krmvgivv | IC Inbox

Yeah but it sounds like that's not saying much.

Well. That's karma.

We all get what we deserve, do we not?

not really. lot of well off bad guys and tortured good guys out there.

...Yeah, you got me there. You aren't wrong.

You're kinda tortured yourself, huh?

Me? I'm okay. I mean when people aren't trying to kill me.

[COUGH. COUGH.]

Okay. Not tortured. Most of the time. Unless I'm trying to kill you.

But you are a good guy.

Sure, I guess.

[Better than Chara, not as good as Mabel.]

Insufferable. Not as great of a detective as you think you are. Your concept of morality and justification is clearly wildly incompatible with mine. You're about as smug as I'd expect someone our age to be. I won't even begin to promise last time was a fluke, because there is a very good chance that continued association with yours truly will eventually cost you a life.

But. You know. A good guy.

You're capable. I won't underestimate you again, Dipper Pines.

Well you'd be the first. [Everyone underestimates Dipper constantly. It's useful, but it's also damn annoying.]

Considering how murder happy you are, I'd be really alarmed if our concepts of morality were remotely similar. And what part of this is supposed to make me want to continue associating with you?

Approximately none of it.

Once again, this may have been hard for you to pick up on, but I'm sort of in the habit of burning bridges before they're even built.

But, hey. At least I'm honest about what you can expect.

Hey you're the one who texted me.

And aren't you just so glad that I did?

Yeah actually. It was pretty informative.

Ah. Did I say too much?

I don't know. Considering I'm not as great a detective as I think I am, maybe it was all stuff you wanted me to know. After all, it's not like you're gonna underestimate me again, right?

Touché.

[That's it. Just a word. Like the conversation's over, cut off right then and there. But, abruptly, another message follows.]

I'm not invited to play Dragons Dine ins & Dives anymore, am I?

You literally just told me that if we keep hanging out you'll probably try to kill me again.

Look, it would probably be really good for you to do something normal and fun like that. I still don't think you're inherently evil. But it would be really good for me to not die and to not have any of my friends die and honestly that's more important to me than trying to fix your deal. So if you can convince me you won't try and kill anyone you can play. But I think you're trying to convince me of the opposite, so probably not.

Also you gotta convince me you're not gonna use your saving thing to cheat on dice rolls.

That's... a much longer and more sincere answer than I expected. I cannot help but think "ahahaha go to hell" would have been the healthier response.

[And a calculated choice. Dipper is, rationally and reasonably, worried. But still willing to fix Chara. All they have to do is plead their case. All they have to do is try, and they can watch the X-Files and trade pictures with people. They can play nerd games. Maybe they can try cooking lessons and hot dog stacking like Frisk did. Maybe they can have more than just the pursuit of strength.

Well. It's a calculated choice in and of itself, but a dialogue tree branches, and two different routes surely lie behind each. Dipper may know, yet again, if they choose to LOAD. But all the same, they pull that familiar glint of light out of themselves, anchor the timeline down to this point.

* Determination.]

[Seek forgiveness?

♥ Yes No

A choice is made.]

I told you that for a reason. I won't promise that I'll never kill you, either. I have no faith in my ability to uphold that promise.

I thought it was enough that I did not seek EXP out. That I do not attack first. But. Inevitably, things turn out like this, and the fault lies with me. I have too much anger to be a good person. Pretending to be human does not fool anyone for very long. I did not want to kill Max. I did not want to kill you or Mabel. Those were not things that I planned. Nonetheless, the venom inside me spills out, and I have burned you all.

But. It was almost fun. Talking about bogeymon and making goat characters.

[...Even when they pick "yes," it still comes out as a "no," does it not? No consequence, no agency, just fumbling along the same roads.]

Okay, you realize this isn't a game, right? Like I don't know how things work in your world, but you're not gonna get experience points or level up or whatever. Also in good games you can still get experience points from diplomatic solutions to encourage roleplaying.

If you don't want to kill people, don't kill people. It's pretty simple. I find not carrying a lethal weapon around helps.

EXP does not stand for experience points.

[They didn't kill. They didn't kill Max. They didn't kill Dipper, didn't kill Mabel. Did not use that lethal weapon. Look what happened! Their world is emptier all the same. This advice is entirely useless. And if they didn't carry a knife around? They'd have died for it. Had their throat slit from behind like a pig at a slaughter. Had the life strangled out of them, pinned beneath Alex's hideous, wrathful weight.

Worthless. It's worthless, huh? The end result is the same whether they killed or spared. The only thing that changes is they don't gain the EXP. The distance that makes it hurt less. No matter what, it's still there: don't do a violence! Don't kill or be killed! It's easy! Everything will be fine and you'll have all the friends! Just stop being so... this. Just be fixed. Just be normal for once, Chara, why are you always like this? Just smile and talk about something that's nicer to hear.

You really are so melodramatic, Chara.]

I don't know how to be anything but this. You can't understand how this feels.

[A shame that Flowey gave up on Chara. They get it. His loneliness, his frustration. The ache of nobody being able to understand what it's like to be missing something so fundamental, something everyone else has effortlessly and naturally. How do you explain it?

You don't. There's just no point, is there?

So it's easier to give up on it.]

[Seek forgiveness?

Yes ♥No

A choice is made.

Can he feel the world reel back? Can he feel the sudden jump? They don't know for sure. But they can camouflage it all the same. Just another move to mess with him, to be the jerkish anomaly they are:]

Cheat on dice rolls? I would never. Do you really think I would use my SAVEs just to bother you?

[Ha ha.]

Once again, you took this unexpectedly sincerely. Once again, I have to spell out the obvious: I'm messing with you. I don't care about the games kids like you waste their time on. I'd probably slit your throat for rolling the dice weird. Not because it bothers me, not because you did anything to warrant it, just because it would be funny to watch.

[Yep, he feels it. And now that he knows what to expect it's easier to hold on, to grit his teeth and refuse to let the memories go. It's just a few seconds. He can hold on to that much. Dipper rolls his eyes. That's a definitely on cheating on dice rolls, then.]

Did you just decide to try and have the conversation two different ways instead of just deciding what you wanted to say?

[This is so annoying for someone who has an almost pathological need to have everything written down. Can he remember what Chara texted well enough to write it down? He has to try.

He... pretty much ignores Chara's new text. Partly cause it's already there and written down and he's more concerned with remembering the old text, partly because it's just the usual melodramatic threats of violence and they lack weight when they come on the heel of an angsty confession. Messing with Dipper? Sure. But Dipper's beginning to suspect that Chara is mostly just really lost and lashing out rather than admitting it.

Not that dipper would know anything about that.]

What does EXP stand for?

I'm earnestly impressed, Dipper Pines! Just two LOADs, and you can do this much.

[A level-up of his own. Whatever LV stands for in his game, anyway. And level-ups warrant rewards, right? That's how the rules go. So, why not. An honest answer.]

Execution points.

Huh, that's unusual. And what's the point of gaining them?

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1/2 [SAVE Point 1]

2/2

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[LOAD Point 1]

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