week 3 - hermann & caren - monday

[completelycrazy]

[This new store is pretty neat for buying stuff, but boy howdy does it make it tough both to find people and to have conversations out of general earshot. Somehow, since you'd think these things would be mutually exclusive.

Newt and Hermann do eventually track Caren down though. Once they do, Newt (sort of gently) grabs her arm and (also sort of gently) drags her over to the nearest clear aisle, not bothering to wait for Hermann.]

Hey, come here for a minute. We need to talk.

[He says, too ominously. Sorry for the spook, Caren.]

Comments

[byjove]

I won't fault you for being cautious. [She's playing it smart, and he will never fault smart.] Nor will I fault you for working closely with your partner.

[Since that'd be pretty hypocritical, even if he and Newt worked together before... this.]

Have the others mentioned what the function of these pins were?

[completelycrazy]

[hermann faults smart all the time??? gestures at newt.]

Huh. Interesting... Max told us there were others too, but wouldn't say who. Sounded like they were doled out weekly, so my bet is Monika had one and that's how we got the hint at the trial. And then, uh, Max said someone else picked the same pin as me. The one that let me check someone for Reaper status, but, um. They're dead now, apparently. I'm thinking it was Clarke, and she figured out Ranpo was a Reaper, and, uh. Yeah. We all saw how that ended.

[hi caren he Trusts You and will now infodump with abandon.]

[sexorcism]

[That's a great deal of information to take in at once. Granted, Caren is used to the roles being reversed; in life, she always felt she was talking through one thing or another to answer questions that plagued some troubled soul So, at first the switch is difficult, and her golden eyes narrow slightly as she takes the time to slowly digest it.]

Given the likelihood that he was responsible for his death, I do not think it's a bad theory, though neither am I certain. Do you think she attempted to confront him herself, if you're correct about the pin?

[byjove]

That seems likely. Max told us that the pins were meant to be kept a secret from the Reapers, so he'd have no way of knowing that she found out.

[So there would be no reason for her to target her, outside of dumb luck.]

According to her page in the book, Clarke was a fighter. She may have thought she could eliminate a Reaper on her own.

[completelycrazy]

[Newt shrugs.]

And trying to take the fight to him as opposed to trying to convince everyone to vote for him at a trial probably sounded more, uh, reliable. There was no guarantee he'd be the killer that week, anyway. That, uh, turned out to be a solid play, even if it got her killed... If she'd have waited until the trial, it would've been tough to naturally point at him as a suspect after all that crap Junko pulled.

sorry, tagging during vacation was actually very difficult

[sexorcism]

Yes. Junko Enoshima's grandstanding turned out to be her undoing, but it meant that countless other murders went unsolved.

Regardless, Clarke is still dead, and if she intended to confront Ranpo, then we can conclude that an intended victim can indeed become a killer.

With only one vote to go around, I expect there will be others trying to kill with the expectation their work will gone undiscovered.

it's fine!!!

[byjove]

I do have to wonder if only Reapers can fight back, or if it would be possible to defend oneself against them. It stands to reason, if they can be killed.

[Is he talking to the group, or just himself?]

But yes, I have no doubt that the number of murders will only increase. Now that they believe there are only a limited amount of people who will get to return to life, they're sure to turn on one another in the hopes that the rest of us will focus on the Reapers.