The Human Game: A Shrine for a Fake God

Everyone else: THAT'S TERRIBLE.
Camilla: I'm fine with it.

hey hey. i just came here to invite everyone to the thg discord server!!
i even got the Friday Stamp of Approval to advertise:


there's a link to the tumblr post i made for it here but for the sake of convenience:

rules:

• no discourse
  
• like thg
  
• be nice
  

join the server here!

HAPPY THG'S (super belated) 3RD ANNIVERSARY! (it's third one, right?)
To toot my own horn: some time ago i complied some of Friday's hints/Q&A posted on late MSPAF. It should be good enough to act as a primer to various goings-on.

is the page with cancel being surrounded by the players a danganronpa reference, or is it from persona4?

Show Content

'Additional commentary'

• What if it's not (only) cancel who is erasing/replacing their memories?
  
• Given the sheer size disrepancy of the medalions, it would mean that cancel is about... four times as large as a person? About as large as the broken mirror statue? Imagine this: Cancel actually using that mirror?
  
• "it came from you": Does that make the intended recipient The monster progenitor, or A monster progenitor? If it's the former, what are they doing in the game, what were the intermediate steps here? If it's the latter, it would mean every player is one as well!
  
• Assuming the letter has been written by A, their monster could still have done something to the letter. Or not, but that just raises another pile of questions.
  
• Assuming the letter is legit, it would imply that:
  -"Ash Hearts" was written over 40 years ago... which makes 'the present' happen in 2030 - or later!
  -At least one type of monsters come in two pieces - one that's initially inside a host and one freeroaming.
  -Letterwriter was in the same group as banksy, and the decision to split was made when the former was already infected. Which is to say, masks may have something of an isolation instinct for self-defense from other masks that may or may not be already implanted and/or hostile
  -Banksy was already half-turned by that point, consiedering the doodles
  
• What exactly does 'elimination' entail? no way theredlamp is going to waste a moving character.
  

As for the lies, there are a few details that catch the eye:

• Connors family could be a sham. In that case, how do we persuade him that this really is happening and it's Okay?
  
• Immediately after mentioning a lab, there was a beat. Why would it be there if he just remembered wasps? Memory erasure and/or manipulation by cancel/etc is always on the table, but what if it's a red herring to lead away from the possibility of Connor himself blanking trauma?
  
• The entire letter! unlikely, but still - why cancel didn't properly check where all medallions are before this iteration started?
  
• Alternatively, if he didn't know about the letter, it would mean that there were eight of them to begin with!
  
• The writer insists cancel hates recipient specifically for their persistence. ...wait what? There might be bias involved, but still.
  
• The letter has been paced so that 'i love you' gets it's own beat - so that reader-players would ponder on it. it's the kind of phrase to potentially cause a lot of drama, especially given the circumstances.
  
• How exactly did the letterwriter kill a monster? The pose implies it died here, but if so, there would be an imprint. unless... the victim wasn't as far gone (if at all!) as we're led to believe.
  
• If it was already growing inside, how it could be waiting outside?
  

(Cancel's Line, though, is 1000% true.)

which one, though?

(Cancel's Line, though, is 1000% true.)

which one, though?


Cancel does have children. That's the Line that's true!

(Also the panel wasn't referencing either of those games, I was going for a more "LET ME TRY TO INCLUDE THE ENTIRE CAST IN ONE PANEL SOMEHOW" thing)

>Oh wow. So grateful for pretty much murdering one of the people stuck here by turning him into a creepmonster that's in eternal torment.

You quickly slip the note in your pocket, turning to face the Cancel-robot with a sneer.

KATE: Yeah, right!
KATE: Us, grateful?
KATE: For what, you basically allowing a guy to die by turning him into a monster?
CANCEL: I wasn’t the one who turned him into a monster, Ms. Greenwood.
CANCEL: If you’re looking for someone to blame, blame Mr. Sato himself.
CANCEL: His bad decisions led to his own downfall. Such a pity.
THALIA: And what, did his bad decisions bring him here, then?
CANCEL: I understand that is meant to be sarcastic…
CANCEL: But I have to say…yes, quite honestly, they did.

