WEEK 3

[whimsicalism]

All three deaths last were tragic in their own ways. Was trust so fragile in that castle that a simple misunderstanding could end in blood? It seemed to be the case. The trial proved that without a doubt. Surely no one else would make that mistake again. As another week begins the tea cup elevator has granted access to a new area. Maybe the new amusements of a festival will ease your wounded hearts?

Sunday | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday

[It's time for week three! We're almost half-way done with our trip in the castle. Don't forget to submit your memories here and your activity here. Even though, the Queen seems to be a little more steady on her feet you can find her and the other Alice at the audience hall. As always, don't forget to submit your comments for fabulous prizes.]

Comments

[prescience]

If we assume that many of these things are sights neither were able to experience when alive, the foundation this castle seems to be built on makes more sense.

[From the rooms and landscapes that seem pulled out of picture books to the ... wall play-doh. Oriko wonders just how far logic that's based on a lie can be pressed.

She nods, looking at the machines around them and then back toward the festival stalls.]

I haven't seen a clock like the one in the foyer so far up here; I assume we should at least start with what we know.

[strictura]

[ He's slightly wary about it, since didn't a tree limb fall last time when it got rewound to a previous murder? Without knowing what area might be affected if they try it again, it seems like that could potentially be risky.

...There's no reward without some risk, though, so. ]

Hopefully it won't hurt anything, but... it's probably worth checking. We can try it and see what happens.

CLOCK (for whenever you two get there)

[whimsicalism]

[Nothing appears to change right away. Since the crime scene is a lot farther away from the foyer than the garden, it won't even become obvious until the return back to the stalls. It's daylight now and some shouting from a girl is happening near a ring toss stall.]

What--what are you doing, Ninagawa?!

[prescience]

It seems to be working!

[Certainly he can't hear her, even if she yells down the teacup elevator's rabbit hole shaft as day turns to night on the second floor.

This area is also more difficult to navigate, so even with agreeing with Nagisa to separate, it takes some time to find anything that's changed - beside the obvious shift in time.

Oriko follows the girl's voice toward the games area, probably not too far from where she was hanging out earlier. Presumably this is the trashed area that Manaka found, but is there anything else on the go now that she's close enough to hear the shouting?]

[strictura]

[ He's a little out of breath from running back up the stairs, but he manages to catch up to Oriko before too long. At least she's tall enough that she's hard to lose.

Well, it clearly worked. He doesn't say anything for the moment, not wanting to talk over whatever voices from the past they're getting here, especially when he's not sure if they can do this more than once. ]

[whimsicalism]

[Now that Nagisa's here, he wouldn't recognize the first voice but Oriko does. She never met this person directly but the other voice, also female, probably confirms it.]

Miki. I should have known you'd want to play hero now that Catarina's gone.

['Ninagawa's voice is mockingly sweet, even if they're the only ones who can hear it. The area around the booth is... a mess. Blood that clearly was cleaned up in the present is everywhere on the surrounding stall. The ring toss stall also is fixed.]

Don't--don't bring her up! What's wrong with you!?

[prescience]

[She visibly balks, if only slightly]

That voice...?

[Oriko is speaking softly to avoid overriding anything happening in front of them, and in the spaces between words. Like Nagisa, she wants to be careful not to miss anything.

But, wordlessly, she points to the blood in the middle of the argument.

Look, she seems to be implying. It's possible more than one person may have...]

[strictura]

[ He glances up at her reaction to the voice; it doesn't sound familiar to him at all, but maybe it's different for her?

He nods when she points to that blood. That must be what they're arguing over, right? So what they're seeing here is... a murder that followed in response to another one...? ]

[whimsicalism]

[If they look closer to the blood, there's outlines of two bodies. Apparently Mao was busy.

There's a snarl from Sayaka as the sounds of a struggle become evident as a bloody knife appears on the ground.]

I'm not going to just sit around and let you hurt more people!

[prescience]

[Stupid girl.

She thinks she knows how this ends, but Oriko won't look away until it's over.

