[The recorder crackles to life. Lynne speaks amidst the faded, distant sound of an urban setting.]
Hello. Er… Lynne here.
Tulip relegated the task of recording the intro to the following interview this time. We reached Vermillion and stayed in a hotel for the night, intending to leave today, but it seems she had some business to take care of first. Something about an… acquaintance of hers that lives here. Good with computers, apparently. Said that she couldn't get in touch with her through the internet, but she might as well check if she's still here, considering we're in the neighborhood.
Curious how insistent she was on calling her an acquaintance, not a friend. Though knowing her…
[Lynne sighs, shifting in place]
Regardless. I'm hiding in a dark alley behind a large skip so I can record this in peace. Didn't think I'd find people louder and more obnoxious Cerulean's lot, but here we are. I'd say Kantans are way too chipper and energetic for their own good, but as dear Tulip shows, that's not always the case.
[There's a moment of silence.]
And I've just realized she has to listen to this later, so she'll hear me insult her. Oh well. Not bothering to do this twice. Besides, those grievances had already been aired… plenty of, actually.
Maybe that's partly why she's gone looking for this… acquaintance. Maybe she needs to talk to someone, anyone who's not me right now. As if I've asked to get roped into all this nonsense…
[Lynne stops, taking in a deep breath.]
No, enough of that. Just get this over with.
Right… what did Tulip tell me to say? Oh, yeah. The following interview is one she's been debating whether to post or not, but in the end she decided it couldn't possibly make things worse, so here we are. Transcription lies below.
Enjoy. Or not. What do I care?
----------------------------------------
[I must admit, an interview taking place inside a bar is a first for me, though you won't see me complain. It's killing two Pidgey with one stone, you could say.
The waitress leaves our drinks on the table and shines me a kind smile before leaving. I take a sip of my gin tonic, letting its refreshing taste linger in my mouth. My interviewee downs about half her glass of bourbon in one chug, closing her eyes tightly as it passes through her, then seems to deflate onto her seat with a heavy sigh. I have a feeling that glass will be the first of many tonight.
This is, yet again, one of Marie's leads. Shizue Kurashiki, current owner of the Kantan branch of Goldenrod Radio located in what used to be Lavender tower, as well as producer for many of its most famous and influential radio dramas. From what I understand, she is not a native of Wysteria but lived in the town for a total of six months before moving back to Johto, shortly before the townsfolk's mysterious disappearances.
She looks exactly like one would picture the head of a production company. The kind of woman to wear a suit for all occasions, though never one that would make her appear 'too professional'. Someone who is very deliberate about her image… in public, at least.
Part of me is inclined to immediately distrust her, yet there's something behind her eyes that is hard to miss. Emptiness. Sorrow. The kind that could easily be mistaken for calmness and level-headedness.
She finishes drinking the rest of her glass and orders another before starting the interview.]
I suppose we should make one thing clear before we start.
[Her voice is surprisingly soft. I fully expect to be threatened, however…]
I read your website. All your entries. I know… everything that happened, why you're here, what could happen if you… if I tell you all this.
"If it makes you feel any better, I've tried my best to keep in contact with all my previous interviewees, and disregarding Monika, all of them are still alive and well. Mostly."
That's not what I mean. I… don't really care what happens to me. But I have a family, you understand. Well… a daughter. If you went with what I'm about to tell you to the press… or if one of your few readers were to make this entry go viral… I'm quite confident my career would be over. Gone in a flash.
"Why did you agree to the interview, then?"
Hah. I'm… not entirely sure, to be honest. To get this out of my chest, maybe? As a way to atone for what I did? Maybe part of me wants to get caught, wants people to know the truth. I've already left quite a substantial will to my daughter should anything happen to me, so it's not out of the question that my better half is trying to sabotage me.
Still, I'm sure I'll need a few more shots of liquid courage before I can get to the heavy stuff. That's why I chose this place. It's one of the most niche bars I know in Lavender, and one of the most peaceful too. And it's open sky; what more could you want, really? I always come here when I need to think. Or right before I'm about to take really stupid decisions.
Anyway… I guess you want me to start from the beginning?
