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]

“I’m gonna stay here and while and listen, I think.” The hissing of the sand sounds like hail, like a thousand pebbles hitting the roof of their cabin as a hatchling.

They want to see it.

It’s so close now they could almost touch it, and when Kent walks away to find Hornfels they sit on the wooden floor and close their eyes. They just listen, and imagine.

[videointhenoise]

Kent leaves them there with a squeeze of his shoulder, and then heads back down the stairs.

He continues to refine the scope, and when Feldspar leaves for Giant's Deep, Kent's calibrated it to scan for his ship.

He's on the radio with him and the others as they listen for his observations.

"Hey, do three complete orbits before you dive into that damn atmosphere," Kent warns them while Slate tries to get them to just head in.

[getfeldsparred]

“It’s fine, Kent! The ship can handle the atmospheric changes!” Slate argues back. “That planet is huge, it’s gonna take them forever to loop around three times!”

In the cockpit Feldspar rolls their eyes and turns the radio down. They’re not going to dive right in, but they’re not going to do three orbits either. There’s a weird space-station thing from the Nomai orbiting the planet that’s a lot more hazardous than anyone probably realized, and it comes on fast each loop because of Giant’s Deep’s heavy pull.

One orbit…two…they circle their ships lower and lower, pushing through the green atmosphere and wondering if the planet itself is going to be covered in the same, thick air. It suddenly clears and Feldspar feels their heart speed up -

“Cyclones! Giant cyclones!”

[videointhenoise]

Kent sighs. "You don't know if -" But he's interrupted by Feldspar's assessment.

"Oh shit," Hornfels mutters, leaning in close as Kent chuckles.

"We heard them up there," Kent reminds them. "But uh...how many?"

[getfeldsparred]

“A dozen at least,” Feldspar shouts, the wind howling in their ear and over the radio. Static pops and fizzles, cutting Feldspar off as they add, “-icked up an island!!!”

[videointhenoise]

An island?

He leans forward, closer to the radio. For a moment, he thinks of Ellie. For a moment, he thinks of her first ride on the Machine.

She says she's okay to go.

"Say again, Feldspar. What about the islands?" Gossan asks, giving room for Kent.

[getfeldsparred]

“Just ——— an —— island! A cyclone —— in the ——“

Feldspar lets the radio hang down so they can grip the controls with both hands, the ship rattling as they try to dodge the island as it crashes back into the ocean with an enormous splash.

“Islands falling out of the sky! Do you copy that, ground control? Gossan! Hornfels! Kent?” They’re not sure how much of that got through - if any of it, as a cyclone approaches the ship and tries to suck their ship in.

[videointhenoise]

The others start to chatter, and Kent waves a hand, shushing them in an instant.

"Wait," he says firmly, then turns the radio all the way up as he concentrates.

"They say - islands falling out of the sky. We copy, Feldspar, we copy!" he tells them calmly. "It's alright."

[getfeldsparred]

Oh, thank the stars, Kent’s heard them. It’s a small consolation though as the cyclone nears, the roar accidentally broadcasting over their radio to ground control.

The ship can’t avoid the cyclone, the strong, fierce winds taking in the ship and spewing it back up into the atmosphere with a roar.

[videointhenoise]

Kent wants to snap at Slate when they try and come closer, but he doesn't. He stays where he is, listening.

"Feldspar, come in. What's going on there buddy?" he asks as the noise from the cyclone almost abruptly cuts out.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar is left a little dizzy from being thrown up into space like that from the cyclone. The radio dangles and smacks them in the face as they try to right themselves ship, blinking quietly for a moment in shock.

That’s the second time a planet’s thrown them up into the air.

Slowly they begin to grin.

“Hey, can you hear me? I’m fine. I’m good. A cyclone sucked me right up and spat me right back into space. Those storms are no joke!”

They want to go again.

[videointhenoise]

Kent lets out a breath. "Yeah, yeah, flyboy, we hear you. Just showing off, huh?"

He gives the comm to Gossan and shrinks back to the far wall, letting the others handle it from here.

[getfeldsparred]

“Wasn’t trying to that time!” they laugh, waiting for the inevitable chastising to come from Hornfels.

Hornfels delivers their typical spiel about being more careful, and Feldspar pretends to listen while they’re already diving back through the clouds to look closer at those islands. They wonder if they can land on one of them…

Later, much later, when they’ve found a place to make a temporary camp and collect their rock samples and whatnot, they pick up the radio.

“Feldspar to Kent?”

[videointhenoise]

The others have dispersed, still in the observatory but doing various other jobs, and Kent is waiting hy the radio, fiddling with his record player. He's got a suckef in his mouth and so it cracks against his teeth as he answers.

"Kent here. You really should all learn about surnames."

[getfeldsparred]

The wind is occasionally still rough and makes the connection fizzle, but thankfully right now Feldspar can hear Kent loud and clear. They even hear click of the candy against his teeth, and they laugh a little as they bring the mic up to their lips.

“Why? What’s a surname?”

[videointhenoise]

"It's a family name. So - my full name is Kent Clark. My parents had last names of Clark. It's not something that works here, but it is funny to think about."

He smirks a bit. "Everyone has the same last name."

[getfeldsparred]

They frown a bit. Yeah, Kent’s right, that doesn’t work for Hearthians.

“Yeah, we’d only have the one, I guess? It doesn’t really work that way with us.” They pause for a moment. “Well. Maybe Gneiss and Tekite would have the same surname, if it works in the romantic sense. I don’t know how it’d work with the hatchlings though!”

[videointhenoise]

"Eh, they can pick their own. Imagine what Chert would pick," he teases lightly.

"Chert Starchart."

He laughs fondly. "What's your island like?"

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar laughs.

“It’s got a few trees, actually. I have no idea how they’re surviving. There are a few caves and a sandy beach too. The cyclones get close every once in a while, so I don’t think I’ll be sleeping here.”

But they do sit down by the fire they made.

“Rutile Boringmeetings.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent snorts.

"Maybe try and anchor yourself down before you sleep," he suggests.

"Slate Canttakeajoke."

[getfeldsparred]

They don’t think they’ll be sleeping tonight, but Kent doesn’t need to know that.

“Slate can take a joke!” they snort. “Slate Soldering Iron.”

[videointhenoise]

"Maybe with you!" he snorts. "But fine. I'll give you that. Slate Safety-Ignorer."

He sits back. "What about you, hm? What would your name be?"

[getfeldsparred]

“Probably something to do with explosions,” Feldspar sighs.

They can’t see through the atmosphere here, so they can’t see the stars. It’s a shame. Looking out they can at least imagine they’re seeing Timber Hearth and the rest of the night sky.

“I’d want something about the stars though.”

[videointhenoise]

He's quiet for a moment.

"Did I tell you about pulsars yet?" he wonders. "Stars that move so fast that they make a choppy sound, but they're powerful and - they sound beautiful."

[getfeldsparred]

“No,” they say, but quiet down knowing Kent will explain it to them.

“I bet they’re incredible.”

A star that moves so fast the sound can’t keep up.