week 4 - max - sunday, post-execution

[completelycrazy]

[Newt hunts down Max as soon as he's able to after that execution. He's on a mission. Also, Max will probably notice the makeshift t-shirt bandage around his hand and a few small splotches of red seeping through the shoulder of his jacket. He's had a rough night, okay?]

We need to talk.

Comments

[concertmaster]

First of all: Players only win when all Reapers are erased. As far as Players are concerned, yeah, all Reapers are the same. Didn't lie.

[and then he rolls his eyes]

And I'm gonna tell you the same shit I've told others. You guys know Players-- not fucking Reapers-- are being judged. What do you think it looks like when it's a Reaper leading them the whole time?

[completelycrazy]

But there's a way to save everyone. That's different than winning for just the Players, isn't it?

[...He tones it down on the yelling, though.]

Okay then, sure, the Players winning means that a select number get their lives back, and that select number is chosen by the Composer. [He's doing the "as we both know" thing that Pacrim just loves to pull.] And we're supposed to be putting on a good show or working together or whatever. What... What does that mean for those of us that have killed someone? Are we out of the running because we did this?

[Asking for a friend.]

[concertmaster]

[there's a wry look]

No. You're not. It's ... The solo judgment's complicated. It's not about being a good person, or figuring out some master plan. The Game's bullshit, don't get me fucking wrong, but we're not deliberately encouraging Players to fuck themselves over by telling you guys to go ahead and do an erasure.

[completelycrazy]

[Well, good. That's what Newt thought, but it's a relief to hear it confirmed.]

So... So killing Jacopo. That was the right thing to do, wasn't it? We actually helped the Players?

[concertmaster]

[there's a deliberate pause]

I mean, the torture bit might've been a bit much. I can't say a heck of a lot more than that on the Game's direction.

[ b u t ]

Ask me how many Reapers still remain.

[completelycrazy]

For fuck's sake, we didn't torture him. Why is everyone so hung up on that? We cut off his fingers to get his ring so he couldn't use his psych. He... The drug we gave him was an anesthetic. [Also truth serum, but technically!] He didn't feel anything when we killed him.

[This is obviously a sore subject for him. It's not like he could just stand up in the middle of the trial and spout this crap.]

Fine. How many Reapers still remain?

[concertmaster]

[side eyes]

Don't justify cutting off a dude's finger, Doc. It's kinda fucking weird.

[anyway!!]

Five.

[:o]

[completelycrazy]

Then don't call it torture like it was some prolonged thing designed to make him suffer. It wasn't.

[Obstinate!!]

Hm. So who else got erased?

[concertmaster]

[just. the stare. whatever he needs to tell himself]

Ignoring that, take a wild guess.

[completelycrazy]

[ugh don't make me solve puzzles ugh ugh.]

Um. [He thinks about this for five seconds unlike me because he's actually smart.]

Chuuya?

[concertmaster]

Nope.

[this is gonna be a long night]

[completelycrazy]

[fuq.]

It wasn't one of the people that got taken out by a Noise, was it? That'd be pretty pathetic for a Reaper.

[concertmaster]

Holy shit, no, can you fucking imagine? I'd have laughed so hard giving that pin to their partner.

[completelycrazy]

[Newt snorts.

Wait.

Shit.

I'm stupid so Newt is having a dramatic realization here that uhhhh had better lead to something because otherwise I'm REAL BAD at playing a genius.]

Izaya? Or Monika?

[concertmaster]

Third time's the charm.

[heyyyyy]

[completelycrazy]

Hm. Idiots. It was Izaya, wasn't it? [FIGURES.] If only the other Players could wrap their heads around this being a good thing, we'd be set. We took out two in one week.

[Just gonna go ahead and take credit for Izaya, too...]

You never answered my question about saving everyone. There's different win conditions for that than the Players winning, isn't there?

[concertmaster]

[he nods at the izaya guess, just to. have that confirmed.]

I wouldn't call it a win condition, but yeah.

[completelycrazy]

What would you call it then? [...] Can the Players win by taking out all the Reapers and still save everyone?

[concertmaster]

That depends on the Composer. That win you all want.

[completelycrazy]

[UGH.

But it's not a no.]

Right, the whole judgment thing. So if we impress the Composer enough, everyone wins. [Hm.] Are you still banned from giving us, like, any useful information about the Composer?

[Or. Well. Newt's just gonna start asking regardless. Either he'll get some answers or Max will tell him to fuck off, so, whatever.]

Does their identity even matter? This is all about figuring out the point the Composer is trying to make, isn't it?

[concertmaster]

If you really want to know so much about them, you could try asking if you could meet with them.

[ah.]

[completelycrazy]

[...WHAT.]

That's on the table? Okay, yeah, I want to meet with them.

[concertmaster]

Cool. [listen anything that saves him from having to do his job answer questions??] Write it as a formal request in a letter and I'll give it to them.

[completelycrazy]

A formal request? Are you serious?

[God. Can't even escape bureaucracy in death.]

Fine.

[He pulls out his rulebook, scribbles a quick message on the back of some page he clearly thinks is unimportant, and hands it to Max. This is what you meant, right?? Also his handwriting is Terrible and he's scrawled this out in purple marker.]

Hey Composer

I want to meet b/c apparently figuring you out is the key to saving everyone. I'm free whenever.

Newt

[He's a professional.]

[concertmaster]

You'd be surprised how much fucking bureaucracy is involved in this kind of bullshit. I'm ten and I have to file reports on shit. I don't even know what an official report is meant to look like? I just write whatever shit I want.

[ anyway he takes that letter ]