worldbent | GOLDEN PEACOCK: INBOX+OVERFLOW

Perhaps I would be willing to share, for the right price,

[Matoba agrees cheerfully as he enters, glancing around at the space (or lack thereof). Gee, Natori sure has gotten quite the starting amenities, though, hasn't he...? Matoba's just a little ticked off about that.]

It isn't about a guessing game, Natori. It is about our enemies.

[He chides, inviting himself to also sit on Natori's small bed, but from a different angle (after stepping over a pile of clothes).] Namely, there are about six different, main entities you must be concerned with.

The first 4 are the "suits" that claim we guests. As you have surely noticed, they have taken on identities from the suits of a deck of Western playing cards. Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs, Spades.

I was chosen by Clubs, [He adds, like an afterthought.] An interesting ayakashi for sure. But I will get to that story another time.

The two most powerful, however, are the resort itself, and "the house". That "the house" did not refer to the resort's will itself is a somewhat new revelation given to me by some of our.... forebearers, I suppose you could call them. The guests in the Golden Peacock who have won Game 52 and still retain their sense of self.

But, only because something rather drastic occurred.

[Natori can't very well complain about Matoba sitting on the bed-- after all, there's nowhere else for him to go, unless he wants to make like Shuuichi did in high school and lounge on top of a pile of books in his crowded storehouse-- but he does appreciate that they stay at right angles to each other, as close to a business meeting as they can manage in the circumstances.]

Six... [he repeats thoughtfully. He expected each of the suits, and based on what was described to him by some of the others that he's met here, expected to hear about the hotel itself-- but this last one is a surprise. Or rather, that there's a distinction is a surprise, though it sounds like he's hardly alone in that one.]

--Some of the people here have "won" the game already?

Yes. There are two I am aware of. [Matoba glances slightly over-shoulder towards Natori- gauging an incoming reaction, perhaps?] Who chose to stay, that is.

The first is the proprietress of the Red Cardinal restaurant: Jin Mingming-san. You might read back on the message boards a little bit to find a discussion posted under her account. There was quite a lot of interesting information that came to light as a result.

[Not just about her. Thanks for the oversharing, everybody.]

The second is Jester-san. He is... [Matoba pauses, and his mouth twists with amusement and sharpness.] ...unpredictable, as the name might suggest. Dealing with him is more akin to dealing with another exorcist, I think.

[Implying, maybe, that there were some who chose not to stay, and thus, if the rules of this place could be relied on, were allowed to leave. Which would also track, ayakashi being bound by the rules of their self-imposed games even if it goes against their interests.]

The message board... in the lobby? [The bulletin boards, he thinks at first, but then "account" sets in.] Oh-- no, the message boards. [He shakes the wrist with the Watch on it for clarification, looking vaguely annoyed about it still.] Alright. I'll take a look at it.

[And maybe go to speak to her, once he's out of research mode and ready to do more field work. Especially if she's the one who is not like dealing with another exorcist.]

Hm. So, what'd he charge you for the information about "the house"?

Yes, these strange Watches that act like mobile phones.

[Matoba waves his wrist- you know, the message boards!! That was more Shinobu's thing, okay, he doesn't do that nerd shit.]

Oya, no- Mingming-san is the one who gave me the information. She seems quite close to the chest, but in fact, is a bit of a bleeding heart. [He says, smiling proudly like a little shit,] If you ask your questions carefully, she will sometimes shoot straight.

Ah, but J-san..... [Again, that smile turns conniving.] ...can certainly be negotiated with. Gifts for gifts. And, he is a man who loves the thrill of a gamble, and will honor the results.

But your gamble must be worth his time. [He turns to look Natori in the eye, his smile mild.] Think of him as closer to an ayakashi. He will only accept bets of value.

[All of this is just to say that Mingming-san is definitely the one he would rather talk to-- not only because she sounds infinitely more tolerable, but also because she's the one who provided the information??]

Noted. [But still, even if it's with a gamble instead of a straightforward cost, his assumption that Jester would be the one making a transaction out of everything was the correct one. As would only be expected of the one who's behaving most like another exorcist-- or like an ayakashi, apparently.] "Value" meaning more than the chips or... the rest of what this resort is obsessed with?

[Oh, but no.] Or is that part the house?

Hmm... perhaps those, but no, [Matoba hums,] When I say like an ayakashi, I include his interests. The things he likes to collect.

Organs. Limbs. Memories. Regrets.

[And, like dealing with an ayakashi, you should never give anything too good without getting better in return. Matoba, who made good business deals and bets with J and won himself useful weapons in return, has no need to risk anything with him again.]

[There's a pause, then he adds,] I do not know the answer to that, actually. Perhaps Mingming-san will?

Ah, [Natori says to that, which is really all that needs to be said-- not shock or alarm, just the sound of someone being neatly fit into the box of "oh, one of those."]

Hmm. But still, the house and the resort are different-- which was it whose heart you found recently?

[He uses the plural "you," Matoba inclusive-- because he cannot imagine a world where a bunch of normies stumbled over the heart of the thing trapping them in an ayakashi realm, and Matoba Seiji did not.]

