[He expected as much.] It's a theory, not an exact. For all we know it's really the same one running around and working overtime, but...here, take a look at this.
There's an arrow drawn between the second to last dot of the first strain and the first dot after the ??? of the second.]
These are the patterns they moved. When subject six, this dot here--[The second to last dot]--went to sleep with subject seven--[The last dot of strain 1]--subject seven already had the vision and demon inside them. We don't know where it came from, but we think the two demons butted heads somehow and then split up again.
We weren't going to risk letting anyone die, but...the person I know who had one of the strains last is still very much alive. Either it's going to be a slow death, or something else is brewing there. Pinpointing the next victim, maybe. I don't know.
Considering there are more than one of them running around already, I'd say it's a strong theory.
[But he'll lean forward to look at this whack diagram... The fuck is happening here.]
—So you think they're two conflicting entities, then? Working together in a sense, but not really a cohesive unit. [Tap tapping at his chin.] ...Well, if we're talking curses, they can serve a number of purposes but they generally lead to things like death, loss of spiritual consciousness, that sort. I've dealt with targeted curse marks before - typically whatever creature it belongs to uses it as a compass to find you later. To, you know- [Waves a hand!!] -kill you horrifically or siphon your soul from your body, whatever it is that it happens to do. Could indeed be something like that in this case, if it's not a type of slow possession or kill-by-contact kind of thing.
[It's a stupid diagram because Junpei took out literally all of the names and replaced them with dots.]
Not so much conflicting as "can't share the same host at the same time." That seems more likely. [...and then...Wei Wuxian talks. And says things. And it's a lot of things that don't sound great.]
How long do you think a creature like this could target someone if they're no longer a carrier...?
[Yeah thanks for that JUNPEI!! But he doesn't seem too fussed about the lack of names at least... He pulls his feet up onto the arm of the couch, somehow still managing to maintain gremlin balance.]
Hm. Makes sense... [He seems to be considering something else, but apparently decides to shelve it for now and move on.]
No longer a carrier? Depends. From my own experience, once a curse is dispelled, the entity or person that cast it usually doesn't have any hold over the victim and likely won't continue to hunt them. ...Though of course, that depends on how well the curse was dispelled in the first place.
[He has Doubts that just passing an stdemon around is going to break any sort of curses honestly.]
So what you're saying is there's still a chance that the people infected have a target on their back, even if it's not a very large one. Especially for something this wide-spread.
It's a definite possibility. After all, even if the visions stop for someone who passes it on, those entities are still obviously out there. It might be similar to how exorcising the other one kicks it out of the host but clearly doesn't kill it.
[A beat: he hums to himself, contemplative.]
Also, there are only so many of us. If we must continue to sleep together to avoid being targeted, chances are pretty high that the majority of us will host them sooner or later. What then? What happens when someone who's already had visions comes across the same demon twice? Thrice? That's a potentially dangerous thing - multiple exposures to the same curse or creature.
...so far the people who have come across them twice just had the same experience. The visions and the urge to sleep with someone to pass it on before they die. There have been two cases of that so far, though one of them had the same strain and the other had both strains, I think.
But if it does up the chances and it's going to spread through all of us, we're in trouble. [He scratches the back of his neck.] Especially when you think that some have stronger willpowers than others, or people will try to hold it themselves to either catch it or prevent it from killing someone else. Isn't that just doing what it wants?
Depends on what it wants, since we can only really guess. [But he just SIGHS at the mention of these self-sacrificial folk among them, since those sure are A Type, huh.]
Who's to say what would happen if they tried to contain it on their own without the proper means to do so? Best case scenario, they'd die and it would move on anyway.
Figure out how to banish those ones along with the one that can possess us - though it's easier said than done, of course, and I've barely got an idea of where to start. ...Might be wise to give this place another look-over in case our dearly departed have left more clues behind that might help us out.
We need to get back to opening the rooms waiting for us. I don't care if they're rigged, they're there for a reason. [The reason is demons.] Plus, you heard the announcement today didn't you? The broadcast that came after the investigation was done.
Yeah. When Beck, Higekiri and I broke into the recording studio the message we heard mentioned something similar. It doesn't take a genius to see that they're related but why get that announcement now? There's no way it was randomized.
Come to think of it, there wasn't a broadcast on Monday either.
...dunno. Last time I was in a situation like this, on what I thought was a boat, the announcements were all tools to help us figure out the game even if they were also worded as threats.
[Junpei why is your life... Like This. He doesn't even have room to say anything but his brow knits upward briefly in a look that spans between concern and "Junpei??? whymst."]
Getting a similar feeling from this, then? Or are we dealing with an even more cryptic delivery of possible tools and clues here?
