Enemy Unknown: Conclusion

[voidtreckermods]

The third night is as long and creepy as the others...

It might be that they found the engine room, solved the puzzles and found themselves in the hangar bay with no way out. It might be that they were still in the station hiding from the invisible monsters. Or it might be that they had been plucked from the mission and were waiting in their holding room.

Either way morning dawns on the fourth day...

---

ENEMY: UNKNOWN

---

DAY FOUR

the trapped. THOSE WHO SOLVED THE ENGINE ROOM SPENT THE NIGHT IN A LARGE HANGAR THAT DOES NOT SEEM TO HAVE ANY DOORS. Their SCA's are working, so they can still communicate with those in the station, perhaps talk them through the engine room puzzles or tell them to stay clear. As morning comes all the lights in the hangar come on. Brighter than any lights so far in the station, harsh white light after the eerie red of the rest of the mission.

Everyone still in the station wakes where they fell asleep - if they slept at all. It's not long after most people are up and about that they will hear a high-pitched beep from their SCA, and then a blue light will envelop them and those around them. It might be they spot their friends vanishing before they too disappear.

They arrive in the hangar, reunited with those who spent the night there. All their gear is with them at least, but that doesn't solve the problem of being in a hangar with no obvious way out. Nor are any of those who vanished during the last three days here, their SCA's still go unanswered.

---

the vanished. FOR THOSE IN THE HOLDING ROOM, THEIR NIGHT HAS PROCEEDED MUCH LIKE THE NIGHTS BEFORE. One of the screens showed the hangar, and those that had succeeded in completing the engine room task. The lights had dimmed for sleeping and turned on again bright in the morning. For those watching the screens they will see those in the station vanish in blue light and turn up in the hangar.

Around half an hour later a voice sounds in the room. "Please gather your belongings and prepare for release."

It's another ten minutes, allowing them to make sure they have all their things before their SCA's beep. They are then surrounded by a blue light, taking them from the room they had spent the last few days in.

REUNITED

reunion. AN HOUR PASSES AFTER FIRST ARRIVALS PASS IN THE HANGAR. Suddenly, there is another flash of blue light, and the missing eighteen Voidtreckers appear with the rest of their crew. They will find they had all their gear as well, including their missing weapons.

They are left to their own devices for a small while, a time for reuniting with friends, but not long enough to exchange stories before a voice rings out in the hangar:

"THANK YOU CREW OF THE VOIDTRECKER EXPRESS FOR YOUR COMPLIANCE. YOU MAY RETURN TO YOUR CRAFT."
There is a loud mass of beeping as everyone's SCA's flashes at the same time, holographic messages popping up too fast to be able to read them in their entirety.

Voidtreckers come in.

All Voidtreckers return to the Voidtrecker Express

Voidtreckers evacuate now

Voidtreckers do you read?

Layers of holographic messages pile on top of each other but a moment later everyone's SCA's glow gold and everyone vanishes from the hangar...

LUGGAGE CARRIAGE

return. EVERYONE ARRIVES INSIDE THE LUGGAGE CARRIAGE, PACKED LIKE SARDINES BETWEEN SUITCASES AND TRUNKS. There is no announcement, no warning of returning to the void; just a lurch that is likely to throw anyone on the train unaware of what has just happened off their feet, no matter the carriage they're in.

They return to the void at what feels like breakneck speed. Colours fly past the windows, and it is a good few hours before they seem to slow to their normal travel speed.

---

Comments

[subcircuits]

Oh he's transparent, isn't he? Called out, Devero ducks his head sheepishly, but he doesn't raise any objection as Koumyou leads him off. While they could fight their way back into the luggage car to use the transgate, there are still enough people on their way out that it's just as quick to just walk the two cars between luggage and the double sleeper.

And as a bonus, the walk lets him burn off some of his agitated tension.

As soon as he's through the door he starts to strip out of his armor, dropping the chest plate aside against a wall with a thud and letting out a deep, deep breath.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou, of course, sits down on the side of the bed while Devero does that, producing a bowl of rice and fish, utensils, and two cups of steaming, fragrant tea. All but one of those cups goes onto the little end-table at the head of the bed, and then he scoots down a little to make room, holding his own tea.

