countermeasures | chroma | catchall for atsushi

Exactly. Some people really need to get that through their thick skulls.

[maaaaple i want a memshare. gimme.]

They really do.

[Speaking of thick skulls, Atsushi is looking at the bubble now.]

I guess it's my turn now, huh?

[Time to touch the bubble and get a memory!]

---

In this hideous pink playroom, with a giant doll chasing him, you dodge around and try to find a safe place to stop and collect your thoughts. A plan, all you need is a plan-

But you don't have time. Suddenly dozens of hands sprout up out of the ground, wrapping around you and silencing your screams. You reach out, trying to grab onto something, anything, just to keep you from being dragged into that dark playroom door. Beyond that door lays everyone who has been captured, left sleeping and dormant for all eternity. And if you don't stop it, you'll be dragged in next.

When that door opens though, you see something the redheaded girl named Lucy wasn't counting on- Tanizaki-san is still awake in that hellish prison of a room, and he has his hand held out, casting his ability Light Snow over the area.

You have to act fast. You don't even have time to communicate your plan to Tanizaki-san. You have to trust him to cover your motions, and he has to trust you to do something to turn the tides in your favor. So while Light Snow covers your movements, you sneakily lasso a yellow ribbon around Lucy's waist. Then, as you are tugged into the door, you transform your arms and legs and grab onto the door frame.

It's painful. The strain of holding yourself right at the edge is immense. But you can do it. It's only for a few seconds, until Lucy's guard is let down. That's when she realizes that your still there, and her cheerful facade drops.

"You overlooked a detail: this battle was two-on-one from the start!"

Lucy seems stunned. "You defied the door's suction power with just your muscles? That shouldn't be-"

"You've got the wrong idea about me," you say, answering her accusation from earlier, "I'm not strong, and I'm not popular. In fact, my entire life has been cursed. I know full well how you feel, hating and envying everyone around you."

If she fails at this mission of hers, she will lose her home with the Guild. But if you fail at your mission, you'll lose the co-workers you have come to see as family. No matter what, someone has to lose here. And you can't be selfless and let her win if it means the people you care about have to suffer. "I really don't want you to fail at your mission! I don't want you to lose your home! But...I'm too weak and inexperienced to find another way out of this!"

That is when you tug on the ribbon and bring her towards you. She stumbles right into you and you grab onto her with one of your arms, preventing her from running away.

"Let me go!" she cries.

But you hold on tightly. "Cancel your ability and release everyone. If you don't, then I'll let go of the door frame and drag you inside."

"You can't-"

"If there's no key to the door, then the door will never open without you. So if you're locked in that room, then there's nobody else who can let you out." It's a gamble, but it's one you're willing to take. "Do you want to die in this world you made? Or, even worse, remain trapped in it even after death?"

Lucy sounds like she's crying now. "I- I can't mess this up-"

You don't even give her a chance to finish her sentence. It's cold of you, but you have to take the risk. Everyone is counting on you. "I'm about to let go. You have one chance to decide."

And then, you let go.

You don't get sucked into that room, though. In the blink of an eye, you're back on the busy street, along with everyone else who had been held hostage by Lucy. As you see the others who had gone missing- Naomi, Kenji, even Tanizaki-san- you sigh in relief. Your gamble paid off after all.

Oh—

[that's... a lot to watch. but it must have been a lot to live through, too, mustn't it? that sort of danger, with so much hinging on whether or not his gamble succeeds - so many different factors...

the relief is still palpable, even as the memory fades away and they find themselves back in the area they were in to begin with.]

That was... You convinced her?

It did, yeah.

[Atsushi sighs and leans back a bit, a smile playing at his lips. Lucy...he wonders what she's up to now.]

She was so mad at me for it too. She's got quite the mouth on her, and she took every chance she could to let me know that she didn't appreciate what I had done. But...I think we're friends now. With her reason to fight against the Agency gone, she's become a lot less like 'that'.

[I linked you the clip Britt you can see how nuts Lucy is at first.]

...you were really able to get through to her, then.

[wow. that's a pretty big change! jiuqing is impressed.]

That's impressive, Sir Nakajima.

chroma | catchall for atsushi

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