Kent Clark (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
videointhenoise) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
openmisc2024-12-13 07:37 pm
videointhenoise) wrote in openmisc2024-12-13 07:37 pm
Kent/Feldspar
"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.
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.
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"Good, then let's go!" they say in an excited whisper, still paranoid about calling too much attention to themselves. As long as they leave the lights alone, they should be fine, but...the key words are "should be."
They hop aboard the raft and reach back for Feldspar to make sure they made it.
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“So all those aliens are just living up there, totally unaware of how much time has passed or that the sun’s exploded and their dam and broken. Huh.”
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"Exactly," they explain. "They just...wanted to live out their lives after they realized how badly they had messed up. How much they had sacrificed."
Which they actually understand now more than ever. More than they maybe would have otherwise.
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“It’s a long way to go each way, y’know? Taking the time to build a movable home world, then build another home world inside of it to preserve what you lost. They don’t really do things by halves, is all I’m sayin’.”
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"No," they agree. "But when you know what's there, you might do the same thing. We Heartheans kind of did that, right? Just all up and left our planet for a raft?" They sigh.
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"Some more than others," they remind them and while it isn't a slight, they do still reach over and take Feldspar's hand.
"Here's our stop up here. Ready?"
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They hop onto the dock and then realize that they will have to startle their poor Mapa a little. "Okay. We're going to come over here and then I'm going to put my lantern down and then I will walk off and I will...uh...disappear. I think. I don't know what it will look like to you."
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They don’t sound too disturbed by the thought; it’s all relative at this point.
They frown softly as they wait for Lapis to wander off and do what they need to do. It’s a convoluted process, that’s for damn sure; it must have taken Lapis hours, if not days, to figure out how to do all this.
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Lapis sets their lamp down and then pauses. "Come on, Mapa. You, too. Come with me. You might think it's interesting, but....you still have to be quiet."
They might want to show off a little, actually.
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"You don't," they say and lead the way out of the lanterns influence. And turn to see Feldspar.
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“Woah, look at you! Ha! Look at me!”
They automatically shush themselves when they realize they’ve proven Lapis’ point.
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Lapis just shakes their head, sighing playfully as they walk to the bridge and turn it. "You're lucky no one's around here. They uh...they can still get you here."
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They put their hands on their hips and look out at the rest of the dream. They think they can make out the area they’d just come from, but then there are two other areas aside from the one they’re currently standing in. One for each little village, if they had to guess, both of them now entirely under water.
They look over their shoulder and spy an upright coffin-looking thing with three locks. That must be where this prisoner is being held.
“They must be cruel if they locked one of their own up like this.”
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"They're just like everyone else," Lapis says. "They are just - trying to live in the best way they know. They're certainly more strict. More rigid. And they took a huge risk."
They finish the bridge and walk across it.
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"I know," they tell him. "But that's not - they gave up. But everytime I see them - the Prisoner - it's like everything just is okay again. Because they're so - calm."
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"I'm going to push you out of this data and into the wet data." They walk to the pillar and extinguish the lights on the other side, then trot back to the bridge. They can feel their heart pounding, their chest tight. Everything feels...wrong. Odd. Off.
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“How do the two of you communicate?” they ask, the thought suddenly occurring to them. They’d gotten lucky with Kent, but lightning can’t strike twice, can it?