cartesianism | Week 6: May 6th

Week 6: May 6th - 10th

Sixth Week

Killers and victims, killers and victims. Three of your own have fallen prey to murderous intent last week. Your numbers keep shrinking. Azura has fallen prey to Franciscus in the same night that Olympia betrayed her friend Millium and killed Cian who wound up in the crossfire. At this rate, is there anyone you can trust?

The townspeople's anger burns hotter than ever. Wherever they go, must they live in fear of stumbling on a corpse? They can't live like this. More than ever, the visitors are being shown that they are unwelcome.

Walking outdoors, cold looks are the norm. Shouted profanity isn't unexpected. Barely anybody is willing to still hold a conversation with any visitors.

Even within the motel, there is no feeling of safety any longer. Not only have two people died in this very place, no, now the townspeople also lost their fear of coming inside. While they don't enter private rooms, the daring among them vent their hatred of you by vandalizing the common rooms.

Cartesio has become a menacing place.

In the lobby of the motel there's a few more brochures, and the maps have been updated once again. Don't mind that some of them have been damaged in one of the attacks on the motel.

Links

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Sunday
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Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

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

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park - late morning
[Yeah, so last night happened and now that his sleep cycle is off, Keith's just looking bleary eyed as he walks through the park with Cosmo. The new cube that has randomly appeared is hard to miss, even when kinda tired though, so he walks right up to it to try and get a better look. And hey, what do you know...?]

Is that...

[How'd this get here? Why is it here? Why are Olympia's body parts molded together like this? Not a clue, but he's going to give Olympia (cube) a kick.]

library - afternoon
[Later in the day, Keith's at the library, browsing through the collection for books on engineering and other assorted subjects. Now that the people in town aren't actively harassing him, he can be found seated at one of the tables, reading about radio broadcasting frequencies. Also on the table is a book about spirit mediums.]

...Oh, that's really morbid, actually.

[he somehow missed that as he was on his way to the pond...]

[Keith's still scowling at the cube when he responds to that.]

Don't know what it's supposed to imply. Don't think it was one of our group who made this and put it here.

[A beat.]

Did she always have this many spare parts lying around?

Personally, I'm imagining Sarge just dumped it out here to get a rise out of us. I have no idea what Oddy did to her in the first place, though...

..Oddy?

...

Oda.

[This is quickly becoming one of her favorite places in the town, but while she came in to look for something to read, she comes his way instead when she sees him. She doesn't want to interrupt his reading, so she'll wait until he looks her way before:]

What're you reading?

[He's surprised to see her there when he looks up and curious about how long she's been there, but he addresses her question first.]

Nothing too helpful for right now.

[Keith uses a scrap piece of paper as a makeshift bookmark and closes the book.]

I was thinking if we ever figure out where they're broadcasting all the music on the radio from, knowing something about which frequencies to broadcast on might come in handy. We could get people from other towns in Nevada to come here if we sent out a proper message.

[She gives his book a glance, then nods.]

Yeah. Even if it's not going to get us out of here right this second, it's a good thing to think about.

[She pulls out a nearby chair, but it's only after she's already seated that she asks:]

Mind if I join you?

[There's a half smile at that sequence of events, something that he looks like he's trying not to laugh about. In the end, he just shakes his head.]

I don't mind.

Okay. Good, it'd be pretty awkward if you said no.

[But with that out of the way...]

I wanted to ask you something, actually.

[Well that gets him to quit smiling and start looking more concerned. The last time she'd gone and said that it hadn't exactly been "fun."]

Did you learn something else?

[She shakes her head, realizing how it must seem to him.]

Nah. It's nothing stressful, I promise. Well - hopefully.

[Well that's a relief. Keith doesn't exactly relax that said.]

"Hopefully." [Just repeating that with some uncertainty??] Are you okay?

I'm as okay as anyone can be in this shithole. [Blunt as ever, but...] Anyways, I was just wondering...

[She hesitates for a moment, before her voice grows a little softer.]

I get if the answer is no after last night, but can we maybe stay together tonight?

[The concern falters into surprise and then... more concern. It shouldn't because he'd been thinking about asking her the same, but had dismissed it. It didn't work to save Cian, who's to say it'll do anything for Natalie? Besides that it's just... a little raw just thinking about it. So it takes a moment for him to reply to that, his voice soft and his words careful.]

You have to promise me something then.

[She nods, waiting for him to continue that thought.]

What is it?

I --

[He looks up, clearly hesitant. It's annoying really, Keith likes being precise and blunt, and he doesn't know why this is harder with Natalie. Or rather, he knows why. He wants her to understand that he's dead serious about this and not just because of the obvious safety reasons.]

I need you to promise that no matter what happens.... that you're not going to wander off somewhere without telling me, okay? Because I just -- [Can't? He swallows dryly, shaking his head.] ... just promise me you're not gonna try and be brave alone, alright?

[She can't claim the hesitation doesn't worry her a bit, but she waits until he speaks, not interrupting. When she does answer, though, it lacks the pause that he gave.]

I won't.

[And now she hesitates, but it's only for a moment.]

But you can't either, okay? Same promise.

That's... [Entirely expected of Natalie to ask in return, isn't it. Whatever relief Keith felt crumbles back into a quiet internal conflict.]

...You know I can't risk putting you unnecessarily if someone tries to bait me out.

[That's such a specific scenario and it wouldn't have occurred to him to even go in this direction with that thought before last week, but now it's on the forefront of his mind. He can fight, Natalie can't. Why involve her? He knows already that she isn't going to accept that though, so he just grits his teeth and forces himself to finish the thought.]

I can't lose you.

[It definitely looks like the answer doesn't sit right with her, but she takes another moment to decide how to answer it. All the same... There's something in her expression when he says he can't lose her, something surprised and concerned.]

You remember what you said about... how you get into bad mindsets? If you think somebody's trying to do that, just wake me up and we can figure out what to do together, okay?

[He glances over his shoulder to look at Kinzie.]

Any idea what the eyesore's doing here?

No idea. It's sure creepy, though.

[Creepy sure is one word for it. Keith just continues scowling at it.]

Did she always have these spare parts lying around, do you know?

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