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

[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...

[howveryglib]

…

I imagine that could be rectified at some point.

[nero cackling in the distance…]

[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?]