middleofsomewhere | Conclusion

Conclusion

Thank you.

For those inside the system the voices of the Great-Seasons ring out around them once the red mass has vanished and the blue plinth it was smothering is freed once more. They don't have all that much time to reflect on that before they find themselves waking up once more in their bodies around the tree trunks.

Or at least, around the tube that is the Great-Season they entered through. All illusions have vanished now, all that is left are pipes and metal.

The Great-Seasons allow them passage out from the centre, no sentries or pipes attack them this time. Everything seems to have been put to rights, the walls in the Autumn sector have stopped moving, there is no strange weather effects in the Summer Sector, no engineering problems in Winter and all the camaloid creatures in Spring are calm. Any Helpmates they come across are doing their jobs and no longer malfunctioning.

After a small amount of time, enough to check that all is well, their SCA's light up. All Passengers are to return to the Voidtrecker Express.

Considering the vast distances involved it is probably best that they use the evacuation function to return to the Luggage carriage.

Once all Voidtreckers have returned the train returns to the Void once more.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"You don't have to." Soldat sets it down in the middle of the table, and sits opposite to Yoite. "Are you not hungry?"

He kind of did have to eat, he promised Ichigo because he was way too thin as it was.

"Not...not really." Yoite shook his head. "It's normal for me. I don't feel well much of the time."

"And eating doesn't help you feel better?" Soldat knows the gnawing nausea that comes from not eating enough, but if it's chronic.... They definitely push the plate closer to Yoite, then, looking vaguely concerned. There's a fork sitting on it, ready for use.

"Not really." Yoite shook his head, but he picked up the fork and took a bite.

"I used to eat a lot, but it's just strange now."

"Why is it strange?" Soldat asks, nodding in encouragement for the bite. They're glad they made a well-rounded omelet. Yoite can get plenty of protein and vitamins from thig.

And, because that might be personal, or traumatic, they add, "You don't have to answer. But. If you'd like to."

"It's been strange since I lost my sense of taste." Yoite explained. He didn't find it hard to say, but it was fairly traumatic in the sense that he'd always enjoyed food before, when he got it, and it was another sign that his time was coming to a close.

"Oh. Hell, I'm sorry." Which means now Soldat is going to start... trying to find interesting textures to try and share with Yoite in particular. "No wonder eating's hard. How long has it been?"

"It was, I think a month before I came here or so. It got worse for a bit and then just stopped." Yoite admitted.

"Like my hearing." He explained. "It's caused by the same problem. And my vision's not as good as it was, but I've only gone blind a couple of times, and just for a few minutes."

Soldat nods. Then nods again, more firmly. "I will try to make the food I cook have interesting textures, then. That might make it easier for you."

He nodded a bit, he might like that. "I um, also like things that smell strongly." Yoite admitted. He had some favourites too, but each of the two were specifically tied to the people that made it for him, so that didn't work so well.

"You can still smell?" They perk up. Smell and taste seemed so strongly linked, they'd just assumed. (Teach us not to do that, huh?) "Good, yes. I can work with that."

They settle back in their seat, already thinking of things with strong scent. Coffee, sure, but that's not that full of calories and vitamins. (~~Mochas.~~ Ooo. That might be the first good idea you've ever had, Pit.)

After a moment of letting Yoite eat, they ask, "If you weren't in here for food. Why were you in here?"

Yoite nodded at that. "Yes...I think it's my only sense that's not noticeably damaged."

He considered the second question and looked down a moment before he continued to eat. He was being watched, it was easier to eat at the moment.

"I was just thinking. About the mission and everything. How much more useless I've become."

"Don't think anyone's useless," Soldat points out. (Well. Okay, a couple people are useless. But not people who don't want to be. Okay, fair.) But they're already guessing: "Your qi thing didn't work on the holograms either?" It didn't work on robots, so probably not on other non-living combatants.

"It wouldn't have, no, but I prepared for that. I have weapons now."

Yoite didn't brandish them, or show them off and they weren't immediately visible either. He wasn't an elite ninja for nothing.

"I got scolded for a lack of situational awareness. And he was right."

Oh, good. Soldat doesn't need to see them; they're just glad he has them. Their own couple of knives are pretty well-hidden.

They tilt their head at the admission, then nod. "Well, that's fixable," Soldat says, unperturbed by it. "That's a thing you can train up."

He sighed a little, slumping in on himself. "I don't know that I can." He frowned.

"No." He shook his head. "I have to."

"You can. I promise. I have trained people in observation and situational awareness." They tilt their head at him. They'll have to adjust their lessons for his deafness, but they're sure they can do that, especially if he can still smell. "I can help. If you want."

"I..." Yoite began and pressed his lips together. The problem was that he didn't exactly have the best experience with trainers.

But, maybe, he could use the help.

"...Okay, it would be helpful."

Soldat grins, relieved, after that long pause. "Good. Okay, good. First part, it's easy. Every day, you walk through the train. Same time every day, don't care when, you can pick a time to tell me. And you count everything I tell you to look for that day. Or smell for. Or touch. Then you tell me, after, what you found. I tell you what you missed, if anything. Teaches you to be alert."

That's the simplest part, a way to start. Their other ideas, for how to compensate for the loss of hearing in an actual battle, they'll start on when he's had some time to get settled into just observing.

"That sounds good but..." Yoite paused, not that he wanted to argue with someone trying to help him.

"I don't know what the time is on the train." He admitted.

Ah, well. Not everyone has a handy tablet with a clock in it, they suppose. "We all wake up at exactly the same time every morning," Soldat offers. "Pick a number of hours after that. Or a certain amount of hours before bedtime. It doesn't have to be exact."

That was true, at the same time every day Yoite woke up, and then he usually made his way to get something to eat, because of Ichigo's suggestions.

"Okay. Maybe..." He paused. "Four hours after I wake up?"

"Sounds perfect," they say, sitting back, satisfied. They'll have plenty of time before then make their own trek through the train, to maybe set up some things for Yoite to find if there aren't a lot of the day. "You want me to get you anything else, while you're in here?" Nodding to his half-eaten omelet and untouched juice. "I've got some crackers with an interesting texture I could bring out."

The reminder that he was supposed to be eating was enough for him to take another bite. He considered that and nodded a bit. "Crackers?"

They might be more interesting to him. It wasn't that he didn't want to eat, it was just a different kind of challenge.

"Yeah. They've got this kinda weave thing-- hang on, I'll get you some. Be right back, okay?" They pick themselves up, already plotting on getting some soft cheese and the ever-present avocado slices for stacking with the crackers, for Yoite. That has to be an interesting texture combination, he's sure of it.

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