Work today and live tomorrow

[silvertongueheir]

My dearest Shaun,

This town's presence is exhausting, so I have decided it best to write my observations on it as letters to you. As a matter of fact, I feel many of the places here would make for fine date locations. So perhaps there shall be some observations of that nature sprinkled in here.

Love,
Franciscus

Comments

Week 1

[silvertongueheir]

Most of this town appears fairly ordinary, though it seems at some point someone burnt down the electronics store. I stopped for a while to pay it my respects on your behalf. Now the only available source of electronics is the junkyard. If I had some more of your talent, I would certainly do my best to assemble something from there. As it is, I shall simply observe what the engineers among us do there.

The Sergeant seems completely immune to my charm. I have noticed it failing sometimes with others here as well. I suppose my usual tactic of seduction will not work to get us out of here, or regain my Pokemon from his clutches.

Week 2

[silvertongueheir]

This town appears to have a few surprises for us. Buildings I was completely unaware of beforehand seem to have appeared overnight, including a casino. I did win a rather fetching outfit that I hope I get the chance to model for you.

The Sergeant has attempted to threaten us with images of people from our worlds, and the promise of allowing us to contact them. I trust you and the rest of the team not to do anything foolish, but I cannot trust the rest of the people here so readily. Still, I have done my best to keep a hopeful outlook in public. Succumbing to despair will only make things worse.

He recently trapped us in a cinema and tasked us with retrieving the neon sign. Yours truly assisted in both solving a puzzle to retrieve a key and demonstrating the dangers of the machine it was stuck in. For that, I was given back the dissection blade you gave me. Though it is likely not sufficient for self-defense, it brings me comfort nonetheless.

Moloch has been murdered, while trying to assemble a radio. The killer was Nine, who desperately wanted to either contact or rejoin his brothers. And now the Sergeant has tasked Oda with the execution. This is not a justice system I am comfortable with, but I know there is little I can do. I wish you were here. Maybe he wouldn't have attacked two people together. I miss your warmth.

Week 3

[silvertongueheir]

The execution was thankfully a simple and clean one. I did witness it, though I hope Oda does not think his choice separates him from us. New buildings continue to appear, although the cinema we were trapped in last week has not for some reason. However, there is an abandoned clothing store that still possesses much of its stock. I have done my best to offer advice to anyone else who comes there.

Despite my best efforts, I find myself becoming attached to some of the people here. Sakura may be the youngest among us, both in age and emotionally, yet she keeps trying to take more burdens upon herself. Osomatsu and I have made a promise to talk again should another murder and trial occur.

This time, he threatened us with secrets. For some reason, he thought it necessary to provide complete screenshots of the texts between us as our relationship developed. Though he has threatened to reveal the secrets to not only the people here but back home, I will not kill for this. No matter how this affects our enemies' tactics, I will always do my best to protect you from harm. Perhaps I shall have to adjust my own plans, but it is a small inconvenience indeed.

This time, we were brought to a refinery of some sort and tasked with vandalizing it. However, it soon became clear that the true goal was to destroy the machine that served as the central focus. Although the Sergeant made it clear that the only way to leave this town was to be as proactive as possible, I admit I held back for your sake. I doubt you would enjoy knowing I destroyed such a complex machine, even to return to your side. I'm sure you would have appreciated the chance to explore it together instead. In the end, we were removed by several of the workers after jamming some of the gears. It appears one of them was known to the people who were in this town before us.

The Sergeant returned Gerard to me! It was a delightful surprise, for once, to find him in my room, excited to see me again. I have allowed him outside to exercise as much as he can, though it seems many of the people here are surprised at his appearance.

This time, the murder victim was Bakugou, and the killer Clarisse. I was able to provide a key insight at nearly the last minute that allowed her role in the murder to be confirmed, and I do not weep for her much. She was shooting birds in the park the last we talked. I provided them with proper graves, and Gerard and I provided them with gravestones and flowers after the trial. The executioner will be Millium, who seemed deeply attached to the deceased. She may be a competent child, and have experience in this, but it still seems wrong.

