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middleofsomewhere2022-10-25 04:21 am
voidtreckermods) wrote in middleofsomewhere2022-10-25 04:21 am
We Approach Our Final Hour
The days after the celebrations are filled with helping those from system #1015 get settled, or just by resting and recuperating after what was a difficult battle.
A couple of days later however Void Minister Till once again calls all the voidtreckers, scientists and other interested parties to a meeting. She looks a lot less grim this time.
To Return Home
"We are now able to see the way to return you to your non-travelling selves. This will untether you from both the Voidtrecker Express and the void. Your bodies on your worlds are, for the most part, well. Tethering is a powerful thing so even those from places that do not have the technology to sustain an unconcious person for a long period of time will find themselves well, though feeling some lingering fatigue. Time has passed in all your worlds and I know it will be difficult to explain your absence." She smiled softly.
"We don't ask you to keep the void completely secret, but especially those from places with a low level of technology should use their discretion when talking about their adventurers. You will not be voidtreckers anymore. You all come from non void active worlds and so until those worlds join the void network you must remain on them. Those from the void can always visit you and we will endeavour to pass on messages between worlds if there are those you wish to remain in contact with. This is the option we expect most of you will take."
To Remain
She lets the any comments or discussions about that bubble for a moment before she presses on. "However, we are very aware that there are those of you who do not have homes to return to. Some of you were tethered on the brink of death. Some of you come from places now destroyed. Some of you have physical places to return but have found family and friendship in the void far greater than anything you had in your lives before." She paused.
"For you we offer another option. You may remain. We believe that as we detangle your tethers from the Voidtrecker Express we can tether you, properly tether you, to this void base." She looked around. "I won't mince words, this option means that your non tethering selves will be no more, your bodies back on your world will die. You will be like those of Osiga and now those of system #1015. You would not be able to return to live on your world." She paused, to let the gravity of that sink in.
"You will always have a home on this base and from here..." She smiled warmly. "You can do what you wish. There are many mission craft that would happily take you on if you have found you have enjoyed assisting worlds in need. Otherwise there are other craft, scientific voyaging craft, tourist craft. We will help you find a place. Though you are free to go your own way, this would be your base but you would not be obligated to remain here. You would be welcome to visit those who return to their worlds, though we would ask that you limited visits to your own, to avoid complications." Again she gave a moment, for the discussion around that to die down before she spoke again.
To Go Back
"Finally. We are aware there are some of you in very difficult situations. Where taking you from your world has led to your whole world, or large parts of it in grave danger. We are aware worlds have fallen, for lack of you. For you we make another offer. We do not make this lightly, it is risky and we ask that those taking it have very good reason.." She looked around, silent and serious.
"We believe that using what we learned of anchoring through time we can return you, not only to the place you were brought from, but the moment. You would remember all that has passed but to your world it would be as if you were never gone at all." A pause.
"Because of the grave risks associated with this, we will be sealing the worlds of those that return in this way. These systems will never become void active and no void craft may enter those systems. As I say, it is not an option we give lightly."
The Choice is Yours
"Whatever you choose we will support you in it. We are also aware there are many of your number not with you. Please be assured that we are working through their tethers. We will do our best to give them the same choices and at the very least we will return them all to their homes. I understand there is a lot to think about. We believe we can hold on to your tethers for a couple more days and so please take this time to talk it through and to say your farewells."
She falls silent and steps back, letting people talk and discuss, whilst remaining close.
A couple of days later however Void Minister Till once again calls all the voidtreckers, scientists and other interested parties to a meeting. She looks a lot less grim this time.
FINAL CHOICES
"Thank you all for gathering again. As you know we have been working on figuring out what was happening with your tethers, trying to untangle them from the Voidtrecker Express and find you a way home." She gave a tired smile.
"However with the resolving of the time paradox surrounding system#1015 it seems much of our work is out of our hands, your tethers seem to be detangling themselves and so our work quickly moved to keeping you all stable enough to remain here, because we are very mindful that you deserve a choice in this and a chance to say your farewells. You were brought here without your knowledge or consent and despite that have done a great service to the void so before I say anything else I wish to thank you, on behalf of us all."
To Return Home
"We are now able to see the way to return you to your non-travelling selves. This will untether you from both the Voidtrecker Express and the void. Your bodies on your worlds are, for the most part, well. Tethering is a powerful thing so even those from places that do not have the technology to sustain an unconcious person for a long period of time will find themselves well, though feeling some lingering fatigue. Time has passed in all your worlds and I know it will be difficult to explain your absence." She smiled softly.
"We don't ask you to keep the void completely secret, but especially those from places with a low level of technology should use their discretion when talking about their adventurers. You will not be voidtreckers anymore. You all come from non void active worlds and so until those worlds join the void network you must remain on them. Those from the void can always visit you and we will endeavour to pass on messages between worlds if there are those you wish to remain in contact with. This is the option we expect most of you will take."
