cartesianism | WEEK 2: April 8th

WEEK 2: April 8th - April 12th

Second Week

Seven days have passed. Quite peaceful days, almost too peaceful. The town has welcomed you, excited to see tourists for the first time in many, many, many years. Some may have liked the peace, others may have been annoyed by it, but it was undeniable Cartesio seemed like such a nice and safe place it was hard to believe you had been told to kill each other.

But the threat is still up in the air. What's more: how much patience does the Sergeant have left?

Every time you take a look into the Lodge, you see the Sergeant. Lately he's looking more and more annoyed. Even though you can't see his face, you can feel he's getting frustrated. How long will it be before he lashes out and does something about these peaceful days?

Nobody in the town could suspect the harrowing times that'd befall Cartesio.

When you wake up on Sunday, you'll find new maps in the map rack and brochures on the table, showing places you hadn't noticed in the town before. Enjoy!

Links

IC Rules
Guestbook
Room Assignments
Events
Locations
NPCs
Activity Check

Sunday
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

[Welcome to the second week! If you want to contact the Sergeant, please post here!. Also please remember to submit your activity check!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Why does this have to be so goddamn awkward. Keith has half a mind to just leave again, just throw out a "NEVER MIND" and abort mission, but he just as much refuses to continue having to feel like he has to walk on eggshells around Cian.]

About what I said to you. [Through clenched teeth:] At the diner.

[And now he's just going to pause for an intermission there while he figures out how to put the syllables "so" and "ry" together.]

The loudness caught me off-guard. People don't do that in my world either.

[ She helpfully offers as some kind of explanation for her own severe reaction. ]

[now there's another segue he could take instead of apologizing, but for once he doesn't take it.]

I shouldn't have yelled. [....] Or said those things.

You shouldn't have, no...

[ Cian shakes her head slowly. Saying those things goes against every rule of society and even in a world that isn't post-Maelstrom, Cian is pretty sure it would have been rude of Keith to do. And yet... ]

But you still had a point.

[ She wishes she could say that the experience of being called out like this was precious to her, she wishes she could say that and mean it... In truth she still just feels mildly sick thinking of their confrontation. ]

[Yeah he thought so too, which is why he's deliberate with his words. Shouldn't have said. Shouldn't have yelled it. But the point -- no, he doesn't take that back. It's still stupid for Cian to insist that everyone here has some connection to her deeply inconsequential friend.

But that's not the point.]

I must've rattled you pretty badly if you're saying that, huh.

It was... a new perspective. I don't think I can properly explain it without boring you with the details of my world.

[ She laughs sheepishly, apologetic for how complicated these matters are somehow. ]

Maybe I can say it like this... You made me think about how different it is to care like you do, compared to caring like I do.

[It's on the tip of his tongue to say that it's presumptuous to tell him she knows how he allegedly "cares" after speaking to him maybe twice, but he's trying to play nice, which turns out to be a lot of "hold your tongue and don't say the thing" so that's what he does.]

I have time.

[ Alright then... this feels like entering very very dangerous territory, but Cian takes a deep breath and continues. ]

I was surprised, genuinely, that my crying affected you, you know? I couldn't help thinking 'but I'm a stranger to you, my emotions don't need to have any impact on you at all'.

This world isn't forcing you to care, you see? In my world, caring is all that we're supposed to do. We care because we don't know what else to do, we're made to care. So seeing you react when you're not like that...

Ah. [ Something crosses her mind and she quickly waves her hand around to dismiss something. ] I don't mean to say you care about me as a person at all. I just mean... being affected by tears at all, by anyone, just because of who you are...

I'm not sure I'd be like that if I hadn't been raised into it. I might well not be. And that just... made me think again. About my world. And about the difference between a good person and a person with no alternatives but to be Good.

[Keith is staring at Cian throughout all this, looking more than a little surprised. Christ woman, pull yourself together, youre making him sound like Mother Teresa....

All this because he told her to quit smiling while she was crying because it was obvious she was upset and she wasn't convincing anybody that she was upset?

Yeah. Yeah this is real embarrassing and a real fuss over literally nothing.]

[How the fuck is he supposed to respond to this.]

I take it back. Don't use your head if you're going to use it for things like this.

[.... shit.]

