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@junpei | text

[Now, Junpei is fairly certain they're all here for some kind of fucked up death game, because why wouldn't the third time be the charm!!— but until some mysterious costumed weirdo starts getting on all the screens and making announcements, there's not that much to go on. He can skulk around town glowering suspiciously at things for long so long.

Sooooo.]

if anybody wants my vote, it's t minus however the hell long before we all start killing each other. would love to be wrong, but if i live long enough to say i told you so, yknow. yippee.

so.

why do *you* think we're here? wrong answers only. top 3 by popular vote get a prize.

[Does he have a prize to hand out... No, no he does not. He will find some cheap garbage in one of the shops and write a 1ST/2ND/3RD PLACE on it, no problem. Eventually. Maybe even a sticker.]

and what do you guys think about picking code names? you know, just in case.

[big talk from username junpei]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[oh my god shifters are real outside of him and his 5 friends holy shit]

Oh— okay, yeah. Uh, you get it. We call it SHIFTing, which is... [stupid,] I didn't pick the name. For us, it's a one-to-one swap instead of, uh, becoming one. One... alright, say you're you, right? You're You A in Timeline A.

For us, the consciousness of You A moves into Timeline B, and the consciousness of You B moves into Timeline A. No mixing, no sharing memories. So I'm... Me A, but I've been to the other histories.

[....]

Uh, that's not exactly the same as how it works for you, is it? Usually someone else explains this and I don't have to...

[ quit your death game join my death bus ]

I am the very same! But thine explanation was well done enough, esquire, and I can wholeheartedly say that while it is not the same, I understand thy method of transport! The me who works for the Zwei does not have the memories that I do now, nor would she ever, but I know of her training days as well as the current jobs she may take on beneath that particular office.

Have thee a favorite history thou hath been to?

[ it's kind of exciting to meet someone who can sort of use IDs in a sense like them, except not exactly ]

[can he bring his weirdo friends]

A favorite— Uh, the ones where I'm still alive? It's not— [okay, give him a second to pinch the bridge of his nose and like, Chill; he started this other histories nonsense himself, he can talk about it without wigging out--

it's back to the contextual silly terms:]

Your You A and You B are really different, I guess? Mine aren't that far apart. I guess it's possible to SHIFT into a history that's... You-Z-degrees separated from the first history, but I've never done that. Actually, in all the histories I can remember, I only survive in one besides "my" history.

[womp.... pathetically:] Do you have a favorite?

[ abso fucking lutely ]

Oho... Thou art an unlucky man, are thee not? There must be many a time I am killed with no hope of revival as well, for this "me" is the only one who is connected so to the Manager Esquire.

[ it just. doesn't get shown to her, for obvious reasons in that they need the IDs alive so they can thread the memories together. like a patchwork of histories. ]

Hum... Mine favorite... No matter the memory I hold, I am always with mine companions -- that is the singular truth among them all, and I am thankful for it.

[ it's comforting to know that no matter her history, she will never be alone.

hmmmm. favorite... favo.... oh!!!!!!! ]

Oh!!!!!! Yes!!!!!! The Warp Train!!!!!!!!!! In one, I hath been employed by W. Corp, and I work for the clean up crew! The trains in that Nest are very fast, thou arrive in thy destination within a blink of the eye! Ah, but then there is another where I lead a team of others, and that is rather fun as well, though mine superior and I do not see eye to eye -- oh, but there's another where Mistress Rodya is mine superior, and she is most excellent at gambling!!!!

[ ...

she has a lot of fun ones!!!!!!!!! she is not talking about the bad side of two of these, nor of the one where she's her enemy!!!!!!!! ]

[sounds good, sign them up]

You're always with the same people, in every history...? Guess that's true for me, too, but like I said— we don't go that far from the original history.

[jeez, why can't he go to the coffeeshop au history of him and the gang, that'd be so much easier!!!]

But uh, it sounds like you're not having that bad a time if all your friends are there. Or... companions. You just go whenever you want?

[ all you gotta do is forfeit your autonomy and be willing to die 10+ times in an encounter in increasingly brutal ways nbd. also the big man has something on you, blackmail style. byot (bring your own trauma) ]

Perhaps thou simply has not stumbled upon a Z level history yet! As for that, um... no, not exactly. The Manager Esquire is the one whom directs our paths, as well as the reflection we... inherit?

[ ... you know what, ]

The reflection we SHIFT to!!!!! They ask, and we comply -- it is no problem, as we return to whom we were previous. Though we cannot choose what is obtained through the bus's teeth either, so not... quite... wherever we wish to go?

[ .......

this is above her nonexistent paygrade!!!! ]

Oooh, I do yearn to show thee what I mean! It is a spectacular feat, and there is so much I cannot put into words!!!!!

[luckily he has plenty of trauma to bring!!! anyway she gets 999 points for using the vocabulary, great work.]

Huh, maybe it's about how far you go...? A SHIFT to a Z level history might be too much for me to do on my own. That could explain why you guys need to have one person in charge.

[but does he really need to figure this out, probably not. it's not comforting to learn about a whole bunch of other more-or-less shifters, but... they can commiserate, which is kind of nice, he thinks. or he can commiserate and she can talk about trains; whatever works.

anyway, HOLD on, loop back around--] Wait, you're from the bus that eats things?

