[In that "you calling me fat" way. But he's teasing. Mildly.]
Yeah. Apparently, I was a lifeguard with my hostage. Royce. I never saw him, but I talked to him through the radio. When I went out on the beach, someone was drowning, so I had to save them.
[He takes another drag of the cigarette, looking out over the cemetery rather at them. After he exhales:]
...It was Lup. I saved her, yeah. She thought being there was weird. She kept trying to remind me of the hotel. It felt... like something was off, but I couldn't remember anything.
She was right. Being there was probably weird, but...[jason not remembering is also weird. they go quiet.] ...you know, actually, if you don't want to go into it it's fine. I get the idea.
[they're really curious, and they're still uneasy, but they're also aware that talking about things like this isn't easy especially now that there's a whole bunch of other new shit on top of it.]
I didn't even tell you how I got my sweet shark bite yet.
[He peers at them, though, using his thumb to flick the cigarette.] It doesn't bother me. [At least, not in the way Aquarius might think.]
I figured I could throw her back toward the shore, so that's what I did without really thinking about it. But the shark got me and pulled me under. I drowned. Then woke up somewhere else.
[He hooks his thumb into the front pocket of his pants so he doesn’t put the cigarette out on himself accidentally. That’d be funny.
His head rolls against the stone he’s leaning on to rest.]
I remembered who I was and the hotel. I don’t know if it was because I died or not. Harrow asked me if someone had been trying to convince me to go back, like her.
[Yeah, he left it at that. One shoulder shrugs, and he sucks on the cigarette briefly again.]
I was on a dating show with three “bachelors” I could interview for a match. It was… Cloud, Yuri, and Sylvain, though. Except two of them were fakes, and one just had a scrambled brain.
[Yeah, very funny. I should have made him lose but it’s fine.]
I could ask three questions, but couldn’t break character. Did I mention I had to be an actor for an audience, otherwise we’d probably all die? [He sort of… shoots a sidelong glance at them that’s maybe curiously pointed.] Yuri seemed… the least… genuine, I guess. The most embellished.
So I just took the risk. [A pause.] Dunno. A while, I guess. Had to get through the dating game—and the bullshit after—before getting to Hua and Harrow.
[stop i hate you. anyway aquarius is aware of that look, but they don't acknowledge it because it's jason hours and jason hours mean listening to him explain this cyoa.]
I've heard acting's a tough gig, but that's a little extreme. What came after the dating game? You and Yuri stuck together after that? If you were an actor I'm guessing everyone else had to be, too, somehow.
We “won,” but they didn’t like our choice of getaway. The hotel. Thought it was boring. So they dropped the floor out from under us. We ran into an injured girl Yuri knew from home. When she sighs, apparently monsters are attracted to her.
Never seen it before. Looked like a giant lizard. A dinosaur. I grabbed the girl so we could run. I didn’t think we’d be able to fight it. My arms were full and Yuri had, what? A pipe. The thing was at least fifteen feet tall or more.
We ran down the other side of the tunnel, but it was a dead end except for two doors. One to the hotel, one to a mansion where we could see Harrow and Hua Cheng. I didn’t know if it was a trap, so I gave the girl to Yuri and told him to go into the hotel door because the monster had injured his leg.
He followed me, though. The monster had been charging something, some kind of beam. It got us across the back as we ran in.
[aquarius, thinking about all of the random garbage people have used as weapons before and going "you could have made it work."
they do not say this. instead, they continue to listen and try to suss out what the hell kind of monster this was.]
Why would he follow you? [like fair but COME ON.] So you got hit and burned with a laser beam from a dinosaur's mouth and were thrown back into a mansion where Harrow and Hua Cheng were. Is that what you're saying to me? On top of this injured girl, Yuri's leg, and your shark-bitten and drowned body.
Okay. Sure. Why wouldn't that happen. [GOD!!!!!!] Was there like...a point to all of this, or did someone just really hate you guys and wanted to see how you'd do on your show?
Eh. [He sort of shrugs.] Beats me. [And then he takes one of the last few drags of the cigarette.] I think the gist of it was we were all entertainment for an audience of skeletons.
Harrow found a note that read like a list of a show's plot details for different seasons. Things that may be interesting to happen, blah blah. We figured we should do the opposite. The audience started leaving. Oh--the car.
A woman drove into the house and hit most of us with a car, then got out to berate us about how she pays us and we're ruining the show. I don't think she saw me because I rolled over the hood. So I tried to sneak into the car.
[Don't like that! But sometimes you have no choice. He's still thinking about how this is about four weeks out from how he would have been finished in his last game.]
Probably would've been trapped for longer. There was something at the end of Harrow's note. It said, "End the show to go back." [He snorts a bit and finishes the cigarette.] Yeah. I'm great at breaking and entering.
They kept her distracted until I could run her over.
[Please stop just saying shit and leaving it at that.]
...was it a note you could trust though? [but they don't seem to think their opinion means much on it, because they're moving on. jason just says things, and for a second they pause before they nod.]
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[In that "you calling me fat" way. But he's teasing. Mildly.]
Yeah. Apparently, I was a lifeguard with my hostage. Royce. I never saw him, but I talked to him through the radio. When I went out on the beach, someone was drowning, so I had to save them.
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So partner lifeguards. Sure. [lightly. unsure.] Who was drowning? Were you able to save them?
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...It was Lup. I saved her, yeah. She thought being there was weird. She kept trying to remind me of the hotel. It felt... like something was off, but I couldn't remember anything.
Then a shark grabbed her.
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She was right. Being there was probably weird, but...[jason not remembering is also weird. they go quiet.] ...you know, actually, if you don't want to go into it it's fine. I get the idea.
