Season 2 / Hikaru Suzuki - "Smooth Operator" [The Second Trial Projection]

MILGRAM

Normally, Bea would be the warden Hikaru would least suspect when approaching him, but with his conversation with Akemi fresh in his mind, he’s deliberately avoiding the easy option of just defaulting to his usual flirtatious act around her. So instead he manages a polite, tight smile.

“Is there really no way you can stop the others from barging into these? Lock the door or something? I don’t mind a smaller audience…” In fact, he would really appreciate a smaller audience, perhaps a size of zero.

“Sorry, hon. I know I’d rather not have to babysit y’all while we’re supposed to be judging, but… if there’s a way to lock the door, it’s the MILGRAM’s decision, not ours.”

Yeah, that’s what he expected. “Sure would be rude to deprive everyone of the chance to get a piece of the excitement, I guess!” He can’t totally kick the instinct to be coy and winks as he shrugs, putting on his best nonchalant air. “Lead the way, then. I’d hate to make you all wait any longer.”

—

Again, Bea shoos you away so the chosen prisoner can be guided down the long hallway alone. By now it’s clear this walk is the only thing the wardens are so particular about keeping the prisoner alone for. Once they reach the courtroom, they don’t bother to keep you away as they set the prisoner up in the burnt chair as properly as they can. Perhaps it’s not worth the effort. Perhaps how you behave in the projections is a test in itself.

Regardless of their motives, a few of you make the trek yourselves today, finding the hallway only marginally less lonely with your company. The walls still seem stifling, the unnatural murmurs pressing in on you tighter.

But the courtroom is wide open, if barren, and there’s not much else to be uncomfortable about until the prisoner of the day is secured in place. A strange…—machine? Somehow enough of it remains in shadow to obscure any useful details—emerges from the wall to hover around the prisoner’s head, then everything but you and the wardens is swallowed by utter darkness.

It only lasts a moment, though. Once the shadow subsides, you find yourself seemingly somewhere else…

Hikaru Suzuki

This time, the first thing you notice is the ambience. Smooth jazz plays quietly in the background, overlaid with chatter and laughter from all directions. You’re in a bar, and a classy-looking one at that - the furnishings are soft and the people are dressed smartly. The low pink and purple lighting seems to do something a little odd to your perception; although you can see their outlines, the faces of the people around you seem to blur together.

The bar against one wall looks well-stocked, neon lights illuminating the selection on offer. In the corner opposite, next to an aquarium wall tactically placed out of reach of even the tallest drunk, is an area for bar games. Snooker, darts, an old pinball table - the usual.

And when you look down at yourself, you notice something’s changed here, too - your straitjacket has been graciously replaced with a fitting outfit, whether that be a tuxedo, cocktail dress, or any other suitably swanky clothing!

Sylas Grey

Oh boy! Another projection, another mind dungeon. Sylas was willing to take bets that this one wouldn’t be as existentially confusing or awful as Vincent’s, and even though he wasn’t clever enough to be a betting man, he feels like this one is already paying off.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Sylas says out loud, and immediately makes a beeline to the bar as soon as they’re established in the projection. He’s trying to get himself a little sippy.

Hikaru Suzuki

Sylas Grey

When standing in front of the bar, nothing seems to happen. No bartender is there to offer you a drink, and no other customers appear to be interested in you, instead talking amongst themselves. You hear words standing out from the mutter around you - “where the hell are they?” “Place has gone downhill in the last few years, I’m telling you.” “Oh, I hope the cute one is here today instead of the old guy!”

Andrew Edgeworth

Lit from beneath, an eerie violet glow permeates the tank, punctuated by a few twisters of bubbles. It looks like the only life in here is some sea butterflies which gently bob up and down. Weirdly, when you turn away, you feel as if they’re watching you, despite their lack of eyes.

Andrew Edgeworth

Andrew was unsure about attending when he saw that Hikaru was the prisoner on display this fine day. Conflicting thoughts on the man get pushed aside in lieu of curiosity to get some form of answers, and Andrew decides to push onwards despite the…less than fun events of the previous projection he was in.

Then there’s Sylas, going to consume something he probably shouldn’t. Again. Mindscape wine was probably safer than Playdoh, at least.

He sighs and goes to examine the aquarium wall, figuring that the projection’s “physics” wouldn’t allow any lasting harm to Sylas…on the outside. Wait, when did his clothes change-?

Sylas Grey

Sylas rubs his hands together like a cartoon villain about to get up to some mischief and immediately tries to go behind the bar to mix himself a drink.

Hikaru Suzuki

Sylas Grey

As soon as Sylas goes behind the bar, it’s a different story. Patrons keep coming up, clearly wanting your attention. Some are frustrated, some are flirtatious, some are just having a fun night out. It’s clear that they’re more interested in chatting than actually getting a drink. Either way, Sylas doesn’t have the opportunity to pour anything for himself - any time he tries, his eyes just get drawn back to the waiting crowd. Someone will need to keep them busy if you want to keep looking around back here…

Andrew Edgeworth

He’s rather skeeved out from being “watched,” so he goes ahead around the wall to the bar game area; unfortunately too far across the club to notice Sylas’s conundrum.

Hikaru Suzuki

Andrew Edgeworth

It seems like this part of the bar isn’t looked after as well as the rest, which might be connected to the fact it’s a lot less busy. There’s a rip on the edge of the snooker table, and the pinball table has more lights broken than not. There’s one exception to this; it probably comes as no surprise that it’s the dartboard, which is kept in as good condition as something designed to be punctured by pointy things can be.