Oh no, this set-up is very similar and familiar. [And it's why he hates this boat!!!] Shady announcements, unseen figures, kidnappings without warnings, locked rooms with puzzles and tools and clues to help us with an even more cryptic message...it's kind of exactly what I expect, which means it's bound to change soon.
[Nothing is ever easy!! Funny how life is just Like That. He gives Junpei a look that's creased with a mild sympathy...]
...Well, as much as I hate to say it, having someone with your kind of experience around here is probably a good thing. Not very fine luck for you, though.
Yeah. I got that impression. [Exhausting, but doable.] Me and Carlos both, so...maybe that's why they sent him to that other dimension or whatever and left me here? I can't say for sure.
Might be the case. Better to spread out the experts and cover as much ground as possible... Though it does sound like he just happened to be a victim of particularly egregious misfortune.
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[He's going to pull out a diagram.
Strain 1: ○ -> ○ - > ○ - > ○- > ○ -> ○-> ○ - ref. Strain 2.
Strain 2: ??? -> ● -> ● -> ● -> ● -> ???
There's an arrow drawn between the second to last dot of the first strain and the first dot after the ??? of the second.]
These are the patterns they moved. When subject six, this dot here--[The second to last dot]--went to sleep with subject seven--[The last dot of strain 1]--subject seven already had the vision and demon inside them. We don't know where it came from, but we think the two demons butted heads somehow and then split up again.
We weren't going to risk letting anyone die, but...the person I know who had one of the strains last is still very much alive. Either it's going to be a slow death, or something else is brewing there. Pinpointing the next victim, maybe. I don't know.
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[But he'll lean forward to look at this whack diagram... The fuck is happening here.]
—So you think they're two conflicting entities, then? Working together in a sense, but not really a cohesive unit. [Tap tapping at his chin.] ...Well, if we're talking curses, they can serve a number of purposes but they generally lead to things like death, loss of spiritual consciousness, that sort. I've dealt with targeted curse marks before - typically whatever creature it belongs to uses it as a compass to find you later. To, you know- [Waves a hand!!] -kill you horrifically or siphon your soul from your body, whatever it is that it happens to do. Could indeed be something like that in this case, if it's not a type of slow possession or kill-by-contact kind of thing.
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Not so much conflicting as "can't share the same host at the same time." That seems more likely. [...and then...Wei Wuxian talks. And says things. And it's a lot of things that don't sound great.]
How long do you think a creature like this could target someone if they're no longer a carrier...?
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Hm. Makes sense... [He seems to be considering something else, but apparently decides to shelve it for now and move on.]
No longer a carrier? Depends. From my own experience, once a curse is dispelled, the entity or person that cast it usually doesn't have any hold over the victim and likely won't continue to hunt them. ...Though of course, that depends on how well the curse was dispelled in the first place.
[He has Doubts that just passing an stdemon around is going to break any sort of curses honestly.]
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[A beat: he hums to himself, contemplative.]
Also, there are only so many of us. If we must continue to sleep together to avoid being targeted, chances are pretty high that the majority of us will host them sooner or later. What then? What happens when someone who's already had visions comes across the same demon twice? Thrice? That's a potentially dangerous thing - multiple exposures to the same curse or creature.
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But if it does up the chances and it's going to spread through all of us, we're in trouble. [He scratches the back of his neck.] Especially when you think that some have stronger willpowers than others, or people will try to hold it themselves to either catch it or prevent it from killing someone else. Isn't that just doing what it wants?
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Depends on what it wants, since we can only really guess. [But he just SIGHS at the mention of these self-sacrificial folk among them, since those sure are A Type, huh.]
Who's to say what would happen if they tried to contain it on their own without the proper means to do so? Best case scenario, they'd die and it would move on anyway.
["BEST CASE"...]
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[He says this so simply...]
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[He wrote it.]
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...alright, let's say that's the case then. What do we do now that we know it's out there and maybe that several people could be fucked over?
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Figure out how to banish those ones along with the one that can possess us - though it's easier said than done, of course, and I've barely got an idea of where to start. ...Might be wise to give this place another look-over in case our dearly departed have left more clues behind that might help us out.
[EXPLORATION!!]
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The one mentioning the brother, right? I heard it. Something from our predecessors, do you think?
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Come to think of it, there wasn't a broadcast on Monday either.
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[What he's more worried about, honestly, is--]
Are they actually tools to help us, though? Do you think they're simply a part of the way this boat functions?
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Getting a similar feeling from this, then? Or are we dealing with an even more cryptic delivery of possible tools and clues here?
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[Because nothing is ever easy. Ever.]
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...Well, as much as I hate to say it, having someone with your kind of experience around here is probably a good thing. Not very fine luck for you, though.
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[fuckin rip carlos]
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