etcircenses: (reverse)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thearena2016-05-10 07:54 pm

The Last Flower Girl

Who| The rebels and a scientist from the Districts. For now… (later: EVERYONE)
What| The Revival Mechanism is discovered. Things fall into place. (A Whole Lot Of Meta.)
Where| A facility nestled in the mountains between District 2 and the Capitol.
When| Now.
Warnings/Notes| Please put warnings in headers. The Scientist’s spot will unfreeze for commenting when this log reachers 20 comments or when time is up.

Regardless of whether District two became a win or a loss for the rebellion, they’ve managed to claim the most important of prizes while the Capitol and District was distracted. In the mountains just between the many cities of District two and that of the Capitol itself, a secret base has been uncovered and claimed. Offworlder-loyal rebels call for it to be investigated personally by them. Though the call itself had been vague, it’s not hard for the rebels arriving now to see why they were called.

Nestled in a cave carved out of the mountain, the secret base features a number of hovercrafts at its entrance, and inside, stark white lab rooms lit up bright with many offices to the front. A wide hall cuts straight through them with wheeled hospital beds sitting unused to the sides.The hall opens to a cavernous area, the walls and ceiling all made of the mountain’s natural stone. Desks for scientists, mechanics, and medics are all around but it’s the center of the room that truly pulls the eye.

An enormous metal machine with a circular frame sits in the center. Within it lies a vortex of such color and light it becomes difficult to look at after mere seconds. Yet for all it deters the eyes, it calls, especially to the offworlders. The closer one gets, the stronger the sense that passing through it will correct some cosmic flaw. It is for this reason that it seems to be well blocked off with clear gates. These gates can be pushed through but sticker signs upon them warn not to do so. The sign, drawn like a typical hazard warning, shows a person being disintegrated into little dots by the portal upon reaching it. A note explains that only pure energy can pass through the Revival Mechanism. Attempting to pass anything through the portal will reduce it to energy. It seems things may come out but not go in-- without being turned to energy first that is.

Over along the side of this are many rather massive machines and computers. The computers show many a near-indecipherable code. Others are a little more recognizable as showing coordinates of sorts. Upon further investigation, rebels may find these coordinates are not for any place in the Districts, but for worlds and times far beyond. It maps out like brain synapses, stretching on eternally. Certain coordinates have been marked with red and are noted hazards. The ones lit with gold seem to be ones with a missing person or two-- people that may very well be standing there and looking at said lights. Many others have a blue-ish-grey light. These seem to indicate another issue entirely; “Energy seize. Port no longer reachable”. If one takes a particularly close look they’ll notice familiar names in the blue-grey sections, people who haven’t come back for a long time. They may also notice one of the golden lights has the coordinates for… Panem itself. The name of the person is encrypted heavily.

Not everything is kept on the computers however. There are many, many complicated and detailed notes left upon the desks. Some discuss things like Tribute vital signs. There’s a long analysis written in clinical terms of how the pull-process of the Revival Mechanism essentially kills the person by reducing them and their closely associated items on pass-through to pure energy. However, in bringing them to Panem, the Revival Mechanism quickly reassembles that energy. It seems that the process of destruction and recreation is the major cause of Offworlder unconsciousness when being revived, allowing Offworlder Transport to bring them back to the Tribute Tower before they ever wake.

An electronic wipe-board over by a set of table and chairs goes over the nature of what can and cannot pass through the portal. There are scribbled words on the edges, formulas, circled sentences, and lines that criss-cross over the page. It seems that purely material items cannot be pulled into Panem. At least, not on their own. All items passing through have some strong and close connection to the spirit or “energy” that is grabbed. How this works seems a mystery even to the scientists involved but is suspected to have to do with memories. There is a hypothesis with many question marks that a memory chip, if reduced it to energy and sent through the portal, could possibly go back to the worlds offworlders came from, allowing them to keep memories even back on their world. This is noted to be untested however.

A second board looks at why bodies may duplicate but seemingly not objects. It appears inanimate objects are too identical for physics to function properly and the items simply merge, preventing a paradox, while living tissue is changed enough after being in Panem even for a short time that this only happens to non-living objects that are pulled, not people. There is further aggressively scribbled debate on whether robots count as people. The conclusion is that “they damn well must be if they’re here at all”. A paper on the table explains how most of the robots are transferred via chip to a mutt-body and the brain registers the chip to fill out personality and memories based upon it, thus making the robot essentially human. This is done for further study in reviving people.