[I give her a nod as confirmation, and Ms. Kurashiki sighs and takes another big sip of her bourbon before continuing.]
I was… 18 the first time I visited Wysteria. My father's job as manager of a trading company meant that we often traveled to small towns like that one for… y'know, business. Dad always took me with him because he wanted me to learn. Never pressured me to succeed him, though. He always said I could specialize in whatever I wanted as long as I took his teachings to heart. And I did.
We were both taken in by the town the first time we saw it. It was… quaint, small. But my father and I had that special kind of eye that let us know when a certain place had an intrinsic value to it that wasn't immediately obvious. There was something about Wysteria. Something in the unnatural peace and quiet. In the stormy grey eyes of all its residents. Something… alluring.
We visited the place a few more times in the following years, but as time passed I was less and less able to accompany my father, seeing as I'd started college in Goldenrod. I was serious about my education, so I couldn't waste much time with traveling.
"What degree did you choose?"
Media Studies and Communications. A very recent addition to the curriculum, mind you, but I'd known for a long time that's what I would specialize in. There's just… something about the entertainment industry, you know. The work, the ethics, the insistence of pushing everything aside for your own passion.
There was no room for failure in the industry. You either made it or you were the rubble that got pushed under the rug. I couldn't help but find that sort of environment… exciting. It felt like just the right place for me.
[I try my best to hide the look of disgust on my face. Luckily, Shizue is too busy taking another gulp of her glass to notice.]
Back then I was very taken in by what Unovans now call the 'New Wave'. It was a sort of renaissance of entertainment for them. By the time I graduated it of course had been more than a few years, but it was still unmistakable that Unova's obsession with radio production as well as the early phase of them dipping their toes in the television industry would set the tone for an entire generation of worldwide entertainment. I wanted to be part of that. I wanted to start the boom of radio dramas here in Kanto by creating my own production company.
Father was all right with it, of course. He was a fan of the media himself. But he made it clear that he wanted to… test me, so to speak, before he let me stray free of his company's shadow and spread my own wings. And, once I graduated, that's exactly what he did.
I was 24, a fresh graduate, when he proposed it to me. He would help me jump start my career, but first I would have to prove that I had what it takes to make it in the Sharpedo-infested waters that was the business atmosphere of the time. Things were rough back then, you understand. Between Lorelei's reforms and the subsidizing of so many of our region's industries by the government, the soil wasn't quite as fertile as a businesswoman like me would've liked.
But that was just part of the challenge, my father told me. And I, of course, couldn't agree more.
"What was this… proposal?"
It was simple, really. My father would loan me a… generous but still limited amount of money. My task was to set up shop in one of Kanto's many small towns or settlements and start building my brand, putting all I'd learned into practice. In only six months, I had to quadruple the amount of money my father had given me. If I succeeded, he would share a great portion of his company's assets with me. If I failed… I would be on my own.
I don't need to tell you that I accepted. I've always loved a good challenge.
"I assume the small town you chose to set up shop in was…"
Right you are. I said before that I've always been taken in by Wysteria. Not only did the town possess an inherent sense of personality but it was right in the middle between Vermillion and Fuchsia, so I had a lot to work with, you could say.
I arrived in Wysteria shortly after accepting the challenge, and rented a small space that was more a warehouse than an apartment. A week later, I had all the radio equipment I needed. Come sunrise on that beautiful Saturday morning, Wysteria A.M. was born.
"I was under the impression that the town only had one radio station."
They only had one inter-state line, yes, but I figured I'd start by transmitting only around town first. And it's not like I was the only one. There were plenty of local radio programs, and not just for the news or weather. You're a native, aren't you? Shouldn't you know this?
"I… didn't have a radio growing up. Never cared much for them."
You're missing out.
[She finishes her second glass and signals the waitress for another one. I can see a hint of pink start to form on her cheeks.]
I started with something simple, something people could listen to on the background while they went about their homely lives. A simple talk show called Morning's Eve. Why the name? Well, it aired every Saturday morning and I got a girl called Eve to be the host, so it only made sense. She was a real sweetheart. Barely graduated high school yet she had a nice voice that was just the right amount of sweet to be alluring, yet not overtly distracting. I met her thanks to her aunt Linda, who was both a good friend of Father and one of my new drinking buddies.
