Barbara Utsugi VD 1 - “Pull the Thread”

[Sounds of a stone door grinding open and shut]

[Sound of steady footsteps]

Ardor: [Quietly] Ohoohoo… This one sounds confident~

[Footsteps continue into the room, then halt]

Ardor: Ah.

Barbara: Hm.

Ardor: Uh… Hello.

Barbara: Hello. Ardor, was it?

Ardor: Yup, that’s me… Prisoner, uh, H2? I’ll be your guard.

Barbara: I see…. I take it this is a one-on-one interrogation.

Ardor: Mhm. The muzzles are pretty nice, huh? It’s just… hrmm…

Barbara: What? Need help thinking of questions?

Ardor: Urgh, no, it’s just that- [she huffs] Argh, isn’t your group- my group- supposed to
be the one full of all the lively kids? Y’know, the ones with all the sparkles in their eyes,
the ones who scream and cry even when they’re just a little upset? Why am I stuck
doing an interrogation with some stern old lady right now?! Boooooring!!!

Barbara: Well, pardon my lack of glitter and tears. Shall we make this quick? I wouldn’t
want to waste your time.
Ardor: And you don’t even get pissed when I call you old and boring!!! Ugh, Whatever.
We’re stuck in here until your song extraction is ready. Just do your best to make it
interesting, I guess.

Barbara: I’m not even fifty. And I can live with “boring”. As for “interesting”, I guess it
depends on what questions you ask me.

Ardor: Ohmygod this is going to take foreverrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr…

[Sounds of her flopping to the ground to lie down]

Ardor: Fine, uhhh… How’d you do it? You’re a killer, same as everyone. What’d ya do?

Barbara: Accidents, mostly. Set-ups. If you want details, you’ll need to be more specific.

Ardor: Why? You want to make this more difficult?

Barbara: No, I wasn’t bein’ cagey. I just figured I’d spare you the list of twenty-some
killing schematics. Unless of course you’d find that “interesting.” I will warn you, they
get redundant after a point.

Ardor: Wait, what?! [Her voice pitches with a hint of excitement] You’re a serial killer?!

Barbara: Eugh, no. I’m a hitman. Assassin, killer for hire, what have you. Important
distinction.

Ardor: Huh? Aren’t those the same thing? You’re both multi-murderers, and you both
don’t care about the innocent lives that you just loooove to rip away.

Barbara: [She scoffs] I resent that comparison. Serial killers are selfish, reckless,
murderers. They take pleasure or some kind of sick satisfaction in picking off their
victims.
What I do is a job. I have no personal stake in my targets. I don’t even know who I’m
killing until after I’ve accepted a case.

Ardor: Mhm, mhm, mhm, wow, that’s so cool, sure, whatever. Jobs… Businesses…
Anyways, why’d you stop?
Barbara: …Why’d I stop?

Ardor: Mhmmmmm! You said twenty-something, didn’t you? That’s a lotttt of bodies…
Probably enough for anyone to stop feeling a thrill when they end a life… but you said
you’re a killer for hire, so that’s not important, isn’t it? But then what? Didya age out of
the business or something? [She laughs]

Barbara: [She sighs] To be frank, I stopped ‘cause I’m in here. Luckily, aging hasn’t
hindered me much in my methods, but I can’t very well do my job trapped in a prison,
can I?

Ardor: I mean, you could, if you really wanted to shake things up in here…
I wouldn’t get mad or anything…

Barbara: No. I don’t kill for sport. I’m a professional. Any lives I take are strictly for
business. “Nothing personal,” and all that.

Ardor: Fine… [She sighs, then perks up] But there’s still the question of how you got
here. I mean, it’s not like you killed all your victims at once, right?

Barbara: ‘Course not. I’ve been doing this for years.

Ardor: How cute. And it’s exciting, too. I mean, if it took you this long to end up in
TRIGRAM… [She pauses, briefly, for dramatic effect]
There’s something special about your last victim, isn’t there?

Barbara: …Is that how it works?

[Ardor stands suddenly, breaths speeding up to an excited pant]

Ardor: Oh oh oh, that has to be how it works! Especially when your expression drops
like that, hehehe!!! Now c’mon, darling, why don’t you answer that question directly?
No point in trying to hide it now~

Barbara: …Does it really matter? You’re supposed to judge my “sins” aren’t you? Does
one life weigh more than another in your system?
Ardor: Oh… It certainly can! It depends on the person, really!
Everyone has different feelings on the matter. But, well…

[Sounds of claws clicking and quiet laughter as Ardor steps close to Barbara]

Ardor: I’d say it does to you.

[Bells, rumbling sounds]

Ardor: My, my, my! Looks like it’s about time to wrap up our interrogation!
Aw, and just when it was getting good, too…
I could swear the warden times this thing just to tease us…

Barbara: ….

Ardor: Y’know, you really surprised me. I guess I made a mistake judging you so
quickly… but then again, I can always trust Es to give me the best of the best! I bet you
and I and the others are going to have lots of fun together, just you wait~
Now then, your song~! Let’s take a closer look at you, why don’t we?

Barbara: [She talks through clenched teeth] Looking forward to it.

Ardor: I feel exactly the same~! Now then,

Prisoner H2, Barbara Utsugi… singgg yourrr sinsss!!!