Private Convo with Beatrice, Saturday, approximately 12-PM

[caineraisingproject]

Keenan slept like a log. That was terrifying in and of itself.

And two of the people he had spoken to mentioned surviving a world with games like this one - one of them actually admitting to being the mastermind of a murder mystery.

He's not sure why he's reaching out to that self-described Witch. Maybe it was her standing offer of listening to her story and believing it, although that wasn't too hard to find. Maybe it was wanting to trade his story for hers. And maybe...

Probably it was wanting to survive, and wanting pointers from someone who had experience. Keenan was willing to admit he was that cynical.

Which is why he slipped an invitation to the lunch and poker game under her door, adding "If you want to hear my story, come early."

If she comes - when she comes - he's in the kitchen, slicing a whole bunch of tomatoes.

Comments

[caineraisingproject]

"With love as my weapon and trust as my armor," he says, immediately, without hesitation.

Then he clarifies. "There's a - a device, a weapon, that we stole from the aliens. Huge enough that we needed to put it in it's own Creche, with it's own generator, and it needs two people to work it. One is the Pilot, who crawls into one of its Cradles and falls asleep, dreaming of victory, calling on the spirit of those they care for as weapons and armor. One's the Anchor, who keeps us from drifting off. Keeps us grounded. Wakes us up, and shrinks our head."

His smile gets painful. "You don't have to be involved with your Anchor, but it helps. Last thing I remember before getting here was Yuuki breaking up with me. And..."

He shakes his head. "And frankly I deserved it, but that's not important right now."

[awitchdidit]

"Hm. So rather than drift forever in a dream, you're brought back to reality by love, is that it?" she wonders. "I can see it..."

She doesn't really care about your relationship problems, KC, any more than you care about hers. And she's got a lot more.

"It's amazing what humans can do with the right tools, though. Assaulted by the otherworldly, you take their abilities and make them your own. It's the same reason humans started summoning and binding demons..."

[caineraisingproject]

He didn't think she would care about his relationship drama, to be frank. That's not why he wanted to talk.

"Not only brought back to reality, but made us able to mess with the Dream. Anchors do most of direct messing with the landscape, but Pilots make the weapons. Without the ANIMa, I can't do it. With it..."

He shakes his head. "What's left of humanity does what it does best: take fire from the gods and run."

Lettuce is layered. On to tomato. "You've been the one in charge of a game like this, For whatever reasons. You wanna call it protecting your own interests, enforcing a deal, I won't argue. That means you're the one here most likely to know what the mastermind is thinking. Am I wrong?"

[awitchdidit]

"I can certainly make more educated guesses," she says, shrugging, "and I'm always willing to consider the game from my opponent's perspective. What they want, though, and even who they are..."

She's still not sure the doctor isn't just a pretty face or a patsy, after all.

"Like I said, educated guesses. I can say what I would do, but I make no guarantees."

[caineraisingproject]

"Still one of the only ones with a flashlight while we're groping in the dark," Keenan says.

And now he's layering on the bacon.

"I'm not saying I trust you. I'm saying that until you earn that trust, I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt. It's... worked so far, and my world's got a bad case of paranoia. Not sure what that's worth from some punk teenager, but there you go."