[ fas...cinating.... if yi sang ever comes here don'll have to introduce them. this is what she's decided. ]

O-ho, so thou art familiar with it! Yes, I am! With whom hath thee spoken on the matter?

[is he being diagnosed nerd... wow, first time.]

Uh, Gregor? Short with glasses? He said he's not allowed to say anything else about the bus.

[a beat, hm,] I'm not asking for bus secrets, to be clear. But uh, I heard about it... eating stuff. That's not something we have where I'm from.

Ser Gregor is indeed a companion of mine!!! As is Young Sinclair, should thee ever meet! They are both good people, two of whom I would trust with mine life!!!

[ she's meetin up with gregor later she knows sinclair's here, now junpei can join their crew-- ]

And yes, it eats people! They must be still alive, if incapable of fighting back any longer -- it is a balance that is hard to strike, but we hath done well in its refueling thus far! It is the only of its kind!

[ i'm so sorry. this is why you don't ask for bus secrets, yeah. also because it gets into............. a lot of unexplainable stuff.................... ]

[oh boy he's learning about the cursed bus that eats PEOPLE(???) anyway, how lucky! how fun...

he can't look more grossed out by a bus than he does in this moment. lord have mercy. it turns out people really can turn green, at least a little.]

People, huh... That's— that's a bunch of terrible things all in a row.

[let's talk about people who aren't getting vored by a bus, instead-!]

I'll uh, keep an eye out for the other guy. [smash cut to twenty minutes into the future,] It's just you three?

[ wow... what a nest kid. turning green at the gills just because of a little gear grinding meat bones and ligaments into fuel. poor thing. she'll have to get him used to it as her squire. the resolute look says as much. ]

So far, it would seem! And as for thee? Art thou the only one of thy histories to have ridden upon that crawling train?

[sue him, he's squeamish about about meat grinders with people in them. even getting shot a few times makes him twitchy, such a novice. luckily he interprets her look as sparing him, for now...]

Yeah, unless they're giving me the cold shoulder. I don't... think they would, though. Given how many histories there are, this might be the one where I'm on my own.

[history that god abandoned, take 2!!]

[ damn dude!!!!!! your life sucks!!!!!!!!! couldn't be her, unless she gets a sunshower ego. they tend to be alone in trade for having a fox. rip heathcliff. ]

So there are even those where thou hath not a soul at thy side... Do thee often survive them? Or is thy likelihood of death higher?

[ buddy system and all. ]

[at least he doesn't get reskinned into worse depression, damn...]

I mean, there have to be, right? They're infinite and whatever. But uh, SHIFTers tend to resonate with each other, [and he makes a face briefly about how stupid it sounds, rip,] so I haven't gone to any of those histories, either.

...You know, until now, maybe. That train could come back...

[ small blessings, junpei... ]

Thou hath such an amazing bond with the others who share thy fate... It truly is similar to my and mine own -- perhaps we resonate with one another too, and that is how we come to work with one another no matter the circumstance!!!!!

[ that's so!!! cool!!!!!!! she loves it!!! sorry, but she genuinely thinks your shit is cool!!!!!! ]

Let us patrol the station frequently just in case! That way, they will know what history to SHIFT to -- and they do not end up in one just beside thine, where they are the only one instead!

Wait, what? You'd come with me to look?

[he's earnestly touched by this suggestion? time travel death loops really do bring everyone together, huh...

but he really does need a moment, sitting back and dragging a hand over his face. maybe the entire city isn't shitty after all-!!

okay!!!!]

Yeah. Uh, thanks. We can look for the rest of yours down there, too. Might as well stick together, you know, as fellow SHIFTers.

[ does this look like the face of a woman who doesn't mean it??? didn't think so. welcome to the crew junpei ]

Right! We shall employ the buddy system! Do thee think there are creatures beneath the city?

[warm fuzzy feeling immediately dashed on the rocks when he has to think about Creatures, god, does she want creatures??]

I... hope... there aren't? I'm just a guy, I don't fight creatures or anything.

[that said,] But this is a pretty big city, so there's got to be a way down under it somewhere.

[ she does!!!!!! she wants creatures!!!!!!! you don't understand she's getting cabin fever from no fights!!!!!! ]

Perhaps there is a cover which we can open? Also, thou needn't worry about battle -- I shall soundly take care of anything we may meet beneath our very feet! Armed or not!

[gurl please discover arcade games or something!!!!]

You mean sewers? That's not as cool as secret underground labyrinths... [sigh. he had one hope for this creature idea and it was cool tunnels without shit in them.] I haven't seen any normal animals up here— you really think there's going to be something underground?

Where else would they be?

[ terrifying sentences from the most innocent little lady. ]

[are there creatures in the walls, now he has to think about it, COOL]

Once again: hopefully, nowhere! Nowhere at all! Not a single creature, unless it's a tiger or something, at the zoo.

[ if there is call the exterminator (don) ]

The zoo?! Hath thy been to one?! What is it like?!

The— yeah? Uh, a bunch of times when I was a kid... It's okay, if you like watching animals just sit there.

[he almost asks if there's just no zoo where she's from, but oh yeah, the bus eats people, so a zoo would be too normal for that. he's learning.]

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