Cancel chuckles at that. The robot doesn’t move as a person would – it glides over the floor, probably using wheels you can’t see. It’s close enough to you that you step in front of it, aiming an accusing finger right towards the screen that the golden jerk is displayed on.

KATE: I don’t care about bad decisions or not.
KATE: YOU did this to us! Don’t you try to pin it on us!
KATE: This is YOUR fault!
CANCEL: Such confident words. And yet you say them with such little knowledge behind them.
KATE: “Little knowledge”, my ass!
KATE: At least stop being a coward and just say it!
KATE: Why can’t you ju-

You can’t say anything more, because suddenly, without any warning whatsoever, the robot has reached forward one of its hands to clamp it over your mouth.

CANCEL: Now now, do be quiet for a moment.
CANCEL: Didn’t your mother teach you any manners, hm?

The robotic hand on your mouth is strong, cold, and you try to pull out of it – but the grip only tightens. You feel your face heating up as you struggle to get loose. You try to speak. It only comes out as an angry mumble. You can barely hear the words of protest coming out of the mouths of the people around you– you’re focused on one person, and one person alone. Cancel.

You can already start to hear a characteristic beeping noise…

CANCEL: Oh, goodness, Ms. Greenwood. Don’t embarrass me.
CANCEL: You can breathe out of your nose, you know.
CANCEL: And yet, here you’re flailing about without even stopping to think about how it’s futile to struggle!
CANCEL: That’s a common thing with you, isn’t it?
CANCEL: You do things, rush on in, and scarcely even have a single thought towards the contrary!
CANCEL: Ever so eager to get your teeth into whatever you see as an enemy…
CANCEL: …Haha, Mr. Nox, I can see what you see in her!
DANIEL: Please, please…l-let her go! She’ll get shocked!!
CANCEL: Ah, yes, your little punishment is about to activate, isn’t it, Ms. Greenwood?
CANCEL: Very well. I’ll be lenient this time.
CANCEL: But it’s only because I don’t want to damage my dear Major.

And so, he lets you go, only seconds away from certain electrocution.

>Kate: I mean, yeah, Cancel is totally terrible. If anyone deserves to be yelled at, it's him. But do you really want to antagonize him?

You take a few steps back, coughing. He was right – you could’ve just breathed out your nose, took it calmly, but you saw red. And he knew you would do it. You feel a burning sense of shame rise in your chest, and you do your best to push it down.

This isn’t your fault. Cancel is a sadistic and pathetic man who just wants to see you suffer. You shouldn’t give him a chance to do exactly that. For now, you have to play nice, even though all your instincts are practically chomping at the bit, eager to teach him a lesson. You’re already at a disadvantage. He could just make it worse in the blink of an eye, and you can’t do a thing about it.

Camilla is suddenly at your side before any of the others can even move. She doesn’t say anything, but you can see by her look what she wants to ask.

You wave her away with a frown.

KATE: I’m fine, I’m fine…

>Control your temper for a second and ask a calm, reasonable question about say, your memories, or past groups.

KATE: So, Gold Face…
CANCEL: I do have a name, Ms. Greenwood, do be mature enough to use it.
KATE: Cancel. Fine.
KATE: We’re not the first people here, are we?
KATE: This stupid game has happened before.
CANCEL: Indeed, it has. Multiple times.
CAMILLA: How many times…?
CANCEL: That is for me to know and for you to find out.
CANCEL: But just know that you hardly are the first ones who have gone through this terrible chain of events.
CANCEL: I have seen so many of your kind through this process, all asking the same questions…
CANCEL: Why, it almost makes the mind blur…
CANCEL: Anyways, you are most certainly not the first ones to play The Human Game.
JOE: What happened to all of them…? The ones before us.
CANCEL: …
CANCEL: Why, they all turned into monsters, of course.

>So is this one of those games where only one can get out in the end? No, wait, the one survivor gets to be the next Cancel, right?

Not a single person. It’s so quiet you can almost hear your own blood rushing in your head. A pounding, over and over again. Nobody won. Everyone turned into monsters. Everyone.

