Epilogue

[cartesio]

Welcome to Cartesio!

You open your eyes and see the ceiling of the lodge. There is no real sensation of having slept, but you're still feeling rested. Sitting up, you can see that the building around you is in ruins. Dust and dirt dominate your environment. Around you, there are familiar people - some of them you've been with up until now, some of them you have been brutally forced to part with weeks ago. They all look alright, a little confusion aside.

From a corner of the room, you can hear the soft whirring of a machine. Upon examination, you can see that it's 3D-printing more gelatinous bodies like you've seen earlier today. Every body that is dispensed from the machine is a safe haven for another mind from the simulation, another mind to join your ranks as real people.

After you've adjusted to the new situation and left the lodge, you find yourself greeted with perfect sunshine. There's a town welcoming you, friendly and peaceful. Though it is more modern than what you are used to, there is no mistaking it.

Cartesio, Nevada, welcomes you.

You're new people, in a new world. Every chance it has to offer is open for you.

Comments

[marmoron]

[Keith's silent for a moment. Don't ask him how he feels, he doesn't know. He's just going to sit up, do a quick scan of the room to check who is and who isn't there, then immediately get to his feet because the space wolf isn't there and that makes him ill.

He'll be hanging out by the printer until that's taken care of.]

[integratedsoul]

[ Hey Keith? How do you feel about hug attacks? Because that's what you're getting. ]

[marmoron]

[Literally the only reason this is happening is because Keith wasn't even remotely expecting to be hug tackled and didn't have time to dodge this vicious assault!!

He's tensing up immediately, arms awkwardly at his sides.]

..Uh...

[integratedsoul]

[ This is not stopping Cian from hugging him for a good few seconds more with great enthusiasm. She is just so happy to see him, everything that happened before cannot taint this pure joy to be alive and to see Keith alive and to have made it. ]

You did it! You really saved everyone!

[marmoron]

[....God. God fucking damn it, she's so happy and Keith just doesn't have the energy to match it. Half of him just wants to push her away and storm off, the other half just can't bring himself to be the reason for another episode of Cian crying because he couldn't swallow how how he feels.

Ironic. After he'd been the one to yell at her for doing exactly the same in the diner all those weeks ago.

Doubly ironic that he even feels this way after just how badly she hurt him.]

... you doubted me again, huh.

[silvertongueheir]

[Hi Keith. Have another anxious animal dad hanging out by here as well.]

They may be a lower priority than the humanoid members of our group.

[But here he is, waiting anyways.]

[marmoron]

[Franciscus do you have any idea how fucking weird it is to see you again knowing that he had to handle your )probable) ex-flame's dildo.]

.... We have time, I suppose.

[silvertongueheir]

[It's called being friends with benefits, Keith.]

All the time in the world, now. [A pause] I'm glad my Pokemon were brought here. Even if it was just two of them.

[Is he jealous of all you people who have copies of friends from home? Maybe]

[marmoron]

Something familiar.

[There's a nod of agreement at that, but his tone's distant.]

Better than nothing.

[robitussin]

[It probably isn’t a shock that she’s moving to join him, glancing at his expression as she does.]

...Hey.

[marmoron]

[Not surprising in the slightest. His expression doesn't brighten much when he sees her, but there's a small smile.]

You did it.

[robitussin]

We all did it. You had just as much to do with it as I did.

[Another pause, and then...]

You want to tell me what you’re thinking?

[marmoron]

[There's a long pause at that. It's not something he wants to answer -- not really. There's just so much going on, so much that he's had to digest with not a lot of time to really absorb all of it and there's yet another decision he has to make that he feels utterly unequipped to deal with.

So....]

I don't know.

[A breath out.]

I feel...... so lost right now.

[doublelammy]

[Once Millium's done with Natalie, her next objective is Keith. Mostly because Natalie is also wandering in this direction, but Millium's getting here first, because—]

Chaaarge~!

[She's stumbling over herself a little, legs still a little wobbly because hey wow she literally just woke up in this body, but stumbling won't stop her from initiating a glomp attack.]

[marmoron]

Huh --

[....Oh. Oh shit, it's Millium. And there are suddenly more hugs and why is everyone hugging him, he didn't ask for any of this physical contact]

H-hey...

[Give him a second, he might hug back once the surprise has worn off....]

[doublelammy]

[It's cool, she can koala until the Keet resets from his hug-induced bluescreen.]

Kee~t! We all missed you, y'know~?

[marmoron]

[God, Millium, do you have any idea how hard it is for him to deal with more than one feeling at a time....]

...We?

[WHO IS THIS "WE" YOU SPEAK OF.

But okay, thanks for tangentially reminding him of that HORRIBLE STATUE?? He actually recovers a little faster and while he won't pluck Millium off of him, he is going to scowl down at her. There's no real malice there, but...]

That why you guys made that awful statue.

[linearcrash]

[ Muffled Stacey's Mom playing in the distance

Nine is going to peek at the printer. ]

Huh? What are you waiting for?

[marmoron]

[Keith looks away from the printer for a moment, raising an eyebrow. Sure he;s being asked a question, but after weeks of yelling and getting no answers here...]

Stacey's Mom?

[linearcrash]

Huh?

[ Give him a moment to think about it ]

Oh. You mean the juke box, right? We were trying to figure a way to make sure you guys knew it was us, yo.

[ And that convo was still pretty fresh in Nine's head at the time? ]

[theserpentsmiles]

You must be Keet-san. It's nice to meet you.

[If he got closer than he should've without being noticed - sorry. He does that. Nagisa is curious about all the people who never made it to Processing.]

[marmoron]

[Holy shit what have the dead done that people are creeping on him with nicknames too?!]

It's Keith.

[The correction is as automatic as the step back to put more space between them and there's about a second delay after that where he's raising an eyebrow in vague confusion as to who the heck the pigtailed chick is.

For better or for worse, he remembers before there's another kneejerk response.]

...Nagisa?

[relieable]

[he's... Osomatsu doesn't know how he feels about all this, too. he's a copy, right? they all are! and the hostages were only his brothers. what about his parents? what about Totoko, Iyami, Hatabou, Chibita... they wouldn't be in this world. so, yeah, there are a lot of feelings.

he comes over to watch Keith for a moment, then gives him a sad sort of smile]

Hey. We're... here.

[marmoron]

[It's bittersweet and confusing as hell all around, that's for sure. Keith turns away from the printer when he hears Oso, returning a similar kind of smile.]

Nice job, admin.

[relieable]

[oh, that gets a soft chuckle out of him]

I still don't know how that happened. [him being an admin] But, whatever. We're alive. And we got everyone back. [and out. sort of]