cartesianism | Epilogue

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[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.

[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]

I've got an idea.

[Still thinking Sarge was responsible for locking people out of admin status here. Maybe he will find out the truth one day. Not that it matters at this point, but it's the principle of it. Despite it all, the smile does get a little warmer..]

We accomplished a lot of what we set out to do, yeah. Still got a lot to take care of though.

[an idea, huh?]

Yeah... [still a lot of unanswered questions, too. normally, Osomatsu wouldn't sweat it, but he's become more inquisitive in these past couple months, probably because they were made to second-guess everything] What do you think you're gonna do, now?

...Don't know yet.

[And frankly, that's unnerving as hell for him. He hasn't not known what he's supposed to be doing or where he should be in several years. Right now, he's feeling displaced, like he doesn't really belong anywhere at all. That's not a new feeling for him, but it is a bitter one from back before he ever met Shiro.]

Thought I'd be going back to fight that war, but... [Turns out everything he thought about being the most expendable one of the paladins was true in the most gut wrenching way possible.] .... I'm not even supposed to exist.

[There's a bitter laugh.]

Guess none of us are. But here we are, huh.

[displaced is... a good word for it]

Maybe we weren't supposed to exist in this world, sure. At first. But now we can. We're almost real, right? So we can go out and do real things, and help this world in our own ways.

[There's a pause, and then:]

You're starting to sound like a heroic type, you know.

[Making the best of their situation and trying to do what's right is the only way forward -- Keith knows that. These just aren't the circumstances he thought his existence would be predicated on. There's a pause and then:]

You're getting less real to me by the second, Osomatsu.

[It's a joke. Really.]

[KEET MAKING JOKES? is the world ending? Osomatsu would love to be a hero, though, even if he's like the last person who should be one]

I'm serious. [a laugh] We've got cool powers now. Maybe you can't go to space, but you can do other things with what you have.

[and now, Osomatsu fits in with all of the "visitors" in a few ways, which makes him happy]

[He might've used up his joke reservoir for the entire year. It's fine.]

Gotta wonder about that. Now that we're out of the simulation, I should be able to call the Black Lion here.

[Brow furrowed, he pauses.]

I don't know if I should even try. The version of me that's still in space needs Black to fight that war. But I'm not sure if he or any of the other paladins are even alive. The last thing I rmemeber from home was just... slowly starving to death in deep space.

[....There may or may not have been quite a few things that Keith was keeping bottled inside for a long time.[

[his smile fades instantly. uh... what?]

You were... dying?

[Funny how some things get easier to talk about when you find out you're a clone and you're completely divorced from that being your reality, huh?]

...Yeah. The other paladins and I were hoping that something would come along to help us, but things weren't looking good. [There's a bittersweet smile.] It's why I did whatever I could to try and get out of here. Thought I had to save them.

[ah... that sheds a whole new light on a lot of things]

I'm sure they're all right, now. After all, they've got you. [the real you]

[Keith is looking hecka skeptical about this.]

I wasn't much help in that situation.

[To put in mildly. But there's nothing he can do about it by dwellig at this point. Just gotta keep moving forward, one step at a time.]

Would you go back home if you could?

If I could?

[Osomatsu pauses and crosses his arms, thinking. he makes a few HMMMM sounds, because he wants to show how hard he's considering. but then he stops]

...Depends. If I was the real Osomatsu, then, yeah, I'd go home in a heartbeat! As it is now, I'm not sure I'd be welcome. No one wants two Osomatsus! There's enough of us already.

You really think everyone who cares about you would think of you as a nuisance. That they'd turn their backs on you just like that.

[That's a harsh reality to try adn swallow. It's not one that Keith's handling well right now.]

[is Keith really considering trying to find his own world? so that he can go back? they're copies! they're not even supposed to be here]

I just think it'd complicate things. Maybe they wouldn't turn their backs on me, but I don't know for sure.

[he has a feeling that if he showed up the others would call him an evil doppelganger, or something!]

I'd like to think the people we care about wouldn't do that, but... you're right. It's complicated.

[Not a flavor of complicated that team Voltron are unused to, considering the unending clusterfuck that is Shiro's life, but he can't even really begin to imagine what the other version of himself might even think about his own existence.

It's weird to think that maybe.. maybe he's a little jealous of this other Keith who know what his place is, who he is to his friends, but with a bitter clenching of teeth he forces the thought aside.]

What are you going to do about your brother?

[Dude's on the printing queue and all.]

[which brother? Osomatsu has five of them, and Sarge kidnapped them all... or, rather, made copies of them. insane, but Osomatsu's glad none of them are missing]

Well, I'll have to explain what happened. Then we're probably going to... [he trails off. what are they going to do?] ...Maybe we'll start lookin' for a place to stay.

You think your brothers are gonna take it well?

[A beat.]

What're you gonna tell them anyway? The whole story?

[He imagines some details like Franciscus's execution might be uh... fuckign awkward to put it mildly.]

......Mostly. When they find out they're copies, I'm sure they won't take it well, might take it as badly as I am.

Epilogue

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