paradisa | o1. Arrival

o1. Arrival | Dictation

Okay... Okay.

So I'm all for traveling, surprises, and bullshit.

Oh yeah, I'm all for the bullshit. I'm all for being thrown into some bumfuck Egypt kinda place, no one answering my questions, and fucking nabbing all of my shit.

Someone is going to get their eyes gauged out and their fingers hacked off, and it's gonna be the asshole who thought it'd be useful to snag all my stuff. Don't think I won't find you, because I will.

Oh, and when I do? It'll be motherfucking war.

And while we're at it, it'd be real nice to get some answers as to where the shit I am. Because I'm not in the mood for this and I'm way too old to play fairy princess.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

See, you're even starting early. But I offered to give you a free rundown first, so here it is:

You're in a magical castle. You-- along with the rest of us-- have brought here for unknown reasons, and will remain for an undetermined amount of time. Already I've met people who have been here for years, though someone else also left today, and based on the reactions that wasn't a one-time thing. Nobody knows what happens to the people who leave, but the consensus seems to be that they return home. I haven't yet figured out whether that's just wishful thinking.

You've also had at least one thing taken from you; it's called a loss. When the castle decides to go out of its way to poke at its captives in various ways, these are also called losses. The confusion inherent in not having two different words for those things is apparently lost on everybody here.

If you want something, you can wish for it. Your wish may or may not be mysteriously granted.

[There's a pause in the writing.]

Now, you already gave your polite statement, so I'll give you your piece of information: we aren't the first group of people who who have been in this situation. The ones who were here before us vanished, and nobody seems to know what happened to them.

So let me get this straight:

We're all brought here for an unknown reason, nothing has even been hinted, and we're somehow supposed to just get cozy while these motherfuckers steal our stuff and throw us into a weird fairytale?

No. I'm calling bullshit. There's no way a place like this is safe.

I don't think anybody's ever called it safe.

Thaaaat's what everyone else is going on about.

Sounds like naiveté to me.

It's really fucking stupid to not assume the worst out of anyone. Might as well put the barrel in your mouth.

And that sounds like cynicism.

Ha ha. Hit the nail on the head, pal.

And I think you're overdue for your second piece of information.

If you write somebody's name in the journal followed by a message, only they can see it.

Yeah?

Makes this thing a bit less confusing, I guess. Why's this our way of communicating anyway? Seems kinda cheesy.

My guess is that it fits the theme more than computers or telephones would.

Well, I've never used any of those either, so I guess it doesn't matter.

Computers don't work where I'm from.

Where are you from?

Earth. But everything's fucked up and dead pretty much. We're worn down by infected people and shitty government.

Pretty much all the technology that apparently existed before I was born is useless now.

Was there some sort of plague?

Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

It's a fungus that attacks the brain and turns you into a mindless killing machine.

Well.

That would explain the cynicism.

Yeah that about covers it.

I grew up in it, so I'm pretty sure I'll never be comfortable here. I was born about six years after the infection hit.

No cure?

[ That's... A really tough question. ]

Well, I thought so.

I'd like to think so.

I got bit almost a year ago and nothing happened... I'm immune, and I was supposed have been the hope of a vaccine.

Aaaaaaaand now I'm here.

So the castle has essentially doomed your planet.

I wonder why.

No.

[ Ellie side-eyes at this point, her gut burning at what she's sure she knows about a certain someone. ]

It's been doomed a long fucking time and nothing's gonna change that at this point. Here has nothing to do with it.

But you would still rather be there than here?

Well yeah. I'd be stupid to want to go back there. Especially if there's no infected here.

Ah, so you wouldn't rather be there than here.

Good choice.

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]

[handwritten]