WEEK ONE: EXECUTION

[saturations]

EXECUTION: KAZUMA ASOGI

Sunday morning starts peacefully enough, until around noon, when alarms start going off on your phones. The dreadful noise is accompanied by a reminder of the execution taking place in the Central Node. You can snooze the alarms at first, but they begin to get a little more insistent. If you're being stubborn, you can probably hold out until exactly 1 PM, when an archway opens right in front of you and pulls you in.

Unlike last week's pizza party, today the Central Node is eerily quiet and empty. There are a few blankets laid out on the grass for those of you who wish to sit instead of standing the whole time. No refreshments have been provided, but the Residents are already there waiting for you.

As the last person enters the node, an enormous archway suddenly opens. This archway once again leads to an area which is pitch black inside, with white and grey dust falling softly like snow. The chilly air feels even colder than before, and you instinctively know you must not approach it. If you try to push through anyway, something is blocking your way. Smaller tears to the same space open in the air, at the very least. You can see what's happening, even if you can't follow.

Because - once the archway is open, Kazuma alone will begin to walk through as though drawn. All you can do now is watch and wait.

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[assogi]

[ honestly, he can't claim he doesn't belong in this scene. every second after the trial ended, it's been replaying in his head. just the sight of ryunosuke's face in that horrified expression, as karuma plunges through his chest... his blood spilled on the seamless steel of his family's sword -- the only thing left of kazuma's father. ]

[ but. ]

[ he has the strength to move, still. so he goes. his eyes remain rooted at the scene, but he keeps walking. it stays with him, the memory, as it always does. but he keeps going ]

[ he doesn't want this to be how the tale ends. ]

[saturations]

[he lets go of his family's great sword, leaves it plunged into his friend's body and he keeps walking. through the door. on the other side, once again, he is plunged into darkness. he can't see anything, he can't hear anything, he can't even seem to feel the ground beneath his feet. wherever he is, it's cold, and quiet, and a little suffocating, but peaceful.

and yet, that feeling returns. the feeling that there is still an escape for him. there's the promise, the hope, of a return to his home, to his loved ones who may somehow be waiting there for him, despite the guilt of the awful thing he's done.

it's right there in front of him, a narrow crack of light shining through the darkness above him. all he has to do is climb and find his way out.]

[assogi]

[ karuma's final resting place, in the body of ryunosuke naruhodo.... ]

[ kazuma clenches his jaw, and continues forward. tears are still stinging in his eyes. ]

[ but this can't be how it ends. he needs to go back. that voice in his head is still urging him forward, telling he still has to go.. ]

[ ... to the way it was before... before he received that letter that would change the whole course of his life. ]

[ his limbs still feel like lead, but he goes. one step after another. climbing, pushing through. ]

[saturations]

[he climbs. his hands find purchase on the dirt, which crumbles away. he digs until his hands are raw, his limbs growing heavy and tired with each motion. but there's still that light above him. it's not blindingly bright, only the flicker of a lantern in the darkness, and it feels like hope. he feels as though he's been in darkness so long that even the dim glow of candlelight is brilliant to him. perhaps the person holding that light can shine some on him too, illuminate something for him that he feels he isn't able to do himself.

his hands find purchase on stone. they're so stiff, they feel numb. it's heavy, and difficult, but he can push away the slab of rock that's sealing him in here and, crawling despite the leadenness of all of his limbs, pull himself through the crack he's made.

but as he pulls through, it isn't quite what he expects. for a moment, he can see them there. ryunosuke with his lantern, susato by his side, peering through the darkness, investigating, there to find him. but instead of recognition, he hears a scream from susato, a terrified shout from ryunosuke, as they back away, frightened. they don't appear to recognize him. and the reason feels obvious, suddenly.

he's clawed himself out of a grave, scrabbling at the ground, his face frozen in a demonic scream of rage. but no one can see it behind the heavy iron mask.]

And in this final exhibit, we learn the strange story of the killer's ending.

[no, he can't see ryunosuke and susato there at all, can he? instead, suddenly, he can see out the archway. he can see, past the velvet ropes, the crowd gathered around, frozen in fear and terror, staring back at him, an exhibit on display.

his limbs are frozen, heavy, wax. he can't seem to move, not even to make a sound, not even to breath, and he's choking, soundlessly, without motion.]

[assogi]

[ the light of that lantern spurs him -- it's all that he can focus on, as he scrabbles through the stone, with progressing desperation. ]

[ he has to reach them. he has to. everything will have been for nothing, if he can't--- if he can't return with them, to the place he belongs. ]

[ but something isn't right. the screams echo, reverberate, and he feels a pain in his chest. a pain everywhere. he's suffocating, in the mask, in their screams, in --]

[ suddenly, he can see the crowd -- waxy themselves, in various states of horror, fear and anger. they surely can't make out his expression, but if they did, they could see he's similarly horrified to realize they've been watching this all along. ]

[ his eyes flicker between all of them, from malik and marie, to the scarlets, to the residents, to all those who came to see him yesterday, until finally seeing meteion, who has been watching this. ]

[ he wants to tell them, to tell her not to watch, but what finally comes out is a final, whispered choke of pure despair, so quiet they may not even hear ]

[ Father... I.... ]

[ he can't breathe. ]

[ I've failed you. ]

[saturations]

[he can't breathe, and the life begins to leave him, until only a frozen figure remains.

the images inside the archway swirl again, fading away in a whirl of color. kazuma, too, appears to fade away, colors leaving him first before his form entirely blurs and vanishes into the darkness. there’s nothing there anymore, only pitch black and gently falling dust, gray, white, and for a moment, a few flakes of scarlet red.

...the archway closes. you no longer feel the sensation of wax, and you can move once again.

kazuma asogi is dead.]