08. text

[baldrshand]

[The following photo appears on the network:]



Hello, everyone! Welcome to anyone who's new here. My name is Ethlyn. I run the Willow Clinic here in town--if you're sick or injured, or if you want a check-up, or if you just want to drop by and ask some questions about what it's like to be here, do drop in!

And if you're wondering what to do with yourself, we're always happy to take on new people. Even if you only have the most basic knowledge of first aid, you can always learn. I certainly have!

It's strange to think that I'm beginning my second year here. So much has happened, so many people have come and gone in that time. I've been thinking a lot about it lately.

So I have a question for anyone who'd like to answer: How long have you been here? And... how do you feel about that?

Comments

un: shigeru (text)

[mysophobic]

[ Oh! Just the network post he needed. Shigeru is definitely going to apply because hello?? ]

I'd love to join your clinic and help out if you'd have me! I used to be a doctor back home and I have been looking for somewhere to work.

I've only been here for a month so I hope that isn't a problem.

[baldrshand]

That's wonderful to hear! Don't worry--you'll definitely have plenty of work to do as a doctor.

Being new here is no obstacle. I can fill you in on some of the things that have happened here, so that you know what to expect. Have you had much experience with danger back in your homeland?

[mysophobic]

Yeah I think we do have our work cut out for us. But that makes joining forces all the more important.

Danger? I used to fight monsters back home. I was the medic of my group but I'm pretty decent with a sword and shield too. I'd appreciate whatever you can tell me, though.

[baldrshand]

Oh, so you're coming in with all the requisite experience! That's excellent. We've had our share of monster attacks as well... not to mention people getting brainwashed. (I prefer the monsters.)

Perhaps we could spar sometime--and teach some of the other members of the Arztenritter how to defend themselves if they come under attack while they're treating a patient, or riding out to someone.

[mysophobic]

Yes, that's right! I've been a doctor for at least 10 years so I have enough experience to hopefully help out where I can! [ That's a whole lot to take in though. ]

People were brainwashed... [ As someone who was brainwashed Shigeru is glad he's texting because the shudder he gives is visible. ]

I wouldn't mind sparring but I also would like to help teach these Arztenritters?? If you'd be open to that sort of thing. Whatever you'd like me to do, honestly, I'm here to help!

text; un: mandervilleofficial

[clutterbitch]

chocobos and healing, you say??
do you often get the chance to administer medicines and things from birdback here??

[baldrshand]

Oh yes. (I prefer horseback myself, because it's what I grew up with, but when people are injured they aren't fussy.) We've had a number of dangerous events in town--monsters, invaders... unfortunately sometimes even we ourselves are corrupted by some dark force.

text | un:ryojikun

[luneminary]

Hello Ethlyn-san! It's nice to see you doing well!

Your first aid knowledge has helped me a lot recently I owe you one! (´ ∀ ` *)

Now what you mentioned it, I didn't realize how long I have been in here - almost an entire year by now, I think? Time sure flies! This is the longest I've been in a single place.

I still don't know how to feel about that. I've made a lot of friends here, and made both good and bad memories. But that's just how living is, isn't it? Sometimes I forget that this is supposed to be a prison and all.

[baldrshand]

Has it? I'm glad to hear it--what happened, if I may ask?

That must be quite surprising to think about if you've had a wanderer's life before. But I tend to forget that we're supposed to be here as prisoners, too... and also that this place is somehow not real? It's all very confusing.

But I think the friends we have made here are real, at least.

[luneminary]

It's those dastardly missile toads! (＃`Д´)

They made us fight and they wouldn't stop unless I dealt real damage, so I wanted to make sure I mended my companion's wounds properly.

It really is strange, isn't it. It's supposed to be a prison, but they don't make any effort to make it feel like a prison. There's the sentencings, of course, but they don't happen that often.

I also like to think that the bonds we've made are real, as well. Whether this place is a simulation or not: that is one aspect they can't take away from us.

[baldrshand]

Oh, them. That's absolutely abominable. A peck on the cheek or a secret is one thing, but actual physical injury? If anyone asks me why we need the Arztenritter, I'm going to tell them about that.

[nobody has actually asked because many other things make it evident]

That's how I feel about it. We could be a lot worse off... chained up in some oubliette, or breaking rocks to make a road. For the most part, we're at least left to our own devices, even if things aren't ideal.

I wouldn't give up those bonds. The friends I've made here mean so much to me.

[luneminary]

I'm very glad you established the Arztenritter at least, Ethlyn-san! Even outside of this incident, you guys have been a great help!

Doesn't it make it confusing, though? We're trapped, but they make sure our needs our met outside of...some things. Terrible things happen, but good things happen too. It makes me wonder that the reasoning is behind all this.

I don't want to give them up either! I've made so many friends here as well, and I wouldn't trade them for the world. Despite everything...I think I'm glad I ended up here.

text; un: spartan

[melnik]

It has been nearly a year. My feelings have not changed.

