openmisc | 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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

videointhenoise

"They're just like everyone else," Lapis says. "They are just - trying to live in the best way they know. They're certainly more strict. More rigid. And they took a huge risk."

They finish the bridge and walk across it.

From:

getfeldsparred

“Don’t get me wrong, I recognize their brilliance,” they say, following after Lapis. “This place is incredible, and the fact that it lasted this long is an engineering marvel. But it seems like they replaced that bravery when they decided to build this prison.”

From:

videointhenoise

"I know," they tell him. "But that's not - they gave up. But everytime I see them - the Prisoner - it's like everything just is okay again. Because they're so - calm."

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar smiles to themself. “Sounds your like dad,” they say quietly.

From:

videointhenoise

"I'm going to push you out of this data and into the wet data." They walk to the pillar and extinguish the lights on the other side, then trot back to the bridge. They can feel their heart pounding, their chest tight. Everything feels...wrong. Odd. Off.

From:

getfeldsparred

Heh. Feldspar turns to watch the lights go out on one of the three locks on the prison. One down, they suppose, two more to go.

“How do the two of you communicate?” they ask, the thought suddenly occurring to them. They’d gotten lucky with Kent, but lightning can’t strike twice, can it?

From:

videointhenoise

That part's easy. Lapis leads them to the next lock. "They use pictures," they explain. "A viewer that they can use to transmit information directly. They have words and letters but I never figured them out."

They look over their shoulder as they wander back to the lantern's influence. "I guess I can now."

From:

getfeldsparred

“Between you and Hal you’d figure it out,” Feldspar says, remembering Gossan speaking about the translator the two hatchlings had built.

“So…you haven’t been back since the loops ended, right?”

From:

videointhenoise

"Uh...no. No, I didn't want them to disappear again," they admit in a mutter. "Not yet. They just - they leave."

From:

getfeldsparred

Leave? There’s nowhere to go here.

Leave. Feldspar can read between the lines.

“They leave every time?”

From:

videointhenoise

"Every time," they say, unlocking the next key with a sigh. "Every fucking time."

He adds it in a murmur, trying to hold back every drop of emotion.

From:

getfeldsparred

“Oh. Yeah. That’s a problem, huh?”

They step back as Lapis moved to the next key.

“No wonder you’ve been so protective of this place, and why you’re so sad.”

Because yeah, Mapa’s noticed.

From:

videointhenoise

They don't deny it. They want to, but they don't.

"Once, I wasted a whole loop, just to do this. To come back here and see them," they confess. "It was the last time I did it. It felt too...selfish."

From:

getfeldsparred

They can understand why it might seem that way, going through a whole loop just for the prisoner to end it all again. Feldspar reaches for Lapis’s arm and holds them steady, not letting them take another step forward.

“It’s not a waste,” they tell them gently. “And you have time now. All the time in the world. Maybe they need to know that too.”

From:

videointhenoise

Lapis pauses and looks down to the hand and then back to Feldspar. "I know that, but - "

But do they know that? Is that something that they considered?

No. For them...this was the end again. The final end.

But it didn't have to be.

From:

getfeldsparred

“Think of all the things that have happened since the last time you saw them and now,” they press, voice gentle but grip still firm. “We’re all living here now. Think of how much they could help us. If you freed them is there somewhere in this place they’d be safe from being locked up again?”

From:

videointhenoise

"Yes. They know this place. And the others don't tend to leave their little spots. There's plenty of places for him to go. And...if we need to, we can extinguish their flames."

Not that Lapis wants to do anything like that.

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar nods seriously. They wouldn’t want that for Lapis or the other aliens either. “Then…maybe they won’t leave. Maybe you’ve got more time, Lapis.”

From:

videointhenoise

"Maybe," they say with a swallow because it's hard to think about.

Time.

They haven't had that in so long.

"Alright. One last lock."

From:

getfeldsparred

Feldspar draws their hand back with a nod. “Whatever you decide, I’m here for you.”

They hope they choose to fight though. If they’ve done anything worthy for this hatchling, it’d be instilling the need to fight for what you want in this life.

From:

videointhenoise

They sigh and press on until the doors open and they reach out to take Feldspar's hand. "It's....a long walk down," they explain.

From:

getfeldsparred

The structure opens slowly and they’re met with just inky blacknesses. Feldspar’s not sure what they were anticipating, but it certainly wasn’t this, another long and winding path after a long and winding path.

“Let’s get a move on.” Feldspar takes Lapis’ hand and steps towards the darkness with them.

From:

videointhenoise

"Wait," they mutter but follow after their Mapa with a sigh. "It's - it just feels like it goes on forever." And they wander down, carefully picking their way through each step.

From:

getfeldsparred

“Sure as stars dark anyway,” they mutter, squinting all four eyes. They try to adjust the lantern’s light until it shines into a point, bringing them on through to a wooden structure and a lift of sorts.

“Did you…want me to go with you? I assume they’re down there. Or up there. Wherever.”