"That good a time, hm?"

[subcircuits]

It was such a great time that Devero keeps his back to Koumyou as he disrobes the rest of the way, continuing to toss the pieces of the bodysuit aside with uncharacteristic carelessness.

"It was a sham," he says as he changes into something loose and soft and comfortable. "Whole damn thing was a vice-ridden game set up by the Void Ministry, and we fell for it. Hook, line, and suckers."

He finally turns around, scratching absently at the base of his neck and wincing when his fingernails scrape over a pair of pin-point burns there. He scowls, glares at his nails, and then sits down in the space Koumyou's made for him on the bed with a huff.

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou is watching him carefully, as he often does, and sees that scratch and reaction. Coupled with the way Devero had kept his back to him while stripping, Koumyou...

Digs a potion out of the ARMs band, and pushes it at Devero.

"What did they want? Obviously it wasn't to just kill everyone."

[subcircuits]

Devero takes it, opens it, downs it. "You know, all my packing didn't mean shit when most of my supplies were stored in your ARMS band," he says dryly, gesturing with the empty bottle before setting it on the table. At least he'd been carrying his weapons on his person when they'd been separated during debarkation.

"They were interviewing people," he says as he finally reaches for the bowl. It's been three days on really tight rations, and his stomach growls audibly as he inhales the scent of rice and fish. "Our folks kept disappearing. A few each day. Didn't find out until the very end that they were getting snatched and interrogated."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Sorry Dev-chan, I think the train figured out it was a trap when a bunch of us were in the middle of leaving it."

So it had locked down everyone it could, which had unfortunately included the resident priest.

[subcircuits]

"Not your fault, love." Devero pats Koumyou on the thigh with one hand briefly before picking up his chopsticks and digging in. "And I certainly don't blame the train for trying to protect its people. The SCA messages we got when the block lifted...."

But he shovels in a big mouthful instead of elaborating.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Mm," Koumyou's agreement is more of a sound than a word, but he scoots back on the bed and around behind Devero so he can grip his shoulders in both hands and start massaging.

There is something he feels he needs to know, though -- "Did you get interrogated?"

How much decompression does the poor guy need right now?

[subcircuits]

See, this? This is part of the reason he loves you, Koumyou Sanzo. He groans appreciatively around his mouthful, then shakes his head. He didn't get interrogated, no.

He crams another mouthful in as soon as he's swallowed.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I made a bunch," Koumyou tells him, massaging away, "don't choke on it."

It had been a long three or so days on the train, too. Not as physically uncomfortable, but stressful in its own way.

Mostly, all the impotent worry.

[subcircuits]

Devero ducks his head into his shoulders sheepishly and actually takes a minute to breathe after his next swallow. He makes an effort to relax those shoulders back down and takes a couple of more smaller, more reasonable bites before he speaks again.

"I don't have a lot of details yet, but we're probably going to need to talk about this," he murmurs, reaching for the tea. "--'Us' as in the train, not you and me specifically. Lot of folks are real mad, real worried, or both right now."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"I suspect I'll attend whatever meetings people call for, then," Koumyou says with a sigh, "even if I have nothing useful to offer."

As per usual.

Yes, he was one of the people who had found Halo, all the way back on Nion, but so had a few much more vocal people. So he'd just let them fill everyone else in on that. His only real role in that situation had been to hold a barrier up and to watch a stranger die, and feel nothing.

[subcircuits]

Setting the tea back down, Devero twists to look over his shoulder at the priest. "Hey," he objects quietly, picking up on the shift in the priest's mood, "what's that about?"

[its_dad_sanzo]

"It's fine, Devero," Koumyou gives his cheek a poke with one finger.

But now that he's given that disclaimer, he's not going to just brush the other man's concern off, so he elaborates.

"I don't care about these things like I probably should. I only care that I don't care, because people like you do care. And you, specifically. I don't want to be a disappointment. But I'm so... detached."

The priest reaches past Devero for his own tea, taking a sip.

"There's a lot that's broken, in me. Or just missing. Point me at something to kill, and I will kill it. Easy. Solving mysteries, banding together with everyone... teamwork in general..."

