WEEK 1

[whimsicalism]

Well! That was some tea party, huh? You've finally seen the faces (or perhaps the singular is more proper here?) of your captors. A pair of creepy twins seem to fit the overall theme of the Castle at least. Why not have Twiddle Dee and Twiddle Dum, after all?

Regardless, it doesn't seem that they're changing their minds any time soon. The first floor of the Castle is still open up to you. The Audience Hall is still locked most of the time so perhaps you can meet the Alices there if you need to. There are plenty of things to occupy your time before the inevitable slow erosion of your memories. If this is a game, who will make the first move? You or the twins?

Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Saturday

((OOC: Welcome to peace week! There will be no case this week so just have fun and explore. If you want to investigate please put Investigation in your top level. Don't forget to put threads in for regains or go to the Audience Hall to meet the Alices.

Also, if you want to keep up to date on things we now have a discord server!))

Comments

[ballooncaged]

Could you explain more of why you think it might break down that way?

[Mizuki is standing there openly but with her feet planted.]

The idea is that the sectors work together and make it easier for the entire group to organize. And maybe even mix up people to prevent all the boys clumping or whatever. Do you really think it'd turn into the Robber's Cave Experiment from that? I think if that would happen, it'd be because of friendship and fights and stuff that would be a problem on its own.

[prescience]

I think it is easy to develop loyalty or disloyalty when groups are involved. We create boundaries for ourselves... we find "friends," just like you said.

[She moves her hand slightly to gesture to the group at large.]

You're right. It is likely to happen anyway. But I think it is much easier to cripple a smaller group, to cut off a limb.

[ballooncaged]

Does that mean we should make sectors where the members are more interchangeable? Or... I don't like the idea of the entire group functioning just fine after something bad happens to one person.

[Not sure which direction of improvement to take from Oriko's comment, maybe that's why her gaze wavers until her eyes slip shut.]

[prescience]

It's harsh. I am considering the impact of removing one from twenty, rather than one from five.

In either case, I believe the remaining people could persevere, but a group of four placed along groups of five is infinitely more vulnerable.

I welcome your thoughts on why my concerns are misplaced.

[ballooncaged]

I think... I think if you do look at it from the perspective of what happens in that scenario, in some ways it's really bad. All I can say is that's... that's not what we were thinking about the most. We've been thinking about preventing losses a lot more than what to do if people are already gone.

[She brings her hands together, thinking harder. The naivete of her group is standing out to her.]

[prescience]

I know. Neku Sakuraba-san sounded very committed to preventing any tragic accidents, for what it's worth. But the weight of that responsibility is heavy, too...

[Accidents do seem to be the primary concern, or pranks gone wrong.]

I do not think the idea is without merits, but I do fear just how far the group can fracture.

[ballooncaged]

[Rubbing the side of her neck.]

One of the weirder parts of this is actually something the Sagans brought up. That it's kind of hard for a group of bad guys to work together—in terms of winning by the evil game's main rules, at least. Does that really mean we can't trust anyone at all...?

[It's hard to imagine such a substantial, open betrayal. But not impossible. Not at the scales Oriko obliquely hints at, that Manaka trills openly.]

[prescience]

That's true... The way it's been presented to us, only the person responsible for the fatal blow can either be punished or rewarded. An accomplice would be foolish...

But if you can't deceive even one person, how can you hope to fool over a dozen? You can trust whoever you want, I think, so long as you don't forget to be suspicious.

[Deflecting with in-fighting or convincing someone to be implicit to draw attention would be able to strip the group down to its bearings. It's what she's worried about, but she says nothing further.]