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]

“So you say, but what if this planet was formed differently? Everything about this solar system seems contrary to what you know.”

They keep Kent close to help them navigate the various purple plateaus and hills, though they pause when they see an odd glow up ahead. “There’s a crack in the equator. We’ll need to find a way around it or we’ll fall in.”

[videointhenoise]

"It would help if we could decipher the Nomai writing," he grumbles, but pauses. "You can't jump it?"

[getfeldsparred]

“Ah…”

Feldspar looks down into the giant chasm, the black hole swirling below their feet.

“No, we can’t jump this one.”

But they can try to go around! They swerve to try and see if the hole closes up, hoping they’ll find the little settlement.

“I noticed something interesting as I was looking down though - I think there are buildings underneath the surface.”

[videointhenoise]

"Shit, really? That must be what I was hearing. Stuff down there."

He leans down. "I wish I could take this stupid helmet off."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar wishes they could too - Kent’s got a handsome mug under that vision.

As far as aliens go, of course.

“I can send the scout down, but recalling it might be difficult,” they say with a frown. “Best bet is to get to those buildings. How’s your oxygen?”

[videointhenoise]

He checks it with a thoughtful frown. "It's fine," he mutters. "Not even halfway."

[getfeldsparred]

“Good.”

They could spare a little of theirs for Kent if he does need it, but over halfway is a good sign.

Feldspar carries on, hopping them both from platform to platform, trying to find those structures they’d spotted on multiple flyovers. They see the trees first - sad-looking things, obviously not native to the planet, as they explain to Kent - and then the crumbling buildings. “Just four or so buildings.”

They pull Kent further along for more inspection, describing the scattered remains of a few Nomai skeletons and some of the artifacts they’d left behind - including some glowing crystals.

[videointhenoise]

"Glowing crystals?" he murmurs. "What color?"

Because if they're radioactive, he's going to pull Feldspar bodily back to the ship on his own.

[getfeldsparred]

“Green and eerie,” Feldspar teases, pulling a very rudimentary scope for measuring radiation. “We should try to lick them, don’t you think?”

Their tool beeps and boops and Feldspar squints at the panel. “They’re purplish-blue. No radiation detected aside from the typical background specs.”

[videointhenoise]

"Asshole," he mutters playfully. "You're such a dick."

He moves in closer. "Are they just - out in the open?"

[getfeldsparred]

They don’t know either of those words, but they’re obviously not compliments. Typically, they imagine.

“They look like they’re being worked on. Shaped, I guess. Someone was cutting and refining them for some purpose, there are metal bands around them, like you could attach them to something.”

[videointhenoise]

"And you haven't touched them yet?" he laughs. "That's not the Feldspar I know."

[getfeldsparred]

“The Feldspar you know needed to make sure they weren’t going to blister their fingers!”

But to Kent’s credit they are walking quickly to inspect the crystals. They pick one up and feel…heavy. Really heavy. “Hey, hold this. Tell me what you feel.”

[videointhenoise]

"Youre wearing gloves, aren't you?"

He holds out his hands and whistles a little as it weighs him down considerably.

"It's dense. Wow."

He lifts and drops it slightly, testing the weight.

[getfeldsparred]

“Of course I’m wearing gloves,” Feldspar snorts. “Yeah, like I said, but don’t you feel heavier too? Like weighted down?”

[videointhenoise]

"No, but..."

He hums, reconsidering his answer. "Yeah, actually. I do. I just didn't notice before."

He lifts it again. "Huh. Can you still feel it now?"

[getfeldsparred]

“When I’m standing near you. Hold on, let me move a few steps away…hm. The same…the same…the sa-no, normal!”

[videointhenoise]

"This thing must alter gravity in some way. Be careful if you want to take this back. You might need to get Slate to make adjustments or you might fly too heavy."

He sets it back down and steps back. "I can't believe this..."

[getfeldsparred]

A crystal that alters gravity - what a find! “Maybe. I’ll radio to Slate and see what they think. We can leave it there for now and keep looking for a way down. The Nomai must have built a shelter underground to hide from that lava-filled moon.”

[videointhenoise]

"I don't want to talk about that moon," Kent teases, but walls back until he feels the gravity return to normal.

"Alright. Let's go. Keep going down."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar eagerly grabs for Kent’s hand, forgetting in the moment to properly guide him by the elbow, and moves them through the ruins in the hopes of finding some kind of staircase or elevator or something. They describe what they’re seeing as they explore with him, all the swirled Nomai writing and the skeletons that look like the Nomai just died where they last sitting or standing, the strange little plants that somehow, above all rationale, put out enough oxygen to register on their HUD. Finally they come across a set of stairs, more of those crystals lining the path up ahead.

“Two things - found the stairs. Some of them. They sort of disappear into the dark.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent follows along as best he can, also too enthused to correct him. He's able to move well enough and feels steady on his feet.

He does knock Feldspar in the leg with his stick when they stop, though.

"Don't you have a flashlight?" he deadpans.

[getfeldsparred]

“I have a flashlight!” they argue. “It’s just…the stairs are gone. Like they didn’t exist. I don’t see anything! Except….huh. Those crystals on the wall.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent tilts his head, mulling it over for a minute.

He has to twist the logic in a way that would make his professors at school scratch their heads, but things don't follow the same laws any longer.

He gives Feldspar a nudge.

"Put your foot on the wall near the crystals."

[getfeldsparred]

Put their foot on the wall near the crystals. It’s a very Feldspar Solution to a puzzle, and for once they don’t follow the logic. If the crystal makes everything heavier -

Except it doesn’t, does it?

They grin so wide their face starts to hurt. Of course that’s how it works, of course! They walk down the steps and take a step forward, immediately twisting as the crystal yanks their center of gravity towards the wall. They wobble a little, off-balance and feeling like they’ve just done a spin in their ship, but finally right themselves with both feet on the wall.

The awe is overwhelming, but so is the exhilaration. They whoop loudly. “Kent, it holds! It holds! They built a path on the wall with the crystals! I can see it, it goes all the way down!”