[homophonic] catchall for alex

[dendroculi]

ALEX

code

Comments

[camena]

[ she lets out a long breath, because it feels bad to admit to fucking up, here. ]

... Hot Mess. I didn't want to think Simon did it, and they... seemed suspicious. Being each others' alibi for everything, being uncooperative.

[dendroculi]

...

[she nods]

The other weeks - did you vote correctly? I have a theory about the amount of money we've been receiving each week.

[camena]

I did the other weeks, yeah. I've been getting $16 every week. Want me to check in if I get less this time?

[dendroculi]

[she nods]

I received $16 after the two weeks I voted correctly, and... only $15 the week I didn't. Other than that, there wasn't anything particularly different about my actions - that was the only reason I could think of.

...it might be a coincidence, but... I'm trying to figure out if there's some sort of a pattern. If there is...

[and if she gets $16 after voting for justice...]

[camena]

Oh. So you're the one who should check in. To... verify.

[dendroculi]

We both should, I think. To see if the different votes is really the cause of the different amounts of money.

If yours isn't less, and mine isn't more, then we know there must be some other cause. But if it all checks out...

[camena]

I'll find you once we get paid, then. Have you asked the Reapers?

[dendroculi]

Not yet. It only recently occurred to me - after I started wondering if there would be any way for us to tell who the culprit was after the fact.

I'm asking a few others about their votes compared with how much money they received, too to see if there might be some other explanation for it.

[camena]

You can ask Jonas, if you weren't already planning on it. ... We voted different.

[dendroculi]

[she nods]

We can compare notes. I'll ask him about it next time we talk. ...thanks, Alex. I know I might be grasping at straws here, but I'd... I'd like it if there was still some way we might be able to figure out what happened. And with all the evidence gone...

[camena]

No, it's smart. Like... the points and the rankings and someone who would do all that... It's not like it goes away after today. After tomorrow.

So if there are pieces we can put together, then good.

[dendroculi]

...

[she nods.]

To be honest, I'm... I'm worried that it was Simon. And if it was, then I'm worried about what that means for his team, since they seem to really trust him.

[camena]

I really... didn't want to think it was him.

But I do. Everything leads there.

[dendroculi]

...I'm hoping it was just a misunderstanding, but... earlier this week, I heard from someone that he told them something which I knew to be untrue.

And when I asked him about that same thing later on... it felt like he was trying to feel me out before he answered. Like he was considering whether or not I would have had a way of knowing, if he lied to me.

I've felt... a little uneasy about him since then.

[camena]

He told me he'd been falsely accused of... killing his best friend. And I—let that get in my head. Not wanting to be one more person who blames him for something that wasn't his fault, you know?

[ ... ]

What did he lie about?

[dendroculi]

[she nods]

It's understandable... hearing something like that would have a way of swaying most people.

[...]

About something so easily disproven it feels a little bizarre to say it, but - he said that he didn't receive any sort of message at all after his group returned from their... "special mission". When I asked, though... first he asked if I'd spoken with any other members of his group, and then he told me that he had.

I'd be less worried about it if he had just said, "I did, but I'm still looking into whether or not it's true, so I don't want to share it until I know more". Lying about it concerns me.

[camena]

Yeah, I...

[ well. whatever she was gonna say there, she trails off and changes her mind. she shakes her head. ]

Actually. I asked him too and he told me no. I didn't even think about it. I figured maybe the messages just come at a delay—since it's not like I've gotten one myself. And I haven't talked to him that much, so I figured maybe he just felt like I was fishing for information and didn't want to share with practically a stranger.

[dendroculi]

...when was it that you asked him? It's possible it could have just been a problem of timing.

[...]

But hearing that he told multiple people he hadn't received anything at all... it does concern me.

[camena]

Pretty much as soon as the fuss died down on Thursday. Like I said, we're not close. So if he just didn't want to tell me, I'd get it...

[dendroculi]

[hm. that gives her pause.]

...Shu told me he received his yesterday, after we got the notification about Shenhe and Lambda. That's different from when I got mine, but... if Simon received his on a more similar schedule to Shu's, maybe he really hadn't gotten anything yet when you asked.

[camena]

So that's less suspicious.

But it's still a little weird that he seemed hesitant to tell you, right?

[dendroculi]

Yes.

I wonder what he would have said to me if I had told him outright that I hadn't spoken with anyone else... but it did feel like he was fishing for whether I already knew before he decided to tell me.

[camena]

... Hard to say.

People are more cautious with information than I had realized, I think. I kind of figured everyone knew everything, until uh... I found out they don't? So I guess I need to be more careful, too.

[dendroculi]

I think for some of it, they're being especially cautious. The message Setsu and I got wasn't too concerning, but...

[...]

Some of the other ones I saw... were.

[camena]

The most recent one was kinda... I don't know what to think about it.