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sanitized…
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defective…
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SCENARIO: ARBITRATION ROOM VICTORY - Cleared…
Remaining Candidates Even = True…
First Trial Victims Even = False…
Initializing Floor Auxiliary Scenario Setup…
Executing Trial: Role Bartering…
Gin's tongue tasted of copper as he pulled the newly christened Big Sis Shorty into Melon Soda Lady's shoddy excuse for a medical bay.
Big Bro Shin nodded at them as they came through. His face was drawn, as though he had something he wanted to say, but got busy sucking a lemon on the way.
"Big Sis Anzu?" Gin whispered, creeping up to her bedside where she laid sprawled and sheening with sweat, colorful bangs a sticky mess. "Are you feeling any better mrow?"
She groaned softly. "Totally, little dude… I feel just," she gagged, clutching her head. Her hood laid on the bedside table, making her seem even smaller. "... Peachy."
Gin frowned at her.
"O-Okay. I feel crappier than I ever have." She sniffled, blowing her nose on the corner of the bedsheet.
Big Sis Shorty winced. "Really? That crap must've done a number on you."
"Yeah, yeah," the older girl mumbled, rolling onto her side. "M' stomach hurts." She nodded to the bedside table, where her tablet rested beside her hood. The middle schooler hummed. "I don't even wanna start thinking about this trading stuff. Can't they give me, like, immunity in light of recent events?"
Big Bro Shin chuckled, shifting in his chair. "That seems a little out-of-character for our fine hosts, don't you think?"
She groaned wordlessly, pulling the sheets over her head. "Let me stay in my happy place, Shin. Why do you ruin everything?"
"I'm glad you're okay, Big Sis Anzu," Gin mewled, gently patting the miserable blob on the bed.
"... Thanks."
Big Bro Shin hummed, standing and stretching. "Now that you two are here, I can get back to my room."
"Planning on taking a nap before we croak?" Big Sis Shorty asked.
"I'll sleep when I've got my own bed back." Cracking his neck, Big Bro Shin left.
"Where's he off to?" Big Sis Shorty murmured, casually twirling Big Sis Anzu's tablet between two flattened palms.
"Hey, don't break that…" the owner of the tablet groaned. "I don't wanna even think about what they'll do to me."
"Sorry." The younger girl set the tablet back down. "Got bored."
"Then let's go find something to do, woof!" Gin exclaimed nervously. "I- I mean, if you're gonna be okay by yourself for a little bit, Big Sis Anzu?"
She sighed, sloughing the covers from off her frame. "Yeah, I'll be good. I gotta get out of bed eventually."
She winced as she sat up, clutching her stomach. "M-Maybe I'll stay here for a little longer. Ow…"
"A-As long as you're feeling alright, meow!" Gin nodded to Big Sis Shorty. "C'mon!"
She sighed, trailing after him. "What are we doing, exactly?"
He perked up, twirling to face her as they entered the common room. "Standing guard, woof! These creeps have to have given us some way to exchange cards, right? Uncle Crabstache said something about 'Ring-up Boxes,' so if we just find those-!"
"You mean like the one right there?" she deadpanned, pointing behind him.
Gin turned around. Yup, that looked like a 'Ring-up Box,' alright.
"Really?" he asked rhetorically. "A telephone box?"
"For privacy's sake, I guess. Even if someone sees you going in or coming out, they still can't know exactly what you've traded." She tapped the milky glass with her knuckles. "Unless you're the one they're screwing over, I mean."
Gin gulped. "Just how many of these things are there, meow?"
"You wanna know what I think?" Big Sis Shorty asked bleakly. "There's probably one in every room."
She was right. Gin stared down the monolithic device which had invited itself to invade his room.
'What an ugly piece of junk,'he marveled.'It ruins the entire room!'
A chiming jingle sounded from his tablet, tucked safely into his cloak, and his fashion-conscious horror quickly drained into dread.
He remembered sharply, pulling it out, that he hadn't even checked his role.
'The First Trade has been performed,'it read in perfect, neat lettering. Gin gaped in shock. Already!?