[ And she's been here twice as long as him, so does she really need to ask? ]

It's good to see you're still in decent spirits, Ethlyn. One might almost come to depend on your presence here.

[baldrshand]

A year? I think that may count you as an Elder of Aldrip. We ought to form a club so we can moan about how Chosen these days don't know how hard it was back in our day.

I try to be reliable... but I do often think about what would happen if I were to vanish like so many others have, and what would happen because of it.

[melnik]

Seriously? If I'm an elder, then what does that make you? Though the premise isn't all wrong. Now that Jerry isn't showing his face in person anymore, the Council really have taken on a hands off approach. The newbies don't know how good they've got it.

[ Ah, but it's hard to keep the joking attitude up when he thinks about that last part. ]

It's pointless. Like thinking about what happens after we die. Maybe we just stop thinking completely, or maybe we end up here. Impossible to know until it happens.

[baldrshand]

The wise old crone of the woods, of course :)

[see, she's learning how to use smiley faces.]

It's funny you say that. When I first arrived here, I woke up in a meadow, entirely unwounded... so I naturally assumed that this was indeed the hereafter. I was quite surprised when other people I talked to said that they had been quite alive and healthy the last they remember.

What do your people say about what happens after you die?

[melnik]

Oh, well in that case!

[ Haha. Consider him accepting of the elder title. ]

I know we touched on it briefly before, but to be perfectly honest, there is a part of me that does wonder if those of us who remember being alive and healthy simply do not remember what happened afterwards.

[ Does he personally remember dying? No... but the circumstances dictate that it would be a reasonable belief. ]

It depends on who you ask. The Orthodox believe our souls undergo trials after we die to determine which afterlife we will be sent to. When the surface of the world was lost to nuclear warfare, many people came to consider this to be such a trial. Others still will spout nonsense about our souls being forever bound to the metro after we die.

How about yourself?

text; un: ushiromiya

[entreats]

I'm pretty sure that everyone already knows how I feel about it.

[ Granted, there's also a part of Ange that doesn't want to be too openly vulnerable in public, but-- it's also just true that she has complained about this place so often. So loudly. So publicly. She'd just repeat herself, getting into the surface level of it. ]

So I'm way more interested in you sharing your thoughts.

[baldrshand]

[You can't see it, Ange, but Ethlyn is giggling at that first sentence.]

Very true.

How I feel... is very complicated. [There's a pause.] I don't think "the Council," if they're even real, has a right to take people away from their homes and judge them for what they have or haven't done. Especially when they're seizing people as young as Toph. At the same time... I'm alive here. And I found out what happened after I died--that my children survived and grew up.

I can't help but be grateful for those things, even if I don't like the methods.

[entreats]

But there has to be some better alternative, right? [ It's not like she's going to blame Ethlyn for wanting to live. It may not be something that Ange feels very strongly on a personal level about herself, but-- she knows that she's the outlier here, rather than Ethlyn. ]

Either we should have a way to give us control of this place so you can live here safely and happily without all this annoying and dangerous stuff happening all the time, or you should be able to live out your life in another world now you're alive again. Being stuck here still sucks for you, even if you're alive.

[baldrshand]

I won't deny, it would be nice if things were a little less eventful around here. I like being busy, but not to the point of constant emergencies.

It's strange to think of having control over the actual world itself, but I suppose we could, couldn't we? Since it's not a "real" place and instead constructed all around us... so if we were giving the stage directions we could make it behave in a way we like a little better.

[feintofhart]

Goodness, is it recruitment time all over again? As always, my friend, just ask me if you ever need an additional set of helping hands. I'm happy to abuse my therapy to send one of my sweet little fawns over from time to time.

And I suppose I should wish you a happy anniversary as well. I can't say I had ever imagined that I'd have spent so long here. The Claude of the past would be scolding me with the most colourful language he could think of, no doubt.

[baldrshand]

The secret is that it's always a good time to join the Arztenritter. ;) and I will take you up on that whenever I need it.

Oh, I think the Claude of the past would be impressed! The business you've built with the Apothecary is a wonderful place. Even if it isn't leading an army or running a kingdom, you've used your considerable knowledge to do a lot. Not to mention you've kept your wyvern happy and healthy, and that's no mean feat given how chaotic this place can be.

[feintofhart]

Look at that! ;) ;) ;) ;) You're a regular modern woman!

The current Claude would like to reiterate that flattery will get you everywhere, and he will never tire of hearing it, thank you very much. The past Claude would be very unhappy with me for not only failing to find my way home, but to resigning myself so greatly that I now spend my time running a rather lucrative business.

Don't bother trying to talk sense into him. Even I can't do that.

[baldrshand]

He had rather lofty expectations of himself, didn't he? There are dozens of us here, some from places where traveling through the cosmos itself is downright routine, and they haven't figured out a way back from this world by themselves either.

It really is hard to talk sense into people with an overdeveloped sense of responsibility. [cough. yes, she knows.] A lucrative business that also does a lot for the local medical establishment, too--a regular pillar of the community.