WEE͠K ̸́4͝

[strangerpeople]

W҉͘E͜͠͝E̕K̡̛͡ ̡͟4̸

[The blight is all-consuming.

Within days dozens are confirmed infected, and you and your unexpected new scientist friend find yourselves trying to work on a cure. If not a cure, a stopgap of some kind. Anything to prevent this thing from destroying everything. It's hard work. It's not going very well. Really, it feels like with every step forward, you're taking ten steps back. Discouraging is an understatement, to say the least.

A week passes, and the death toll rises. It's really starting to look bleak. You constantly second-guess yourself, and even get into a fistfight with your new ally one night. It's getting to the point where you are working on fumes.

Then, unexpectedly, you get a phone call. It's been a long night, and the sun is beginning to rise above the mountains, when it happens.

You and the scientist are not the only ones looking for a cure. In fact, there are at least a dozen others-and they think they may be close to a breakthrough.

But-and you can't believe you're hearing this, after all of the failure you'd experienced throughout this blight-they need your help.]


---


[To say that the end of last week sucked would be an understatement. To say that no one knows what this week will bring is not even in question. Yet even as you wake, you feel a cloud lift from your mind, as one of the truths you've been living with since the beginning has suddenly changed.]




[But is it possible to abide by this new truth? The Hosts, and IT beyond, seem intent on making that impossible. And the rat...well. Obviously the rat's not an ally. Let's not kid ourselves.

There's only one way to find out if more deaths can truly be prevented-and that's to keep going, and hoping that the new floor that has opened up will offer something in the way of an opportunity.

In the meantime.


There are 11 strangers left in this place.]

Comments

[comesaround]

[ The wings definitely aren't much of a bother, but maybe that's just because it's Karma and he's seen the other redhead with them before. It's just the sheer sight of him that stopped him short for a moment before making his way over to him. ]

Good to see you're not completely gone.

[ It's clear from his face that he's a lot calmer than he had been during trial, but there's a soft, subtle sadness to the entirety of his expression. ]

Gives me a little more incentive to kick the ass of those in charge now.

[byanyother_name]

It's good to be not completely gone.

[Kurama pulls his fusion pin out of a pocket and holds it up. A small, wry smile curves his lips.]

I'm glad I had just enough irrational hope to hold onto this.

[He hates to see that sadness but he understands it. He's been reunited with his boyfriend but at the cost of his friends. Their suffering. (His own suffering is secondary at best.)]

Mmm, it's nice to know the chance to get me back means that much to you, Karma.

[comesaround]

Yeah. I'm glad you were able to keep at least that much with you, too.

[ Very subtly, Kurama may even note the way Karma had winced for just a second as he remembered the execution; very fresh in his mind. He could never forget that, but seeing the other like this now would make it a little easier to not think about. ]

Of course it does. You're a good friend of mine so why wouldn't it mean that much to me?

[ There's a very soft hint of teasing in his voice near the end, but the words themselves were inherently genuine. ]