002 | text

[relinquishing]

[It takes him all day to muster himself out of his bed to make this post in the dormitory levels. Had he not been slammed with a message about his new "job", he would have kindly stayed in his room for a day or two just to... he wasn't even sure what the right word was. He didn't need to relax. He needed to detox. His journey home had been short, but he hoped and prayed it was just a dream. Only a dream, please just let it be that. But he'd seen the barren landscape, inhaled the putrid, acidic smell of miasma leaking out of every crack and crevice, seas of purple mud and poison all that remained of his world.

Of course he wanted it to be a dream.

...]

Two questions. Feel free to answer or not.

First: How many of you have been back home? As in: how many have returned to what used to be their home, only to come back? What did you see, and did it... feel real?

[...]

Second: What are we left with if the worlds we all know are really gone? Is it just us, this Tower, countless years and a few grim expectations?

I really am starting to wonder.

Comments

[keybearer]

I refuse to accept it. There has to be some kind of trick to it. Even if it did feel real... who's to say it's not all fabricated by the admins?

[Maybe it's foolish of him to think this way, but it's one of the few things that keeps him together in the tower.]

Given everything else they put us through, is it really a stretch?

[relinquishing]

[Don't worry, other!Riku, Guy completely understands this feeling you have.]

Maybe, Maybe not. They do seem to like pulling plenty of other tricks on us, though. Why should this be any different?

[keybearer]

Exactly. And if they hold enough power to add new floors on a regular basis, what's stopping them from simulating worlds? It could all just be an illusion in our heads for all we know.

Maybe it's hopelessly optimistic, but I'd rather not give up just yet.

[relinquishing]

I doubt giving up is ever a good answer.

But there's a lot more questions than there are answers for this place. Makes you wonder whether it's better to be optimistic or just cautious.

[keybearer]

Maybe a mix of both. Get too cautious, and you never stop worrying. I know that from experience.

But I guess if you're too optimistic, it's easy to get blindsided. Especially in a place this twisted. When things do come crashing down, it makes it a million times worse.

[relinquishing]

Too bad there's no set line to follow, right? It'd sure make things a lot easier. Less paranoid people, less people with their hopes being crushed.

But that's not how things work.

[keybearer]

Seriously. If life were that simple, we'd have a lot less problems on our hands.

But you're right; it's not how things work, especially in a place like this. We all have to sort it out on our own. What works for some won't work for others. It's a pain, but that's life.

[relinquishing]

What about for you?

You said you'd refuse to accept it. That you felt you might be too optimistic.

Do you think that will lead you to solutions without getting too blindsided in the process?

[keybearer]

It's a tough path to walk. I definitely don't want to get blindsided, and I don't want to sit around helplessly either.

It's just tough to find those solutions in a place like this. Not giving up just yet, but I know better than to, say, send a request for someone to punch Jason in the face.

[relinquishing]

...

You... say that like it's been attempted before...

[The punching Jason in the face part, that is. Did people really bother asking for that?]

[keybearer]

It has. People swarmed the request box asking for it.

[relinquishing]

...

Why the hell would they go and do something like that?

[Okay, he can think of a couple reasons. But didn't people have brains somewhere in their heads...??]

[keybearer]

Because they're way too impulsive for their own good and thought it'd be hilarious.

I admit, it sounded fine on paper, but the admins have proven time and time again that they can do anything to us.

[relinquishing]

They've also proven that they can read. Possibly also read one another's mail.

You think people would remember something like that, plus the fact that yeah, if you're going to do something stupid, you're going to get a slap across the wrist for it.

[A slap on the wrist equaling who-knows-what, depending on the Admin. He couldn't imagine what Jason or Ruana would pull.]

[keybearer]

Not just a slap across the wrist. The ones heading the whole thing got scalpels jabbed into theirs.

[relinquishing]

[...Damn.]

Geez... You see, you think people would learn after a stunt like that!

[keybearer]

Some probably did, but that doesn't account for newbies who might've missed it.

Either way, I can't think of any incidents like that since then. Probably for the best, given the change of management.

[relinquishing]

I guess we'll have to wait and see. People tend to do some pretty stupid things when they're angry, regardless of what's happened in the past...