pandatreasure (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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randangonpa2018-02-04 04:35 am
pandatreasure) wrote in randangonpa2018-02-04 04:35 am
ENDGAME/EPILOG
[In the control room, the raccoons float quietly in their pods; none of the wild cackling from before, no raucous mocking—Where did those pesky animatronics go, anyway? Maybe not every question has been answered, but...how much does it matter? The lost souls are back, tangible and whole, though marked still by whatever's done them in. Maybe those scars and aches won't fade, either.
A metric fuckton of experimenting has gotten us to the answer of how to get back to where we belong: the first control room console makes it easy to find the thumbnail of your world, and, when selected, it automatically brings you to twenty two days from moment you were kidnapped from. It's easy to see an image where you should be there and aren't, and simply select it. The program confirms that you'd like to initiate the transport process, and directs you to stand on the glowing platform; have someone hit the button to shut the process down, or it will time itself out in five minutes.
Is the moment you were brought from not good enough? What about the rewards you were promised? It seems as though specifying those offers or threads isn't quite possible, but the console has two options, each manipulable independently of each other: you can control the date and time, allowing yourself to return as though you hadn't been kidnapped at all. You can also use a slider at the bottom to control the quality of the universe you're brought back to, sliding from the carrot to the stick side: A world where everything that possibly could have gone right for you and those you'd want it for does, where every choice and chance resolves in your favor...or one where there isn't a single moment that isn't conspiring to work against you.
It should be that simple, but...none of those are your universes. Trying to go to any universe but the one marked for you, and/or at any point but that three-week span you've been gone, prompts a warning message about a duplicate version of anyone belonging to that world. It asks if you'd like to proceed, and warns you once more by giving names of potential "doppelgangers"—but will not stop you from stepping onto the platform as it twinkles blue light, regardless. Is improvement worth interfering, maybe destroying, the life of another you?
That choice is up to you. For the first time in a long time, these choices are yours.
It's over. Happy graduation day.]
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Ah...
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Hey, Shuichi.
[It should be obvious he's pretty sad - but trying not to show it and be strong, because -
He's mostly gotten it all out by now.]
Are you going to go home, or...?
['Are you going to go back with Akechi' is what he wants to say, but doesn't.]
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He's glad at least Shuichi gets a happy ending with someone that he loves, even if his smile turns more sad when he speaks.]
...That's great. I'm glad you get to go back with him, wherever you guys decide to head to.
[Even if he's also secretly envious that they can do that, but....like hell he'll say that. That'd just put a damper on everything, and he's not that selfish.]
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[ He can guess what's behind that smile. ]
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[He's...quiet, after that - and since this is later on in the day, Shuichi might notice that he's holding onto Akira's glasses in one of his hands, fingers running over the frames idly.]
But...I have to go back home. There's no way I can let everyone think I'm dead - or worse - because I vanished right after defeating Yhwach.
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[ Well, other than what exactly 'defeating Yhwach' is, but he can get the gist. ]
But it still must not have been an easy decision.
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And he gives a short laugh, even though it's obvious there's no actual mirth in it, and more like a laugh born from surprise and a little pain.]
Ha, that's...yeah. It wasn't.
[He knew the possibility of them separating was there, but...
Even knowing that doesn't make it hurt any less.]
But...It's the only way it would've ended, anyway. We...we both care too much about the people we'd be leaving behind, so...
[He swallows, hard - and when he next speaks, it's obvious he's forcing himself to keep his tone light, pulling an incredibly fake smile on his face.]
It's alright. It's only been three weeks, so - who even - who even gets so attached that quickly? We'll be fine, I'll be fine -
[(But it's not fine, and he's lying to himself.)]
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Of course you can get attached that quickly. Especially in a situation like this. You shouldn't... try to downplay it. It was important to you, and... it always will be, even... if you never see each other again. It's fine to be upset about it.
And at least... it's not like either of you are dead. You... can each know the other person is living their life.
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That isn't anywhere near what he expected to hear, and that smile of his drops as he stares back in momentary shock, before he presses a hand against his eye and just -
chokes out a sob, letting himself feel the emotions he'd been trying to push back this entire time, the pain and how unfair it all feels now that they're all alive again.
Sorry, Shuichi - he really...can't respond right now.]
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[ Shuichi still isn't really used to being on this end of this, but he's going to try his best, so he hesitantly wraps his arm around Ichigo's shoulders. ]
See... it's fine.
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Shakily, though - he pulls himself back together, breathing in and out and wrestling his emotions back under control, looking at Shuichi with a slightly more open expression than he's ever let the other see since they've been here.]
...Thank you. I...I needed to hear that, I think.
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If I could help a little, I'm glad.