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The Heist
They had been investigating for weeks, planning and setting up for what seemed like forever. But now was the time for everything to go into action. One team dressed up and settled into various undercover positions in the casino- including Lion himself over at the slots, in case he needed to call Greta and let her know someone was calling her out. Though hopefully, word of mouth would find her first.
Another at the bank, Mona using her Executor weapon to prove they could break-in at any time. It was all or nothing now- either way Greta was about to learn there were way more Executors than she previously assumed.
That is, if the Executors were right in their assumptions. But after last time who knows what might happen...
Another at the bank, Mona using her Executor weapon to prove they could break-in at any time. It was all or nothing now- either way Greta was about to learn there were way more Executors than she previously assumed.
That is, if the Executors were right in their assumptions. But after last time who knows what might happen...
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Either way, congratulations on the new metaphysical significance! If it's anything like Invidia, you probably won't have to actually do anything.
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[A weak little chuckle, just a little hollow but convincing enough to cover his unease. Something that might sound familiar to Medic after the whole... frostbite/cocoa fiasco.]
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[Medic reaches out and very lightly, very gently pats him on the hand.]
Even if there is, I think it might be hard to do it any worse than Greta was without actually trying to.
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[He looks a little sheepish but turns his hand over to give hers a little squeeze. Thanks, Medic.]
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...You know who I'm still a little curious about? Crane machine man! We had all these dramatic confrontations with our other two suspects, and he didn't show up at all.
[Is she trying to distract Ruin by talking about something silly and harmless? ...Maybe a little, shhh, don't tell anyone.]
[It's probably kind of obvious, though. Medic's not exactly great at subtlety.]
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That's a good point, huh...
Y'know I bet if I loiter around the casino long enough I'll get a chance to chat him up. Just to sate our curiosity. It'll definitely be easier when I don't have to be concentrating on the count at the Black Jack tables.
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[Who is Crane Man. What are his secrets.]
I wonder what he does with all those plush toys... Is it a greed thing, just wanting to collect them all, or does he actually like them? Where do you even keep that much stuff? The apartments here are tiny! [Does this man have a Scrooge McDuck swimming pool filled completely with crane machine prizes??]
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[The apartments are tiny so wha-]
Wait- Where did Greta live? I forgot all about that for a minute.
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[Is... is there just a Fort Nyx vault completely full of crane machine prizes?]
Huh, that is a good question... I guess she could live anywhere, but you'd think someone really greedy would have a big mansion or something. Esme was definitely pretty hard to miss!
...Then again, Esme had a mansion because she needed to show off- if other people didn't know how wealthy she was, they couldn't envy her. Maybe greed means you just need to own the stuff, not that you need to display it?
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[He just looks a little sheepish because... yeah he's definitely in the flaunt it if you got it category.]
Our job would've been easier if she had been more obvious about things.
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It probably didn't help that we still had the old Authority hanging around to confuse the issue... [She blinks.] Come to think of it, I wonder who the Invidia Authority before Esme even was? Kotori was more popular, but it didn't seem like any of the three idols had real power until after the competition was over.
[Considering that this is Esme we're talking about, presumably any lingering threats to her Authority would have been, uh. Dealt with quite a while ago.]
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[Ruin frowns a little, considering what they know and gradually putting together a thought... One he's... not entirely sure he likes.]
Maybe...Okay so, hear me out. The cogs are jammed, that's the source of the back up, right? So... gradually more and more specters would get stuck on the level above. Say that's level 9. More back up, more specters sitting around, more time to become aware, to become an authority. The layer gets too full. Specters start piling up on layer 8. Eventually an Authority takes over. But by that time, who's to say the original authority on layer 9 hasn't been ousted and a new one taken over. Maybe even more than once.
So the back up continues. Layer 7 piles up, Authority is established but now whoever's Layer 9's authority has beaten out the guy that beat the previous guy and so.... they keep....
getting stronger, y'know? Longer to sit and stew in their misery and everything.
Maybe... the Executors all started waking up because the back up finally reached limbo. Maybe that's why Esme was the only Authority... and Greta only had one previous.
Maybe as we go lower we'll have more and more enemies. And probably that little birdie is counting on it.
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In theory, Specters could have still travelled down the Layers before the Authorities began stopping them- they wouldn't have been able to reincarnate on reaching the Cogs, but moving within Purgatory should have still be possible. But in practice, as soon as reincarnation was removed as an option, the Revenant population would have spiked pretty drastically. Without Executors to defend them, they'd have gotten ripped to shreds... functionally confining everyone to the Layer they started on, even before the Authorities started outright sealing the way forward.
[She shakes her head sadly.] Systems like this are always interconnected- like organs in a body. One key component breaks down, and the rest start to follow. It's a cascade failure.
But... [She tilts her head, an idea occurring to her.] They might not just be our enemies. Esme didn't tolerate rivals. Lady Luck hated Greta. Maybe in Layers where the sin is something like Sloth or Lust, the Authorities might not be in such direct competition as Greed and Envy were- but Pride? Wrath?
I think maybe the only people Authorities hate more than Executors are each other.
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[Precisely what he meant he just didn't have the words for it. But she starts talking about the other sins and it takes a moment for him to follow.]
Wait... are you saying you... know what the other layers are going to be like? Or... what kind of... I guess theme? they're going to have?
[He agrees with the Authority v Authority hate but this sin thing is more pressing, he thinks.]
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It was a concept from an old religion in my world- I don't know a lot about it, it's not very prominent in the modern day, but it used to be a pretty big deal, I guess? Anyway, the Sins were supposed to be envy, greed, pride, gluttony, lust, sloth, and wrath. Or, in the language they used to use way, way back in those times... Invidia, Avaritia, Superbia, Gula, Luxuria, Acedia, and Ira.
I guess the Authorities aren't very subtle.
...I don't really get why it's just those seven- I can think of plenty of sins that aren't even on that list! And isn't gluttony just "greed, but with food"? [She shakes her head, disapproving. The afterlife could be so much better organized.]
Anyway, it seems like the seven Layers in between Limbo and the Cogs all match one of the sins.
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Religious concepts don't always make a lot of sense. Sometimes I think that's the point.
[Ruin just shrugs, dismissive and finding the whole idea of it a bit distasteful, not... that he really understands the full reasoning. Organized religion just seems... so foolish, doesn't it?]
Plenty of sins...? What makes something a sin? Just- some religious person in power deciding they don't like something? Fuck that.
[Yeah Dragon!Catholics aren't as bad as regular Catholics but it's still real dumb.]
But... at least we have an idea of what we're up against after this?
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Hopefully! Or at least we've got a one in five chance of guessing, since we've already crossed the first two off the list.
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Even if we don't know which one is coming up we can sort of brace ourselves for what else it could be. Better than no idea at all.