GRAVEYARD

[cartesio]

The other side...?

Have you started feeling at home in Cartesio yet? The town has offered you every hospitality that its citizens could think of. They love every corner of this town and they want you to feel the same. Have you accepted Cartesio into your heart yet?

Then it should be comforting to wake in your hotel room. A ceiling you have gotten used to, the warmth of a blanket surrounding you, your own breathing... and silence. All-encompassing silence.
It perseveres when you leave your room, it perseveres when you leave the hotel... Cartesio is quiet because there is nobody in Cartesio who could be making noise. It's a ghost town.

There is only you now, you think. And then, just as you've given up, a noise comes to your ears. A voice, unmistakably. It's time to follow it.

As of Week 5 you may see random objects and buildings of any size flicker. For milli-seconds they seem to glow on and off, blur around the edges, even distort a little. It only happens for a moment at a time, but it happens fairly often.

Welcome to the Cartesio Graveyard. Your character has woken up in a version of the town that is devoid of citizens, but there do seem to be a few people around. Time to explore the mysteries of the other side. For a more thorough OOC guide, we have compiled an FAQ.

Links

Graveyard FAQ
Living Community

Comments

[theserpentsmiles]

....Hello?

[Come on... He makes sure he's not doing the thing where he completely escapes notice again. Maybe he just wasn't heard.

He keeps a close eye to Natsume's tells, too. We might have a problem.]

[cartesio]

[ There's nothing. Though Natsume is clearly alive and well, alert to every movement of the cat, he doesn't show any sign of perceiving Nagisa at all. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[He doesn't seem to be drugged or anything...

What if we try touching him? Just a gentle tap on the shoulder.]

[cartesio]

[ Nagisa can tap Natsume without issue - he is tangible and feels alive. He just doesn't notice he's being touched. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[Okay, so neither of us are stereotypical ghosts. And it leaves him without a next guess.]

That's strange... [Some kind of trick of brainwashing? He doesn't know. There is little he wouldn't expect from the Segeant at this point.

Anything else we can notice about Natsume?]

[cartesio]

[ Not much. No matter how long he is observed, he's just a boy behaving as normal. He might get up and take a walk through the park from time to time, but no matter where he is, he's completely unresponsive to any attempts at communication. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[Well... Alright. That's weird. That's very weird. He files it all away and continues to explore town.

In particular, he's looking for anything tangibly different - the lack of people has been noted. Thus why he searches for other changes.]

[cartesio]

[ The town is largely as he left it, but he might notice that the doors of the townspeople's homes are unlocked now. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[Ooh, nifty. Potential to go snooping. But he can't just search every house in town by himself, so...he'll have to narrow down targets somehow.

This does give him an idea though. What if he goes to check out the lodge?]

[cartesio]

[ The lodge stands in stark contrast to the rest of the buildings - it is locked securely. The front door won't budge even the slightest bit, no matter how much one tries to open it. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[Of course it's not gonna be that easy. But it was worth looking.

Hm. Well, if houses are unlocked and no one's going to see him, he may as well choose the nearest one and take a first look. He doesn't expect much, but maybe it'll at least give him a baseline.]

[cartesio]

[ Nagisa will find himself in a very cozy apartment. One bedroom with a double and one with a single bed, a small yet comfortable living room, a kitchen well-illuminated through a big window...

It should be easy to imagine a family living a happy life here, but something is still a little off. The longer one looks around, the more they're bound to find themselves reminded of an Ikea advertisement. Everything is tidy and perfect. No objects of daily use are left out on the tables. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[It's too clean. Too tidy and organized - even any signs of life are clearly placed just so...

It's a facade. Interesting.

Provided nothing sticks out are particularly worthy of investigation, he'll check a few more homes. Are they all like that? They are, aren't they?]

[cartesio]

[ The houses are not exactly cookie-cutter. The apartments look different in terms of design and furniture arrangement. Some may even have some personality. 'Hey, a rock fan lives here' is what the posters on one wall may suggest. Or maybe there's a rubber ducky collection lined up in the bathroom in another.

But no matter what size, what furniture and what quirks, every apartment Nagisa enters is found in the same tidy and lifeless state as the first one. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[But the Ikea display feel remains. A lot of theories are presenting themselves in his mind. He wishes the Sergeant were here to prod for information, because even if the question is dodged, there is always information to glean from the response.

He'll kill him all the same. For now, he needs to find some other lead to chase, he doubts he'll get much more out of the residences...]