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.

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[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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[She doesn’t resist, even as she frowns. Whenever they’re far off away that he’s stopped running, though, she stops as well.]

...Well, that went well.

[Keith doesn't stop running until there's a few blocks between them and the Lodge. He's in good shape and isn't out of breath when they do stop, but he exhales sharply as he leans back against a building,]

We need to get rid of these disguises so they can't be traced back to us.

[A beat.]

We should talk about this while it's still fresh in our minds. The dead said there was darkness inside the Lodge, but that's not what we saw.

What do you wanna do? Burn them, throw them in the lake?

[Given that, she agrees with the idea. With a sigh, she runs a hand over her face.]

Just us, or everyone? You want another meeting?

Shred 'em then toss them in the lake.

[A fire would be a bit conspicuous now, he thinks.]

As soon as we're done with that, we could try calling a meeting, yeah. In one of the empty motel rooms maybe. Shouldn't be weird if we're all gathered in the motel.

Okay. I still have the knife you told me to bring.

[She nods.]

Empty motel room sounds good. You wanna plan for like an hour or two?

Something like that.

[He's better with the military crap than he is with organizing briefings/debriefings. He's still trying to think what else they're gonna have to dispose of, but for now he's not coming up with anything else. And that's when it finally occurs to him to look over at Natalie to ask a really basic question.]

You okay?

Sure. I can let everyone know.

[There's a pause at the question. She's alive, they're both physically unharmed, and she can't pretend that wasn't more than she expected. Still... She can't claim she isn't frustrated at the lack of progress they made. It doesn't change her answer much, though.]

...Yeah, I guess I am. [...] How about you?

You guess.

[Keith raises an eyebrow, giving her a quick up-down look to make sure she's not physically injured, but even he can tell that's not what it is. Whether she wants a real answer to the question or not is anyone's guess, but a real answer's what she's getting.]

I guess I'm wondering if leaving really was the right call.

...I wasn't going to let you get your neck broken by a flying chair.

[She's fairly certain that it was, but it doesn't make it any less frustrating to deal with.]

I just wish... I don't know. We brought all that shit, I thought we'd be prepared for basically anything.

[That actually gets him to laugh -- not necessarily happily, but it's not hollow either.]

You don't think I have the reflexes to dodge a chair, huh.

[Death by chair. What an embarrassing way to go. The small smile fades after a moment.]

It's impossible to be prepared for everything. If it were just me, I'd have kept going despite that.

No, that's not what I meant, I just...

[She pauses, then, and sighs. She's taking this the wrong way, more likely than not, but:]

Yeah, maybe. Sorry I slowed you down, or whatever.

Huh? No, I --

[Not what he meant at all, but now that he has to clarify, he doesn't really want to.]

I get into bad mindsets sometimes. [A lot. All the time.] I was thinking maybe it'd be worth it to go further. Even if I died, I could still find a way to pass the information to you guys... like the dead are doing now.

[He shakes his head.]

I'm glad you were there.

[She falls silent at that for a long moment. The kind of honesty she's used to employing is blunt and forceful, lacking in the kind of emotion that makes her feel too vulnerable.

That's harder to do with him, given what she knows; how it's difficult for him to talk like this too, but he keeps giving her the courtesy of doing so time and time again. After some time passes, with a small sigh:]

When I told you that you aren't expendable, I meant it. Okay? So - I'm glad I was there, too.

[It's still relatively new to Keith, in all honesty. This whole "not being expendable" thing. It goes solidly against the life he had growing up orphaned, goes against the code of the Blades while he was primarily affiliated with them. There've been more people in his life of late saying otherwise back home. Not something he was really expecting to hear repeatedly in Cartesio. He's quiet for another moment.]

Sorry. Takes a while for things like that to get through to me.

...No, it's okay. I get it. I mean, it's not okay if you keep thinking that, but - you know what I mean.

[There's a stressed laugh of her own as she runs a hand through her hair, letting it down from the bun it was pulled into.]

Sorry. I'm not, um, used to - breaking into places like that. I'm a little tense.

[....Right. Somewhere amidst the bitter anger the trial had left him in and diving headfirst into another attempt at doing something, the fact that this really has been Natalie's first venture into this kind of activity just completely went over Keith's head. He blinks, then looks away.]

The very first infiltration mission I was on was on a Balmera. The Galra had completely overtaken the planet, and we had to go deep underground where the Balmerans were harvesting crystals in labor camps. This felt more dangerous than that. It'd be weird if you weren't tense.

So ... [It's a little awkward, but he gives her a pat on the shoulder.] ... congrats.

[She doesn't dodge the hand on her shoulder, but everything he says leaves her with a look that's at first concerned, and then surprised. There's not much to do with the concern; it's the same that she feels for everyone here who came from worlds that were riskier than her own.

The surprise, though...]

Wait - congrats for what?

[And that's the hand going back to his side a little quickly there.]

...for making it out?

[Which is true in part, but that's probably the most superficial way he could've phrased it.]

...You know, you’re not the first person here to congratulate me for not dying, but I can’t say I’m used to it yet.

[She doesn’t sound bothered, though.]

Either way... Thanks. You too.

[That gets him to laugh. This time it's more genuine.]

Never heard that one before. It's just assumed we're all going to make it back home.

[...Which, for a second, gets his expression to falter. He continues.]

But I meant congrats on making it out and keeping it together so well, despite everything. You're -- [Ugh god, no. They're heading straight into awkward territory again.] -- never mind.

[TIME TO START WALKING AGAIN. They have disguises to ditch.]

[She starts walking as well, considering going along with that change of subject, but in the end... Her curiosity wins out.]

I'm what?

[There's no reply to that, at least not right away. There's not really a good reason not to answer, and even he can see that stalling is just making it a bigger deal than it actually is. That said, they still manage to walk all the way to the end of the block before finally, lookjing straight ahead rather than at Natalie....]

Admirable. That's all.

[By the time he speaks, she's about ready to either ask or tell him to forget it, but... Maybe it's less awkward for both of them that he's turned away, because he can't see the way she blinks and then gives a small, genuine smile.]

...Thanks. You, um, you did good too. Which I guess makes sense because you're more used to it, but - you know.

[He glances at Natalie at that, then quickly looks away again fully determined to pretend he did not see anything. That covered, it still leaves him with the question of how on earth he's supposed to respond to her. It's easy enough to know what to say to combativeness, but this?]

I...uh,...[How the fuck was it easier to know how to talk to Natalie when they were both in mortal peril?? He clears his throat.] Exactly. I didn't do anything that was out of the ordinary. You though? You were really brave.

Yeah, sure. Bravely dragging you out at the first sign of danger.

[The joking tone in her voice makes it clear it's not quite as self deprecating as the words imply. She's still fairly certain it was a good call.]

You're going to make my ego swell up like a balloon if you don't stop.

Week 6: May 6th - 10th

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