To Watch

[strangerpeople]

[All is quiet on this day. There is nothing here on the islands that will torment or spook the new residents at least for now. But the Composer with them is bored out of her damn mind. She thinks to look at her non functioning cellphone for some source of entertainment but when she turns it on, her eyes widen.]

Kami forfend...!

[And she runs through the circus, at first heading towards where the Strangers, Seven and the weird clown is staying. However, she keeps spotting them during her path...cellphones. They too also seem to be on and when she looks at the screen, she grabs it and runs to grab more. When she arrives back to the group, Yotsuyu's arms were full with phones and she feels like her legs are about to give in.]

Hey! You may want to look at these! I don't know how they got here or what is going on but we may get something out of it! Seven, check your phone too!

[If the person grabs one of the cellphones, they will be able to see a video feed with sound. Of what exactly...it's something to grab their attention. Time to see what happens.]

Comments

[zackthekiller]

Huh...?

[He glances at 707 before going back to the phone... Rika... Mentioned the Sun?

Then all the confusion sets in for that woman... And somehow, Zack's able to rub at least two brain cells together.]

Wait a minute... The bitch's brainwashed or something!

[dragonmouth]

...well.

That's rather worrying.

[FUCK]

[zackthekiller]

Yeah, ya think?!

[Sorry, he snapped a bit... Actually not sorry, this is a reasonable response.]

The fuck is with that sun?!

[dragonmouth]

...I don't know. Whatever it is, it's the it's only good either destroyed or with everyone here dragged as far as possible.

I'm not sure if whatever used to be Rika is there anymore.

[zackthekiller]

... You mean she's dead too?

[Look. The last two people who got the crystal thing were blown up afterwards.]

[dragonmouth]

Not in the literal sense, perhaps, but... dead inside, maybe.

[zackthekiller]

Huh? Don't people die if their insides stop working?

[7_0_7]

She said Chaesun tried to hurt V, and that never happened! But if that sun brainwashed her to think it's V... that would explain some things. Hmm.

[zackthekiller]

[... Fuck it, he's gonna talk to Mr. Glasses here.]

Alright, who the hell are these people and how do you know them?

mystic messenger spoilers for the whole game

[7_0_7]

All of them are members of the RFA - Rika's Fundraising Association. They're 707's closest friends...

[yeah he's talking in third person, both in a quirky way and because Seven is a lot of people to him what with the parallel universe knowledge.]

... Well, not really Rika and V, anymore. Rika... she brainwashed my brother Saeran in her cult Mint Eye, and in most timelines V faked a suicide for her and covered for her for years. The one that went missing - the one they're from - is one of the only ones where I manage to get help for Saeran. But Saeran shot V, and Rika wasn't able to move or speak after that.

[he pauses, not sure whether he should include the detail or not, but... well, for reasons, it may be important, so fuck it.]

It's also the only timeline where MC is in love with me.

[boy, he sounds wistful and resigned at that.]

[zackthekiller]

[. . .] Uh...

That's a weird way of explaining, pal... [He has a billion questions but...]

What the fuck is wrong with that woman? And whadya mean by timelines?

[7_0_7]

Wish I knew. [to what the fuck is wrong with Rika, he means. Technically he could read her mind if he wanted to, but he's sure it wouldn't make him feel better, so.]

... a long time ago, I was in a murder shithole like the rest of you went through, designed to execute a lot of people to put them in The Reaper's Game. Long story short, I died and became an angel, which let me watch over my world as its protector. But a world is really composed of a bunch of parallel universes - calling it a timeline is really just kind of how I'm making sense of them. I'm good with data but it's a lot to keep track of and it's easier to follow them based on where things at the same time happen differently. Anyway, when it comes to the RFA, seems like the biggest differences always started when MC decided who she loved the most. It fascinates me how much she's able to change.

[But he's not sure what else to say about this while he's still focused on the phones. He'd kind of like to hear more about what she's doing, but the focus on Rika herself by the living is understandable here.]

[notthebreakman]

[Proto's been quiet for a while now, but this turn of events makes him speak up.]

So all along our true enemy has been whatever force or entity that Sun is. She's just yet another puppet dancing on its strings.

[zackthekiller]

[WHELP.]

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! ARE ARE THOSE GUYS GONNA DEAL WITH THE FUCKING MIND CONTROL SUN!?!

[How do you kill it would have been his question if he was actually alive.]

[notthebreakman]

Maybe by cutting it off from its supply lines somehow? Take away its accumulated hours and let it burn out?

[zackthekiller]

... Maybe? I was just gonna stab it if I wAS ACTUALLY ALIVE RIGHT NOW, DAMNIT!

[He is so glad most of these carnival games involve breaking stuff, because Zack is tempted to go on a rampage if he's still stuck here when these guys are done.]

[7_0_7]

I thought a human still created that Sun? Robots and AI can be sentient but that's not what it is... you think it's got a mind of its own, enough to plan all the motives and trains? And then it controlled her into doing those things without her noticing? That sounds impossible...

[notthebreakman]

I'm not absolving her of blame. It's just that this is what spurred her to start all of this. All so she could keep her "beloved" going strong.

[7_0_7]

That would mean she's just pretending she doesn't know what's going on....

[well, he can't totally put it past her, so he's thinking about this]

[7_0_7]

[okay but this is complicating this brainwashing theory a little]

What do you mean you spoke to God!?

[this is just making his catholic head spin and he can't even make sense of the color-changing sun so this is where he will start]

[dragonmouth]

...do you think that she might have just. Assumed that whatever she spoke to was a god and didn't ask too many questions about it?

[7_0_7]

I'm not sure... Rika had a complicated relationship with religion, so I don't think it would be like that...

[icanhearscreams]

I think she might have lost it.

[7_0_7]

Well, at least that happened a long time ago!

[Snarky cheer! He's not a big fan of Rika after all of That.]

[notthebreakman]

[Proto has only ever studied religion in an academic sense, but this doesn't mesh with any belief systems that he knows of, either.]

"What does God need with a starship?" Or in this case...