[open] ain't no discussion party like an open discussion party

[psycholawgy]

Who: Anyone and everyone
When 1 February
Where: CERES Gardens
What: IC Dicussion Post
Rating/Warning: None so far!

[ At 5:30 in the morning, each person will receive a text: ]
Good morning!
If you'd like to know what happened during the CERES tours, please come to the gardens at 12 noon.
Lunch will be provided.

[ All these texts will come from Athena Cykes, so if you'd like to respond, head on over here! ]

---

[ Athena's managed to convince the manager of the Little Sister Cafe to cater at ther CERES gardens, so there are tables, a spread of food, and at the center of all the tables is a small platform-like stage with a microphone. A part of the gardens now looks like this. With less balloons, of course.

Once there's enough people, Athena Cykes steps up. She has crutches, and she rests those crutches by the side of the platform as she speaks. ]

I'm sure we were all expecting a safe tour, but most of us - if not all - ended up being in danger. But, despite all this, we learned a lot of things. If we can all get up here one by one, in an orderly manner, and speak of what we've learned, we would be able to help one another survive in Cerealia better.

I don't think we need to keep this a secret anymore; Mr. Mosley and the rest of CERES have their eyes on us at all times. But still, we shouldn't try to withhold information from one another. Information is key to be able to survive in this place. Whatever you know? Please tell us.

The food is also from the cosplay cafe. Please come visit if you enjoy them. Thank you.

[ With a bow of her head, she steps down and heads to her table. Anyone is free to take the stand now and speak. ]

(( Make your own top-levels, and then there can be discussions for each top-level! I won't be running this post, so treat this as a mingle!

GROUP FIVE / GROUP SEVEN / GROUP NINE / IN-GAME TITLES ))

Comments

[espersions]

So Mosley saved you. How gallant. And I suppose we all ought to be grateful to CERES for keeping us safe inside the city, rather than at the mercy of a scrappy scrap heap.

[ His hands are in his pockets and his head is tilted to one side. ]

Did he say whether your trip to the exterior was part of the tour?

[psycholawgy]

Definitely not, but he was being naggy and angry that we were complaining about how the tour went!

[espersions]

Right —

So do you think it was an accident you wound up outside the city?

[psycholawgy]

[ Ugh... to have to answer that question honestly. ]

Yes. It was my fault, too. If I hadn't gone and dove into the water...

[espersions]

You dove into the water? Didn't you say you "fell"?

[ He can't help grinning. ]

Why did you do that? Don't tell me you suddenly fancied a swim in the middle of your tour.

[psycholawgy]

We fell at first, and then I drove to see what was under! Miss Hawke tried to get upshore again after falling, but I was really curious.

[ A beat... ]

I just had a feeling there had to be something down there. Call it an attorney's intuition.

[espersions]

You're a lawyer? Heh, there's an obvious joke about sharks and professional courtesy, but I won't bother you with it. How did you manage to fall, in the first place?

[psycholawgy]

The edges of the floor by the water were old, I guess...

[ They never really got a chance to investigate that , either. ]

[espersions]

Ah.

So then, do you think it's possible, madam attorney, that your falling in wasn't an accident at all?

[psycholawgy]

Athena.

[ Gotta say that out loud first before continuing, yanno? ]

That's possible, but if it were, Mr. Mosley wouldn't have saved us from being eaten by a giant fish.

[espersions]

Perhaps — if your falling in had been an attempt to kill you. However, CERES has far more expedient means of doing that. People disappear all the time, I'm sure you've noticed.

[psycholawgy]

Yeah... their codes get corrupted.

[ ... ]

You don't mean— [ No. She can't even finish her sentence now, but she believes she gets where Hyobu's coming from. ]

[espersions]

One of the CERES programmers said, quite casually, that he could delete every single one of us as easily as flipping a button. So...

[ He brightens and says happily: ]

I think we can say that no one at CERES intended for you to die. Probably.

[psycholawgy]

Just to torment us. Is that it?

Like experiments...

[espersions]

[ He chuckles. ]

Oh well, I'm not that pessimistic. This would be a lot of trouble to go to, for simple sadism.

[ And then his expression sobers. ]

However, I do think we're being used. All of these accidents — not just the ones you and your fellow tour-mates experienced, but also all the various mishaps that have occurred here for months.... Anyway, I think all of them have been carefully orchestrated by CERES, to test the limits of their control.

[psycholawgy]

[ She lets out a deep sigh. ]

I actually had a lot of faith in CERES, too... this is so difficult to take in. I thought they wanted to save us, not play with us.

The accidents were just accidents, but... I don't want to believe in that anymore.

[espersions]

[ Dryly: ]

You believed a for-profit corporation had your best interests at heart. Heh. You're awfully naive, for an attorney.

[ He doesn't say that in an unkind way; indeed, he seems almost sad. ]

Tell me about that device you were using — the one around your neck.

[psycholawgy]

[ She pokes at her necklace. ] Widget? He's one of the things my mom gave me when I was younger.

I can hear people's hearts through their emotions, and Widget helps me visualise what I hear.

[ The stuff about the attorney thing aside, she's very eager to talk about robots and her Widget. ]

[espersions]

[ Sounds like a telepathy-based power. Interesting. ]

There's similar tech on my world, although it's principally used to amplify and assist pre-cogs with their predictions.

[ He peers at the necklace more closely. ]

Not only that, but the size of the machinery is much, much larger. This is impressively miniaturized. Your mother was an engineer?

[psycholawgy]

My mom was an ace psychologist! [ PEACE SIGN. ] But she worked with roboticists and stuff.

[espersions]

[ He straightens up again. ]

So, I'm curious. What did your powers — and "Widget" — tell you about Mosley?

[psycholawgy]

Mosley?

... The guy hasn't registered as anything, to be honest. He's normal, the same as Miss Recreare. The fluctuation of emotions is... normal.

[espersions]

"Normal."

[ He pronounces the word with a delicate edge of distaste. ]

You don't sound convinced.

[psycholawgy]

It's been normal so far, just like how a human would speak.

Which is why it's weird. I just don't-- I imagine him to be some kind of robot, that's all. But that hasn't been proven yet.

[espersions]

Oh?

[ His eyebrows climb up. His voice is pitched as though he's incredulous, although he is pretty clearly not. ]

A robot? What makes you think that?