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WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, AMANDA. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 102.92.004.06 *** gameover has joined 102.92.004.06 <gameover> This is Amanda. <gameover> If you need to contact me, do so here. <gameover> DO NOT waste my time with stupid shit. | ||||
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No, nothing like that has happened to me yet. But I wasn't asking for myself. [He hesitates, once again looking around before speaking.] It has to do...with the Lager Woods conduit.
I don't know if you saw the post I made, but I was bluffing about knowing their exact identity. But I wasn't bluffing about the trees seeing them. They really did give me a description of the conduit, and I've been trying to find them ever since. I was actually hoping that post might lure them to me, but it didn't. [Probably because you didn't say where you were, Nagisa. That would have helped. He folds his arms, unable to keep himself from looking a little disappointed. IT WAS SUCH A GOOD PLAN, he's still kind of bitter that it didn't work.] Anyway, you match parts of the description, but not all of it. Since you're not very big, I kind of had to rule you out. I mean...you're big for a bug, sure, but if I were describing you, "big" wouldn't be the very first adjective I'd use. But when I saw those other monsters change after going inside her zones, I realized that it was possible that the conduit was affected by their own spell as they set it up.
[You probably can figure out where he's going with this. It's not exactly hard, even if he's not saying it outright.]
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[Amanda spits her words, aggravated that she has to narrow down the list of roles she might be playing in this war, even to an ally with no plans to fuck her over...but just saying it so plainly should be enough for him. She can bend her words to her own advantage, sure, but there's no strategic wording in what she's just said. She really and truly isn't the conduit he's searching for.]
And I don't know who is. But for the record, I'm about seven feet tall in Fog mode. Bright blue all over, disproportionate limbs, gear-shaped pupils. A piece of machinery gaping out of my mouth. Any of that match your description?
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All of it matches my description, actually... But it's a pretty general description that could apply to a lot of monsters. But I only know a handful of her followers....and of that handful, you were the only one that matched the criteria. Obviously I was wrong though...
[Amanda can't lie without hurting herself, after all. She doesn't look like she's getting a headache, so obviously she isn't the conduit he's looking for. Which doesn't mean that she's not one at all, but he's not going to press the issue any further. He inclines his head slightly.]
Sorry. I'm just trying to keep them safe, like she wants me to.
[And it's really hard to do that if you're not sure WHO you're supposed to be protecting. Fog Mom has given him a job and expects him to do it well, he can't let her down!]
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[He's right, she's pissed. But it's one of those transitory kinds of pissed-off moods, where she'll get past it once she finds a way to let off steam. Later, where there are no witnesses, especially Nagisa.]
The more I'm required to narrow down what I'm doing, the harder it is for me to protect myself. I don't get to lie, and I'm in a delicate fuckin' situation right now. If my cover's blown...
[What she's covering for is no one's business but her own. How can she know if he's susceptible to torture or not? If some Fourth fucker tries to force information out of him, she can't know for sure that he won't spill that secret. She's already tortured two of the enemy, all while keeping her true identity a total secret; there's no telling how they'd come down on her if they were to learn who she is.]
I'll leave the rest to your imagination.
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[He straightens back up, though his plant-hair still has a slightly deflated look to it.]
I'm not going to say anything. I know how important secrets are in a situation like this. How disadvantaged you are. So I wasn't going to ask you anything more about what she's asked you to do.
[Since, clearly she wants to keep it a secret. Which he isn't too surprised by, honestly. She's always struck him as the heavily self-reliant type. And if she's really booby-trapped her house so badly that nobody else can get inside...that pretty much proves it.]
But...I can lie. All the neutrals think I'm on their side, and I've been using that to our advantage. ["Our" being "Team Fog", obviously.] So...if there's anything you need, just tell me and I'll do it. You don't even have to explain.
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I doubt I'll need that kind of help.
[Still. She decides to make an effort, poor as it is, to talk to Nagisa with a little less acidity in her tone. Because he's a child, because he's a product of an environment enough like that of her own childhood for him to matter to her.]
...But I'll keep your offer in mind.
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[The aloe leaves perk up a little when she says she'll keep his offer in mind. He's still mad, she knows it. He harbors no illusions that she's actually forgiven this stunt. But...he appreciates the effort on her part.]
That's all I ask. I'm not very strong, but I am pretty smart. And I want to use that to do whatever I can to make sure this situation ends favorably for us.
[Because what use is he if he can't do that much?]
Actually...no, there's one other thing. Can you think of any traps that could be set up in places like the lake or park? Deadly traps. That rival00 person who keeps causing a fuss on the network is responsible for killing our lake conduit. And the only reason he was able to find them was because he noticed they spent a lot of time in fog zones. He seems to think that the Fourth conduits are doing the same thing, especially since anyone else who goes in their loses all their powers, giving them an extra layer of protection. And besides waiting for them to leave, there are only two ways to get around that issue...
[Shoot 'em or wait for 'em to fall in a trap.]
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All the traps I've ever built were designed for use in enclosed spaces. I can't think of anything I could set up in an open environment.
[...But coming up with nothing. Devices confined to one room, or a series of connected rooms? Of course. Devices attached to people from the start? Certainly. But there isn't one thing she's built that she can pull off out in the open, and her considerable engineering prowess isn't geared towards designing anything new that could fit the bill. Jigsaw business relies on surprise and seclusion.]
Sorry. It's not my area of expertise.
[And she's loathe to admit it. It makes her feel small, stupid, lacking.]
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It's alright. I couldn't think of anything either. [Well...spiked pit falls and bear traps but...those are pretty standard and there's no guarantee they'd actually kill someone.] I just thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, since you know more about this sort of thing than I do. And I'm starting to run out of ideas.
[Which is something HE'S loathe to admit because he always has a plan. That's kind of his thing. But so far, none of his plans have worked. It's beyond frustrating...especially since some of them were really brilliant!]
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[And by "fucked over" she means both of her murder attempts on the Fourthies she was torturing were interrupted and foiled. It's just not fair, goddammit!]
She'll be so disappointed.
[And there's so much self-hatred and fear in that one statement that it's borderline palpable. If Amanda disappoints Her, what then? She'll be replaced by someone more capable, more formally educated and stronger with more to offer Her. Amanda won't be needed and the very idea makes her want to vomit.]
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[If he can't live up to her expectations, what if she makes him go back home? Realizes there's no point in keeping him around because he's a useless, stupid child?]
[He's silent for a few moments, gazing at some spot on the ground with a far-off look in his yellow-green eyes. Eventually he sighs, closing his eyes and shaking his head a little before opening them again.]
Well...lamenting our failures won't accomplish anything. You only hold yourself back when you dwell on things like that. There's still time, so we'll just have to try even harder from here on out.
[He's definitely not giving up. Nope.]
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[At this point she'd even consider letting herself die, if only it could help her take down a Fourth adherent at the same time. If something could help her meet expectations...]