KATE: Nobody has won? Not a single person?
CANCEL: Not a single one, no.
KATE: W-what happens if someone does win, then?
KATE: Does the winner gets to become the new you? Is that how it works?
CANCEL: Oh, goodness! No! Don’t make me laugh.
CANCEL: I wouldn’t trust any of you to do what I do.
CANCEL: This is my…well, ah, responsibility to bear.
CANCEL: No, the winner is not going to obtain my role here in this facility.
CANCEL: They will be able to claim victory, knowing that they are truly the best example of what humanity has to offer.
CANCEL: The one who wins shall never let the Null overtake them…
CANCEL: …Unlike your friend in turquoise, that pathetic man.
CONNOR: What? Null?
CANCEL: I’m referring to the masks, of course.
CANCEL: Those terrible things that are so eager to live in dark, moist, places…
CANCEL: They’re all coming for you, you know.

THALIA: Explain yourself.
THALIA: What are these Nulls? What do they want?
CANCEL: These monsters that roam the corridors of this facility…
CANCEL: Why, they are playing their own game, of sorts.
CANCEL: Not one I gave them, mind you. I can’t say they’re the type to follow directions and orders, but…
CANCEL: Hm. How to put this.
CANCEL: While you all are trying to retain whatever vestiges of humanity you have, the Null are doing their best to obtain it, I suppose?
CANCEL: Or renew it…hm.
CANCEL: I will say, their motivations are far more complicated than that, though.
CANCEL: Though I can certainly understand, to some extent, why they want what they want.
CANCEL: …
CANCEL: Either way, they’re desperate things.
CANCEL: Each one of them has a single target: one of you.
CANCEL: You each have your own personal Null. Your shadow.
CANCEL: The bane of your existence, ready to hunt you down by any means necessary.
CANCEL: You have something they desire, after all.
CANCEL: And for that, not a single thing shall stand in their way.
ABIGAIL: Is that what happened to Seth? His Null wanted what he had…?
CANCEL: Yes, indeed.
CANCEL: Dare I say, it went to him like a moth to the flame, haha!
CANCEL: But yes, his monster was rather eager.
CANCEL: That’s common with that type of Null, they are often the ones who like to overtake their counterparts first…
CANCEL: Other Nulls are far craftier, far less ready to, what’s the saying, “jump the gun”?
CANCEL: Don’t underestimate them, now.
JOE: Can we…can we cure Seth? Get that thing out of him?
CANCEL: You sound so hopeful, Mr. Verger!
CANCEL: I recommend that you murder that hope where it stands.
CANCEL: What’s done is done. His fate is sealed.
CANCEL: Seth’s Null, that wretched Insect, sits inside of him now. It’s made itself a home.
CANCEL: Do take care not to let that happen to you, hm?

KATE: You say that like we should know what we’re supposed to do, jerk.
KATE: You haven’t told us anything besides the fact that those things want to get inside of us.
CANCEL: Of course I’m not going to tell you much of anything else. That would be too easy.
CANCEL: This is a game, after all. If the players knew all the answers beforehand, what would be the point of it?
CANCEL: No, no. You must learn the nature of the Null on your own.
CANCEL: …Think of it as getting to know yourself a little better.
CANCEL: Now, before I begin to explain the next part of the game, let me ask you all a question.
CAMILLA: Is this really the time?
CANCEL: Of course it is. Allow me this, if you please.
CANCEL: You all ask me so many questions and yet I scarcely get the chance to return the favor?
CANCEL: How unfair! But anyways…
CANCEL: It’s a question I think on quite often. I’m so curious to see as what you think.
CANCEL: What do you believe drives a man’s life forward?
CANCEL: What is the thing that pushes a person to accomplish as much as they can in what little time they have on Earth?


Author's Note:

Show Content

Spoiler
Cancel no longer looks like a word to me...

Anyways MORE PSEUDO-PHILOSOPHICAL BS FROM CANCEL. Be quiet, Cancel, nobody wants to hear from you after taking Philosophy 101 in college. Shut up.

A possible group division might be coming up soon, so be prepared to sort characters into groups for a CERTAIN THING.

> "It's different for every person, wouldn't you say?"

> Joe: SPIEL MODE ACTIVATE

(Should we divide them in groups now? Or wait until the next update's instructions?)

