EVENT: A Certain Confession

[joybound]

Who: everybody!
When: Day 16, evening
Where: wherever you are

[As the sun sets and the new stars come out, there's a message on the ChainChat app. The username is new -- it's not The Construct, but it also doesn't have a profile attached, and doesn't accept private messages. It appears to be some different admin account.]

★: Hi everyone. Good news and bad news here. Good first: you should find your new train car attached as of this message! You guys wanted a garden, so hopefully you'll like this one.
★: As for the bad news: we're having a bit of a problem generating positive energy, so from now on we're adjusting the whole "sparks of light" thing. Starting tomorrow, you'll only get a payout when you consciously make a decision to increase your bonds. We're talking about increasing prices, too, but... one thing at a time.
★: Sorry for the bad timing.

[There's a pause, and then a follow-up.]

★: There are some things I ought to explain now, but I'm not sure where to start. Just be aware that things might get rougher in the future. And that Trials... I might've lied a little about those.
★: I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen. Please try to hang in there.

[It's not a cheerful message, but on the upside, there is in fact a new train car at the end! On the outside it looks like one of the communal cars, with a stylized flower symbol on the door. Inside, however, it's a huge greenhouse. There are several different "rooms", each about 50 feet square, aligned to different climates. It also comes with various basic gardening tools - trowels, gloves, etc -- and enough seedlings to get started growing flowers and veggies. There's always (artificial) sunshine coming down through the glass roof, and the soil in the beds never loses fertility. There are even benches here and there -- it's not only a practical facility, but a nice place to relax!

More seeds and seedlings, equipment, and decor, can be bought via the sparks shop. You may in the meantime assume any simple plants you want are provided -- but they won't be re-issued for free if you kill them!]

[OOC: You can use this toplevel to reply to the prince's chat message. He'll respond for a limited time, but you can use this opportunity to uncover some major plot info! You're also more than welcome to talk to eachother -- it's a chat room and the conversations are public. The changes to the sparks system are outlined in this OOC comm announcement. Thank you!]

Comments

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: I didn't think so either. points for that much honesty!
Crow: anyway, wanna explain what it is you were lying about in the first place?

[joybound]

★: I said I didn't know where the Trials were coming from. I do, but they weren't supposed to go this far.

[bad_crowmance]

[ That's a pretty big lie, bro. ]

Crow: what were they "supposed" to be for, then?

[joybound]

★: To push you into bonding faster. To make you think about the reality of things. Some of us are more gentle than others but it was never meant to be pointlessly mean.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: so what changed-- the "Malice"?

[joybound]

★: Yes. It's different than we've seen, but that guy's not acting like himself.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: so he's been corrupted?

[joybound]

★: We think so. He's not exactly interested in getting examined.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: of course not.
Crow: I'm guessing you have no intentions of stopping despite this setback?

[joybound]

★: We can't afford to.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: had a feeling about that
Crow: you know you screwed yourself over with this lie, right?
Crow: did it really help your cause?

[joybound]

★: It didn't. But even someone like me messes up. I can't pretend I anticipated everything.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: you seriously couldn't anticipate people would be pissed at being used?
Crow: or were you counting on not getting caught, and you're only fessing up now because shit went sideways?
Crow: and maybe now it's too dangerous to keep up your lie

[joybound]

★: We never pretended you weren't being put on a mission you didn't choose. But you're right that we were hoping to never tell you about the Trials.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: you really fucked THAT one up
Crow: so what's your plan now?
Crow: to deal with your friend, I mean

[joybound]

★: We're going to try to fix him. Somehow.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: obviously you're going to try to fix him
Crow: but that answers my question anyway
Crow: you have no idea on the "how"

[joybound]

★: There's a lot I have no idea about honestly.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: hah! well, that's relatable
Crow: so
Crow: here's another one you might not have an answer to
Crow: if this can happen to your friend, what's to stop it from happening to US?

[joybound]

★: I do have that answer actually.
★: It probably happened to him because he spent too much time away from a functioning Prism. It won't happen to you because you've got one on the train, and that one's immune to corruption.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: oh?
Crow: how's it immune?

[joybound]

[To tell the truth or not: the eternal question.

...Well. Lying is going badly, so:]

★: It's a piece of my soul. As long as I don't give up, you're fine. If I do it won't matter because the main Prism will also fall and everyone will die anyway.

[bad_crowmance]

[ Internally: ]

Crow: good to know!

[joybound]

★: As you can see, it's a completely reasonable amount of responsibility for one person and I'm doing great.

[bad_crowmance]

Crow: I definitely believe that and am in no way alarmed
Crow: on a separate note! if you need to chill at some point, I still have like half a bottle of whiskey I can share