If there's anything else around the bodies that might indicate an identity or anything, she'll keep her eyes roving over that as the confrontation goes on.]

[strictura]

[ At this point, he's more curious about how it started than how it ends. Unless there was another alteration to the rules in the past, it doesn't make much sense for a single person to kill more than one in this game unless someone showed up in the wrong place at the wrong time. ]

[prescience]

[One has to wonder why they didn't see this situation from the start, though - unless they should have turned the clock back even further?

Well, they can have that conversation out loud when everything's run its course.]

[whimsicalism]

[The bodies are just outlines for now, unfortunately. The reason they are seeing this they have no way of knowing but the arguing continues until the knife vanishes again. The ring toss is loudly destroyed again as a third body shape appears among the remains of the booth.

Minagawa gasps for air as Sayaka speaks.]

I didn't--you're coming back with me, to trial!

Ha...ha... I don't think that's going to happen, do you? Sayaka Miki?

Gah--I'm not like that Kure--you deserved it!

[strictura]

[ ...The way this is ending up isn't surprising, but that crash kind of was. He's glad that it seems that all they have to worry about this time is the noise, though. ]

[whimsicalism]

[The sound of Sayaka running away fade. The scene is over and the fates of Mike, Anna, Mao, and Sayaka have been discovered.]

[prescience]

[It's over.

Oriko turns and looks at Nagisa, still silent for the time being, as words come a little slower.]

So with no one to punish for the first two deaths, I believe we know who would end up facing justice instead.

[strictura]

They were already dead when the last one showed up, right?

[ Sighs and shakes his head... he's not without sympathy, but still. He's starting to see what the Cat was saying now about how much of a mess that last group was compared to them. ]

Unless she was spotted before she could get away, she would have been better off testifying to what she saw at the trial instead of trying to get into the middle of it herself.

[prescience]

[His assumption is based on one potential fallacy: That the participants in the last round had any intention of playing by the rules. Concerns about following along with the game have already been raised among their group, haven't they?

She thinks of Franziska, such a disappointment.]

It almost sounds as if she thought any punishment she metered out would be more justice that would otherwise be served.

[strictura]

I guess that's what happens when someone prioritizes their ideal of justice over everything else in a situation like this, huh?

[ ... ]

It looked like you reacted to that voice, though. Was that Miki someone you knew?

[prescience]

From their argument, it sounds as if she took the death of Catarina Claes-san. If she realized that she was unable to stop someone from dying again, why would she continue to participate in a system that would just lead to more death?

[The voice had been familiar and unexpected, so she can't brush her reaction off as something less than recognition. He'd see right through some explanation that she hadn't expected the recreations to feel so real. So -]

No, I can't say that I knew her, exactly. More accurately, I would describe her as a friend of someone I was much more familiar with.

[strictura]

[ Because her not participating wouldn't stop anything, he thinks, but he's already steered the conversation away from that by now.

That answer is interesting, because he's not aware of anyone besides Oriko recognizing anyone from the previous round... and because this Sayaka Miki apparently wasn't a friend of a friend, he notices. ]

Hm. Was she still present and alive in your world, last you knew?

[whimsicalism]

[Wow, okay, I forgot this. But there's a toy pistol near one and some more broken colored pencils near the other.]

[prescience]

[There are an awful lot of things that could potentially break into other sharp things here...let along other things.

Oriko places a hand flat against her chest as she volunteers:]

There's no easy way to communicate between floors, but I could stay on this level to try and mitigate any potential incidents.

[strictura]

[ Ah... That should help. ]

Let's do that, then. At least that way someone can give a heads up if needed.

--How far back do you think I should turn it? I'm not really sure how Sakuraba did it the first time. Just to sometime this morning, or?

[prescience]

I think so. Far enough that it would have to be different.

[She hesitates.] Start before breakfast and move forward from there, perhaps? If anything bad happened, it was probably before too many people could be around...

[Oriko will walk him back to the stairs or teacup elevator, whichever he seems to want to take, and so she can get to other areas of the carnival a little faster.]

I'll try and let you know.