Only 10000g a Night | Atsuko + Viper | The Station Car

Atsuko Samukura

Atsuko never cared to get herself dirty if she could help it. Not just because getting dirty was usually equivalent to expending physical effort of some kind, but because she enjoyed her nice clothes. It’s not like she couldn’t easily get them cleaned or replaced, but that was already a pain on the outside. In here? For all she knew, if anything happened to these clothes, she wouldn’t be able to get them clean or replace them until she got off this train. And who knew when that would be.

So she wasn’t exactly leaping at the chance to head down into the basement, which she could only anticipate would be musty, dusty, and generally unpleasant. But she couldn’t deny she was curious about it, and if no one else was there, hopefully she could finally get her peace and quiet.

As Atsuko made her way down the steps, however, it appeared that she wasn’t so lucky.

“…Ah. You… with the games.” Ah, yes. The one with the games, that’s who that is, Atsuko. Brilliant. There were certainly worse people she could have run into, given the circumstances.

“You like games… So you should like puzzles. Any progress on… ‘searching for the Stationmaster,’ whatever that means…?” Atsuko wasn’t a ‘games’ person. Viper was. So the latter should have been among those doing most of the work to move them along, right?

Viper

“Hweh?!” Viper looks up rather suddenly from rummaging through a pile of… nothing, when she becomes aware that she is in fact being addressed, as the one ‘with the games’. Spinning on her heel, she stuffs her hands into her pockets and raises a brow at Asuko. “The one and only! Girl with the games. Name’s Viper, though, in case you wanna remember it next time, yeah? I don’t really care.”

“But you’re right. I do like a good puzzle. They just haven’t really given any… clues. Ain’t really much of a puzzle if ya hardly got a chance of solvin’ it?” Viper shrugs- “But I’ve solved worse!” …And yet, she had done absolutely nothing so far to make it seem like she was contributing. She was a freeloader, duh. Why make the effort unless she was asked?

“I was looking around down here, but I haven’t found anything yet. I’ve got a couple suggestions for where to look, but…” She shrugged. “It’d take me forever to do it on my own.”

Atsuko Samukura

She hadn’t quite expected to startle Viper so much, but she failed to realize anyone would by suddenly hearing a voice, and looking to the source and finding those icy blues staring back at them.

Viper “The one and only! Girl with the games. Name’s Viper, though, in case you wanna remember it next time, yeah? I don’t really care.”

“…Ok.” Whether or not Viper actually cared, or was just being passive-aggressive, was entirely lost on Atsuko. A case of unstoppable force meeting immovable object, it seemed.

Viper They just haven’t really given any… clues. Ain’t really much of a puzzle if ya hardly got a chance of solvin’ it? But I’ve solved worse!”

“That’s… why I asked you, specifically. The sign… simply said to look. I wasn’t sure… if it was a reference to some piece of media… or game… that I’m unfamiliar with.” Yes, Dangan Ronpa and Infinity Train, but that’s neither here nor there. “But it… doesn’t look like it.”

Viper “It’d take me forever to do it on my own.”

Atsuko didn’t respond. She simply continued to stare blankly at Viper. She blinked a few times, and wondered why she wasn’t getting back to work if it was going to take so long. It took her a moment, but…

“…Oh. You’re asking me to help.” It was then Viper knew she had her work cut out for her with this one. “…I would rather not. It’s kind of dark… and probably filthy down here.” So it wasn’t that Atsuko didn’t understand, it’s that she was thinking this girl possibly couldn’t be asking me to help her. Oh boy.

“…Well. I can at least help with the light.” Atsuko unzipped her bag and reached inside, feeling around for something. From the sound of things moving around in her bag… Viper could only imagine what was in there. “…Ah.”

Then there was the sudden telltale thwip or crack of however one might describe igniting a lighter, and…

“…There. This should help.” There was nothing unsettling about Atsuko’s stoic expression underlit, not at all.

Atsuko held a stark black lighter in one of her gloved hands. Now Viper could see better while Atsuko supervised.

Viper

Sheesh, Atsuko was… dry. That was the first descriptor that came to mind for Viper- Dry. It wasn’t entirely inaccurate, in her eyes, but perhaps a little harsh. She hadn’t given much of a chance for Atsuko to respond to half of her comments, maybe she would warm up.

Atsuko Samukura “That’s… why I asked you, specifically. The sign… simply said to look. I wasn’t sure… if it was a reference to some piece of media… or game… that I’m unfamiliar with.” Yes, Dangan Ronpa and Infinity Train, but that’s neither here nor there. “But it… doesn’t look like it.”

