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[He's been here for twenty-four hours before he decides to put in an appearance on the network; time enough to loosely acquaint himself with his new surroundings (at least as much as the ache from the knife-wound in his side will allow), to settle in to his accommodation and - most importantly, from his perspective - look over past network communications to gain a better idea of the kinds of people he can expect to interact with.

It's crossed his mind that perhaps he should be utilising an alias - his exploration of the DEMISE network has informed him there's at least one person here he'd rather avoid - but ultimately he decides there's little need for it. It's a big enough city for his whereabouts to remain undetected, and he's still hidden behind his use of text; better to reserve anonymity for those times when it's really needed. Besides, this is an unprecedented situation, and he's a little excited. It's not the kind of experience he ever could have predicted, and while he's here he thinks he may as well make it fun.

And so, he makes his introduction]

I suppose I'm expected to begin with questions. Why have I, of all people, been brought here to fight a war that has little to do with me, is perhaps among the most common. Ah, but that's all a little pointless, don't you think? We are, all of us, in control of our own lives and as such are the only ones who can be held accountable for what happens to us. It's a matter of responsibility and an attempt to abdicate it would be both careless and cowardly. At least, that's how I see it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, for whatever reason, it's the path we chose in life that brought us here, a chain of actions and events that we are, ultimately, responsible for. That makes the question of ‘why’ irrelevant, doesn't it?

For whatever reason, we're here now. Perhaps we ought to enjoy it~

Death City, Nevada. It sounds interesting ☆

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The fact of the matter is we're stuck here, so the only beneficial questions for anyone to ask are ones pertaining to this world. Even so, "enjoy it" may be going a little bit far.

Though the first questions on many people's minds will most likely pertain to themselves, while inquiries into this world will come second. Humans are essentially selfish creatures after all, it's only natural and therefore to be expected.

I'm curious though, why shouldn't this experience be enjoyed?

[ because very annoying detectives are still very much alive when they shouldn't be......... ]

It is ultimately a war.

Ah yes, it is. Which means our situation holds a significant element of danger, though there are plenty of people who'd find that exciting in and of itself, aren't there?

As for those who don't, it's not as though anyone is going to be forced to participate. We've been brought to a different world, there are bound to be things here we never would have had the opportunity to experience had this not occurred. Reason enough to enjoy it at least a little, I would have thought.

Even if those who were brought here choose not to participate, it will be fairly impossible to remain free from the danger. War will always breed casualties and draw the innocent into its clutches. Though it does raise the question -- what happens if we die in this world? Do we cease to be in our own? If people can come back from the dead here, then perhaps we will go back to our own world unscathed. In which case, the danger ceases to be because we are given immortality in a sense, with, of course, the exception of those who have cheated life once already.

But if we are given a free life to play with, it will be a bit easier for those to enjoy this world. Is it truly your belief we were brought here because of string of choices BREW deemed worthy?

Edited 2012-02-26 14:21 (UTC)

Ah, the question of how death affects us here is an interesting one. The idea of being given a free life to play with would certainly hold it's appeal, and may make even those who would usually shy away from danger a little more ready to partake in it. At least, that's how I imagine it.

Though I maintain that regardless of the danger we're likely to be facing, there are still elements of being brought to an entirely new world filled with entirely new people and experiences that can still be enjoyed, whether you're a warrior or not.

And yeah, that's how I see it, even if those choices didn't consciously bring us to this point, they were our choices all the same and therefore we should take some kind of ownership of them.

Edited 2012-02-26 14:38 (UTC)

It's true. It would make it a handy bargaining chip for Shibusen to play. And it's certainly easier to accept a position in this war knowing it would only cost you your memories of your time here -- which from my understanding are fickle things at best. There have been several cases of BREW sending people home, only to return them without knowledge of the events prior to their disappearance.

Your theory does raise an interesting point, however. It's a very sound idea if you believe a simple wish to end this war is the only reason we were brought to this world. You'll have to forgive me for being skeptical, but I have a difficult time believing in something as fairy tale as wishes on a magical device being responsible for our untimely kidnapping.

Is that so? Perhaps it depends on what point in time people are pulled from, but it's not as though I have any idea how BREW functions.

Ah, it's difficult to believe in something so thoroughly devoid of logic, I'll admit. And yet if you'd asked me a little over 24 hours ago whether I believed in the possibility of being brought to an entirely new world to fight in a war I didn't know existed I would have laughed. I'm curious though; if you don't believe the party line we've been given, why do you think we've been brought here?

There is plenty to be gained from the knowledge of other worlds.

[ A simple statement that could either showcase trust or distrust. Light is more curious about Izaya's response to it than anything. ]

Edited (needed a little introspection up in this tag ;x) 2012-02-28 00:40 (UTC)

That's a little vague, very much open to interpretation. Was that intentional, I wonder?

Let's go with this interpretation for now; knowledge from other worlds can be useful I'm sure, though to what extent it applies to this situation, I'm uncertain. It seems we've been brought here to fight this war their way, after all. It doesn't seem as though they're looking for either an outside perspective or a different skill set to the ones that naturally occurs here.

[ Light is temporarily amused. So this person saw through his plan easily. They're definitely more observant; definitely someone who needs to be watched -- after all, L said his enemies here are fewer than 20 but more than 1. The only thing Light can do is continue to engage conversation. ]

No, perhaps not. But perhaps this pretense of war is just a cover-up for the device's true purpose -- to open the path to other worlds and exploit them, learning through the people here which ones may be profitable. It's hard to say, after all, I just arrived myself so I haven't had the experiences many of the other guests have had that lead them to put their trust and faith in Shibusen.

But then again, it could simply be an advanced case of stockholm syndrome.

[You can rest assured he'll be watching you in turn, Light. Though for the moment he remains undicerning; you are all worthy of his attention~]

I suppose there are a multiplicity of possibile explanations and it'll certainly take longer than 24 hours to reach any firm conclusions, but it's not as though we're the first to have been brought here. Others must have asked the same questions, don't you think if there was an alternative explanation it would have been uncovered by now? Though I guess I could be giving our fellow guests more credit than they deserve.

As for Stockholm Syndrome, it depends whether you buy into the use of such limiting labels, I suppose.

If the posts on the network so far are indicative of the intelligence of most of the guests, it wouldn't be a surprise they've never uncovered any less-than-pleasant truths about our captors. Most are ready to blindly trust and fight this war without even the slightest question. That you look at this as an opportunity for new and unique experiences already means you're one step above them.

Thank you for the compliment ☆ And admittedly the majority of network posts that I've seen seem to either support your view or consist of people wasting their time by demanding to be sent back, but I've only had a chance to read the posts for this month as of yet. I'd prefer to withhold judgment until I've had a chance to look through them more thoroughly.

It's true, I suppose. Only time will tell. And unless we either die or somehow get returned by BREW, we'll have plenty of it.

It certainly looks that way, and I'll admit that I'm looking forward to it ☆

[ Amused. ]

A positive attitude may just protect you from the madness.

Here's hoping~

[Not that most people would have considered him entirely sane to begin with, not by conventional standards :|]

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