Humans that have forgotten what it is to be human cannot really be called human anymore, now can they?

[Spoken behind Natori's back, without view of his face. Not necessary.]

...But how to describe it...

[The way he trails off is not entirely-- his voice is even, and yet there's a distance to it. Perhaps he doesn't want to remember, entirely. Viewing a thing like that directly was inadvisable, even for a bold Matoba, and there is always a price. But he knew that going into it.]

The resort's "heart" bears a curse, [He says at last, carefully, neutrally,] and that curse is "the house".

[Unsurprising, then-- that one of the two 'winners' of the game they're all playing has been here long enough to become something more, something less, something other. At least one. He was hardly the only one, only notable for what he'd managed to accomplish along the way.

Natori waits, inherently understanding that this is the sort of thing that will need to be spoken around, something that needs to be said without looking. Natori studies the miserable little ceiling of his miserable little room as Matoba finds it, leaning back on his hands in consideration.

He turns that over in his mind.]

...A parasite, then? Or a warping... where it was once just the "resort"?

And then last month it lashed out.

Yes,

[He says, in response to "parasite". He remembers those heavy black chains, the way they lashed out. Powerful, and formed of what? That part he couldn't decipher between all of the other overload of information the heart had fed him- taken from him. It had been a mistake to look. But he had to. If not him, then who?]

I think, moreso than lashing it, it was slipping control. Whatever caused it, it seems to have mended itself again for now.

But perhaps... There could be some way to influence it again. [Deadly serious,] That is the focus I have decided to take as I continue to observe.

[That last comment, serious as it is, is what makes Natori sharpen up, snapping his attention back to Matoba. It's not as though it's unexpected, given... well, given everything about Matoba. How very like him. He thinks of Matoba at the heart of that doll, stubbornly pushing through until it was almost too late; he'd like to think that Matoba is thinking the same thing, though of course probably all backwards, about what might have been if Natori hadn't 'interfered.'

He sits up straight, eyes automatically falling to his makeshift wards as if double checking that they're there. Eventually, he says] But you are still observing. For now.

...What did it do? ["to you," he means; he knows about the "punishments" that people received for looking at it, and knows that Matoba can't have been immune.]

[A sigh of finality, impatient, escapes Matoba.]

For now.

[Because there was no knowing if any of them could escape or survive if the wrong thing was done, and the realm collapsed.]

[Natori's question hangs in the air between them for a long moment. Then, in a strong, steady voice,]

I don't know what you mean.

['End of conversation.']

[Fine. He's not 16 anymore; he knows when he's not going to get anything else from a line of conversation. He gives himself one beat (why would he have expected otherwise? Asking Matoba Seiji to be vulnerable inside an ayakashi's domain?) before he goes on.]

So. What should I know about Spades.

What you should know about Spades, hm................

[The suit he is the least familiar with, really. Who comes to mind? That mutt: pettiness and prickliness underlying kinder, more thoughtful instincts. That suits Shuichi to a T, though, he thinks.]

[He could answer that straightforwardly- call him out right to his face on his soft heart, and his internal struggle, and the attractive way he sometimes leaned into his worse instincts that made him a better exorcist, and the attractive way he tried not to.]

[Instead, he turns to face Natori again with his half-smile, and in the same vein as he had previously warned him:] Don't leave your heart open.

So the same advice as last time, huh.

[Just like last time, he knows Matoba means it. But it's a little more annoying the second time around.]

That's hardly specific to Spades, I would think. Unless Clubs doesn't act like a normal ayakashi?

Hmmm.

[Matoba refills his arms thoughtfully.] Clubs does not target the heart. Clubs targets the mind. If you have a strong mental state, then you can keep up with it.

...That is what I think, from my many interactions with fellow Clubs-bearers, and with the suit itself.

Diamonds and Hearts are very straightforward individuals. But Spades are the ones I have not been able to pinpoint. That is why.... I think that it is the most dangerous of all.

[Oh. So maybe it was more informed advice than last time after all. That, or Matoba had already expected that Natori would be "chosen" by Spades at the time-- which, of course, is what Matoba's been implying all along.

Natori thinks of choking in that room in the Miharu mansion, as Matoba stood strong.]

I see. [He does not look down at the new mark on his left leg-- the one place he's never seen a black shape before arriving here. Natori hadn't thought that was a coincidence before now, but at the same time-- knowing just how targeted it might have been still feels like an escalation.

Troublesome. Dangerous, even.]

...If they've "claimed" us... [They've been singled out by a particular ayakashi? Are the emotions they're generating fed straight to that ayakashi, or is it to the resort? Or the house? He passes a hand over his face, pinching the bridge of his nose in thought. (There are five pairs of designer glasses somewhere in the pile, but he hasn't bothered to fish one out for this conversation.)] Have you seen it? Clubs itself, I mean. Not just its influence.

[Calmly, Matoba watches the information pass through Natori, for its implications to sink in, and then the guilt and struggle that inevitably came with it, feeding right back into it. That was the problem; that was why he had not wanted to tell him. But it was worse if Shuichi found out because he was stubborn, and refused to heed advice.]

