New Avalon

[yamikuronue]

T snorts. "Fuck if I know. From what I can tell, it means you never leave the city again, even when you're dead, but in exchange, you get to live like a king."

[CalamityJade]

"Not inaccurate...it means that the City has need of you, but that you are also tied to it. Something of yourself always remains here. Which is why no one 'leaves' the city. The memories of people do linger, and sometimes need to be helped to pass on. What's left when they do is what people call Pulse. I'm sure you've figured that much out by now, concidering you would have had to meet one of the less savory memories."

~You mean those lights are what people leave behind? How the hell does that work when everyone has them?~

[yamikuronue]

T stares at Mordrianna in stunned silence for a moment. "....the city runs on ghosts."

[CalamityJade]

"It runs on the energy the memories leave when they pass on...but essentially, yes. Though since the people living here leave memories whether or not they're Welcomed, it's not something as predatory as most would make it seem."

[yamikuronue]

She shakes her head. "That's fucked up."

[CalamityJade]

"So...knowing that, what do you think being Welcomed means?"

[yamikuronue]

"It means the city got you," she says, bluntly. "It means you're trapped."

[CalamityJade]

"...huh, you both had the same answer." Mordrianna seems to reconsider something for a moment. "And why does the City NEED the Welcomed?

[yamikuronue]

T  blinks. "it's a city. Cities need people, right?"

[CalamityJade]

"The City only exists because of Pulse. It's the energy of existence that people leave behind when they pass on. And what do almost all of the Welcomed do?"

~I dunno...from everything I've heard they're kinda like celebrities, right? Everyone wants to be one?~

[yamikuronue]

"..Draw people here?"

[CalamityJade]

Mordrianna nods. "The Welcomed make the city work. They help make the city a good place to live, and so they come here to be Welcomed as well. And, in turn, the City lives as well."

[yamikuronue]

She shudders. "How can we stop it?"

[CalamityJade]

"That depends on what you actually want. Do you want to kill the City? Or is there something else you would rather stop?"

[yamikuronue]

"I want to free everyone. If that means killing the city, fine by me."