[open] A friendly chess game. Really. No ulterior motives here!

[oforder]

Characters: Wilhelm and Anyone.
Setting: Floor 3 - Wilhelm's makeshift "office."
Format: I'll follow you!
Summary: With Yeshua here, he's able to get back to his plans. This involves vetting various people in the Tower. How does he plan on doing this? By playing chess with them while asking them questions.
Warnings: TBD. Should be fairly SFW.

Wilhelm had already posted a message earlier that moment, offering a 'casual chess game' in the library for anyone willing to show up. He had taken pains to make the environment fairly comfortable; a table set up near a window, some soft, classical music playing from his phonograph (not Wagner, surprisingly enough, but Mozart), and a chess board he had found somewhere else in the tower, complete with all of the pieces, though a few were chipped in various places.

He poured himself a glass of wine from a bottle he had gotten from the cafeteria, and set the glass down next to the chessboard. There was another glass, there, in case his opponent wanted one. He was going to remain perfectly polite, and wanted to appear as approachable as possible, even if his monotonous voice and completely expressionless voice might seem a bit eerie to a good portion of the Tower's inhabitants.

The board was placed sideways; he would be either black or white, depending on the opponents' choice. For now, he would sit, and wait.

Comments

Here, have a stubborn book girl.

[tohko_amano]

Tohko's skills at chess were average, at best. She doubted she would win or even last long against Wilhelm, who, if she guessed correctly, was a great chess player. However, she was still curious about the man, and even though she was wary of him, she wandered into the library, determined to play a game and find out more.

Finding the table and the setting wasn't difficult, and while Tohko liked the music and the setup, she didn't lower her guard. However, she wasn't going to be rude. She was a polite book girl.

"Good evening, Wilhelm. If you don't mind, may I play a game of chess against you?"

[badend_replay]

"Are you expecting guests?"

The entire set-up seemed quite elaborate to Rika. She was reminded, if only momentarily, of the comparisons she had made to herself in the past regarding chess. That Mayfield was similar to a chessboard, with her side's players made entirely of pawns with no tricky pieces to help them fight. In that moment, she wondered if the Tower would prove to be the same.

She shook her head visibly, negating the thoughts.

"I did not know they had wine here. Is it any good?"

/grabby hands ♥

[oforder]

Wilhelm nodded as Tohko entered. He figured she'd be one of the first to show up, if only because she's seemed quite curious about him these last few weeks. He'd find it flattering if it were possible for him to do so; instead, all he can find to think about her is that she's getting involved in something WAY over her head. Protecting the Lower Domain of the Universe.

"I knew you would come," Wilhelm said quietly, and motioned for the seat across from him. "Black, or white?" he asked. The white side always goes first. He finds that those who are most confident choose white, but those who are more cautious choose black.

[oforder]

"I suppose you could say that, yes," he answered. That was one way to put it. He thought of it more as an experiment. He had seen what a good amount of this Tower was capable of physically - the Administrators had a penchant for bringing those with odd powers here, after all - but now, he wants to see more. So many questions, so few answers.

"It is not. However, I am not one to complain," he answered, motioning to the seat across from him. "Would you like a glass?"

:3

[tohko_amano]

"I see.."

So he was using his device to see who would show up here. Then again..he was probably using that device to see much more than that. With a small sigh, she sat down at the seat he motioned to, and thought about which color she should pick. White went first, but forming an unbeatable strategy against Wilhelm seemed impossible. It would probably be easier to pick at any holes he left in his moves.

"If it's not a problem, I'll be black."

[bloodwriter]

Being an avid lover of books, Disciple was already in the library looking around certain sections. When she saw his flyer, she perked up a bit. Sadly, she didn't know much about chess, but it was a game either way. So why not?

Looking nice and non-threatening, she wanders over to the stranger that had a glass in hand and smiles at him.

"Hello? Are you the man who posted the flyer?"

[crouching_sin]

The promise of chess was always a draw for Naoya. He frequented the library anyway, so it wasn't that much trouble to head over towards the windows, following the sound of the music. He frowned, not sure if he was sensing something or not. The people from various worlds here were all throwing that off, and he could never be sure if he was sensitive enough to pick up anything that mattered. But with a smile, he approached the other man.

"You're the one who was offering matches earlier today, correct?"

[badend_replay]

"I am a minor, I'm afraid. It wouldn't be right of me to drink."

Said the girl who had something of an alcoholism issue. One she was trying to kick, which was why she was so reluctant to take the offer for wine. That, and she knew normal sixteen year olds shouldn't be drinking. She had an image to maintain.

"Who are you planning to play chess with? They seem to be running quite late."