He couldn't even feel relieved as his tablet screen changed to reveal his perfectly bland Commoner.
A sharp rap at the door. Gin yowled in shock.
"Did I spook you?" came Big Bro Shin's snickering voice from the hall.
"No way! I was," Gin scrambled for an excuse as he swung open the door, "practicing my calls, arf! I wanna expand my vocabulary."
"Sure," the older man said as he slinked through the entrance to seat himself in Gin's chair. "I'll admit: I haven't heard that sound from you before."
"See?"
"I do." Big Bro Shin's smug expression dropped. "I'm assuming you saw what I saw?"
"Is that what you came to talk about, woof?"
"I'd be pretty darn quick if that was the case, don't you think?" He sighed, sinking into the cushion. "No, I've got even worse news than that. Trading, it would seem, isn't the only thing our supposed 'allies' are doing behind our backs."
Gin swallowed. "What do you mean, mew?"
"The knife, Gin," Big Bro Shin said, expression flat and defeated. "It's disappeared."
"What?" Gin whispered, hoarse and unbelieving. "But how- you" said you'd keep it safe, mreowr!"
"I'm guessing the original owner had a problem with that." The man's thin features hardened. "Out of the six others, we can discount Anzu and Hinako. But that still leaves half of us as suspects."
"... You're so quick to distrust others, Big Bro Shin," Gin muttered bitterly. "I thought you liked Stripey, at least."
"I do. He's last on my suspect list. But I need to be realistic, Gin. I can't just feel that somebody wouldn't do something and call it proof. You," he sighed heavily, "you never know what somebody might do, no matter how well you think you know them."
"But you didn't even mention the floormasters, arf!" Gin protested. "What if Melon Soda or Crabstache found out you had a weapon and took it away!"
"I don't see why they would," Big Bro Shin replied. "There was never any rule against harming other participants: just the floormasters."
"But- But-!"
"Gin. Think about it. Who would have stolen that knife? Who would have had it in the first place to know to look for it?"
Gin went quiet, stewing in the upset feeling twisting his gut.
"I…"
Big Bro Shin sighed. "It's okay. I'm unsure, myself. I can't afford to worry about it, either. I just wanted to warn you: I don't know if whoever took it back is aware that you swiped it."
Despite himself, Gin's blood cooled. "It's okay, meow. It doesn't matter. We're gonna get out of here, woof."
Big Bro Shin was silent for a long moment. "Gin," he said. "What was all that talk about? This whole 'becoming an adult' idea."
Gin's mouth twitched. "I'm tired of being treated like a little kid, meow. I know what's going on here just as well as anybody."
"Gin-"
"Please,Big Bro Shin. You have to understand, woof." Gin swallowed. "Don't you remember? We're gonna make it up to Mister Q-taro."
Big Bro Shin's eyes widened.
"So I'm gonna investigate, woof! And you gotta keep doing what you're doing!" Gin kneaded the older man's scarf with his mittens, meeting him at eye-level. "You've been working on a way out, haven't you, nya?"
Big Bro Shin looked down at Gin's mittens. Suddenly, he broke out into a soft fit of laughter.
"Right," he gasped. "Right."
Gin nodded, satisfied, and headed for the door.
"Gin," the man called. Gin quirked his head. "Be careful. No matter if you're a kid or not."
"Of course I will, woof!" Gin beamed. "You think I'm stupid, meow?"
"Never dreamed it."
"Stripey?" Gin whispered, creeping into the monitor room.
"Gin Ibushi." Stripey's voice was flat, his frame stiff in the cushiony office chair before the monitor room control board. "Do you require something of me?"
'I wouldn't be concerned for anybody's sake but Stripey's if he's the one who stole the knife.'Gin swallowed, clutching Mew-chan for support.
"No, not really, meow." Gin hesitated. "Um, do you know where everybody went?"
"No."
"Oh." Gin cleared his throat. "Usually you've got more to say, Stripey…"
"Well," Stripey spun to face him, revealing the disc clutched in his white-knuckled grip. "I feel the gift of speech has had little to give, as of late. What use are words, boy? Weak, powerless things." He shook his head. Gin winced, hearing the jewel case crack in his grip. "No, I've outgrown the need for words. I'll speak with actions henceforth."
