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Date & Time: following the mission in world #1530120; over the course of a few days
Location: in various locations
Characters: the Mekakushi Dan & their acquaintances (see the tags for a full list!)
Summary: The Dan needed to cope and deal with the shock and aftermath of the mission, mostly privately but that is a lot of one-on-one talking so we're putting them all here instead of making a gazillion logs.
Warnings: Talks of death, talks of insecurities, a lot of sad talking.

The mission is over, with one world lost, and a dan member they thought they lost came back thanks to the workings of the Initiative. But everything is only fun and games until someone loses a life once, and now the members of the Mekakushi-dan must deal with their shocking encounter with reality. Maybe they're lucky that they still have each other and their friends to turn to. This post is prose and action spam friendly!

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at Asch's place

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[He sent a text every time before he went to Asch's place, to make sure the man was actually there. Today, too, it's no different. A short text. "Do you need help today?" that the man should be used to receiving. But Shintaro has things on his mind when he walks into the now-familiar building, sleeves rolled up as he closes his umbrella. He's still got a bandaid and a healing bruise on his cheek; he looks like he hasn't slept much at all in days.]

... Good morning, Asch-san.

[bloodyashes]

[Kido isn't the only one who's been recovering from that round of dying, too. If it weren't for Shintaro coming over now and then, Asch probably would have found an angry hole to hide in until He could get things sorted out with his replica. As it is, they're sharing a house that does need repairs, so the original has to drag himself out every morning and deal with people, as much as they annoy him.]

Morning.

[Of course, team Antisocial here doesn't do much in the way of interaction, anyway.]

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It's the usual, right? Or do you need me to do something else?

[Asch's quietness is nice. But he doesn't want it to be too quiet; he has questions he wants to ask, and Asch might not be the best person to go to, but he's the only person he could go to.]

[bloodyashes]

Just the usual.

[They'll probably be able to move on to the back rooms soon, at least as far as peeling up the boards goes. Nailing down any new ones, unfortunately, will have to wait until Asch has a bit more cash to actually buy them.

He wonders if the Initiative gives out death bonuses.]

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All right.

[He gets to work with practiced ease, knowing where he left off last time and taking note of any progress that was made since and repeating the same thing that he did last time.]

... Hey, Asch-san?

[bloodyashes]

[By the time the question comes, Asch is back at work on his own section, putting down a few new boards where the old ones are already pulled out.]

What?

[He's at least used to the -san thing now. You weird Japanese kids and your honorifics.]

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[Shintaro doesn't speak up immediately. He peels a few more boards, and without turning around he finally asks]

... Do you think that world would be okay? Eventually?

[bloodyashes]

[Well, that sure is a hell of a conversation you picked, Shintaro.]

I doubt it.

[And a hell of a person you picked to have it with.]

Likely, it was all razed to the ground and a mile or two down for good measure.

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... Then how about. [A short pause as he yanks a board from the wall and tosses it aside. It's an easy idea to come up with, but he's still new; he doesn't know how it would work.]

Do you think it can be undone? The Initiative, what it does is change history, right?

[bloodyashes]

It's possible.

[Honestly, he doesn't know what's possible or not. But Asch isn't one of the people in favor of changing the timeline willy-nilly and it shows in his tone of voice.]

But it's not something I'd count on.

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But there's a possibility. All those people who got killed, if there's a way to save them, will you do it?

[It's hard to tell if Shintaro is really interested or concerned. His questions show concern, but his voice is nonchalant. It almost sounds like research. A part of Shintaro wants to know, wants to find the answer, wants to get involved and fix what was wronged; a part of him wants nothing to do with it.]

[bloodyashes]

[Oddly, the detachment in Shintaro makes it easier to answer truthfully. It feels less like the kid is someone with morals who's going to judge his answers.]

Only if it's something that's practical to do. Changing the timeline isn't as predictable as the Initiative makes it out to be.

[Changing the past that has already happened, and changing the future that was declared to happen - they're not so different, really. Neither of them is easy to understand, and neither of them is for people who want their hands held through life.]

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... I guess you're right. If it was practical and there was a good enough probability that it would work, it would be worth it.

But the people the Initiative brought in, a lot of us weren't made for doing this, are we?

backtags like a boss

[bloodyashes]

It's mostly civilians. Some of them aren't even old enough to fight.

[It's one of his biggest problems with the Initiative, after the way they fail to take care of their own people.]

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[Shintaro's question then is whether the Intiative even plans to win or not. Or maybe they don't have control over who they bring in?]

... Why, then?

[bloodyashes]

Supposedly, they don't have control over it.

[He makes a face.]

But ultimately, it doesn't matter. They might claim to be running a military operation here, but I've seen little evidence of it. Mostly, they throw us at missions until something works.

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[Highly impractical. Poorly planned, if there was a plan at all. Child's play? Shintaro quietly tears a board off the wall, but there's a subtle aggression behind that action this time.]

So, essentially, we're pawns to them, right? [Not that he never thought otherwise. It was just sinking in.]