JAWS • DECEMBER 2025 EVENT/TDM

[uruz]

TDM & EVENT: JAWS

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Show Me Those Pretty White Jaws

The dream has been coming in waves for those new to Sleep's touch, as a shoreline that never stays still. As a sky that never remembers to include its stars. Beneath it all, there is a voice. Her voice: silk-sweet, coaxing from just beyond the approaching wave that towers like a moving mountain. She tells you to come home. She promises it won't hurt, even if she never tells you what waits beneath. You see the shape just before the dream ends: a massive black tidal wave, yawning wide and black until it looks like a pair of jaws breaking upon you. You don't have time to resist.

You and your veteran Vessels will awaken in water.

There is no surface. No bottom. No sky. No sound but your own heartbeat and the echoes of water being slashed though, dull and endless in the still, frigid dark. You are suspended, weightless— Some may have difficulty to breathe without inhaling water the first few times, while those aligned with the waves will feel it come like second nature. Once you acclimate yourself, you'll notice that around you drift glowing filaments; thin, pulsing threads that coil like jellyfish tendrils, softly luminescent. They curl and twist through the water, and when you look closer, you realize: they show you things. Memories, maybe. Dreams, maybe. Each one unique to your gaze: a hand reaching for yours in the dark, a goodbye that never finished, a face you haven't seen in years. They are what you think love looks like. What you once needed it to be. And when you touch them, they wrap around you, gently, warmly . . . Hungrily— and begin to pull you down.

To ascend into the next level, you must let go. But not everything that binds you wants to be released. The filaments drifting through the water show you what you think love looks like— what you've built it into. They are gentle at first, beautiful even, but the longer you cling, the more they pull.

There are ways to escape them: You may bind your filament with another's and together speak aloud a shared truth: what you believe love really is. If your hearts align or at the very least come to an agreement, the threads dissolve into light and lift you upward. If your beliefs clash or contradict, the threads knot tighter, and something . . . May take interest in you.

Beneath you, something moves. Huge, silent and almost regal. It glides through the deep like a phantom, almost too large to be real. You feel its presence before you see its flash of pearl white and glowing red eyes, three on each side of its face: a shark.

The shark is here to choose its next meal. It smells grief, fear and seeks out trauma most of all. It is drawn to the most unspoken parts of you, the very parts you thought were buried, roused from the tightened ropes of what you crave in your heart. And when it chooses you, it does not bite immediately. It invites, with its jaws opening like a sanctuary and slow towards you.

Inside is I, whispers Sleep. Allow Me to have you whole, and you will be at peace. Show Me love.

Fight against her, or even with your current partner about what love is, and Sleep will open her maw, spilling tendrils from her throat and begin to stalk you. Best be prepared to fight the possessed Megalodon— She will laugh, amused as you do, like a great cat playing with its food. And if you were to be caught, well. You'll wake in the dream's next level with an undeniable prey drive, whether Token or Offering.

She will do anything to keep you here.

NOTES:

• There is no surface visible at first. Light only comes from the filaments. As characters resist, act, or ascend, a faint stained-glass shimmer begins to pulse upward, hinting at the dream's next layer.
• Sound is muffled— speech emerges as bubbles, but meaning travels regardless. Words feel heavy here. Some phrases may literally change the water (turn to light, birth dream-objects, or ripple with tension). You will do better using The Murmur as a means of communication. Luckily you have your mask on!
• The Shark always circles once it senses trouble within you. Sometimes close, sometimes far, but always felt. If characters listen closely, they can hear the echo of One's voice coming from inside it: pleading with a haunted, at times screaming melody.

TOKEN EFFECTS

• The dream bends subtly around Tokens, especially at the whims of an Aquamancer. Walls of pressure open before them, and filaments shift course as if expecting them. This can make their path easier, unless they start to doubt their purpose.
• Tokens perceive emotional resonance as currents in the water such as subtle flows of energy. These can guide them (or others) toward escape paths, or signal when the shark is near.
• When a Token speaks or acts with strong intent, the dream sometimes translates it into a symbolic structure: A word might become a floating glyph. A gesture might alter the filament's shape. A moment of clarity might reveal a hidden path. Other characters can interact with these dream-objects, but they're fragile, unstable, and prone to distortion by doubt.
• The deeper Tokens go, the more they feel themselves pulling apart and begin to experience dual awareness: one part dreaming, one part watching— some may even see flashes of within the shark's belly, and One's voice much louder. The deeper they go, the more detached they become, and the more they lack the ability to act at all.

