[ Nonon is tired, standing guard at the dungeon. She's tired from the entire day honestly, but while she doesn't exactly smile when she sees Madoka, it's clear that the younger girl is welcome. ]
Thank you. [ She's not as hungry as she should be, considering, but she knows she should eat, so she takes the lunchbox. ]
How are you? You said some serious things during the trial.
[ Nonon's silent for a while before she says anything. ]
The competition is designed for a god to win. Everyone's thinking about it, but we also don't want murderers to walk free even if they aren't directly representing their gods.
[ Some gods could be suggesting it. Some gods disapprove of it. It's been said from the beginning the vote was split. ]
Some of us weren't trying to leave it to luck.
[ That last statement is said very carefully. As neutrally as possible. ]
Is it still keeping them from walking free if they come back? Is it still murder if we all come back...?
I - I still don't like it... Of course, it's still wrong...
[ But she's got over 100 timelines worth of memories of her best friend letting people get hurt, and she still considers that girl her best friend.
Maybe it's pointless to think about that too deeply. Hurting people is wrong, and she agrees with that deeply. She shakes her head to get herself back on track. ]
... Then what should I be doing? to help you to keep it from being about luck.
That's up to what you believe. Your moral and your standards and how you're treating death here. Even if they come back, they were kept from killing more. Even if they come back, they were still murdered.
[ Nonon's morals aren't black and white. All killing isn't wrong. On a logical level, she understands the tactic in killing off competition here. She can understand that, but she's always been more emotional than logical. ]
... You once said you would leave it to other people to tell you things, and you wouldn't ask. They would tell you if they wanted to, but now that we only have a couple weeks left, now that we've seen some murders happen for a variety of different reasons, I think you should ask. Ask whatever questions you can or want. I don't want to command you what to do, but... the more any of us know, the less this game is left to luck.
[ She says that, but she knows she hasn't been asking as much as she should either. It's a lesson she's learning herself. ]
Right... [ Madoka nods. ] I think that's why I want us to catch killers. More than anything else, just to stop them from hurting anyone else while we're all here...
[ but it feels like a distraction. she considers Nonon's advice quietly, but that's a hard one. Taking control of situations is something she only does once in a blue moon. Usually the questions she asks are just - advice. So: ]
Then in the bigger picture... Nonon-san, what do you think I should do? About my own alignment, for example.
[ It would be so easy for Nonon to just tell Madoka to switch to something useful or something that benefited her and she wouldn't feel that guilty for it, but she's also not uncaring enough. She likes Madoka a bit too much for that. ]
I think someone mentioned it during the trial. That for wishes to come true and for whatever world the winning god wants to build to be what they envision, their followers have to believe in them and their vision...
You should pick based on that, if you want to be in line with the god's competition. Someone else thinks a specific god winning will have the best chances of everyone's wishes being granted at least a little, but that's up to you, too.
You've already made big decisions regarding your life, haven't you? Ask yourself how you want to play this game. As the gods intended? Or what?
But that's the thing - I think that any of the gods would do a good job. When they have so long to learn to work together and they're forced to dedicate themselves to whatever world has been created...
I think I could align with any of the gods and believe that they have a good reason for guiding the world the way they want to. And that all the other gods will help to keep things balanced, no matter who's really in charge.
... I don't intend to try to break the rules of this game, but I don't feel like we're doing the right thing just going week by week and hoping for the best.
They all have their ideals, and none of them are the worst, but we have to make a choice. A winning god can grant smaller wishes and favors to even those that aren't their followers, if they choose to.
[ If they choose to is the caveat. ]
If you want as many wishes granted as possible, your long game is to get as many people to believe the most in one god. In the god you think who will make a world that combines what everyone wants in some way.
What I believe in... How I believe in people... isn't really in line with this competition. If I'm real, they don't line up 100 percent with any god here, but that's fine.
The god I like most is Love. That's the truth, and that's why I'm with her.
[ Madoka nods, because she's kind of with Nonon on that. Her own morals and the way she looks at the world now - it clearly doesn't quite sync up with what it seems like they wanted.
