school: just 3 men

[shaft]

i am on my work laptop.... 8(

Comments

[shaft]

[ Claude is eyeing Sakyou. ]

You did seem somewhat different when you returned.

[modissty]

[He is very good at repression it's true. SIEG your BANDAID THOUGH... He'll probably tackle that lad about it later. Or maybe here! Who knows!!

For now, though:]

Just about everything. [In response to Sieg, first. Then, to Claude:] At that time, I couldn't really remember anything about this school or you three... I thought I worked for whoever was speaking to us through the collar, and that that place was where I was from.

[HE GOT WHOLEASS ISEKAI'D AND NOW HAS MEMORIES OF LIFE AS A TERRORIST. VERY FUNNY.]

[ercnerd]

You thought you were someone else? . . . That explains a lot.

[shaft]

Would you have killed us if you thought we weren't cooperating?

[modissty]

[NODDING AT SIEG GOD.]

I didn't have the time to say so later, given... the circumstances. [The Dire Circumstances. ALSO CLAUDE ASKING THE HEAVY HITTERS. He looks briefly perturbed.]

I-- don't think that I would have? It was my job to ensure we all got to ruins safely... I didn't want harm to come to any of you.

[ercnerd]

It doesn't matter whether or not you would've, because it didn't happen.

But I admit that I'm curious to know how you came to be that way.

[shaft]

[ Claude just gives Sieghart a tired look. ]

I'm not asking for you feel guilty— I'm asking because when we woke up in that storage room, I heart a voice telling me that if I killed the rest of you I'd escape without needing to anything else.

So I'm wondering if part of what brought us there was hoping we'd all destroy each other.

[modissty]

I'm afraid I don't have the answer to that...

[He is also curious how he came to be that way...BUT OH??? CLAUDE??? SIR???? That sure seems to be a surprise to Sakyou. Wow.]

...I didn't hear any such voices at any point, nor did I receive any orders like that.

[Sounds like it was perhaps a Claude Only Thing, which is concerning. He'll look over toward Sieghart, though.]

Did anything similar happen to you?

[ercnerd]

You wouldn't have been able to kill me.

[Why? Because he said so.]

I only heard what everyone else heard.

[shaft]

No? But you made quite an easy target on that ship.

[ he WILL take about uke sieghart ]

[modissty]

[UKE SIEGHART... NO BULLY even if Sieg is very bullyable.]

Then it's a very good thing that you aren't the sort of man who would target someone in such a position.

[VULNERABLE SIEG JUST GETTING PUSHED OUT OF THE AIRSHIP. ...That said, light scolding aside... this does kind of alter his opinion on Claude a little. Not that it'd been bad to begin with, but it sure is Something to know that a person intentionally went through hell repeatedly when they had an out the whole time.]

[ercnerd]

[Oh, no! His cheeks flush.]

Sh-shut up! That was . . . You . . . I would've done something!

[shaft]

[ Cute... ]

I want to say I'm not dishonourable to take advantage of someone during a time of weakness... but who's to say. [ Claude just grins at him. ] In any case, it's a relief that we made it out...

I wonder how long that we would've been doomed to repeat ourselves.

[modissty]

[Grandpa......... He just gives Sieg a quiet look because he's unfortunately not enough of a punk to tease someone about this even though i aki wish he was.

He just fuckin sighs over these antics though. TIRING.]

Surely we would have hit a point where the one speaking to us grew tired of our failures... Though I would hate to see what that would mean.

[Imagine getting used to reviving and then one time you just don't, wow.]

[ercnerd]

It didn't happen, so don't worry about it.

[He's trying his best to recover from that jab.]

. . . If you ask me, though, trials like these are often designed to test your resolve.

[shaft]

I agree. [ He would cross his arms if he had both of them still functioning. ] Though I do have to wonder what the point was of giving you fake memories, Sakyou...

I wonder if that means the more we failed, the more we'd begin to believe we belonged there?

[modissty]

More than testing resolve, I wonder if it also had to do with testing where we fell in terms of pursuit of justice...

[Given what a huge theme it was. He'd be loathe to admit it, but honestly, even now, he agrees with the goal and motive of the terrorist group he'd been forcibly shoved into. Sometimes, vengeance!]

--That's possible. That, or it was a consequence of dying alone instead of dying as a group. Though I wonder why you- [Nodding to Sieghart.] -didn't experience the same when injecting yourself, and why we were all forced to start over when you did.

[ercnerd]

That was my mistake.

[He feels he should at least acknowledge that he got everyone killed.]

I thought, even if something were to happen to me, you guys would be able to go on without me.

[shaft]

It is strange... I can't say I understand the logic of when things reset and when they didn't. I feel like you were gone quite a while in comparison Sakyou.

And all your injuries from that death are gone too, right?

[modissty]

[Sweet Sieg...]

I'd have rather not had anyone at risk of dying... [But he doesn't say anything more about it, at least. As for the question, he nods! Good thing since wow that was so many bullets.]

Correct, yes. It was as though I was just - suddenly there, like I had always been there. No bullet wounds or anything. I don't know why I still had that heart vial with me, either...

[ercnerd]

. . . How are you feeling now? Are you yourself?

[shaft]

[ stares at sakyou, waiting for an answer ]

[modissty]

[He looks a little troubled, but after a pause, he nods.]

I feel the same as ever. Though I do still remember... that "life" I had.

[ercnerd]

Could you tell us more about it?

[shaft]

Specifically, do you recall and names or faces? I wonder if our culprit might've implanted himself into your memories.