open to Investigators

[leftbehindagain]

It can't hurt to try to put some pieces together now that we've had a little more time, right?

Has anyone been able to get anything other than suspicious glares from the Red Team? The more I hear, the less I like the status quo, but if we don't know what the hell they think they're doing we can't really make an informed decision on where to go from here.

I'm also trying to figure out what the... well, the purpose of the Games is. Okay, you get higher Priority out of it, great, but at what cost? If Red Team's so paranoid, why do they allow this distraction from everyone's jobs?

Why is it falling to us and Blue Team to clean up major threats? Speaking of, I hope you guys are all holding up all right, if you've been tangled up in that. The sector I was helping out with lucked out - it was a problem a lot of us have dealt with before, in a way.

No wonder Naoto's getting frustrated.

Comments

[foreveralawn]

I've been okay. Though...maybe we should figure out a...cover story? For consistency. I've been pretending that I've got amnesia, b-but I'm not sure how much longer that's going to work...

And, I d-don't think I've figured out much yet, but I guess my question about the Defenders would be...what are they defending, if it's not the Miners? Something in the fort...?

[leftbehindagain]

I don't know, everyone I've talked to seems content to run with 'Variables are weird, what can you do.' But if anyone's got a good idea I'm open to it. [It can't hurt, right?]

That's one of my questions too. From what I've gathered, they're defending the wider system beyond the Partition - or the fort, I guess - from the purple crap. And that's all well and good, but it'd probably be easier to do that if they went out and, you know, defended.

But I'm applying common sense to the situation, so I'm probably off base. [That comes across in heavy sarcasm.] I can't decide if it's worth trying diplomacy with this bunch or if Red Team would just shout 'Priority' and call off the discussion.

[betrayedblade]

I may have your answer by the end of the day.


[[ooc note: I actually have a network post I'm working on in which Giovanni is going to share some information he's discovered about the Partition. It'll be out tonight. I'm not trying to step on any toes but I just wanted to let you know!]]

[leftbehindagain]

Really? Good luck, and be careful.

(OOC: No toes stepped on! The more they know, the better.)

[betrayedblade]

I will.


[[ooc: good, good! it was slightly delayed so i just wanted to apologize for it...being right after your post. :3]]

[prolificarse]

The purpose is control, of course. The fiction is that anyone can gain the privileges of the elite. Never mind that most never will, the possibility is there, and it's a much more palatable prospect than open revolt.

[seestheworld]

Maybe the distraction is part of the point? Maybe they figure that if people are busy competing against each other, then there's less likelihood of them plotting together. And if the prize is really good, which it seems to be from their point of view, then they'll have more of a vested interest in supporting the status quo.

ota~

[abweichend]

Some of them might want to protect the Grid... But most probably only care about protecting themselves and their luxuries. The point of the Games is to get more of those assholes to the top, the ones who only want the status and privilege without the real power.

[He hasn't seen them for himself just yet, but he's heard enough that he doesn't really need to. The concept is clear enough to him.]

...I've counted more of us, Green, and Blue than Red, but since so many are too busy trying to buy their way inside or supporting their friends to that end no one's doing anything to challenge the setup here. [That he knows of. Naoto's rebellion is going to be the best thing since 3DMG to Levi, once he gets involved.] Maybe that's why we're here.

[He'd rather his 'purpose' (aha....) be to support change than tighten the grip of a system that's already so oppressive, honestly. FUCK THE MAN, basically.]

[leftbehindagain]

You'd think they wouldn't want to hand out that privilege at all, so why bother offering it to the winners?

[leftbehindagain]

Or it's the only way to buck the system that isn't guaranteed to get you killed.

[prolificarse]

Because if there was absolutely no chance of gaining privilege, rebellion would suddenly become a great deal more attractive to anyone who chafes under the weight of their station. Handing out little parcels of power according to very strict rules allows them to keep the majority of it concentrated exactly where they want it.

[leftbehindagain]

That'd definitely tally with why fighting monsters is falling to the people who aren't really prepared for it in any meaningful way.

Maybe it is. I, for one, can't help noticing there's a tower in there, which suggests a Trump right off the bat. [Or, well, it does when you're a Persona user and one of your party members was Tower. All the more reason to wish Taka-senpai was actually here.]

[leftbehindagain]

...I'll grant you that one. There's also the fact that they've likely killed anyone who's tried anything more overt.

[prolificarse]

How kind.

You may be giving them too much credit for mercy. The local dialect isn't entirely familiar, but I gather overwriting the minds of dissidents is another option.

[There's a thread of anger wound through his thoughts, thin but white-hot, and jarring against the offhand words.]

[leftbehindagain]

Either way, they clearly expect the problem to stop being a problem, in that case. [Oh, it's not jarring at all - Naoki doesn't much like the idea either.]

[abweichend]

It would.

[His psychic voice sounds... A little angrier than it should. HITTING A LITTLE TOO CLOSE TO HOME T B H.........

The thing about the tower, though... He hadn't thought of that. He's been given a list of the cards and a very brief description of each, but he has no connection to them otherwise and so he's not exactly an expert:]

The Tower is one of the cards, isn't it? What's it stand for?

[He needs a symbology lesson, clearly. Anything to help lead them to the Trump that's here, if one is in fact present.]

[prolificarse]

That's usually the case. Most overt rebellions fail within days of starting - either at the hands of those in power, or at the hands of a lower class that doesn't want the fallout that will inevitably bury them as well.

[leftbehindagain]

Well, if Naoto's word games in the stands mean what I think they do, the next one might not. But I haven't had a chance to ask without going through a lot of rhetorical gymnastics first, so I don't know for sure yet.

[leftbehindagain]

Like I said, our sector really lucked out.

It is, yeah. Tower is sudden upheaval - it's actually more likely to signify death than Death. Death the card is more about major transition, but Tower can be outright disaster. Something huge goes really, really wrong and you have to pick up the pieces afterward - and sometimes it's about building something better out of the wreckage.

[Naoki's life pretty solidly Towered on him, at the beginning of everything. Even without Taka-senpai and his meltdown, he has a good grasp on what Tower's all about, down to getting something good out the other end.]

[prolificarse]

A rebellion is a great deal larger than one person. If your friend is planning something, they'll need support, resources, a very good plan, and some way of ensuring things don't just collapse the moment they're caught or compromised.

[leftbehindagain]

If anyone can start a rebellion with some measure of success, it'll be Naoto.

[prolificarse]

Loyalty is a delightful thing, but what actually makes you believe that?

[leftbehindagain]

Naoto's a detective, and nothing if not thorough. We might be from slightly different continuities, but she's pretty much the same anywhere. She'll actually make a plan and cover pretty much every possible contingency before she does anything overt.

[abweichend]

[There's a huff that's... Not quite a laugh. It figures. Will there ever be a feather duster Trump or an expensive tea Trump...?? For fuck's sake.]

Pretty shit sign, then.

[It's not that he hasn't heard the second part- building something better- but he feels like that's probably better left for someone more suited to optimism than he is.

Because something's brewing here, something big just like this guy says. Levi knows it is, he'd known since the politics and climate of this system had made itself known:]

Something's definitely coming. This system can't continue on this way.

[More importantly, they can't allow it to- what good are they otherwise?]

...Maybe we're it.

[prolificarse]

Leaving aside the question of whether a detective's skillset is applicable to revolution - can she inspire?

Or, failing that, can you find a figurehead who can?