(Also, Cancel as an obnoxious philosophy student is distressingly plausible.)

>Kate: Punching his face drives you forward!
>Kate: Punch his face.

>Kate: What kind of stupid question is that ?! People jsut live cause it's what they do and they keep on living cause it's basic surivival intinct and wil do anythi ng to keep on living. Life a hard habit to break.

>Thalia: hedonism. Since there is so little time to live, most people want to enjoy as much of it as they can while they cana nd leave on a high note.

>Joe: Transcendance. To leave a lasting legacy behind that'll change the world, leave one's name and inspire and shape others so they may shape the world in turn, leave their own legacy on so on..

>Connor: To give a more utilitarian version of it, perenity. Life is based on self reproduction, it's the very definition of it and humans are no different. Most people will eventualy want to have a family, children and then do everything int heir power so their families prosper even after their passing and perpetuate int urn

>Abigael: People are scarred of death but they can't do anything about it. As a medium you know it all too well. So they're even more scarred of Oblivion. No one wants to be forgotten

(tried to fit the answers to the character whose personality (or at least apparent ones) seems to fit the most to them)

> I dunno, instinct?

For me it's a roadtrip with fear and anger taking turns at the wheel

>Compassion, for themselves and others
>The idea that they can improve their lot in life, i.e. hope for the future
>Belief that the world should be a certain way
>Desire to have peace of mind

(pretty sure noone is going to step before the line and answer "self-interest")

That aside:

• Cancel interrupted Kate either in response to being called a coward, which raises questions about his backstory. Or he does it at the perfect moment to stop her from dropping a spoilerbomb not only on the readers, but on other characters as well.
  
• The tubes could be used to link to the system, but what other uses they could have? Wouldn't a direct connection to the brain/spine be more effective? i'm sure there is a pic somewhere that shows ports running in parallel
  
• Meanwhile, he's not paying attention to everything else, giving both Hammond and Seth? opportunities to do shenanigans.
  
• Can we take a moment to appreciate TheRedLamp's choice of names?
  null, adjective: amounting to nothing
  null, verb: to cancel, to make null
  and so on and so forth
  
• If every null already has a target in mind, that would imply the latter are pickied around the time the headmask forms into a specific shape
  
• Take note of the wording; cancel keeps using "overtake". Meaning, there exists - at least in theory - a possibility of a player either overpowering or striking a balance with the parasite. The question is how.
  
• ....why is Connor Joe missing in the last page? Looks as suspect as Camilla mulling over trinkets.
  

>Death?

>It kinda depends on the person. A lot of the time, there's something they want to know, or something they want to exist, or something they need to have. And since they don't know it, or it doesn't exist, or they don't have it, they... do stuff? To fix that?

> The specifics vary from person to person, but in the end it comes down to a desire for meaning in life.

>Kate: Punching his face drives you forward!

