Didn't we just do this last week?

[perpend]

[It's starting to look like this is going to be a weekly occurrence.

Just like last week, Cabanela waits a while before he makes his rounds, writing everyone quick notes and sliding them under each occupied door.]

Stay strong.
If you don't want to be alone tonight, meet in the dining hall.
-Cabanela

[Like last week, Cabanela hasn't bothered to provide anyone with food-- that would just be... rude right now, he thinks. Upon first entering, you'll notice that there are now four lit candles in the center of one of the tables.

Feel free to leave mementos for the dead; it's probably appreciated.]

Comments

[perpend]

[Unlike last time, Cabanela won't be found at one of the tables, instead, he can be found pacing around the dining hall. He'll come over to greet anyone who shows up, but all he does is give a brief nod and a somber look-- maybe a pat on the shoulder for anyone who looks like they might cry.

The Inspector himself looks like he's at a loss, but he's not in danger of anything right now, so that's.... something.

He won't be doing much talking unless approached, but he is scribbling into one of the many notebooks the Conductor has given him.]

[shuttermouse]

[ Chie eventually wanders into the dining hall with a cup of coffee. ]

Hi, Cabanela-san.

[perpend]

[Cabanela looks up from his writing to flash a forced smile.]

Hey there, Chie. How are you holding up?

[shuttermouse]

Kinda tired, but otherwise I'm okay. [ ... ] Don't force a smile, it looks weird.

[perpend]

[He drops the smile.]

I'm sure all of us are pretty tired right now.

[It's only going to get worse from here on out.]

It's only natural.

[ninehundredlives]

[He seems upset.

Susan approaches carefully, not particularly looking like she's going to cry.]

What are you writing?

[perpend]

[He looks up when he sees Susan, giving a slight smile.]

I'm writing down what we know; the motivate, what the Conductor has told us; things like that.

It's probably not much use, but I want to consolidate everything for my own use. Or in case something happens to me.

[ninehundredlives]

...right.

[She wants to tell him not to talk like that, but there's really no point, is there? They can't run away from it.]

That's good. We can't risk losing any information.

[perpend]

[He nods.]

As long as other people keep taking their own notes, we're not going to run into aaany problems. At least, that's my hope.

We have enough problems right now as it is, especially if we get a third murder.

[ninehundredlives]

I think you and I both know that we will get a third murder. He's going to do this aaaaaaall over again, with some other carrot dangling in front of us...

[Oh, is this a little gloomy for an immediately post-execution talk?]

[perpend]

[Oh, he's not offended or upset at all, no need to apologize for the gloom.

He looks incredibly serious and manages a nod.]

We'll find out, won't we? What he tries to do next.

[ninehundredlives]

Maybe we should all try and talk about it next time. Depending on what it is.

[perpend]

That sounds like a good idea. It's sooomething to do, besides the resistance meeting.

[Since that... didn't really work out.]

[ninehundredlives]

[No. It kinda didn't.]

Are we going to do another one of those, do you think?

[perpend]

I'm really not sure. I suuuppose I could ask Logan, but it's discouraging how it didn't work at all.

[At least it was a fight to the death and not murder in cold blood. That makes it... very slightly better.]

[ninehundredlives]

[A bit.]

If we really want it to work, we should try harder to keep it hidden from him. I'm sure he's got all sorts of hidden cameras around.

[perpend]

I doon't know if there's some sort of hidden room, some way for him to not see us around; it's worth looking for, but I can't help thinking such a thing doooesn't exist at all.

[He won't give up until it's been proven impossible.]

[ninehundredlives]

We could at least make the effort. Or have it in a different room - what is the conference room for, if not for us to meet in a place he picked?

[perpend]

That's a good point.

Maybe we should start looking for cameras.

[ninehundredlives]

I haven't seen any, but I haven't really been looking closely either? I know they can get small. They might be up in the ceilings.

[sunsong]

What're you takin' notes on?

[ Or is he writing letters, too? ]

[perpend]

I'm writing down everything I've learned so far about this place.

It's nooot much, but I believe it's important to put all of the information we have in one place. For everyone's reference, of course.

[sunsong]

What have you learned so far about this place?

[ IS IT MORE THAN SHE HAS... ]

[perpend]

Not much, unfortunately.

I know this place is as old as it looks, and that it's probably several stories high. We know that when it comes to our situation, the Conductor only knows what he was told about us on our profiles, but that we're missing memories.

It's a mysteery. One that someone needs to solve.

[He's just not arrogant enough to believe he'll be the one to solve it.]

[sunsong]

Well...we do know that a new floor unlocks after every trial, too. We can assume there probably aren't any more floors than there are people divisible by the number two, right? In fact, it's probably less than that. I mean, I dunno if that really helps, but...