OFFERING EFFECTS

• The shark is more fascinated by Offerings. It circles them often, sensing kinship— or potential. The more monstrous the Offering, the more the shark "pauses' near them, almost curious.
• Offerings feel "the pull" more clearly, particularly Merrows and other aquatic-based Offerings—they can sense where the surface might be, and where the shark intends to strike next. They may even see pulses in the water that others miss, similar to Spider Man's "spidey senses".
• An Offering may experience rapid body changes submerged. Fins may appear, bones may shift, teeth may lengthen without warning and so on. This makes their movement easier or harder, depending on how much of themselves they're holding back or how apt their monstrous forms are at swimming.
• Some Offerings may feel drawn to the shark— not in fear, but in understanding. They may see themselves in it, and vice versa— One's song in particular is hypnotic, and for split moments you may understand his pain through his words. This might make you more prone to being consumed, though, so hopefully your partner can help you out of it—?.

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Watching Me With Eyes Of A Predator

The surface you breach is not water— it's glass.

You strike it with the force of falling sky. It fractures beneath you in a bloom of painted light. For one weightless moment, the dream hesitates, sputters. Then the world shatters, and you fall with the cascade.

Water pours through the crack in the ceiling, carrying you down in ribbons of color and a shattering splash. Stained glass shards drift like petals through the now collapsing roof, and you eventually land not in sand, but upon a cathedral floor, slick with tide. Around you, the water spreads, pooling across the stone and swallowing the walls in a rising hush as it finds escape through the doors.

The cathedral is vast, impossibly so. Its architecture towers, crooked and immaculate, built more from longing than stone. No altar awaits you. No congregation. Only the sensation of having trespassed into something meant to be private. Veteran Vessels may recognize this cathedral as St. Patrick's— before it was drenched in One's blood sacrifice.

High above and surrounding you, the stained-glass mosaics churn with captured light. f you linger beneath one of the window's rays, your appearance may begin to change under the light. You appear as someone else sees you. Be it a hero. A monster. A disappointment. A god. A weakness. A temptation. Even a burden. That version of you clings to your dream-body like a second skin; uncomfortable, intimate, and undeniable. For some, it may be beautiful. For others, unbearable.

If you and another stand beneath the same window, you may each appear as the other secretly imagines. There is no control and no negotiation. Only truth twisted through the lens of want, resentment, fear, or love. And it doesn't go away until you leave the light.

Eventually, the cathedral doors open by dream's will. Beyond them lies a cloister garden: narrow paths, pale trees, and wild flowers that bloom in stillness. At the far end, behind the overgrowth and ruined arches, you see a hollow.

It is a corridor where the dream collapses inward, twisting, warped, half-swallowed in fog and dread. Its stones pulse faintly beneath a shallow film of water. Black tendrils reach from its depths like roots, veins, twitching toward sound, warmth, and movement. You see them dragging matter into the earth, and between them lie bones, contorted and fresh, half-consumed.

And farther still, a body that still breathes. Glimpsed only briefly, A masked man's form is stretched by the hollow's gravity, arms pinned behind the veil. He does not move, or speak. Or perhaps, he cannot. The hollow does not let him go and will not, should you make your attempts. If you step foot in the hollows that have consumed him, you too will be consumed. A three eyed Tod sits at the hollow's edge, a single bushy tail splitting into three, as its body plays with illusion like smoke put to dance over fire. It says, as its head floats up and its maw splits into a grin too cheshire to ignore: Wearing shoes, yet no feet in sight. You'll hear steps pound in the death of night. What is it that you need, to cross this narrow blight?

It disappears and only leaves you the riddle to chew on.

Nothing living can cross the hollow, you'll soon find. Nothing except . . . The Nightmares.

Just outside the garden's boundary, you'll find horses built from wind and shadow, flickering at the edge of your vision. Their bodies are black— not the color, but the absence, swallowing all light. Some of their craniums cound be seen, others have a jutting horn of bone from their foreheads. Where eyes should be, there are six: three stacked on each side of the skull, glowing dimly red like distant embers beneath ice. Their manes flow like torn fabric, like drifting vapor that trails behind them like the smoke from a snuffed candle. Their maws are too damn wide to be herbivorous, yet they seem to enjoy the act of grazing. They wait, unchained and wild in a herd.

