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[priceofmagic]

[After losing her friends and family, Satou had thrown herself into work more than ever. She had also taken the necessary trip to Everglade to search for the city's missing Guardian. Instead, she got a train ticket... And after researching the charm symbol printed on it, as well as cross-referencing with her own charm, she schemed up a plan.]

Hello, Genessia. I'm speaking up to address an issue in Everglade: There is a strange train offering passage... and, also, a Guardian unaccounted for. I urge citizens to proceed with caution. If you do not feel safe without a Guardian in the city, I can help you transplant to another city. Please also take the necessary precautions regarding that train...

[Her voice trails off. Then, in a less official tone, Satou sighs. She holds her ticket to the camera, displaying the charm symbol.]

That said... The train ticket has a charm symbol on it. I... have an idea regarding the charms. And a need to collect them...

Can I hire anyone to board the train on my behalf? I'll say right now, I'm expecting it to be dangerous.  If not for the current situation, I would never dare ask this. I'm looking for someone strong, clever, and interested in learning more about Genessia. Please contact me.

[Because these threads may not wrap up before the Doom Train sign-ups close, feel free to PM me and ask if Satou would hire them. I'm happy to use her request as an excuse to get the more cautious characters involved in the event.]

Comments

[priceofmagic]

It also means that there is a force here that offers wishes. One that must see itself as high and mighty. Potentially the force that kidnapped us here, or one that has knowledge about why we’re here. That’s why it’s a lead.

[polyheroic]

Ugh...

[She grits her teeth, but.]

Fine. I'm going. How do I get on this train?

[priceofmagic]

You’re not going unless you’re positive this is a lead you think is valuable. It’s not that I don’t understand your concern... Though, for what it’s worth. Take that information about souls with a grain of salt. People have told me that entire species in their world exist without a traditional “soul.” The citizens could be like those alien beings.

[But she shakes her head,] I have a ticket. The train seems to be appearing randomly around Everglade. There’s no Guardian there either, a fact that we must take into consideration...

[polyheroic]

I don't think it's valuable, I think it's probably going to blow up in all of our faces. The best case scenario is we have to throw ourselves off a moving train here.

[she may be a pessimist.]

But if I don't go, someone else will probably have to, and I'm the one with super-strength and a magic sword, so it may as well be me.

[priceofmagic]

[She smiles inwardly at that. Super strength, huh..? She is reminded of All Might. Briefly, the thought makes her a touch lonely...]

I have no doubt it’s going to dangerous. Everglade has a reputation for a reason. I would expect a more psychological approach in the quest’s attack...

The most important thing is to figure out what these “charm quests” compose of. I find it strange that they exist here at all. What kind of place traps you and, in the same breath, offers you a wish?

[polyheroic]

The bullshit garbage kind.

[NOT A PESSIMIST, AT ALL.]

I don't believe it for a minute. So instead... Let's turn this thinking around. What or who benefits from kidnapping a bunch of people, trapping them here, then making them goes through ridiculous quests to get a wish they never asked for?

[priceofmagic]

[Satou gives a firm nod, approving of this Umineko-isc chessboard turning. She pauses to think for a moment,]

That raises a lot of questions. Does someone benefit from the quests..? Cuz... Hard to pinpoint exactly when we only have two quests completed... That Pokémon thing apparently netted me a charm. That was a community service. But when I was elected Guardian, a message hit our phones that encouraged people to commit crimes for a charm. That.... is an anti-community service.

Is it to make people complacent?

[polyheroic]

Complacent? No, that doesn't make sense. Complacent would involve rewards for working together, stuff like that. Making people stir up trouble... That just gets people wary. There's no benefit to anyone, unless...

[... Her eyebrows furrow.]

Hey. Those Pokemon... Did people battle them, here? Was there encouragement to do so?

[priceofmagic]

But imagine if your goal isn’t harmony. You simply don’t want people to try to break out. So you offer them a world where they can work for their wishes and make that world what they want... Whether they are peaceful or violent, there is a quest to net them a charm.

[Satou nods.] The professor said they can be used for fighting. It wasn’t necessarily encouraged, but the possibility was emphasized. Got an idea?

[polyheroic]

I do. And it sounds like, you're getting there yourself. Like you said... The goal isn't harmony.

Stir up problems. Tell people to commit crimes, they'll get rewarded. Naturally, the people with more heroic, or even just plain normal good people, will step in to try to stop them. That doesn't blow up how you want, so you introduce Pokemon, a cute thing that anyone and everyone can get in on, and nudge people towards battling with them. And now... a ghost train in the Spook Zone?

