graveyard part 4

[gamehead]

hunter's game the graveyard You wake up in an unfamiliar cabin. At first, it almost seems like you're in an entirely different place and that everything had been just a dream. The interior of the cabin looks nothing like the run-down, old-timey shacks that you had been living in before. Everything in here is sleek and modern, from the enormous flat-screen TV mounted on the wall to the fridge and mini-bars stocked with all your favorite foods. There aren't any individual rooms in here, just a common area large enough to house everyone comfortably, no matter how many more people join you...and there will be plenty more people joining you before the week is over. Because if you look outside the window, it quickly becomes clear that not only are you still in Prayer's Pass, but that you are no longer among the realm of the living. Judging from the tombstones directly outside, you're now in what had been the abandoned broken-down cabin in the graveyard. The cabin's not all that changed; the world outside has gone completely grey and everything you see appears to be faded and blurry. The only things that remain sharp and in color are what's inside the cabin, including your fellow ghosts. Occasionally, people who are still alive may enter, but it's clear that what they're seeing is completely different from what you're seeing. The door's unlocked; however, a mysterious force prevents you from stepping beyond the threshold, no matter how hard you may try. After all, this cabin is a cage for the dead - a gilded one, perhaps, but a cage nonetheless. On the flat-screen TV plays everything that is currently happening in the town. It will shut off once night starts...and something else will appear instead.

Comments

[terryplz]

The two are separate Ciel. There is nothing Ada, or Miss Kirigiri or I or any other Hunter here can do anymore about the Hunter's victory. All we can do is put trust in the remaining two to carry on for as long as they can. I don't believe they have a decent shot at winning any longer, no matter how much the others want to hope. So when you ask if if every Hunter wants what I want, then I can't give you an answer because I'm not psychic.

I am a man of logic. What I can put trust in is fact and evidence and these diary pages are evidence. The Hunters may no longer be able to win and so that victory cannot be obtained, but if the mystery is solved then Critter may consider it a victory on not only the Hunter end or the Prey end or even the Scavenger end, but on all ends. We are no longer Hunter and Prey and Scavenger, Ciel. We are in this together. And we have to work together. Because now that we're dead there is no guarantee that Critter will let any of us leave. Even if I end up like Lithuania, I will see this through.

[expiatrice]

[Her shoulders fall slightly; yes, this is clearer now.]

...I see, so you've already given up on the possibility of the wolves winning. It all hinges on the collective prey mentality now, you know? After today, I won't deny the possibility of anything happening. All those who wouldn't hesitate to draw wolf blood are out, or practically so. There is already doubt expressed during trial as we speak, even if we've already all but cornered the last two despite the loss of all investigator roles. [She glances back at the TV: Tanaka, Fukawa, Mayu - and the last should be a wolf!] Willpower and resolve are powerful things. The odds were against you, but they were certainly surmountable, if you coordinated better together and can accept that the end justifies all means.

[She shakes her head at that.]

But back to the present. I fail to see the merits of solidarity when all we can do is send one clue per night at the expense of one individual's sacrifice - or three tonight, I suppose, but little needs to be done other than agree on who shall be the volunteers. Can we gleam the diary pages from here, at least?

[terryplz]

...We see whatever they see. The only thing we aren't allowed to see is what happens behind locked doors and the Hunters gatherings.

[He takes the remote and turns it to the church. Specifically turns it to the diary pages out in the open on the alter.]

We can also watch that video and listen to the phone message. It's not just for them either - I feel like if one side or another can solve what happens, then everything will come together. It's like I said before: "Prey", "Hunter", "Scavenger" are just assignments Critter gave us. Our goal has always been to work together - both sides were blinded by arrogance and an inability to see the other side. Like the wolf mother and the men who shot her, the men could not see the wolf as anything but a monster. Murdering her only because they believed she was the most likely culprit, despite no evidence showing it. Rather analogous toward our situation, don't you agree?

[expiatrice]

That's helpful for future reference, but it would certainly be convenient, if you think our side solving this will help those on the other one too. [she's not as idealistic... wait why is this word even being used--]

I've started to refer to your lot as 'wolves' for a reason, mister Wayne. The change was hard to make initially. Either we're all hunters, or none of us are.

[She shakes her head there.]

To a certain degree, but the circumstances and their constraints are clear in our case. Wolves must kill prey each night for a reason only known to them, while prey are made aware they must struggle for survival each day to prevent more deaths in their own ranks. It's a lot more clear cut. But then what's Critter objective? It's demonstrated already that it could have killed all of us if it so desired. It could have gone for something far less convoluted also, if it only wanted to spill blood and watch people suffer. Going through all this trouble, are we supposed to be able to prove something to it, no matter how low the odds of realizing it may be?