KATE: What kind of a stupid question is that, huh?
KATE: What drives me towards accomplishing stuff is seeing you punched in the face!
CANCEL: Oh, do calm down, Ms. Greenwood.
CANCEL: If you have nothing to offer, then say nothing at all.
KATE: Fine then! You want an answer, huh?
KATE: People are driven by instinct. They just want to do whatever they want, however they want
KATE: There isn’t some big huge meaningful explanation for why people do what they do.
CANCEL: But doesn’t that suggest that human beings are no different from simple animals?
KATE: Well, uh, we are animals, aren’t we? Like that’s just a fact.
CANCEL: Yes, and no. Do think on that for a moment.
CONNOR: Well, now that you mention animals…they do what they can to promote the survival of their offspring.
CONNOR: It does depend on the species, though.
CONNOR: But in a way, we do what we must for our children and our loved ones, don’t we?
CONNOR: People are driven forward to accomplish things that will ensure success for the ones around them.
CANCEL: What a nice thought! It would be true, if you didn’t account for pure selfishness.
CANCEL: Mr. Cavanagh, do you really think someone with a choice to save their own life or the one of a loved one will always choose the latter?
CANCEL: Of course the former happens as well, but are you really that naïve to think it happens every time?
CANCEL: I’m sure you can think instantly of a scenario where someone saves their own hide over saving another.
CONNOR: I…
CONNOR: …
THALIA: Of course, people are selfish. Therefore, the answer to your question is: they do what makes them happy.
THALIA: People live this life, indulge in pleasures, and try to chase happiness.
THALIA: Even if others get caught up in that wake.
CANCEL: Hm. And what of the ones who isolate themselves? Make themselves suffer?
THALIA: Why would anyone do that?
CANCEL: Why would anyone, indeed…not everyone is driven by the pursuit of happiness.
ABIGAIL: I suppose…some people are driven by the fact that they don’t want to die?
CANCEL: How so? Do tell.
ABIGAIL: Death is a frightening thing…I’ve talked to so many people who don’t even want to think about death.
ABIGAIL: So they do things so that they can survive longer, I guess…
ABIGAIL: And not be forgotten, either.
ABIGAIL: A lot of times, the dead don’t have anyone to remember them…
CANCEL: And what about daredevils? People who take risks and put their lives on the line?
CANCEL: Does the fear of death motivate them too?
ABIGAIL: Maybe…in a way…
DANIEL: C-can we just stop talking about this? This is making my head spin…
CANCEL: Mr. Nox, now, you don’t have any thoughts on the subject?
DANIEL: I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it…
JOE: Maybe what drives people is the chance at a legacy. Of leaving something behind?
JOE: I do say that Abigail was perhaps trailing down the right path, before…
JOE: But it’s far more succinct to say that they wish to leave something behind.
JOE: Whether in the grand form of memories, of inventions, of family, of something concrete, something abstract, something far beyond understanding, something within the realms of definition, something-
CAMILLA: Oh, be quiet.
CAMILLA: It is different for everyone.
CAMILLA: That is the answer.

Cancel lets out a sharp laugh, almost mocking in tone.

CANCEL: I do suppose you have a point, Ms. Lloyd!
CANCEL: But these answers are all very, very intriguing, yes…
CANCEL: Allow me to offer my own answer to this inquiry.
CANCEL: I can use one word to describe what drives a man to accomplish whatever they can in what little time they have in this world.
CANCEL: And that word is purpose.
CANCEL: When I speak of this word, I refer to it as a desire to acknowledge one’s own life as having worth.
CANCEL: Every single person’s worth is unique and individualized to them.
CANCEL: What may be one man’s purpose may be another’s bane of existence.
CANCEL: “What am I put on this earth to do” is the question that encompasses this concept.
CANCEL: Am I put on this earth to make myself happy? Am I put on this earth to cure dreadful diseases?
CANCEL: Am I put on this earth to provide for my loved ones? Am I put on this earth to obtain myself an immortal legacy?
CANCEL: There are many variations to this question. And only we may know what we want our true purpose to be.
CANCEL: But what if someone shirks their purpose, or fails to obtain it?
CANCEL: Imagine: a person stuck in life, unsure of what to do, where to go, unable to do anything that makes them satisfied that they have worth in this world.
CANCEL: This person realizes that they are nothing.
CANCEL: They chase silly things, momentary sparks of happiness that distract them from the fact that they have nothing to reach for.
CANCEL: They tell themselves they are failures, that they mean nothing, and not even the threat of death or obscurity can push them out of this state.
CANCEL: Imagine an interlocutor who realizes that their attempts at promoting communication between others has been utterly botched by their narrow-sighted view of why we talk in the first place.
CANCEL: Imagine a warrior who fights and kills and spills blood and loses sight of why they picked up weapons in the first place until the moment they are at the brink of death.
CANCEL: Imagine a missionary who does not spread the word of their religion, but becomes so insecure that they hide themselves and their words away and hoard their experiences all to themselves.
CANCEL: Imagine a historian who looks upon the vast expanse of history and falls into despair at the fact that history will repeat itself and there is no point in recording it anymore.
CANCEL: Such people, these nothings, will lose hope.
CANCEL: They will stare down at their feet and sit and think and wonder and wonder and realize that time has passed them by, and their thoughts have not given them anything.
CANCEL: Many of them will die alone.
CANCEL: The world does not weep for their passing, for they are as worthless as worthless can be.
CANCEL: I wonder how many people have understood that cruel, terrible fact…

Cancel pauses. One can almost hear a needle drop in the room.