Former Capitol-soldiers may recall that robots aren’t the only ones with muttation bodies. Some are animals and others, like Venus Dee Milo, have a portal transfer very specific to them. On one of the mechanic’s desks, blueprints lay for making much smaller portals that may be put within the mutt body and transfer the soul into it stating Venus’s name on the first prototype designs but not on the last. The blueprints note a disintegration system with these so the portal doesn’t stay within them. More blueprints can be seen for another full scale portal, using the one in the mountain there as a prototype. One final blueprint can be found, not for a portal, but for what looks like a weapon. Though it has the shape of a gun, it doesn’t appear to fire bullets. Apparently, it’s a relatively recent invention, from late december. The finalized design is dated for February.

By what looks like a station for hovercraft pilots to collect their gear is a clipboard and typed out list. The oldest ones to the back show revival deliveries from the arenas. As one flips to the front, these lists become those offworld soldiers who died in battle and were revived with all the relevant timestamps, serial numbers, and delivery location (the Tribute Tower and the Detainment Center). However, there are some anomalies, like names that have been blacked out leaving only serial numbers, timestamps, and, curiously, an entirely different location. This location is only listed as Center V. The timestamps date from the start of the war to a mass exodus very recently.

Rebels rush in to investigate the area, quickly capturing anyone working there. Despite the size and clear need for more hands in the facility, there’s only a handful of individuals left behind. One, a scientist, is ready to speak to the offworlders in charge as offworlders finish the investigation of the Facility. Something in here is sure to explain the mysterious “illness” offworlders have been facing. Hopefully rebels can find it fast, before it’s too late…
ka_sera_sera: (old action aiming)

[personal profile] ka_sera_sera 2016-05-27 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
Roland sees her too, sees her looking for someone, sees the tears on her face. Whatever's happening with her he needs to hasten it along because there's no time, no time. There should be, but there isn't. There never is, in moments like this.

"Eowyn!" He shouts for her too, hoping that if Firo's voice doesn't reach her then his own, raised to almost a bellow to try and carry over all the noise and chaos, might. "What is it?"

Because there's got to be something. Young and hotheaded as she might be, she's a warrior. He's sure she knows as well as he does that time is too short for anything that isn't essential.
leiche: (54)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-05-27 08:22 am (UTC)(link)
For some reason, hearing Phil shout at him that it's okay for him to go, it suddenly makes it all so much easier.

He still feels like a coward, taking the easy way out to avoid further danger and harm, and even though part of it is to save those he cares about from himself, it still feels selfish. The first few moments after he says it, he thinks he should take it back and reach for the stranger's hand instead. But Phil is telling him it's okay, telling him to go home. And then it starts to feel that way.

It does occur to him that there's a chance, however slim, that he could see Phil again back home. If he somehow avoids dying there, if he goes back to a time before he meets his demise, then Phil would still be there. There's still a chance for things to turn out differently. So Jeremy nods his head in response, with a firm resolve to find him if he's given the chance. If he remembers ...

"... take care of Alby for me, okay?" Jeremy asks of him, a heavy feeling in his heart and tears forming in his eyes from the sudden rush of emotions. Alby's going to wonder where he's gone, but he trusts Phil (a considerable step forward since their first meeting here,) and Alby will be in good company with him and Foxy. As much as he wishes he could bring his little friend home with him, if Jeremy arrives at home dying or already dead, no one would be there to take care of or explain Alby's appearance at all. "And-- tell him I'm sorry ..."
leiche: (73)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-05-27 08:45 am (UTC)(link)
He's scared, the longer he hesitates to take those last steps forward. Time is of the essence, he knows he has to hurry or he misses his chance forever. But the pulsating light is brighter, more intense, and more intimidating as the seconds tick by and Jeremy's afraid of it; he could go home, or he could potentially vaporize and vanish from existence all together. It wasn't that long ago when that was all he wanted.

But it's because of people like Ellis that those thoughts had started to go away - not completely, but they started. Ellis was there from day one helping build him back up, he'd taught him his combat skills and encouraged him to take up archery over other weapons, he always believed in him. Even when Jeremy never believed in himself. The moment he realizes he's never going to see Ellis again is what prompts him to move, pulling himself along the lab equipment to avoid the portal's drag so he can reach Ellis and throw his arms around him tight.

