burningrescue | UMP 45 Catch All

[At the end of the day, he'll come back to their room, worn out and frustrated, and snag his spot on the floor.]

[ At some point after that, she just enters and walks right on over him as per usual and flop facedown on the bed blankly.

Eventually he might hear a muffled "Scheiße!" ]

[Looking over at her, curious.]

You okay?

[ She'll roll over so that she's staring at the ceiling instead, just so she's more readily audible, but otherwise doesn't move. ]

Ja, I'm fine. Only annoyed at how this place continues to make no sense.

And the fact that she was taken away before any of us could do anything.

[ Like get a better look at her to see what happened??? ]

[ Well. That was a trial.

Rat interrogation, and wererat possessions. Cool. In any case, when Galo makes it back to the room he'll actually find 45 shuffling through a couple of sheets of what appear to be notes, though she stops what she's doing to glance over at him when he comes in. ]

Every week, was it?

Fat chance. We have to stop them.

[Looking curiously at her notes, though.]

[ They are... transcriptions! Of the audio that had played over the mysterious radio broadcasts during the week. Surprisingly accurate, at that? But with additional commentary and circled portions that she seems to be adding to at the moment. Does he read closer, y/n?

Also I can't believe that Galo of all people is the first one who's actually bothered to look at her notes, because this is not the first time I've mentioned them. ]

We do. What sort of affliction is it that turns people into rats, though? And when did she contract it?

[Well, he looked but he. He can't read. Just squinting at them.]

Can you read these outloud?

[ hm,

she just gives him a dubious look- he knows how to read, right. right? but does start reciting, evenly: ]

"Speaker is male. Voice does not belong to anyone listed in the profiles. The oft-mentioned master blue? Audio quality terrible.

"He said that he "could not trust his senses." We lost the usage of one of ours following. But the wording indicates that they aren't truly nonfunctional? It affects humans and animals the same way, but the speaker suggests to disregard them. How much of what we perceive is affected?

[ She's going to keep going until he interrupts. ]

[He's vision impaired this week, but it's a fair question.

Listening but. God. He sort of starts to zone out in the middle of this? He looks like he might be falling asleep?]

[ Thank god, I've finally achieved my goal of putting someone to sleep with one of her infodumps.

very gently

collates the ream of papers, then bwaps him lightly on the head with them. ]

[Startled awake!]

Ah! Okay, so humans are turning into animals?

... Apparently?

[ she frowns. ]

With only one case so far I couldn't say. But if those three girls are any sign...

The problem is, when did it start? Would anyone be able to notice it before what happened to Nikki happens again?

[Well, he's coming back to the room later that night with his hand wrapped in a bloody shirt and ice, and sinking down onto the ground against the wall. He's exhausted.]

[ Oh mood, Galo.

She's just lying on her back, staring at the ceiling. She doesn't necessarily seem upset, just. ]

... What did we miss.

Peach was trying. She was trying real hard to help us, I just know it. But I'm not a fucking detective.

[He clenches his fists, and then yelps a little, remembering his hand.]

She kept talking like it had to do with the poker. And she might as well have said straight out it wasn't Asch! But I didn't convince enough people, I guess.

He didn't help, telling everyone to vote for him like that.

I told him it was stupid. By encouraging that... by saying that he was okay with it, it makes people stop looking.

[ ... ]

I can't think straight, this week. But we knew- he had the poker, when Luna and Ayabe went to sleep, right? And there were scales...

That's exactly why it couldn't have been him! Peach said that the person we're looking for will do whatever it takes to survive. They wouldn't go around yelling at people to vote for them.

[Sighing in obvious anger and frustration.]

Thinking this much is giving me a headache.

Well. It could have been a bluff.

[ Dipping briefly into devil's advocacy, but- ]

But it's a risky move when he wouldn't have had to in the first place, most likely. [ Stares at ceiling. Drags hand down face before flopping back and glancing at him. ] What else did she say?

She just kept trying and trying and trying to give me hints. But I don't want hints. I just want to stop these monsters in their tracks, y'know?

I think all of us do. But... when does it start?

[ He might not be able to see from his angle, but she's frowning. When did Nikki develop ratitis, when did WHOMST become a weredragonfish thing ]

If we could figure out who the monster is before they kill... Could we just lock them up? Ask for them to be restrained somehow?

Or is the only thing we can do kill them once they're identified?

[ because they sure do have to still identify a monster now, probably. unless that particular one dies with asch tomorrow. ]

Hmm. Well, this week maybe we can find out. There's still a monster loose. If we track him down, maybe we can get some answers.

...You kept track of where everybody fell asleep, yeah? I wonder if somebody was lying about it.

Him or her. And I kept track of who actually answered me while we were still there, but if anyone said something later on or while we were in the basement it might have gotten lost in the clamor.

Do you think they'd be able to transform at will if we cornered them, or would it only happen under specific circumstances? [ like murder night. ]

No idea. So better to assume they will be able to transform, and be on our guard if we try confronting somebody.

I'm gonna start asking around people's whereabouts, if no one accounted for them, I think.

Didn't they say the one from this week was really big? Probably should be careful. Bring a friend or two maybe when you try?

But good idea, maybe. Have someone else ask, too, just to see if their answer changes.

[Nods.]

Lio's helping. I might crash with him for a bit, since his place is kind of depressing now? We hashed out some stuff this week.

