cancry | introductions

introductions

It comes to you suddenly, at the end of an unravelling thread of thought. A sudden, piercing sense of wrongness stops you in your tracks and sends you tumbling through rapidfire questions that you realize you have no answer for. How long have you been here? How long have you been doing the same things, over and over, blindly going through the motions of a routine? Just who are you, anyway?

Questions beget more questions and answers prove illusive until you arrive at the only things you know for certain: the first is that this place is Purgatory.

The second is that you're here because you're dead.

Oddly, this doesn't feel like a surprise of any sort. You don't remember how or why it happened, but it did and that's that. It feels rather as though you've been slapped awake and everything around you has come into sharp focus. You're in Limbo, where you've been wandering since you arrived here in Purgatory alongside all the other mindless souls who are acting out what little they remember of their original lives.

Still lingering is that horrible sense of something being terribly wrong. It hasn't dissipated with your realization of the truth – if anything, it's intensified. There's no way to tell what it is, but there's something going on here.

Maybe you should investigate – or at least see if there's anyone else here who's had the same realization as you...

[ OOC: Welcome to the very first log of Can Cry! For the first few hours, Executors will be free to explore and mingle among themselves. Mod replies will come in a few hours. If you're planning to investigate, please indicate that you're doing so in the subject line as your comment. ]

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[As soon as cognition returns to him, Hope finds himself blinking a few times, then tilting his head, then getting a good look around. It's not that he's anywhere new -- he's familiar with the scenery, at least -- but something has changed. It's like everything is cast in a new light. Have those buildings always had such ornate windows? Has his clothing always been so different than the others'? He'd never noticed, and it fills him with a mixture of being weirded out and a dull dread.

For now, he will wander the streets, taking in all the details that he'd missed during his stay in Limbo. He'll also be watching for anyone else he spots with unusual clothing, because they might know something too.

Once he sees someone, he'll watch them for a while. If he goes unnoticed, or the observed motions or calls him over, he will approach and ask,] Excuse me. Have you noticed a change recently? [He looks around.] In everything.

[ They've gained enough of their bearings that they can handle being approached by people again. They're easy to watch, at least; they're six foot tall and distinctly inhuman, which makes them stand out. Blending in is a near-impossibility, so they just...don't.

They listen carefully to his words, head tilting, and then give him an affirming nod in answer. Yes, they're aware. There seem to be a lot of people becoming 'aware' in a short period of time, and they wonder why that is. ]

[Hope had definitely been watching Seal for a long while before approaching them, because something about their form has him terrified. He's had to watch and make sure they weren't any kind of threat before feeling comfortable enough to approach. Even that was a bit of a silent struggle for him, but after discerning an escape route in case, he put on a brave face before speaking.

Still, he's feeling a little unsettled. Something is nagging at him to run, but he has to fight it just a little while longer. The thought that "not everything that isn't human is bad" whispers in his head, but he can't recall why he would think that. Taking a breath, he continues. He desperately wants to ask what they are, but now's not the time.] You too? What have you noticed? I've noticed that it's really bright in the afterlife... The lights and the colors never mattered to me before.

[ Bright...yes, it is bright. And there are so many unfamiliar things here, and so many lights. It makes them uneasy, though like most things they'd struggle to explain why. There's so little they know.

They bring their hand up in front of them to reply to him, their signing slow and uncertain, a little furtive. ]

« There are many, many people. Buildings I don't know. Everything is strange to me. »

[ They feel like there should be more of...something? Someone? It's yet another feeling that scrabbles hopelessly at the blank slate of their memory, attempting to produce words or pictures and revealing only meaningless scrawl. ]

[He watches with interest as the creature begins waving their arms, and is surprised when the gestures somehow translate into meaning for him. Hope agrees with the strangeness, and the amount of people, but...] You don't recognize the buildings? Most of them feel familiar to me somehow.

