week 1, saturday

[vigilantics]

[ sometime after trial, steph will be... slowly... walking along the hallways. she's searching for certain people, and when she spots one of them, she'll wave. ]

Kyouka!

Comments

[vigilantics]

[ that's a question stephanie asks herself every day. ]

Where I'm from, we work on a code. We don't kill. Admittedly, that was... it took me a while to accept that. I thought it was stupid, because there are definitely people out there who don't deserve sympathy. But... if you kill someone because you think they deserve it, and then you keep killing people because they do, when do you stop?

[nivation]

[ ... That's a good question and a nice code to live by. ]

I want to stop. [ She just doesn't know how. ] What made you change?

[ How can she be like that, too? ]

[vigilantics]

Well, one day I got captured by a really bad person, and he... well, he was shitty. [ no need to go into specific details. ] I escaped, and had a chance to kill him. I really wanted him dead... I don't think I ever will want to kill someone more than him.

[ just thinking about black mask still makes her want to puke. ]

But I couldn't do it. He wanted me to pull the trigger, but all I could think of the no kill code. I wouldn't have been doing it because he's a bad person, it would have been because he hurt me. So, I guess... how can we judge like that? We all have our own personal biases and ideas, and all of those ideas being what decides to let someone live or end a life? That's a lot.

[nivation]

[ Kyouka's gaze lowers to the floor. She's killed for less. She's been made to kill for less. It only serves to make her think if that is the kind of life she could lead? Could she change and think like Stephanie? ]

I'm glad you got the upper hand. I don't think I'm a worthy judge, but... we're being made to judge all the same.

[ They have to vote, and if they vote in a way their "hosts" don't like... ]

It must be hard for you. [ To go against her code. ]

[vigilantics]

I hate it. But... I know everyone else must, too.

[ she's not the only person being forced to play in a game she doesn't want to. ]

What about you, Kyouka?

[nivation]

I hate it!

[ Her usual calm is mostly restored after raising her voice. She hates this game, but it's not a game she's new to, and that's what makes her hate it more. ]

I want it to stop. I don't want to be pulled into the lower depths anymore.

[vigilantics]

Hey... [ she places her hands on kyouka's shoulders. ]

We'll get it to stop. It'll be hard, but we will.

[nivation]

Can we?

[ She wants to believe that. ]

I want to change. Like you.

[vigilantics]

The fact that you even want to means a lot, you know. It's a big step.

[nivation]

People say that... people say that, but I still act like I was trained.

[ Like an assassin. ]

I...!

[ Her emotions well up, and her words die in her throat. ]

[vigilantics]

[ it isn't too hard to figure out what kyouka is talking about; it's right there in her tapestry. ]

I have a friend-- she's my best friend. Her name is Cassandra Cain and she was raised from birth to kill people. Cass was... very good at it, from what I've been told. But she tries very hard, every day, to help people now. It's possible, Kyouka. You can change.