Anyway, things went well… for a time. People were tuning into the show, we received a good number of calls every time it aired, people recognized Eve on the street which served as great marketing… it was nice. Unfortunately, my earnings weren't exactly up to previous expectations.
No matter, though. I decided to wait a few more weeks before I added another show to the station. This time, I went with something a bit more specific, yet still alluring. A radio drama about a group of high school graduates who took a weekend trip to the forest near Wysteria, and ended up getting chased and harassed by a mysterious, terrifying creature. I wrote the script and Eve recruited a few of her classmates to act the whole thing out.
It was a pretty big success as well. Everywhere I went, people approached and told me how much they enjoyed my shows every week, and asked me if I would add any more in the future. I couldn't have been happier. You know what they say, there's no better marketing than word of mouth.
And still…
"Let me guess. Earnings weren't very high?"
Right. It's not like they were bad; definitely would've been enough to live on comfortably, but that's not what I was there to do, y'know? I was there to win. To build a brand that would keep supporting me for the rest of my life. Taking that into consideration, it was a pretty lukewarm start.
And unfortunately, things didn't get much better from there.
There were more shows, there were more hosts and listeners and revenue, but the growth just wasn't exponential enough. I had no momentum. And in the world of business, you either have momentum or you go bust. I needed to do something. I needed to find a way to turn this around, a way to make real money with all this.
It was… during one of those drinking nights that I found the answer to my problem. I'd gone out with Linda as usual. It was a lovely summer night on one of Wysteria's only bars, but we got by with what we had. She'd always been a slower, more refined drinker than me so of course she was still plenty sober by the time I'd downed almost an entire bottle of wine.
I'm… not sure our conversation would've happened if the situation had been reversed. I'd say maybe no one would've died if that'd been the case, but that's not true. In the end they would've been caught up by what happened to everyone else in town sooner or later, so it's not like my actions made much of a difference.
Anyway. It was getting late and I was wholly wasted by then, which is why I started airing my concerns to Linda. She listened to me patiently as always, bless her heart. And when I told her about my financial situation compared to what I was actually supposed to be earning, I remember her eyes lit up excitedly.
There was no… malice or hidden intentions or anything, let me make that clear. Linda genuinely believed her idea would do nothing but benefit me.
"What idea?"
Well, you see… as it turns out, Linda's husband happened to be a man named Joseph Miller.
"Wait… Miller? As in–?"
Yyyyup. Linda and Joseph are the Millers that have appeared twice so far in your little interviews. You should've seen my face when I found them there, you being none the wiser as to who they actually were.
"I… who were they, then?"
In truth? Not much more than a normal, albeit rich family that had moved to Wysteria some time ago. Linda was a dentist. Her husband… well, she'd always described it to me as a 'businessman'. The fact that she never specified further made me think, even back then, that there was something about his job she'd rather not speak in front of others, but I wasn't actually expecting her to tell me straight up, especially not while I was that drunk.
To put it simply, Joseph had dealings with an organized crime group. What some might call a 'mafia', although back then they hadn't quite earned such a name yet. It wasn't his main activity, of course. He really was a businessman; or well, an accountant more specifically, but he did work for this group whenever he could, and that's where the vast majority of his wealth came from. He wasn't quite a part of them, but he was certainly associated with them. In the world of business, such a difference is crucial, you understand.
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"Is there any information you could give regarding this… group? Or is telling me all this dangerous enough for you already?"
Ah, no need to worry there. The group was… forcefully disbanded a good few years ago. All thanks to the efforts of an 11-year old that was too talented for his own good, or so I've been told.
[That gives me pause. I look up at Shizue and she simply nods.]
At the time they didn't go by the name most people know them for, of course. They were also being led by a different person; a cruel, haughty woman who loved wealth and extravagance just a bit too much. It was only later that she was succeeded by her son, who had… bigger ambitions for the group. Maybe that's why their early misdeeds are so rarely talked about.