Stripey stormed out of the room, tucking the disc into his jumpsuit's collar.
"... Henceforth, mraowr?" was all Gin could manage. A chime from his tablet interrupted his train of thought.
'The Second Trade has been performed,'Gin read, pulling it from his cloak. Swallowing, Gin hesitantly checked his role.
An elegantly illustrated key filled the screen, the text:'Keymaster,'eliminating any room for doubt.
'What?'Gin blinked wildly, caught off-guard.'But I didn't trade! Why'd I get the Keymaster all out of the blue!?'
Gin knew he should be relieved, but hot pangs of humiliation crushed any sense of it underfoot.'Even now,'he thought,'I'm being treated like I'm helpless.'
Weakly, he turned back to the monitors.
'If anyone came through here,'Gin thought, shuddering,'wouldn't these AIs know?'
Gin stomped out the instinct to flee, summoning the courage and cunning of a ruthless Red Fox. Gin had already decided he was done dragging the others down. No one would take that from him, no matter how much they thought it was 'for his own good,' or 'in his best interest.'
Of course, that didn't mean much once he realized he had no idea how to turn the monitors on. Put out, he flipped random switches and tweak knobs aimlessly until one of the screens before him lit up.
"Hwuh? Whozzat?" The enunciations hit like a steady blow to the chest. Gin clenched his fists underneath his mittens, practically strangling Mew-chan.
"A kid?" wondered the ghost of Q-taro Burgerberg. "Jesus H. Macy. Never woulda believed it if it weren't right before my eyes."
Gin ducked his head, buzzing down to the fingertips with dread. "Mister… Q-taro," he managed. "Have- Have you seen anything weird?"
"Plenty o' things weird about this place, little man! Yer gonna hafta be more specific than that!"
"Just, I dunno…" Gin stared at the floor listlessly, feeling naked. "Y'know, anyone c-creeping around, or something…"
"I ain't seen creeping, 'least I dun' think so…" Mister Q-taro hummed. "S'a matter, kiddo? Yer talkin' all wishy-washy and yer huntin' for coins!"
"Hunting for coins?" Gin repeated, confusion overpowering his guilty conscience.
"Yer makin' goo-goo eyes at the carpet, bud." Mister Q-taro, now that Gin was looking at him, grinned slyly, eyes lidded. A sharp jolt of pain twisted in his chest.
"S-Sorry."
"Sorry fer what?"
"I…"
"That business what went down with my counterpart?"
Gin's pulse pounded in his throat, a hot ache spreading through his forehead.
"You- You know?" he whispered.
"Yeah," the Q-taro on the screen confirmed. "Takes a second, but we've been programmed with the memories of this Death Game. Can't remember jus' what happened, but I know things turned sour fer me real early on." He sighed. "Figgered I'd last just a lil' bit longer in a life-or-death situation."
"I'm sorry," Gin managed, the guilt a chunk of unmelting ice in his stomach rather than the scalding terror it had been days prior. "I- I should've…"
"Shoulda what?" Q-taro asked. "Ain'tcher fault. It was a majority vote, weren't it? They didn't tell us some poor bastard would croak. I jus' so happened to be the poor bastard."
"Do," Gin started, tasting copper on his tongue again, "you really mean that, or a-are you just trying to make me feel better? Nobody," he swallowed, the taste turning bitter, "nobody ever wants to h-hold me responsible." He frowned, feeling like he'd just dined on a five-course meal of boulders. "I- I know I'm different th-than the other kids." He pulled his hood down over his eyes, his chest prickling with sickliness. He tried to regather his lost confidence, at least enough to get rid of the nervous stutter. "I don't want to be treated like I'm stupid. I know what I did, Mister Q-taro, and I know that it was horrible. So please, if you really mean that…"
"I mean it." Q-taro's voice stayed solid, unlike the wavering adults unsure of how to deal with him. Gin was suddenly reminded of his mom and…
His brow furrowed. His mom and who?
