SERGEANT NPC CONTACT

[cartesio]

The Lodge is located on the hills near the town, large and strange. It contrasts a lot when compared to the rest of the town -- its gray and white walls are quite the change from the vibrant and colorful Cartesio, the plants and bushes that are planted on the lower levels of the Lodge only make the contrast more obvious. There are many windows, but no matter how much you look you don't see anyone passing behind them. If you didn't know better you'd think it was completely empty.

But it isn't empty. The Sergeant is there.

You won't get too far into the Lodge before you encounter the Sergeant. There he is in the lobby, standing in front of a door that leads deeper into the building. No matter at what time you come or what you do, he'll always be there, reading self-help books, or with a mirror, practicing his next speech/confrontation. When he's not facing all of you at once, he seems to be easier to talk with.

Want to bother him?

Comments

[quickpersuader]

...So you don't like it.

[:c]

[cartesio]

It's better than expected, but not good.

[Sorry, Kino]

But if it's any consolation, nobody starts as an expert in anything. Keep practicing and you'll get better. Practice is what leads to mastering any skill.

[He sounds genuinely encouraging. It may be kind of weird to hear such thing from him, really]

[quickpersuader]

[Sarge, you're just dooming yourself...]

There aren't many chances to try cooking when you travel... maybe I'll make it a project for here.

[What a weird thought. Hanging around long enough to acquire a skill like cooking.]

I'll redo the recipe and bring you the new and improved version next time we meet.

[cartesio]

Does that mean I'm going to be your taste tester from now on?

[Well he's not...going to say no. He has grown kind of fond of Kino, at least]

[quickpersuader]

If you don't mind.

[Your last chance to escape this fate, Sarge.]

Also - I did have some questions, too.

[cartesio]

Fine. Just avoid the ghost peppers.

[He's so dead, isn't he]

I should have guessed you hadn't come just to feed me excessively spicy food. What is it?

[quickpersuader]

Would you prefer if I did?

[You could have a taste of spicy hell every day, Sarge. And you've already waived your right to complain about it by allowing it in the first place.]

Actually, I wanted to ask about how memories of people are altered here. It's a familiar subject for me.

[Turning people into perfectly happy adults via surgery in her home country, but also an entire country that wiped her memories of it with a mystery drug.]

[cartesio]

It's unhealthy to have ghost peppers, I'm sure of it!

[...kind of sure. It just can't be healthy to burn yourself like this on purpose!]

...it's hard to explain. I just make it happen. It's like snapping my fingers, it takes no effort at all.

[quickpersuader]

Maybe it's strong enough to clear out your sinuses...

[There's some people who do that. Maybe.]

...You just make it happen? Is that something you could always do?

[cartesio]

Pretty much. I have been able to do this for a very long time. I'm pretty sure I always had this skill.

[quickpersuader]

Only pretty sure?

[Was he born with it?]

[cartesio]

[Exactly, Kino]

I think I was born with it.

[quickpersuader]

I didn't realize you came from a world with powers like that.

...

I'm starting to feel left out.

[This is possibly a dry joke.]

[cartesio]

I'm not like most people, that's why I can. That's why I'm in this job -- not here in Cartesio, I mean in this job with my superior. Only I can do a few things others can't.

[Someone who can keep the thirty people he kidnapped under a certain measure of control through sheer force is the best kind of people for the job, even if he's not experienced in other important areas such as, you know, being shrewd enough to do this]

[quickpersuader]

Like what kinds of other things?

[Why's everyone got powers what the heckie.]

[cartesio]

You have seen me, right? I can use some electricity, use blunt force, some telekinesis... [He puts a hand against his ear for a moment] Other varied minor abilities I can't list right now because it'd take too long.

All I can say is that I can deal with anything you guys do. That's a certainty.

[quickpersuader]

["Because it'd take too long."]

I'm starting to be envious.

[Boo.]

Then you can just wave your hand and people think they live here?

[cartesio]

.........pretty much.

[Well that was a pause. It doesn't seem like he has lied about the ability to modify memories, but it does seem he's concealing information about how easy it is]

[quickpersuader]

[...What an impressive pause.]

What about undoing it? Does it damage their memories completely?

[cartesio]

I could reverse it, but I don't see a reason to do so. There should be no lasting effects if I do.

[quickpersuader]

I see... that's more impressive than the methods used in my world. Operations, drugs... as far as I know, none of them can be reversed like that.

[If only. There's a whole country Kino would like to recall.]

How precise is the erasure, anyway? Rean kept talking about people - it seemed both he and Millium knew them.

[cartesio]

I wanted to leave most of their memories intact. A person's defined by their mind, and a mind is partially defined by its memories. Removing too much would mean it's not the same person anymore.

That's something I'd really like to avoid.

[So yeah, the Sergeant removed very specific stuff and left the rest untouched]

[quickpersuader]

[Oh. That's weirdly careful.]

Why is it so important for them to have the same personality? Does it even matter if they're going to stay here forever as townspeople?

[cartesio]

It's the least they deserve.

[He shakes his head]

Can we not talk about this?

[quickpersuader]

Why? Do you feel bad for them?