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[seaboards]

TWO TRUTHS AND A LIE

There have been a lot of riftfarers arriving lately. It seems like there have been more arriving than usual. So many different kinds of people from different kinds of worlds with stories to tell and experiences to give.

A little game has appeared on the shellphone network in hopes of getting to know just a little more about these otherworlders. You might find it on your shellphone as you’re scrolling through one day.

Tell the world two truths and one lie about yourself. And let others try and decipher which of the three is your lie. If they can guess right, perhaps you’ve been able to make a new acquaintance. Or in the least learn more about someone from another walk of life.

Comments

text | un: coldjustice

[coldjustice]

1. I've never had a job that didn't get complicated. Something always goes wrong.

2. Had a client rat me out to a literal demon once.

3. Found a book based on one of my old cases. Read it for book club one night. It had everything, even a romantic subplot.

text | un: forgeabettertomorrow

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Wait 'cases?' ARE YOU A DETECTIVE??

I dont even know if thats the lie or not I WANT it to be true because thats so cool!

[coldjustice]

[ this is cute... it's possible there's a lie in there or it might all be true. he'll just have to keep poking! ]

Sure am. I take the cases no one else will, the ones people in charge want to keep quiet. Haven't done much of it here yet. Getting set up in a new place takes time.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Cases no one else will take huh? That sounds like how my dad was as a mercenary. Took on the fights no one else wanted to fight.

Whats an example of a case no one else will take? Assassination plot? Getting the dirt on a corrupt politician?

[coldjustice]

Assassination was never my thing.

Why don't you make your guess for the game and then I'll answer all of your questions.

[ she's realized that if she answers in specific ways, she may give away the lie without meaning to. ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

Aha, I guess you caught onto my scheme

Lets see here.

Jobs getting complicated seems like it should be the norm

Demons wouldnt surprise me either but considering the world Im from that might be the outlier

And I dont care if the third one is the lie I WANT it to be true.

So Ill go with the demon.

[coldjustice]

Think we've all wanted to try that one.

That one's actually true. The demon, the diamond, and the deadbeat magister. That one actually made the papers. No mention of the client ratting me out to the demon, but that did happen.

Couple of people in the club liked that book.

[ so there's a hint about which one is actually the lie, since he played the game and she promised to answer questions when he did. ]

[forgeabettertomorrow]

[Darin considers this for a moment before responding.]

Alright so either every job for you is a breeze or theres something faulty with the book club business. So if the case made the papers either nothing ever got published as a book

Or the details of the book are where the lie is. Maybe the romantic subplot?

[coldjustice]

[ he's doing well and she likes how he's working it out as they go, so she'll throw him a bone. ]

Or I've had one easy job and everything else has been complicated.

To answer your earlier question: I find things. People, objects. Sometimes involves saving them, running into the "authorities," getting chased by demons or magisters. I take the cases for my city's most desperate because no one else will. The authorities won't help and can't be trusted. So I do what I can to make my neighborhood just a little safer.

[forgeabettertomorrow]

See I considered that but that just seems kinda

Anti-climactic?

We all have jobs we breeze through and I feel like thats just a given. An objective and subjective truth all at the same time. If youre gonna say that youve never had a job that didnt get complicated Id wear that as a badge of honor. A testament to your skill. Why undercut yourself in the end, right?

So either the book is the lie or maybe the book club is the faulty bit.

Maybe there is no book club. Maybe the book club is a different group altogether.

Am I getting somewhere?

[feralhumanity]

I'm going to say 2, but 3 is pretty close.

1 has to be true, because that's just true of everything.

[coldjustice]

Two is actually true. I did take a case once where the client ratted me out to a demon. Papers mentioned me twice on that case, but forgot to mention that detail.

As for the book, what's hard to believe about that one?

[feralhumanity]

Wait, really? Why would someone do that? What kind of clients do you even have?

I dunno, it just seems weird for someone to write a book about your life? Unless you're super famous or super old.

[coldjustice]

[ she's famous. or infamous, depending on who's asked. ]

Yeah that one was not my best case. Usually? They're the desperate kind. Never had one so desperate they thought the demon could save them. Or they might have just been angry at me for something else I uncovered.

Didn't say it was about me. Said it was about one of my cases. Minrathous doesn't like happy endings and they don't like a detective who sticks her nose into things unless she blows something or someone up. The case itself was far more interesting than anything I did.

[feralhumanity]

Wow. You must really work with a lot of interesting people.

So then you're a detective too?

[coldjustice]

Interesting's a word for it.

Yeah, only one in my neighborhood. I deal with the cases no one else will, helping people, finding people or objects. All kinds of things. Got some interesting stories, but most don't have a happy ending.

[feralhumanity]

It sounds like you do a lot of good work for people!

I’m surprised how many detectives there are. I never really met one back home, but here I’ve come across two already!

[hellofishies]

I'm going to guess one of them is only truth-adjacent! Maybe you found a book about your cases, but you didn't read it for book club. Or it didn't have a romantic subplot. Or someone in your investigation rated you out to the demon and not your client themselves!

[coldjustice]

Feels like a lot of us have done things like that.

[ so arkady's not wrong about that. the trick is which one! ]

All of those would be good guesses. Any you're willing to commit to?

[hellofishies]

Yes! I think it's a solid theory. I'll put all the marbles on it.

[coldjustice]

Seems like everyone wants to assume it's one of those two. Would the first one be too easy or are we all too used to everything going wrong?

Some members of the book club liked it more that I did. Probably because they hadn't lived it. And it was definitely the client that ratted me out to the demon. That one was a rough job. Made the papers, too.

[hellofishies]

I think everyone's used to bad. Things have always gone pretty bad back home.

I want to read the book now...

So is the first one the lie?

[coldjustice]

Well, if I find a copy, I'll let you know.

It is. I've had one uncomplicated job. It was something of a relief. A lost book that had fallen behind a piece of furniture. The rest have had some sort of complication or ended unfortunately.

[hellofishies]

I'll look too! It's there a name I should watch out for?

Maybe you'll have more easy jobs like that here! I could lose something for you

[coldjustice]

The Hallowed Halls by Marcellus Ingenvinus.

Thanks, but I think it only works if you aren't trying to lose it. Easy jobs would be a breath of fresh air. Life here is much less dangerous and complicated than in Minrathous, so we're already doing better.