"I'm different too, y'know," Mister Q-taro continued. "Maybe not in the same way you mean it, and not in the fact that I ain't human. The real Q-taro… he had a rough time growin' up. I always got on with people, sure, but I never had much books smarts. Add in the fact my ma 'n' pa weren't around no more?" He chuckled. "I'm sure my hair 'n' accent didn't help things none. I don't got a clue what my ethnicity's s'posed ta be, but it sure ain't Japanese."
Gin looked up at him. The AI of Q-taro grinned back at him.
"Look, I ain't the real Q-taro. I know that. But I can say this much: I know when a kid's gettin' a raw deal, 'n' yers looks rawer 'n most. Some kids get good parents and schoolin', an' other kids don't." His eyes narrowed, though his grin stayed wide. "Some people live, 'n' some people don't. So what's apologizin' gonna do?"
Gin digested the words, still half-disbelieving. Mew-chan squeaked in his mittens, soft and comforting.
"'M tryin' ta tell if you look any better, but it's hard when all I can see're those ears of yers," Mister Q-taro chuckled. Gin looked back up. "Now, didn't you have a question t' ask me?"
"M-" Gin started, stopping short, "Big Sis Megumi."
The dusty halls of the ruined corridor, turned useless with the closure of the attractions, made the policewoman glow ominously as she turned to meet his gaze. Gin was glad for his facemask, not just for the air filtering.
"Gin," she smiled, and the boy almost wondered if it was all in his head. "How are you holding up?" she asked, adjusting her pristine black tie to match her regulation blues.
That's what frightened Gin, he realized as he floundered for a topic - Megumi had become a blank slate, absent of any scent at all. Even fear.
"I'm investigating, woof," he said. "Have you found anything weird around here, meow?"
"Yes," she said shortly, placing a hand on her hip. "Do you see that pile of rubble there?"
She pointed to the place where Gin had found the knife days prior. He blinked. What?
"Um."
"There seems to be some sort of alcove in there, but I'm afraid I'm not flexible enough to fit through. Do you mind helping me investigate?"
Gin thought back to the day prior, when Megumi had tried to pawn off the last of her tokens on them. It was as though every word she said set off a brand new red alarm in his mind.
"Yeah, woof," he said, keeping up the act. "I can fit, no problem!"
Seeing no other option, and praying she wouldn't go crazy and kick the rubble while he was climbing through, Gin slid back into the groove between stacks of cracked concrete.
"Hey, can you hear me, meow!?" he called as he slipped into the strange computer room. "Big Sis Megumi!?"
"I'm here!" her voice came back, distant and echoing. "Can you give me a description of the room!? Be sure to spare no detail: I want to get as clear an image as I can!"
"O-Okay, arf!" Gin had to wonder where she was going with this. Still, she hadn't sabotaged him when he was vulnerable. Maybe he needed to calm down a little. She obviously had history with the blond guy. What reason would she have to hurt Gin?
"Um," he began eloquently, "there's not much to say, woof! There's a desk and a huge computer screen right in front of it, meow! The… carpet's pretty dusty, but I don't think there are any super gross stains on it! I'm not gonna inspect it though, woof!" Gin tapped the control center… thing, nonplussed. "M- Big Sis Megumi!? Can you hear me, meow!?"
Oh. That might have been bad.
"B-Big Sis Megumi!?"
No response. Definitely bad.
Gin squeaked his way back through the rubble. A jingle from his tablet startled him and he jolted directly into a spiky piece of debris. He hissed in pain, scrambling through the rest of the passage to pop out onto the grimy floor, face first.
"Ow…" he moaned, picking himself back up. He blinked, vision clearing.
Checking his tablet -'The Third Trade has been performed,'it said - Gin found that his role hadn't changed: meaning that the most likely role to have moved was the Sacrifice.
Gin cursed, hurriedly scanning the area. He was alone. Cursing his pessimistic tendencies for their recent accuracy, Gin scrambled out of the corridor.