To Remain
She lets the any comments or discussions about that bubble for a moment before she presses on. "However, we are very aware that there are those of you who do not have homes to return to. Some of you were tethered on the brink of death. Some of you come from places now destroyed. Some of you have physical places to return but have found family and friendship in the void far greater than anything you had in your lives before." She paused.
"For you we offer another option. You may remain. We believe that as we detangle your tethers from the Voidtrecker Express we can tether you, properly tether you, to this void base." She looked around. "I won't mince words, this option means that your non tethering selves will be no more, your bodies back on your world will die. You will be like those of Osiga and now those of system #1015. You would not be able to return to live on your world." She paused, to let the gravity of that sink in.
"You will always have a home on this base and from here..." She smiled warmly. "You can do what you wish. There are many mission craft that would happily take you on if you have found you have enjoyed assisting worlds in need. Otherwise there are other craft, scientific voyaging craft, tourist craft. We will help you find a place. Though you are free to go your own way, this would be your base but you would not be obligated to remain here. You would be welcome to visit those who return to their worlds, though we would ask that you limited visits to your own, to avoid complications." Again she gave a moment, for the discussion around that to die down before she spoke again.
To Go Back
"Finally. We are aware there are some of you in very difficult situations. Where taking you from your world has led to your whole world, or large parts of it in grave danger. We are aware worlds have fallen, for lack of you. For you we make another offer. We do not make this lightly, it is risky and we ask that those taking it have very good reason.." She looked around, silent and serious.
"We believe that using what we learned of anchoring through time we can return you, not only to the place you were brought from, but the moment. You would remember all that has passed but to your world it would be as if you were never gone at all." A pause.
"Because of the grave risks associated with this, we will be sealing the worlds of those that return in this way. These systems will never become void active and no void craft may enter those systems. As I say, it is not an option we give lightly."
The Choice is Yours
"Whatever you choose we will support you in it. We are also aware there are many of your number not with you. Please be assured that we are working through their tethers. We will do our best to give them the same choices and at the very least we will return them all to their homes. I understand there is a lot to think about. We believe we can hold on to your tethers for a couple more days and so please take this time to talk it through and to say your farewells."
She falls silent and steps back, letting people talk and discuss, whilst remaining close.
no subject
So we'd be sealed there, in that universe.
[And she smiles, brightly, with no hesitation.]
Very well, Alice.
[Which might be telling, in and of itself. A woman who has travelled between worlds, willing to give all of them up in an instant.]
no subject
[ Alice stares at Guri. Wordless, though just for a moment. There's something in her gaze like she's searching Guri's eyes for a sign of something. Hesitation, doubt, anything like it - but she can't find it. Guri's gaze suits her tone and her smile, so bright and certain. ]
You truly do not mind?
[ Still - she can't help but ask it out loud. At least once. ]
I mean, you always speak of so many places, and you always seem to enjoy seeing all of them. I would not wish to take that from you, merely so I can keep you with me.
[ Even though she'd like to do that last part. She really wants to stay with Guri. ]
I would never want you to be unhappy.
And now, finally... :P
Alice, you make me happy. I'll always have my memories, I'll always have stories I can tell you. You're worth more to me than all the worlds I've seen.
[She sighs, lost in the moment.]
After all, I lo-
[She stops, short, reddening, stuttering just a bit.]
Look forward to seeing your Wonderland. To adventures together.
no subject
.. though it's not like the rest of it is lost on her. In fact, Alice may understand it a little bit better through that than any actual love confession, considering how bad she is with romance.
Those other words - they convey her meaning to Guri well enough, and she stares at the other with a hint of surprise and something almost.. frozen, like she just can't look away. ]
I.. mean that much to you?
[ It's not like she technically didn't know Guri cares a lot about her. The other has shown it plenty. But for it to be put in words like these.. ]
Enough to give everything up..?
[ Enough to leave everything behind, just to have Alice's company. It's so much more than anyone has ever expressed for her. ]
no subject
You mean everything to me.
[Once it's said, in a quiet voice, there it is. The gates are open, and have to be flung wide.]
What am I giving up? A galaxy that fears what I am? People who have wanted to use me for my body, or my abilities, or what I know?
Alice, I...you sought me out for me, from the very start. Not for what I could do for you. But because we found something in each other, I guess. And I enjoy being around you. I would hardly have eagerly volunteered to sleep next to you if I didn't. [This last said with a hint of her sporadic sense of humour.] I enjoy everything about you. You are...beautiful to me, inside and out. And I think...I think we fit. In a multiverse that hasn't let us fit before.
There is no galaxy equal to you. Not in my eyes.
no subject
[ The words come slowly though. Not out of any sense of hesitation, but just.. because these words are so much to deal with, to process. They bring a blush to Alice's way too pale cheeks, making the redness on them stand out even more than it would on your average person.
No galaxy equal to you. ]
T-That.. we fit, I mean. [ Look, that's the part she can process the most easily, because she can understand. It has seemed that way. Both rejected by most of the world they come from, and yet never finding anything particularly off-putting about each other.
Alice's eyes nervously dart around, like she's too flustered to properly look at Guri. ]
And that I am very fond of you. Just for who you are. You are kind, and inquisitive, and I find myself at ease around you in ways I never have before around other people.
