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.

text; un: mandervilleofficial

[clutterbitch]

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

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]

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?

[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.

[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.

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.

[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.

[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]

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?

[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.

[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!

[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?

[baldrshand]

I think that should be more than adequate.

Yes... it was a bad time. We had to fight to try and break people out of what was controlling them, and it wasn't easy at all. [She got herself badly injured trying to save a friend, and in the Gnosia incident, people died.] I want to hope that it won't happen again, but that isn't the same as expectation.

It's refreshing to see someone arriving with such a helpful attitude. You've got the right approach, I think.

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.

[baldrshand]

That is a possibility. Many people just don't see their death coming... not in a metaphorical way but a literal one. And I've met people whose minds simply discard the memory of receiving a severe wound.


My people's beliefs of the hereafter sound similar to yours... about the first part, anyway. [She's not sure what "the metro" is but now she's curious.] Oathbreakers and murderers are made to suffer for the crimes they escaped punishment for in life. Most of the dead go to a peaceful land--the greatest of warriors, to a hall of feasting and merriment.

[melnik]

Precisely... I have seen a lot of foolhardy scouts die thinking it would never happen to them. Who's to say what is real anyway when our memories can be manipulated at will?

I see. Yes, that does sound familiar.[ Or at least close enough that he can get the general idea. ] I don't expect this place fit into your idea of the peaceful land you were promised. Not all of my countrymen are religious, but the situation was certainly one to inspire either belief or godlessness.

[mysophobic]

You can't predict what will happen in a place like this...but having the means to help afterward makes all the difference too.

[ Shigeru will always give 100% of his effort and time to whoever needs it no matter what. ]

Well, we're all in this together so being helpful and just doing the right thing is something anyone would do, right?

[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.

[baldrshand]

I've spoken to people who seem to believe that even our bodies aren't real. I find that hard to believe when I'm treating wounds, but given the amount of control the Council has I don't blame them for coming to that conclusion.

The meadow at the start was the wrong first impression, in hindsight. Landing in train silos and cages seems to fit more with the chaos that new people can expect.

I still pray to my family's god... for guidance, if nothing else. Even if I'm on a different world, I can still try to live my life in the way I taught was right.

[baldrshand]

You would think so, wouldn't you? Unfortunately that hasn't always been true. Still, that only makes what we do more important, in my opinion. There has to be someone here that people can always trust when they're in trouble.