The Chained Watcher

Now Listen Here-

>:(

Can't put the stupid quotation marks in the title.

~~~

Taurtis' ear twitches. Sounds like Martyn and Jimmy are back. A little odd, considering they don't usually drop by unless checking in on the progress he's made analyzing the things the Watcher's changed with magic.

Well, that, or they've got something they need to tell him about, which, judging by how their steps sound reluctant, is shaping up to annoyingly be the most likely reason for their visit. He sets aside the petri dish he was examining some of the peculiarly twisted fruit Martyn brought for him to study in.

Martyn mumbles, "Uh oh..." Great. If he's concerned, that means he's done something he knows he'll get in trouble for.

"Do I want to know?" he asks.

"P-Probably not..." The two enter his house, not making eye contact as they find seats. Whatever it is, it's clearly something they know he won't be pleased by, but since they haven't bit the bullet and told him yet, it shouldn't be something dangerous like the Watcher snapping and going on a rampage.

"Level of severity, risk of casualties, and how disappointed I'll be when you tell me what happened."

"Risk of casualties is low, severity is... concerning, but not for the rest of the players."

"And how disappointed I'll be?"

"...Can I choose not to answer?" He just looks on silently. "...Right, stupid question. So... Grian might now know that we're Listeners..."

He takes a deep breath. Of course the Watcher found out. "And do you have any idea how this happened?"

"Not entirely? But I think Xisuma, the admin of Hermitcraft, ended up telling him." Before he can ask why anyone knew they were Listeners, Martyn continues, "He was there when we found the experiment logs. He also might or might not have done that verbal trap thing where you give two options but the real answer is neither, so he figured out we weren't captives. Kinda didn't expect him to tell us to buzz off and leave Grian alone, but... Yeah. At least he didn't tell him right away?"

Taurtis sighs. None of the players around the Watcher seem to show any signs of mental manipulation, but they all seem to believe its affable demeanor to be its true personality. Even Jimmy and Martyn aren't as wary of it as they should be, though part of that was to maintain a believable identity as just a pair of normal players.

After letting them stew in silence for a bit, he says, "Give me a rundown on how it happened."

Martyn nods. "He approached like normal, engaging in light conversation before addressing the topic. Retrospectively, I think he was looking for confirmation more than anything else."

"Rundown first, then add your inferences."

"Right, my bad. So, he said that someone told him something yesterday, then started alluding to knowing that we're more than normal players. It was all generally light-hearted in tone, but I'm pretty sure he was convinced only a couple sentences in, since the probing questions turned more towards pushing us to admit it instead of trying to dig up clues."

Jimmy complains, "Then when we tried to end the conversation and walk away, he did the stupid growly hissy noise Watchers do when you touch their wings."

He stills. "It attacked? Didn't you say the risk of casualties was low?"

"Huh? No, Grian didn't attack. It was bait. He made the noise because he knew it would bait a reaction out of us."