What it is exactly.... we don't know for sure either.
[ she touches the flower in her hair, and then she glitches out for a second. she frowns when she glitches back. ]
I know you are. [ she stanned shoma in yesterday's trial. ] You're helping more than you know. You don't have to loud or unpleasant to have an effect. [ he can get the sense she is thinking of some specific people when she says this because she's still too much of a teenager to completely hide her feelings. ] You're more liked than you think.
For a while I thought it might've been a malevolent spirit. I...meant to talk to you about that, but then things escalated. [ she. killed sidon. so. that happened. ] I'm a little less sure of that and I'm back to thinking it could be an airborne virus. But I'm still running tests.
[ she glitches again, and he tightens his grip slightly when she glitches back just to make sure he doesn't actually lose her. let's not drop friends, shall we? ]
...thanks. [ he looks a little sheepish with that. likewise, he is also still too much of a teenager to hide everything. ] It's a nice change of pace, at least. But more than being liked I want to make sure we're doing the right thing for everyone, especially you guys. The other part's just a bonus, I think.
It is not a spirit. I am reasonably sure of that. [ she reaches up and taps his forehead. ] It is more towards something you're used to than I am. Although used to may not be the right term.
[ she shakes her head. ]
I like you more because of how much you are trying to do right by us and how much you actually are. [ she goes quiet for a moment, and when she speaks again, her voice is very soft. ] I was unhappy with a lot of people and how they behaved. How they spoke. How they baited Dion when they didn't need to, when it was clear they already knew.
He was guilty, and they had every right to be upset with him for taking away someone they care about, but what did trying to make him act out in violence again serve? Shoma, you are doing more than fine. You're doing wonderfully.
[ he scrunches his eyebrows together a little on instinct when she does, but that puts some things into context, too. ]
I have a few theories, to say the least, based on some things I'm used to. I can't say one way or another without more information, but if it's something more solid than spiritual that puts us on the right track.
[ he doesn't interrupt her while she speaks, listening closely and giving her space to explain herself. even when she finishes, he's quiet. ]
It's...really, really easy for people's emotions to get in the way when it comes to something like this. Someone they care about is taken away, or someone they care about is accused and there's the threat of them being taken away. It's easy to fall into a trap of trying to draw attention to yourself, or trying to goad the suspect into answering exactly the way that you want so you can have an answer, guilt-free. But I agree. Nobody needed to do that. It was obvious in what Dion wasn't saying more than in what he was, and if people don't think he wouldn't confess to a crime if he could then I don't think they knew him as well as they may have thought. I can't claim to have known him as well as others either, but...the Dion I know is a man who's done some terrible things that he regrets and that he's still trying to recover from. I don't think he would hide. He'd want to be found.
[ ... ] To be honest with you, Shouxue, I think it's only a little easier for me because this isn't the first time I've been in a situation like this. I mean not...to this extent. But back home, we were just finishing with a murder investigation and solving a serial killing case. Things got bad for a while, and I think I learned that you can't scream or cry or force people to do anything because they'll still act the way they think is best for them. Even if it might hurt you. [ ... ] I'm not going to stop trying. Sparing feelings only delays the problem anyway. But...it does mean a lot to me to hear you say that.
Scien called it self-satisfaction, and I couldn't bring myself to disagree. I don't know Dion as well as others, but he wears repentance like armor.
[ she is less frustrated now than she was then. ]
You have? [ she's surprised, but it puts enough into context, especially with how he's reacted and their conversations. she is sorry anyone has to deal with anything like this at any time. (it is all of them, as they are all dealing with murder after murder. ] There is a clarity that comes with experience.
Most of my ghosts are isolated murders or deaths. It's already tragic enough, but serial killing... You must have gone through so much.
That's a good way of putting it. [ he respects scien, horribly, so having it put into words makes him think on it. ] The feeling of being correct and above it all. To prove that they solved something without realizing the point is to help them.
[ or maybe that's his projection. he doesn't reply to the rest of that immediately because...he is from an uchikoshi game, there are so many things that have gone wrong in his life. ]
...he was active about six years ago and then went dormant. The police couldn't follow the trail and the case went cold for a while. But something recently happened to make the case resurface. [ ... ] They called it the Half-Body Serial Killings, because the guy behind it would cut his victims into two even halves, leaving them in different parts of the city. The first body that was found belonged to a man named Jin Furue. But only the right half. Six years later, his left half was left in the middle of the field at Tokyo stadium. They had to reopen the case, especially when the culprit turned up dead, too.
[ she listens quietly, and she can't hide the grimace at the description. she may have seen her fair share of gore in ghosts, but it takes a lot of something to cleave someone evenly in two and do it serially. ]
That's a horrific way to murder. The culprit was found dead? Did someone take it into their own hands?
Yeah. [ this seems to encompass all of her questions. and...normally he wouldn't say the rest, but it sort of ties back to why, exactly, he handles things the way he does. ] ...my dad was his third victim. So when my older sister saw the opportunity for revenge six years later, she took it.
[ "Things got bad for a while, and I think I learned that you can't scream or cry or force people to do anything because they'll still act the way they think is best for them." ]
[ she would have understood if he didn't expand. she understands keeping things close to your chest, but it contextualizes, and she closes her eyes and nods. ]
You have seen grief from too many sides. [ experienced it too many ways. ] It is no wonder you are trying so much to do right by us.
That is your own strength.
[ that he is still doing and he is still trying, even now. ]
[ he hadn't really thought of it that way. shoma's a person who's been extremely people-avoidant for many years for many reasons, and it's only recently that he's started trying to actively help. the events right before his arrival and everything that has happened on this ship have brought him to this point. so. there's only a low hum of agreement. ]
It's not like I have more of a right to live my life than you guys do. Even those of you who were influenced to take someone else's life. Circumstances change a lot of things. [ ...so. ] But yeah, maybe that's part of why. I can admit that.