Robert McCay

When addressed, a face in the crowd seems to stand out. The young woman who gives you a half-smile looks considerably less classy than the other customers here, with garish makeup and a zebra-print jacket. Despite this, there’s a sense of kinship you feel towards her - a coworker, or maybe a friend? She asks you for “the usual”. It looks like she’s been crying…

…There’s no way of telling what ‘the usual’ might be, but it seems like you’re more freely able to move around the back of the bar now.

Robert McCay

Robert’s been pretty quiet since the fire, both literally (as he doesn’t want to further damage his signature voice) and figuratively keeping to himself. He’s feeling somewhat better by the time Hikaru’s projection comes around, though, and he is admittedly curious about the man. Was what Akemi said true, that he’d really kill for the right price? He didn’t strike Robert as quite that type, but– well, maybe he could find out for himself. Hikaru wouldn’t mind, right?

He slips into the projection room just as everything goes dark…

And finds himself in a swanky bar in a freshly pressed tuxedo. Nice(?) Robert’s played gigs in his fair share of bars, but not usually the black-tie kind. Free of the straitjacket’s restraints, he stretches a little bit, straightens his jacket, then follows Sylas behind the bar after seeing him start to get swarmed with patrons. He glances over the bottles idly, but he doesn’t drink– he’s more interested in the people here. He tries to focus on one, though the shifting effect on the figure’s face is disconcerting.

“'Scuse me, miss…?”

Sylas Grey

Thanks, Robert!!! With the crowd distracted, Sylas is going to just fucking open every cabinet and fridge and drawer there is back here in his pursuit of making the Perfect Cocktail. He’s really going to town.

“🎵 Gonna make a drink… callin’ it… The Hose…. In honor of… Akemiiiii….. 🎵 Don’t let her knoooow….”

Hikaru Suzuki

Sylas Grey

Along with your regular things like a sink, spare glasses, bottle openers and so on, some particular items stand out behind the bar. There’s a sleek, if somewhat outdated, smartphone, and a stack of credit cards.

…But of course that’s not what Sylas is focused on! There are so many different drinks here. A house red that’s closer to vinegar, a fancy set of coloured liqueurs with unpronounceable names, beers on tap and in bottles - he really has all the choice in the world.

Andrew Edgeworth

Andrew goes further into the room to quietly examine the worn-down place, huffing occasionally when his new scarf keeps getting snagged on the tables while he makes his way over to look more closely at the dartboard.

How anybody was able to walk around with such an absurd length of clothing was beyond him, but the sturdy clip securing it in was more trouble than it was worth to get rid of…

Hikaru Suzuki

Andrew Edgeworth

On the dartboard, there are some photos pinned by darts. Looking away and back causes the features of the people to change, but you can’t recall what they were initially. It probably didn’t matter anyway, right?

Sylas Grey

The cards are all in different names. It seems a lot of people here keep bar tabs, and they do so on premium cards, or even corporate accounts.

Turning on the phone shows a lock screen with a stylised photo of a night sky filled with stars. Seems that even being in Hikaru’s projection doesn’t give you access to his phone; it’s locked, asking for a PIN in the format XX-XX-XX.

…The crowd is getting noisy again.

Sylas Grey

Sylas is mixing basically everything he can get his grubby little fingies on, but he does stop to take a look at the phone and cards.

“Hey, guys! Check it out! I could do credit card fraud with these!… If I knew how. Actually I’d probably be the one gettin’ scammed. Hehehe.”

He’s got a beer glass full of rainbow liquid which one supposes must be his “The Hose” cocktail in one hand and the phone in the other. Can he unlock the phone?

Robert McCay

Robert might not know much about booze, but he does know how to lend a sympathetic ear. Time to turn up the charm a little.

“Oh a’course, miss…” He turns away briefly and whispers– “Sylas, would y’mind mixing up one a’those fer the young lady here?” –and back to the patron, only raising an eyebrow for a second at the credit cards. He’ll look at those when he gets a chance. If he gets one!

“I daresay it seems like something’s troublin’ you– er– sorry?” One of the other patrons barges in…

Hikaru Suzuki

Robert McCay

A businessman with grey streaks in his hair and coffee stains on his collar is hammering his finger angrily at his phone. “You’re kidding me - again?! What is wrong with the Swallows, lately? That’s the fifth loss in a row…”

He glares up at you and barks an order for whiskey. “Come on! Even your useless old man gives quicker service than this!” There’s a familiar, but distant sense about him; a regular, probably.

The girl looks a little uncomfortable at his volume but shrugs sympathetically. “It’s okay, he’s been here longer. I think.”

Andrew Edgeworth

Unsurprisingly, darts were something Andrew had never once seen, participated, or had any particular interest in. Thankfully, the board isn’t that complicated to roughly understand what numbers correspond to which darts. It paints quite the sinister picture otherwise. Seems someone else here has quite the amount of victims…

Seems as well that there’s nothing else of note in the space, so Andrew joins the other two at the bar - overhearing the tail end of their conversation while pushing his way through the bustle of people. Not enough of the conversation to notice that the woman is a key figure to address, though. “…I’m not sure what Hikaru would think about you considering frauding him in his projection. Anything else of note here?”

He has no idea how to mix drinks, so…we’re at the mercy of whatever Sylas makes!

Sylas Grey

Sylas merely blinks and goes to make two more fucked up awful cocktails in beer glasses for Robert to give to the patrons. Sorry, guys! The world’s worst bartender has Logged On!

After he does that, he looks at the phone’s lock screen and squints.

Squints…

…then he types 00-00-00 in. Oh. Don’t do that, Sylas.

Hikaru Suzuki

Sylas Grey

To the surprise of probably no one but Sylas, he is rewarded with nothing but an “Incorrect PIN” message.