[Troublesome as always.]

I have not seen it take a personified form, [Thoughtfully,] however- some months ago, Clubs took advantage of another- no? Perhaps the same weakening state of the house in an earlier stage, and took over a few parts of the resort. In those locales, it communicated with notes, with hallucinations, and with a familiar in the form of a bartender.

It is this incident that has informed me somewhat of its goals. Well, it's not too different from most ayakashi. Power.

[It's easier not to dwell when there's objective information to be shared about the ayakashi that serves as a threat. It's not all that different from being briefed on a job he's picking up, really. Down to a member of the Matoba family explaining what they've learned when he was off galavanting with his more public career.

Interesting, that such an influential ayakashi had remained so behind-the-scenes for this long, yet still making a play for some portion of the house-- but then again, maybe not so unexpected, knowing it was one of a set in another, larger-- or even a pair of larger-- ayakashi's domain.]

I'm guessing it's the same for the others, then? Mostly behind the scenes. [And if one of them made a play a few months ago, and the house itself is weakening...] Are those areas still under Clubs' domain? Have any of the others been active like that?

Hmmm... Yes. Although, they all seem to "take turns" toying with the residents, it seems.

Every so often- every few months, perhaps- there is a special "game" in which we players are expected to participate in order to gain... chips, the means to climb the ranks within the resort, cards for Game 52. And each game seems to have been conducted by one of the suits, to their particular tastes.

Hearts, for example, has a familiar it calls "Cupid" play tag with us.

[You can guess what sort of game that was, right Natori? :)]

As for Clubs, those areas were transformed by its influence, and the change seems to be permanent. For example, an educational complex was added to the library by its game, where there was no such thing previously. During the game it played, it attempted to directly influence and bargain with us not to allow the house to regain control. However, it failed.

I do wonder what might have happened, had we allowed the infighting to play out... But we mortals were likely to only become collateral as a result, so I declined.

Interesting. [He can't say he faults Matoba for sticking with the devil they knew, rather than turning things over to Clubs-- it's just the mechanics of the thing itself that are interesting to him. The ayakashi bargaining with its mortal playthings to try to maintain control is certainly an interesting image, given everything else going on here.] And the suits are still allowed to play their "games" in turn, even after all of that?

[It doesn't sound like the house is cracking down after losing influence... Not that he understands the flow of the energy collected by these "games," either, whether it's to the suit that had claimed the respective guests, the suit organizing the game, the house, the resort, or some mix of all of them. Maybe more things to ask of the previous winner of the game.]

So. When should I next look out for some game of "tag?" I'm assuming it's all coming down to... well, sex. [The games, the chips, the way they level up, etc.]

Yes, however.......

[Matoba's lips twist into a nasty smile.] I don't think it had a choice.

When we discovered the 'heart' of the resort, there was quite a lot going on in the lead-up to that. In fact, we likely would not have been able to do so, otherwise. You see, the entire resort became unstable. First, a wave of illness that came over the ghouls on staff, and those guests who have lost themselves. And then, a blackout.

[Matoba isn't sure he should talk about the whispers, the voices that came up from the basement- not least because of the form his took, but also in order to not encourage the weak-hearted Natori to investigate on his own.]

And in the midst of the chaos: we had a chance. So, I took it.

[Should he have? That is another discussion he will not be having at this time.]

[Relaxing again onto his hands signals that Matoba has completed doling out the information he deems necessary, and that the rest is simply his whim.] Hum....... Not too long, unless the house is still recovering from the blackout, we are due for one of them to make an appearance. I wonder if it will be back to the top? Diamonds, was it...? Or one of the others....

[He turns his head to look at Natori directly, as much so as he could with him perpendicular, with his mischievous, dangerous, enticing smile.] And you, Natori? What is your plan for surviving?

[Natori already knows that Matoba will shut down any discussion about what, exactly, happened when he saw the heart. It's no surprise that he went looking for it, not when he was one of the people here most able to read the signs of what was going on, to try to comprehend it. It's annoying that he's playing so close to the chest, when he's the best source of information that Natori has about what's going on. Other guests here have tried describing it to him, but it's clear that it's their first time grappling with such an ayakashi; there's a lot to be learned from Matoba's description. But Natori knows better than anyone here (he assumes) about just how stubborn Matoba can get, so there's no point in pressing the matter. Matoba will either tell him or he won't.

He wants to know more about the attributes of the other suits, try to get a sense of what nonsense he might get roped into next, but more importantly: here comes Matoba trying to needle him again, with his stupid little questions like he's trying to goad Natori into reacting a particular way. He leans back himself, mimicking Matoba's pose.]

I wasn't aware I had a choice either, [he says bluntly, raising an eyebrow. (He knows what Matoba means, by asking this question; it's still extremely annoying.)] I'm going to have to play, aren't I?

Yes.

[And for a glimpse, Seiji is smiling, in the way he does when he is enjoying watching Shuichi squirm.]

Three of Spades, is it. [He turns away again, stretching on his hands.] A card I lack. How interesting.

GOLDEN PEACOCK: INBOX+OVERFLOW

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