cancry | meet and greet

If you've been paying any attention to the screens around Invidia (and it's honestly harder NOT to pay attention to them than it is to actually do so) then you'll be familiar with Esme, the woman whose face graces every single screen. Some initial poking around has revealed that Esme is a sort of idol to the people of Invidia, whose enviously glamourous life has taken the city by storm but that's more or less all you've learned so far.

But it looks like you might have the opportunity to learn more sometime soon.

Just as the dark sky of Invidia gives way to what passes for daytime, all of the screens in Invidia light up with the same video – it's Esme, perched on what looks to be a fancy throne in the middle of a white void, nothing to distract from the glaringly insincere sincere smile on her face as she addresses the camera.

"Good morning, lovelies! ❤ I've been soooooo busy with work and filming lately, I haven't had even a single second to see any of you in person! And what's the point of all that hard work if I don't even get to see your smiling faces at the end of it? So today we're having a very special event! For this afternoon only, I'll be on the Starlight Stage on the roof of our mall, all ready to shake hands and sign things and see all of you lovelies face to face again! Make sure you hurry on down to see me, okay? Bye-bye-bye! ❤"

With a wave and a sickly sweet smile to the camera, Esme signs off.

Looks like you've been given an opportunity to do a little investigating...

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W–well, I am, but...

[ ...

. . .

She literally doesn't have a retort for that. ]

And you got here late, too. For shame, Leader-san.

[It hasn't started yet...]

Is she truly late? Lady Esme has yet to begin.

W-Well... That's true, I guess......

Wh–! [ SPLUTTERING. ] I'm not late...! J–just because I'm a little bit behind everyone doesn't make me late!

Late! It's gonna be a late fee for you.

Goodness, must the rest of us pay late fees as well?

[she WAS just giving rei shit, but

...]

Yes.

Hmm... [Just digging in her pockets.] I have... some mint candy and a pen shaped like a fish!

[Just gonna go ahead and hand that over to Ariel. This counts as valid currency, right?]

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I just wanted to get more supplies... [It's not her fault the mall turned out to be plot-relevant, okay. She was just trying to exchange money for goods and/or services.]

... Wait. You're not here for the meet and greet?

[ A CRYPTID... ]

Nope! [She cheerfully holds up her shopping bag by way of illustration.] I'm here to buy some things for my new lab. ...Well, I was- and then you all showed up, so now I'm not leaving. [Friend... ship???]

Were you expecting to deal with whatever this is alone?

[ Said with a lot of "You better not have young lady" and "I'm onto your shit" dad energy ]

Edited 2020-10-09 21:39 (UTC)

[ SHIFTY EYES... ]

I–I just thought... I could check in and let everyone know what was going on beforehand...

And if something had happened to you without you being able to tell us?

[ He's stern as he says this but still... gentle. ]

Remember, you're not alone in this anymore.

[ Which is both meant in a "so you don't have to take burdens entirely upon yourself" way and a "so you also have to think of your responsibilities to everyone else and take care of yourself" way. ]

Edited 2020-10-09 22:10 (UTC)

[ Okay, now she's definitely looking guilty. Somehow, his gentle disappointment is about a thousand times worse than if he has actually gotten annoyed or even angry about this. Super effective. ]

I–I know...! I just thought it'd be better to look for myself without putting anyone else in danger and...

[ She trails off with her excuses and finally just hangs her head. ]

... I'm sorry. I'll be more careful next time.

I know that's what you were thinking.

[ He Onto You.

He smiles though. ]

But it is all right. We are all here regardless so it will be fine.

Is there a reason we shouldn't be here...?

[ WHAT TRAP. ]

It seems like... Esme is "awake," doesn't it? What if she hasn't met anyone else like her yet? [ Mona looks extremely concerned about this. ] She'd be all alone... So I wanted to talk to her.

[ ... okay now she feels kind of bad about being so intensely suspicious about this and it shows on her face. ]

I... suppose that could be true. I'm just a little worried, that's all. I've never heard of anyone having this much power over so many Specters and we still have no idea how she's doing it.

Mmh... I don't know very much about this, but... Does it really matter how? If we can find out why she's doing it...

Well, um... The thing is, the how could be important to working out the why. If this is just how this Layer is supposed to work then we might not have to worry about it. Thisis Envy, after all. It might just be that there had to be someone everyone could envy for things to function.

So this sort of thing is unusual then?

Yes, just in line with what I know about Purgatory. She's a little too driven to be a Specter, but if she was an Eidolon them I don't know why she'd care about all this, unless...

[ She slowly trails off, and then gets a look on her face that can only be described as eureka. ]