Some guests are truly dedicated, sir. [It's said with vague amusement. The question seems to give her pause before she looks at the walls thoughtfully.]
We've been working here for a long while, and Master Blue treats us well. I don't mind my employment.
[ "I don't mind" doesn't mean "I like" but he wonders if she would say anything else if he pressed her on it. A job is a job, they get somewhere to live and belong. The problem is the everything else. ]
But you have to watch everybody here kill one another. You have to deal with us losing our minds and messing up the house and everything around it. I can't see you liking this any more than we do.
It wasn't entirely what we expected, no. But at the same time...human nature is a difficult and unusual thing, isn't it? It's hard to predict what a person will do until they're faced with certain circumstances. And anyway it's not really a matter of if we like it or not. We have jobs to perform and that's the important thing.
What's the point of placing people in these sorts of circumstances, though? How would you like it if you had to kill Plum? Or if Pumpkin were forced to kill you? Your job can't be more important than that. Than our lives.
Mr. Ayabe. You do realize we didn't tell you to kill each other, don't you? The transformations you've experienced in your time have never happened before. Our job is to assist the guests to the best of our ability with some rules set in place.
He turns around to the rules and points at: "6.) Once a week, at least one of your own will take the life of another. All guests must attend a weekly trial event every Saturday at noon to solve the mystery" ]
Isn't this because of... the house, some magic in this place? Nobody here wants to kill anybody, you or Blue or somebody made this rule. Wasn't it said that we would all die if we break these rules?
We're not sure what's causing the transformations and we're still looking into it. But a lack of inaction is a terrible action, isn't it? Rules are put in place for a reason, sir, but should the rules no longer benefit the needs of the house...they could be removed.
[But she's lifting an eyebrow.] If we were making the rules, do you really suppose we would be beholden to rules of our own?
I don't know. I can't think. You should follow the rules just like we have to, though.
[ He is running on 12%, he hasn't slept or rested for a whole day already. It would be nice! to have a working brain! right about now!! ]
I heard that, though. That the rules are for the house... What are the needs of the house? How do these rules benefit the house? Every week we're making a larger mess of it.
Are you suggesting that we should also be voting, sir? [Ayabe...pal...amigo...]
The rules benefit the house in the way that we understand that our guests won't just sit by and allow these things to happen. Haven't you ever started a big project like cleaning our your closet or something? Sometimes bigger messes are made in order to clean things up.
[It's not quite an analogy that works but she's trying.] Have you spoken to the other guests about your concerns?
[ Enough to be able to guide trial and give clues, anyways. Peach should absolutely vote and then let people peek over her shoulder to copy off her. ]
I don't get any of that, though, what mess we're cleaning up and why we have to die for it. I talked with Mammon, and Beau, about the rules— she said she'd talk to you this week, too. [ Good luck, Beau? Thinking is hard, and hopefully she has better luck. ]
I don't get the rules. [ His hand slides down to "7.) All guests must vote for a culprit to be executed for the sake of the house." ] "For the sake of the house." Why are we here, Peach? What does Blue need us to do?
[That's a lot of questions and she pauses, watching Ayabe touch the plaque and giving herself a moment to think that over.]
...Miss Beau's very kind, actually. [She likes Beau.] Master Blue has reasons for inviting this particular group of people. Wouldn't the more appropriate question be what you have in common and why you may have said yes?
[ There's a lot of questions and none of them get answered. He's a fool to expect otherwise, letting his hand drop like dead weight to his side. ]
I know she is. She's kind. Everybody here is kind, and they take care of each other when it counts. I still don't remember signing anything, and I'm still not clear as to what we agreed to, but it can't be to hurt people for any reason.
I can show you your RSVP if you'd like, sir. [That aside:] Master Blue has never invited guests with the intent of forcing them to hurt one another or cause harm. People have a way of changing how the rules in this house operate.
[ He nods, because yes he wants to see this RSVP so he can stare at it and figure nothing out about it. ]
What's his intent, then? Beau told me that the rules revolve around what's best for the house. What's the end goal, Peach? I'm sure there's a way to help the house and keep everybody safe.
The Master hosts parties like this to encourage a meeting of the minds and cultural studies. Usually they're much smaller though.
[Give her a moment, she's going to leave him in the hall before disappearing and coming back with a small box. She rifles through it before coming up with an RSVP with Ayabe's signature on it.]
What do you suppose would be a way to stop the transformations, sir?
[ Cool. He can tell nothing from this besides the fact that this is his own signature. Is the RSVP written on fancy paper, or is it the same as the stationary used in the minievent prizes, and that Ash later tells Ayabe he found a pad of in the desk in the study? ]
We're sure meeting and exchanging cultures here... [ No killing necessary to do that! He hands the paper back to Peach. ]
I'd need to know more about the transformations to have a better idea about that. What's making people transform, do you know? You were talking about the monster- whoever it is who transforms- their goal is to stay alive. Is the monster hungry? Does it feed off... souls? What do you know about it?
[It's fancy RSVP stationery that's a little different than the minievent prizes, i.e. it's not what Ash tells Ayabe about! He can study it all he likes.]
We're still researching all of that. We're kind of working at the same pace you are, just with a little additional information about who's transforming. Maybe the monster just wants to cause destruction, we've never really asked.
Unfortunately not. That's kind of the whole point of trials...[The cake has also been set down in the kitchen I forgot to say she took it when she went to get the RSVPs.]
[ What's the point of trials if they're all too stupid to solve anything AAAAAAAAAAA I hope this Saturday is half the cast being dead asleep and the other half staring into space for nine hours. ]
And you can't help us during trials because is our job, or what? [ She could just give them a subtle hint. Point at the culprit behind their back. Write their name into the dirt with her shoe.
