Audience: Grace Monroe

[probe]

Comments

[alteracion]

[ no explanation!! ]

... Right. [ she's not sure what she expected as an answer, if that helps or not ] It all felt real. We saw... personal trauma, I guess? I don't know for sure what the others saw. Then when I met up with Molly, there were fakes of some of our friends here, but we didn't know they were fake. They attacked us, but they were acting like... themselves. They kept apologizing and saying they couldn't control it. Once we were all in there it locked us in a room, and...

[ she just kind of trails off! ]

[probe]

[there's a long silence because haha, trauma! wow! greed doesn't know anything about trauma at all!

...hm.]

...let me guess. Kill or be killed?

[alteracion]

We had them subdued, but we couldn't leave unless they died, and Molly was impaled and I--

[ was technically also dying but not quite aware of it, it's fine. ]

I didn't know who was real. There was this... fog, making us doubt everyone else, and I was just... I was afraid and I-- [ oh she's tearing up now and she blinks them away, wiping at her eyes ] I don't know if it was the right choice.

[probe]

[oh he does not know what to do with tears. luckily, maus whimpers a little and crawls over greed's chest to nudge at her hand with his widdle head.]

...have you seen those who you saw in that hotel? Your friends from here.

[alteracion]

[ what a good dog! he is getting all the pets! suffer emotions, greedworth.

she nods a little shakily ]

Yeah. They're-- fine. [ a beat ] Well, Omi was, and now he's dead, but that's unrelated.

[probe]

[NO HE DOESN'T WANT THESE FEELINGS.]

That's unrelated. [because yikes.] Were you...was there any other option at all beyond killing them? Did you try other ways?

[alteracion]

[ she hesitates, still petting dog ]

That's why Molly was so long after us. He didn't do it. So he...

[ nearly bled to death idk it's a great choice ]

[probe]

...the right choice isn't always necessarily the easiest choice. You understand that, don't you?

[alteracion]

So what was the right choice, there?

[ grace is the one who started talking about it so does she really get to be defiant? sure! ]

[probe]

...perhaps the "right" choice isn't the correct word, but rather the necessary one.

[alteracion]

[ well! that cuts the wind out of her sails a little, and she looks away ]

Do you think it was? Necessary?

[probe]

...you saw what happened to Tealeaf by resisting that choice. If it was the only choice to take to escape? Perhaps it was.

[alteracion]

... I guess.

[ she seems a little relieved despite the lukewarm answer, and she shakes her head and pets maus more intensely ]

Anyway, Douman tried to shoot us and apparently was mad they didn't get to kill the fake Omi, so I'm fine they're dead.

[probe]

[just. pinching the bridge of his nose and mumbling something that sounds akin to "I hate clowns."]

I've never quite understood anything about them, and I'm not sure I want to.

[alteracion]

The more I learned, the less I wanted to. [ now that she's talked shit and feels a little better, she picks up maus to place him on her own lap for maximum petting ] Anyway, Takeru's team had a choice sort of like that. Where it's... [ ... ] bad. And they all said they felt like they picked the wrong one? Molly said the same. Like a... supernatural kind of feeling.

I don't know what that means. And Gu Yun's team had one like that, I think, but I got distracted because Takeru was in theirs for some reason? And also they learned White got superpowers from a goat and that's why he has a horn.

[ which is objectively funny. ]

[probe]

[maus immediately abandons greed and goes to snuggle in grace's lap instead. therapy pup is here to help.]

The young girl. Yes, I've heard. [he makes a face regarding the information about white but they shake their head again.]

I've had a theory that these places are a test of will, but I don't have any proof yet. We've been doing as much research as we can but our results are few.

[alteracion]

Like... how far we're willing to go, maybe?

[ she's not sure she likes the answer! but it's fine because she has a dog with cute widdle paws ]

[probe]

Precisely. [he's not too fond of that answer either. maus is once again doing that thing where little dogs paw at people for pets.]

It would explain why there's no warning and why we can't see anything when you disappear.

[alteracion]

[ grace pets him with one hand and plays with his paw in the other. this is what maus gets ]

I guess it makes sense. [ unsure ] But I thought indulging the most you could or whatever was the big test.

[probe]

[maus is doing his best and letting grace do what she wants, licking her fingers.]

It's a big test, but perhaps it isn't the only one. High risks earn high rewards, generally.

[alteracion]

I was stabbed like seven times with a letter opener.

[ she does not approve of these high risks. ]

[probe]

[hm...]

While I haven't been stabbed, I have been held at gunpoint a few times, kidnapped a few times, and arrested a few times for choices I've made.

[it's not remotely the same, but.]

[alteracion]

[ i mean, those are all bad, but the one that stands out and probably shouldn't is: ]

You were arrested?

[ but greed you're a NERD ]

[probe]

[GRACE.

but there's a wry smile.]

Twice. Once for conducting an illegal investigation and once as a murder suspect.

[alteracion]

Obviously you didn't kill anyone [ she hopes ] but... how do you conduct an illegal investigation?