come out of hiding, i'm right here beside you

[barehands]

[A while after the execution has ended, everyone will find a simple note slipped under their door.]

If you don't want to be alone after everything that's happening, some of us will be in the dining room. Even if you decide not to come, please remember that you aren't alone here.

[The note isn't signed, but the handwriting is feminine and neat.

For anyone who decides to come, there's a good array of food laid out on the table. There are some small and simple cakes, cookies, and pastries, a healthy amount of okonomiyaki, okayu, and other Japanese dishes (with a focus on rice and eggs), along with curry. In addition, there are pancakes, and a large pot of soup. It looks like a few people collaborated to make enough food for everyone here.

Just like the meal they shared together earlier in the week, the candles from the storage room lend a more peaceful light than the fluorescent lights above.]

Comments

external foyer;

[enhancements]

[Wesker's at the windows when she asks; while he doesn't attempt to interact with her first, seeming content with the quiet and not breaking it, he doesn't seem bothered by the question, either. His answer is slightly delayed and doesn't seem to have much behind it, but at least it is an answer.]

...Red or blue, depending on the day.

[Says the man who usually wears no colors outside of black whatsoever.]

[heritrix]

[She's so surprised by that answer she actually taps the piano key quickly this time, so it ends up ringing out a single note.]

Seriously?

[She looks again just to be sure, but there is not a scrap of color on you, Wesker.]

I never would have guessed by looking at you. You look like you came out of a black and white drawing most days.

[enhancements]

I just don't choose to adorn all of my outfits with it, that's all.

[Not that he's naming any na- Gant.]

[heritrix]

[As Rin is finding out, it could be worse. Gant has spared them his second favorite color of neon pink.],/small>

You have a patented look going on for you, too. If you mess that up, when you stand around looking out windows they might think you're not actually brooding, but thinking about something like gardening, or if you left the oven on.

[enhancements]

[That seems to entertain him, really.]

I'm not brooding, even now. That didn't go well by any means, but it resolved itself eventually.

[heritrix]

I meant in general. You have that kind of face. You should wear a t-shirt sometime, it will throw everybody off.

[But once you're on a subject like this, it's hard to get off of it, and Rin would rather talk shop.]

I wonder if there'll be a time limit in the future.

[enhancements]

[Well, that's interesting.]

Oh...? And what makes you think there will be?

[heritrix]

[Looking away, there's a frown on her face as she touches the inside of her elbow.]

It's going to happen again. After today, it shouldn't. If people thought carefully, it wouldn't. But in the end, we're a group of strangers, and that's not going to matter enough to one of us the longer we stay here, to keep them from trying too. At best, they'll think twice about it.

[enhancements]

Oh, I have no doubt that this is only going to spiral from here - at the same time, I have to question whether the Transmitter would so readily alter the rules that have already been set. Imposing a time limit would possibly hinder Rule Four in some way.

...At least, I imagine that's an argument that can be used if she tries it.

[heritrix]

True. If we rush things and die, there goes her dreams of us staying here forever. As if anyone would want to stay in a place like this. But Rule 7 is counterintuitive to that, too, so who know where she really stands.

[enhancements]

She clearly can't be trusted either way, at least insofar as motivation goes. Not that I had any plans that hinged on trusting her anyway.

[heritrix]

And what plans do you have, Wesker? So far as you're willing to discuss.

[They all have plans in their back pockets that can't be trusted with anyone but themselves, of course. And if anyone professes they don't, Rin would call them a liar or an idiot.]

[enhancements]

Survival by any means necessary.

[Well, there you go.]

I don't think we have the power to resolve this. Not for the time being. And I doubt we'll obtain that power in any meaningful way unless she hands it to us, which she simply won't do unless she's some kind of idiot.

However, survival is something I'm capable of, and it's what I intend to do until I can find another option.

[heritrix]

[Keeping it simple, huh. She can tell he already has his heels dug in. But his point about the Transmitter handing them information raises a new question.]

Strangely, I don't think she's discouraging that. I wonder if that's what she means by investigation...

[Actually, speaking that out loud, she wonders if she's on to something here and her head bobs in surprise.]

Wait, is it that kind of a test? Murder someone and you can leave, but you don't "win" unless you play her game; find the puzzle pieces that when put together reveal that other option.

[enhancements]

...The thought has crossed my mind before. There are several reasons why I've been saying that it's stupid to move until we know more about what's happening here.

Murder is an option, clearly, but it's also the one with the highest likelihood of getting everyone killed. It seems likely that this is some sort of test of integrity, if nothing else.

[heritrix]

[She agrees with him, completely. It both relieves and frustrates her.

He's right, but some of us don't have time for that.]