[rewindingly]

Homura was patrolling the tower. It had become something of a self-assigned duty for her. Walking daily rounds to be sure that no trouble was sprouting in the corners. She carried an automatic pistol with her that day, concealing it against her every time that she turned so as to not provoke any stranger she passed.

In the case of this stranger, Homura stops to observe. Less him and more the set-up. Her cold gaze sweeps across it before she settles her attention on Wilhelm.

"Chess?"

It's not a fully worded question. She wonders why he has a chess game set up, why it is sideways, why he thinks now is a time to play, who the opponent is... so many things at once.

[oforder]

Hmmm. Little confidence, choosing a cautious path. He studied the expression on her face, as he moved the chessboard so that the black side was facing her. He began by moving the pawn one space forward directly in front of his bishop on his right hand side.

"Have you come up with a new solution to humanity's demise, Tohko?" he asked. But the way he asked that almost sounded like a trick question.

[oforder]

"A minor. Hmm." In which country, he wondered? Judging by her clothing, she was from a time period still on Lost Jerusalem, where the drinking age - still a relatively new concept to someone who had seen humanity evolve from the stone age - varied from nation to nation. If it was Japan... well, perhaps she was younger than she looked. Which was already fairly young.

"That is responsible of you, then." At her question, he blinked. "I have no set opponent today. It was an open invitation."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko sighed and copied Wilhelm's move. She had played chess with Ryuto a few times in the past, and she had been able to steal a few pieces by copying the first few pawn moves and then grabbing a few pawns here and there. Of course, that probably wouldn't work here..but it was worth a shot.

"I thought of three ideas. Two won't work, and I'm not sure the third will.

The first failed idea I had was for you to write a history record, so that you could use it to experiment and make a better future when you brought everything back to the beginning. However, since you bring everything back to the beginning, you probably also bring yourself back. So writing the notes would be useless, as they would be destroyed, and you would only make them again when it was too late.

The second failed idea was for you to personally strengthen humanity's will by fiddling with the Collective Unconscious. However, that might harm you, Mary, and Yeshua, and I don't think you could mess with it without killing a few people in the Lower Domain.

The only good idea I've been able to come up with is that you should tell the truth to humanity. Let them know what's at stake, and that they can't use your powers for money or personal gain. Be truthful, but not a doormat. And I'm not even sure if that idea will work. However, I'll keep thinking. There has to be something I'm overlooking."

[oforder]

"I am." Well, this was an interesting-looking creature. Vaguely humanoid, gray skin, black hair, yellow eyes, and... horns. Capable of speech, too. Though with an accent. One of those 'trolls' he's heard so much about around the Tower. It will be interesting to actually get inside one's head.

"Were you interested in a game?"

[oforder]

"That is correct. I felt it would be an interesting way to become acquainted with this tower's inhabitants."

Someone like Naoya could likely tell Wilhelm wasn't entirely human. Not a demon, nothing particularly celestial. Something else entirely. And while what Wilhelm said might, on the surface sound like he just wants to be social, anyone who knows him knows there's an entirely different ulterior motive to this. Just one small piece of an infinitely larger jigsaw puzzle. "Am I to understand you wish to accept my offer?"

[oforder]

Usually, seeing a girl her age carrying around military grade weapons would make someone raise an eyebrow or two. Wilhelm's seen weirder. Way weirder, in the age of Realians. Realian bridge bunnies who look like twelve year old girls and whose minds work better and faster than some computers and definitely most humans? Check. People who eat Realians' silicon-based skin for no other reason than to get high? Check. URTV's with self-regenerating powers who mutilate themselves for shock value knowing it won't kill them? Also check.

This was nothing new. Taking a sip of the wine as Homura approached him, he nodded at her one-word question. "Yes," he answered after he swallowed it. One word question, one word answer. "Did you wish to play a game with me?"

[oforder]

Wilhelm listened patiently to her ideas, as his hand reached out to move one of his knights to follow his pawn out; the knight on the same side of the board as his pawn.

Her tenacity was impressive. She really gave this some serious thought, even if she managed to get every single detail of everything she said wrong.

"You overlooked one very important detail, Tohko. One that has proven why I am the only one that can accomplish this. But first, let me address you point by point."

Wilhelm took a sip of his wine. "First, when the Eternal Recurrence happens, I go back in time with the rest of the Collective Unconscious. I do not keep my memories of the previous cycle. However, with the use of the Compass, I keep humanity along a predetermined route throughout history. Second, that is impossible for me to do. I do not control the Collective Unconscious; I merely preserve it. And third, it is not humanity itself that will cause the collapse of the Lower Domain, but their wills."

He folded his hands in his lap, and tilts his head. "You never asked how humanity will become extinct. That is your first, and most glaring error. The Lower Domain will collapse when a universal failsafe implanted in our universe will activate. A failsafe known as Anima."