“Nah… ’far as I can tell, it ain’t anything I’ve ever seen or played, at least… it’s probably more literal, if I had to guess…” Viper walked a little closer to her conversation partner- she wasn’t gaining anything sort of standing around in the dark…in hindsight, it had been a little stupid of her to not even use her phone as a light…

Perhaps expecting the other woman to offer to help her had been to much. Viper’s expression, however, showed her disappointment. Her nose scrunched alongside an expression of utter exasperation.

“…Atsuko, right? You can just wash yourself off, you know… or, if you really don’t want to get dirty… I’ll like, wipe dust off and then give you stuff to look at? Throw me a bone here…” Oh, well, she could help with the light…!

“Right. A light, well, that’s something! Good job.” Viper headed back down into the basement, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Atsuko was following. Her deadpan expression would have been unnerving to some, but Viper was… unbothered. Why should Atsuko have to smile? It’d be nice, sure, but hey… this was a weird situation. She had as much expressiveness for the both of them!

Atsuko Samukura

Yes, dry was a word for Atsuko. Like dry ice.

Viper “…Atsuko, right? You can just wash yourself off, you know… or, if you really don’t want to get dirty… I’ll like, wipe dust off and then give you stuff to look at? Throw me a bone here…”

Well, Viper had at least remembered her name. “…If we could be sure we had access… to a way to clean ourselves. And at the moment, we don’t have that. And… we also don’t have any access to food, I don’t believe.” Atsuko shrugged nonchalantly. “Perhaps we won’t hunger on this train. Who knows.”

All an excuse to say I will not be doing the hard work thank you.

Viper “Right. A light, well, that’s something! Good job.”

“You’re welcome.” Always gracious, Atsuko.

But she was at least willing to light the way, which was better than nothing. Still somewhat patronizing, depending on how deeply Viper thought into it.

“So… with ‘puzzles’ like this. What is the… ‘strategy?’ Just search everything…?” It seemed she truly knew very little about these matters. “There’s… no shortage of boxes.”

Viper

Atsuko Samukura “…If we could be sure we had access… to a way to clean ourselves. And at the moment, we don’t have that. And… we also don’t have any access to food, I don’t believe.”

“I mean, you make a great point…?” Viper shrugs- truly, she doesn’t care all that much if Atsuko helps or not. If not, she’ll just drag some other poor sap into helping her at some stage. Perhaps her little pizza boy, Melvin. He would be a good target- I mean, a good choice. Vinzent, too. Or, she could always say ‘screw it!’ and engage poor R.N.A in some fruitless searching. They were meant to help people, after all!

Bonding exercise.

Atsuko, willing to indulge her, asks her just one of the best questions Viper could ever be asked.

Atsuko Samukura “So… with ‘puzzles’ like this. What is the… ‘strategy?’ Just search everything…?”

“Exactly that! Unless something along the way gives you a clue, it’s about… looking! There isn’t much strategy until you get something to go from, but if we find something, then I’ll be able to tell you more!” …‘We’? Maybe she considered Atsuko simply standing around holding the lighter enough help to take some credit. The brunette wasted little time in diving in, simply tearing into the first boxes she saw, and emptying their contents riiiight onto the floor.

Atsuko Samukura

Luckily for Viper, Atsuko didn’t care that much if she helped or not either. She was helping in her own special way.

Unluckily for Atsuko, it would appear she’d opened a small can of worms by asking that question.

Viper “Exactly that! Unless something along the way gives you a clue, it’s about… looking! There isn’t much strategy until you get something to go from, but if we find something, then I’ll be able to tell you more!”

“…”

Asking Atsuko to pay attention at a time like this would be… difficult. The innkeeper had already started tuning her out, instead focusing intently on the flame in her hands as she was lost in her thoughts.

She was torn from her reverie, however, by the sound of a box being emptied loudly onto the floor.

“Wow,” Atsuko said in her usual deadpan voice, although it was hard to tell if she was actually being sarcastic out of malice, or if that was just how she was. In this case, it was the latter, but whether or not Viper took it that way was up to her.

Atsuko at least had the decency to take a step closer, illuminating the contents of the box a little better.

“…It just looks like… a mess of junk.” This was exhausting, and she wasn’t even doing anything. She did give the emptied contents of the box a glance, though, looking for anything that might stand out as relevant or, on the other end of the spectrum, entirely unimportant. “Anything to go off of… from this pile?” She’s so helpful!