"I've made up my mind," Gin heard as he rushed away from Big Bro Shin's door, having found the room empty. He stopped hurriedly, shoving himself against the wall just inside of the common room.
"What do you mean?" came Big Bro Shin's voice from the secret stairwell. No wonder Gin hadn't found him!
"Exactly what I've said," Stripey continued. "My head is the clearest it's been in a good while. That wicked woman offered to erase the memories, or rather, the feelings associated with them."
"And you're going to do it?"
"Perhaps I would have, had the circumstances been different." Stripey's voice went low, creaking like old, damp flooring. "I've never had much mental strength, no matter how I choose to come across. I… I am frightened, Shin Tsukimi. I'll tell you this much."
"Alice…"
"I've been serving my time dutifully. I've behaved myself, I've never risen up to any of the innumerous, worthless provocations thrown my way. So why… did things have to turn out this way? Reko is ten-score my worth, at least, and yet she was killed for this?"
"Are you just going to throw your life away, then? Would Reko want that?"
Gin braced himself for a bout of screaming, but Stripey only chuckled weakly. "... Shin Tsu- Shin. Do you truly believe I went to prison for embezzlement?"
"... I had my suspicions, but," Big Bro Shin paused, "I respect you more than to theorize."
"Reko cut all ties with me, and she was well within her right to. Yet, even if she could no longer be my little sister… I am still her older brother. I failed her, Shin, and I almost failed that girl."
"'That girl'?"
"Hinako Mishuku. She mentioned that our First Trials were connected, did she not? If her voice had come only a scant second later than it had… I fear the worst."
"I see."
"Ha, such a pitying gaze… I don't deserve such a thing, Shin. Don't waste your thoughts on a worthless criminal like me."
Gin could make out an unsteady intake of breath. "What did you do? To make your own family…"
"... I took a life." A pause. "You don't seem too shocked. 'Had your suspicions,' you said?"
"Why did you do it?" Gin mirrored the thought himself. He guessed him and Big Bro Shin weren't really in a position to judge Stripey. The boy hadn't pegged the flamboyant man as much of a businessman, but he hadn't expected the girly weirdo to have killed somebody!
"I… cannot recall. All I remember is… the second greatest bout of rage I have ever been subject to. I couldn't control myself. By the time my head cleared… the man was dead."
"I see." Big Bro Shin took a deep breath. "Thank you, Alice… for trusting me."
Silence came over the stairwell. Ginreallydid not want to barge in. He was half certain the broken tension would slingshot back and knock him out cold.
"... Why do you seek the Ring-up Box, Shin Tsukimi?"
"All business again, huh?" Big Bro Shin chuckled.
"Shin."
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours."
"Very well, if you insist upon crassness." Stripey sighed. "Keep this close to your chest, but I have a feeling that Hinako Mishuku has once again fallen victim to her hero complex. I plan to give her a taste of her own medicine."
"... So that's your resolve, Alice."
"Don't be so misty-eyed, Shin. It was inevitable."
"I… guess you're right. But-"
"Would you sacrifice Gin Ibushi for my sake?"
Big Bro Shin choked.
"Exactly," Stripey snickered, sounding incredibly self-satisfied for someone admitting to… whatever he was admitting to. "No matter how fondly I might regard you, Shin, I must face you on the field of battle nonetheless." A brief pause. "I'm… truly sorry."
"... Yeah."
Seconds later, a jingle sounded from Gin's tablet. He jolted in alarm, shrinking back against the wall. Thankfully, the sound was loud (and simultaneous) enough to disguise itself in the chorus of Big Bro Shin and Stripey's.
"Now you, Shin Tsukimi. If you don't mind sharing, that is."
"I had a… important power, with my initial role. I need to take it back."
"How cryptic," Stripey chuckled, even as another chorus of jingles rang out. "I believe I understand. You're putting yourself in danger as well, are you not? It would seem we are more similar than I had believed."
"Not as much danger as you. I don't want to hear any lectures about any hero complexes, okay?"
"I had never dreamed of it."
