AUDIENCE: SOO-WON

[retellers]

Comments

[retellers]

Perhaps. I don't know why, but everyone--here as well--has been very kind to me, even those not on my team.

[recrowns]

Admittedly, you are someone who's very easy to like.

[he's not going to flinch away from that]

[retellers]

Am I...?

[recrowns]

Yes.

[he says this so easily]

You're very endearing. I wouldn't be surprised if they were fond of you.

But ah - you said that they don't gain new information, correct...? Hmm... So is it just information they all compile amongst themselves?

[retellers]

That, or they heard it from a Leader. Or they may simply say whatever comes to mind--there is no rule that they must collaborate before writing any messages, after all.

[recrowns]

That is my theory with Kano, yes.

[KANO IS SUCH A MYSTERY TO SOO-WON but also he got the kid killed so he can't really judge him]

Just more to keep in mind, I suppose.

[retellers]

Mm. Also, I believe that the effects still apply to them as well, so keep in mind that, um, some of them may have been blind this week. [ a beat. ] Which means that, if they tasked another person to assist, not all of the messages are necessarily from different people entirely...

[recrowns]

[ . . . . ah.]

... good to know. Thank you, Goat.

Though I heard from Fox that at the very least, they're all safe there. Until we can... recover them.

[which he's

a little less excited to think about]

[retellers]

... Mm. [ yeah that's not a very happy topic ]

[recrowns]

[ . . . . he just.

sighs.]

... what do you think, Goat?

Do you know how many times our team needs to kill in order to ensure our revival? Is it a certain number of murders orchestrated by our team, or a number of people on our team who have to harm others?

[retellers]

[ he shakes his head. ] ... I only know what you know.

[recrowns]

[ . . . . he reaches up to pinch the bridge of his nose at that, as if warding off another headache - but at least this one is of his own making.]

.... I don't want to hurt anyone.

[ . . .

but?]

.... but if there's no other way to bring people back....

[retellers]

[ ... ] I cannot stop you from exercising your own will. [ though that isn't necessarily the same as approval. ]

[recrowns]

[it sure isn't.]

... I know you can't.

But knowing what you think matters to me too.

[retellers]

... Reviving that child was the worst mistake I ever made, in what few memories I have. Even if we disregarded the method itself, were I to support bringing back the dead without a second thought, it would mean that I've learned nothing from my past failures.

[recrowns]

[ . . . . ]

I know.

[and he'll reach out to take goat's hand if the other will let him.]

... but I don't know if these two situations.... If bringing back the removed.... who have lost their lives because they were brought to this Realm against their will, as opposed to dying at the end of their natural life -

Are they the same circumstances?

[retellers]

[ he will, though he frowns. ] Death is death, and that child wasn't any more ready to die young than anyone was prepared to be killed here. It is unfair to weigh the circumstances of one against another.

[recrowns]

[at the very least - soo-won listens.

that's true too, he thinks. he hasn't yet come to any conclusion, but.... at the same time....]

... do you think then, that it's not worth trying to save the removed?

[retellers]

... I acknowledge that I'm not the most impartial judge. [ ... ] But as I have said from the beginning, there is a price to pay, and now we know what it is. To hold a blade to someone and tell them that they must be an unwilling sacrifice to revive everyone--to me, such an explanation would ring hollow.

[recrowns]

[ . . . . ]

It would. It would be a sin, along with any other. There is no truly 'good reason' to take a life, even if reason does exist.

[and his expression turns saddened at that, thoughtful. normally he doesn't bother to ask others for their opinions but - goat is less his leader, but more his friend. and someone whose insights he does treasure on their own merit.]

... but what is the alternative? We gather enough nova to restabilize the Realm without them? No wish can bring them back, even if someone wins and wants to do so. We have to accept them as losses and move on?

Is that.... any easier to live with?

[retellers]

There are many things in life that aren't easy to live with, Soo-won. [ ... ] If we can confirm what happens to a team if a Leader dies, and if it will be safe, then kill me.

[recrowns]

[he knows that - but the idea of doing nothing and having to deal with a heavier weight, when the possibility of acting is right in front of him—

it disappears out of his head when goat speaks after that.]

Why?

[retellers]

[ calmly, ] Killing me should count--at least, I have no reason to believe it wouldn't. If meeting the condition is important, then should my life not suffice?

[recrowns]

No.

[and soo-won answers quickly - almost too quickly, emotionally, before he catches himself.]

... No, that's not....

[ . . . no, think - rationally. logically.]

What would the point of it then be? How do we know that it would work? If you have to revive all members of the same team by that team killing - then if that team fails to exist by the end... what does that mean? Do the removed also get reassigned? Will my murder of Sharon then be reassigned with me?

If we don't know what will come of it then.... how could I allow that?

[retellers]

... We do not yet know what would happen. That even the living would be reassigned, if any Leader dies--that's only conjecture, at this point. If we can confirm that it would work, would you do it then?