[Nanami's words get Ryou's grip to loosen. Her understanding is...different. Strange.
Surprising.]
Y-yes. That's it exactly. A-and I think that if it weren't for a reason, we might have been able to do this quietly. That was the plan, initially. Before...well, before Maya suggested recording it, I think.
You see, Atem and I had been working towards growing with the Fog, for security. He, more than anyone, deserved the means by which to protect himself without having to worry about being hurt again. Atem has suffered so much..
[There's pain in Ryou's words, and his heart aches when he thinks about it. It's not just because he loves Atem so wholeheartedly, no. Not just that. If a friend had been tortured so frequently, he'd have felt similarly.
No, Ryou's love only made his feelings harder towards the sources of Atem's suffering. Hence...he had followed along on this pathway to power.
That's only half the story, of course, but it's the only half that matters. So long has he spent in Ryslig, that Ryou can see he has very little value. There are so many different versions of him that have existed in this place, how could he ever sum up to the value of someone else at this point? So, it's Atem he focuses on.]
In the end, when we went to put the men through their trial, Maya recorded the goings-on. We did it so that it could broadcast on human television, to disseminate fear. That's what She wants from us, you know? To spread fear in Her name. It was done in several parts, and warned for on the network, in case people would prefer not to see.
The Ring-Spirit showed how to disarm the useless kits, then Atem walked the board of the company in. Three men...because I...I had already killed their CEO.
[He doesn't explain himself for that. He just carries on.]
Atem explained the rules of their game, a game in which they were given the power to kill their partners for a pretty substantial reward. Atem...offered to buy them whatever they wanted from Mana within the range of sixty coins, as well as the ability to use him as a guinea pig to test their product further.
But before he could start the game, they all triggered the kill switches at once. They...h-hahaha...they were willing to kill each other out of greed.
[Ryou's jaw clenches, his claws dig into his arms, and this time, they do draw blood. This part...it turns his stomach just to think about. All of it, every single thing he's about to tell Nanami.]
I was so angry...that even though I knew, in the back of my mind, that Maya was recording it all...I went up to them and I gave them the penalty they deserved. I ate them. All three of them, because they were ready to eat their own kind up. The things they said...
[Ryou's voice breaks, and for a moment he doesn't sound like an adult, but like a lost, regretful child.]
They said...that...that the people they scammed of their money couldn't sue them if they were dead. They weren't human anymore...do you know the price I would pay to be human again? And they decided that being monsters was better. I'm not sorry for what I did...
[He's lying.]
Everyone who saw the broadcast...the monsters, they knew we were doing this to gain power from the Fog, because Atem told them so. And because of that, we were judged as true beasts. They were...very unkind. On that day, we were the villains. And they don't even understand why.
no subject
Surprising.]
Y-yes. That's it exactly. A-and I think that if it weren't for a reason, we might have been able to do this quietly. That was the plan, initially. Before...well, before Maya suggested recording it, I think.
You see, Atem and I had been working towards growing with the Fog, for security. He, more than anyone, deserved the means by which to protect himself without having to worry about being hurt again. Atem has suffered so much..
[There's pain in Ryou's words, and his heart aches when he thinks about it. It's not just because he loves Atem so wholeheartedly, no. Not just that. If a friend had been tortured so frequently, he'd have felt similarly.
No, Ryou's love only made his feelings harder towards the sources of Atem's suffering. Hence...he had followed along on this pathway to power.
That's only half the story, of course, but it's the only half that matters. So long has he spent in Ryslig, that Ryou can see he has very little value. There are so many different versions of him that have existed in this place, how could he ever sum up to the value of someone else at this point? So, it's Atem he focuses on.]
In the end, when we went to put the men through their trial, Maya recorded the goings-on. We did it so that it could broadcast on human television, to disseminate fear. That's what She wants from us, you know? To spread fear in Her name. It was done in several parts, and warned for on the network, in case people would prefer not to see.
The Ring-Spirit showed how to disarm the useless kits, then Atem walked the board of the company in. Three men...because I...I had already killed their CEO.
[He doesn't explain himself for that. He just carries on.]
Atem explained the rules of their game, a game in which they were given the power to kill their partners for a pretty substantial reward. Atem...offered to buy them whatever they wanted from Mana within the range of sixty coins, as well as the ability to use him as a guinea pig to test their product further.
But before he could start the game, they all triggered the kill switches at once. They...h-hahaha...they were willing to kill each other out of greed.
[Ryou's jaw clenches, his claws dig into his arms, and this time, they do draw blood. This part...it turns his stomach just to think about. All of it, every single thing he's about to tell Nanami.]
I was so angry...that even though I knew, in the back of my mind, that Maya was recording it all...I went up to them and I gave them the penalty they deserved. I ate them. All three of them, because they were ready to eat their own kind up. The things they said...
[Ryou's voice breaks, and for a moment he doesn't sound like an adult, but like a lost, regretful child.]
They said...that...that the people they scammed of their money couldn't sue them if they were dead. They weren't human anymore...do you know the price I would pay to be human again? And they decided that being monsters was better. I'm not sorry for what I did...
[He's lying.]
Everyone who saw the broadcast...the monsters, they knew we were doing this to gain power from the Fog, because Atem told them so. And because of that, we were judged as true beasts. They were...very unkind. On that day, we were the villains. And they don't even understand why.