here.
The ducks are scared of her, huh? That's interesting.
[ It certainly implies that Makima is more terrifying than her outer shell would suggest. This is not surprising.
What is, though, is hearing what Erika has to say. Sure, she's got that observation about Makima, but something else stands out to Shinobu more than that. ]
Hang on. Recreated you...? What do you mean by that?
[ Despite her bombastic personality, Erika seems pretty human to her. ]
Mhm. [How does she describe this?] I'm a Witch, after all, specially chosen to hunt and kill other Witches.
[She doesn't fully embrace the title anymore. Battler may have been an incompetent buffoon and an idealistic moron, but he had a point.]
When a human becomes a Witch, it involves another Witch recognizing them and ascending them, so that they become less of a person and more of a concept, on a meta level.
When I killed myself, it was my master that fished the concept of me out of the water and set me on the path of The Detective. [She thinks for a moment, hums.] I'm not sure that Erika Furudo was my real name, for one.
Mhm. [She doesn't want to go through all the details of that. Maybe Shinobu would understand. Maybe Erika could squint and pretend she's talking to Dlanor.] I never said I wasn't human.
[It's.... complicated.] But I remember what came before. And it was a life of boredom and misery.
Tell me. Are you familiar with the thought experiment about a cat inside a box?
Imagine a cat is in a box. From the outside, it is impossible to parse the state of the cat completely, the box has cut off any other factors. This means that there are two outcomes that may take place. The cat is alive. Or the cat is dead.
But the outcome is only made real once you open it and reveal the truth. Until then, both of these are simultaneously true until you shatter the illusion and reveal the truth for all.
...I am a catbox. Both mystery and fantasy - real and conceptual at the same time. I am both Witch and Detective, until you shatter the illusion that forms me.
[It's deeply confusing. That's why there were a million words about it and some people are still so unbelievably wrong about it despite the themes being spelled out a billion times.]
I could explain some of the details behind it but I doubt that will help. Rest assured, I'm more human than most of my colleagues. [Who are all demons or windows or the concept of Knox's Decalogue.]
[ Shinobu is not quite on the verge of winding down just yet. She's doing some small exercises on the bottom floor of the Flame Lily farm to work off some of her anxiety.
There's a knock on the door. She stops, wonders who's coming to visit at this hour. Shinobu opens it -- ]
Erika.
[ The duct tape menace herself... Wordlessly, Shinobu will step aside to let her in. ]
It's a favoured trick of mine. Seal the doors with duct tape, forcibly create locked door mysteries. If they catch on and try to cut the duct tape, then I've taken a considerable amount of time away from them while they have to run around and cut the duct tape off every single door in town.
For one, the others were all cleanly cut open, but Jojomart was cut considerably more desperately.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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She doesn't show fear, though -- she's less afraid and more tense -- and she stops. ]
Fine. You were right.
[ That's what she wants to hear, isn't it? ]
Funny, how that all worked out.
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Of course I was. [When has she ever been wrong apart from the times in which she objectively was.]
Wherever a detective goes, a murder is soon to follow. You get used to it.
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[ Which...well, she's not entirely sure what that says about Erika, but. It is what it is. ]
I won't deny that it's likely to happen soon. I have a feeling many will get desperate to return home, if they aren't already.
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[Let's ignore the entire plot of Umineko.]
The threat of execution is the main thing that would be preventing people from acting on the offer. Regardless, I'd give them a few days before someone breaks under the pressure and actually murders someone.
We're lucky our hosts are so helpful. This could have turned out to be more of a battle royale sort of situation, and there's not even any mystery involved in that.
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That's what I'm thinking. Execution is a good deterrent and all, but it's only gonna do so much for some people.
[ She doesn't include herself in that bunch. She's pretty good under pressure, and life or death situations don't scare her as much as it would others. Still, this is a kind of pressure she hasn't experienced before... ]
You'll be entertained soon enough.
[ She hates saying it, but it's (probably) true. ]
...What would you say the odds are of anyone making it out of here?
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[She has to think on that for a moment. The odds... well, it's hardly something she'd devoted too much thought to. She'll get out, of course, because the detective never dies.]
I suppose it depends on whether the offering actually does let people escape. We've only got our hosts' speculation to rely on after all.
[For a moment, she remembers Ange Ushiromiya. Who hoped for an escape from an inescapable tragedy, and who deluded herself into hoping her dead family was alive. They may be trapped here, just like they were. Dead and trapped in an eternal gameboard.]
For every murder, that's two sacrifices. The victim, killed by the culprit, and the criminal, executed by Makima-senpai and myself. Eventually there would be enough fruits for everyone left standing. [Leaving aside the possibility of any other means of escape for a moment. She has her own suspicions, but that's not her priority.]
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Mm. There's no way to really verify their claims until it happens.
[ ...however. ]
Did you and Makima strike up a deal or something? Why are you part of the executions now?
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[So. Nothing as sinister as that, just an egotistical desire to take credit for any future executions.]
It's the role I'm used to playing. I expose the criminal, my partner carries out the execution.
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[ She feels a little embarrassed for jumping to that conclusion, oops. ]
So this'll be a walk in the park for you. Well, we'll be counting on you, then, Detective -- got any investigation tips you'd like to share, or are those considered trade secrets?