"And thanks to Mr. Miller you… started doing business with these people?"
You know, it's funny. I'd had my doubts before talking to Joseph, but deep down I think I knew I'd accept his proposal anyway. I didn't have many scruples as it was. And besides, if someone like him could work alongside these people and still have a career and a family… well, how could I refuse? You have to sacrifice a few things to achieve your dream, even if one of them is your morality.
"And you didn't consider this cheating?"
[She raises an eyebrow at me, looking like she's about to laugh. I just sigh.]
"Right. No such thing in business, I assume?"
No comment.
"What kind of jobs did they have for you anyway? Couldn't have been something very public, with how known you apparently were."
Of course, that was part of the deal beforehand.
It was all very… polite and straightforward, really. Professional, too. I know they were masquerading as an insurance company inside the town itself but they wore the disguise very well. Their main office was actually an office, with people working all day. They had accountants and mob doctors and anything else you could need for any kind of operation. They weren't a mob of stupid thugs is what I'm saying. These guys knew what they were doing; they knew the game they were playing and how to play it.
"I understand, you were very impressed by the murderous mafia. Could you please move on?"
[She's clearly taken aback by my words. She opens her mouth to say something, but then a look of guilt washes over her and she avoids my eyes.
She signals for another drink before continuing.]
…Anyway, I started by helping them out with light, easy jobs. Things I could do in my spare time or even incorporate into my own radio show. Joseph and the Rockets both bought a good amount of my advertisement spaces from time to time, whether it be for their own "services" or for other services and products they had a personal stake in.
Sometimes, I'd be a source of advertisement. Others, I'd be nothing more than manpower or a pair of eyes outside a door to make sure no one entered.
Eventually though, they realized I had a few skills that'd be useful to them for more… involved projects. If there's one thing I've always took pride in, it's my vocal range. I was an excellent radio host, yes, but diligence and personality had little to do with it. Whether it was a talk show or a radio drama or a news report, I always knew exactly how to speak so that others would be taken in. So that they'd keep listening. I guess you could say I had the voice of those Primarina from ancient legend that lured ships full of people to their doom with their dulcet tones. And… that's exactly what I did, eventually.
At first sight, the new gig was nothing more than a common phone scam. They made me call certain people and offer them "the insurance opportunity of a lifetime". I didn't connect the dots at the time, but the "victims" of the scam were always elderly citizens without many friends or family who happened to own… certain patches of land inside Wysteria. Patches of land that my employers were very interested in.
My job wasn't to convince or seduce them into the deal or anything, it was just to get them interested. Interested enough that they'd agree to a meeting with Joseph, who was the real star of the show. He was the one that did the magic. I was never there to see it, but I'd heard he had quite a way with words and… I could believe it. He was an unbelievably charismatic guy. And unlike me, he didn't have to fake it.
Those kinds of people… the ones who have wealth and land but nothing else to accompany it… you'd be surprised how desperate they are. For attention, for a real connection. For anything that'd make life… worth living again, you know? Back then… I was good, but I wasn't as good as Joseph or the Rockets. I never would've imagined to prey on the loneliness of rich old people to trick them and…
I… I guess I should back up a bit.
[She downs another half of her glass. By this point her words are starting to slide more easily.]
Like I said, the first step was offering them an insurance deal. Nothing odd or nefarious; it was just a way for those people to meet with Joseph, and to have them sign a contract with him. They wouldn't sign it right away. Some time needed to pass first, for Joseph to visit them more and more, to… lure them into the trap of his company. To make himself well-acquainted with them so they'd want him around more and more.
And then the contract… I have to admit, whoever wrote it was a genius. The clause was there, but it was worded in such a way, and scattered throughout so much of the contract that it was almost impossible to notice at first sight.
Long story short, the clause specified that were… something to happen to the owner of the land, they may refer a "secondary contractor" to take ownership of it in their stead. And it wasn't necessary for that person to be related to the current owner, which only made it easier.
