bittybat | W2, Wednesday

[Damian is quiet for a bit as he thinks it over.] Easy. In theory.

It's entertainment. We have to give them a show. Television isn't always real, is it? It just has to be believable.

Not always, but you'd be surprised. [He makes a face.] So what are thinking, we just fake a lot of murders and hope it works out? That could work in theory.

Faking murders means getting rid of the people not dead, and that depends on what all this "audience" can actually see.

There's nowhere to hide people... except the mines. If the warnings aren't fake, it'd be dangerous to keep people there.

I'll have to check the mines first.

You're going to go down there even if the warnings say that they're dangerous? [Damian???] Do you not remember what just happened when you and Jason opened one of the locked buildings?

Someone has to check the mines. Half the others here wouldn't be able to do it without a high chance of death.

[BUT NOT HIM. Surely.]

You're not invisible, Robin. You know that, right?

I'm aware. But sitting around and twiddling our thumbs isn't going to keep people from dying. Not when we have to figure out how to end it. How to keep people from dying--both by each other and by us when we vote.

[There's an unhappy frown.]

No matter what I say, I can't stop you. And where I'm from we have to kind of let our own go off and walk their own path. [...gross, he sounds like his dad.] If you really think that's best...but just think on it for a little while longer, okay?

I don't trust anyone else to search the mines without a casualty. We need to know if it will be a place safe enough to store people if we can get away with false deaths.

We can't waste a lot of time waiting.

And if something happens to you, then what? What are we supposed to do then?

[Again, Damian is quiet for a while as if he's debating on what he wants to say and if he wants to say it.]

You all will have to find the person who can stop this "game." The Sheriff will want you to kill them, and you will have to get away with it. It could be anyone. You will have to live with the burden of their murder.

[...he knows a few kids like Robin, determined to do things themselves and for the greater good. He thinks about one kid in particular who thought he could handle things himself and how his actions almost broke his sanity. Percy would know. He faced a similar trial not long after they rescued Nico.

Despite this, he knows trying to stop him wouldn't work either.]

Unless we keep that person alive. There has to be another route we're not finding yet. You remember what the Sheriff told us? That story about one of the past winners hiding and killing five people at the very end to win? The problem with this is that blood will be shed. I want to minimize how much.

[Sorry, Percy. Damian has too much Bruce Wayne in him by now. ~*ATONEMENT*~ and all.]

We aren't going to minimize it. We're going to stop it completely. Murdering the ones who murder isn't the answer. We got here, and we can get out.

Playing their game is just going to create one winner, and that winner's prize probably won't be the ability to leave.

And we don't know what not playing will do either, but I agree with you. We need to figure out how to stop it as soon as possible. [There's a deep sigh.] If you think the mines are the answer, like I said, I can't stop you. Just be careful. [A pause.]

...I have to be careful here, too. I have someone I have to stay alive for to make sure nothing happens to her. But trust me, I get it.

[The only reason Damian frowns somewhat sympathetically is because, logically, he knows that Annabeth is just going to be a giant liability. On the other hand, he also knows what it's like to have people you care about that you want to protect, who make you do stupid and crazy things.]

There's several other buildings to open, too. They're all likely rigged with traps the same way the doctor's office had been.

The mechanism in the office had a sensor that reacted to movement, I think, or either heat signatures. It came out of the floor and it went back down into the floor.

The larger portion of what makes it run is underground. I want to know what else is underground. It may run to the mines. The Sheriff is still solid; he needs a way to access anything hidden just like the rest of us.

[Don't look at him like that, man. This is the kid who flung himself into the depths of hell to make sure Annabeth wouldn't be alone, and also the kid who had resigned himself to die to protect her. Annabeth is, in fact, a giant liability but he'll never see it that way. He'll see her as someone to protect. It's for that reason he's not quite looking at him.]

I'd ask "why are they rigged at all" but their idea of entertainment's pretty messed up. Heat signatures might be likely since a robot wouldn't have the same reading we do. Means he could go in and out as he pleased. But...what, you think there's some sort of labyrinth or something under the town? [It's not the right word, but it's what's in mind right now.]

What exactly happened when you and Jason opened the clinic?

Todd was moronic enough to break the window without a plan, and the trap inside spotted him. It shot him with a bolt.

We decided to deactivate the sensor so we could get inside. When I hit it with an arrow in return, it had two self-defense mechanisms. It dropped explosives with timers, and the bolt that hit Todd dropped something that released tear gas.

That's why half the office is destroyed.

[He frowns.] The machine went back under the store or the ground. The opening is so flush you can't tell it is supposed to even open.

They really went all out. I never thought "tear gas" would be associated with the wild west, but it's not like anything else is really consistent here anyway.

Okay so with that in mind how're you gonna get the thing open? [He might just be surprised that Damian has an actual plan, but it's helping him feel better about this.]

There may be more traps protecting the mechanism, but I can dig nearby to see if there's something besides dirt below the surface. I can dig through the store floor, too.

I don't think the machine went down into nothing but dirt. There's more at work beneath us.

And if that's the case, I told you already I know how to make bombs.

So you're going to ask the Sheriff for materials to make a bomb and blow it up to gain access. [He. Can't say that's really a bad idea, honestly.]

Okay. I think I can respect that. You've figured out more than the rest of us so far at least, so if we can gain even a bit of an edge that'd be helpful.

[If it even works... both getting the materials and blowing shit up.]

If you hear about anyone talking to the Sheriff in private, tell me as soon as possible.

[...a reluctant nod.]

One thing, Robin. Besides the suggestion box, have you spoken to him in private?

Yes.

[...ah.]

Can I ask what he said to you?

[No, peRCY.]

I have to find someone. He wouldn't tell me who or what they are. If I find them, the game will be over.

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that. really should have said invincible thank you for getting what I meant.

i cracked up but yes i knew

I mean ig robin isn't invisible either but YOU KNOW.

you have the wrong robin. jason is the invisible one :')

I feel awful for laughing but. y'know

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