pc catchall for shess and axel (nonbelligerent, leaberator)

[foodbin]

Comments

week three, wednesday morning.

[foodbin]

['Sup, Axel. Wherever he might be on this fine morning, Emma and Shess will be approaching him. She, at least, looks fairly serious judging by the frown on her face.]

Hey. You got a second, Lea? We wanted your opinion on something.

[leaberator]

[ uh. being accosted by either of them is common enough, but both at once sure does make him blink. ]

Yeah, sure. What's up?

[nonbelligerent]

It's about Kazuaki's death.

[foodbin]

[She glances at Shess for a moment before looking back up at Lea.]

We think Shirasu probably did it. We just wanted your opinion on... how to move forward.

[leaberator]

[ vindication

anyway, there's no actual feeling of vindication involved, just. resignation. damn. being right when you have feelings SUCKS ]

You checked him this week, then?

[ he doesn't say anything else on that front, first. ]

[nonbelligerent]

He met with Kazuaki. And his element is water. However he manifested that seed in trial was a trick.

[foodbin]

[She nods.]

There's a few ways we could handle it. We talked about... finding someone else to tell everyone that he talked to Kazuaki, and about his element, but that would mean everyone would know that my role exists, and Hisoka would know I was working with whoever gave out that information.

[Which would be Bad. She only pauses for a moment, though, before:]

I got an item from someone that lets me pick one statement and tell whether it's true or a lie. I could use that to catch him in a lie and prove it to everyone that way. But... Both plans seem kind of risky in their own way. That's why we wanted to talk to you.

[leaberator]

[ hm. well, first of all: ]

I got one of those, too. Though I got mine from my thing this week? Way to make a guy feel special, there.

[ so... good news, they could theoretically check? two? whole statements? he stays silent for a bit, pondering. ]

... It's a good back-up plan, but that might not wind up enough proof. [ ... he snaps his fingers, looking at both of them ] There is one role that everyone's already aware exists, though, and they know after last week that it can be trusted to catch people, even though it stayed anonymous.

[nonbelligerent]

[...

he thinks he knows where axel's going with this, but he stays quiet to see.]

[foodbin]

So, your plan is...?

[She waits, too, frowning slightly.]

[leaberator]

It doesn't have to be real. But-- if we arrange for a message, or some other kind of hint from your friendly neighborhood helper for next trial, no one would know the difference, would they?

[nonbelligerent]

What kind of message or hint are you thinking of?

And are you sure Lune and Sol would allow it? Or, if someone asks and they verify it wasn't the universe's doing, it'll invalidate what you send.

[foodbin]

...It would need to be a pretty explicit hint. We almost didn’t get it with what we were given last time. And - yeah, I’m wondering about Shess’ question, too. Would they even be allowed to lie for us?

[leaberator]

It's not a lie. If they ask if it's the result of someone's actions like last week's, it'd be true, since I was involved both times.

[ but-- since they have a point, especially about the hints ]

Or, like I said, it can just be a message I give either of 'em to hand out. If I'm the source, then anyone asking if it's the same source as last week ain't getting a lie.

[nonbelligerent]

A direct message that they hand out, as long as they can confirm it's from the same source as last week, might be better. We don't want others to start getting ideas about planting false hints.

[foodbin]

What would you write in the message? And... He’s going to be there to see it, obviously. What do we do when he tries to pretend it means something else, or that it isn’t real?

[leaberator]

Well, I dunno about yours, but my lie detector's kinda got a time limit. I have to use it this Saturday.

[ he shrugs ]

Look, no matter what we do, there's no option where he won't try to deny what we're saying. We don't have any hard proof besides what we got last week. We can try and ask him to prove his power again, but that's pretty much it. We're kinda limited in what we can do without showing our hand.

[nonbelligerent]

Will you be using your lie detector in person, then?

[foodbin]

...If I could get him to say he didn’t kill him, would there be a way to check that and show everyone he’s lying, or would it be too obvious that you’re the one who has it? I’m not sure how yours works.

[leaberator]

It's an amulet, and I gotta use it myself, but it's fine. It doesn't matter if people know I have it, since everyone got rewards last week, and the only people who know what I got for sure are Emma and Sol.

[ he seems pretty blase about it all ]

[nonbelligerent]

Hisoka's probably going to bother you about it, though.

[foodbin]

Hisoka is definitely going to bother you about it.

[...]

You sure you’re okay with that? I think I can get him to say that if you can check it, especially if we give Sol the note.

[leaberator]

He was gonna bother me no matter what. I didn't get a gift from the universe to not use it.

[ and giving it to anyone else would be...bad ]

... But be careful how you let him word it. If he didn't do the finishing blow, there's a chance it'd show up as a truth if he just said he didn't kill Kazuaki.

[ speaking like an experienced liar, here. ]

[nonbelligerent]

Just be careful, then. And make sure not to paint a target on your back.

[...]

"Involved in Kazuaki's death", perhaps?

[foodbin]

That could work. And if he tries to change the wording when he responds, I’ll insist.