As a scam, it wouldn't have worked had Joseph not managed to make them trust him so much. It wouldn't have worked if the Rockets hadn't set up a good number of their people as "social lawyers" whom Joseph could recommend to these people to choose as secondary contractors, always someone different, always without any obvious ties to each other. And… it definitely wouldn't have worked if I hadn't played my part so well. Joseph might have been the Lanturn waiting for its prey, but I was the shining ball dangling above his head, acting as bait.
[There's a noticeable change in her demeanor. Whatever confidence and self-importance had been there before has now been washed away by the alcohol.
Her eyes are distant and glossy. Her voice sounds strained and her smile, though still present, is full of sadness and regret.]
"How did they end up claiming those lands? Was it done directly or…?"
That's the thing about this type of land-sharking. Because of the type of people that are usually chosen as victims, these groups can bide their time without having to be in a hurry. But the Rockets… they were indeed on a hurry. Their employers wanted those specific spots of land as soon as possible, and so… drastic measures needed to be taken.
"By their employers you mean…"
Yes. I took orders from Joseph, who took orders from the Rockets, who took orders from their boss. And said Boss had only moved a good part of their numbers to Wysteria because she'd been commissioned by… a certain group of people. The ones behind everything. Who you call 'The Institute'.
Of course, I only put it all together years later, when I read your entries. That's when everything came back to me. I'd always felt this… guilt over what happened, but reading it all again, and knowing that so many of these people were still alive, that those sons of bitches were still out there, getting away with it…
In any case, that's how it worked.
"Were you ever directly part of these… drastic measures they took?"
Never… directly, no. But a few times I was called to guard the outside with a few other people while it happened. Still, Joseph was the one who always got his hands dirty. He made sure I never had to be the one… I know I shouldn't be grateful or feel bad toward him, considering everything he did but… at least he saved me from the worst.
It was an easy process. No bloodshed involved. Once the contract was signed, once all these people got to know Joseph enough to trust him completely… he took care of them. The trick was simple. He'd get them to start drinking with him, and when they were looking away or just drunk enough to stop paying attention, he would slip a few drops of Gloom acid into their drink.
"…I see. Gloom acid is almost unmistakable from alcohol in its molecular structure."
Yes. I'm surprised you knew that.
"Still, it wouldn't have been enough to cause any real harm. Gloom acid–"
It works a lot like alcohol but worse, yes, I know. It attacks people's inhibitions, their sense of balance and place and circumstances, much like some numbing drugs do. By itself it's not terribly dangerous… unless you're around something dangerous yourself.
The acid was just to get them… docile. Easily manageable. The rest was… simple.
[Her voice starts to crack slightly.]
Once it was inside their system, all Joseph needed to do was soak them in ice-cold water. He could dump a bucket on them or throw them into a bathtub, the method wasn't really important. What… was important though was the cold water itself. The way the acid interacts with the alcohol and the rest of the human body once its ingested…
[I nod, and she seems to relax, happy that she doesn't have to describe it.]
"It's common knowledge amongst those who consume Gloom acid to never expose themselves to too much cold, or they might suffer from a sudden stroke or heart attack. The chances of it go up the older you are."
[She simply nods, unable to look up at me.]
The money was too good to pass up. But after a while, that wasn't really what kept me working with them. It was guilt. That's how they get you, I think. They know that guilt makes for a tighter leash than the threat of death or the reward of money ever could. Back then I… I would have honestly preferred death to the truth of what I'd been doing getting out.
Even so, I kept myself together by remembering that my time in Wysteria was almost over. Soon, I'd leave the town and return to Father with all the money he expected from me, and then I'd be able to start a new future, one where I wouldn't need to rely on… those kinds of jobs to reach my goal.
But… I didn't even make it there. I left a week before the day I was supposed to, and with so much more money than I expected.
"What happened?"
The patches of land the Rockets had acquired for their employers… you should know that one of them was the lighthouse standing at the town's shore.
[I feel something in my chest tighten.]
"The one that appeared in my fifth entry?"
Yes. And not just that. They also got ownership of a few of the hangars close to it, and also an old bunker resting outside the town, in the middle of the forest.
"You mean…?"
