RYUKI

[ballies]

Comments

[unsync]

Isn't black a little intense?

[ It's really goth core. Are you sure that'd work on him, Tama? ]

[ballies]

Did you have any other preferences?

[ “not” isn’t an answer ]

[unsync]

No... because I never thought about it.

Isn't clear protective coat a thing?

[ballies]

…..

Can do one of those pearlescent ones?

[unsync]

[ Did she even do her own nails. ]

You just want to use my hands as a guinea pig, don't you?

[ballies]

[ they are actually painted! ]

Hehe.

Come ooon. If you don’t like it we can take them off afterwards.

[unsync]

[ Sighs... ]

Fine. Nothing crazy.

[ballies]

[ yeah!!!!!!!

she'll pick something out that has a little opacity to it, but will really just make his nails look faintly colourd and glossy. like syurp polishes. ]

[unsync]

[ Wowie. Did she still decide on black? He's a good client if anything, very still. ]

[ballies]

[ not exactly black… it’s darker toned and pearly but not black black. ]

…

Ryuki, I had a question.

[unsync]

What is it?

[ Me assuming this is have and not had but I guess it wouldn't change his response either way. ]

[ballies]

Have you seen some of the notes that have been going around? The ones people come back on Thursday with?

[ the way she’s been like i should talk to ryuki about this and the weekends have been blasting me into space. ]

[unsync]

Oh, um, yeah. A little bit. Rita showed me one about two weeks ago, and Nimona talked to me a little bit about them but I haven't seen anything new.

Did you get one?

[ballies]

[ she nods a little hesitantly, and then shows him this on her phone:

`If any one of these teams would be entirely wiped, those teams will become part of this world. Every member will believe they have always lived in this world, forgetting where they hail from. They'll become citizens who will be powerless and clueless during the next cycle.`


she does stop painting his nails for this. wow. ]

[unsync]

[ His nails are drying Tama I hope you paused at a good spot for this. ]

Oh... yeah. This is what Nimona told me about.

And we think, maybe, you know -- the citizens...

[ballies]

[ yeah, they look ✨ flawless ✨ ]

The ones we run into around the city? Yeah. One of the ones I keep running into, he was entirely clueless about what happened at the trials and why they were happening.

It was just— “a villain is being punished” and no thoughts beyond that.

[unsync]

I thought it was a problem of media control, but...

Do you think it's mass brainwashing?

[ballies]

Well, it could be. The flow of information is definitely stemmed, and they’ve just come off the back of a city-wide traumatic event. I’m pretty sure wanting to stamp down on crime and focus on heroic acts isn’t exactly strange…

But there could be some mental manipulation going on as well? I haven’t heard of anything like the videos we looked into back home, but subconscious messaging could be at play. I know there are rumours about the moon listening in, but I really don’t know what to make of that.

[unsync]

[ Wouldn't that be so ironic? The name Nirvana Trial would be so literal then. ]

I thought it was just a matter of scapegoating... bring in a bunch of new people with no history in the town in the wake of a disaster, and then pin all of the city's problems on us, taking attention away from the actual criminals who started all of it to begin with.

[ Frowning. ]

If it's an organisation powerful enough to subliminally manipulate an entire city to ignore us though, that's a problem. Do you think we can break them out of it?

[ballies]

[ we love when canon and mg cross wires ]

It could be a little of both — there’s definitely criminals out there, and what better way to hide something sinister or ominous than by hiding it behind this circus of trials and murder?

[ miserable actually ]

We have to try. Not just for us, and the fact we want to go home. I don’t think I’d feel happy escaping and leaving all these people already trapped here alone, without help.

[unsync]

[ He's quiet for a moment, mulling that over, but...

Something about what Tama says makes him smile, just a teeeeny bit. Like it solidifies his resolve and puts him back on the right track. ]

Yeah, you're right. We can't leave anybody behind.

I don't know exactly where to start -- I'm still not really getting a real response from the Harbinger, but we won't stop trying!

[ Hits his hand by accident on the edge of the table, denting one of his still-soft nail enamels. ]

Ah.

[ballies]

I still think I should try and hack something— Nico said that there were deeper levels to the prison, so there might be something hiding in there? But I’m not sure how I’m going to get close enough to do that, unless I just pretend I’m visiting someone.

[ she doesn’t think about saturday being an ideal day for that. she doesn’t want to think about that constant. ]

I’m not sure the paper is going to be as helpful as we might have thought, but keeping on eye on the articles isn’t a bad idea?

[ …… ah ]


…

[ballies]

…

HEY!

[unsync]

Why is it still soft? I thought it'd be hard by now!

[ballies]

Because it takes longer than two minutes to fully dry, Ryuki! If you smack your hand against the desk of course it’s gonna dent!!

[ her hard work!!!! ]