CANCEL: Anyways…enough of such discussions.
CANCEL: It is good to indulge in such interesting mental exercises every now and then.
CANCEL: But it is time to move on.
CANCEL: The next step in the game will be quite intriguing.
CANCEL: For it is the step that will separate your merry little group into three.
KATE: Separate?
CANCEL: Allow me to explain it in further detail.
CANCEL: There are three paths that will now stand before you.
CANCEL: Each path can only accept a certain amount of people.
CANCEL: The first path leads to the Bridge of Sighs. Only three people may go down that particular road.
CANCEL: The third path leads to the Shrine of Lies. As before, only three people may travel down and see what this path has to offer.
CANCEL: But the second one?
CANCEL: The second one is very, very special.
CANCEL: Only one person may take this path.
CANCEL: While the other two will challenge you, this path will give you something incredibly valuable.
CANCEL: To the person who takes this direction, I shall contact them, and tell them a single, solitary statement of truth.
CANCEL: This truth is not one to be taken lightly. It may be one that might change your perspective on the people around you.
CANCEL: You can choose whatever you want to do with this truth.
CANCEL: You may share it, or you may keep it for yourself.
CANCEL: I do not care what you do with it. The choice is yours, as secret bearer.

CANCEL: Now, you have all obtained the tokens I referred to earlier, yes?
CANCEL: These shall be your method of passage for these paths.
CANCEL: You shall use them as payment, as toll…
CANCEL: The doorways shall accept the correct amount of tokens and shall open to let you through.
CANCEL: But they will close instantly afterwards.
CANCEL: It will be impossible to cheat.
CANCEL: So, to this end, you must choose wisely.
CANCEL: Which one of you shall hear a truth, and which one of you shall be put through trials to make it to the next stage of the game…
CANCEL: I shall leave this decision entirely up to you.

Author's note

Show Content

Spoiler
Yes, indeed, here is a BIG STORY-CHANGING DECISION. This is completely out of my hands and is in yours (to steal Cancel's words). Two groups of three, and a lucky (or unlucky) soul who shall heal a truth that shall have ramifications. It isn't going to be some kind of truth like "oh, Daniel sleeps with his teddy bears!" or something. It's super serious.

For those curious, the Bridge of Sighs and the Shrine of Lies are going to be puzzle-oriented! Cancel will not give any details about the puzzles if prodded, so there are no hints as to which one is better for which character. All you'll get are the names.

And as far as the order goes of the people in the first GIF...yes I know they don't follow the order of the people who talk in the dialogue. There's no meaning in it (it's been a busy month............I'm lazy)

> The lone person should be one who can handle new information with a teaspoon of skepticism and discernment. Perhaps Camilla?

> Joe, Connor and Abigail to the Bridge of Sighs; Kate, Daniel and Thalia to the Shrine of Lies; Camilla as the secret bearer.

Hm... assuming everyone would prefer to go hear the truth instead of facing challenges, we'll need to decide as a group who should go. (The composition of the other two teams probably doesn't matter except in who's going with who- not who's going where, since we don't have enough information about the Bridge of Sighs or Shrine of Lies to make decisions about it.)

The first thing we should do is vote- specifically, we should vote on what type of person we want to send to hear the truth. Do we want
a) The person most likely to come back and tell us all the truth
or
b) The person most likely to keep the truth to themselves?
Because, let's be real- we might all be victims of the same game, but I don't think everyone here trusts each other. Cancel's saying this secret could be pretty damn dangerous- do we want the potentially nefarious members of our group to all hear the secret, and then potentially turn on the rest of us? The truth might "change your perspective on the people around you", and I think that maybe we don't want to harm the fragile equilibrium where our perspectives are all "we hesitantly trust each other, given no concrete reason not to". Maybe we want to keep this big secret buried, at least until we have more context so we don't have people acting out based on incomplete information.

If we want to share the secret, I recommend sending Abigail- she's a little girl, so I'm thinking she's the least likely of us to have a nefarious secret agenda that'd motivate her to manipulate or lie to us. I'd kind of support her going in either case- she seems level-headed enough to trust with the decision whether or not to share. (Also, she's the least dangerous if she does happen to go crazy from the revelation.)