Until I read your entries I never knew why they'd want those places. It didn't make sense from a land-sharking perspective since they couldn't really turn them around and sell them for a big amount. The dock hangars made sense; they were storing things in there. Contraband that came in every weekend through boat. But the lighthouse and bunker…
But now I know.
"Both those places were connected to the maze of tunnels underneath the city."
Yes.
"Then… if they needed to get ownership of those places specifically it stands to reason that the Institute wasn't the one who carved out those tunnels. They just knew they existed and needed to find an entrance."
[She shrugs.]
Maybe. I wouldn't really know.
"But… the lighthouse was eventually destroyed. And the entrance from the bunker isn't there anymore. Are you… do you know of any more places they were interested in? Other places that might've had an entrance to the tunnels?"
[She squints and looks down, trying to remember. The alcohol might be obstructing a bit the cogs inside her brain.]
There was this one house… east district of the town, near that park with the water fountain. Lunaria Park I think it was called. It was a pretty big house, very fancy. I think it's the one Joseph and Linda used to live in. They'd bought it from the Rockets a long time ago and in the end the Rockets bought it back.
[I frown. That must be the house from Fragment 2, the one with the hidden room and the flickering lights.]
"Why would they sell their house back?"
[She looks up at me and purses her lips into something that's almost like a smile.]
Haven't put it together yet? It's in one of your entries. What do you think happens next?
"I… Maes' story. That's what happened next, isn't it? Were you…"
[She nods solemnly. She hasn't touched her drink in a few minutes.]
I was there, front and center, first thing in the morning. Though of course, I didn't know what for. They just told me to be in the docks and be ready to stand guard while they took care of business. At first I thought it'd just be more of the same, but then… why the dock? Why the lighthouse? They'd already acquired this place. And… where was Joseph? I hadn't seen him yet.
Strangest of all was that the usual Rockets that often came with me for guard duty weren't there anymore. Instead there were these… people in suits. Four of them. All wearing the same outfit with the same insignia on it. I'm… sure I don't need to tell you which.
"No. Please continue."
They were… transporting something. It was very early, sun had barely come up. From inside the black boat resting on the waters two of the guys in suit brought back these… barrels. They were big and sturdy, you could probably fit an entire person inside. And as they took the barrels inside the lighthouse… I could've sworn I saw one of them shake a little bit.
The two others came back with barrels too, but this time from the direction of the town. This time, I definitely saw one of them shake. A strong shake, like something slamming its body against it from the inside. I gasped. I tried to cover my mouth but it was too late. One of the women carrying the barrel turned to look at me and…
I… I don't know how to describe it. Her eyes were… there was something wrong with them. I could barely see them through her shades but I could've sworn I saw something almost like a flame gleaming behind them. Then she just… smiled and nodded, then went inside the lighthouse. And when her partner came out… she didn't. She stayed inside.
"Was this woman by any chance… red-haired?"
Kind of between a red and a pink if I remember correctly, but yeah.
"I see. And what happened after?"
Then… the whole damn thing went up in flames.
"The entire lighthouse?"
All of it. I remember… I remember screaming. It was instantaneous, like the entire building was the tip of a match. It was completely engulfed with these… these horrible purple and black flames that didn't emit any light but felt hotter than anything else I'd ever felt. It was… like a nightmare. In that moment I felt certain that I was dreaming. I just stood there next to the other three people in suits, staring gormlessly.
Then… the flames got bigger. Stronger. I don't… remember it very clearly but I swear to Mew the cobblestones started to fucking melt. That's when one of the men wearing suits tapped me on the shoulder. This… lanky blonde guy with glasses. He smiled and told me we should start heading back before we got caught up in it.
I couldn't refuse or… say anything. Couldn't bring myself to ask him what the fuck was happening or what was in those barrels or why were we leaving his partner inside the lighthouse as it burned. I just… nodded and followed him. Hoping that by doing so I'd wake up from this nightmare. That I'd… realize none of this was real, somehow.
But that realization never came. And then, when we were far enough away… I saw the explosion in the distance. I couldn't see the lighthouse coming down, but I could imagine it perfectly in my mind.