[tohko_amano]

Tohko listened to Wihelm as hard as she could, trying to burn this information onto her brain. She couldn't forget this later. She couldn't make another mistake.

"So you would have no need for a history record at all if you can simply use the Compass to guide humanity exactly the same way. And if you preserve it, isn't there someone in your universe that can does mess with it, for better or worse?" Tohko was only asking that question out of pure curiosity. She had abandoned that second idea and wasn't planning on adding anything more to it.

She then sighed. How could she have forgotten such an important question?! This was what happened when you let an immortal enigma get under your skin. Tohko promised herself that she would keep a clearer head next time.

"I see. Why was this failsafe put into the universe? Who did it, and..could you explain Anima to me? I've heard the word before, but I'm sure what I'm thinking of and what this failsafe is are two completely different things."

Tohko then thought about her chess pieces. The beginning moves were the most important, or so she had heard, but since she was a terrible strategist, she was never quite sure exactly how to handle these beginning moves. Finally, she moved the pawn in front of her left rook one space. She kept her original pawn where it lay, hoping that it could take the knight if it moved.

[bloodwriter]

She looked down at what he had and nodded, albeit in a cautious way.

"In a way I am curious. But I must warn you that I may not know how to play this game very well."

[crouching_sin]

"It does have a tendency to reveal many things about the players."

He was well aware of how studying someone's tactics could show at least hints of their true personality. At the question, he nodded.

"As long as you don't have any sort of scheduled appointment for a game soon, yes."

He had the feeling this might take a while.

[rewindingly]

"There is no time for playing games." A partial lie. Ideally, Homura will walk rounds about the tower forever and ever. She'll work hard and things will stay normal. But she knows after doing a few rounds that there is not much for her to do. She is wasting time. Her only real reason for taking up this task is to keep herself busy and prevent herself from relaxing. "You, too, shouldn't be playing games in this sort of situation."

[oforder]

"The history record would be erased. All of history resets, to the very dawn of the universe. Including my own memories."

He can tell she realized what a mistake she made. He mounts his chin on his fist, examining her reaction. Yeah, obviously she was embarrassed by this. At least now she knows what she's dealing with, or more specifically, who she is dealing with. As she spoke, he felt obligated to answer her question.

"U-DO did. Anima was put in place to ensure that humanity can never threaten the Upper Domain. However, there are two things keeping Anima in check; Animus, represented by Mary Magdalene, and humanity's will to live, represented by myself."

When she made her own move, Wilhelm moved out the pawn directly in front of his king one space, giving his queen room to move out diagonally. Whether or not he'll actually do anything remains to be seen; it could just be a feint. He watches her reaction.

[oforder]

"That is alright. It is merely a friendly competition." Also a way for him to try to get a feel for the way people in this Tower react under stress and how capable they are of thinking critically, but that goes unsaid.

[oforder]

"There is no set schedule. It was a rather spur-of-the-moment decision of mine." Total lie, but it was true that he had no set schedule, at least; first come, first served. And now, Naoya was here. "Would you like to be black, or white?"

The first question he always asked. Since white always went first, it served as indication of whether or not someone played aggressively, or more cautiously. It didn't matter either way, to him.

[oforder]

"We are safe, for now." The way Wilhelm said that was a little too confident to be simple optimism, even if his tone is completely deadpan. "But I acknowledge your caution. It is a worthwhile trait to have in this place."

He'll have to keep that in mind, about her. Despite the fact that she looked fairly young (by human standards, anyway; age is almost irrelevant to someone who is literally billions of years old), she took her most-likely self-appointed role very seriously. Naturally, this Tower was hell on earth, and she had every reason to be on edge. But was this indicative of someone who could not bring themselves to relax, even during precious few times of calm?

Perhaps she had lost someone important to her?

"What is your name, if I might ask?"

[tohko_amano]

"Right..so even the Compass would be reset. Writing a history record to work off from would be pointless."

Despite the situation, Tohko couldn't help but crack a small grin. So that's why Wihelm was interested in saving humanity, but didn't really seem to care about them one way or another. Humans all shared the thought of wanting to live, to see the sunset of another day, but beyond that, they were usually quite different in tastes, culture, and the like. So that's why he was like that. Maybe.

"I see..I suppose the Yeshua you mentioned earlier represents Anima then. Is there a way to keep that failsafe from activating then? And how will humanity threaten the Upper Domain?" If they could stop humanity from harming the Upper Domain, all they would have to do is remove the failsafe.

Tohko watched as Wilhelm opened up his queen. While she was certain that he was going to do something with it, she wasn't quite sure just what yet. So, she moved the pawn in front of her queen one space. If he decided to throw out his queen, she would at least have some protection.