... You understand that much, and you're still sympathizing with the "directors."
[ less of a question, more of a statement - one laced with faint disapproval. He's not in the mood to argue about them any more than he already has, however. ]
Things like that occasionally happened in the castle. There's a chance that you're right.
[and he doesn't at all sound ashamed, despite the disapproval. and if Hikage moves on, then he isn't about to explain himself, either. he has his reasons, and those who dislike and distrust the counselors have theirs. there's no point in arguing about it]
Did they? [a curious noise] Can you give me an example?
It was at the very end. There were... illusions of people we cared about...
[ it all happened so fast that Hikage still hasn't really processed it; for him, this was barely a week ago. Barely a week ago that they managed to pull off a miracle - barely a week ago that he watched his sister try to kill him before seeing Belph shoot her in the face.
He's a practical man. He knew it was fake then; he knows it now. The image floats up in his mind unbidden nonetheless, the first time he's really thought about it since, and he feels his stomach churn. ]
...
[ there's a long pause while he curls his nails into his sleeves, his face paling, although his expression remains strangely detached. ]
... There were illusions and they attacked us. It felt real. But they were just fakes made to lead us astray.
[Akira is silent as Hikage works through those emotions. he knows better than to press, to poke at what seems to be a relatively fresh wound that has yet to scar over]
. . . I'm sorry.
[there isn't anything else Akira can offer but his sympathies. while he hadn't experienced anything quite like that back at the mansion. . . there was something similar, wasn't there?]
One week-- as encouragement to kill others-- we were given DVDs with recordings of our loved ones in distress on them.
But. . . those weren't real, either. [breathes out sharply] More illusions. More fakes to lead us astray.
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no subject
[ less of a question, more of a statement - one laced with faint disapproval. He's not in the mood to argue about them any more than he already has, however. ]
Things like that occasionally happened in the castle. There's a chance that you're right.
no subject
[and he doesn't at all sound ashamed, despite the disapproval. and if Hikage moves on, then he isn't about to explain himself, either. he has his reasons, and those who dislike and distrust the counselors have theirs. there's no point in arguing about it]
Did they? [a curious noise] Can you give me an example?
no subject
[ it all happened so fast that Hikage still hasn't really processed it; for him, this was barely a week ago. Barely a week ago that they managed to pull off a miracle - barely a week ago that he watched his sister try to kill him before seeing Belph shoot her in the face.
He's a practical man. He knew it was fake then; he knows it now. The image floats up in his mind unbidden nonetheless, the first time he's really thought about it since, and he feels his stomach churn. ]
...
[ there's a long pause while he curls his nails into his sleeves, his face paling, although his expression remains strangely detached. ]
... There were illusions and they attacked us. It felt real. But they were just fakes made to lead us astray.
no subject
. . . I'm sorry.
[there isn't anything else Akira can offer but his sympathies. while he hadn't experienced anything quite like that back at the mansion. . . there was something similar, wasn't there?]
One week-- as encouragement to kill others-- we were given DVDs with recordings of our loved ones in distress on them.
But. . . those weren't real, either. [breathes out sharply] More illusions. More fakes to lead us astray.