i am a cage in search of a bird

[crocodiline]

[ The figure inside the frosted glass snaps her fingers, and the glass falls away, sliding into grooves in the ground below. Inside, behind additional bulletproof glass, sits a woman, legs up on a transparent glass desk, absentmindedly petting a... whatever this thing is.

Say hello to your mastermind, everyone! ]

Hey there, everyone. Nice to talk to you in person - my name is Cipher, welcome to my city. Sorry I took so long to show up in person. No need to get up on my account - how about we talk business?

[ Let's drive. ]

Comments

[specialyellthing]

Goldie—

[honeyedtea]

Well, we may as well put her to good use, don't you think?

[specialyellthing]

… Hmph.


I just don’t want you or Sparkles worryin about somethin like that. Don’t you wanna just… spend some nice downtime together? Live life without worryin about revenge or bein perfect?

[sastruga]

[......]

I... don't think downtime is really an option for me...

[specialyellthing]

Why not? You’ve earned it!

[sastruga]

I've missed so much school already...

[crocodiline]

Oh, don't worry about that. You can be put back right where you were if you want.

[sastruga]

...So no one even has to know?

[more specifically her mom doesn't have to know which

oh thank god--]

[crocodiline]

Not if you don't want them to.

[sastruga]

...Thank goodness.

[specialyellthing]

Hawkah, I’m gettin that fancy dinner after all—-

[crocodiline]

And, for the sake of transparency, you can do that without me, too. That Carmen girl's gotten pretty used to using Gunnar's Lutece Machine.

[visiblepattern]

...I would very much like it if we were still able to keep in contact with each other after all of this. That's a possibility?

[crocodiline]

Sure. People from the last two games do. Might get crowded with the one machine, but...

[inaclearing]

[Brett just sort of rests his face in his hands - you know when you probably should spare your loved ones two months of worry, but also that definitely means consigning yourself to a life where you just bottle up your entire murdergame experience forever and you're probably not that good at acting?]

[specialyellthing]

… Is this a fancy music school?

[sastruga]

No, it's just high school, but... it's important.

[specialyellthing]

… I have a friend whose a public school teacher that would whoop my ass if she heard me now—- but—-

Is it? I know plentya people that didn’t do high school, and ended up pretty great.

[inaclearing]

Especially if you're going for a creative career.

[look Brett didn't have a particularly good high school experience in any capacity]

[sastruga]

That's really not an option for me. But if I really can just go back to right when I left... it should be...

[ . . . ]

Oh god how am I going to explain my hair?

[honeyedtea]

...

Is she susceptible to threats?

[ MIELLE??????? ]

[honeyedtea]

Oh, certainly.

I can do that once I've dealt with Aria, though. I thought it might be useful to have a bargaining chip to ensure she doesn't get any silly ideas about ruining my life again into her head.

[specialyellthing]

…

Well. Cant exactly tell you not to. Wouldn’t be very relentless of me.

[honeyedtea]

I'm certain you'll understand should you end up meeting her yourself.

[specialyellthing]

If I end up meetin her, understandin’s gonna be the last thing on my mind—-