[ It was always just her and her fantasy world, after all. Nothing else ever felt like it quite fit.
But Guri does feel that way. Like the sole person to penetrate that wall Alice puts up between her own comfortable inner world and the awful outside world. ]
no subject
I am honoured to be that person for you. That you can be at ease around me. And fond...yes, I am very fond of you, too. Very fond indeed.
[And that's when she blushes, too, eyes casting down for a moment.]
no subject
And maybe even more so just about.. well, how nice they make her feel. This isn't something she's often had before, and yet she finds herself right here, in the middle of this overwhelming feeling of home. Somewhere you find comfort, and warmth, and where you feel at ease.
That's what Guri is. ]
Then.. I can't imagine anything better than being back in Wonderland with you.
[ Her favourite place, with her favourite person. ]
That would make me the happiest. [ Perhaps even more so than she's ever been. ]
no subject
[But for all that, something prods at her. She wants to tell Alice everything, should tell Alice everything. But what if that means she changes her mind? Surely that's irrational of her - Alice is not one to change her mind once it is made up. Still, it is a fear all the same. But whatever comes, whatever happens next - it should be approached with honesty.]
Alice, you should know...[She begins, then stops, eyes moving as she searches for the words she wants to say.]
When I was built, I was meant to be an experiment, not what I was forced to become. A thing used for the gains of others. I was meant to see how human an artificial being could become. You've helped me explore that more than I ever thought I would. You taught me, more than anyone, what feelings were and how to understand them. Best of all, you never demanded of me, you just...wanted me around. Wanted the best for me.
[She looked at Alice, those lovely eyes, and smiled.]
And I think I found it. I never knew that...I could love. It seemed an absurd notion, impossible. Beyond me. But I found it, thanks to you. Though it took me far too long to figure out what I was feeling.
[She squeezed her hands gently.]
I don't ask for anything, but...I wanted you to know. That I love you.
no subject
[ Alice glances downwards as she says it, over at their joint hands, rather than staring Guri in the eyes when the other has finished speaking. She doesn't even instantly reply. Instead it looks like the young woman is mulling over her words here.
It's.. just strange. Guri is the one who technically isn't human, though she feels like it to Alice at this point. And Alice is the human here, and yet-- she is the one who doesn't get the idea, isn't she.
Love. Shouldn't she know, even more so than Guri? How come she doesn't?
She slowly looks back up at the other's face, a worry in her eyes. ]
I am.. not sure what it means to love someone. [ Not in the sense she thinks Guri means it. She assumes this is about romantic love. That's what other people always make it sound like.
(It would really help if Alice knew the word aromantic, but she's doing her best here.) ]
So I am not sure if I can tell whether what I feel for you in return is love as well. I only know that you are more special to me than anyone. [ That much is true.
Is that romantic love? Alice doesn't know. Where is the line between different kinds of love? ]
Even so.. would that be alright..?
[ Wouldn't Guri feel hurt if Alice couldn't tell her the same thing in return? Even though she knows Guri is special, even though she knows she cares about her so much - is that the same thing? Is it enough?
More than anything, Alice finds herself just not wanting to hurt someone so terribly important to her. ]
no subject
[She squeezes, gently. There is nothing daunting in Alice's words. Frankly, there is much to this that is preferable to what she's seen and experienced before. Alice doesn't want her around for her body, or for what she can do for her. Alice cares, one way or another.]
All I know is that I find you beautiful, I think about you when you are not present, and wish to spend as much time as I can in your company. If none of those things bother you, then I believe my needs will be more than adequately met.
[She can't help but smile, though, because there hadn't been a rejection - the only thing she had left to fear.]
I may, one day, [Said with clear, obvious humour for Alice's sake.] go so far as to advocate in favour of occasional cuddling. But...in seriousness?
[Her eyes met Alice's, the feature she'd first been struck by.]
I don't have...expectations. You just make my life...better. Make me better. That's all I want: more of that. More time with you.
no subject
None of that bothers me.
[ Sure, it's a little hard to wrap her head around. Not the fact that Guri is doing that in general, since Alice finds herself with many of the same feelings. Wanting to spend time with Guri, wanting to be with her, choosing her over any other person she has ever known.
But someone feeling that same thing for Alice herself? That's so much stranger.
Stranger, but not unacceptable in any way. Alice is just glad that Guri isn't turned off by something that feels like yet another defect about Alice. ]
Maybe.. we can slowly find out together over time. How to call this feeling between us.
[ So different from what other people may have, even if it's the same in other ways. Something special - something unique to them.
They'll have time for it as long as they stay together, after all. ]
no subject
[She smiles, nodding slowly. If anything, she feels profound relief in the moment. To extend that thin branch, and not be rejected. In any other situation, she would have assumed it - but Alice is Alice.]
[Alice will always be Alice. And they have always been unique, together.]
I cannot wait to see your Wonderland. The journey, with you...it will be a wonderful adventure, in every sense of the word.