He's shit at all of that, which is why he tends to roam alone even on missions. Whenever it's an option, anyway, even if he always orbits back to Devero to check on him.

"I'm a Sanzo. We're a solitary bunch, very independent. You, meanwhile, are the very image of a team player."

[subcircuits]

As Koumyou speaks, Devero eats a little more. He doesn't shovel it in quite so frantically but he's still taking big, hearty bites. He pulls one leg up on the bunk as he does, and turns so it's easier to watch his partner.

"It's how I was raised," Devero says when Koumyou's done, setting his next mouthful back down. "When I took my citizenship, I made a commitment to the World Government and the global community to do my part. Share, support, work.... Whatever was needed of me that I could provide."

And that had been used against him, hadn't it? With good intentions, at first, as his teachers and mentors pushed him towards the Guard rather than pursuing athletics or technology on a professional level, but then, with Valdana.... He sets the bowl aside and picks up the tea again, taking a little sip but mostly just fiddling with the warm cup.

"You're detached because of your PTSD, Koumyou," he continues finally, putting his own issues aside for the moment. "Of course Sanzos are independent; you have to be, by nature of who you are and what you protect. But that doesn't mean you're... you're broken, or that you can't be a useful part of the work here."

He takes another sip, longer, giving himself a moment to compose his next words.

"The strongest teams are the ones that can adapt to what they have," he says. "Saying 'should' is-- is just a fucking shackle. Should doesn't make--" A gesture with the cup. "--doesn't make new supplies show up, or materialize the equipment you want to have, or-- change anyone's behavior or-- make you into a new person. It's just a way to make yourself feel bad, or for-- for other people to control you!"

As ever, his own issues lurk just under the surface, no matter that he didn't want to engage them here. But isn't that just how Valdana controlled him? With whispered insidious shoulds?

He's aware suddenly of how loud he's gotten, and how big his gestures with the cup have become. He slumps in on himself, and finishes more quietly, "You contribute more than you think you do, just as you are."

[its_dad_sanzo]

Koumyou bows his head a little, "Always trying to build me up, aren't you, my Devero?"

He sighs softly, gazing down into his tea, the cup held between his bony hands to suck some of the warmth from it.

"I just don't see it. Outside of combat..."

[subcircuits]

"What if combat is enough?" he challenges, his brown eyes watching Koumyou's intently.

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Right, but that still makes me kind of pointless at these meetings, doesn't it?"

Unless the meeting concludes that something shouldn't be killed, specifically.

"I mean, I'll go, and listen, and observe. But that's all I've got."

[subcircuits]

"That's all right," Devero says, reaching out to squeeze Koumyou's nearer knee. "As long as you can do your part-- combat and magical support in the field-- that's enough."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"Okay," Koumyou relaxes visibly, shoulders loosening under his uniform and sutra. "That's good."

He really just didn't want to dissapoint Devero with his apathy toward the rest of what's going on. But if he's not, then that's a huge relief.

[subcircuits]

Devero smiles crookedly at him, relieved in turn to see Koumyou relax. He pats Koumyou's knee and sits back, going right back to his food.

[its_dad_sanzo]

After a moment, Koumyou scoots closer with his tea, and leans in to rest the side of his head on Devero's shoulder. Just casual closeness.

"I really missed you, you know."

[subcircuits]

Devero's smile widens when Koumyou budges up against him. He leans back, just a little, as he eats more.

"I was so fucking worried about you," he says, lowering the mostly-empty bowl to his lap. "It was like-- background radiation to everything else that happened."

[its_dad_sanzo]

"My sweet Devero," Koumyou sighs softly, "I'm sorry."

It wasn't his fault, but he can still sympathize. He'd been worried, too. Worried Devero would get killed out there and it would stick. Worried he'd never make it back to Koumyou at all.

He hadn't slept at all except the mandatory hours the train knocked people out for. He hadn't wanted to dream.

[subcircuits]

"Not your fault," he says immediately, leaning his cheek against Koumyou's pale hair. "Just bad luck, that I hit the ground on the station before the train realized it was a trap, and you didn't."

There's a pause, as if that's all he's going to say, but then he twists to hide his face in Koumyou's bangs and lets out a trembling breath. "I'm just so glad you're okay, love. I missed you too. A lot."