shaft | hotel: sylvain

Heh, I think I'm pretty okay. [ does he tho ] Nah, I don't have much to hide.

[ he starts walking and gestures for claude to follow ]

They're over here. [ and voila! the courtroom NPCs appear around the bend 😊 ]

[ oh

stares at them ]

They certainly stand out. What was the place you were at like anyway?

Pretty neat, yeah? [ is this stockholm syndrome? ]

None of it was real, so it's hard to quantify. They called it a 'simulation' or whatever... Felt like we were living in a small town though, for two weeks.

Yours?

[ does Claude even know what a simulation is ]

Interesting... Mine was at a school. It lasted about eight weeks.

Were the murderers in yours possessed and compelled to kill?

[ claude sure can pretend... ]

A school? [ he smiles wryly, and without mirth. ] Garreg Mach wasn't enough for ya?

[ ... ] No, they chose to.

[ He doesn't seem TOO surprised by that. ]

Was it to secretly save you all, though?

Don't think so. [ for context, ] The study offered a miraculous reward at the end of it. But it had to be earned—we just weren't explicitly told how, at least not as a group.

[ ... ] If you could've stopped the war by taking the life of a complete stranger, would you have done it? It can be a hypothetical question, if you'd like.

[ wow! what a loaded question! ]

In a hypothetical situation where there were no other options, then I suppose I would. But it's not often the case that there's only one solutions, is there?

[ He... frowns. ]

Would you?

[ yeah!!! you can handle it claude ur a big boy. but yah it's both a thought exercise and also an explanation. ]

Some people apparently felt cornered enough to kill for it. That's the sort of situation I was in.

[ he closes his eyes briefly, before opening them again. ] I'm not sure. I think I'd have to be in the actual moment, with the stranger in question, to make a decision. Go with whatever my gut tells me to do.

Your gut, huh? [ He huffs a laugh. ] Maybe if I could rely on mine, I'd be a bit more decisive.

Oh? That's surprising to hear. You don't strike me as someone who can't make a snap decision.

I've had to learn to, after five years of living on the battlefield. But I have plenty more trust for my head than my gut.

Haha, well. Usually having a level head is better than acting on impulse.

Anyway, we both made it out of the war in mostly one piece, so that's all that matters.

[ HE DOESN'T KNOW.... HE DOESN'T KNOW!! ]