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

[pursuitofdeath]

(waking up)

[It feels strange. No grogginess. No pain. He can just get up and move-- yet he lies there for a long while and just stares at the ceiling. There's no just... going back. Which means...

...what?

In what direction is he supposed to move? What is his purpose now? For what's probably about an hour he lies there blankly studying the ceiling as he contemplated the impossible. The possibilities were limitless and yet he doesn't have a single idea what to do with himself. Desires, function, purpose-- he's always gone where he's been pointed. Now it's up to him to decide for himself.

But not once does he consider death.]

(outside)

[Eventually he emerges. Late. Very late. But he stretches and smiles. And to whomever he passes, he waves casually.]

waking up

[robitussin]

...You're going to have to move from the floor eventually, you know.

[When she comes across him, her voice is teasing, almost fond. She offers him a hand.]

outside

[odasaku]

[ oda doesn’t know what to say when he sees dazai. it’s a strange feeling, knowing that they can finally live a life without any ties to any organization. a life where they could live like free men.

perhaps they weren’t the original sakunosuke oda or osamu dazai. but perhaps that was a good thing— their story had been too sad. here, they can start over again.

with the smallest smile tugging his lips, oda greets dazai with a casual wave, as if things had always been like this. ]

Hey.