Week 4

[silvertongueheir]

The execution was surprisingly clean. I was worried Millium would choose to make it torturous, but it appears her desire for vengeance has been satisfied now. The cinema has appeared this week, along with a bakery. The chocolate cakes remind me of those cakes we shared together. I would have liked to split one with you. Perhaps we could have sat and watched a movie together. You would talk about how the technology or science was outdated, or how you would accomplish it better, while I discussed the inaccuracies of the plants and the climate. Or perhaps we would just enjoy being together, and let the movie play.

It also appears that serving as the executioner has allowed Millium to regain one of her companions from home. It is a mechanical creature of some sort, and she calls him "Lammy." Gerard seems fond of him, and he appears to have been of great help as we worked to help clean up the church.

This time, he has, with some apparent reluctance, offered immortality to whoever kills and gets away with it. I suspect this is meant to target one person in particular, though I cannot say who. But it is certainly no bother for me. Should I ever desire an elixir of immortality, I am sure you will be capable of creating one to my exact specifications.

Jughead has suggested that we participate in a variety show in order to better the townspeople's opinions towards us. I have offered myself and Gerard for a falconry performance, and also Gerard to serve as security when he is not performing. It seems we have enough of a range of talents to make this most interesting.

Surprisingly, we weren't spirited away anywhere tonight. Instead, the reporter for the newspaper finally came to talk to us directly, and the Sergeant left a note on his back telling us to make the worst impression possible. He brought pizza as well, even one with enough anchovies to please Gerard. Though it appears he was far less pleased with what he got from the interview, despite our efforts to not make as bad an impression. We had little objective proof of the Sergeant's involvement in all this, and many of our attempts to be friendly were interpreted as manipulative. It was most disappointing to see the article when it was finally published.

The variety show seemed to be going well, and then it was ruined. Jughead, who had worked so hard to organize everything, was both poisoned and shot. It turned out that Crane and Nylund had independently decided that he would be an easy target. I have little sympathy for them, especially when it was revealed that the type of immortality Crane wanted was simply fame. He deserved to have his hair messed up by Wayne. Kino and Wayne were selected as the executioners, though I did want to take care of Crane myself. Thankfully, it seems that this has not damaged my reputation, despite Crane and I both being from wealthy families. He was much more of a fool, after all..

Week 5

[silvertongueheir]

This execution was not as clean as the previous ones. To be fair, poison has been the harshest death so far, and I cannot really fault Kino and Wayne for their behavior. This week, there has been the appearance of a flower shop, and proof that there is at least one other person with Pokemon here. I wonder if the name Faba means anything to you? He seems to be a researcher of some sort, from what I've seen of his notes.

The Sergeant has offered that whoever kills can bring someone with them when they leave, even one of the dead. I find myself tempted by one of his motives at last-Sakura will never kill or even willingly participate in his requests for destruction, and these are the only two ways out. She would hate me forever, but she would be safe from this place. Of course, I have not shared this thought out loud, even during the meeting to discuss this motive.

Sakura has been making a memorial for the dead. I suggested she hold a wake this Thursday night as well, as even if the dead may be still present in some way it may still offer some measure of peace. And I am sure it will not last too long, if I do choose to take on that motive for her.

This Wednesday was a disaster. We were trapped in a foggy area and told to burn down the place. While we were looking for some way to escape without doing so, Kino set it on fire anyways. As some of us had been suspecting, it turned out to be the diner. The only good thing that has come from that is that I have regained Hydrangea by my side. So now, even if I fail in my attempt, none of my Pokemon will be left in the Sergeant's hands.

I have also talked with Millium after that. It seems what happened to the diner and seeing the aftereffects of it has led to her deciding to leave behind her old job. She was never given a choice whether to enter it, and I wish her the best of luck.

As I write this, it is Thursday, and night is falling. I have Hydrangea at my side, and Gerard in his Pokeball. I plan to leave the hotel and go searching for a victim. I've decided that I can bear Sakura's hatred if it means that she is safe. Perhaps I will not make it back, and if that happens, I hope whoever kills me will let Sakura escape nonetheless.

I love you, Shaun.