After(life) Party--

[soylentprotag]

[Lenka isn't talking much, though he spends most of the time after the execution either expressionless or frowning, moving among the ones still left at the campfire to check on people and try to make sure none of them are trying to either follow Boa or possibly throw literal or metaphorical stones at each other. Probably everyone's too exhausted for any of that at this point.

At some point he disappears for a little bit and comes back with an entire table and supplies -- not from the kitchen, but from the stash he'd accumulated in Cabin 2. It's not much, but it feels better than eating anything from the kitchen right now. Nobody wants that.

There's just some crackers and fruit snacks and some cheese with them. A few baggies to take them to go since most people aren't hungry right this moment. Once that's set out, he'll idle at one end of the table, staring out into the lake.]

Comments

[soylentprotag]

[None of them are quite enough. None of them can do enough. That's something both of them (all three of them) have acknowledged by now. And there may not be enough of them anymore, period, as the sacrifices mount.

But there's still something to stand by: none of them are in this alone.

Lenka gives a small nod when Chuuta responds, approving.]

Then do something about it. There are things only you and Drew can do, aren't there?

[homeecspacecop]

... I guess so, but I don't think our sympathy is going to help get us out of here.

[soylentprotag]

You said your -- sympathy is for defense. [he's still getting used to this sort of terminology in every day conversation, but he's getting better at not tripping over it] That's one of the things we need. To keep as many people alive and safe as possible.

[So far, they've managed to minimize casualties, ever since the various moose disasters and the hunters in the first week. He hates thinking of it as a numbers game, and rarely voices it, but that's what they can work with, with the information they have. Ten people, at least. More than that, if they're very lucky.

He doubts they'll be that lucky, especially after the Metaverse fiasco, but in the absence of luck you make your own.]

[homeecspacecop]

There's no way to know if someone's killing somebody else. We can't see or hear them when it happens, and... nobody's even gone out looking for anyone on Thursday night. And I know it's supposed to be for self-defense, but I... we don't have anything that could work as a shield to protect others if we were attacked.

[soylentprotag]

It's not just the ritual we need to worry about. Not always, like last week.

[Last week it had been... a group effort, really, the hostility and the mess of secrets -- something that extended beyond the murder itself and needs a lot more mending than any of them know how to do alone. They've made a start at it; he does think they all want to. It's just going to take time.

In the meantime...]

Your nets can restrain and stop attack. As long as you choose when to use them, you can help make sure things don't escalate. You remember when Kirijo stopped Lance and Nine, before.

[homeecspacecop]

[We can arrest people.]

I... guess. I don't know if restraining people would really help things, but it's something.

[And... Lenka probably needs to know a little bit about how sympathy works. But now isn't the time to explain it, not after all the questions and accusations.]

[soylentprotag]

Yes. I don't think we'll have to deal with our powers being messed up again, but even so...

[Even so, even with all their abilities right where they're supposed to be -- all of them have them, and as Lance had demonstrated, as Chloe had demonstrated, as so many others had shown them... It's easy for things to get out of control, even when you think you know yourself.

It's been a low-key worry of his all this time, something that doesn't exempt himself. But that's a problem for another day, much like sympathy details.]

It's something to think about.