Audience: Gu Yun

[probe]

Comments

[probe]

[that just gets them to finish the glass of wine.]

[liuli]

[ oh my god

this gets him to bark out a laugh and slap the bar, delighted! ]

You're pretty funny, you know! [ genuinely excellent comedic timing pride. snickering to himself, he takes a big drink of his, too. ] I'm not much of a bodyguard - I'd likely let you get away with all sorts of terrible things.

[ since pride =/= great liang... meh! ]

[probe]

[the funny thing is that wasn't even on purpose. they're just that exasperated.]

Hm. Seems likely. [they put the glass down on the bar.]

[liuli]

[ good he's gonna grow on you like a fungus.

still chuckling a little, he nudges the jar back over to them, in case they want a refill. ] There's a reason I'm not a bodyguard.

[ it's also way below his paygrade. the snickering fades, eventually, and he swirls the drink in his glass. ] Seems some of us need one, after everything that happened this weekend.

As expected, you were right. [ about watching backs, anyway. not that gu yun is surprised. ]

[probe]

A bodyguard likely won't help you here.

[they shrug slightly.]

I knew I would be. It never takes long for people to resort to violence.

[liuli]

[ sure won't! that's fine, its not like he's really in need of one.

the more serious topic is important. he drums his fingers on the edge of the glass, expression sliding easily into something much more thoughtful. ] But not Beauregard, apparently.

...Are those results to be trusted? Or can those be bent by illusion, too?

[probe]

The results are one of the only things that can be trusted.

[liuli]

I thought as much.

[ it does create a whole host of other questions, though. he frowns, eventually settling with his hand over his mouth. ]

... When the doors locked and we were all unconscious, were you all able to stay awake? Were you still able to watch us?

[probe]

We were just as surprised as you were when the doors locked.

[liuli]

[ love not getting notifs ]

What happened on your end?

[probe]

I woke up to a body, same as you.

[liuli]

You were all knocked unconscious, too?

[probe]

I didn't say that, I said we woke up to a body.

[liuli]

[ files that away for later ]

Did you hear any of the noises? Or see that odd recording?

[probe]

Haven't heard any noises, but I saw the recording. It was stupid.

[liuli]

[ lol ]

That wasn't you all either? What in the world would make this place manifest something like that...?

[ probably the bunch of chaotic gremlins that are in it.

gu yun taps his fingers against his glass, again, thoughtfully. ] Let me ask you this. There was one particular inconsistency that's been bothering me since yesterday. All of the illusions that people experienced - the cherry blossoms, for example - vanished on Saturday morning. We didn't find any particular evidence of any of them, either, and came to the conclusion they were likely some sort of message, or something of the like, making connections between locations and the person involved.

There was an exception, though - what Vira saw. She was able to bring the fragments of that skull back with her on Saturday, and then, Yuri and I found the rest of it with the key piece of evidence.

[ he frowns, again. ] Well. Most of it. [ the outside bones. ] Any thoughts?

[probe]

Wouldn't worry about that.

[it's funny, they actually sound like - exasperated?]

The skull is not important.

[liuli]

[ looks into the camera like this is the fucking office why does this happen to me EVERY GAME ]

So you do know what's important, then?

[probe]

[i'm crying rip sisi]

You can likely guess what my answer is going to be.

[liuli]

[ me: this is probably a shitpost about outside bones
also me: BUT WHAT IF IT WASNT

gu yun sighs and and reaches for the wine bottle to top his drink off. ] I have an idea, yes.

What about the rest of the illusions. Do you think it's likely that'll happen again?

[probe]

Not sure. But I'd assume yes.

Re...calibrations. [they say this like it's a foreign word. they also wave their hand, which is still clawed.]

[liuli]

Don't have much machinery in your world, hmm?

[ steampunk means he knows what a recalibration is!!! ]

[probe]

No. Not... not anything like it is here.

Lanterns. No phones. No... televisions.

[liuli]

Lanterns for me, too. Ziliujin steam lamps are starting to become more popular, now, though, since there are watered down versions of them that can be sold for cheap.

[ gu yun props his chin back into his hand. ] It's odd, isn't it? Takes some getting used to. I wasn't going to send a single message with that thing [ nodding at his phone ] until I understood it.

[probe]

I don't like using it.

[the phone, they mean. and then, vaguely annoyed:] ... White called me a boomer.

[they're still not entirely sure what that is but they know it's not a nice term.]