middleofsomewhere | Deep Dweller: Conclusion

Victory

Deep in the desert, with the combined might and light of those working for Red and Orange teams a monster shatters. Not just any monster but the large, silver giant, shards melting away as they hit the sand.

A blast of energy, ripples from it, passing through Voidtreckers harmlessly but shattering any monsters that managed to survive the final battle.

In the laboratory it is the same story, monsters shattering and crumbling both inside the facility and outside. In the tunnels too, monsters crumble before Terran, Gry and Voidtrecker's alike.

Deep down in the cavern the combined might of those working with Purple and Blue, the Terran and the Gry has already cleared the cavern, with not one monster getting through to lay a claw on the Dweller.

There is a pause, another and yet another. No more monsters pour through the walls. Any monsters that somehow survived the blasting of light from those fighting at both entrances crumble now. Everyone in the cavern will feel a deep sated peace fill them. The terror and fear those in the Gry caverns had been feeling fades into deep satisfaction.

There are no words, but there is definitely a sense of gratitude, a thank you of emotions. The Gry are more vocal in their thanks, antennae waving and reaching out to stroke at Voidtrecker and Terran hands alike. Soon the older Gry gather the younglings and they circle the Burrower, the Terran take their leave respectfully, ushering any Voidtreckers out, leaving the Gry to their god.

It's a long climb up, for any who don't simply use their SCA to return to the train.

Meanwhile...

Those in the Terran tunnels, helping to clear up and rebuild after the chaos of the week may hear something interesting on the news that is spoken about.

A number of Terran had been found in various places around the world, in the desert, unconscious and injured. Assumed to be victims of all that had happened they had been taken to various hospitals. Yet the first couple had woken up, claiming to be scientists from the surviving lab.

How they had gotten to the desert is unhelpfully sumerised as activated alien technology to escape their besieged facility but there is much rejoicing and relief from Terran, a renewed hope that those missing may be alive, somewhere in the world. Even if the question of how they got there is on everyone's lips.

Both the Terran and the Gry who remained in their caverns are in high spirits, thankful to those that helped.

Return of the Voidtrecker.

All teams return to the Voidtrecker Express. The holographic message comes with helpful pick up point dots on their maps.

The Voidtrecker swoops through the air, landing gracefully on a set of railway tracks and approaching an area just outside the research facility, close enough to both there and the battleground where red and orange had fought for both teams to board.

Once everyone is onboard it speeds towards the tunnels. It picks up first those in the Gry caverns, followed by those in the Terran city and finally stopping to collect anyone climbing from the tunnels leading to the Dwellers domain.

Once all Voidtreckers are accounted for it leaves the tunnels and flies off into the sky and back into the void.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Yes. It would be being very stupid if the world did be getting wrecked when we did be working so hard."

She doesn't actually care. It would be pretty good chaos if the burrower ended up bursting out the planet. But she would rather the stupid monster fighting not be for nothing.

"We should stay optimistic about it, but..." Ple Two looks thoughtful. "I'm not good at quieting my mind at times like this."

She tilted her head at that, "Do you no be knowing how to be quieting it?"

She would have thought Ple Two had some trick like the emptiness. But it really didn't seem like many people in other worlds knew how to do that.

"I had no formal training of any kind in the matter." Which is bad with psychic child soldiers who get all messed up by meeting other psychics! "It's been... improvisation on my part."

She blinked at Ple Two and wrinkled her nose. Thinking for a moment. It was strange that Ple Two doesn't know anything like it at all. She knows Ple Two is trained, she is good at what she does. She is surprised quieting her mind was not part of that.

"I can be teaching you if you do be wanting. I do be knowing a good trick."

To be perfectly frank, her master was selectively competent. Great at inspiring soldiers to ride to their deaths with his charisma, but beyond that? Eh. Still had her pretty brainwashed.

"That might help. My senses - I can feel others minds to a degree... so quieting that would help." It's hard to explain, and hard to figure out what it really is even to herself.

She nodded thoughtfully. "Then I will be teaching you." She smiled. "We can be starting now if you do be having trouble."

She's pretty tired, but sleeping can wait, it's not like they aren't going to have plenty of time to rest before the next mission.

"If you're ready to teach, then this might be a good time to try it." Hopefully at least. Or maybe they'll just fall asleep trying.

"Okay." She nodded and looked around. "We should be sitting down."

She gestured to the nearby seats. "Do you be meditating at all?"

Ple Two followed, and sat, and shook her head. "Nothing... that I would call meditation."

"Okay." She nodded, she had met plenty of people that didn't have a basis in meditation here, but Ple Two would have the discipline for it at least, unlike some.

"I do be assuming you do be knowing the concept of meditation and this trick do be starting like that, be sitting comfortably and be focusing on how you do be breathing."

"I've heard of the basics, yes." She shifted, trying cross-legged for a moment; slowing her breathing. "This might work."

She hoped it did, she slowed her breathing, breathing carefully and counting breaths. Normally she didn't need to enter the emptiness so meticulously, but for showing how it was done... It was the best way.

"Be breathing in and be counting to five and then be breathing out and be counting to six and be repeating that."

It couldn't be terribly difficult to learn, right? But she was being taught by someone who simply held it as part of her life.

Ple Two did as instructed. The slow, deep breathing was a little calming with even the first repetition.

She kept breathing as well, but watched Ple Two, glad to see that she had gotten the hang of it quickly.

"Now you do be thinking about a storm, in your head be imagining the biggest storm you can be imagining."

This was actually a more difficult part.

"...I am not accustomed to storms..." she said quietly. The fatal flaw of living in outer space.

"You did be being on the islands. That did be being a big storm. And when we did be being on the stupid snow world. That did be being a storm."

She shrugged, "Where I do be coming from storms did be being mostly wind, and it did be blowing up all the sand and dust but sometimes it did be raining. All storms do be being different but if you can be thinking of something else... A fire do be consuming things too. You can be thinking of one of those."

"Something... dangerous and chaotic like that..." The storm on the island. A raging fire. A colony drop; a massive impact devastating a city.

"Yes, be imagining it in your head and then you do be throwing things into it. Pain, anger, sadness. All of that do be going into the storm."

Doing it slow like this was always good practice, good to reinforce the training, strengthen her mastery of it.

"Into it... destroy those feelings..." Burn them to ashes, until they can blow away in the wind.

"Yes." She nodded, "Be putting them all into the storm." She fell into silence for a few moments, "Then be putting more into it, the other feelings, even the good ones. It do all be needing to be going in. It do no be being forever." Because this was the point where Peter had got all stupid about it.

"But for now you do be putting everything into the storm, even me."

Deep Dweller: Conclusion

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Another victim of notif fails...

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