Slinking away as quietly as he could manage, Gin ducked behind the couch to check his role.'The Fourth Trade has been performed,'stood right above the text,'The Fifth Trade has been performed.'That was pretty valuable information, right? Gin figured he should keep it in mind.
Gin's role still read,'Keymaster,'so he could ignore that role.'Stripey took the Sacrifice, right? That's what he was implying with all that flowery wacko talk, right? And he said Big Sis Shorty had it before… Did she have it from the start, or did she trade for it? Everybody's got one of those hideous phone boxes in their rooms, so she totally could have done it right after we split up!'He hissed. He was gonna have to give her a three hour lecture, at this rate!
'So Stripey's got the Sacrifice… Big Bro Shin said he had a power? I don't know what he meant by that, but I've still got the Keymaster… so he was playing around with the Sage? Isn't that super dangerous!? Everybody's gonna vote for him if they find out? What power's worth that sort of risk…'
Gin hummed frustratedly.'Whoever had the Keymaster gave it to me, so that rules out Big Bro Shin, if he had the Sage from the start. Maybe Big Sis Anzu? Not Big Sis Shorty, because she would have had to take the Sacrifice, and she didn't even have that many tokens…'
Gin growled in frustration. His head hurt! And that jingle wasn't helping!
Wait. Jingle?
Gin stared at his tablet.'The Sixth Trade has been performed.'
What. His Keymaster was gone now, replaced with a Commoner. What!?
Skull fit to split, Gin whimpered.
Gin wanted to say Megumi was discounted from the suspect lost, if only for the convenience, but she had pulled herself tidily to the top with that crappy disappearing act. Gin had no way to know if she was telling the truth when she claimed she couldn't fit in that gap.
Really, there was quite a bit of wiggle room for him, so it wasn't like the mystery person would have to be too scrawny to squeeze through. A guy like Q-taro would've had a heckuva time, though…
"Gin?"
Snapping to awareness, Gin quickly realized he was brooding, sat on the couch of the common room. Lame! Brooding was only a scant glance away from sulking, and sulking was for losers.
"Big Bro Shin?" he said, shaking his head to clear it. "I haven't really narrowed things down, woof." He glared at Big Bro Shin. (Only a little.) "I'm worried about those trades too, mraowr. There was a truckload of them, and we've still got how much time to spare, arf?"
"... An hour," Big Bro Shin admitted, "or thereabouts."
Gin groaned helplessly. "Is Big Sis Anzu okay, meow? I haven't checked on her…"
"She seemed fine, last I saw her. She's well enough to whine." Big Bro Shin scanned the empty room, before settling next to Gin on the couch. "I'm… not having as much luck as I'd hoped, Gin."
"Join the club, nya."
"Do you have a prime suspect?"
"... Megumi, mew."
He blinked in surprise. "No 'Big Sis'?"
Gin studied the leather on the couch. Maybe he would have appreciated it more if it wasn't formerly a cow. Though Gin supposed he should be happy the skin didn't go to waste.
"I see." Big Bro Shin hummed, flipping a tail of his scarf over his hand. "How shady. I had figured it was her or Sara?"
"Samurai Girl?"
"Don't tell me you've already forgotten." Big Bro Shin shook his head. "It's been replaying in the back of my mind. Looking at the Preliminary Votes, Sara must have voted for Hinako, right?"
"... I don't like to think about that, mew," Gin admitted.
"Don't think about how it ended. Just think about Sara's actions. Why would she tell such a stupid, obvious lie? It's been sitting wrong in my gut ever since. She could have-" He cut himself off. Gin figured he must've been about to mention Big Sis Mai. He appreciated the thought, at least.
"I dunno," Gin said. "I don't talk to Samurai Girl all that much. She's just Big Sis Anzu's friend."
Big Bro Shin's eyes glimmered dangerously. Gin blinked. "Don't trust her," he said suddenly, meeting Gin's gaze intently. "I can't quite say what, Gin, but there's something very wrong with Sara Chidouin."
Feeling inexplicably frightened, Gin couldn't help but nod jaggedly.
