[ DEPARTURE ]

[sheriffexe]

DEPARTURE

It's time to go. Most people are on the train by now. Settled into their cabins and among friends and loved ones. There are only three new arrivals left to board and once they do, Hal pulls a conductor's hat out from underneath the bar, tugs it on, and steps around it to the middle of the train. He opens his mouth to talk, voice filling the train. "It's time to go. Stops happen once a day until everyone's departed and I already have your stopped listed. If you'd like to be prioritized, let me know, otherwise we'll go in order of death. Settle in and enjoy the ride. If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask, folks." This, of course, means that those who died earliest (Manfred, Higekiri) will depart first while those who died latest (Barnham, Damian, Percy) will depart last. There's a stop for everyone, though those who want to get off together are more than welcome to. Hal pulls a notepad and pen out of his pocket later and people will notice that he goes around the train confirming stops with everyone. Whatever feeling Hal may have had to a character back in town isn't noticeable here -- he is simply a robot assigned with a job. After that, it's all a matter of settling in and enjoying the ride. If that's possible for you, at least.

QUICK NAV PRIVATE CONVERSATIONS | STATUSES | PROFILES | LOCATIONS | GRAVEYARD | MAIN NAVIGATION

Comments

[feminitis]

[Sei really isn't sure how to approach him.

They weren't especially close, but - she can't help but feel awful about how much was put on this small child's shoulders. The sight of him putting a gun to his head isn't something she'll easily shake.

She takes a seat across the aisle from him and is silent for a few long moments before looking over.]

...thank you. [The words aren't quite enough to express everything he deserves to hear, but it's a start.]

[bittybat]

[Out of the corner of his eye, Damian glances at Sei, and then he returns to watching her in the reflection of the window. He's quiet for a long time, too.

But finally:] Don't congratulate murderers.

[feminitis]

But...

[Sei bites her lip. There isn't really anything she can say to make this better, is there? And yet, she can't stop herself from trying.]

We're alive and going home, or to better places... and we wouldn't have been able to do that without you. Even if the methods that were taken to make that happen aren't... objectively good, you saved us.

[bittybat]

I didn't save us. [He glances finally over at Sei, frowning.] Jackson saved us.

[feminitis]

You cooperated with him, though. [When the end came, he didn't make the move to be the last one standing himself. He let Percy be the one to do it, and trusted him to do the right thing.] And it... can't have been easy. But Mister Percy was able to do what he did because of what you did. I mean it when I say I'm sure we wouldn't be going home without you.

[So while she won't say he should feel good about committing murder, she does think he shouldn't beat himself up over it.]

[bittybat]

[It's a shame Damian is so fucking stubborn when it comes to this sort of thing. Down-playing involvement when he isn't the one on top; A+, kid.] Whatever. [HIS WAY OF TAKING THE COMPLIMENT.]

Jackson was already doing what he could to try to end the game. He would have succeeded even if I wasn't here.

[feminitis]

I don't doubt that Mister Percy is incredibly capable...

[She's sure that one way or another, he'd have managed. But it probably would have been a lot messier, more traumatic (and this experience was traumatic enough), and endlessly more difficult.]

What you did was brave, though. Really brave. And transferring your merit to him, at the end? That made what's happening right now possible, too.