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Yeah. I get that. Especially now.
[ Even if all the doubt will eat away at her, she's used to being self-sufficient. ]
Thanks. ... We're counting on you.
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[Detectives rarely help the situation, she finds.]
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[ Shinobu is clever, but she's never had to solve a murder. That was all Heizou's job, back at home. ]
I'll do my best, in any case.
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[Is that encouragement????]
WEEK 1, POST EXEC
She glances sidelong at Shinobu as she approaches.]
Quite a show, wasn't it?
[She's being sardonic and snarky, more than genuinely malicious.]
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She sees Erika. She remembers Erika's meltdown at the trial. It's interesting to see her looking back to her normal (?) self today. ]
Hah, that's one way to put it.
[ She shakes her head, and she looks up at the tower. ]
I still don't think our "law enforcement" is being honest with us, but they weren't lying about the land working in strange ways. It thrives off of death. ... Can't help but wonder why.
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[She shrugs. Obviously Makima's goals are probably a great deal more sinister than that, but.]
I wonder if the existing buildings in town happened because of the deaths they carried out. It would explain how Adela-san and Makima-senpai have spots in town hand designed for them.
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I was wondering the same thing, if this town was birthed by death. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if those two were responsible for most of the ones that supposedly occurred here before us.
[ It'd probably shock no one, really. ... Well, maybe Nine, but that's about it? ]
All of this feels senseless.
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Erika was more drawn to Makima, for reasons that she can now understand. Aside from the obvious (lust.)]
Makima at least. Adela doesn't strike me as much of a mastermind. Delusional and no doubt capable of violence and cruelty, but not a mastermind.
[She glances toward Shinobu fully now, a slightly snide smile on her little rat face.]
Really? Senseless how?
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[ And she knows better than to trust her impressions, especially after...gestures at Sora.
Anyway. ]
The way the land works is bizarre. The ducks? Also pretty weird. A lot of this feels incredibly calculated, but some parts of it feel like it was left to chance. I don't know how or why we were chosen to be part of this.
[ She gives Erika a sideways glance and shrugs. ]
It's not like I've got a niche like you do...but maybe that's the point.
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Makima-senpai has some bizarre control over the ducks. I'm not sure what or why but they're terrified of her.
[She crosses her arms. Thinking. It's true, none of them have specifications like she does. Walter is a chemist, Dongrang is a scientist. That leaves literally everyone else.]
...My master recreated me as a piece to play these types of games. They're often capricious and ridiculous, and they rarely make any sense on the surface. Makima-senpai is closer to my level than my master's, but there is something higher than her at work here.
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[ It certainly implies that Makima is more terrifying than her outer shell would suggest. This is not surprising.
What is, though, is hearing what Erika has to say. Sure, she's got that observation about Makima, but something else stands out to Shinobu more than that. ]
Hang on. Recreated you...? What do you mean by that?
[ Despite her bombastic personality, Erika seems pretty human to her. ]
cw for suicide
[She doesn't fully embrace the title anymore. Battler may have been an incompetent buffoon and an idealistic moron, but he had a point.]
When a human becomes a Witch, it involves another Witch recognizing them and ascending them, so that they become less of a person and more of a concept, on a meta level.
When I killed myself, it was my master that fished the concept of me out of the water and set me on the path of The Detective. [She thinks for a moment, hums.] I'm not sure that Erika Furudo was my real name, for one.
cw continued
[ Is that part of the process? If so, that's...
Mm. ]
Do you remember what it was like to be human? Or are those memories that fade once you become a Witch?
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[It's.... complicated.] But I remember what came before. And it was a life of boredom and misery.
Tell me. Are you familiar with the thought experiment about a cat inside a box?
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At her question, Shinobu just offers Erika a blank look. ]
...No? I've never heard of it.
cw for depersonalization and umineko fourth wall leaning
But the outcome is only made real once you open it and reveal the truth. Until then, both of these are simultaneously true until you shatter the illusion and reveal the truth for all.
...I am a catbox. Both mystery and fantasy - real and conceptual at the same time. I am both Witch and Detective, until you shatter the illusion that forms me.
stares
I think I understand, to some extent. You said you were a concept – that's real, but your being is also unlike anything that humanity can grasp.
I find it confusing...but rather interesting.
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[It's deeply confusing. That's why there were a million words about it and some people are still so unbelievably wrong about it despite the themes being spelled out a billion times.]
I could explain some of the details behind it but I doubt that will help. Rest assured, I'm more human than most of my colleagues. [Who are all demons or windows or the concept of Knox's Decalogue.]
w2 post-party
There's a knock on the door. She stops, wonders who's coming to visit at this hour. Shinobu opens it -- ]
Erika.
[ The duct tape menace herself... Wordlessly, Shinobu will step aside to let her in. ]
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[She smiles, a touch playful.]
I'd apologize for the duct tape but I think we both know I'm not sorry.
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Yeah, yeah. I figured. Was it designed to be some kind of culprit trap?
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For one, the others were all cleanly cut open, but Jojomart was cut considerably more desperately.
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[ Was it the knife duck? It was probably the knife duck. ]
They were already cut by the time Dongrang and I had our encounter, though. It must've been one of the ducks.
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[She's going to kick the knife duck like a kickball.]