Look, Cian. You're making this complicated, alright? Stop it. I just - [Ugh god.] There's no reason to kick someone when they're down. I was wrong to do that to you. That's it.

[ Look, Keith, you asked?? Cian's not sure she can stop using her head for these considerations even if she tried now, but the poor boy doesn't need to hear any more about that. ]

It's alright. Thank you for clarifying this, Keith.

[God why is she thanking him for being brusque again.... There's a bit of an incredulous stare and finally a sigh.]

Everyone is taught to care. That's true in my world as well. You're-- [Being self absorbed and making yourself sound like some special person again?? God. How does he dampen this.] --you're weird.

[Thanks, Keith.]

[ Cian sincerely doubts that Keith understands the degree to which this is true for her world, but before she can contest it, he calls her weird and she breaks into soft laughter. ]

Oh... Dabi-san said the same thing on the day we came here. It's funny and new to be considered strange, but I really don't mind it.

[It's an interesting place to be when it's Keith calling someone else weird for once. He has no room to talk on the issue, but even he knows being called weird isn't actually a compliment nor did he realy mean it as such. Cian's starting to remind him of one of those simple middle schoolers he never cared about that seem delighted about fitting in with a new clique.

Trying not to sigh, Keith rubs his forehead.]

Forget about all this stuff you're thinking about right now and focus on how you[re going to survive. You have friends and family to want to see you again, don't you?

[ Uh. Yeah, this is... a pretty tough question actually. Cian doesn't lack for either - friends, family, a caring medical community. That makes it shocking how far away all of that seems already. Her parents are the closest, but the faces of friends, colleagues and neighbors...? They already seem less familiar. And that just guides Cian right back down the rabbit hole of caring and not caring, so she settles on... ]

I was eating with a childhood friend when I was taken. She's a little like you, actually. We never finished catching up due to... this...

You're right, I should be focused on getting back to Tuan.

[ Tuan would also know what to do about Miach. Maybe. ]

[The woman is in dire need of better friends if she thinks her one friend is orchestrating this whole stupid thing and the other friend is "similar" to him. It's hard not to feel a little sorry for her, even if this really isn't his problem and he, too, should be taking his own advice and focusing his energies on getting out of here and surviving instead of having irrelevant fits of compassion for strangers.]\

Exactly. Don't get too trusting of anyone here either. We all want the same thing -- to get back to what we were doing before. It's just a matter of time before someone tries something.

I know.

[ She's thought pretty excessively about it and even in her naive mind, it is hard to believe that everyone would truly get through this peacefully. ]

I know I'm an easy target too, unfortunately.

You are.

[Blunt. There's really no getting around the fact that Cian is hilariously unfit for survival.]

So stay sharp. Don't get distracted by these questions about what it means to be a good person. If you have to go out at night, don't.

[ She nods to that. Easy rules, easy to follow.... probably. ]

On the risk of hearing 'use your head' again, do you have any tips for staying sharp?

[There's a fraction of a pause, but there aren't any sarcastic quips forthcoming this time.]

Be aware of what's going on around you. Every action you take ... even the actions you don't take come with a price. Ask yourself if you're willing to pay those prices.

[In other words, shit Keith himself isn't actually all that great at either, but has learned to be more mindful of over the years when the prices in the war started getting too high to worth risking anything over. When he started taking leadership more seriously. He glances up at Cian.]

If you have to go outside at night, just knock on my door.

... so you're telling me to not trust anyone, but also to trust you?

[ And now Cian is the one teasing. She seems kind of happy about his offer though - trust or no trust, it's... nice. ]

[Keith shakes his head.]

I'm not telling you to do anything. I'm giving you an option. It's up to you to decide if that's a good move or not.

[But there's a small smile after a moment.]

But if it's easier for you to shut up and trust me, that's fine too.

I'll think about it.

[ She's actually laughing a little now. This conversation has made it a lot easier to feel relaxed around Keith - funny how easy things can be sometimes. ]

For an appropriate amount of time, hopefully.

[He looks away again, turning his attention back to the interior of the fire station as she laughs.]

You'll figure it out.

[ Will she? Probably not, but whatever. It's neither here nor there.

She'll just follow Keith's look instead of disputing this. ]

Pretty interesting, right? I'm learning a lot from this event.

WEEK 2: April 8th - April 12th

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

1/2

2/2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)