school: just 3 men

[shaft]

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

Comments

[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.

[modissty]

...From what I recall, I was - a member of a terrorist organization. Their motive was to get revenge on the people who stole precious things from them, so that those people couldn't do harm to anyone else in the future.

[He became a member of Adonis help. Anyway, with a slow shake of his head:]

I don't recall any names or faces, no... But the man in the cloak feels a bit familiar. It's possible that the me of that place knew that person.

[ercnerd]

Is that why we were called sympathizers at the beginning? But I don't see how confronting illusions of those we know would have anything to do with a terrorist organization.

[shaft]

If the terrorist organization was about revenge for things that were stolen—that seems to fit the bill for what we were tasked to do. They probably wanted to test how far we would go.

What I want to know is what all this has to do with the school. Are they planning to attack Wiwaldi?

[modissty]

It's possible, yes. Though I don't understand the connection between the two either...

[His brow furrows, like he's trying to remember something, or straining to concentrate. He glances toward his sword and frowns.]

--I don't believe they are, though. Their operations were based in that place we were at.

[ercnerd]

Then that place was just a stage for our test.

[He sighs.]

Are you going to be all right, Sakyou? If you start experiencing problems with your memories, talk to someone right away.

[shaft]

Given how easily they can tamper with our minds and wills, I'd say we need to be careful.

[ alien... ]

By the way, those documents you two received. Can I see them?

[modissty]

It seems so, yes. [That it was a stage... Their TEST.] --And I will, if anything changes. For now, I'm fine.

[REPRESSION OLYMPICS!! Alien repression...]

Taking care is certainly important, though. I should like to warn the others of what they may be up against if this happens to them, too.

[While talking, he'll fish his paper out to hand to Claude, though!]

[ercnerd]

Good idea. I have a feeling something like this will happen again.

[Sieghart, too, fishes out the folded map piece and proffers it to Claude.]

Mine's the piece of a map.