DICK;

[crashout]

Comments

[unpredicktable]

Last few times it had to come from me, so... I'd rather not risk it. It's no big deal-- I can phrase it as being a favor from the hosts. [ dick goes back to his work for a second ] To be honest, the worst one was definitely that first week.

[crashout]

Because it was awkward? Or because you had to see everybody's junk and guide them on how to pose? I don't envy you. [Sorry, it's still funny. While Dick is working, Junpei decides he's not going anywhere and starts to wander around the lab to poke and prod at everything. He's back to being bad at sitting still.]

...may as well buy clue vouchers now that we know how those work. Or brass knuckles. [He doesn't expect an opinion, he's just talking to himself.]

[unpredicktable]

Mostly because no one thought it was weird for me to offer. I'm not actually an expert on nudes. [ dick deserves the reputation he's given himself but. he dies every day. anyway, if junpei's gonna ramble to himself: ] You should get the brass knuckles.

[crashout]

Aw, and here I was gonna ask you for some pointers. [Wry. But he debates that before there's a nod even as he flexes one of his hands.] I'll stop by later today and hold onto them for...whatever we might need. If somebody breaks into our room again or something.

[That's still bothering him. The mystery bite, the removal of Escha's things. Still bad.]

[unpredicktable]

[ because it's the afternoon and i have another pc about this, dick stills in what he's doing and just. sighs ]

No one broke in. Her items wound up in the gift shop.

[ he sounds so tired ]

[crashout]

What. [Yeah just. What?]

[unpredicktable]

Nikkari bought the shoes, and her plant was back there when I checked.

[ he's so ... tired... ]

[crashout]

Great. At least we know where the most important thing is, but if that plant gets bought again we might be fucked. [He takes a breath and knocks something loose from a pile of wires elsewhere mostly on accident.]

...Katy told me that she gave Escha her lighter to try and send a smoke signal. I'm going to keep an eye out later.

[unpredicktable]

[ honestly, someone making a mess while dick tries to work is. very homesick moods. he huffs a laugh ]

Can they even bring anything to that island? [ he hums a bit ] We should ask Nikkari. [ anyway--] Might buy that plant just so no one else has it, but there's more poisonous stuff in there.

[crashout]

No idea. But Prompto's stuff disappeared and didn't show up in the gift shop, so where else would it go? [He means the memory card.] It's worth asking. It'll be good to know for the future.

I can probably chip in to buy stuff, too. It's not like I'm tight for money right now. [He seems to be lingering at the bookshelf though, squinting at something for a moment. Sorry Dick, he's no longer really paying attention because something...looks...familiar...]

[unpredicktable]

We're going to end up with all the poisons in our room, at this rate.

[ dick himself is distracted, but he seems annoyed by his pet project long enough to look over at what Junpei is looking at ]

JT? You good?

[crashout]

[He's sticking his hand into a pile of manuals and pulling something out, a black and white picture, it seems. Give him a moment to unfold it, and he reveals something kind of bizarre.]

Why is the Funyarinpa in the bookcase? [He's baffled for the time being, and it's enough time for the barrier to start forming and enclosing them inside the lab. RIP.]

[unpredicktable]

[ dick gets up immediately, looking around them complETELY bewildered ]

... Does the "Funyarinpa" normally do this?

[crashout]

No, no this is definitely new. [And the barrier gently closes around them and whatever Dick was working on. Give him a moment to eyeball the barrier, trying to reach out and see if he can break it. It means immediately punching, but there's obviously nothing there.] What the hell?

[unpredicktable]

[ cool. two days in a row he's stuck in impenetrable barriers. this is fun and not at all triggering. dick tries to put his hand on it, just. letting it rest. ]

I don't know, but I don't like it.

[ let them out?? let them out???? rattles the bars of his cage ]

There's got to be another exit.

[crashout]

There always is, but what the hell are we missing? There's nothing here. [His voice is tense because even without demon barrier trauma, he's getting very tired of being trapped. However, it's not long before the Funyarinpa falls into a pile of dust, and Dick is pulled to experience a memory that lasts until 2:46:38, minus Akane-Vision and also the puzzle is sudoku because the playstation version made it too easy.]

[unpredicktable]

[ it's one thing to have heard the general gist of most of this and another to experience it first hand. the countdown, the people, the incinerator-- everything feels real, and dick outright gasps when he's taken out of it, eyes wide.

it feels abrupt, and he's looking around. the barrier is still up, and junpei is there, and-- it felt like being pulled into a mind link with m'gann, almost. seeing through another's memories. those were the people he spoke of. the events he mentioned. ]

... What was that.

[ it's less a question and more a statement, because what the fuck just happened. why was sudoku involved. ]

[crashout]

[Junpei, unfortunately, has no idea what he just saw because that's not how the memory link works. He has no idea what Dick witnessed and he's giving him a suspicious sort of look, unsure of what he's asking.]

What was what? What happened?

[unpredicktable]

You didn't... see that?

[ dick frowns, putting a hand on the barrier again. henlo. knock knock ]

... I think... that was you. Or-- I mean, that was yours. I was in an incinerator, and I saw those people you talked about. Seven, Lotus-- well. You know. [ theory? time? ] Something about that item must've triggered it.

[crashout]

[Pokeprod. Apparently that wasn't all our mystery barrier wanted, but he's busy trying to think of what the fuck Dick saw. As he begins to describe it though, everything becomes very clear. He's frozen for a moment, staring at Dick with the same kind of unreadable expression he's given him before in rare moments before he frowns again.]

...sudoku. [He sounds tired.] Fifteen minutes left. [...there's a beat.] Did you hear her?

[unpredicktable]

[ there's a beat of silence. ]

... Yeah. Yeah, I think so. That girl... she wasn't in the room, was she?

[ it's not so much that it's fleeting as it wasn't his memories, and so it's a bit hard to parse them. was that... the morphogenetic field? ]

[crashout]

[There's a nod.]

She wasn't even in that year. Or that timeline. She was nine years in the past. [So yes, the field.] She...connected to me. She was connected the whole time to plan everything the way it needed to go, but it was only then I heard her to help save her.

Nine years before, she had 15 minutes left before the incinerator would turn on. She had to solve the puzzle, but could only do it with my help. [And that's why sudoku.]

[unpredicktable]

[ ... geez. he puts a hand over his mouth, shaking his head ]

That's... [ a lot? ] I think that goes a little beyond sink or swim on the power front. [ dick knocks on the barrier again ] I-- I'm sorry this thing let me see into your mind. Invasion of privacy much?

[ LIGHTENING THE MOOD AFTER THIS IS HARD ]

[crashout]

[He just...shrugs? Poking the barrier again, no longer meeting Dick's eyes.]

You're not the first. That's what happens with the field. We're connected like that. [Pokepokeprod.] Anyway it could be worse. At least I already kind of told you about that, but what in the hell is this ship doing to us? That's gotta be it, right? Another ship thing.

[Like horny disease, and those tattoos.]

[unpredicktable]

If it is, then what's going to let us out...?

[ thank you for asking, dick! in your case, it will specifically be junpei witnessing this fun yelling session, which ends at 33:06. at least it's quick! not that dick knows that, because he's just trying to push on the barrier while that happens. ]