[ sometimes you've seen a lot of terrible things happen to good people, and you can't change it for them. but in a place like this, you can still try to make a difference. ]
[ it could be a long time before he tried to do anything, but because he's doing something now, it counts to her. it took her a long time to crawl out of her own pit of feelings before she could think about helping others. ]
It may have been many unfair and unfavorable situations, but we're all changing because of it. Why it happens may be awful, but what you do.... what any of you do.... that's what I think speaks the most.
That...is an incredibly wise way of looking at it. [ and it's one he agrees with, to say the least. ] So long as we keep that in mind we really do stand a chance of succeeding here.
[ he looks down at the paintball field. ]
...I should probably put you down soon. [ but, unfortunately, he hates the idea of saying goodbye. ]
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[ she touches the flower in her hair, and then she glitches out for a second. she frowns when she glitches back. ]
I know you are. [ she stanned shoma in yesterday's trial. ] You're helping more than you know. You don't have to loud or unpleasant to have an effect. [ he can get the sense she is thinking of some specific people when she says this because she's still too much of a teenager to completely hide her feelings. ] You're more liked than you think.
no subject
[ she glitches again, and he tightens his grip slightly when she glitches back just to make sure he doesn't actually lose her. let's not drop friends, shall we? ]
...thanks. [ he looks a little sheepish with that. likewise, he is also still too much of a teenager to hide everything. ] It's a nice change of pace, at least. But more than being liked I want to make sure we're doing the right thing for everyone, especially you guys. The other part's just a bonus, I think.
no subject
[ she shakes her head. ]
I like you more because of how much you are trying to do right by us and how much you actually are. [ she goes quiet for a moment, and when she speaks again, her voice is very soft. ] I was unhappy with a lot of people and how they behaved. How they spoke. How they baited Dion when they didn't need to, when it was clear they already knew.
He was guilty, and they had every right to be upset with him for taking away someone they care about, but what did trying to make him act out in violence again serve? Shoma, you are doing more than fine. You're doing wonderfully.
no subject
I have a few theories, to say the least, based on some things I'm used to. I can't say one way or another without more information, but if it's something more solid than spiritual that puts us on the right track.
[ he doesn't interrupt her while she speaks, listening closely and giving her space to explain herself. even when she finishes, he's quiet. ]
It's...really, really easy for people's emotions to get in the way when it comes to something like this. Someone they care about is taken away, or someone they care about is accused and there's the threat of them being taken away. It's easy to fall into a trap of trying to draw attention to yourself, or trying to goad the suspect into answering exactly the way that you want so you can have an answer, guilt-free. But I agree. Nobody needed to do that. It was obvious in what Dion wasn't saying more than in what he was, and if people don't think he wouldn't confess to a crime if he could then I don't think they knew him as well as they may have thought. I can't claim to have known him as well as others either, but...the Dion I know is a man who's done some terrible things that he regrets and that he's still trying to recover from. I don't think he would hide. He'd want to be found.
[ ... ] To be honest with you, Shouxue, I think it's only a little easier for me because this isn't the first time I've been in a situation like this. I mean not...to this extent. But back home, we were just finishing with a murder investigation and solving a serial killing case. Things got bad for a while, and I think I learned that you can't scream or cry or force people to do anything because they'll still act the way they think is best for them. Even if it might hurt you. [ ... ] I'm not going to stop trying. Sparing feelings only delays the problem anyway. But...it does mean a lot to me to hear you say that.
no subject
[ she is less frustrated now than she was then. ]
You have? [ she's surprised, but it puts enough into context, especially with how he's reacted and their conversations. she is sorry anyone has to deal with anything like this at any time. (it is all of them, as they are all dealing with murder after murder. ] There is a clarity that comes with experience.
Most of my ghosts are isolated murders or deaths. It's already tragic enough, but serial killing... You must have gone through so much.
no subject
[ or maybe that's his projection. he doesn't reply to the rest of that immediately because...he is from an uchikoshi game, there are so many things that have gone wrong in his life. ]
...he was active about six years ago and then went dormant. The police couldn't follow the trail and the case went cold for a while. But something recently happened to make the case resurface. [ ... ] They called it the Half-Body Serial Killings, because the guy behind it would cut his victims into two even halves, leaving them in different parts of the city. The first body that was found belonged to a man named Jin Furue. But only the right half. Six years later, his left half was left in the middle of the field at Tokyo stadium. They had to reopen the case, especially when the culprit turned up dead, too.
no subject
That's a horrific way to murder. The culprit was found dead? Did someone take it into their own hands?
no subject
[ "Things got bad for a while, and I think I learned that you can't scream or cry or force people to do anything because they'll still act the way they think is best for them." ]
no subject
You have seen grief from too many sides. [ experienced it too many ways. ] It is no wonder you are trying so much to do right by us.
That is your own strength.
[ that he is still doing and he is still trying, even now. ]
no subject
It's not like I have more of a right to live my life than you guys do. Even those of you who were influenced to take someone else's life. Circumstances change a lot of things. [ ...so. ] But yeah, maybe that's part of why. I can admit that.
[ sometimes you've seen a lot of terrible things happen to good people, and you can't change it for them. but in a place like this, you can still try to make a difference. ]
no subject
It may have been many unfair and unfavorable situations, but we're all changing because of it. Why it happens may be awful, but what you do.... what any of you do.... that's what I think speaks the most.
no subject
[ he looks down at the paintball field. ]
...I should probably put you down soon. [ but, unfortunately, he hates the idea of saying goodbye. ]