The tension left Big Bro Shin's frame. "... Sorry," he murmured. "I got a little too intense." He stood. "There's barely any time left. Do whatever you can, Gin. I think," he averted his eyes, pale jaw tense, "we might need to play the Main Game, after all."
He rushed out of the room before the bewildered Gin could get in another word.
"Dammit… Dammit!"
Gin, already confused and nursing an ugly headache, entered the medical bay to find Big Sis Shorty rifling through a snoring Big Sis Anzu's pockets.
"How did you lose your wallet, you moron!?" she hissed, ducking away from the bed. "Taking a freakin' nap during the trading phase… It's like you want to get killed."
"Big Sis Shorty," Gin said, eyes wide. "Why are you trying to mug Big Sis Anzu, mreowr?"
Her head snapped towards him. "I-!" She looked away, stumbling. Her mouth and eyebrows drew sharply downwards. "Gin… I was wondering where you ran off to."
"Big Sis Shorty," Gin repeated. "What do you need tokens for, woof?"
"I," she started, voice cracking, "I made a miscalculation. I just want to correct it. It's not like Anzu was gonna use those tokens. We're only an hour away from the Main Game and she's still sleeping off that venom."
Gin stepped forward. The older girl shrunk away. "... You're trying to get the Sacrifice, aren't you, woof!?"
"G-Gin…"
"I already told you-!" Gin hissed, biting his lip. He didn't want to yell at Big Sis Shorty, but his head felt like it was going to explode if he held it in any longer. It was scary, like his emotions were the ones deciding what he did. "You're not even helping!" he yowled. "If you really wanted to save everybody, you'd help us find a way out of here, arf!" He sniffled, rubbing his mask over his eyes. He couldn't bring himself to care that it irritated them. "You're just trying to play hero instead of actually saving anybody, woof! Stop being such a loser!"
Gin regretted saying it as soon as the words left his mouth, like a bucket of ice water had been dumped on the flames of his anger. He swallowed, watching Big Sis Shorty's expression slacken until he couldn't tell what she was thinking at all. "... I- I…"
Wordlessly, she walked out of the room. Gin couldn't think of anything that might stop her.
Big Sis Anzu groaned lowly from her bed. "Gruh… Stoppit…" She rolled over, going still once more.
Gin… still had things to do. He could apologize later.
His eyes still hurt. Lame.
There were sounds coming from the monitor room. A creaky male voice that Gin recognized as Mister Mishima's leaked out into the very edge of the common room.
"I'm afraid I don't, Miss Chidouin. Wherever would you get such a horrific idea?"
"So you're saying-" the second voice paused. The room went silent.
A moment later, sharp dress shoes clicked rapidly towards Gin's hiding spot. He scuttled backwards, trying desperately to seem casual as the shoes rounded the corner, revealing their owner.
"S-Samurai Girl?" Gin whispered, glad his face was mostly obscured. He hoped she couldn't smell fear. "What's up, meow? I haven't seen you at all!"
"Gin," she said simply. "You should be glad Ranmaru's not with me. He's a bit upset with you."
"M-Mraowr?"
"Ah," her features softened. "I'm sorry. I've been awfully on edge. You understand, right? I'm not angry with you, myself." She smiled. "In fact, I think you were very brave. I would have done the same thing, though I wouldn't admit it to his face. Maybe I would be too, if I was replaced by a doppelgänger and nobody even noticed."
"Well, how were we supposed to know, mreowr!?" Gin hissed. "We're lucky Big Sis Anzu even got out of there. That whole situation belongs in a dumpster, arf!"
She chuckled. "You're right. It's insane: life-like dolls replacing real human beings. I've been pricking myself with my hairpin every hour since."
Gin relaxed a bit, but he couldn't help but wonder what Samurai Girl was doing to have had her hackles raised. "Are you okay, Samurai Girl?" he asked. "Why were you talking with Mister Mishima's AI?"
"I never had a chance to talk with the real one much." She sighed, leaning on her hip. "I feel horrible for my part in what happened to him. If my paranoia hadn't gotten the best of me. It was selfish, but I felt the need to apologize."
