video;

[eatsyourscience]

[Souji looks pensive as he appears on the feed. Maybe even a little worried, which is something for him.]

I died during that last part of the event. It was my fifth time dying...but nothing strange has happened. I feel the same as always.

[He pauses, uncertain where he's going with this, before asking:]

What does that mean?

Comments

video;

[eatsyourscience]

Really?

[He's been here how long and that's never occurred to him.]

...That could make sense, though. There are events sometimes where a lot of people die, like it's just a natural part of the memory. It seems like even Wonderland wouldn't want that badly to kill us.

[mandrakes]

I'm not entirely certain why Wonderland wants to kill us at all, but it does seem a part of many of the ordeals that it throws our way.

[Regis frowns thoughtfully, then shakes his head.]

I haven't yet been able to note a pattern.

[eatsyourscience]

If Wonderland does things on purpose, avoiding patterns is one of the things, I think.

[mandrakes]

Do you think so? I wonder if that might be looking at things too simply.

[There's always a pattern. Even in the most chaotic of places, there's a pattern... one only has to watch for long enough.]

But, for now, we have no way of knowing which deaths 'count'.

[eatsyourscience]

Maybe. I'll admit, I haven't paid a ton of attention to it the past couple of years.

[He's always reminded that he should be taking better stock of things, but it all gets away from him in dealing with the day-to-day.]

The only clue I can think of is how long it takes to come back. It definitely wasn't five days, in this case, so that should have tipped me off.

[mandrakes]

True, that would at least rule out the problem for people who have died here already. [Regis, luckily, has not yet had the pleasure. He can't say he minds. He's had enough tastes of human mortality for his liking as it is while he's been here.]

For those who haven't, I suppose they would have to wait until the second time around. [That isn't a cheery thought at all, but needs must.] I don't recall anyone mentioning anything like this before.

[eatsyourscience]

Talking to people, it seems like a couple others have had the same idea--that sometimes it doesn't count.

[Which is a relief in this instance, but also pretty deceptive on Wonderland's part, which makes him wary that there's still something at play behind it.]

[mandrakes]

It doesn't surprise me in the least, but it does then beg the question of what circumstances need to be met in order for a death to catch Wonderland's attention.

[Some 'events', but not others? Some forms of death, but not others? Just what is the logic to it? Regis refuses to believe that it's just a roll of the dice.]

[eatsyourscience]

In this case, it may have been the number of people who died? Maybe Wonderland couldn't handle that the way it might normally have.

[mandrakes]

Perhaps you're right. Half of us dying at once isn't something I remember the place having to deal with before. But it wouldn't account for other times. Unless you're suggesting that the reason behind it is completely random.

[He doesn't sound accusatory, but more like he's trying to feel his way towards an answer. No mean feat, when you're in Wonderland.]

[eatsyourscience]

No, I don't know. It's too bad no one's really been keeping track of this sort of thing.

[Or at least, no one who's still there.]

[mandrakes]

I know that Evelyn was attempting to keep track of death counts at one point, but I don't recall her ever specifying something like this.

[She was a good woman, that one. He's sure that her records should still be around somewhere...]

If you're right, and I think you are, in the idea that we can tell them apart by the nature in which people return... perhaps there's something to be drawn from it. A pattern.

[eatsyourscience]

It's something we could ask people to keep track of, but with the turnover rate we have, that might not do much good. Assuming people were willing to do it in the first place.

[mandrakes]

Mm, true enough. There were people none too eager to admit their death count the last time this was mentioned. Something I can quite understand.

[eatsyourscience]

Me too. At least as long as the reaction to a higher death count is suspicion.