This is the only way forward. Only they can pass through the hollow untouched. But how to ride one—? You may chase them. You may plead, command, kneel. You may offer them all your need and all your love, promises that you will provide if they become your steed. But they were not made to answer it. For every Vessel, there is one single Nightmare that will choose them, and thus you will choose each other. They have their own personalities, some more aggressive or shyer than others. The harder you reach, the faster they vanish or harshed they will attack if unready. Try to mount one through force, and you'll regret ever trying. Try to bind one, and it will break you.

But if you are patient, if you figure out its nature and how to please it— your Nightmare may come closer. One may circle you. It may bow its head. Their snort is warm and real against your palm. If successful, it will lower itself to its knees. If you've got the height, they will simply wait, patiently, for you to get on their backs (Or not; there are plenty of sassy mares out there).

If you accept, you might not be taken somewhere safe, but you will be taken somewhere true, away from here. And if you force your want upon them, if you cannot let go— you will be left with something else.

In the distance, across the flooded cathedral floor, you may see One again. Flashes, glimpses. Always chasing a mare he never reaches, or the opposite— the mare chases after him.

NOTES:

• If a character successfully forms a bond with their Nightmare, it will return with them in the form of a waking world steed, officially introduced in the next event. You're free to give it the personality you wish.
• If a character attempts to force a connection with a Nightmare at any point (tries to catch, mount, command, etc.), the mare will bite or kick, which Vessels will suffer as a persistent dream-mark that will carry into the waking world.

TOKEN EFFECTS

• Light clings unnaturally to Tokens in the cathedral, especially near the stained glass. It bends around their bodies like a false halo, casting them in divine or monstrous outlines depending on who watches.
• If a Token casts or channels any magic within the cathedral or near a Nightmare, the spell does not manifest, but instead, a cold mist escapes their mouth, and the Nightmare turns to look. The dream rejects force.
• When a Nightmare looks directly at a Token, their eyes eclipse, pupils vanishing into rings of shadow. In that moment, a fragmented vision floods the Token's mind . . . not from the Nightmare, but from another character nearby. It shows the Token how that character once dreamed of them, what they feared, needed, or hoped they would become.

OFFERING EFFECTS

• The stained glass causes a subtle change in scent and physical appearance turning into a more grotesque version of this— Offerings begin to smell or look like what others most want from them.
• Offerings may always know where the Nightmares are, even when hidden. But the more they try to act on this knowledge, the harder the Nightmares are to reach.
• An Offering's body will react before they realize it, flinching from lies, bristling in moments of emotional pressure, pulling away from contact, and so on. They may startle even at gentle contact, as if something inside them is as reactive as they are.

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Where The Delicate Stops

As your Nightmare takes you through the misty hollow, you may begin to notice the empty city of Manhattan as veterans remember. There is no warning but the eerie silence that surrounds you like impossible weights. The cathedral once behind you folds inward— wrong, deep and full of pressure. It bursts through the hollow's path, through the city's street, and then— The dream ruptures.

Stone peels backward like paper. Glass liquefies mid-air. The sky above the city pulls itself inside out. Time bends sideways. And from the edges of the dream, something, someone, begins to hunt. Sleep's presence moves like the very shark she chose as a vision of her physical manifestation. She does not speak or rage. But you feel Her, rising like fever beneath the skin of Her world as the hairs at the back of your neck do. She does not want you this deep, and neither does One.

Somewhere within the collapse, you may see them— entwined, shifting, trembling. One's face is turned toward you, screaming something that doesn't reach your ears. Sleep's hands are tangled in his body. She pulls him back with a gentleness that breaks the sky, and he screams, reaching for you with his last breath before consumption. The dream convulses.

The Nightmares bolt with you still on them.

The city rises to meet you from the shadows, but it's not the city you know. Skyscrapers twist at unnatural angles. Streets flood, then dry, then flood again. Tendrils burst from subway grates and gutters, slashing upward like tongues. Streetlights spin like compass needles. Cars levitate, crash, freeze midair. You move through it all at breakneck speed, but the exit keeps shifting— a hole in the world that flickers just beyond reach where you see your body, fast asleep.

Somewhere in the chaos, a few Nightmares are caught. Sleep strikes like lightning— she coils like a viper and tightens like a vice. One touch from Her, and your Nightmare collapses mid-gallop, its body unraveling into smoke and light. No sound. No scream. Just absence. And you fall right off it like a ragdoll.

Others fall beneath impact, too— a wrong turn, a shattered wall, a burst of heat from One's grief. A broken leg. A crash. A wound too deep to ride through. If your steed is lost, you fall. And if no one reaches for you, you stay fallen. Others are near, and their Nightmares still run. All of you have a terrible dread in your bones— if you are caught or left behind, the consequences will be dire. You might not even wake up. So, call out. Cling. Climb. Share. Two Vessels on one mount. Anything to survive and flee as the dreamscape tightens its wrathful grip around you.

