🎧 homophonic | pcs | kyoko kuremi

[silicone]

I whipped up a special new coffee blend.

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[factoring]

[Gazes...

Takes his hand after a moment or two, where she seems to come back to herself.]

[silicone]

[ squeezes it gently. ]

Hey there...

[factoring]

Are you going to be alright?

[silicone]

Tomorrow... I'll be alright enough for tomorrow.

[factoring]

We'll need to be. [There's no other choice but to pull herself together... though this isn't entirely up to her.] But take what time you can for yourself.

There's so much to cover.

[silicone]

There is... I'm worried about tomorrow.

[ and it takes him a long time before he shakes his head. ]

You too, though. You should take the time... he was your teammate. I know he meant a lot to the both of you.

[ he's already seen wenzhou okay it's You Time. ]

[factoring]

I should be worried. It's hard to believe it's real.

[It's hard to believe anything is reality after everything that happened yesterday.]

He did. We were two people who understood each other.

[silicone]

It doesn't feel real at all, Kyoko... I'm ready to wake up any second now.

[factoring]

... I'd like that. I'd really like that.

[silicone]

We'd only be so lucky.

[factoring]

I haven't felt lucky in a long time...

[But she does pass over her phone, unlocked at at a specific message. There's a text on it.

Mlinzoob dsvm Kozbvih ziv vizhvw, gsvb ziv, uli zoo rmgvmgh zmw kfiklhvh, tlmv. Pvkg zilfmw lm hlnv uivjfvmxb, nzbyv, yfg ovhh gzmtryov li zdziv gszm vevm ulopgzov tslhgh.

Dsrxs, lu xlfihv, nvzmh gszg szermt gsvn xlmhxrlfh vohvdsviv rh evib nfxs mlg mlinzo Tznv kilglxlo. Mlg vczxgob ztzrmhg gsv ifovh, yfg gslhv ifmmrmt gsv Tznv dlfowm'g yv kovzhvw gl urmw lfg. Hl, rg'h rnkligzmg gl srwv gsrh uiln gsvn, zmw gl vii lm gsv hrwv lu xzfgrlm dsvm wrhxfhhrmt zmbgsrmt gszg hvvnh lfg lu kozxv.]

Do you know the Atbash cipher?

[silicone]

Makes two of us.

[ he lets out a soft "huh" and shakes his head as he looks it over. ]

Never heard of it, what is it?

[factoring]

It's a reverse alphabet, or mirror cipher.

Here's what it actually says.

"Normally when Players are erased, they are, for all intents and purposes, gone. Kept around on some frequency, maybe, but less tangible or aware than even folktale ghosts.

Which, of course, means that having them conscious elsewhere is very much not normal Game protocol. Not exactly against the rules, but those running the Game wouldn't be pleased to find out. So, it's important to hide this from them, and to err on the side of caution when discussing anything that seems out of place."

[silicone]

Gotcha, so this isn't really talk for public spaces like trial or when we all hang out together, right?

It makes sense... if somehow they're hanging on... we can try and work under their noses to free them.

[factoring]

[Even when she's not sure anything is real, Kyoko Kuremi is very good at doing work.]

That's right.

They might still be out there, though I'm not sure how much we can trust a message like this.

[silicone]

I... might be able to help you trust that message.

[ and he'll open up his phone and go to his texts, searching: ]

Did Fei Du show you any weird texts he got earlier this week?

[factoring]

Not this week... Did you receive something?

[silicone]

[ he nods and then shows her his phone: ]

You said frequency... and I was thinking about something I was talking about to someone who also got some messages.



I know the last one's really weird... but I think they're trying to contact us and getting scrambled on the way to our phones...

[factoring]

[this is so normally sized on dw but so giant in my gmail inbox. what is going on.]

The first one looks like a chain letter. The second almost sounds like something poetic.

[But she is looking at these two texts with interest.]

You might be correct. ... "You have forgotten?"

[silicone]

[ help i forgot to resize it rip your gmail inbox ]

Exactly... we think the usernames have something to do with the dead... though it's possible there are multiple usernames for one person. People have been getting texts randomly so... it's a good idea to keep an eye out. We'll keep collecting them.

[ at the last part. ]

I don't know... you have forgotten... it's different than the rest of the texts, and has no sender. Not sure if it's part of SOLOSTAGE's message or maybe part of a larger message... among the others.

[factoring]

You are close to some of the deceased. This would make logical sense. Perhaps they're trying to send less encrypted information and whatever frequency they're on is shifting it. Forcing them to come through this way.

[Anyway.]

We'll have to keep tabs on them.

[silicone]

If I get anymore I'll show you them... Wenzhou might have Fei Du's written in our GC somewhere.

[ he closes his phone. ]

It's hope enough to keep going, I think.

[factoring]

[She locks her own.]

Yes... I will choose to believe in that uncertain future.

[And as she says that a pig shows up.]

[silicone]

[ mother fuckin pigs but also eiden watches this and just... smiles a little. it's not particularly happy, but it's... well. ]

I believe in it because I believe in us. We're going to do this. We have to. Four people is too many. Two people... even one person... so we have to.

[ softer ]

What happened there...? You... was that...?

[ MIRA DID SHE DIE IM LOSING MY MIND RIGHT NOW THE ANIMATION WAS SO GOOD.... ]

[factoring]

[Ah.

Well.

He's actually the first one to watch that particular little clip.]

That was me, yes. [There's no wiggling out of that one, even with her bad habits.

As for if that was how she died... he'll have to ask.]