There's so much he wants to say to him, promises that he'll do his best to stay careful and think better of himself, maybe tell Ellis how much he'll miss him or how much he'd helped him all this time and please be careful too, but all he can manage in the moment is a soft, "... thank you."
voiceinthephone: ([Screw it])

[personal profile] voiceinthephone 2016-05-28 03:41 am (UTC)(link)
If there was any doubt in Phil's mind that Jeremy was a kind soul, that last request sealed the deal for him. Of course he would ask to have Alby taken care of, that little fox brought Fitzgerald comfort when friends and allies couldn't. Alby was probably the only creature in Panem that tended to his master unconditionally and of course he'd miss the scratchies and rubbing against those soft wet cheeks. But foxes know when they lose someone in their pack, they're gone for good. And in a way, that's why Phil is able to let the man go: they were finally on the same level.

"I'll tell him, he's a smart kit, now please...you don't have much time," Phil did his best to sound calm, but his smile is lessened with the incoming tears forming. "D-Don't worry about us, w-we'll be okay! You do what's best for you! Go!" Phone Guy's last words to Jeremy were optimistic and encouraging, even as the fabric of reality is torn around them.
futilecycle: (I know it's everybody's sin)

[personal profile] futilecycle 2016-05-30 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
For the majority of his life, Sigma has looked up to one woman; a woman he considered noble and generous and kind. He regarded the face of Akane Kurashiki like God's, all-knowing and wise.

But for reasons Sigma could not articulate, Akane Kurashiki struck terror into his heart - the red hot fear of clawing at a window while gas filled his car, unable to get out. Akane was omnipresent. Akane told him what to study, when to come and go, when to reproduce. Akane had control of his reputation and his home and his son. Akane decided when to set him free, but once he was gone, she was there on the outside, smiling at him. He had lived under Akane's command and he thought he would die under it, until he came to Panem. When Kyle buried her in the Arena, Sigma felt hopelessly lost. He thought he was incapable of being a hero without her, until he met Shepard.

Shepard was inspiring. Shepard seemed to know exactly what to do or say, and Sigma came to have faith in her judgment. He followed her lead not out of a sense of obligation but from trust. It was not a trust that made his stomach turn to stone or compelled him to do everything he hated... what Shepard did felt right. If Akane were here, she would have dragged Sigma into the portal, wrapped her influence around his neck and yanked. But Shepard had made a personal choice and expected no one to follow after her. Again, Sigma was lost. He thought Shepard would have been there until the end to give him hope.

The Gamemaker breaks through the chaos to meet her at the threshold, feet square and hard against the pavement, resisting the pull. "Commander-" Would she turn? He knew he had not made a difference in her life the way she had in his, but he wanted his goodbye to reach her. His throat is tight, his voice betrays his calm expression. "Please, just a moment-..."
earthborn: (it worked for han solo)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-05-30 09:32 pm (UTC)(link)
"It's a warzone, Private," It's a warzone here, too, but in a way so very different from where she's going. Shepard's an old soldier, in the ways she wasn't before, and she can't lie to herself, even as she offers Terezi a cavalier falshood, a bit of hope to ease the transition, "Nothing I can't handle."

She could easily die, going back to her world, her fight for Earth and the Galaxy it lives in. If she's honest, Shepard's looking forward to it; the physical aspect of death no longer gives her any hesitation, there's no fear to be found in the suffocating black, the dizziness of bleed-out, or shock, or starvation, or anything else.

What there is to fear now, is life. Immortality was never a curse, until Panem gave it to her. And where she's going, dead men do truly die. Paradise, in a way.

"I'm gonna be just fine."
shieldofrohan: Art by Ellaine on dA (Windswept)

[personal profile] shieldofrohan 2016-06-01 12:54 am (UTC)(link)
She hears Firo first, but by then she's already spotted Roland - his height makes him easier to find - and is heading in his direction, her hands clenched into tight fists at her sides. She sees Firo trying to loose his hand, though, and she turns to him, shaking her head wildly.

