synopsychic | [Video]

Not this shit again.

[Hijimama is not amused.]

Only the sign? Or does it look like anything's ready to come busting out of there again?

Hijikata! No sign of anything else yet. [Despite the grimness, Armin's tone brightens, just a little, at hearing Hijikata's thoughts in his.] But I wouldn't touch it. As far as I know, there was no sign either of the other times - until someone interfered and let them out.

At this point, I'm half tempted to stake the place out just to make sure nobody slept through this message and tries it later.

[Except there's still shit to be done, jauntwise, so he knows he probably shouldn't take himself out of action like that. But this is worrisome.]

Maybe we could just have someone put up a sign? [Someone who could make things permanent in liminal space, at any rate - unlike Armin.] There are closer bathrooms, so it's not too likely someone will just wander up here anyway...

[But he's still nervous about it. He shrugs uncomfortably, feeling a sympathetic twinge from the scar on his right shoulder - a memento of the first time this sign appeared to them.]

There's always some jackass who thinks the rules are for everyone else. But it's better than nothing.

[There's a significant pause before Armin responds, but he's calmer and more confident when he responds again.] Leonardo has placed some protections over it. They will be enough unless someone is really trying to get past the cage.

At the very least, it's not something anyone could do by accident.

...

[It's not that he doesn't trust Leonardo's intentions; the man himself is a more than proven quantity. But if those protections come from knowledge from Harrogate, he can't help but wonder if whatever Leonardo learned there wasn't skewed to be less to their benefit, given the role he was forced into then.]

What kind of protections?

First is just a physical cage, keeping the sign out of reach. And then... some sort of eldritch sign. He says that with its power, neither the King nor his minions can break the cage from the inside.

[Armin's uneasy about that too - something that's not very difficult to hear in his voice - but it's not something he understands, so for now he feels he simply has to trust Leonardo with it.]

[Well, half of that sounds good, and half of it...

Armin's right, though. They really don't have much choice but to trust in it.]

Sounds like that's probably the best we can do, for now.

Yeah.

[He considers for a moment, and then with a slight effort locks the conversation to the two of them.]

...Chizuru suggested that we might talk to the Trumps about opposing the King in Yellow, when we get the chance. I... wanted to ask what you thought about that idea.

[...ooh.

You can almost feel the mental wince.]

...I think we need to think about that pretty carefully first. Chizuru's got a lot more faith in Psyche than I do, probably...but common enemies don't necessarily make for stable alliances.

Sometimes they're still necessary ones. But I don't know if we've got enough to make that call yet.

[He had anticipated that wince too.]

She has more faith in the Trumps than either of us. And we would need to be very careful. But... she might still be right.

I think it's been made fairly clear that the King is not going away on his own. And I don't know if we're going to get more until it's too late. I think we have to make that call soon, even though we don't know how it'll turn out.

[Which, much as it may sound like it, is not saying that Armin's made up his mind on which way they should make that call.]

Wouldn't be the first time she's been right and I've been...what the hell is it the modern types call it? "Debbie Downer"?

[No matter how much slang he hears from other Travellers some of it's pretty stupid, he still thinks. Although "chucklefucks" was a pretty welcome addition to his vocabulary.]

I don't think you're wrong, though. But our chances to talk to the Trumps about anything never seem to come on our terms.

[Armin blinks, once.] I... I'm not sure I've heard that one before. [Guess who's less modern than Hijikata?]

No. Which is why we need to be sure about if we want to approach them about this when we do get the chance - and if we're ready to trust any of them with this, or only a select few.

Chizuru... also mentioned the possibility of one of the Trumps working with the King. And after hearing about the Devil, and witnessing what Psyche's corruption could do on the grid, that's plausible enough I'm not willing to just dismiss it.

That's why... I suggested that she ask Psyche and I ask Rose - since we know for a fact that those two are not working together. [He bites his lip a little - that's a thing he's been worried about, that he and his friends and near-family in clan Lovers might be pitted against one another.] But... like I said, I wanted to get your perspective on all this before deciding for sure.

The thing I worry about, if we take the possibility that one of the Trumps may be working with it to the logical conclusion - by approaching Trumps about it, we may be giving someone a heads-up of our intentions.

Might be they've got ways of finding out no matter what else we do, and hiding it's futile, too, of course. But if they haven't noticed...we do this, they're definitely going to.

[It still, technically, doesn't mean he's against it. And they don't have a lot of time to debate it, either, but even if they can't spare much time to consider the angles - he'd rather be sure they at least have all of them in mind.

If it tips someone off...he worries that it might accelerate the inevitable.

Whatever the inevitable winds up being.]

But... right now, our intentions aren't really good for anything, are they? What other options do we have against the King in Yellow?

Think of it as the enemy that knows you've got your eye on him versus the enemy who thinks you're leaving your back wide open. Might be it doesn't make a damned bit of difference, might well be we're going ahead with this no matter what - but I don't believe in ever letting anyone smell more of what I'm up to without at least being aware of what I'm about to give away, even if I can't avoid doing it.

[Armin looks more thoughtful and a little less desperate, at that - it's a perspective he hadn't quite considered before. After several long moments, he slowly nods.]

I understand. We might not be able to deal with him directly, but we may still be able to defend ourselves, if they think to take us unaware.

[He considers that for a moment longer.] While I can't say none of the Trumps are working with him... I feel like it's unlikely Rose or Psyche are. So it may still be worth the risk.

On the other hand... I almost wonder if there's even anything they can do. He infiltrated liminal space, their domain, and the telepathic network. You'd think that if they were enemies and they could have thrown him out, they would have.

We don't have many known quantities to work with, at this point, and Rose and Psyche are probably two of the ones we know best, so I don't disagree with you on them.

[For all they don't know...those two have, at least, been active enough for them to have a better idea of what they might be setting themselves up for.]

I sure as hell know if I could, I would've. But they may have some advantage to keeping him around that we haven't spotted...or if he's working with another, they're not interested in an act of war that blatant, maybe? Hard to say until we know more.

[Armin sighs, obviously frustrated.] And it's hard to know more until we make a move.

[So. What do they do?]

Edited 2015-06-24 07:26 (UTC)

Fucked if we do, fucked if we don't.

But I'd rather be fucked over by doing something than by not doing something.

So you think we should try it? Ask Rose and Psyche about it when we get a chance, see if their answers match up, and go from there?

[Armin looks almost hopeful. Though he's tried his best to avoid letting emotion be a part of this decision, he can't deny he'd feel immeasurably better if they had a plan. If they were doing something - anything - more than sitting and waiting for something terrible to happen. The waiting is the worst part.]

I think so. Might not be any turning back from that, but we've already seen that it's not going to vanish if we wait and hold our breath.

[Armin lets out a long breath, then nods.] Right.

[Honestly, he's just relieved a decision has been made - wherever it's going to lead them.]

Now we just have to hope we actually remember who we are next time those two show their faces.

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