felinguistic | (no subject)

There was some sort of intent there. Anyone's capable of murder, especially in highly charged situations like this. But I don't necessarily think she was aiming for or capable of murder.

[ wow, how nice, junpei. ]

But the jealousy? That was likely her. They did say the decision to switch target was last minute, and he wouldn't have been the demon's usual choice of victim.

So the obvious question is what is the usual choice of victim? What does that even mean? [He ponders on that to himself for a moment.] The swap happened because of the rejection, sure, but that doesn't bode well for the rest of us if saying "no" is going to be a problem.

[ he waves a hand. ]

No, you’re missing the point. I can’t say whether the demon reacted that way — I suspect the fire that fuelled the last minute swap, the source of the possessiveness and jealousy, was that girl. The demon likely just stoked the flames and made it worse that it would be usually.

Perhaps it targets the worst parts of you and makes them even worse. As for who it targets... maybe it acts logically. Who is the biggest threat, who angered it the most, who has been acting in ways that threaten its continued freedom here.

[Hm. That's definitely more in line with something that makes sense.]

Prompto technically fits the last one if you think about mostly monogamy being a threat to the demon's freedom. If it gets stuck between two people, it can't really spread to everybody else.

The easiest thing would be to figure out who the host is and who that host is close to. Prioritize protecting those people, we might stand a chance.

[ shiraishi looks up for a moment, almost thoughtfully, before a look of something like recognition flickers through his eyes and he glances back down at junpei. hm. weird. ]

Damned if you, damned if you don't. If you avoid the host, then you can't be infected. But if you don't sleep with someone, you're vulnerable anyway.

How do you propose doing either of those things. Demons gain and retain the knowledge that the host has. They could, in theory, pull off a perfect copy of their host without us realising. None of us picked up on the girl during the week, did we? Short of rapid fire questioning everyone on the ship frequently, until one of them notably slips up and makes a mistake, there are few chances to figure out the host ahead of time.

[That was. Weird. He's not pursuing that yet.]

Exactly. We were set up and walked right into a trap. I haven't figured out how to find the host other than the obvious. [Fucking everyone and just finding it himself, but he'd rather not.]

...if people are split into smaller groups, it's easier to get closer and find out. Just because Monika didn't talk to most of us doesn't mean other people might not have noticed if they pressed. [...but there's a sigh.] Or I'm off-base. I don't know yet.

[ haha it's fine. ]

They are stacking the odds against us. I don't think we can be overly surprised by that. [ fucking everyone and finding out that way sounds like a poor way of doing it too. ] Besides, in order to have a clear idea of who it is you'd need to limit your sexual encounters and there are too many of us to do that and get everyone.

... It's not a bad assessmnt. The more you know about someone the easier it is to catch them in a lie. Say, if you ask them something they should instantly know and they mix it up or hesitate in their answer.

Not exactly true. [He goes quiet.] Let me give you an example. Let's say you're poisoned, and you're presented with eight unmarked vials. One of these vials contains an antidote. The right one will make your tongue go numb if you taste it. And let's say there are three of you who've been told you're poisoned and have to work together. If person A licks vials B, D, F, and H, person B licks C, D, G, and H, and person C licks E, F, G, H, which is the vial that contains the antidote?

[Vial C. There's a point.] You don't necessarily have to limit your encounters as long as there's some overlap for comparison. And that's why we have to keep sleeping around and talking to people. We won't get anywhere otherwise.

...

Provided, of course, no one lies to you about who they think might be possessed that week, of course. You've always got to account for, and prove, misinformation that can filter in.

But it's not a bad idea. Hope that the people you're working with aren't possessed, and hope they can win over the people they need to sleep with that week.

Of course people are going to lie. They'll want to protect certain people, and that's when you go in as unobjective as possible. And it's always been a game about making sure people like and trust you, and knowing who you're working with.

Anyone who thinks otherwise isn't paying attention. That's the only way we're going to get out of here with as few casualties as possible.

[ he just raises his hands. ]

I've already said I have no interest in dying here. If it increases the chances of getting home, then I'm listening.

But at least you understand it has to be as few casualties, not no casualties at all.

I'm not naive enough to think it won't be no casualties at all. I've seen too many games like this where that never happens, so it's better to know now than be surprised later.

It's just a matter of convincing others to be okay with that.

They won’t have a choice. They either accept it and work to minimise the damage, or they don’t and crumble under their own empathy.

[ lovely ]

If we sit around playing babysitter then we won’t be able to solve anything.

Then I'd like your help in making sure people are willing to work together and that they aren't holding us back. I can't do my job if people think I'm being mean by asking questions they don't want to hear the answers to.

I'm not a good babysitter.

[ helpful. he's so helpful. ]

I don't have any problem cutting people off if they don't like intense questioning. [ there's a pause... where he really looks like he's thinking about something, quite intensely. ]

... Even if it's not always the best option, sometimes there's no choice but to be that cold when questioning. [ it's mumbled, rather than spoken. ]

...do you really agree with that? [He doesn't disagree, but the tonal shift is something that makes him curious, again, what Shiraishi's really thinking about.] Sometimes we have to be ruthless, especially now that we know it isn't always the person we're talking to. It could be a demon.

I do. Quick fire questioning leaves little room for overthinking and building stories that hold up to scrutiny.

Someone told me otherwise recently though, and... [ he shrugs, small and stilted. ] In some situations, she wasn’t wrong. She’d be the sort of person here to be against it.

But she is rarely always right herself.

You're not wrong about that. They don't have the time to string together lies. [But. He finds himself looking at Shiraishi and listening closely. A girl? Someone with opposing beliefs, then.

And also someone Shiraishi at least listens to, if slightly, which is impressive on his own.]

...so who is she? This girl.

I find it efficient. They let things slip without meaning to when they defend their actions, and when you latch onto them the lie breaks down.

[ he just smiles. ]

She's not here, so it's not important.

Yeah. They're basically their own undoing that way. Some might think it's a shitty method, but if they're gonna be ruthless you have to be ruthless back. [Dog eat dog world, etc. But no, he's not letting that go.]

It was important enough to mention what she'd think, so I'm kinda thinking that's not so true.

There's more nuance to it than I would have originally thought. But we don't have the time to be slowly coaxing answers out of people, or working on getting everyone here to trust us without question. It's the only efficient method we have.

[ ha. ] Whether you think it is or not, she's not here, so what good would you knowing do?

Some of us have also been doing both. [He's been working on speaking to people and earning their trust mostly for the sake of working together but also for his own means. If he understands people, it'll be easier to know what questions to present at any time.]

You brought her up first. You don't think it's important to know about someone else's philosophy you bothered to remember?

[ he just hums. ] It's not a natural skill of mine. Maybe you should take on the role of PR.

The philosophy? Sure. Her? No, not necessarily. She's too soft, too naive and a bleeding heart, but sometimes that's what people need. I can tell you that much.

I'd rather not. [He narrows his eyes in thought.] Does that somehow include you? Or did you find her to be a nuisance just like you find most people? She must've worked for the police department or you wouldn't even listen to her at all. Right?

She is a nuisance. [ wow tell junpei what you really think. ] But I've met worse. Stubbornness can be endearing, sometimes.