"I must go!" she shouts back, over the chaos. "If there's even a chance, I must!" And if all that lies beyond that portal is the Void, so be it. Better nothingness than to be trapped here always. She raises one clenched fist to scrub at her eyes, and steps closer, her mind rushing. It's too much, too much for all her farewells to be crushed into a few seconds, too much to turn away from people who have become so dear to her, to whom she owes so much. But she must. She must, or regret it always, and never see home again.

She goes to Firo first. He seems most likely to do something stupid, to try to stop her - and besides, he is her brother here, dearest of all her friends. The portal is tugging at her, her hair fluttering in the wild air, but she leans in to throw her arms around him. Her embrace is tight, but brief. There's no time to waste. She knows it. They all know it, even if he hasn't admitted it to himself. "Hold fast," she tells him, through freely-flowing tears. "Hold fast, and remember me. I am sorry, truly." Then, with a glance back over her shoulder at the portal, "Roland, I have a charge for you, if you will take it."
foundafamily: (Default)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2016-06-01 02:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Barely comprehending what's going on, Firo's only impulse is to hold on to his friends. Eowyn, of course, is one of the foremost among them. But looking at her face and hearing her words, he realizes that he doesn't have a hope of holding her back. Nor should he; he's respected her as a warrior ever since hearing her story, and that means she makes her own decisions.

He elbows one of the people next to him to gain the space to hug her back--it's the least he can do at this point. These displays aren't all that easy for him, but now he kind of wishes he could just hold on forever. But he won't.

"I will. You do what you need to do." It may not seem such a tall order, simply remembering her. But it is, kind of, for Firo--he's always known that life moves on relentlessly. One way to cope with that is to move on yourself, which is what he did in his early days.

All the same, he's never had any intention of forgetting her, so he can make that promise honestly.

For some reason, he can feel a lump in his throat and a stinging in his eyes. "Thank you. I-I'll--" Miss her. He tries to force something like a smile, but it's already all he can do to keep himself together. "I wouldn't have lasted this long without you."
ka_sera_sera: (old general blue profile shadowed)

[personal profile] ka_sera_sera 2016-06-03 12:19 am (UTC)(link)
Roland waits for them to say their goodbyes. Eowyn is not one of his and so he insists on no goodbyes for himself, though he'll take them, if she offers. Briefly.

Thankfully, the two of them are sensible. They keep it short. Once she's finished her own continued goodbyes to Firo Roland lifts his chin at her to get her attention, and once he's got it he gives a slow nod, trying to hold her gaze. She is not one of his, no, but in their time as prisoners here he's seen who she is, he has seen her fight, he has seen her grow. Not one of his, he does not love her, as Firo clearly does. He could have, maybe, in time. Ifs, though, ifs and never-weres and things which could have been, they are often lost on Roland and so he does not dwell on the thought.

He does not love her, but he knows her, has fought beside her, has been healed and comforted when he felt most alone. She has his respect. That is worth, at least, acknowledgement, and one last service.

"I accept your charge," he says, head still bowed, looking at her. His respect should speak itself there clear enough; whatever she's asking of him, it is important. It doesn't occur to him for a second to doubt. "How may I carry it?"
shiftingurbulls: ([Hat tipping])

[personal profile] shiftingurbulls 2016-06-04 01:22 am (UTC)(link)
The hug is tight, and Ellis doesn't hide the fact that his eyes are wet with tear. This is the last he'll ever see the man he first ran into that last Arena, so broken and scared. This is the last time he will ever reach out to hug his Rabbit, now gaining enough strength say no, that is enough.

"Anytime, Rabbit," he managed to whisper in the chaos, "Now go, it's time to go home, Jeremy. An' please, please forgive yerself." Ellis wasn't one for good-byes, and now his fight for Panem would be one for the nation, for his freedom and for Jeremy's memory. Let no man or government do what they did to him and to every last one of these people.

His grip lessened and he allowed Fitzgerald to wander into the light. Ellis figured if Jeremy's strong enough to overcome the universe trying to correct itself, then he can handle his world back home. And he's so damn proud of the man.
shieldofrohan: Art by Nacholamina on dA (Assailed)

[personal profile] shieldofrohan 2016-06-04 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"You have kept me sane," she tells Firo, her voice trembling, and grabs his shoulder briefly, meeting his eyes. Do not let me forget him, she prays, to whoever might be listening. No matter what comes next, do not let me forget him. "Farewell, Firo, brother of mine." It is the only way she can think to tell him just what he means to her, just how it grieves her to part.

