The decision has been made. LILITH Japan orders the Outsiders to mobilize to pursue the Imugi.
Given that they are in a foreign country, they are largely dependent on LILITH Korea’s resources. In response to the decision, the Korean branch provides some assistance: the Outsiders are given just enough vehicles to help transport them, essential supplies, and only a few operatives to help guide them. This is the most the Korean branch is able to give, as they must focus on relocating people and restoring peace following the attack.
LILITH announces that the Imugi is currently resting near Gangneung on the east coast and they must move quickly. The effects of Rift poisoning will grow stronger as they approach the source; a sign that they are close to a kaiju. Upon reaching the mountains just outside the city, LILITH informs them that they are right on top of its location.
However, there is no Imugi to be found. After searching the area, Outsiders will discover the source of the trace and the poisoning: eggs. They will find about twelve eggs. When they report their findings, Seokdang will curse. In their rush, they had followed the wrong trace. They didn’t track down an injured and resting Imugi—they tracked down the Imugi’s nest. So where is the Imugi?
Not long after, Outsiders will receive an update on their implants: the Imugi reappeared in Seoul. After seeing the corpse of its mate, it went berserk and attacked the city again. While many of the citizens were evacuated to nearby Incheon and remaining shelters, just as many perished, with the death toll at 168,000 and rising. LILITH’s Korean base is destroyed.
The Imugi was last seen flying north, but the Korean government prohibits the Outsiders from pursuing it again through their territory. By choosing to pursue the kaiju, the Outsiders have abandoned humanity and thus will receive no further support. They are ordered to leave the country immediately.
LILITH Japan will order them to collect as many eggs as possible and continue to the abandoned city of Gangneung, where they will arrange pick up and return to base in Tokyo.
▶ AFTERWORD.
Thanks everyone for participating in our first major Event Decision! We hope you had fun discussing what to do both ICly and OOCly.
After failing to capture the second Imugi and also failing to save a large portion of Seoul's population, characters will be shipped back to Japan. The events of the TDM will springboard from there. Feel free to use this post to thread out any aftermath threads if you would like.
All tags on this log are worth 2 points and will count towards August AC.
[ Aki had given chase, after all, and it doesn't seem as if Tsurumaru is happy about the idea of it. He's quiet for a moment, before he leans down with a sigh, eyes closed. ]
Or do you just need to get it out? Either one is fine.
We couldn't have predicted the outcome. That's the problem with these kinds of decisions.
[ Moving closer, Aki hesitates for a moment before he turns his hand, offering it out. He won't be offended if Tsurumaru doesn't take it, but he'd like the comfort - for the both of them.
Things are hard. Too hard. ]
I'm here to listen, Tsuru, if you want to scream or shout, or... Anything. I'm not going anywhere.
I spent my entire life hunting the Gun Devil and saw dozens of people die working with Public Safety. I cried for a lot of them, but it's not as if I could stop. Devils needed to die, and people needed to be saved.
[ Maybe he shouldn't be going off on a tangent, but - ]
We made a bad choice, but it was the one we thought was right. I've done that before, too. [ Sacrificing himself to Makima to try and save Denji. ] We have to do better next time.
(His expression twists, mouth in a tight line as he bites his tongue hard. It's hard to tell if this is the right answer or not but he gives Aki his hand, closing tightly around his as if gripping him for support.)
This isn't my first time.
(Tighter as the words spill,)
Before I came to this world, there was a time when people asked me for help. They thought I could save them and instead, I turned my back to them.
[ Aki grips back immediately, no hesitation, taking a step closer to Tsurumaru. It's not quite the perfect acceptance, but it's enough, his heart in his throat. ]
Was the outcome the same?
[ What other question is he meant to ask? There isn't one, and he squeezes Tsuru's hand gently. ]
My master sent me on a mission. I chose my own squad and I helped us gather an army. I promised everyone paraiso and they followed me to the sea.
(How fitting that he'd find himself back on a shore again. Just like back then.)
We fought side by side and we won our first battles. Then we were backed into a corner and everyone was starving, they turned to me for hope... and I left them to die. All 37,000 at Shimabara.
(Even when he keeps his tone even and chooses his words carefully, Aki can feel the tension in his hand, the way his grip becomes tighter and tighter.)