Sleep calls inside your spine. You can't make out what She says. One answers, the same blur of garbled words in your marrow. And then, just before the dream can take you, just before you reach an exit— you rise.

Your body lifts from the Nightmare as it paddles the air with desperation, it too rising. You're pulled upward, weightless, as if a thread inside your heart has been yanked by a furious god. You float, twist in the air. Your vision glows white.

We've got you.

And then you wake up— mid-air in the waking world.

Your body slams into your bed, floor, street, soil, wherever it was that you had slept. Reality greets you with terrible impact.

NOTES

• If a character does not find a mount in time, they may be caught in the dream collapse. They still wake— but they wake broken. These characters may wake up bruised, disoriented, or emotionally fragmented, and this can be explored in the next waking world event.

TOKEN EFFECTS

• Any Tether they feel becomes unstable—splintered. For brief moments, they feel it breaking and re-forming again and again, with slight differences each time.
• The more emotionally charged they are, the more the dream pulls toward them; tendrils snap faster, debris veers unnaturally close.
• Their body flickers with signs of their own magic—sigils, symbols, runes— burning just beneath the surface of their skin like constellations. These glow brighter as the dream collapses, as if trying to tear free.

OFFERING EFFECTS

• Where Offerings are grazed or injured, they bleed light, not red. It floats up like mist.
• They hear One's heartbeat, not theirs, and it speeds in panic. It affects their own pulse, the mare under them . . .
• The Nightmare no longer follows the Offering's will—it will respond to their fear instead.

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OOC NOTES

➤ Welcome to Somnia's third TDM, which doubles as the month's gamewide event!
➤ This TDM is considered game canon. You are free to have your character remember as many details as possible when they wake up.
➤ Only new characters are free to experiment with the Vessel options, Token or Offering to your liking; this is a dreamscape, so multiple/different situations for you to really test which option you like most is possible. Current characters must remain as their chosen Vessel type unless you requested a switch, which can be done on the Taken page.
➤ All TDMs take place within a dreamscape, meaning characters can interact with the setting without needing to apply. Come have fun with us!
➤ Veteran players, I ask to please refrain from making post-event threads for the time being! We have some important information to take into account in next month's event when characters are slated to "wake up". At the very least, please wait for the information to be offered on the next plotting post. Thank you everyone for your patience!
➤ Please comment on the TDM's INVITE TL if you are a new player interested in joining the game, but don't yet have an invite. Current players or the mod may reach out to extend an invite. Once you've got one, please don't forget to comment on the Invite page so you may properly link it in your reserve and app.
➤ Questions? Please direct them to the designated questions comment linked below!

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Comments

[dollpin]

( she knew this already, but this lee kangheon is quite the capable agent, huh? he put so many of those pieces together already from just this. it's really nice that the bureau has someone like him in their ranks. alert, sharp, but reasonable enough to have a chat with even when they stand on opposite sides. given the friction between their factions, it wouldn't be unheard of for her to have been imprisoned already by most others.

but he hasn't, so she'll start picking at her hair to start ridding herself of small sticks and leaves, humming thoughtfully as she does her best to tidy back up a little. )

I know you can figure out who I am, Mister Agent. ( she's not trying to be obtuse, really. he has the pieces, has her name - unless he just has that many dealings with daydream? she can't deny that possibility.

it's curious though. does he really not remember? he went and named who it was he'd asked for help with, so what's going on? and where's the other mister agent anyway? does this mean he's seconds away from crashing out? hmm..

.. well! no sense giving him absolutely nothing to call her by. )

But I'll answer to 'Dolphin', to be safe. ~

( ah! but back to the subject of this understandably questionable alliance. )

You said you'd help him, so I wanted to help out, too! That means I have nothing against youu.

[dedicate]

Ah, Supervisor! Or, wasn't it Assistant Manager recently? I should say congratulations on your recent promotion~

[ even if he doesn't really appreciate her workplace so much—but clearly what she's offered is more than enough for him to identify her, is what he's saying. they've had conversations in the past, brief as they were. and hey, when he thinks about it, one miss lee seonghae isn't so bad as far as daydream employees to work with go. certainly preferable to saheon, and even he's been relatively easy to keep an eye on, so: ]

In that case, let's get along well here too.