If we don't want to share the secret with the group, and we want someone to go who'll keep quiet about it and probably not freak out on us in the meantime, we should send Camilla- she's clearly the best of us at keeping her mouth shut, and seems the least likely to start behaving erratically based on distressing information. And again, she seems level-headed enough to trust with the decision.

For the other two groups... Daniel and Abigail potentially need to be protected if they go; Camilla, Kate, and Connor are potentially good protectors, Joe is kinda freaking out right now and might need protecting from, and Thalia and Camilla are probably best-equipped to defuse conflicts- although Thalia and Connor are also kind of wildcards.

Let's say... if Abigail goes truth, we want one team to be Joe+Camilla+Daniel, and the other being... Connor+Thalia+Kate. (I'm thinking both Connor and Thalia, even if they end up having problems, are the sort who'll listen to Kate trying to be the voice of reason, even if she's yelling. Camilla, meanwhile, is best-equipped to protect Daniel from Joe.)

If Camilla goes truth, we should put Abigail with Daniel and Kate (a pretty low-drama team, I'm hoping) and Thalia and Connor should be able to handle Joe.

Either way, just from the names, I'm thinking we should probably send Joe's team to the Bridge of Sighs- the guy's really worked up right now, and it'd probably be better to send him to a place that's a real bummer, rather than to a Shrine of Lies that sounds like it'll actively fuck with him.

>Kate: March down to the center while others are still thinking. You're getting to the bottom of this!

haha let's have joe hear it

Anyways, I think either Kate or Camilla should go alone. Personally, I vote Kate...she's not the type to keep a secret just for the sake of keeping a secret/taking that responsibility like Cam would, but unlike Abigail she's more capable of considering when it's best to share a secret. Abby's smart, but she's just a baby...if it's a scary or distressing secret she'd probably come out with it...honest kids tell adults what's wrong, after all. I'm also a little biased, since Kate's the most "player character" of them, and you want the player to hear the secrets. I could also see arguing for Connor hearing it. We don't know much about him, but I think he'd base whether or not to tell on good reasoning, instead of just hiding it.

Bridge of Sighs: Joe, Thalia, Connor
Shrine of Lies: Camilla, Daniel, Abigail

Am I trying to make sure there's a tank in both parties? yes
(we still don't know which door Seth(?) was led through, after all)
Also I totally agree with the idea that while there's no good place for Joe right now, a Shrine of Lies sounds extra super bad

Posted by Benedict

;O

But consieder this: whether they'll share or not might depend on what the truth is.

Option 1: Truths are tailored specifically to the people entering, to cause maximum drama possible. In this case, three people that come to my mind:
Kate gets 'everyone (else?) helped setting this up'. The game is horrible and it might prompt her to sabotage others For Great Justice! ...but there might be enough time for her to calm down and think more clearly. As a bonus, Kate would be able to remember the message word-for-word, i.e. not just the gist of it and the emotional response. And, of course, she could also get shocked in the meantime.
Thalia could get 'Jai Parikh died in a game'. Yes please start planning a murder spree out of self-preservation.
For Connor 'You caused this' (either because wasps don't scream, or just as an (ex?)member of achronicity)

Option 2 - in retrospect, much more likely - is that the truth is predefined and static. For instance: How many times the game is played, what year is it, since when null exist, purpose/existence of the marbles, how many people are left, stakes of the game. ...of course, it might line up with the above.

The description implies that while groups prance around looking for clues, whoever goes alone will be stuck thinking about the revelation - that in and of itself can change how they react to it.

Now, as for keeping/telling the above. There is also a possibility of that person either lying or telling something they already know, but not from cancel. From the digetic standpoint, we - the player-readers - might go through one or two puzzle rooms and then be left wondering just what was the truth. Moreover, if the person who goes in keeps their trap shut about it, it may sow distrust regardless of what the truth is or the reasons for withholding it.

