—Right, sorry. What I meant was... it's like I'm from a different time and place, unable to interact with anything "here." By all means, I'm not supposed to be here, yet... here I am.
Of course. And now that I'm over here, hopefully I can figure out how to free the others, too. All of us are getting out of here.
That being said... [ from one of the pouches hanging off his waistbelt (i hate that i have to specify), he takes out and unfurls a sizable sheaf of notes that's just as translucent as he is. ] Where do you want me to begin?
Our main locale was a mansion—obviously nothing as nice as the hotel, but the building itself was... surprisingly pleasant, all things considered. We were able to witness public events via animated portraits and gramophones in the dining hall. While we couldn't directly interact with the staff, besides Virgo, we could still send them messages via typewriter and meet with them in a special room that allowed us to share dreams with them.
Of note outside the mansion were a garage with a carriage, a garden that we could send flowers from, and an exact replica of the cemetery on this side.
[she says, absently.] ... Dreams and portraits. Okay. [rotates that in her mind like a rotisserie chicken] And - so, lemme see if I have this right. You guys knocked Virgo out and took their key? And then... did what with it, unlocked someone's cage? And they ruined the garden? Or were those two separate things.
What - who, Sheila? No, she just said the other day during our meeting that she was wondering if the door with the mansion that we can't reach was where you guys are.
Oh. For a moment I thought you meant she briefly was on our side before she dug her way back out to yours after the execution... we've had a theory that the two cemeteries are how both planes are connected.
[ he shakes his head briefly as if to get the notion out of his head... as if what he follows up with is any better. ]
In any case, yes, those two events were linked. I let my curiosity get the better of me and devised a plan to distract Virgo in order to gain access to a door they were guarding... unfortunately, it spiraled a little out of control at some point. From that point, we had a man named Qi Rong with us... whose name you may recognize from documents you previously uncovered.
...in a way. He's even less of a presence than Claude and I are, but he's technically still over there. We were able to successfully lock him back behind the door.
They actually seemed to mind, last I heard, but uh... I don't know. I haven't asked. I don't like talking to them all about this sort of thing because they get snippy.
Really? They seemed to insinuate I was... coming onto them when I asked a similar question. [ beat ] Maybe they're a little more at ease when meeting us in a dream suite? Both they and Gemini implied we have a little more leeway in what we can ask, as those encounters are dreams, at the end of the day.
[ here he casts a quick glance at their surroundings, making sure there are no errant shadows before lowering his voice to barely above a whisper. ]
...By this point, you must also know that so long as someone appears to be wearing the mantle of a staff member, none of them have technically violated their contracts.
Neither do I. We weren't exactly able to ask Qi Rong before he, uh... lost the ability to speak.
[ he clears his throat a little... it's the best way he could phrase that without giving away too much. ]
...My current theory is that perhaps the first set breached their contracts in some way, and the second figured out some sort of loophole that required them to take on those particular positions in their place. Doing so would allow the first set to remain safe... or incapacitated, in the case of Qi Rong.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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From - what? I mean, I get the words, but. Explain more.
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Ghosting around in whatever form always throws me off real bad, so like, I do get it. Sucks. [...] We're going to fix it, though. Promise.
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Of course. And now that I'm over here, hopefully I can figure out how to free the others, too. All of us are getting out of here.
That being said... [ from one of the pouches hanging off his waistbelt (i hate that i have to specify), he takes out and unfurls a sizable sheaf of notes that's just as translucent as he is. ] Where do you want me to begin?
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[a pause, and then she purses her lips.]
... I guess with what it's like over there? Where were you?
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Our main locale was a mansion—obviously nothing as nice as the hotel, but the building itself was... surprisingly pleasant, all things considered. We were able to witness public events via animated portraits and gramophones in the dining hall. While we couldn't directly interact with the staff, besides Virgo, we could still send them messages via typewriter and meet with them in a special room that allowed us to share dreams with them.
Of note outside the mansion were a garage with a carriage, a garden that we could send flowers from, and an exact replica of the cemetery on this side.
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[she says, absently.] ... Dreams and portraits. Okay. [rotates that in her mind like a rotisserie chicken] And - so, lemme see if I have this right. You guys knocked Virgo out and took their key? And then... did what with it, unlocked someone's cage? And they ruined the garden? Or were those two separate things.
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Hold on—are you saying she was over there?
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[ he shakes his head briefly as if to get the notion out of his head... as if what he follows up with is any better. ]
In any case, yes, those two events were linked. I let my curiosity get the better of me and devised a plan to distract Virgo in order to gain access to a door they were guarding... unfortunately, it spiraled a little out of control at some point. From that point, we had a man named Qi Rong with us... whose name you may recognize from documents you previously uncovered.
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[as for the second part] -- Oh, yeah, the cannibal guy, right? Is he still over there?
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Oh - what's up with the letters about uniforms. Do you know?
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What did you guys interpret it as?
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I mean, I suppose that's an option. I'm sure Aquila wouldn't mind.
[ he is closing his eye so tiredly ]
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Fair enough. I think they just don't know who might be listening. It was recent, though. I didn't ask, someone else did.
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[ here he casts a quick glance at their surroundings, making sure there are no errant shadows before lowering his voice to barely above a whisper. ]
...By this point, you must also know that so long as someone appears to be wearing the mantle of a staff member, none of them have technically violated their contracts.
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... I still don't understand why they changed clothes. But you're right. Yes.
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[ he clears his throat a little... it's the best way he could phrase that without giving away too much. ]
...My current theory is that perhaps the first set breached their contracts in some way, and the second figured out some sort of loophole that required them to take on those particular positions in their place. Doing so would allow the first set to remain safe... or incapacitated, in the case of Qi Rong.
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[to the first part. and then:]
That's not a bad theory. Better than anything I could come up with. [...] I know one of the originals. I wish I could just ask him.
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