backdated to fiddlesticks 24, morning

[blue_ice]

I need to address what happened last night. If you're tired of hearing about it, I promise I'll be fast and avoid detail.

[ He looks like he hasn't slept much. He's giving the crew a very somber expression. ]

First, Xue Yang isn't dead. The spirit going by the name of Wester put him in a penalty coma, where he's being forced to karmically experience the sensation of death. I know this because an incarnation of the same spirit dealt me the same punishment for a somewhat lesser crime, and I'm still standing.

Wester's spirit has certain abilities to uncover the past. The image they conjured was likely the truth, but it shouldn't have been shown to you all with such little warning. And I promise we're working on tracking them down to be dealt with, because however well-intentioned, it wasn't their place to be sole judge, jury, and executioner. You all shouldn't have to be afraid that every minor sin will bring wrath on your heads.

I'll try to answer any questions you have.

And...Wester, if you're listening, I still believe in you. We're both sinners, for better or worse, and you won't turn me away that easily. But we have to deal with this, delaying will only make it worse.

Comments

voice from 6-E

[spikelet]

[ SOUNDS GREAT ACTUALLY. You know, apart from the whole, broadcasting it, thing. She hits the button she's seen other people use to reply to this shit. ]

When's he gonna wake up?

voice

[blue_ice]

I don't know. It took me a few months to recover, but if he has a stronger will, it could be sooner. Or we might have someone on-board who can touch minds and wake him up for questioning.

voice

[spikelet]

Don't wake him up! He'll-- [ think fast ] He's a scary guy. Why wake him up until you know what'll happen to him? He'll just lie to you.

voice

[blue_ice]

That's true. Most of us are forgetting the murder in our rush to condemn Wester's vigilantism.

I know he's under tight surveillance right now. I'll keep reminding them to beef up security.

Video - open to threadjacking!

[mtsilver_conquor]

I'll back up what Kaiba-san said: We're doing everything we can to find Wester and deal with this as peacefully as possible so there will never be another repeat.

[She's not even going to touch on the whole 'uncover the past' aspect. That's. Just no and she really doesn't trust her voice not to give something away that could lead to her own, major crimes being uncovered by more people than strictly needed.]

That said, it's good to know Xue Yang-san will wake up, though, if you don't mind me saying so, Kaiba-san and it hasn't already been down, we should at least get one of the psychics on board to have a look at him too. I'd rather be safe than sorry, you know?

[There's an apologetic smile at the end. She trusts Kaiba, yet at the same time, she is on the Council and she refuses to be biased.]

[blue_ice]

...it's an idea, but I'll wait for the rest of the council before we make a decision on that.

Something has to be done.

[mtsilver_conquor]

Yeah.Though I hope we can get a majority agreement on it at least.

Same with what has to be done.

[so_dark_a_road]

I did search for Wester and didn't have any success. I'm going to leave that to others.

I'm an Elvish psychic, and though my skills are somewhat specialized, I would like to see what I can do. If I can cast a vision into the mind of another, I can probably break through a vision that is already in a person's mind and not created by me.

[mtsilver_conquor]

-Cast a vision? What do you mean by that?

[So here have a very curious baby sister.]

[so_dark_a_road]

It's my specialty. I create a vision in my own mind, complete with emotional depth and sometimes a realistic or a fantastic sensory environment. When I've got it right, I project it outside of my own mind into the minds of others. I did that when we were fighting the Empire of Stars, to keep their soldiers from activating that mega-weapon they had hidden in the shipyard and to scare the crap out of them. I used an image I borrowed from you, of that monster pokemon that looked like a water dragon but rolled through the air.

But not all my visions are negative, in fact, these days, they're usually positive. I could try crafting a vision for Xue Yang and use it to shatter the terrible vision Wester put in his mind to create the penalty coma. Then he'd be free to wake up, and even if he didn't awaken immediately, I'd probably be able to tell what was going on in his mind underneath the karmic death vision, and maybe what he was thinking and remembering before that.

I can't guarantee any of this, but I'd be happy to try.

[ Your adopted younger brother is pleased by your curiosity. ]

[sizedoesntmatter]

[Yugi for the most part was just keeping away from everyone, but his reasoning was more to think things over in a quiet space rather than trying to when all the commotion was going on.

He was going through the events over and over in his head. Things were too much of a coincidence, but yet it definitely wasn't him. Someone who called themselves Wester...]

Seto...Can you please meet me somewhere quiet? I want to talk about this in private.

action

[blue_ice]

Yeah. Quiet car.

