Quoted By:
"I don't know what you're..."
"I don't think they have. You're the heroine. You get the whole story to yourself, and you get to go along it, all the ups and downs, fucking up as much as you want, and it doesn't matter, right? They're not going to let you fail. They're not going to <span class="mu-i">let</span> you die. Not yet."
"I don't know what you're talking about," you say quietly.
"Me neither," Ellery says. "But it's the best I've been able to come up with. I think that, if I shot you, you wouldn't die."
"Don't shoot me."
"It wouldn't matter if I did or didn't. Maybe it'd hurt for a second. But would you die? That's not part of the story. Be realistic." He twiddles a bolt between his fingers. "We can try it if you want."
"Um," you say. "Please don't—"
"If you don't want, then I'll get going. I want to mean something too." He tosses the bolt in the air, then catches it. "You can come if you don't stop me."
"And what if I don't?"
"Then say hi to your patrons. I'm sure they'd be happy to have you back. Bad optics to lose your tourist, huh? Hope they haven't been listening." Ellery gestures upward; Casey and Jerry are up there now, peering down. "Though we are down pretty deep. Who knows? Anyways, you can try to stop me. You might succeed. But they've <span class="mu-i">been</span> trying."
"Okay," you say.
"Okay." The hole in Ellery's face is dark. "Well, go ahead."
>[A1] You have to stop him. It's *your* plan. But you don't have to tell him that. Come along.
>[A2] Sorry, Ellery, but you have a cushy set-up— and you just proved your bonafides with the whole pit thing. You don't want him to get tortured, so he can "accidentally" escape if he wants, but then you're coming after him. And you're going to win.
>[A3] Sorry, Ellery, but he's just too much of a threat. Prevent him from leaving now, turn him in to Casey, and stroll your way to the bombing. You won't feel guilty hardly at all. [Roll.]
>[B1] No, you don't want Ellery to shoot you point-blank with a crossbow bolt. No part of you wants that. You already declined. Moving along now.
>[B2] What would it mean if he were right? Probably nothing. If you did survive, it would be because of your heroic spirit. (You have it because you're a heroine. You're a heroine because you have it.) And you do have heroic spirit, so if you put it like that, there's nothing to worry about. And wouldn't it be the ultimate show of dominance? To survive? And it's a manse, so you... you... you just want to know. You want to know. [???]
>[C] Write-in? (You can get in a couple additional questions with Ellery if you want.)
Sorry about the delay— for obvious reasons, this will be the one update for tonight.
