WEEK 2: April 8th - April 12th

[cartesio]

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!]

Comments

[robitussin]

Is he one of the people you mentioned earlier? One of the ones who was here when you were, before the rest of us.

[She frowns, deciding how much she wants to say here.]

...My parents, and - someone I used to be close to.

[doublelammy]

[Millium shakes her head no.]

No... but then he woulda had to tell me one way or another what he did do with Rean, so I guess that'd make sense. Better t'leave me in the dark if he wants to scare me, I guess.

[Millium pauses thoughtfully when Natalie lists her precious people.]

..."Used to." Are they d— [Ah, no, perhaps she should be gentle, here.] ...gone, now?

[robitussin]

I guess so. [A sigh.] He’s such an as... Asinine person.

[Nailed it. Either way, she shakes her head.]

Nope. He’s still around.

[doublelammy]

Nah, he's an ass. You can just say it. I was messin' with you before. [She puts her hands behind her head, smiling apologetically.] I've definitely heard worse.

[But there's the second part of that.]

So why aren't you close anymore, then? Did something happen?

[robitussin]

Yeah, nope, it still feels weird to swear in front of a kid. I’m good.

[She shrugs a little, uncomfortable, but she answers with something that’s... Well, it’s almost honest, at least.]

Because sometimes stuff just happens and people grow apart, or they realize they were too different in the first place. It’s not a big deal.

[doublelammy]

["Stuff just happens, and people grow apart."

Something about that clearly doesn't sit well with Millium, because for a brief moment, she looks entirely more upset than she should.

She tries to pull herself together, back to her usual brand of childish half-interest.]

...I guess.

But if Sarge was threatening them, they still matter to you. Right?

[robitussin]

[Something in her own expression says that she notices, but if there’s any concern there, it goes unspoken. She just breathes out a sigh.]

...Just because things went south doesn’t mean that I want him to get hurt.

[Try as she might, she can’t keep the emotion out of her voice as she says that.]

Nothing we can do about it, though, right?

[doublelammy]

...Yeah. That makes sense.

[She nods a little.]

We just gotta keep fighting. That's all. Make it through this, and make it back so that they don't have to get hurt. That's all we can do.

[robitussin]

[A beat.]

How likely do you think that is to happen?

[doublelammy]

[And a beat in return.]

Depends on how many of us you mean.

[robitussin]

No, not even that. [...] I mean, I guess that too, but I mean - why would us going back home have any bearing on them being safe?

[doublelammy]

Because if we do what he asks, what reason does he have to hurt them?

[robitussin]

We did what he asked last night. What reason does he have to put us all in an incredibly dangerous situation?

[doublelammy]

Fair enough. But if he goes and hurts them even if we work with him, he loses his leverage. We have no reason to listen if he's just gonna do it anyway.

[robitussin]

...I’m not sure.

[She frowns, trying to decide how to explain her thoughts.]

Like, he loses this specific piece of leverage, sure. But you don’t think he knows enough about all of us that he could find other ways to get us to hurt each other?

[doublelammy]

He might.

[She frowns too, because. Well. She has a solid argument.]

But if he goes and hurts them anyway, then if he brings up something else to hold over our heads, we already know he's just gonna do it anyway. So why wouldn't we all just fight him if the other option's just as pointless?

[robitussin]

[After a pause, she nods. She can concede that much, at least.]

But if he does this kind of experiment or exercise or something again after we're gone, what's to stop him from bringing them into it then? They'd be easy picks. He already knows where they are.

[Something in her tone might suggest that this isn't just cynicism - it's poorly concealed worry. She wants Millium to say something that can prove her wrong.]

[doublelammy]

Well... that's why we can't just work with him.

We just gotta until we can get out of here on our own power. And take 'im down while we're at it.

[She is a spy, after all. If the option to double-cross is there, why wouldn't she take it? Especially in a situation like this?]

[robitussin]

...Yeah. I guess so.

[If she sounds unconvinced, she at least sounds thoughtful along with it.]

[doublelammy]

I know it prolly sounds crazy to you. But like I told you last week, I'm not just gonna give up hope we can pull something off just 'cause it sounds crazy.

I mean, you know now, right? Crazy's normal for me.

[robitussin]

[It's hard to tell which part of that hit a nerve, but immediate and biting way she responds is clear enough.]

Don't say that.

[doublelammy]

[Blink.]

...Huh?

[She's not upset, just startled.]

[robitussin]

If there's anything we do to get out of here, anything we do to keep ourselves safe, that's not...

[She trails off, then shakes her head.]

It's not crazy.

[doublelammy]

["Crazy." That's the word that bothered her. Millium files this away for later.

For now, she just nods.]

Okay. Sorry.

[That's a genuine apology. She doesn't have to get why, she just knows she was told not to do the thing and that it's upsetting in a way that isn't fun. So that's that.]

[robitussin]

...Thanks.

[It's muttered. Now that the apology is out, she seems almost embarrassed to have brought it up at all; she crosses her arms and glances down at the ground.]