RYUKI

[ballies]

Comments

w4, saturday

[ballies]

[ get in loser, she's got him on a couch in mouse dorm and is curled up in a bunch of cushions look miserable and trying to keep an eye on her passed out boy too. ]

[unsync]

[ He'll wake up... eventually... like a few hours later. ]

Ugh... my head...

[ballies]

[ pets his head gently. she looks exhausted and so done with today. like she's angry and sad and doesn't know what to do about it

so.

we sit and pet ryuki's hair i guess. ]

Don't sit up too quickly. You passed out at the end there.

[unsync]

...

We...

[ Failed? ]

[ballies]

We caught a killer.

[ she looks miserable about it though, so he can probably guess how it all turned out. ]

[unsync]

[ How is he here, is he like. Head in her lap or. How did she position him. ]

...But it's...

[ballies]

[ yeah go on, head in lap. give me some serotonin on this depression day. ]

It's?

[unsync]

[ Then it is how it is.

He won't have a follow-up, only quietly taking Tama's hand and trying not to look miserable (failing badly). ]

[ballies]

[ ... she just hums under her breath slightly. ]

Ace told us earlier in the week about the team kill rule. He also said he didn't want to kill anyone, none of us did, but for... reasons, reasons I can't tell you, he wanted to be the one that did if we had to.

We were going to wait. That was the priority. So we could see if there wasn't another way to do this. But... [ puts this after she went to see ace in jail i guess. ] Things changed. Albedo and I didn't know.

[unsync]

I... understand.

[ He has to, or else... ]

But why did it have to happen at all...?

[ballies]

... I wish I knew. Because someone here thinks it's funny?

[ she sighs. she's still idly playing with his hair. ]

I think we need to pool our information more. Figure out who's done this and bring them in.

[unsync]

Reigen's... I couldn't solve it, even though I said...

And because of that, we couldn't save Ace.

[ballies]

We were all looking into both those cases. If you didn't solve it, neither did we. I don't care if you think it's all on you because it's our job back home -- if we fail, we're failing together.

[ angy. ]

...

Mm. I know.

[unsync]

But I promised. And Reigen, whoever did that to him is still walking free.

[ He doesn't know. Their relationship was... rocky? Ish? But he still...

Somewhere in his pocket is still the note addressed to him. He's going to hold onto that forever thanks. ]

[ballies]

Ryuki.

[ for once in her life, tama is really hanging on by a thread here. ]

There's still time. There is. [ ... ] We can keep trying, and find answers but... you know you can't do it alone. You told me we were in this together-- that means the solving, the failures, the "successes" if you can even call it that. You don't do it by yourself and blame yourself for it!

[unsync]

I'm not.

[ Not that it means he blames anyone else for it either, but it's not a self-blame thing this time. Just the agonising frustration of trying so hard and not succeeding. Watching as another man beloved by many, Tama included, have to walk away and be imprisoned for a crime he did commit, but because he had to.

It's unfair. He squeezes her hand a little harder. ]

But that doesn't mean I'm not going to be frustrated and upset, Tama. I know you are too. I can't be strong like that, but nobody should have to.

...Not right now.

[ballies]

...


[ after a moment, she just

leans back so she's pressed against the back of the couch and staring at the ceiling. she's quiet for a little bit, a little too long for it to really be okay, but she does squeeze his hand back. tightly, like a lifeline. ]

...

[ when she talks, her voice does sound a little wobbly. ]

I really hate it here.

[unsync]

...

It hurts, right?

[ He could never really talk to Tama in a way that she was wholly an equal before -- understood him more than anyone else did, but the matter of the fact was that she was still an AI and trapped largely within the confines of ABIS and Ryuki's life. It's not like that anymore here.

The world hurts. ]

[ballies]

...


Yeah. It really does.

[ back home, her biggest worry was always just ryuki. what would happen if something happened to ryuki? him dying would've been horrible for her-- but they'd just repurpose her. reset her, put her with another agent and there wouldn't be a tama anymore.

here she's still tama. she's losing another one of her team tomorrow, someone she cares about a lot. and she's still tama and she can't just forget it and go back to her baseline. ]

[unsync]

[ She's free to have her own relationships now that aren't just people who are connected to her through Ryuki himself, and having your own thoughts and opinions on the world... sucks sometimes! As it turns out.

He still keeps her hand, falling silent, just letting the misery dwell for some time longer. Sometimes, you just need that. Being not okay is okay. ]

[ballies]

[ yeah, put her back in his head she’s tired of this. she’s not. there are so many things about being human she understands now— she gets it. the nice things about it like hugging people, enjoying food, drink, how the world feels now she’s living in it.

she squeezes his hand tightly again. ]

…

You’ve seen the Ask Addy responses, right?

[unsync]

...Yeah, I have a copy of the newspaper.

I was doing the word search last night...

[ballies]

There’s a note suggesting there’s something weird about the newspaper building.

[ she’s quiet for a moment. ]

One of the Ask Addy responses had a cat pun in it.

[unsync]

Oh... yeah. Mr. Datz talked to me about this too... actually, let me just.

[ He probably keeps some notes in his phone at any rate. Keeping memos helps him to remember things. Handing Tama his phone... ]

A month after the disaster, the Harbinger building has remained closed to the public. This building is off limits and still under heavy repairs. Despite this, newspapers are still being written and are in circulation.

These prinnies first arrived with Pink Pig. They seemed to be some sort of servant, though when asked for more details they would only respond with “They are repaying their sins.” What sins those are were unclear at the time of questioning.

Pink Pig’s prinnies seem to spawn from the newspaper building. Though the hero is lost to us, the prinnies they brought to the world are still working to this day. Occasionally, they can be seen entering and exiting the newspaper building. While rumors are currently abound, none are confirmed. These prinnies may be the ones stocking the newspapers throughout the city. There has been some talk of the prinnies paying off their remaining debt, though when pressed they would not reveal any specific details. They maintain what secrecy Pink Pig asked of them.

[ballies]

[ she will look. ]

... Right, that's the one I've seen. Nimona showed me it.

[ hmmm. ] I wonder what's in there.