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]

The astronaut with five-fingers seems disoriented to the point their movement’s a little stunted. Feldspar hops their way over to them, careful to keep space between them but close enough to offer help.

“Brittle Hollow’s an uninhabited planet,” they explain. Clearly they’re not from here. Or this solar system, for that matter. “Are you…uh. Okay, weird question, but where are you from?”

[videointhenoise]

"Oh. Uh. Oklahoma?" he says cautiously, hearing the sound of hopping. "The gravity here feels - odd. Not like what I'm used to at all."

[getfeldsparred]

Oklahoma. That's not a thing.

"Gravity's about .8 less than it is on Timber Hearth," Feldspar tells them. "Which is probably less than whatever you're used to on...Oklahoma."

[videointhenoise]

Kent tilts his head in the helmet. "What is - Timber Hearth? Where's that?" He's getting an interesting feeling. A terrible feeling.

A feeling that something shitty has happened.

[getfeldsparred]

“It’s…in the solar system. In space. In the universe.”

The more they talk the more they feel their heart sink. This is not helping.

“Uh. It’s where I’m from. Where…you’re not from, now that I keep talking and…there’s no place called Oklahoma here, so why are you here? Where were you expecting to land?”

[videointhenoise]

"I don't know," he admits. "We didn't know what this Machine would do."

He takes another hesitant step forward. "You've never heard of Earth, have you?" he asks in a hush.

[getfeldsparred]

No, they've never heard of Earth. Earth sounds a lot like Hearth, but they suspect that's just a coincidence.

"No," Feldspar answers quietly. "You didn't know what your space craft would do? You couldn't pilot it?"

[videointhenoise]

Kent hesitates a moment, wondering how much to say.

But if his hunch is right, then it doesn't really matter. "No. It's just a sphere. No controls. The - beings who gave it to us didn't tell us how to pilot it. Only how to turn it on."

[getfeldsparred]

Jumping into alien technology without knowing what it does. Feldspar begins to smile behind the helmet, ever-so-slightly.

There’s still the matter of all the other questions this being brings up

“And it launched you…here.” Feldspar dares to get a little closer. “There’s no life on this planet. Just the relics of a long-dead civilization.”

[videointhenoise]

He hums. "You are here," he points out.

"Perhaps that's the difference? Perhaps they wanted me to meet you."

[getfeldsparred]

Well it would have been nice if Feldspar had been a part of this plan. If either of them had, really!

"Maybe. I don't know what you're talking about, so I can't really weigh in on any of that. All I know is that I just finished landing my ship for the first time on this planet and then heard this crazy crash behind me! But...guess that means you can't exactly go back to your home."

[videointhenoise]

Kent laughs. "No, I don't think so. Uh. Don't suppose you have the fuel to get me back to somewhere...habitable?"

It's all he can do to stave off the feeling of doom and disaster looming in his chest.

[getfeldsparred]

It's not as though Feldspar wasn't going to take this alien back with them. They're stranded here, it would be cruel to leave them to die.

"I've got the fuel. The ship's sorta crowded, and I was going to do a little exploring, but I should probably take you somewhere with breathable air, huh?"

They rise up and jerk their thumb towards their own chest. "Name's Feldspar."

[videointhenoise]

What an odd name.

"Kent. And - I'm not really good for exploring, but I don't want to keep you from it. I have plenty of breathable air here."

[getfeldsparred]

Kent. They haven’t heard that kind of name before.

“I mean, it’s all relative, right? Why worry about exploring a bunch of dead alien relics when I have an alien, alive and well, right in front of me?”

[videointhenoise]

"An alien."

He laughs, a little in disbelief. "Yeah. Uh. I guess. But - "

He doesn't have an argument against that. "Well, I'll follow you. You've got the advantage."

[getfeldsparred]

“You’re an alien. You meet the definition! You’re not from this solar system.” Duh!

Feldspar laughs and stands up straight to have a look around at this particular plateau. The Lantern isn’t directly overhead so it’s a little dark, but probably a lot safer despite the visual issues.

“Ship’s behind me. Just be careful - there’s a reason we call this Brittle Hollow. The ground isn’t very sturdy.”

[videointhenoise]

"What makes it that way?" he wonders. "I don't know much about the other planets. Just the ones in our own system," he says, his hands out as he walks.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar sees their unsteady movement on the ground and walks a little closer. It’s really dark on this side of the planet.

“There’s a volcanic moon that circles around this planet, occasionally spewing flaming asteroids at the surface. We think most of the alien settlements here are below ground.”

Well. We as in the archeological-minded among the Hearthians.

[videointhenoise]

"A what? Why?"

He leans down and places a gloved hand on the dirt. "Why bother?"

[getfeldsparred]

“No idea,” they say, hopping up the small ledge. They lean down and hold out their hand to the alien, brushing the tips of their gloved fingers against theirs. “We haven’t figured it out yet. Out any of it yet, honestly. The civilization is old and we’re not even sure they’re native to our solar system.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent reaches over and takes the hand offered. It doesn't quite fit, because of the bulkiness of the gloves, but at least he has some sort of stability now.

"Are you native to your solar system?" he wonders.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar can see that the alien’s having trouble adapting - and it’s not like their suit has a built-in jet pack, at least from what they can see anyway, so they keep hold of their hand as they walk forward.

“From what we can tell,” Feldspar answers. “Are you?”

[videointhenoise]

"Most likely, yes. As much as anyone can be."

He has his theories, of course, but nothing to be substantiated. "This is all - real weird. You know that, right?"

[getfeldsparred]

“Probably the weirdest thing I’ve encountered so far,” agrees Feldspar. It’s really weird! But space travel seems weird too, and full of unexpected things. “Without a doubt! Hang on to my arm a sec, I’m going to jump down a little and ease the fall with my jets.”