They… they drove me back to my apartment. I remember feeling my heart in my throat, wondering if they were gonna kill me or do something to silence me but… they didn't. That blonde man just smiled and said I'd receive a call from the Rockets tomorrow and… that was it. They were gone.
And the next morning…
"The next morning, news came of the disappearance of Joseph, Linda and their son, as well as another young boy named Carlos."
…Yes. All four of them.
Not long after, I received that call. The Rockets urged me, subtly but firmly, to leave town as soon as possible, and to never speak of what I saw to anyone. As incentive for me to follow those orders, they transferred a… staggering amount of money to my account. More than enough to double what I'd come to this town for in the first place. And that was on top of what I'd already gathered before.
And so… I did. I made up some excuse as to why I had to leave and left the running of my radio station to Eve. A gift to her, for all she'd done for me. And come sundown… I was on my way back home. Far away from Wysteria, with more than enough money to convince my father that my trip had been… a success.
And the rest is, I guess, history. I got his financial backing, I created my own entertainment company, I became famous all throughout the world, and now… here we are.
[She smiles sadly, raising her arms to the side. I can tell she expects me to say something but I stay quiet. After a while, she lets her shoulders drop and sighs.]
I know. I'm a horrible person, aren't I?
"I think that's a light way of putting it. You're a coward and a monster."
Ha… rough, but fair. Are you… are you going to reveal all this to the public?
[A few more seconds pass in silence.]
"I should. But I think I'd rather wait until my own mission is done. Otherwise, it might make things more difficult."
I guess I should hope you fail then. But… I don't really want that. Even though I have a family and a career and everything… I guess part of me wants all this to be revealed. To finally get it out of my chest even if it ends up ruining my life.
"But because you're a coward, you can't do it yourself. You want someone else to do it."
Still, the fact that I'm at least considering it…
"No, that doesn't make it better. Nothing will."
[Her eyes narrow slightly.]
Are you saying that no matter what I do…
"Yes. At least to me, no matter what you do from now on, even if you spent the rest of your life trying to atone, it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't bring back the people you helped them kill. It wouldn't change the fact that you had a hand in what happened to Wysteria."
You're… you're not strained for sympathy, huh.
"Sympathy's earned. And people like you don't change. Taking advantage of people to get what you want is the easiest thing in the world. It's a road only gutless cowards take, and if I can I'm going to take down every single one of you, one at a time. So don't worry; once I'm done with them, I'll make sure to turn my attention toward you. In the meantime…"
[I get up from the table, and I signal the waitress to bring the check.]
"You can start by paying for our drinks."
----------------------------------------
[Recorder buzzes back to life.]
Fuck me, talk about cheery.
Though, having read all the other entries or… fragments or whatever, I can't see myself being shocked by these things anymore.
Depressed acceptance… never thought that'd be my default state this late in life, but I guess it's just like what Tulip said in that interview with Podvig. Shit happens, regardless of if you deserve it or not.
[He sighs.]
Just wish she'd have as much sympathy for us as she seems to have for all the other victims.
…
Yeah, I know I shouldn't whine into these, but I'm as much a part of this whole mess as she is, and she gets all the time she wants to wax philosophically, doesn't she? Who cares if she hears this later? Her opinion of me can't get any worse, nor vice versa.
… I don't hate her, like she seems to believe. I just wish she'd…
I don't know. I was going to say I wish she'd stop pretending we have a sodding chance in hell against all these monsters, but that'd be cruel of me. Can't blame her for wanting to keep fighting 'til the end.
Maybe I just wish I had the courage t–
[Steps are heard from further down the alley. Lynne grunts in surprise and is quick to stand up. He lets out a sigh of relief once he recognizes the person approaching.]
Oh, hey. How was it?
"…She was alive, if nothing else. I won't say it's a relief, but our chat was certainly useful."
Did you get… whatever it was you wanted from her?
"Yes, I–"
[Tulip pauses. There's silence for a moment.]
"Is the recorder on?"
Hm? Oh, yes, I was just finishing when y–
"Turn it off."
What?
"Turn it off you goddamn id–!"
[The recording cuts off.]