Hm? Oh, right, his roommate...

[ was Asch. hm. ]

Sure, I don't mind. It's not like we both haven't been spending our nights around the mansion every now and then. ♪ You two seem to have worked out some of your differences, huh?

Yep! It was a big misunderstanding. See, the Governor of the city I live in? Gov Kray. He's someone I admired for all my life. But also he's been imprisoning Burnish and doing experiments on them and stuff. I never knew.

[Shrugging! It's actually kind of painful to talk about, but oh well.]

Last time we met before coming here, Lio told me about it, and I didn't want to hear it. So he was still pissed at me, because he didn't know things changed.

... What are Burnish, exactly?

[ Lio has probably given the spiel a million times here but she has actually never asked. ]

It's a mutation. Some people have it, and when it's awakened, they start being able to control fire. Or...especially when it first awakens, they can't control it, even. They just burn.

[He seems thoughtful, talking about this.]

...A lot of fires are started by accident that way. And when the mutation first appeared thirty years ago, the world nearly ended. A lot of people died, a lot of homes and cities burned to the ground. Because of that, some people really hate the Burnish, even though it's not something they can help.

And yet you're all human, aren't you?

[ 30 years ago, a lot of people died, huh. Or rather, 'the world nearly ended.'

She hums. ]

I wonder how the state of your world looks compared to mine. I can't imagine there's enough people left for them to be able to pick and choose who they want to care about. Aren't survivors supposed to come together after large disasters?

Yeah.

[He shakes his head.]

The Burnish aren't hurt by fire, so in some ways, it's like. It seems like they were the ones causing everything, and not the ones in danger. There were groups of Burnish who tried to burn everything down on purpose, even if it killed everyone else. And then the Gov came along and invented tech that could keep a city safe, and made it possible to stop Burnish who were committing crimes. Everyone saw him as a hero for that.

[Sometime Tuesday evening he'll return to his room to get more of his things! He was actually back for a good while over the weekend, but hasn't been back since Monday night.]

[ turns out he catches her on Tuesday! what a stroke of luck, considering she's been more out of the room than in it since Monday as well.

also I just realized I never set up that post trial/exec pc, fuck.

anyway, she was actually just on her way out, so. Oops? Hi roomie-in-spirit, they're in close proximity, huh. ]

Hey! Long time no see!

[He grins at her and waves, but then a memory plays.]

[45 can find Galo after the trial back in their room. He's sitting on the bed, his head in his hands.]

[ well, first things first.

when she finds him after he's had his heart to heart with Lio, whatever- she doesn't get herself involved in others' personal affairs too much, it's not her place to- the first thing out of her mouth is a sharp: ]

He doesn't have to die. Not permanently.

[He looks up. There's tears running down his face, but his expression is serious and determined.]

I won't let him die. I promised I'd protect him.

It won't be him.

[ She tsks, taking a moment to go for something she normally keeps beneath the stocking on her leg.

When she fishes it out, it's a single, pure white angel's feather. ]

It won't be as pretty or clean as when I did it. You'll have to kill the monster. Exorcise it- whatever. But.

[ she's going to pause to make sure he's following along, because. ]

But . . . ?

[He's listening. His expression doesn't show anything new, but he stares at the feather. He's not falling asleep this time, 45.]

But. [ she repeats, waving the feather gently around. ] You have to make sure this is on his person somehow when you do it. That's important.

[ which is easier said than done, but. ]

It'll grant a second chance for the person, and not the monster.

[His eyes widen a little. He looks at the feather, reaches for it.]

You're one thousand percent sure that will work? I don't . . . I don't want to hurt him. No matter what happens, I was never, ever planning to hurt him.

[So why'd you volunteer to be executioner, dumbass?]

[ Hm, yeah. Volunteering without a plan... She sees that reaching; withholds the feather, just a moment. ]

If you trust Peach, then it'll work. The monster must die. Lio will be brought back. [ Therefore: ] If I give this to you, can you say you won't waste it?

[He puts a hand on her shoulder, then.]

I know I'm not the smartest guy, but if I decide to do something, it gets done. And I've decided I'm going to save Lio. If that's what it takes, then that's what I'll do.

[ There is a very pronounced stilling in her as he does that, like she's not used to the gesture. Still, at least there's that much resolve in him. Good. ]

Better make that a promise then, Galo Thymos. Yours is a rescuer's soul, correct?

[ She'll place the feather into the middle of his free hand and gently close his fingers over it if he'll let her. ]

Go save your unwilling monster. Don't get yourself killed in the process.

A rescuer's soul and a firefighter's soul. Burns brighter than any dragon ever could.

[Uh, yeah, he let her do that? Because she's giving a badass speech, and he's very into it. Theatrics is important - it makes it easier to believe that they'll pull this off.]

Two promises. Save Lio. Don't die. If my firefighter's soul sees a person suffering in the flames, I've got no choice but to run in there and carry us both out! So those are two promises you can count on.

Hahaha. ♪ I'll hold you to that, Galo, because I'll shoot you myself if you don't save him.

[ Her tone is cheerfully encouraging despite this? But there's definitely a sharp edge to it, hm. ]

Don't mess this up. I'd hate to have trusted you with this only to see two people lost to the blaze.

UMP 45 Catch All

week 0; friday post body announcement

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week 0; saturday post trial

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week 1; post trial

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week 3; tuesday evening

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week 4; saturday

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