synopsychic | broadcast to investigators;

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broadcast to investigators;

Seems like the Trumps already want us back to work. [Oh, look, it's that one asshole everyone was probably warned about talking in your head. Congrats, Travelers, he'll make this quick.]

Those of you that are new, this is a Jaunt. We're here to investigate and fix something, so first thing's first- you need to blend in. If the people here get suspicious, we'll get blocked out of opportunities to find something, and sometimes they might even take our presence around here negatively.

[That's Garrett's way of saying "don't be an idiot and play your part or I'm going to call you a moron beyond this Jaunt." There's a sigh, but he continues.]

I'm not one for leading, someone else is going to have to take that job. Might want to sound off, just to see who all we have for this round.

Garrett, Investigator. Your turn.

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"Fix something". How delightfully cryptic. Are our benfactors always so informative?

[It's less irritated than the words alone might sound. The lack of clear direction is inconvenient, the lack of choice infuriating, but the crowd and the spectacle just scream opportunity.]

Sabetha, Investigator.

[It's belated, and not as deliberate as she'd wish. In person, she'd give a false name, but her own identity rings true in the unnerving, unwanted intimacy brought about by voices intruding on her thoughts.]

The Trumps pretty much consider this a blessing.

[His way of saying "yes, this is the most we'll get." And he understands that finding this place ripe for opportunity.]

Once we figure out what seems to be the issue, we can push forward that way.

A curious amount of leeway to go with this "blessing". If I were the suspicious type, I'd suspect we're being fitted for a noose.

[But she's engaged in spite of that. (Or possibly because of it; Camorri are rarely without a streak of perversity.)]

Information and a place to go to ground, then. [This part isn't really meant to be broadcast, but she's far from an expert at this.]

Only if you're dumb enough to get caught and let that noose get around your neck.

[He won't. He's been around doing this for a while.]

As much as you can find, both on Dolorosa and on the people in it.

Oh, we're old friends, the rope and I. It hasn't won a hide-and-seek match yet.

[There's a hint of humour there, though it's not without bite.]

That's well-tread ground. As entertaining as the voices in my head are, a meeting place for more tangible trades might be useful. Particularly if we're going to be stranded here for some time.

The noose and I know each other pretty well. It gets upset that I never visit.

[His is the same. Once a thief, always a thief.]

The tournament is going to end sometime. If we have to, we can group sometime then.

A few days from now, I'd wager. The pavilions are sturdier than Penance Day pageantry would warrant, and no one seems bored yet, or put off by lack of wares.

[There aren't enough sharks for it to feel like home, but she's familiar enough with spectacle for the masses to gauge the type.]

If we know nothing else about the nobles here, they certainly have deep pockets.

All the more opportunity for me.

[If she wants to make it a game, then he'll gladly join. Otherwise it's every man or woman for themselves.]

Not that I'm one to complain- stealing from luxury is a hobby.

Thieves prosper.

[The phrase sounds unfinished, and there's gravity there despite the humour. She's faithful, in her own way.]

It will be interesting to see how well.

If you're good enough.

[If he trusts you? He's loyal. Faith really never played a part in his life.]

We'll have to see.

Those who aren't feed the rope, and the rest learn from their missteps.

[It's not that she doesn't care, it's just that this is how it's always been. Those who weep over it tend to break at the exact wrong moment.]

They used to tar the hands of thieves back home if they were caught. Hence the name "blackhand." [A beat, as it's a thought that amuses him.]

We all started somewhere. I just made sure I was always the best.

The perversity of the Right People spans worlds, then.

[Humour, still - it's not surprising that those who thumb their noses at the law would be contrary, after all.]

And really, why do anything if you don't aim to excel.

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blackhand - 2014-05-26 05:01 (UTC) - Expand

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amadine - 2014-05-26 08:00 (UTC) - Expand

This is usually about all we get, unfortunately.

If we follow the infiltrators, we can usually figure out what we're supposed to get involved with.

So I gather.

[The former, at least. The latter, less so.]

That's...incredibly roundabout. How much autonomy do they have?

[If she's listened in enough to get the gist of what that means - if it can be called listening in when the information's being piped through her head like the world's most distracting daydream - it's still not quite enough to truly grasp the depth of the violation.

Which is probably for the best; no one wants to hear those particular opinions.]

Ah, that's... a difficult question. In the jaunts, they appear to have total autonomy to act as they might, pursuing their own goals. But since they've been reprogrammed, holding different memories and experiences... I don't know if they can really be said to have any at all.

[It's a sore spot for him, fresh from being an infiltrator himself. Did he actually have any control over what he had done? What choices would he make if he could do it over now? And how much were his feelings about the events and people involved in the jaunt been influenced by who he had been?

He doesn't have any of the answers.]

Marionettes, then.

[No, that isn't deeply creepy at all.]

I'd point out it might be simpler to give us all a backstory and a goal, and let us work toward it without all the roundabout fuckery, but I'm getting the impression that simple isn't really the point of the game.

I'm not sure. There are two options as I see it, as far as what's going on with the infiltrators. It's possible that the memories and lives of the infiltrators are completely fabricated - both in their own minds and in the minds and lives of everyone they're connected to in that world. If that's the case, the Trumps are powerful enough that it's hard to imagine they need us at all.

But it could be that they can't fabricate any memories they like - it's possible that infiltrators are just replacing real people in these worlds. What happened to them, I couldn't say, but it could mean the Trumps don't have direct control in these worlds, and they actually need us in order to influence them. It would be a much more believable level of power over us, and it would make more sense as to why they are doing this. Maybe this is somehow their way of pointing us in the right direction. Maybe it's the best they can do, for whatever reason. But if that's the case, then while the infiltrators can't really be said to be in control of themselves, they're not entirely puppets, either.

Or they have absolute power, but need us as catspaws because the alternative is direct confrontation with one another. They might not be a unified front, and affecting something directly might be cheating.

Or I could just like that better than the thought of one day sliding in and stealing someone's life for a time. Or all of us having our own stolen while we're here.

[Armin's thoughts turn pensive.] I hadn't considered that. I'm not sure which I dislike more. If they need us to influence these places, then we're actually working towards a purpose. We might actually be making a difference in the worlds. But if they're not working together... then we're little more than pawns, the playthings of gods. [He says the world irreverently, with anger and frustration.]

I take it you're no fan of religion.

We're pawns either way. If there is a purpose, it isn't ours. All we can do is turn it to our own ends, if we can divine it.

No god I could worship would create the world I'm from.

...No, you're right. We can only ever be sure of what we do with what we're given.

Gods are cruel. It's a part of having power.

So we'd better make sure we do something interesting.

I take it you are somewhat religious, then?

I'm definitely not opposed. Any ideas?

I was raised by a priest. It makes an impression.

The seeds of ideas, maybe. We're on new ground here; I don't doubt we can do a lot with what we have to hand, but the better we take stock of what that is, the less likely we are to burn down half the countryside in the process.