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

[videointhenoise]

"Consider it an insulting compliment," he teases and buttons up his shirt. "I love you. Ready to face the day?"

[getfeldsparred]

They pull their clothes on slowly, watching Kent pull on his shirt with a lecherous smile. “Yeah, I’m ready. Let’s go find Slate and Hornfels and get this power thing situated.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent doesn't need his sight to be able to see that smile. He can feel it in the way Feldspar's eyes rest on him.

He keeps an arm around his love, walking them both to the door with a hum.

"That's the top priority anyway, or we're sitting ducks here. I don't know how this thing generates power." He hopes that it isn't solar. He fucking hopes.

[getfeldsparred]

“It’s the river,” Hornfels will say, pulling out the diagrams they’ve carefully drawn up with slate. “Light powers the sails on this thing, natural and artificial, but the power comes from the water. Ingenious, actually.”

Slate nods from somewhere behind Hornfels, lying on the floor with two large cables over their head. They look like they’re considering how to reattach them.

“That dam before it broke generated enough backup power to last us a while, but we’ll want to hook everything back up as soon as possible,” they add, a little bolt of electricity passing through the cables and into one of their fingers. They hiss and suck it into their mouth.

“Marl, Tuff, and Gossan have been taking the lead on the construction there,” Hornfels continues to explain. “We’re chopping down a lot of the trees to get it done.”

“What about the ruins?” Feldspar asks, adding to the conversation like they used to once upon a time. “All that debris is just floating around, we’d just need to salvage what we can and dry it out.” Hornfels smiles and they can see Slate’s mouth lift from where they’re laying.

“Unstable.”

It comes from behind them, a practical but warm voice. Feldspar turns to find Gossan, Esker right behind them with some tools in their hand, both of them looking surprised but pleased.

“Yeah, it’s all too old,” Esker nods, and knees down beside Slate to offer them a soldering iron. “It’d be fine for our buildings and ramps, but we can’t rely on it for the dam.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent listens to the explanation with a smile. This feels right. It feels like home. It feels like everything that he's come to love about Timber Hearth and the inhabitants she carries.

He hums a little and kneels down by Slate, who starts to explain to him, in painstaking detail, the way that the cables are attached. Kent already has a few ideas about how to fix it.

"We need a restart," Kent says after a moment of contemplation. "Just - for a few of the nonessential systems."

[getfeldsparred]

“What’re the chances that the other systems will fail?” Feldspar asks.

“Feldspar,” Slate snorts, “asking about the chances of things. Never thought I’d live to see the day.”

“Yeah, well,” they say, rubbing at the back of their head, “I’ve got a hatchling’s heart to protect.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent shakes his head. "They're all separate. But it means that we won't risk electrocution as we try and string the damn things across the river."

He also has to protect Lapis, but he can hear the soft questioning of the other Heartheans around him.

[getfeldsparred]

“Put a jetpack on me an’ Gossan and we can string them up without the risk,” they tell Kent. “But we’ve gotta find the power supply to the…uh.”

They pause, noticing the wide eyes of the others around them.

“Look, I’ll level with you all. The inhabitants of this ship upload their…I dunno, consciousnesses I guess, into a simulation of their home world. There are still people living inside of it.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent sighs as Feldspar explains it. "That's why they're worried about the reset. And why they'd rather strap on a fucking jetpack when the gravity here is nearly twice what it is at home."

[getfeldsparred]

“It was worse on Giant’s Deep,” they remind him, ready for the frown that’s sure to follow. “But it’s worth the risk if it means you and Slate won’t get electrocuted.”

“And it might work,” Gossan adds quietly. Feldspar gives them a grateful nod; Gossan always was the voice of reason. It lends a little more weight to their argument.

“It doesn’t have to be just the jet packs. We can station ourselves along either side, and maybe on one of the sturdier ruins or the canyon,” Hornfels says quietly. “It’d be worth knowing where this simulation is being housed though.”

[videointhenoise]

Voice of reason indeed.

Kent grumbles under his breath.

"We can find that out if we get to the bridge. It should tell us somehow where the power is being routed to."

[getfeldsparred]

“You can leave that part to Slate and I,” Hornfels says. “All these little secrets, how intriguing.”

“We can get Riebeck and Chert on it too. They’re resourceful,” Esker adds. “Riebeck is already looking through all the artifacts and slides, and Chert’s been making charts of the ship.”

[videointhenoise]

"There are more slides underwater," Lapis says as they approach the group. They give Feldspar an apologetic look; they can't stay away for long.

"I can go and get them."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar returns the look with one of their own: annoyed, slightly proud.

“Take Gabbro,” Gossan tells them, using that tone of voice that definitely says ‘this is not an option, you will do as I say’.

“There’s a projection room a little ways up the path. Can you bring what you find there?” Hornfels asks, obviously eager to learn more.

[videointhenoise]

"Okay, Mapa," Lapis says and gestures to Gossan. "We can bring them back there."

Kent sits up. "Take an oxygen tank with you. Wear a suit if you need to. It has a flashlight, too."

[getfeldsparred]

Lapis gives them a look that tells Feldspar that’s exactly what they were going to do, but they nod their head. “I will, dad, promise.”

“And watch for the currents,” Feldspar adds quickly. They suck in their breath, aware that everyone’s eyes on them. That caution, again. “You’ll smash to pieces against those rocks.”

[videointhenoise]

Lapis groans and just leads Gossan off and Kent tilts his head a little at that, leaning over to find Feldspar's hand. He squeezes it gently. "They'll be alright."

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar steps closer to Kent and leans their face in to rest their nose against his cheek. Slate, Esker and Hornfels all suddenly make themselves look busy, and Feldspar smirks softly.

“I know. They’re not really a hatchling anymore, are they?”

[videointhenoise]

"No, they're not. But - I haven't heard them call you that."

It warms him to the core.

[getfeldsparred]

“They did all this morning,” they tell him, lifting their chin to kiss him briefly on his lower lip. “It was…it was real nice to have that again.”

[videointhenoise]

Kent blushes. "You're going to make the rest of the leave," he laughs to himself. He doesn't know who's still around, but he doubts they'll be sticking it out. "But - I'm glad you have it, too."

[getfeldsparred]

“Yeah, I don’t care.” They grin and reach for Kent’s hips to pull him closer. “They can leave if they want. They’ve had you all to themselves for 7 years, it’s my turn.”

And maybe that’s cooing over their hatchling, or maybe it’s being disgustingly flirty with him.

“I should let you work a bit. I’ll find Gossan and see if we located the main information hub.”

[videointhenoise]

"Wait until they're done on their diving trip," he laughs but he returns to where Slate had been and is immediately sucked into a debate about it.

[getfeldsparred]

Feldspar sneaks out when Kent’s immersed in his work with Slate and Hornfels, doing their own walk about to have a real look around. Along the way they find Marl,Hal and Tuff, and they listen with wonder at the story of Tuff’s lost ear, Hal’s translator, and Marl’s tussle with the big tree.

They stick around to help them a bit with the dam, though thankfully they’re able to rest a bit when their energy flags. They creep back to their room and fall into the bed.

[videointhenoise]

Kent and Slate talk and argue for a while until it gets darker. There's talk of new slides that Gossan and Lapis found, so Kent reminds himself to talk to them about it tomorrow. After he gets some rest. After - the others have seen it. Lapis finds his dad, though, not wanting to see the slides again. They died watching those films. Far too many times. Sometimes they would stop one on a certain picture, just to have a certain face be the last thing he sees at the heat death of the universe.