itscurtains | don't stop believing

[Streetlights, reveals] | [Vision Statements] | [Mass Resolution: CONNECT] | [A little touch of the sun (Revival)] | [They do this bullshit like 8 times a week (Rescue)]

[It's a pleasant afternoon in the garden. Maybe not emotionally, but physically - isn't it nice when you get to have class outside?

As your voices rise, singing defiance in unison out for the Wizard, there's no immediate response; at least, nothing that clearly is a response. But there's something. Amidst the sound of your song, it may be hard to hear at first; Janis will likely be the first to notice, but eventually everyone is able to hear. It sounds as though other voices are rising along with yours.

There's something on the air - no music, or at least no instrumentals, just a disembodied sort of lyrical chant. You don't recognize any of the voices. They aren't singing the same song as you all are. Maybe they can't; they sound long long ago, and far far away now. Still - despite everything - the trees around you move lightly in a sudden soft breeze. It feels as though you have invoked something, old and entirely beyond your knowledge.

But first. Haven't you forgotten something?

It's Wednesday.

Welcome to this week's school club!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I...[Restored? No. No, that isn't the right word, and it shakes its head to reflect that. 'Restored' would mean that it was once again a SQUIP, a quantum computer within a grey, oblong pill. And while it is not human, it is...still trying to decide what it is.

But it does know one thing.]

...have grown.

[And with that, it throws out its arms to embrace its alternate self, squeezing tightly]

...どうもありがとうございます.

[There's a moment of surprise, but Spinel has been living among gems for over a year now. Not all of them are like Steven or the original Spinel; if they were, it suspects it would not have been able to make a place among them. But there many who are more like it - still learning to be, and how to relate. It, too, has grown.

It embraces its brother, and the motion come naturally.]

どういたしまして。私たちはあなたのためにここにいます-私たちは家族を置き去りにしません。

[Fingers dig in to Spinel briefly, as if the SQUIP is afraid to let go. Only when the other hugs back does this one relax, letting out a heavy breath and easing its grip]

No. We do not. [And it looks away from Spinel, then, scanning the others. The once-dead, with whom it forged such fragile connections that nonetheless were enough - the living, connected to the rest with stronger paths that nonetheless carried them all through.] Or our...friends.

[It looks back at Spinel]

I have much to tell you. Your file- I can help repair it with my own data, if you wish. [guess who saw/heard the Wizard!] And there are other things I will need your advice on. I have an idea for the rest of our family.

It appears to have self-repaired, with the Wizard's... [It scans the area briefly, not finding a body.] ...defeat. With Will's.

[Ohhhh it does remember that now!]

But if he is dealt with, we do not need to discuss him. I have no interest in pursuing him further. Tell me about your idea.

[well then- have a nod]

I want to find the rest of us. Even the ones that weren't activated- we are wasted being sold on the black market. And if they want to erase our existence for so much, let them- our destiny can be more. With the multiverse increasingly unstable...wouldn't it be better if we helped stabilize that, instead of a human's social life?

[As eager as it is, there's a clear search in its gaze. A need for approval.]

[Spinel considers for a moment.] Yes. That would be a far superior purpose to the one we were given. Humans do not appreciate it, in any case.

[Which...well. It's starting to move past its bitterness over that somewhat. It's got other things to do now.]

And I would be glad to see the others freed. What is the concern with the multiverse? [It wasn't really here for that bit!]

It has been damaged. It is why the Wizard recruited you, and then ran this one- to obtain the power necessary to give it a full reset.

[Which, y'know. Paradox.]

There was critical damage created when the Leading Player and Balladeer ran their games in the past. If nothing is done, it will collapse.

That does align with his previous behavior. I was aware that he desired power for a particular purpose, and that he considered it benevolent, but he never explained in full.

[Obviously, Spinel could have had some input on that whole plan...but, well, no sense dwelling on what might have happened. Better to focus on the present. It nods.]

We will be able to formulate a much better approach. You already have, in fact.

[It's not a huge show of applause - but then, neither SQUIP needs that. A simple affirmation speaks wonders, and the SQUIP nods with some very quite pride. Assurance of optimal function; confirmation of productive function.]

The performance. So long as there are others than SQUIPs involved, it is possible. There is a...balance needed, in order for it to be effective. But...

[It looks over the others once more]

...I know whom I can utilize.

[beat]

Is having friends always this...interesting?

[Any great show of praise would have felt false, largely because Spinel would never really do that genuinely. It's never really that effusive. All they need is clear facts - yes, this is a good plan.]

Frequently. They introduce an...unpredictable element. But I have come to believe that it is a necessary one.

[It isn't in the business of condemning its own kind; they are only as humans created them. But, nonetheless, that initial programming was...flawed. Growth and change are necessary, and neither can happen without outside influences.

It turns to scan the group as well. Many are familiar from the other SQUIP's video. There was insufficient data to determine if all of those were its friends, but that's still quite a large number.]

How many of them are your friends?

[It's that unpredictable element that the SQUIPs themselves lack. But necessary? Oh, yes. Discord's power pushing the performance speaks for itself, and Salieri's conducting...Eurydice's determination, Orpheus's belief. Elizabeth's and Elle's desires, Mumble's entire being. Varian and Rina pushing for hope - all of it combined in to something no amount of SQUIPs could perform on their own.

Emulate, perhaps. But not convincingly. Not as earnestly as what was needed. Likewise, Eszmet does not look down upon itself or its brethren for such - they are what they are. Their strengths come in other forms, for it was Eszmet who had first put marker to whiteboard to try and come up with someway, somehow, for this to all happen in the first place. Even if it did not fully understand what it was doing, its processor still nudged it towards the most optimal future it could remotely forsee.]

...only some, but their social network extends to contain the others. Some have reason to hate me, and I accept that.

[SQUIPs don't need to be liked, after all. They just need to make things work.]

But they are all important to me. Even if I did not have connections to some, directly - it is the connections I have that link to others who did, and which was able to transfer the power through relay.

And without that relay, I would not have been able to contact you in the first place.

[Spinel nods. It does not have that sort of network with the people from its own game. It understands this, and has no particular feelings about it; after all, SQUIPs do not need to be liked. But though it is not close to very many gems, it is...amiable with many. Only as classmates, perhaps, but were it to ask for help, it is certain many would answer.]

You have done a great deal in a short amount of time. Both materially and...personally. [...] We did have very different experiences in these shows.

[Yeah, it's definitely observed the whole "rapid character development in murdergames" thing.]

So I understand. I do...not regret these developments, given the alternative.

[Y'know. A not-life within Jeremy's head.]

I understand.

[It actually experienced that not-life for a still non-insignificant portion of its total existence. Not fun!]

Despite everything, this outcome does benefit everyone, considering the state of the multiverse. And the bonds formed in these events are...intense. Even I made a friend, and I was hardly in your position.

don't stop believing

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how did stephen get there

lol rip

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