Conversation Space IV.

[powersthatbe]

The small room is painted a dark beige, with stained wood paneling on the lower half, and lush burgundy carpeting. The ceiling, however, is cracked and bowed, sagging alarmingly, occasionally shedding chips of plaster. Wrought-iron lamp-posts in the corners suspend pale, wan globes of light, and between them along the walls run rows of painted sunflowers, all turned towards the center of the room as if listening attentively. A jutting spire of granite rises from the floor on a diagonal, its flattened top sporting a cracked wineglass from which the wine (a white) slowly spatters teardrops across the plinth. And there is no chair, but a therapist’s couch, blue with gold trim, and ornate scrollwork on the legs, beside which the fluted horn of a phonograph player pipes music into the room, quiet enough to just be background ambience.

Comments

[capital_asset]

"Then why do it?" What are they playing at?

[iseethe]

"Why not?"

[capital_asset]

"...Right." Really, what other answer could he have expected?

He's wasting time, he thinks. He should be asking questions, learning what to expect in the weeks and months ahead - as much as one can when talking to someone whose primary characteristics include obfuscation. He should not be letting himself get thrown off-balance by a simple change of clothes.

Even so, he still can't quite bring himself to look the Arcana in the eye. "This... competition... What happens when someone loses?"

[iseethe]

"What happens when someone loses any game?"

[capital_asset]

"Not all games feature living gamepieces."

[iseethe]

"True. We withdraw from play but our pieces remain on the board."

[capital_asset]

"And do what? Are they taken over by whichever Arcana won the last match?"

[iseethe]

The eyebrow of her mask is arched. "Are you hoping for another Arcanum?"

[capital_asset]

He'd probably just end up with someone worse. "That's not why I asked."

[iseethe]

"They would have to be unmarked first."

[capital_asset]

"And you'd have to repeat the process every time someone loses," he guesses. And that seems like it would be more than a little impractical, even if the marks are relatively easily changed (which he suspects they're not, despite - or even because of - their origins).

"Is anything expected of any of the losers' chosen while they're still on the board? Are they expected to work for or against any of the remaining players, or are they essentially free to act as they see fit?" Or as free as they can be, anyway.

[iseethe]

They sound clearly amused. "Are you asking me to encourage you to seek my loss?"

[capital_asset]

"I did not specify an Arcana," Raidou points out.

[iseethe]

"You didn't," they acknowledge. Then, somehow more amused, "Little if anything is expected of game pieces without a player, but that does not mean they cannot find themselves used anyway."

[capital_asset]

So emergency resources, of a sort - potentially useful, if not necessarily as effective as their own Marked would be.

Although that brings up another question. "These marks you give us... do they have a purpose besides indicating our allegiance?"

[iseethe]

"You might say they're membership tokens to a very exclusive club," they reply, casually. "One with... certain benefits."

[capital_asset]

Raidou raises an eyebrow at that. "Benefits?"

[iseethe]

"To make it easier to work together. Well, all our little secret clubs have those. But there are other benefits more or less exclusive to our individual groups."

[capital_asset]

Easier to work together, but also harder to break away, he'd wager. Not that there's anywhere to go at this point. ("Did you not know? Choice, meaning, fealty, time - everything is an illusion.") "Such as...?"

[iseethe]

"Ways to help you lie--that is only for me and mine," they say, off-handedly, taking a great interest in the suspended globes again. "Concealing information--that is shared with the chosen of Little Miss I Have Many Names." They glance up at him, to see if he reacts to that one. Then, looking back away, "And Mortimer's chosen will also be able to, hm, reset their identities on Jaunt, if he chooses to bestow that favor. If I choose to bestow it."

The mask smiles widely as it looks back to him once more. "Would you make a 'choice' of how my favor is bestowed to you, Raidou?"

[capital_asset]

He notices the glance, but he's also not sure who exactly they're referring to - although the 'Miss' narrows it down somewhat. "I thought choice was an illusion."

[iseethe]

"It is," they say, distantly, "but at times we need our illusions. If you don't want to choose, I shall choose for you."

[capital_asset]

This feels like a test - one Raidou is reasonably certain he's about to fail. "What does it mean that you share them?" he asks instead. "Can they only be done in tandem with another, or is it a case of overlap?"

[iseethe]

"Our aspects are not always sharply delineated," they say. "There are sometimes commonalities."

[capital_asset]

"I see..." And with that, he thinks he knows who 'Little Miss I Have Many Names' is now.

If nothing else, the 'favor' the two Arcana share might give him one thing in common with his remaining Bondmates, assuming they're given the same one. But is that really what he wants? Would it truly be a favor, or would it simply be a mockery, something to further demonstrate how much he doesn't fit with them? He doubts Moon would give him a straight answer, and he'd rather not show any more vulnerability here than he already has in any case.

Besides, it's not as if he'd ever get a chance to use it, or any other favor Moon chooses to bestow on him. How can he, when he's never himself?