[And this familiarity causes him to feel a little more at ease in this otherworldly place. If Seal doesn't have that slight comfort, then... Hope feels pity for them.] I'm sorry. I hope you find at least one thing you recognize here. It... helps. [It would definitely help more than how little he's helping Seal right now. But what can he do? Neither of them know anything besides the hard fact they're dead.]

[ They shake their head. No. Vanishingly little is familiar to them. ]

« There are only small things. »

[ The way they move their hand to form the gestures that make words is jagged, unsteady, like they're frustrated and attempting to chain that frustration down all at once.

Things that they understand to have some kind of purpose, the most basic of basic structures. Floors and walls and windows. Those are what they recognise. But everything feels too sharp, too angular, in a way they can't describe even to themselves.

The apology gets another dismissive little head shake. It can't be helped, their own unfamiliarity. ]

[Seal's motions certainly convey frustration, and Hope catches on to it. They are only familiar with small things? He wishes to ask them so many questions, but if he can't answer anything about himself, then they likely can't either. He looks Seal over again, at their height and unusual form, before slowly eking out a reply.]

I am... curious. You look dangerous, but you haven't done anything threatening. [He's not going to admit that he's been on his guard this entire time, but he has.] You're not what I am, nor do you seem to come from wherever I come from. [He hesitates, as if he's working these things out in his head as he says them.] Do you know anything about yourself?

[ Strangely, they don't feel distressed about the thought of being seen as 'dangerous'. It feels...not exactly right, but it seems to fit them. Like a nail, with blade sharpened.

The end result of this internal processing is that Seal stands still for a long, long moment, and then just...shakes their head a bit. They understand they're different from the people around them, that wherever they were in life was likely not like this, and they know they're dead, and that's...about it.

Still, they do look a bit lost, in their own way. It's hard for someone so big to look so small, but they're certainly managing it. They seem to be trying to take up as little space as possible, just by existing. ]

[He only frowns in response. He knew that was probably too much.] Yeah, I don't know anything about myself either. The only thing I do know is that I'm supposed to be the Hope of something. I don't really understand what, or why... [He feels too insignificant for such a lofty title.]

I've not noticed any change in everything else, but it seems as though I have changed.

[...look, she's not always spouting nonsense.]

[He nods in response. That's a good way to put it.] I see. I feel like I've just woken up from a long sleep, but I've also been here this whole time, so I must have changed. [Even though "here" seems like so much more now.] Was it the same for you? Or was your change... different?

That would seem to describe mine as well. It was much like awakening. Or... perhaps like fully awakening, after having been half asleep.

Do you think they are half-asleep, then? [He points to a nearby Spectre, going about their business seemingly without a care in the world.] Do you think they know they're... dead?

[Someone is watching him, huh...Espresso does his level best to ignore it at first, but the longer it goes on the more gradually agitated he gets. Eventually, after some time goes by, Hope isn't getting called over but called out.]

You! Just what are you aiming to accomplish by following me?

[He's a little bit on edge from all the stress that suddenly comes with being cognizant of one's death, as is the current style of the time.]

[Hope is slightly startled at the sudden calling-out, but it's to be expected from the act, so he takes it in stride.] I noticed that you're not like the others. [He points to a Spectre that happens to be nearby.] I wanted to see where you were going. Maybe ask a few questions. That's all.

[A beat.] ...Unless you don't have any plans, either.

...I don't have any plans, but...I doubt I have any answers for you, either. In fact, I'd be willing to bet many of the questions you have are ones I have, as well.

[He sighs. He doesn't really feel like it, but talking to someone is better than...well, Hope put it best when he pointed at the nearby Spectres. He's certainly better company than anything else Espresso has encountered.]

...Still, if it will help pass the time, I suppose I don't mind if you still have questions you want to ask, even after hearing that.

[Hope is silent as Espresso speaks, taking it all in. It's really nice to have someone competently reply to him for once. He nods at the end.] As long as we keep going, maybe we'll uncover some answers. First, though, have you met anyone else other than these Spectres? I think the odds are pretty good that we're not the only ones who have... awoken.

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introductions

Hope | OTA!

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