[ he flashes a bright, friendly grin to go with the words—but frankly, it's not like he's trying to hide the ulterior motives he has. the closer he keeps the daydream employees to him, the easier it will be to keep them out of trouble, right? so here's to hoping that miss seonghae is as cooperative as saheon had been.

... though, even better than that would be— ]

And if you don't end up making it to the next level of this disaster, make sure to submit a report to the Bureau on my behalf, yeah? If we're on friendly terms, I hope you can do this much for me~

[ guy who's been stranded voice. ]

[dollpin]

( now that makes her laugh a little, a soft but nevertheless amused thing like he'd just referred to an inside joke. )

Does this mean you're going to treat me to a meal this time, too? I dunno if that's possible right now thoughh..

( implying that he's already congratulated her, of course. she sees no reason to obfuscate that fact from him when he's been nothing but well-intentioned thus far - even if what she says implies a bit more than a simple congratulations via text. she thinks him perceptive enough to read between the lines.

it's the excuse he'd used back then to meet, meaning there really is only a small handful of ways he could've reached her. therein lies the possibility that she knows damn well that this 'k. lee' is indeed not a fellow employee like he so posed.

it doesn't matter anyway. she probably isn't the only one who's figured that one out, which says to her that he'd just ditch the account sooner than later? which doesn't really affect her either way. )

.. Hm?

( now that tells her something else entirely. even while they were stuck at the train station, the one redacted off the map and banished from memory, he made no such request. so why now? because everyone else from their party is gone?

it's a risky report to make, from her point of view. they're still in sekwang somewhere as far as she knows? reporting about something she should not know is an easy way to get her stuck in a bubble!

mm.......... but, he'd probably do the same, right? this agent surely wouldn't leave someone stuck like that either from what she's seen, so. )

Okie dokiee! But I wouldn't leave without you if I can help it since you've been super nice. There's also the two of us now, which means we can maybe still find the others?

( ? )

[dedicate]

[ ? indeed. ]

The others, huh.

[ wow. talk about leading him around on a string. it's true that he doesn't necessarily enjoy the feeling of it, but it's not like there's anything more to lose here. she clearly understands that he's already lost his grasp on the situation, and she's already agreed to help him with his own request, so he might as well return her good will, right?

so he nods along, still smiling broadly. ]

Sure, let's give it a try! Who should I be keeping an eye out for?

[ he's pretty sure that he and saheon are the only two here so far, but who knows. in a dream like this, anything could happen. ]

[dollpin]

( it's concerning that he doesn't remember who they were with either, and her instincts say that perhaps she shouldn't hand deliver even their code names to the man that quite frankly is being rather suspect. he was able to piece together her identity even with just 'dolphin', even going as far as to casually drop that he knows something internal, like her recent promotion.

that's not something a regular agent would know, but it is something this particular agent does. the one she encountered in the resort didn't recognize her, even though she'd recognized another member of the staff, so it doesn't seem like there's a shared database with their information on it, at least.

so the likelihood that someone else from the bureau is posing as him is small. what, then? it seems like his memory up until the point he'd heard about her promotion is intact, so what happened to the rest..?

and also, what good are those names to him anyway? does it put them in danger for him to have? she's quite fond of this group, so she'd hate if anything happened to them. it's better to be cautious, for their sake. )

A few people from both the places we work at. ~

( which could sound like she's merely trying to bait him into helping her look for her team, but she doesn't particularly mind. she's not lying, and that's all that matters to her. )

But hey, can I ask you something?

( she tilts her head, very much like a pup listening for a sound. )

What's the last thing you remember? And to be perfectly candid with you, Mister Agent, I am indeed trying to verify the possibility of contamination!

[dedicate]

Gosh, they really don't teach you any manners at that company, huh. You won't answer my questions, but I'm supposed to answer yours?

[ crazy work. he makes a face, a little exasperated, but he'll continue chattering on after a moment nonetheless. ]

And here I thought we were on friendly terms~

[ it's not that he wants to withhold anything from her here. really. what does he gain from hanging her out to dry like that? he doesn't want to see anybody get in trouble in a place like this either, so it stands to reason that he's not against explaining his situation, right?

but he doesn't like this lop-sided feeling like she's able to hang her own knowledge over his head either. he's already made mistakes in underestimating kim soleum. he needs to know exactly what she knows. ]

Look, I'll tell you about this place, got a guide in progress and everything. But in return, you fill me in on your side, yeah?