I could have saved them but our mission was more important! And I would do it again without regret!
(This all feels too familiar. Their most recent decision has clearly cut a little too close for Tsurumaru and he starts to raise his voice,)
But that doesn't mean they weren't important! Their lives mattered!
(And suddenly, his grip relaxes and he finds himself looking at Aki,)
They acted like they didn't matter. (The ones making the arguments to chase, the ones who said the people of Seoul weren't their problem.) They called them fools and said they'd get what they deserved. They said they weren't our problem... everyone was so bold before! Now that they have to carry the burden of their decisions, they want to shrink away?
(Yeah, he's upset. He's very unimpressed with how some people are handling things now.)
[ The amount of grief and suffering that Tsurumaru has lived through... Aki had only seen a drop in the ocean of it before, hadn't he?
He gazes out at the water, and he nods his head. ]
It's hard, to be human, and accept that your choices led to someone else dying.
[ He'd seen enough people die. He'd taken a stab for Denji. He had watched Himeno die for him. He'd given his life - ]
People don't know how to live with that guilt. I'm not excusing them, [ he glances at Tsurumaru. ] or saying that they shouldn't accept their choices, but that's part of human nature. It's annoying, but that's how people are. Regret is a bitter taste, isn't it?
[ Closing his eyes, he tilts his head back. ]
Those people had lives that mattered, and now they're gone. That's a burden we're all going to have to learn to live with, and if they can't...
He freezes. It is hard. He didn't asked to be put into this form. He didn't ask to feel as many things as he's come to feel. This thing in the center of his chest called a heart that can feel like it's been stabbed and twisted without a blade ever touching it. This thing that goes from feeling empty to full in an instant.
"You are more like the divine than you are like humanity."
Someone else had told him that recently and he wonders how much of that is true right now.)
[ The loss of his family, colleagues, human casualties in the fight against devils - his own death as a consequence, and Aki bears it all. It might not be the kind of weight that other people are carrying (he knows Denji has to be far stronger than he is right now), but...
Tilting his head, he squeezes Tsurumaru's hand gently. ]
This is a burden I can carry. I made that choice, after all.
(Ah. He leans in so much, he's probably going to throw off Aki's balance walking at first. It'll be easy enough to adjust when tsurumaru is still trying to keep upright. It's just nice, he thinks, to have someone he can lean on.)
(Eyes glancing over at Aki, quietly wondering, studying carefully as if he's thinking of something that won't be said... and he squeezes his hand back in turn, firmly,)
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synflux2024-08-22 04:03 am
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(Looking back at Aki and back at the sea, he folds his hands behind his back and looks like he's thinking,)
If its you, I might.
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[ Aki had given chase, after all, and it doesn't seem as if Tsurumaru is happy about the idea of it. He's quiet for a moment, before he leans down with a sigh, eyes closed. ]
Or do you just need to get it out? Either one is fine.
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Angry at you?
(He sounds confused,)
Do you have a reason for me?
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[ Because Denji - ]
It would be natural for you to be upset at that choice.
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(All of the arguments that were made had made sense. Even he couldn't argued with them, he didn't completely disagree.)
What happened was a surprise for everyone.
(Just another surprise.
And yet, he's still upset. It should be a plain as day to Aki that Tsurumaru is troubled by something.)
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[ Moving closer, Aki hesitates for a moment before he turns his hand, offering it out. He won't be offended if Tsurumaru doesn't take it, but he'd like the comfort - for the both of them.
Things are hard. Too hard. ]
I'm here to listen, Tsuru, if you want to scream or shout, or... Anything. I'm not going anywhere.
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... How do you feel?
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[ He's numb, uncomfortably so, and he shakes his head. ]
No, that's not right. I feel... Empty. Cold.
[ Like winter. ]
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(Empty. Cold.)
And what will you do now?
(This is becoming an interrogation of some sort. He's testing Aki now for something.)
We failed humanity. We let them die and we failed our mission. What now?
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[ Aki gazes out at the ocean, expression tight. ]
I spent my entire life hunting the Gun Devil and saw dozens of people die working with Public Safety. I cried for a lot of them, but it's not as if I could stop. Devils needed to die, and people needed to be saved.