The end goal... I'm not sure. But the end state that whatever force that's in charge here wants is conflict.

[She takes a breath, like there's more, but then... She stops. And looks away. There's clearly something else eating at her.]

[priceofmagic]

[Satou taps her cheek thoughtfully.]

And yet... Genessia offers free housing, careers, and five cities to choose from so that you’re most comfortable. It’s proven to want people to stay and live here for the long term... Which would suggest two different forces at play. The one that captures us, and the one stirring up trouble...

[She briefly leans back in her chair, sighing loudly. Then, absently;] What if someone wishes to go home?

[polyheroic]

No, you're thinking too narrowly. What if that is one force? What if that is the goal, to make us comfortable enough to want to stay but still cause us trouble and make us rise up against each other?

[She shakes her head, tapping her finger against her arm impatiently.]

What if the conflict, itself, is the goal? There doesn't need to be any higher reasons- This force wants us to stay, because we're its entertainment! We're the Truman Show!

[priceofmagic]

[Satou is hesitant to accept that idea. It’s quite a dark twist on their situation. The idea that someone or something is laughing as it brings people together and then tears them apart rubs her magical girl instincts the wrong way.

She swallows. Thinking it through...]

It’s possible, I’ll admit. Though... Being here as long as I have, I find that hard to swallow. Because if rising up against each other were the goal, there are more effective ways to do it.

[polyheroic]

[She takes a deep breath. She can't- She can't let herself lose herself. She needs to stop. To calm down.

She's not back on Earth, being judged, scrutinized, observed carefully at all times, making sure she's good enough. She's not in Vera's world, being charged to meet everyone's standards. She is... safe, here. It's okay.]

... Maybe. But more effective conflict tends to be less sustainable.

[priceofmagic]

[Satou slowly shakes her head.]

I don’t know. It’s difficult to imagine...

Okay. Another theory. Do you know about Everglade and it’s connection to the barriers around the cities?

[polyheroic]

Not even a little bit.

[priceofmagic]

It’s okay. I don’t think it was written. I learned about while I worked in the police force there.

Apparently, the spirit of Everglade uses the fear generated by that city in order to power the barrier. The barrier is keeping something out— Something that is attracted to pendent beaters and can drain their emotions. What if that is our purpose here? And these quests are meant to bring certain emotions out of us?

[polyheroic]

... That...

[She pauses, running that through her head.]

Then can we assume each city would be powered by different emotions? Conflict and discord among them, maybe... If the purpose is just to cause emotional spikes, then...

[She absentmindedly begins to fiddle with a lock of her hair.]

Hey, Kittycat. I'm still new here, so I'm going to need you to check my thinking for a minute while I talk. Is that okay? It might take a minute to get it all out.

[priceofmagic]

I wonder if they are. Even if Everglade’s power affects every barrier... Who is to say different emotions don’t play a different role in keeping those “void spirits,” as they’re called, away?

[Satou nods.]

Yeah, take your time. Someone else just called me about the train. If the goal is to spark fear, you might do better to have a companion.

[polyheroic]

Definitely. I'm... I can say I might not... be a good idea. I don't know if I'll be able to keep it together. But I still have to try.

[She lets out a deep breath.]

The other people here, the natives, they don't have souls. They also don't have pendants. And those spirits, the bad ones, from outside the barriers, that eat your emotions, seek out people with pendants.

I'm just... spitballing here. But is it possible that you've got cause and effect backwards here? The outside spirits don't target people with pendants, people have pendants for the same reason that they'd be targeted- They have souls. And those pendants are something like an input port, letting the emotions go from the soul into the spirit to maintain the barrier.

[priceofmagic]

It could be. Our pendants have to have a purpose other than marking us, right? We know they can also allow passageway between archways, but not much else.

[Another thing to research.]

Or... in a very bad case scenario... What if they were the original residents here? And they have had their “souls” taken by those voids? What if our purpose here is to find a way to save them?

[Satou pauses, then goes back to the first stated concern.]

Also... No shame if you can’t do it. It’s Everglade. I suspect fear will play into the quest. Specific fears, which having two people could confirm: We would be able to tell if the train caters to a person’s unique fears.

But similarly... That kind of environment isn’t good for everyone. With my empathy, I could either be useless or dangerously charged with magic, in that scenario. That’s part of why I don’t think I should board the train.

[polyheroic]

That's... That would be bad. Though the worst case would be our souls are already gone, and these things are basically our phylacteries now.

[She looks down at Satou's friendly offer.]

... Fear. Is fear all it is? Will anyone be hurt there?