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Deck 5: Poker Face

Humanity as a whole is a mass of irony. Not just in the case mentioned in the past where it was stated that humanity is slowly destroying itself with each and every year, but the fact that it is simple yet complex at the same time.

People follow a set of rules that are ingrained into their very nature. Some of them are simple. Humans must eat, drink, and have shelter in order to live. Others are somewhat more complex such as differing worldviews.

For example, Ryder is uncaring of others and life itself. This is his worldview that has been set in motion due to his experience with death at a young age. Such things twist and contort one's nature and have lasting consequences as a result. Despite not being immune to change, people's worldviews are etched into their mind by the nail of trauma and hammer of the world. Thankfully, this is still not the focus as of now.

The laws of humanity strive and revolve around one concept in particular: it is natural for people to want themselves and others to live. When brought with the decision of life or death, most would choose life, no matter what they have to go through in order to achieve it. However, these choices may differ by the situation and people.

Those who are brought with difficult circumstances become conflicted with themselves, such as choosing between themselves dying or someone important perishing in their stead. Many of these instances are portrayed in stories of gallant heroes sacrificing themselves for the greater good. Another difficult circumstance could be the infamous trolley problem. In short, you are given a lever to change the direction of a trolley rolling down the tracks with people tied down to them. If you don't flip the lever, five people die, but if you do, one will perish on the other tracks. The most logical answer is to pull the lever to decrease the casualties, but either way, the one who pulls the lever is at fault for the death of at least one person. Thankfully, there are easier situations given.

The most common situation people are put into are simple death threats. "I'll do this if you do that" kind of thing. Much like a game of Mad Libs, words can be easily substituted into this simple sentence. For example, "I'll kill you if you tell anyone who I am." Funny enough, these were the exact words Ryder said to Ruby and Mia. As is the rules of human nature, they chose life.

As the next day followed by, Lucy couldn't help but feel somewhat detached from Ryder. Even considering the events of yesterday at the Wynn Palace, she couldn't shake off that he killed one of her first friends in high school.

She barely spoke to him during classes or school to begin with, but she did eye him every now and then. But now, Lucy couldn't bring herself to do it. Looking at him was somewhat painful to her, and every time the girl did, she could only think of how Ryder killed Isabelle. Even while trying to convince herself that he did it to protect her, Lucy was unable to change her mind. Ever since Ryder had revealed himself, her world has been constantly spiraling downhill, with her only choice of action while falling being to think and reflect on past events.

"Hey!" Ruby said poking her shoulder. The girl flinched and looked up to see her seven friends staring at her. One chair was empty, and no one dared to fill it.

A girl with curly brown hair that reached her shoulders spoke up. "Lucy, I get that it's sudden, but she's gone... There's no point of thinking into it, okay?" Angela Winger says quietly, her eyes mournfully looking down.

"Yeah!" Lillian Hawthorn replied, shaking her head slightly to let her hair fall in place. "Leave it to the police. I'm sure they'll find that bastard that did this." Everyone nodded and agreed. Almost everyone at least. Ruby and Mia eyed each other. Lucy had informed them about what Ryder had done. They too, were also conflicted.