That… made sense. The 'horrible idea' Mister Mishima was referring to must have been Samurai Girl blaming herself! "Well, I'm glad you had the guts to do it, woof!" Gin blushed, looking away. "I… kinda had to force myself to say sorry to- to Mister Q-taro. I was super scared he wouldn't forgive me, mew…" He gnawed his lip. "But I guess that's even more selfish, huh?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Samurai Girl said.
"That's kinda wishy-washy," Gin deadpanned.
She blushed. "Ha. Sorry… I'm not sure what I should say. The past is the past. We've got more important things to worry about than sentiment." She huffed. "Of course, saying that makes me feel like Inspector Sasahara. We should still pay tribute to the people who laid down their lives for us. That's why I admired Professor Mishima so much. I only wish I could be so fearless."
"Yeah, meow…" Gin sighed morosely. "He was a really good guy, wasn't he? Why'd he have to get dragged into this, nya?"
"I couldn't tell you, Gin," Samurai Girl said, checking her wristwatch. "Ah. There's not much time left. I think I'm going to rest up for a bit. I'll," she sighed tiredly, "I'll be needing my energy."
Gin nodded wordlessly, fear and anxiety making a soupy mess of his gut.
But before Samurai Girl could leave, a jingle sounded from her and Gin's tablets.
Wide-eyed, they looked at each other.
"Gin!" the boy heard seconds after he'd pulled out his tablet to find a harmless 'Commoner.'
"Big Bro Shin?" Before Gin could say anything else, the man grabbed his shoulders, tugging him towards the hidden stairwell.
The man didn't really make much progress as Gin resisted (not so much resisting as standing still, really) his grasp, so he shrugged helplessly at the blinking Samurai Girl and allowed himself to be ferried away.
"That's," Big Bro Shin gasped, leaning against the wall at the top of the stairwell. "That's number seven…" He pushed himself to a full stand before an unimpressed twelve-year-old. "Your role, Gin, what is it?"
"Jeez, tell me yours first if you're gonna be so pushy, woof!" Gin snapped.
"Gin," Big Bro Shin hissed. "We don't have time. Yourrole."
Gin swallowed, backing up. "A- A Commoner, woof. Why?"
"Show me the tablet."
"Why are you being so pushy!? You're annoying me, meow!"
"Gin."
"Fine," Gin conceded, showing the perfectly innocuous hoe insignia.
Big Bro Shin heaved in relief. "Good… Well, not as good as I'd hoped, but…"
Gin's brow furrowed. "Big Bro Shin…"
"Yeah?"
A familiar sinking feeling sang in Gin's gut. He squeezed Mew-chan against his belly like a shield. "We're not getting out of here, are we, meow?"
Big Bro Shin kneeled wordlessly, ripping a device from the side of the vending machine. He stood, looking at it for a long, silent moment.
"No," he whispered. "No, Gin, we're not. If I only had more-" He squeezed his eyes shut, teeth flashing in the darkness. "There was never a chance. Not withthispiece of shit. There was nothing to work with."
He threw the device to the ground, kicking it down the stairs. He hopelessly chucked himself against the vending machine, sliding down its surface as his knees failed. Gin hugged Mew-chan harder, trembling.
"It's allnonsense," Big Bro Shin hissed, slamming a fist against the machine, gritting his teeth as the plastic folded into hard metal. "Gin, don't you ever get the feeling that something iswrong?"
"Big Bro Shin?" Gin whispered as the man turned to face him, tugging his beanie hard enough to pull at his hair.
"Gin," he said, wild-eye and heaving, the low light of the neon sign highlighting his features ghoulishly. "The air in this place is too stale. Anything I try to read is just a bunch offucking gibberish.Don't you feel it too? That something has gone horribly, inhumanlywrong?" He shut his eyes, tears spilling from the sides. "Or am I losing my mind?"
"I don't…" Gin mewled weakly, feeling dizzy. His neck hurt, suddenly, like he'd been pricked by a needle. "I'm really sorry, meow…"
But the last thing Gin thought before the world went dark, was about how what Big Bro Shin had to say slot into place in his head far too perfectly.