R1 DEADLAND PT2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

[lockdownmods]

[it’s strange, for the people who were already dead, the shift in scenery is sudden and complete. For those who have just arrived? It’s like you’re back where you left?

How strange.

But if you ever need her, you can always reach out to the guardian of this place.]

LOCATIONS
Note: locations lag a week behind the living counterparts

Comments

[newhire]

...right now Edgar is looking for a reason to live and not...

[Not chase you into the afterlife.]

So the compromise that I was able to come to him was that I would ask you this in his place. And that's... what your feelings are for him.

[sendintheclown]

[Ah.

For once, in a rare moment, Gogol's mask completely falls away. The face revealed underneath is exhausted, showing years of wear. It's almost pathetic.]

What answer do you think would be best for him?

[There were always two versions of the truth. The one that gets told because it's easier to accept, and the one that goes unsaid.]

[newhire]

...I can't tell you what to say but-- I would ask you to be honest. With yourself... and with him.

[sendintheclown]

Being honest isn't always the best solution.

[Wouldn't it be better for him to accept it all if Gogol had never felt anything towards him? If everything had been some sick, cruel joke? It would be irrational, but he could accept it and move on, and not be plagued by the guilt of loving a killer, being cared for by someone so deranged, and the pain of their separation.

But - at the same time - that's the kind of thinking he's been doing this whole time. Where did it ever take him? He's been walking in circles around the floor of his cage, gone mad, repeating the same useless actions over and over. It never got him out, it was just a sad sight for everyone involved.]

...There's no fun in a quiz that gives away all the answers. [Though he's tired, a smile forms. It brings a warmness to his face.] All the pieces of the puzzle are there. I think he can work it out.

[Then, a chuckle.]

He's a smart one, he probably knows it already.

[newhire]

[She knew it.]

...I see.

In that case the last thing I have from him is that... he wanted me to tell you that... he knows you aren't a terrible person. He believes in you, and wants you to know that too.

[Oh yeah.]

And... I'm sorry, I know this wasn't what you had in mind. But... my dream... is to give you all the freedom you all deserve. Away from everything we've done to you all. It's not over yet.

[sendintheclown]

[There’s a small laugh. He’d always maintained Poe was a fool for believing in him, hoping for better...but maybe Gogol was an even greater one for thinking he had no reason to.

At the apology, he smiles. It’s a mixture of sad and forgiving. To be apologetic for his fate was a level of compassion he shouldn’t really be afforded, but there was a comfort in it all the same.]

I’m not sure what I deserve at this point.

[He’s had a lot of time to think, but he hasn’t gotten far with it. He always thought his time alive was his sentence for his sins, and that, eventually, his deserved freedom would be in death. Now, after all this, it’s starting to feel a little backwards.]

But I’d like to make a request. The folder Edgar gave me before... [Before all this.] Is there a way to get a hold of it here?

[To think Dostoevsky would only use him felt blasphemous. But...in some part of him, his faith has faltered, ever so slightly.]