[ Maybe he shouldn't be going off on a tangent, but - ]
We made a bad choice, but it was the one we thought was right. I've done that before, too. [ Sacrificing himself to Makima to try and save Denji. ] We have to do better next time.
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This isn't my first time.
(Tighter as the words spill,)
Before I came to this world, there was a time when people asked me for help. They thought I could save them and instead, I turned my back to them.
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Was the outcome the same?
[ What other question is he meant to ask? There isn't one, and he squeezes Tsuru's hand gently. ]
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(How fitting that he'd find himself back on a shore again. Just like back then.)
We fought side by side and we won our first battles. Then we were backed into a corner and everyone was starving, they turned to me for hope... and I left them to die. All 37,000 at Shimabara.
(Even when he keeps his tone even and chooses his words carefully, Aki can feel the tension in his hand, the way his grip becomes tighter and tighter.)
I could have saved them but our mission was more important! And I would do it again without regret!
(This all feels too familiar. Their most recent decision has clearly cut a little too close for Tsurumaru and he starts to raise his voice,)
But that doesn't mean they weren't important! Their lives mattered!
(And suddenly, his grip relaxes and he finds himself looking at Aki,)
They acted like they didn't matter. (The ones making the arguments to chase, the ones who said the people of Seoul weren't their problem.) They called them fools and said they'd get what they deserved. They said they weren't our problem... everyone was so bold before! Now that they have to carry the burden of their decisions, they want to shrink away?
(Yeah, he's upset. He's very unimpressed with how some people are handling things now.)
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He gazes out at the water, and he nods his head. ]
It's hard, to be human, and accept that your choices led to someone else dying.
[ He'd seen enough people die. He'd taken a stab for Denji. He had watched Himeno die for him. He'd given his life - ]
People don't know how to live with that guilt. I'm not excusing them, [ he glances at Tsurumaru. ] or saying that they shouldn't accept their choices, but that's part of human nature. It's annoying, but that's how people are. Regret is a bitter taste, isn't it?
[ Closing his eyes, he tilts his head back. ]
Those people had lives that mattered, and now they're gone. That's a burden we're all going to have to learn to live with, and if they can't...
[ Maybe this isn't the place for them. ]
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He freezes. It is hard. He didn't asked to be put into this form. He didn't ask to feel as many things as he's come to feel. This thing in the center of his chest called a heart that can feel like it's been stabbed and twisted without a blade ever touching it. This thing that goes from feeling empty to full in an instant.
"You are more like the divine than you are like humanity."
Someone else had told him that recently and he wonders how much of that is true right now.)
... Can you live with it?
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[ The loss of his family, colleagues, human casualties in the fight against devils - his own death as a consequence, and Aki bears it all. It might not be the kind of weight that other people are carrying (he knows Denji has to be far stronger than he is right now), but...
Tilting his head, he squeezes Tsurumaru's hand gently. ]
This is a burden I can carry. I made that choice, after all.
[ These are the consequences of being human. ]
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Slipping his hand away, he turns back to the sea, to the crashing waves, the blustery winds, and he yells,)
We could have helped them! We could have saved them!
(He likes to think the waves are loud enough to drown out his cries. Inhaling,)
They weren't just numbers! Not just factors! They were alive! They could have lived!
(And he stops, letting the sea fill the silence before he turns back to Aki,)
Ah! All better. Let's go back.
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They'll never know if that's true or not, will they?
Aki nods his head, hesitating for a moment before he offers Tsurumaru his hand again. He wants the contact, more than he can say. ]
I'm planning on taking Denji for ice cream. Any recommendations?
[ Since he's treat mother. ]
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Popping shower (Creamy mint ice cream with pop rocks.) And strawberry cheesecake.
(Because it's white and red. His two favorite colors.)
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I'll get him both, then.
[ As a treat. ]
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And don't be cheap.
(Humming,)
I want to go with you, too.
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[ He’s rarely cheap with Denji these days. ]
Shall we go there on a date first? Then I can find my favourite too.
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Go with Denji-kun. And later, you can surprise me with your favorite.
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[ A squeeze of his hand. ]
But it’ll still be a date.
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A date.
(Maybe next time...)
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