robowest | [ DEPARTURE ]

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[He'd like that, but he's been separated from Sara for what feels like ages.

So instead, he just nods. Letting Sara speak for herself seems safest to him too.]

In the meantime...this has truly been where everyone was...?

[He never actually was told flat out by the Sheriff, it just sort of all came together by the end. But damn. Right there, all along.]

Yes, it has. [a beat] I've actually known the train was a vessel for the dead since our fourth week here. Perhaps I should have inquired more into its use at the time the Sheriff told me.

[SHE CAME SO CLOSE TO FIGURING IT OUT ON HER OWN and yet she was also so far away]

[It's kind of cushy here...at least the dead were comfortable???

Still...]

It was needless semantics and nothing more. The line he drew between "winning" and "returning home" was nonsense, truth be told.

[A sigh, and he shakes his head.]

The information that I learned... truly, it was likely pure chance that I happened upon the exact wording he wished for.

[like... winning the reverse lottery.

"CONGRATULATIONS we're coming to your house to steal all of your shit"]

[yeah the dead people got fancy food Milla was a little jealous when she first got on the train]

. . . it was. But it was a line nonetheless. And that line kept most of us from discovering the truth.

[because Milla certainly clumped them together in her head]

What question did you ask? I have to admit I'm curious.

[It was a rudeass line and it probably would've been easier on all of them if someone else had figured it out since Barnham was a great big dumb]

Ah... I asked him what we needed to do to return to our worlds.

[... yep.]

It...became quite clear after that that... regardless of the outcome of the game, we needed to be on this train. I will admit, however, it took me some time to properly process what the Sheriff was saying.

[It was a lot to process at once like--hey btw you all gotta die no matter what you do]

Well, of course. Having to die to enter the train went against common sense and logic, as well as everyone's goals for ending the game in a peaceful, non-violent way.

[so just accepting that death is the only option isn't easy for anyone]

[...Yeah.

Which is why he struggled to tell anyone, but...she knows that already. All he can do is nod, slowly.]

... In the end... it was simply a case of [rotten] luck.

[. . . she lets out a small sigh]

Rotten luck at being dragged to this town in the first place, that's for certain.

[. . .]

I had wanted to prevent the Sheriff's employers from running a game like this ever again.

[naturally, she hadn't actually been able to achieve that goal]

[ DEPARTURE ]

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