armwriostle | peacockstop Overflow

[Shang Qinghua huffs slightly in a little laugh as he reaches for another dish.] I guess you and I are a little more alike than I thought. It's always good to have plans.

[He absolutely plans to do some snooping around himself. He's been nosing about here and there, but the resort is frankly huge.]

I suppose we'll be finding out soon enough what kinds of scenarios might come up.

A lot of people rely on me. It would be irresponsible if I didn’t keep an ace up my sleeve when possible. [Haha get it? Because they’re at a casino-

Sorry.

He takes one of the bowls of soup and lifts it to his mouth to sip.]

Yes, that is true. It’s strange for so many people to seemingly arrive with the place unready to accommodate. I would think it isn’t possible to misplace this many people, so I wonder if we’re all really stuck here. Of course it’s better to assume the worse, but I’ve talked to enough people that overbooking this many is just a logistics I can’t see is possible.

[That does get a snort out of him. No one ever said Shang Qinghua was too snooty to laugh at a pun.]

Yeah, I did wonder about that. It's a lot of people to just show up randomly. I wonder if it was on purpose, and we'll see these numbers thin out before long, or if something really went wrong somewhere. [A thoughtful hum.] The longer-term guests either won't or can't give up much information about arrivals.

It is. We don’t know anything about the process though and I doubt they’ll so easily tell us. [Everything about this place was shrouded in mystery, but that didn’t mean it could be concealed from them forever. If the information exists, it meant they can find it.]

As for the guests, it feels like they don’t really care too much about us. Probably because we aren’t properly in the system. It seems the hierarchy here is strongly in place.

[He stabs a dumpling with his fork and frowns a little.] It seems that the higher ups aren’t the only one keeping their system in check.

They also don't seem to show the same desire to go home. I wonder if they've been here so long they've forgotten everything else. It would make sense why they keep to the hierarchy so strongly. [It's all pretty strange, when you really start to pick apart the logic of a place like this.

He sighs.] I love a good mystery novel, but not so much a real mystery, I think.

I'm sure many of them were like us before, but I can't imagine that at least some of them aren't native. I also haven't seen a way to leave the premises. [Which is also quite strange in itself. It's like this place exists in its own bubble. Even if he's used to the Fortress being its own entity from Fontaine, Fontaine still existed outside its walls.]

A real mystery is only truly enjoyable if you aren't the one affected by it. [A chuckle.]

...Maybe, but, ah... [His voice lowers a little as he continues, as if to keep this next bit of information between just them.] I met someone in the casino earlier with a finely tuned sense for spirits. Some of the long-term guests on the casino floor were ghosts. So I hope that they weren't like us before, because the idea of being here long enough to wind up haunting the place is... daunting.

[He takes another sip of his tea, pursing his lips as he sets the cup down.]

Yeah, that's the truth.

[Oh. This is information he definitely will tuck away for his knowledge. It makes this place, well, seem a little more dangerous.] Ah...if one were to pass away here... [It would make sense that they would be stuck in this place. That doesn't sit well with him.

He shakes his head.]

It makes me wonder if they think that if we're here long enough, we'd not want to leave after time. It feels like this place wishes to drown us in pleasures. [Falling into one's vices and getting stuck in them or something.]

Mm. Meaning that isn't a way out either, as morbid as that sounds. [Shang Qinghua would never go so far, but who knows how strongly others might be against their situation.]

That may be what happened with some of the long term guests. It's hard to say. It's something that we should all be looking out for.

Hm. [He wonders if elemental sight would have helped him see anything here, but he can't use that right now. What a shame.]

I imagine some people are more susceptible than others. There can be reasons why someone would rather be here than home, but I feel like we're getting off topic there. What matters is our own personal feelings. I have things I need to be home for, but there are things about this place that I can't help but want to unravel. [Call him a bleeding heart, but he also doesn't like the idea of people continuously pulled here either.]

Lucky for you, I imagine unraveling this place somehow might eventually be necessary. [Is it really as simple as fuck 52 people, win the game, go home? It could be, but it also might not be.

He's trying to hedge his bets here, getting to know people who might be good connections, playing the game, seeing what happens. Shang Qinghua is adaptable.

He reaches for one of the remaining dishes on the table, and picks up his chopsticks again.] Good luck to us both going forward.

Well, I think it would be impossible to not try and get to know the place intimately. [He pours out the remaining tea into both their cups.] With all the free time we'll have, people are bound to get bored.

[Hey. At least it'll be nice not to be doing paperwork for a bit. The only upside.]

Good luck to us. [A nod as he lifts his tea cup to drink.]

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