⇋ 003 - voice/action

[avartwice]

[voice]

I'm starting... to really hate this place.

[So Greed's not sounding too good today. His voice is pretty strained and his breathing's a little heavy.]

Especially that NPC asshole... and his damn shadows. As if I didn't hate shadows enough before I got here... If I ever get my hands on that brat, I'm gonna make sure nothing'll be left of him, I don't even care if he comes back!

I'm really hoping none of you are thinking of turning in the NPC he wants after this stunt... But if you are, let me know, so I can make sure to kick your ass later!

[action]

[Not long after Greed's message, Ling can be spotted hanging out with the NPC students while wearing the regular uniform, rather than his own black coat. Which would be an odd sight even if it weren't NPCs, as Ling really isn't the type to hang out with multiple people unless there's food involved. But with NPCs? Yeah, that's definitely not right.

However, you might notice that every now and then, he seems to just halt. He'll stop walking, he'll drift off mid-sentence, that sort of thing. Not as if someone's pressed the pause button on him, but more like he momentarily forgets what he's doing. But then a few seconds later, he resumes whatever he's up to. Huh.]

Comments

Voice

[masturbatestoyou]

Right, while giving him what he wants seems like it'd the best short term solution, there's no way of telling what it could mean in the long term.

Voice

[avartwice]

It'll just tell him that he can do whatever the hell he wants to us to make us listen to him. And I'm not about to take that.

Voice

[masturbatestoyou]

Yeah, plus it'd give him the power of whatever he wanted the other NPC for. We at the very least still have that going for us.

Voice

[avartwice]

For now, anyway... Let's hope it stays that way.

Ugh... Really hoping there's still enough people left who haven't been caught by a shadow. People who can actually do something, I mean...

Voice

[masturbatestoyou]

Yeah, I know we've lost Yuri already, which is certainly a major blow...

action;

[mightletyouknowme]

[So maybe Sena doesn't know him well but she knows she's talked to him and now... he's acting weird. She moves in front of him, not bothering to waste time with idle talk.]

What's wrong with you?

action;

[avartwice]

Huh?

[Ling blinks as Sena moves in front of him.]

What do you mean? I'm the same as ever.

action;

[mightletyouknowme]

I could tell you were weird anyway but you weren't this weird.

action;

[avartwice]

I'm not sure what you're talking about, ah... Kashiwazaki, right?

audio;

[extraordinarily]

He really is an idiot if he honestly thought that I would turn in the NPC in the first place.

audio;

[avartwice]

Oh, he's definitely a moron. There was no way I'd be handing over the NPC either, but now everyone that was still thinking it over is going to hate him too.

audio;

[extraordinarily]

Obviously. Turning people into NPCs isn't a good way to negotiate.

audio;

[avartwice]

You'd think that would be obvious, huh?

Not that I mind him screwing himself over. He can just keep on doing that.

action;

[suckswithmaps]

[Hanging around so many people, and NPCs on top of that. Admittedly, Celica is awfully worried when she sees it. And... also confused about his sporadic pausing.

Either way, after a moment, she approaches him to make sure her hunch isn't correct.]

Ling...? Or Greed?

action;

[avartwice]

Huh? [He blinks, unsure why Celica could possibly be asking something like this.] Yes, I'm Ling. But obviously you already know that. I mean, we are classmates.

Sorry, though, but I don't know who this Greed person is.

action;

[suckswithmaps]

--E-eh? How do you not know who Greed is? I mean, you two share the same body and all... We were just talking about it a while ago.

[She sure hopes he's pulling her leg, because otherwise...]

action;

[avartwice]

Um... what?

[And now he's just going to look at Celica like she's gone crazy.]

I don't recall ever saying anything that strange... Oh, wait, did you maybe have some sort of weird dream? [He laughs a little, satisfied that a weird dream is a totally logical explanation.] It must've been pretty realistic if you thought it actually happened!

voice;

[happyends]

[ Wow, Greed, watch your language! That's at least two pennies into the swear jar! Not that Madoka says anything about it though - she's mostly just worried because his tone sounds so.. strange. ]

G.. Greed-san, are you feeling alright..? Do you need some help?

voice;

[avartwice]

Oh, I don't know, let's see... Some NPC kid thinks he can order us around, there's shadows everywhere and, oh, I have an NPC inside of me.

[He doesn't sound very pleased about this. At all.]

Yeah, I'm doing great.

[happyends]

.. Eh..? [ Sorry, but half of that just now made no sense whatsoever. So Madoka just blinks a few times like she's mostly just really confused. ]

What do you mean, you have an NPC inside of you..? A-are you turning into one? [ At least the emotion in her tone is not hard to place - it's worry. ]

[avartwice]

Nah, I'm not. It's more like...

[Ugh, this is so not the time for long explanations.]

It's complicated, but I'm like two souls in one container, instead of just one. So there's me and one other soul. He's the one that got turned into an NPC like a moron.

voice;

[afterlifer]

This place isn't intended to be the kind of place where these things happen. Heh, if we all work together maybe we can fix it up!

voice;

[avartwice]

...Right.

[Forgive him for sounding a little annoyed right now, Ai. He's not in a very good mood.]

That's real cute and all, but exactly how are you planning to make that happen, little miss idealist?

voice;

[afterlifer]

If they want to capture that NPC, there's a reason it's a threat to them, right? So I don't think you're wrong about playing keep away with the NPC.

voice;

[avartwice]

'Course I'm not wrong. I don't make a habit of being wrong about things. Besides, anyone with even a lick of common sense can tell that giving up that NPC is a terrible idea.

Except not everyone has even that much common sense, I've found. Especially not when they're being backed into a corner.