[dollpin]

( ! )

You already have a manual goingg? Government agents sure work fast. It's only been a few hours. ~

( even a novice understands the importance of information at this stage. it's just one of those things you simply have to stake a certain amount of risk for in a situation where the sacrifices to find more stable footing and a safe clear haven't already been made for you. )

But ummm..

( the hesitation is slight, but her gaze does flick to the side like she's looking for someone - or maybe even multiple someones. it returns to him before long, but it's clear she's mulling over something even now. )

Mister Agent gave me the impression that he'd hate it if I just sooo easily gave away information about people he clearly cares about to a face I'm still trying to decide if I can trust. ( that's a clue on it's own though! categories of people she's observed of him rather than direct names so he can make the inferences himself to fill in the blanks. that way, she will not be giving names he does not already know.

useless to a stranger, but helpful enough in its own way. they were with people she assumes are important to him from how he's acted thus far. )

You don't remember working with me, which is why I wanted to evaluate you first. ~

( and thus, a grand conclusion! )

See, I figured you'd want me to protect them from you if I thought you were a threat? And I don't really like the idea of giving them up just so I can peek at a manual. You look pretty clearheaded, alert, and aware, but right now I think the missing memories are a sign of minor contamination and I don't really know what will make it worse just yett.

So ask me anything else! I'll happily answer if I think it won't put them at risk until I can better evaluate your current mental state, and you can trade me whatever information you think is fair for it!

[dedicate]

[ to be honest, he's quiet at first. doesn't seem bothered by her words, but more like he's considering them? thinking them over to decide if he likes them. she gave him a lot to chew on, after all, and just because some situations call for decisive action doesn't mean that he can't approach things more thoughtfully when there's need for that, too.

but the more he thinks about it... really, he's getting excited. his face breaks into a grin that he just can't help. ]

Khhh, good thinking!! Not bad at all—it's no wonder you made it up to the elite teams~

[ and so of course, he has to ask the obvious: ] Assistant Manager, are you sure you're not interested in changing careers?

[ they're a little bit short-staffed at the bureau, you know! they could really use some clever kids like her.

ah, but really, he's not expecting a good answer on that question, and it's kind of hard to recruit her from here anyway. with only a brief, expectant pause to flash a bright look in her direction, he'll decide to get a bit more serious again. well, kind of. ]

But jeez, a few hours, huh. I wish! By now, it's been a few months for me. When I left it must've been, hmm... the start of August, yeah?

[ it's enough of an answer to hold him over for now, so he can start drip feeding her what he knows. a treat for seonghae! ]

[dollpin]

( the agent before her was so quiet for so long that she wasn't sure if she should perhaps consider a retreat before he brandishes a weapon. it's not impossible given their circumstances, and she'd like to avoid confrontation if possible, but instead:

he asks her something quite nostalgic indeed. although it didn't extend to something like a recruitment before, he'd still questioned her current place of employment and asked if she'd consider quitting her morally bankrupt company.

the best answer she can think to give him right now is a small smile. they both know that's impossible anyway, so maybe she should have humored him instead?

anyway.. there's something more interesting to take note of in the words he says next now that they've at least established some level of understanding. a treat for seonghae!! )

A few months? ( that makes her blink, skimming through the possibilities that come to mind as she just.. stares for a beat. ) The timing's all weirdd.

( he doesn't remember her, and the difference in their perception of time.. now she has to wonder if the agent choi she was with was even real at all if he's been here the whole time. what other explanation could there be? memory loss seems less likely of a fit now.

then again, in an abyss-class like sekwang, anything's possible. unless - )

May I ask what classification your guide gave this place?

( because she's not sure that's the level she'd give this place.. but he's been here longer. )

[dedicate]

Right? That's what I want to figure out.

[ well, now that he's heard her reasons though, he guesses he'll give it a minute before he starts hounding her again. or rather, maybe he can find out more casually as he offers up what he knows? it is only fair.

but even if it wasn't like that, letting her know the risk assessment level of a place like this costs him nothing, and potentially makes a big difference in how she'll want to approach it. as somebody who wants to save the most people possible, and with a young lady who he's heard might just think in a similar way, there are no downsides here. ]

I recommended Breaking. Do you know how our sanctions work? In your terms, that'd be between a C and a B grade phenomenon.

[ which is to say, not one to take lightly! ]

Survival itself isn't as much of an issue, but the contamination sets in quickly. There's basically no avoiding it. If I had to make a comparison, it's quite a bit like a certain disaster we keep running into your cult company in—the ocean palace.

[ it's a comparison that he's still using as his primary frame of reference in approaching this one, no less. ]