the more i think about that last survivor from the previous expedition the more sinister it looks 👀
my favourite theories so far: 1) they ate the rest of their party to escape starvation, and their next meal is basically us. 2) they were transformed into one of these organical engines of the old order mentioned in a fives journal entry - they would probably still technically classify as alive in that case, right?
i can't help but think that two's theory about the survivor being a lie is... actually optimistic? whatever happened to the goblin staying in the spire all this time most probably wasn't pretty. (btw i wonder what new order told the citizens? like, were they pronounced dead or? because if not, i dunno how no-one from our party knew about the thing. i also wonder what kind of person they were - like, voted most likely to day last lol? or first and everyone got surprised?)
but then i remember that there's probably something much more terrible in the spire then a cannibal or a vegetable state goblin, so even the most unsightly option to get out early can easily prove itself preferable to the alternative... but then we probably wouldn't get the truth about the spire, and now that would be disappointing. also rolling with headhunting exercise and not trying to unravel the spire would go directly against my chosen party motto which is less than ideal. still, meeting the survivor would be interesting. i wonder how their mindscape looks after all this time - it must have left a mark... provided they still have a mindscape at all. would those organical engines still have some semblance of mind?
on another note, i found a variation of the six introduction, where six reveals that one's read four's mind, and four's like "well since you said it, i'm gonna up my trustbar even more, mx. evil necromancer. at least they still haven't spilled my private beans to you guys, gotta respect that shit". and i was like yesss baby your secrets are for my amusement only, wouldn't want to amuse anyone else with your sexy drama :) you can trust me four :)
also in that scene from five intro with five snapping when we get a chance to calm them down, when six is like "why not just assume control" i wanted to tell them the exact reason so bad! i mean, i totally agree, i too would rather just go directly into their mind, but in that playthrough they didn't like me enough for that to be effective! don't rub the salt in the wound six!! (but the option with verbal guidance was extremely satisfying too though. probably even more satisfying than mind reading in this case... also five with their hair down is very neat and very personal for me)
so, still hyperfixating on this vn. i wonder if the genderless world does it for me? i mean, the game sure is a mix of most of my favourite tropes with gorgeous art and atmospheric music and choices that actually matter and are not a stupid set of kind, evil and quirky options. but yknow, gender is especially crisis this days and stuff. hope you don't mind me spamming here a bit more. have a good one :3