Kent Clark (
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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"Consider it an insulting compliment," he teases and buttons up his shirt. "I love you. Ready to face the day?"
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Kent doesn't need his sight to be able to see that smile. He can feel it in the way Feldspar's eyes rest on him.
He keeps an arm around his love, walking them both to the door with a hum.
"That's the top priority anyway, or we're sitting ducks here. I don't know how this thing generates power." He hopes that it isn't solar. He fucking hopes.
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Slate nods from somewhere behind Hornfels, lying on the floor with two large cables over their head. They look like they’re considering how to reattach them.
“That dam before it broke generated enough backup power to last us a while, but we’ll want to hook everything back up as soon as possible,” they add, a little bolt of electricity passing through the cables and into one of their fingers. They hiss and suck it into their mouth.
“Marl, Tuff, and Gossan have been taking the lead on the construction there,” Hornfels continues to explain. “We’re chopping down a lot of the trees to get it done.”
“What about the ruins?” Feldspar asks, adding to the conversation like they used to once upon a time. “All that debris is just floating around, we’d just need to salvage what we can and dry it out.” Hornfels smiles and they can see Slate’s mouth lift from where they’re laying.
“Unstable.”
It comes from behind them, a practical but warm voice. Feldspar turns to find Gossan, Esker right behind them with some tools in their hand, both of them looking surprised but pleased.
“Yeah, it’s all too old,” Esker nods, and knees down beside Slate to offer them a soldering iron. “It’d be fine for our buildings and ramps, but we can’t rely on it for the dam.”