[ Kaiba heads there immediately, and greets Yugi with a somber look ]

What is it? Some weird things happened last night, beyond the obvious, and now I'm not so sure.

action

[sizedoesntmatter]

[Yugi stayed seated, for the time being, leaning his back against the wall of the carriage.]

I'm just going over the events in my head, that's all. To figure out who it is. Yes, I know you said a name, but that doesn't help that much, but... Don't you think it's odd that something very similar to what he did happens and it's not him or me?

action

[blue_ice]

I don't think it's completely true that it's not him. I think...it's a different incarnation, somehow.

[ He leans forward, mindlessly lacing his fingers. ]

That night at the masquerade...it was different, but I got the same feeling I always did when I was around him. That my soul was being weighed, but this time I passed the test.

And even stranger...immediately after the broadcast, I was just outside the car trying to get in, but they stopped to talk to me. It was absolutely the same person from the dance. We talked, and I tried to calm them, but what they said was something like...

'I'm not your friend. I'm not the one who helped you up, I'm the one who destroyed you, don't you get it? I don't deserve your kindness.'

Did Atem's soul have...different entities within it?

[faithfulson]

[ That was... a lot. Whatever happened last night, it had been horrifying to the point that Luke couldn't even respond; the thought of being trapped in one's own mind, experiencing death... it may have been survivable, but no one deserved that kind of fate, even murderers. ]

[ He debated even responding, because it was too much, and they shouldn't have needed to deal with that, not after everything else that had been happening recently. There was too much going on to have to worry about their own turning against them. ]

[ When he does finally respond, his voice is soft. ]

Let me know if you require assistance. If you're familiar enough with this person... I should be able to determine where they're hiding.

[blue_ice]

For that level of familiarity...Yugi would probably know better than me. I'll ask him if we haven't found them by then.

[faithfulson]

Please do; none of us need complications like this right now.

video

[radishlobbyist]

There is nothing well-intentioned about wasting the time of the medical staff on personal vendettas.

[ Wen Qing is tired, hungry and sore after working all night, finding herself a little beyond being capable of cordiality. ]

video

[blue_ice]

I'm sorry. I hope you were able to recover Xue Yang. I already agreed to help Curufin assist him, in whatever capacity they need me.

[ He sighs. ]

Wester materialized to meet me once before this incident, at Minako's dance. They seemed pleased with my progress since my own penalty coma, so they likely thought it would work again. That's my fault for inadvertently encouraging them, and I apologize for my part in it.

I promise I'll advocate for Wester to be disciplined appropriately.

[radishlobbyist]

Good. We can't have this happening again with him, or with anyone else feeling encouraged to pursue vengeance. There are too many people on this train. It would be mayhem. There would be a circle of violence.

[ And that is something she isn't going to tolerate, though she wouldn't know what she could do about it. ]

You owe nobody apologies. Wester is responsible for their own actions.

We did what we could for Xue Yang. It remains to be seen in the weeks and months to follow what the damage will be.

[blue_ice]

If I can extrapolate from my own experience...I was in that coma for months, and when I woke I was initially consumed with wanting revenge on the spirit. But interventions from family and people who would later become allies helped. It was essentially a reset for me, a second chance...it gives me nightmares even now, but I'm largely a functioning human.

[ He sighs. ]

If he has the will to keep going, I'm fairly confident he'll make it.

And of course we won't allow Wester to do this again. Once punishment is issued I hope my connection with them will let me persuade them, but we have everyone else's weight to fall back on if I can't.

voice

[draconite]

I suppose I have a question... is this really something the rest of us ought to be getting ourselves involved with?

[ Despite the bite her words would probably have otherwise, Bryn's voice is legitimately thoughtful, more than anything else. ]

That is to say – it isn't our business to be prying, is it?

voice

[blue_ice]

I have a duty as a council representative to attempt to keep the rest of the train safe. Wester's actions caused many people to feel unsafe, as you could see by the reaction last night.

Of course, someone willing to murder in secret, if that's what happened, doesn't say great things for our safety either.

[draconite]

It definitely doesn't do much for the atmosphere, at the very least...

[ She shrugs, but it's not dismissive exactly. ]

Do we have much in the way of actual enforcement of any of the rules you've established? For example, if we have another incident like this, how exactly will the perpetrators be dealt with?

[blue_ice]

That's our next project. The trouble is that this murder happened in the dead of night, if what we saw is accurate, and we didn't have a night patrol. We probably need that.

I'd recommend a psych eval and restricted movement for a while, but of course we need the people to do that.