audience: emma perkins

[cyclists]

Comments

Week 7, Wednesday

[cyclists]

[He'll appear at the library today, waving once Emma arrives. His hood's up, but his cloak's wiggling around like his cat is curled up in it.]

Hey.

[foodbin]

Hey there.

[...]

Shirasu said he had an unfinished project he wanted me to ask you about.

[cyclists]

...[...] I'm not so sure you're going to like it, but I guess we can talk about it, sure. It's about the corruption.

[foodbin]

[She tilts her head.]

Yeah, I'm guessing I'm not, since it's him. But, okay... What about the corruption, exactly?

[cyclists]

Shirasu was trying to find a way to control the corruption, more or less. Letting it take over, and then learning to master it and use it.

[foodbin]

...Sorry, he wanted to get corrupted?

[cyclists]

He thought it might be easiest to learn to control it if he let it in. If he let it in, and let it take over, he thought he might be able to train it to use its powers.

[foodbin]

So he's a fucking idiot, basically.

[She sighs.]

Did he have any basis for thinking that would go well for him...?

[cyclists]

I wouldn't say that. [...] That's for him to tell and not me, but let's just say that he sold me on his case when we talked.

[foodbin]

Even if he sent a note telling me to ask you about it...?

[She frowns.]

[cyclists]

That's getting way too involved in sharing someone else's history. The fact of the matter is, he's experienced something similar and beat it then. So he figured it would give him an advantage if he tried here. That's all.

[foodbin]

...Was it when he got locked in the box for a week?

[cyclists]

Yeah. That was a large part of it. He didn't tell me everything around that, but that was a huge reason why.

[foodbin]

But... The corruption here is different than anything back home, right? So why do you think it could work?

[Even if she sounds very skeptical, she's curious, too.]

[cyclists]

...I tried to tell him it was a really risky move for that reason, but he was insistent and I'm only here to guide you guys. I can't interfere with stuff. The corruption here is kind of similar to the darkness we fought back in our world, too. I think there's something to be said about the fact that there's two planes that you guys can exist on. One has more information than the other, and it makes me wonder if clearing the corruption faster on this side gets us answers sooner on the other side.

As for a surefire something that could work? Not sure yet. Nothing that will end well, at least.

[foodbin]

...Well, at least he can't do anything like that where he is now. How did he even think it would work...? Sheer force of will, or was he asking for an item that could help him do it?

[cyclists]

He was hoping I could train him, maybe get something that would help him out. An item of some kind. I gave him a task to try and help with that, but he gave up halfway through.

[foodbin]

Can I ask what the task was...?

[cyclists]

It was about trusting people. And everybody immediately made it a lot harder. [By outting him in the middle of a trial, him stabbing Axel, and Saix breaking his legs.]

[foodbin]

...I would have said that it was him who made it a lot harder, but I see what you mean.

[cyclists]

I'm not endorsing him killing someone innocent. I'm still mad about that, and I'm mad about what he did to Axel. But at the same time, there was a reason I didn't want a confrontation in public. I was trying to make some stuff work.

[foodbin]

What stuff? Just his weird corruption thing, or...?

[cyclists]

I was trying to get him to cooperate and teach him how to work with other people. He's gotten along with me, so I thought if he learned to get along with other people he'd have an easier time.

[foodbin]

An easier time not murdering innocents?

[cyclists]

Yeah, among other things. Shirasu and I have an understanding.