003. Image // So can we contend peacefully, before our history ends?

[preybeforemeals]

[A couple of days have been given since the earthquake, and subsequently since his conversation with Aiada; the ping over the crystal doesn't come in early, as it did last time he addressed everyone, but rather toward the middle of the day, when he's more likely to catch people awake.

Today is...less of a good day than it could be, but there's business to be addressed. He'll be trying to tap Elios as well, in addition to the Otherworlders, but if that fails then so be it.]

Greetings and salutations to the rest of you; hopefully the day finds you well! My name, for those who don't know me, is Tsukiyama Shuu – just 'Tsukiyama' is fine, if you don't mind! I'm one of your representatives to the Arehtei – Aiada-shi in particular – and that's the business I've come to discuss with you today; I've spoken to her twice in the past few weeks, and received some information that I think is important for the rest of you to know.

Both times I've spoken to her, she hasn't been able to keep the connection open for very long; she's claimed to be in the middle of some sort of important business – though exactly what it is, she can't say. Either way, it's the reason she hasn't shown herself to us yet; it's not because she's unwilling or disinterested, but it seems that for the time being she can't.

Whatever this business of hers is, however, it seems she's being greatly negatively affected by something, and that's impacting the entire island. I asked her whether she knew what caused the earthquake a few days ago, and she seemed...mildly distressed in some way. Guilty. ...She also said that she "couldn't be still." So that implication is...a bit concerning, n'est-ce pas?

[...That said, moving on from the "we're probably all gonna die when Aiada actually shows up, albeit unintentionally and she'll feel bad about it" implication is probably a good thing right now, give him a second.]

She's mentioned being in pain and discomfort, but her spirits seem high overall, and from what I can tell she doesn't hate us and wants to think the best – that we're not hurting her, intentionally or otherwise; she wants us to send her positivity if we can do so. Appreciation for what we have will help, spending time with those we can appreciate overall will help.

...I'm...fairly sure less murder and suicide and general death will also help? I understand that it isn't my place to ask for that, but the situation is a bit dire, and –

[Give him a second.]

I really do want the best for her, and we've seen what the Arehtei are capable of; I'm not saying that Aiada-shi will be anything like Sosyne-shi was, as she does not seem to be doing that poorly! But Aiada-shi seems to be becoming increasingly unstable, and that sort of volatility is something we want to try to cut off before it truly starts. I understand that there have been strange feelings interfering with our normal business for several of us – just try to remain strong throughout, and counter envy with appreciation if you can.

[What else...ah, right – ]

I've tried to contact Elios-shi with this as well, but in the event that I was unsuccessful, I would like to be in contact with at least one of his representatives if at all possible – he asked me to let him know if I heard anything further from her, and it's safe to say that I have. So if I could possibly speak to one or both of you regarding what should be relayed to him, that would be greatly appreciated.

Otherwise, please do me a favor and go out and do something that pleases you today; new experiences are wonderful things to have, and if you can truly appreciate having or feeling something that you hadn't had before...well, all the better, really!

[...That's about as cheerful a note as he can end on, given that the base message was pretty much "PRIORITY ANNOUNCEMENT: GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY, IT'S ALL GONE TO SHIT." There was an attempt, let's put it that way.]

Comments

[bondsofsuffering]

I thought somethin' was up.

[Seriously... These jealousy spikes are getting troublesome.]

I guess it's good to hear it's not just 'cause we've been negative lately, but it's kinda worryin' when somethin' else is affectin' her like this.

[preybeforemeals]

My thoughts exactly - I don't think the entirety of it is due to us, anyway, as the sudden surges don't seem to be anything we've been doing.

[It's...concerning, to say the least.]

[bondsofsuffering]

I dunno about the others, but I know I haven't exactly had any issues with jealousy up 'til now.

[Which only makes it all the more obvious when his feelings aren't really his own.]

...Hope she isn't gettin' in over her head. I appreciate the thought, but I'd appreciate it more if she showed up here nice and calm.

voice

[heismymission]

[Well. That sure is an implication that's worrying. He'll have to talk to Edea and Fulbright about the possibility of more earthquakes, if Aiada's the one causing them and is in this bad a state... It's good to have people who can talk to these guys before they show up and blow the island apart.

Apparently Elios needs some info, too. That he can do something about more directly.]

You want me to just tell Elios what you said here?

[preybeforemeals]

[...Oh, thank god, an adult has arrived. Or, well, a better adult than Tsukiyama, anyway, who has no real idea what he's doing but he's trying his best.]

That would be appreciated, yes - my apologies for contacting you so suddenly, especially when we haven't even been properly introduced, but I imagined that it would be good to let him know about this as soon as possible.

action

[greatestcool]

[Ryuunosuke isn't usually very far from Tsukiyama, especially not now, so once he's listened to his boyfriend's message he'll return to Tsukiyama's apartment (with food, of course).]

Heeey, Tsukiyama.

[He'll make himself at home, don't worry!!]

You really think Aiada's behind that earthquake? I know we can send her lots of positivity, but...

[Is that really going to help?]

[preybeforemeals]

...I think she might be. I didn't say it over the transmission, but...she kept apologizing for it, and apologizing for hurting people. I don't know what we can do about it, if that's the case, other than deliberately try to send her positivity.

[...]

Come outside and make flowers with me today; it's better than doing nothing.