So of the remaining people, who would keep the information, and who would tell? Camilla could make her own decision of keeping it to herself and just. not. budge. It seems likely that Daniel, upon being questioned, would just answer with flailing of arms. Or not, given his unpredictability - which just makes him even worse of a candidate. One of the explanation for Joe's behavior could be progressing nullification process, i.e. keeping/lying/telling aside he probably shouldn't be left alone with any shattering revelations.
Which leaves us with Abigail and Connor. On top of Benedict's arguments, Abigail should be less practiced/more obvious about lying, and it would put her in a spot that doesn't require a lot of fiddling with things. The puzzle rooms themselves, may or may not have something Abby would solve more efficently than others, and it may or may not be in only one of these rooms.
...come to think of it, while others are puzzling things out, whoever is left will be stewing in their own thoughts, possibly broadcasting their position to (a?) null. hmm. This does raise the question of how do we check if this exact scenario happened, unless we explictly ask Abigail and/or the opportunity arises in the first place. And, of course, it may not work on internal types all that well, given that nothing pinged with Joe.

As for the two groups, the weakest link would be Daniel and Joe. A confrontation wouldn't work well, so they should be either split or in a larger group (if only to stop any aggression). For dividing others, let's think back on how everyone split last time. Seth+Connor+Thalia, Kate+Joe+Camilla. We already know that Cami keeps an eye on Kate, but is stopping her really that good of an idea in the long run?
Also, consieder this: if we keep pairing Thalia with Connor, she'll just become more... insular? in her opinions. She's not really a wildcard, more like a ticking time bomb. Connor seems trustworthy, but others? she just hasn't interacted with them, and neither did he for that matter.
If we try to keep these three pairs separate, we're left with question which half goes where. We already have a good handle of how Kate and Joe interact, so Daniel could go with Kate and Camilla with Joe. This could provide them with an opportunity to talk, but it's unlikely, especially depending on who else will be in the group.

If Thalia joins Joe and Camilla, Thalia could talk him down. Connor in the Kate&Daniel group could create an opportunity not only for them to talk (since Thalia seems more willing to jump on anything suspicious in sight - figuratively or no), but also for Daniel and Connor to interact.

The locations' names might not be as indicative as they sound, but we also don't have much to go on. Thus - Joe group goes into the Bridge room, Daniel group goes for the Shrine.

TL;DR: Abigail goes alone, Joe+Camilla+Thalia for the Bridge room, Daniel+Kate+Connor For the Shrine room.

There's a lot going on here and I'm not quite sure who to split up for the groups of three, but I will say I'm voting for the solo path to be taken by Daniel.

The Bridge of Sighs is a real place! It's in Venice, and leads from the New Prison to the interrogation rooms in the Doge's Palace.

Quoth Wikipedia:

The view from the Bridge of Sighs was the last view of Venice that convicts saw before their imprisonment. The bridge's name, given by Lord Byron as a translation from the Italian "Ponte dei sospiri" in the 19th century, comes from the suggestion that prisoners would sigh at their final view of beautiful Venice through the window before being taken down to their cells.

Does this Mean Things? It's a mystery.

I think Benedict's reasoning is reasonable - add a vote to his pile.

Current voting for who will receive the truth:

Daniel: 1 (1 vote from NonAnalogue)
Camilla: 3 (1 vote from a person on tumblr who doesn't have an account here, 0.5 from Benedict, 0.5 from K2, 1 vote from Viridis)
Abigail: 2 (0.5 from Benedict, 0.5 from K2, 1 from CI)
Kate: 2 (1 from Tronn, 1 from Seedy)

As for the groups of three, I will probably make a surveymonkey and include all the trios listed as choices for the Bridge or the Shrine - the highest votes shall be the ones chosen. If the votes conflict (for example, Camilla is on both of the highest choices for each place, and she cannot be in two places at once), I shall defer to the second highest that doesn't conflict.)

I'll give until around 5/9 to make the survey, so get in your votes while you can!

Even though I'm not 100% sure this is the best idea, I'm throwing in another vote for Abigail as the truthbearer. I get the feeling she might be well equipped to handle it, if only because she has, no doubt, heard some shit. From like, ghosts and junk.

This will go well.

> Abigail as truthbearer (don't make me regret this Friday, I love my ghost child)
> Going with what Benedict said for the rest.