Kent/Feldspar
Dec. 13th, 2024 07:37 pm"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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Date: 2025-08-10 06:14 pm (UTC)Esker and Gabbro come and find Kent later where he's been sitting. "Hey Kent," Gabbro says and Kent smiles sadly at the familiar voice.
"Hey kid."
"We - uh. We've got something to show you."
Kent hadn't forgotten about Feldspar, but he assumed that something had happened. Maybe Lapis had been wrong. Maybe they'd been unable to get him. Maybe - a thousand different maybes. He doesn't know.
But he isn't thinking of that as he stands up to follow, Gabbro taking his arm and leading him over the unfamiliar terrain.
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Date: 2025-08-10 09:29 pm (UTC)They lie down on the soft blanket Gneiss spread on the floor for them and sleep fretfully, listening as Gneiss quietly speaks to Esker about the resources they were able to bring.
“…some medicines, seeds to grow herbs. I didn’t realize they’d be here…”
“No one really thought they were alive,” comes Esker’s voice. “Except Kent and Lapis, anyway.”
They sleep for a while after that, rousing when they hear a soft knock at the door. Gneiss stops playing their banjo and rises to slide open the door. “Come in. They’re awake.”
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Date: 2025-08-11 12:41 am (UTC)"It's Feldspar," Gabbro says softly. "They're just behind the door and - they're real rough, Kent. Like...years of starving and living by themselves rough."
Kent nods and Lapis takes Gabbro's hand briefly. "Hey, I can - come back later, okay? Dad needs to be by himself for it."
Gabbro nods and they open the door and Kent smells the sharp tang of antiseptic along with herbs he knows are meant for healing. He steps open and Gneiss reaches out for his hand, squeezing it hard.
"Felds?" he asks, swallowing hard.
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Date: 2025-08-11 01:38 am (UTC)Feldspar’s mouth goes dry at the sight of him. The light is dim, but they can see the grays in his hair, the stubble on his face, the lines around his eyes and mouth. He’s gotten older, but he’s no less beautiful.
“Kent.” Their voice is a harsh whisper, caught in his throat and struggling to escape. “It’s…me.”
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Date: 2025-08-11 02:24 am (UTC)He shudders at how fragile they feel, how skeletal their hand is. "I know," he says and the tears fall freely from his eyes.
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Date: 2025-08-11 02:37 am (UTC)Kent’s real. This is really real. It’s not a hallucination - there’d been times they thought Kent was there with them - but Kent actually in front of them now.
“Not what I imagined our reunion would be. The ship’s a surprise.”
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Date: 2025-08-12 12:41 am (UTC)"I imagined it a thousand times," Kent says. "I...I thought about it, dreamed about it. Even when everyone said I shouldn't."
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Date: 2025-08-12 01:11 am (UTC)They pull back and their chin drops to their chest, their tears falling just as freely as Kent’s.
“I don’t think this is real,” they admit, voice hoarse. “I’ve hallucinated this before.”
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Date: 2025-08-12 01:49 am (UTC)He smiles a little. "Does your hallucination know how to talk Earth gibberish?"
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Date: 2025-08-13 12:42 am (UTC)They pull their hand back. “Maybe I never made it out of the Dark Bramble.”
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Date: 2025-08-13 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-08-13 01:48 am (UTC)This isn’t right. Hallucination or not, they can’t let the facade slip. They can see what they’re doing to Kent - what they’ve already done to him - and shake their head softly.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” they tell him. “It just all feels like a dream still. And I missed you and Lapis so much.”
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Date: 2025-08-13 02:05 am (UTC)He doesn't push. He can't. Not now. "I won't ask. You need to rest, alright?"
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Date: 2025-08-13 10:49 pm (UTC)“Can I see the hatchling?”
The. Not ‘our’. They don’t even realize their mistake.
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Date: 2025-08-14 01:56 am (UTC)Kent notices it but he doesn't let any dismay show.
This is going to be a process, and he's here for the long haul.
"They're just outside. Do you want me to bring them in?" he wonders, pushing himself to standing.
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Date: 2025-08-15 10:51 pm (UTC)There are too many unknowns, and Feldspar can’t concentrate on the man in front of them with their brain still jumbled up. They do stare at him for a minute though, as though Kent might finally disappear again.
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Date: 2025-08-16 01:15 am (UTC)They settle down in front of Feldspar, helping their Dad to the floor without falling.
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Date: 2025-08-16 09:07 pm (UTC)“I heard a little of what you said to Gabbro,” they say, voice little more with a whisper but still confident. “How did the loop start? How many times did you find me?”
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Date: 2025-08-16 09:10 pm (UTC)Lapis thinks a moment. "A dozen or so. I stopped after a while because you never remembered. But sometimes I spent the entire loop with you," they explain.
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Date: 2025-08-16 11:05 pm (UTC)They wonder what they were like. Were they still energetic enough to be excited by the sight of their hatching as a full blown astronaut? They’ll never know.
“How did it start? With the death of the sun?”
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Date: 2025-08-17 01:04 am (UTC)Lapis pauses. "It started - yeah. With the sun going supernova and creating enough energy that it caused old Nomai technology to activate."
Kent lets out a breath. "They had been chasing the Eye of the Universe," he fills in gently. He's memorized Lapis' story.
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Date: 2025-08-17 09:36 pm (UTC)“And what’s the Eye of the Universe?”
Any Nomai writing translation had come way after their time.
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Date: 2025-08-17 09:39 pm (UTC)"Um...that's a little more complicated. It is a way for a new universe to be created," they explain. "It's quantum. Like the quantum moon."
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Date: 2025-08-17 10:10 pm (UTC)“That Nomai mural you brought back from the Attlerock, with the intricate symbol. You found it at an observatory that tracked the locations of all the other planets in the solar system.”
They nod; that much tracks.
“That symbol was the Eye of the Universe. It sent out a signal that the Nomai intercepted, essentially bringing them to our solar system. They were trapped in the Dark Bramble, but two escape pods managed to get free. That’s how they settled our sun system.”
“Okay,” Feldspar says slowly. “But…what is it? It brought a whole alien civilization to our doorstep.”
“Two, actually,” Lapis says, grinning lopsidedly. “Yeah, uh. It predates the universe. I guess it’s…the start and end of all things.”
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Date: 2025-08-18 01:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
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