Kent/Feldspar

[videointhenoise]

"Just once more," they had said when Ellie's team petitioned for it. She was busy with Palmer, falling in love with science while he fell in love with God, and Kent was left to pick up the pieces. He wanted another damn go at it. The Machine had a pricetag in the billions; it was begging to be used again.

But they wouldn't let Ellie go. They wouldn't let just anyone go. They wanted someone who knew how it worked, who had been there from the beginning, but someone who isn't completely taken in by Ellie's words.

That leads them to a dozen people and they end up with Kent. He's blind, but that's not what decides it. They claim that he wouldn't hallucinate the way Ellie did. That he has a unique perspective.

And, he's already proven himself steady and loyal.

He experiences it all the way that Ellie does, but something goes wrong on the other end. Maybe another terrorist attack. Maybe not. All he knows is that he's in the sphere and then, suddenly, he's floating, unable to find his footing until a great crash and he slams into the bottom of the machine.

He groans, pulling his helmet on with a grunt and a wince.

"Fuck this," he mutters, finding the edge of the sphere with his hands. There was a door there somewhere. He just - has to find it.

Comments

[getfeldsparred]

Lapis freezes. “I don’t think we’ve figured out how to turn on and off the power yet,” they say quickly, turning away when they notice that Feldspar is staring at them.

“Some point then,” Feldspar says, redirecting the conversation for the hatchling. “When we get this far out.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent can hear some of the tension in their words and he reaches out for his hatchling's hand, squeezing it once.

"Didn't you say there were theaters here?" he prompts.

[getfeldsparred]

“In every village, yeah,” Lapis says quietly. “There’s all sorts of slide reels, but they burned a lot of them. It’s kind of a long story.”

[videointhenoise]

"You don't have to say it," he assures them. "It's just - strange how certain things transcend universes."

[getfeldsparred]

“I’ll tell you though, one day. When things are maybe a little more settled and it all doesn’t feel so…I dunno. Raw.”

Lapis squeezes Kent’s hand, and hangs on ever tighter as they float through the canyons and down into the wide space that was probably more like a lake before the dam burst. They pass the tall, locked structure and Feldspar stares.

[videointhenoise]

Kent hears the quiet through the lazy little movements and he nudges Feldspar. "What is it?"

[getfeldsparred]

“That tall, chained-up coffin-thing,” Feldspar mumbles softly. “I’ll tell you more later.”

When Lapis isn’t within earshot and they can have a proper parental figure chat.

[videointhenoise]

Kent takes their hand and kisses it.

"So we're almost back to where we started. That was a long trip," he remarks and frowns, doing the math in his head.

[getfeldsparred]

“It’s a big place,” they agree. “Timber Hearth only had the one village.”

“The ship had three,” Lapis says, coming back from wherever they’d gone in their head. “Plus the reservoir. Everything was flooded when the dam burst. The ship detected the sun going supernova and deployed those green solar sails, but moving the ship out of orbit jostled the dam enough that it couldn’t stand the pressure. If we can get the dam back up we’ll reclaim all the lowlands and the islands that flooded.”

As they speak Lapis flashes the light on one of the green orbs, bringing the raft towards the dock.

[videointhenoise]

"So does it mean that they anticipated the sun going supernova?" he wonders. "What sort of safety procedure was that?"

[getfeldsparred]

“The ship was built to automatically anticipate any kind of threat,” Lapis explains.

“A hundred thousand year old autopilot?” Feldspar glances back at Lapis as they drift towards the dock, reaching for the rope slung around a post.

“Built to last,” Lapis mutters.

[videointhenoise]

That's far too long. That's an unfathomably long time to anticipate.

What sort of place was this?

Once they stop, Kent stands up, balancing a bit as he reaches out for someone to take his hand.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar’s thinking is in-step with Kent’s - there’s something amiss with this ship. It looks like it’s meant for living, but judging by the state of the buildings before the dam burst, it looks abandoned.

They take Kent’s hand and guide them both back onto the dock. They feel tired now, their energy flagging after this time spent out in the artificial sun.

“Does that ever dim?” They point towards the large light serving as the sunlight.

Lapis actually quirks their lips in a smile. “Yeah. There’s a full night and day cycle.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent raises his chin, automatically trying to feel the warmth from it, though it doesn't go.

"Well, it should be telling us that it's lunch time."

[getfeldsparred]

“You’re going by your own hunger, dad, that’s not very scientific of you,” Lapis teases. It’s really good to hear that again; Feldspar hadn’t realized how much they’ve missed it.

Gneiss approaches from the rock they’d perched themselves on to wait on the raft’s return. They still have a flute in hand - it looks new, Feldspar can see the places where they’re still whittling away.

“I’ll bring you up something to eat,” they smile, eyes glancing from the hatchling to Kent and then finally to Feldspar. “Are you going to join us for the campfire tonight?”

Feldspar’s smile wanes. “Uh…Im pretty wiped out from the rafting. Maybe tomorrow?”

[videointhenoise]

Kent takes their hand in his and shakes his head. "Small moves," he mutters to both of them before turning to wrap Lapis in an embrace.

"Thanks, kid. Come and see us this afternoon."

[getfeldsparred]

Lapis squeezes Kent tightly, their face pushing into his shirt like they used to do when they were little. Feldspar sniffs softly and looks away, giving them their privacy. It doesn’t seem like they should intrude.

“Yeah, I will,” Lapis says when they finally pull back. “Rest up, huh?”

[videointhenoise]

He doesn't like this strange tension, but there isn't much he can do to make it go away. It's so much to ask to just have Feldspar with him. He can't make it all back to normal.

He reaches out for Felds. "Lead the way."

[getfeldsparred]

They nod and smile softly towards Lapis, who smiles back before they turn and head towards where some of the others are working. Feldspar pats Kent’s arm and starts them back up the winding ramp to the building.

“Lapis definitely doesn’t want us near that building with the chains.”

[videointhenoise]

"They've been keeping everyone away. I heard them redirecting Slate from it," Kent agrees softly. "When you're feeling better..."

[getfeldsparred]

“I’m going in,” they finished, determined and just a little stubborn. “With them, preferably, but without if they insist.”

They frown to themselves, remembering the look on Lapis’ face as they passed the tower by.

[videointhenoise]

"With them," Kent says firmly. "Don't..." He sighs. "This is something you need to do with them."

[getfeldsparred]

“With them,” Feldspar repeats, squeezing Kent’s arm to reassure him. “With them. Hopefully they’ll hold off on visiting until
I’m strong enough to go.”

[videointhenoise]

"There are too many people watching and they're too - close now," he explains. "Everyone is keeping an eye on everyone else. They're all in each other's pockets."

[getfeldsparred]

Makes sense. They’re not likely to try anything while everyone’s still so close and recovering from the heat death of their solar system.

Feldspar makes it to the top of the ramp and pauses to lean against the doorway, trying to be casual as they catch their breath. Everything is difficult now - how long is it going to be before they’re able to do even half of what they did before?

“I’ll have a little while anyway,” they mutter.