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Thank you. [ She's not as hungry as she should be, considering, but she knows she should eat, so she takes the lunchbox. ]
How are you? You said some serious things during the trial.
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I'm okay. I just got... Overwhelmed.
[ how is it that having your omniscience taken away is what makes it overwhelming to process things? ]
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I think we all were, but it looks like something else is troubling you on top of everything at the trial?
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[ just the usual combination of murder stress + self blame stress + having trouble scaling her priorities down. you know. regular stuff. ]
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[ It's an invitation for her to talk about it more or again if she wants but nothing more. ]
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And even though I think any of the gods would be good, I don't... Like that.
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The competition is designed for a god to win. Everyone's thinking about it, but we also don't want murderers to walk free even if they aren't directly representing their gods.
[ Some gods could be suggesting it. Some gods disapprove of it. It's been said from the beginning the vote was split. ]
Some of us weren't trying to leave it to luck.
[ That last statement is said very carefully. As neutrally as possible. ]
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I - I still don't like it... Of course, it's still wrong...
[ But she's got over 100 timelines worth of memories of her best friend letting people get hurt, and she still considers that girl her best friend.
Maybe it's pointless to think about that too deeply. Hurting people is wrong, and she agrees with that deeply. She shakes her head to get herself back on track. ]
... Then what should I be doing? to help you to keep it from being about luck.
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[ Nonon's morals aren't black and white. All killing isn't wrong. On a logical level, she understands the tactic in killing off competition here. She can understand that, but she's always been more emotional than logical. ]
... You once said you would leave it to other people to tell you things, and you wouldn't ask. They would tell you if they wanted to, but now that we only have a couple weeks left, now that we've seen some murders happen for a variety of different reasons, I think you should ask. Ask whatever questions you can or want. I don't want to command you what to do, but... the more any of us know, the less this game is left to luck.
[ She says that, but she knows she hasn't been asking as much as she should either. It's a lesson she's learning herself. ]
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[ but it feels like a distraction. she considers Nonon's advice quietly, but that's a hard one. Taking control of situations is something she only does once in a blue moon. Usually the questions she asks are just - advice. So: ]
Then in the bigger picture... Nonon-san, what do you think I should do? About my own alignment, for example.
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I think someone mentioned it during the trial. That for wishes to come true and for whatever world the winning god wants to build to be what they envision, their followers have to believe in them and their vision...
You should pick based on that, if you want to be in line with the god's competition. Someone else thinks a specific god winning will have the best chances of everyone's wishes being granted at least a little, but that's up to you, too.
You've already made big decisions regarding your life, haven't you? Ask yourself how you want to play this game. As the gods intended? Or what?
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I think I could align with any of the gods and believe that they have a good reason for guiding the world the way they want to. And that all the other gods will help to keep things balanced, no matter who's really in charge.
... I don't intend to try to break the rules of this game, but I don't feel like we're doing the right thing just going week by week and hoping for the best.
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[ If they choose to is the caveat. ]
If you want as many wishes granted as possible, your long game is to get as many people to believe the most in one god. In the god you think who will make a world that combines what everyone wants in some way.
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[ there's no judgment in that question whatsoever - she's just curious about Nonon's thoughts on her own alignment, now that they're further along. ]
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What I believe in... How I believe in people... isn't really in line with this competition. If I'm real, they don't line up 100 percent with any god here, but that's fine.
The god I like most is Love. That's the truth, and that's why I'm with her.
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She looks pleased by Nonon's answer, honestly. ]
That's how I feel about Cunning, right now.
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Really? I think he's fine, but you know he's an asshole, right?
[ Nonon prefers assholes to nice people more often than not. ]
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Is he?
He seems nice.
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Yeah. He's not a bad guy, but he's still an asshole.
[ ... ]
What do I seem like to you?
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Nonon-san?
Well... You're smart, and pretty, and so confident. It feels like you're really in charge, you know?
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I'm all that and more. [ She's too self-assured to appreciate Madoka's cute assessment, and that's terrible. ] But I'm also an asshole.
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1/2
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