Camp: private conversations

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Respond here for a private conversation with Red! All comment threads are screened.

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[Yeah, that? That gets her to stop.]

...

[But however these kids are finding this stuff out, she can't just keep erasing their memories. Eventually it will damage them. And...they're just taking a hold of their own futures, aren't they?]

It's...a last plan, if things go horribly wrong. I can't give you the details, but basically it ensures that those who return to 'life' can't leave this camp.

[killtheanimals]

[That has him freezing on the spot.

No. No jumping to conclusions. It's if things go horribly wrong, she already said that much--]

...I was listed as an excellent candidate for 'final protocol.' In that case, if the worst happens...

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I'm curious to know what 'list' you're talking about, exactly.

But an 'excellent candidate' is someone strong enough to contain everyone, should I become unable to do it. A backup, so to speak.

[killtheanimals]

We're resourceful.

[But more importantly:]

Wouldn't the candidate need to remain indefinitely to keep them contained?

[Because that's his real fear, being unable to return to the Journey he's already been taken from for far too long...]

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Until a replacement Facilitator arrived, yes. I doubt they would keep someone like you on permanently, you're far too young to handle all of the duties.

[killtheanimals]

I can't do that.

[And if she knows his past as she claims, she must know why.]

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[She does indeed know.]

If it helps, I do not plan on dying any time soon.

[killtheanimals]

Good.

[Funny, how quickly he changed his mind after so recently wondering if it was worth it to try to murder her in her sleep.]

What... do you do to contain them, anyway?

[His expression is tense. The thought of such a job is... unsettling. The thought of the fact that the hunters felt they could get those they selected to even perform the job in the first place is equally so.

Yet another reason to exercise caution, and Mitsuru dislikes all of it greatly.]

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Contain the campers?

[It's a valid question, in her mind.]

Blue- my computer- he's hooked up to all of the security cameras in this place. If anyone gets too close to a boundary, he alerts me to it. Because of my powers, I can move a lot faster than the rest of you.

...though sometimes the hunters move faster than me, especially if I'm asleep when someone tries to leave.

[killtheanimals]

Those aren't the ones you mentioned regarding the protocol.

I mean those who returned to 'life.'

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[OH. That.]

They're easier to contain, they generally follow the camp rules. They don't tend to wander outside of the boundaries.

[killtheanimals]

[Thanks for the extra info, though.]

They'd have to be pretty desperate to want to rely on one of us to actually do their bidding.

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[Darn!]

Well, that only happens if I die, so I imagine they would be desperate at that point.

[killtheanimals]

It also assumes any of us would want to help them after they've killed so many of us.

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Given that they shoot the uncooperative ones, people tend to get cooperative very quickly.

[killtheanimals]

Is that the threat they plan to use?

[Hm. He could probably combat that, if he's careful...

After all, there isn't any rule against killing hunters, and he's plenty capable of casting a small barrier of his own.]

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Before you get any ideas, they would remove your powers upon my death. You would be facing them not as a magic-user, but as a regular 11-year-old boy.

[killtheanimals]

[What.]

...They have that ability?

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Of course they do. Do you really think they would let people from other worlds with strange powers run around a forest in Michigan if they didn't have some way to prevent us from fighting back?

[killtheanimals]

This is the hunting group, right? Not the labs?

Or were they the same all along?

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The hunting group and the labs are separate entities.

...I probably should not be talking about the labs, though. That could get both of us in trouble.

[killtheanimals]

Then it's the hunters.

[Yes? No? Red, please.]

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Yes, it's the hunters.

[Come on dude don't make her spell out everything for you.]

[killtheanimals]

[Red you use tricky language and he's increasingly having a real bad time, humor him please.]

So... what? Did they just realize this camp seems to bring strange people from other worlds and decide it's their job to keep us contained here so we can't try to live in their world?

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Fear makes people do strange things, Mitsuru. Do you think they've been here for all these years and have never seen someone partially made of stone?