[they're really curious, and they're still uneasy, but they're also aware that talking about things like this isn't easy especially now that there's a whole bunch of other new shit on top of it.]
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[He peers at them, though, using his thumb to flick the cigarette.] It doesn't bother me. [At least, not in the way Aquarius might think.]
I figured I could throw her back toward the shore, so that's what I did without really thinking about it. But the shark got me and pulled me under. I drowned. Then woke up somewhere else.
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She was safe then. Even as the shark pulled you under. Does that mean you woke up alive somewhere else? But you were still hurt.
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[He hooks his thumb into the front pocket of his pants so he doesn’t put the cigarette out on himself accidentally. That’d be funny.
His head rolls against the stone he’s leaning on to rest.]
I remembered who I was and the hotel. I don’t know if it was because I died or not. Harrow asked me if someone had been trying to convince me to go back, like her.
Anyway, I woke up on a dating show.
[Don't just leave it at THAT.]
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Did she remember the hotel at least? [wait.] What do you mean a dating show?
[DON'T JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT?]
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[Yeah, he left it at that. One shoulder shrugs, and he sucks on the cigarette briefly again.]
I was on a dating show with three “bachelors” I could interview for a match. It was… Cloud, Yuri, and Sylvain, though. Except two of them were fakes, and one just had a scrambled brain.
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I'm assuming scrambled eggs was Yuri. Did you match with any of them? [...hang on a sec.] How long were all four of you split up?
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I could ask three questions, but couldn’t break character. Did I mention I had to be an actor for an audience, otherwise we’d probably all die? [He sort of… shoots a sidelong glance at them that’s maybe curiously pointed.] Yuri seemed… the least… genuine, I guess. The most embellished.
So I just took the risk. [A pause.] Dunno. A while, I guess. Had to get through the dating game—and the bullshit after—before getting to Hua and Harrow.
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I've heard acting's a tough gig, but that's a little extreme. What came after the dating game? You and Yuri stuck together after that? If you were an actor I'm guessing everyone else had to be, too, somehow.
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We “won,” but they didn’t like our choice of getaway. The hotel. Thought it was boring. So they dropped the floor out from under us. We ran into an injured girl Yuri knew from home. When she sighs, apparently monsters are attracted to her.
Well, she sighed.
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they seem to just kind of. pause. and focus a little more when jason mentions monsters.]
What kind of monsters showed up? That means you had to fight, didn't you? What happened to the girl?
[they have a lot of questions sorry jason.]
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Never seen it before. Looked like a giant lizard. A dinosaur. I grabbed the girl so we could run. I didn’t think we’d be able to fight it. My arms were full and Yuri had, what? A pipe. The thing was at least fifteen feet tall or more.
We ran down the other side of the tunnel, but it was a dead end except for two doors. One to the hotel, one to a mansion where we could see Harrow and Hua Cheng. I didn’t know if it was a trap, so I gave the girl to Yuri and told him to go into the hotel door because the monster had injured his leg.
He followed me, though. The monster had been charging something, some kind of beam. It got us across the back as we ran in.
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they do not say this. instead, they continue to listen and try to suss out what the hell kind of monster this was.]
Why would he follow you? [like fair but COME ON.] So you got hit and burned with a laser beam from a dinosaur's mouth and were thrown back into a mansion where Harrow and Hua Cheng were. Is that what you're saying to me? On top of this injured girl, Yuri's leg, and your shark-bitten and drowned body.
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Yeah. That’s the first half of it. Then we got attacked by wraiths and hit by a car.
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they are. so exhausted.]
Okay. Sure. Why wouldn't that happen. [GOD!!!!!!] Was there like...a point to all of this, or did someone just really hate you guys and wanted to see how you'd do on your show?
[what is the connection, help.]
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Eh. [He sort of shrugs.] Beats me. [And then he takes one of the last few drags of the cigarette.] I think the gist of it was we were all entertainment for an audience of skeletons.
Harrow found a note that read like a list of a show's plot details for different seasons. Things that may be interesting to happen, blah blah. We figured we should do the opposite. The audience started leaving. Oh--the car.
A woman drove into the house and hit most of us with a car, then got out to berate us about how she pays us and we're ruining the show. I don't think she saw me because I rolled over the hood. So I tried to sneak into the car.
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Wasn't that similar to what happened at that school, too? Everything was sort of like a TV script that the players and the dormheads had to follow.
[they ponder this.]
...what do you think would have actually happened if you followed the plot? Did you actually get in the car?
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[Don't like that! But sometimes you have no choice. He's still thinking about how this is about four weeks out from how he would have been finished in his last game.]
Probably would've been trapped for longer. There was something at the end of Harrow's note. It said, "End the show to go back." [He snorts a bit and finishes the cigarette.] Yeah. I'm great at breaking and entering.
They kept her distracted until I could run her over.
[Please stop just saying shit and leaving it at that.]
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...was it a note you could trust though? [but they don't seem to think their opinion means much on it, because they're moving on. jason just says things, and for a second they pause before they nod.]
Good. Did she survive?
[DON'T JUST ASK QUESTIONS LIKE THAT.]
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[About the trustworthiness of the note.] Yeah. [SHOCKING.]
She started getting back up. I'm not surprised. But it gave us enough time to get out of there in the car together, through the hole that opened.
[He puts the cigarette out on the top of his thigh and then slides the filter into his pocket.]
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[stop.]
...but at least you got out. All four of you. I'm glad to hear that much and that it wasn't as bad as it could've been.
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[He peers over at Aquarius.]
Why, you worried?
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