Ayabe sighs and turns back to the rules, reading them over again. ]
...We're supposed to vote for the culprit, but why do they have to be condemned to death? Whether they're guilty or not, you have that cage that keeps them locked up.
[The mods will be the half that's dead asleep tbh.]
Something like that. Guests are the only ones who can vote anyway. [But she's just...frowning then.] The thing about it is, if people keep transforming we can't keep throwing all of them into one cage. Not to mention that the longer we wait, the less...themselves they become as the transformation takes over completely. Maybe even permanently.
[ Or maybe it's just the same. The moment you stop being yourself, you no longer exist, and that's the same as death. ]
If we're able to catch somebody who could transform before they actually do so and hurt somebody, is there a way to keep it from happening? To undo it? Or are they a lost cause the moment they're infected?
It might be possible if you found a way to stall or reverse the infection, but we haven't found a way to do so yet. Then again...how would you find someone before they transformed at all?
There must be tell, right? Last week, Ling was outside eating raw meat with his bare hands, and couldn't remember getting it from the kitchen after he snapped out of it.
[ Nobody else he's talked to experienced something like that, so if Anna were at trial last weekend Ayabe would have doxxed him... ]
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We've been working here for a long while, and Master Blue treats us well. I don't mind my employment.
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But you have to watch everybody here kill one another. You have to deal with us losing our minds and messing up the house and everything around it. I can't see you liking this any more than we do.
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[ Fuck your job? Peach?? ]
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Mr. Ayabe. You do realize we didn't tell you to kill each other, don't you? The transformations you've experienced in your time have never happened before. Our job is to assist the guests to the best of our ability with some rules set in place.
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He turns around to the rules and points at: "6.) Once a week, at least one of your own will take the life of another. All guests must attend a weekly trial event every Saturday at noon to solve the mystery" ]
Isn't this because of... the house, some magic in this place? Nobody here wants to kill anybody, you or Blue or somebody made this rule. Wasn't it said that we would all die if we break these rules?
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We're not sure what's causing the transformations and we're still looking into it. But a lack of inaction is a terrible action, isn't it? Rules are put in place for a reason, sir, but should the rules no longer benefit the needs of the house...they could be removed.
[But she's lifting an eyebrow.] If we were making the rules, do you really suppose we would be beholden to rules of our own?
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[ He is running on 12%, he hasn't slept or rested for a whole day already. It would be nice! to have a working brain! right about now!! ]
I heard that, though. That the rules are for the house... What are the needs of the house? How do these rules benefit the house? Every week we're making a larger mess of it.
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The rules benefit the house in the way that we understand that our guests won't just sit by and allow these things to happen. Haven't you ever started a big project like cleaning our your closet or something? Sometimes bigger messes are made in order to clean things up.
[It's not quite an analogy that works but she's trying.] Have you spoken to the other guests about your concerns?
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[ Enough to be able to guide trial and give clues, anyways. Peach should absolutely vote and then let people peek over her shoulder to copy off her. ]
I don't get any of that, though, what mess we're cleaning up and why we have to die for it. I talked with Mammon, and Beau, about the rules— she said she'd talk to you this week, too. [ Good luck, Beau? Thinking is hard, and hopefully she has better luck. ]
I don't get the rules. [ His hand slides down to "7.) All guests must vote for a culprit to be executed for the sake of the house." ] "For the sake of the house." Why are we here, Peach? What does Blue need us to do?
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...Miss Beau's very kind, actually. [She likes Beau.] Master Blue has reasons for inviting this particular group of people. Wouldn't the more appropriate question be what you have in common and why you may have said yes?
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I know she is. She's kind. Everybody here is kind, and they take care of each other when it counts. I still don't remember signing anything, and I'm still not clear as to what we agreed to, but it can't be to hurt people for any reason.
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What's his intent, then? Beau told me that the rules revolve around what's best for the house. What's the end goal, Peach? I'm sure there's a way to help the house and keep everybody safe.
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[Give her a moment, she's going to leave him in the hall before disappearing and coming back with a small box. She rifles through it before coming up with an RSVP with Ayabe's signature on it.]
What do you suppose would be a way to stop the transformations, sir?
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We're sure meeting and exchanging cultures here... [ No killing necessary to do that! He hands the paper back to Peach. ]
I'd need to know more about the transformations to have a better idea about that. What's making people transform, do you know? You were talking about the monster- whoever it is who transforms- their goal is to stay alive. Is the monster hungry? Does it feed off... souls? What do you know about it?
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We're still researching all of that. We're kind of working at the same pace you are, just with a little additional information about who's transforming. Maybe the monster just wants to cause destruction, we've never really asked.
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[ ... ]
I'll bake you another cake.
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And you can't help us during trials because is our job, or what? [ She could just give them a subtle hint. Point at the culprit behind their back. Write their name into the dirt with her shoe.
Ayabe sighs and turns back to the rules, reading them over again. ]
...We're supposed to vote for the culprit, but why do they have to be condemned to death? Whether they're guilty or not, you have that cage that keeps them locked up.
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Something like that. Guests are the only ones who can vote anyway. [But she's just...frowning then.] The thing about it is, if people keep transforming we can't keep throwing all of them into one cage. Not to mention that the longer we wait, the less...themselves they become as the transformation takes over completely. Maybe even permanently.
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[ Or maybe it's just the same. The moment you stop being yourself, you no longer exist, and that's the same as death. ]
If we're able to catch somebody who could transform before they actually do so and hurt somebody, is there a way to keep it from happening? To undo it? Or are they a lost cause the moment they're infected?
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[ Nobody else he's talked to experienced something like that, so if Anna were at trial last weekend Ayabe would have doxxed him... ]
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Sir, I believe that was something entirely unrelated to the transformations you've been witnessing. [Like. No.]
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