[image]

[sobored]

[Okay, there's a lot going on here. So Aiada can't show up? That's interesting. Junko's not entirely sure what to make of that because Peromei took a while to get here, but pretty much made a beeline for the place. And the others just kinda showed up from what she remembers. Nobody talked about not being able to. But let's start with something else...]

Hey, I totally support less murder. I mean I wasn't trying to get killed, it just kinda happened. And you know, if she caused the earthquake, not doing stuff like that would probably help with making things less awful and upsetting too.

[She's just saying.]

But hey, out of curiosity, what does Aiada sound like? Oh, and congratulations on being a representative too! I don't think I've had the chance to tell you that yet, so better late than never, right? Even if it sounds like you're about to have a lot on your plate, y'know?

[preybeforemeals]

...She sounds like a lot of things all at once, and I mean that literally - it's a chorus of voices, rather than just one. She's pleasant to speak to, though; very young-seeming, but she's sweet.

[That said, though.]

Thank you for the congratulations, though, Enoshima-san, even if this is going to be a bit...interesting, most likely. And...well, is it odd to offer condolences to the murder victim themselves? It's not a position that most find themselves in, I'd think.

[feistytrader]

...That was a really cheerful way to tell everyone that Aiada's going to lose it and people are gonna die.

[Thanks, Silver.]

[preybeforemeals]

[...let's be real, somewhere out there mettaton approves- ]

Given that the best course of action right now is encouraging people to appreciate their lives and what they have, inciting panic is probably the last time I want to do overall.

[demonphone]

Something new....?

[So much is new to her that she's not sure where to start. Even basic things like ice cream are new to her, honestly.]

[preybeforemeals]

That's right! New experiences are essential to finding the life you want to have for yourself, after all.

[...He's kind of big on experiences.]

[thejusticewagon]

...

Well, I'm definitely appreciating the heads up right about now? Does that count? Geez, this is some heavy stuff...

[preybeforemeals]

...I thought that people might. Though you have my apologies for the unpleasant news, mademoiselle - but I'm sure everything will work out all right, Aiada-shi doesn't seem angry. In my experience, it's when the Arehtei are angry or tormented that we have to worry.

[uncouthhatcher]

So Silver was pretty on the mark, huh. Glad to hear the welcome committee's finally comin' around to greet us!

[If Tsukiyama's cheerful as all hell about the probably impending doom Aiada's bringing, Gold's just flat-out carefree. Can you tell he's new. Can you.]

So, what's the whole representative thing about? Are you like their shrine keeper or something?

[preybeforemeals]

[Oh, good, new people...]

Ah, something like that - I'm responsible for being in contact with Aiada-shi directly, and with relaying any information she has for us to the rest of you. It's to keep them from being overwhelmed with concerns, primarily, and to give people an accessible and reliable channel to get in contact with them if necessary.

I've been Aiada-shi's representative for a couple of months now; I've spoken to her a few times, and we seem to have a good rapport going overall.

text

[workingon3]

[John sends his reply as if he were sending a letter. The words even appear in his handwriting, albeit slightly neater than he normally manages to write.]

It's not as though any of us are able to stay dead anyway so what is even the point in trying here?

[preybeforemeals]

[The writing he gets in reply is sweeping, a bit overly-flourished, because Tsukiyama doesn't do anything halfway; it's legible, though, thankfully enough.]

Well, part of the concern is what the Arehtei are capable of doing to the island - if that ends up destroyed or otherwise uninhabitable, it's likely true that we'll come back just the same, but it's entirely possible that we'll be brought back to life somewhere that we can't do anything but die, slowly and painfully, over and over.

So that's one reason.

[ringabeau]

The earthquake made things a bit obvious that something was about to happen. So you're saying that all we need to do is appreciate things a bit more? Show some positivity her way?

For such a lovely lady - I'm sure she's lovely - I'd be happy to do so!

[preybeforemeals]

She is quite lovely, yes!

[Tsukiyama is very fond of his patron Arehtei, all right.]

But she did say that would help - just to do what we can for the time being. That's...both promising and a little not, but it's better than doing nothing either way, n'est-ce pas?

[opportunitycosts]

Good to know a possible source for the earthquake, but is that really all we kind do? Just...sending appreciation? After living through the last three, I feel like we should still assume the worst.

[preybeforemeals]

...No, I agree with you, don't worry.

[There's a bit of a pause before it, but it is something that he'll admit to readily enough.]

At the same time, the general public doesn't need to be incited into any sort of panic while the situation is already not the best - I won't lie to them, either, but I'll be in contact with those that are better-suited to handle the more difficult aspect of things as well.

[Voice]

[eyeswideopen]

Do you need someone to contact Peromei as well. [Peromei might want to know about that. Or not, her state is unstable as well. Still all this is...] Either way, perhaps some rituals like Sanae's would be in order as well.

Thank you for letting us know but...could she be...inside the island?

[preybeforemeals]

...That's what I'm thinking, and it's what my concern is. I wouldn't be surprised, given her response about the earthquakes - she kept apologizing as well, and that on top of the business about being unable to be still...

[...Yeah, it doesn't bode well, and worst-case scenario is kind of looking like "also the island might be destroyed from the inside" right now.]

Contacting Peromei might be in order, though, if you're able to do that; I'm assuming you're one of her representatives?