But part she must, and quickly. She turns away - it feels an almost unbearable effort, to turn away - and meets Roland's eyes, striding over to him. That, too, is an effort, as though the pull of staying near Firo, having a moment more for farewells, is as strong as the pull from the portal. This is important, though.

"Thank you," she says, quietly, to his acceptance, and goes up on her toes to whisper in his ear. In all this noise, it might be too much caution, but better too much, she thinks, than too little. "They have something from my world. A Ring, plain gold, which takes no heat from fire. Twice over they have taken it, and so twice it may appear. Watch for it, please. And do not touch it, do not take it, no matter how it tempts you, but hide it from them, from all, for its power is too great and too evil for any man to wield." That feels too weak, too vague. Will he understand, or will he, as so many have, see the Ring as a weapon he can use?

She has no choice. What she can done, she has done. Pulling away, she drops back onto her heels and looks up at him. "Farewell, Roland, and thank you," she says again, and means it in more ways than one: thank you for the words he gave her when first they met, to teach her caution, and for the support she's found from him since. She does not love him, either, but she owes him better than the burden of a task. But she has no choice, and so she pulls away, forcing a thin smile, and turns to run for the portal, her golden hair streaming in the wind.
earthborn: (warfare is based on deception)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-06-04 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Shepard stopped, hesitated, a light-ringed human shape against the furor of the portal, a last bastion of normal space before all went to whatever hellfire lay beyond. She waited, feeling the pull, resisting, leaning back even as she moved forward, and turned her head to face him. She turned.

"A moment's all you got, Doc," the chain of bodies was flexing, the scientists shouting and working, time was running down, but not less real for all that, "They're waiting for me on the other side."
leiche: (82)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-06-05 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
It hits him in that moment that he's never going to see anyone here ever again. Whether he goes back home to die again or if he manages to stick around for a while yet, no one from Panem is going to be there. All of the friends he'd met here, people who genuinely cared about him and wanted to help him despite him not deserving it in the slightest, they're all here in this room but in a few moments ... well, this is it. This is the last he'll ever see of them.

Except, maybe, for Phil.

Jeremy doesn't know what state he'll be in when he returns home. He might be alive, he might not. Even the scientists in the room don't know for sure. But it's his only chance that he can't pass up, and maybe there's a possibility ...

The portal surges and shakes the room, making Jeremy lurch forward a few steps. He knows he needs to go, Phil's shouting and encouraging him to. But he hesitates - he's scared to, mostly, but he has to do one last thing, and he turns towards Phil for a brief but grateful hug with one arm (the other's clinging to the nearest lab table to keep him from being dragged into the portal light just yet.)

"-- if I can," he says, just loud enough for Phil to hear, "... I'll find you."
voiceinthephone: http://feeeelings.livejournal.com/969.html ([Hi there])

[personal profile] voiceinthephone 2016-06-05 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Phillip never thought he'd hear those words come out of anyone related to Freddy's. He knew his fate was to never be found, whatever was left from being stuffed just washed away like discarded scraps. But...Jeremy would look for him, if he could, and find him. There was a chance that in one universe, they could meet again. Sure, that Phil wouldn't recognize the man as he is now, worn down like a soldier, but someone would look in the back. The thought that someone would remember him made Phone Guy hug the man who became the Bite of '87 just as tightly.

"Thank you," he whispered back, unable to hold on much longer, "Y-you know where to find me." They met at Freddy Fazbear's Family Pizzeria that one time, and then Panem, with all the tragedies that wove into their fates. The grip slipped but Phil's calm smile, trails going down his stubbled cheeks, he looked like he was at peace. He could only hope and pray that Jeremy Fitzgerald could find peace too.
foundafamily: (pic#6109478)

[personal profile] foundafamily 2016-06-05 04:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Firo looks right back into her eyes and nods firmly at her final words--it's too hard to say the actual words for goodbye. So long as she knows what she means to him--one of his closest friends and his first sister--that's what's important.

The polite thing to do would be to give Roland and Eowyn their privacy, but Firo's eyes linger on her as his two friends speak. He doesn't hear a word, but that's not important, nor is it his business. He's taking in every visual detail as well, knowing that they can fade all too easily.

It's hardest to watch as she finally leaves, but watch he does.
leiche: (93)

[personal profile] leiche 2016-06-06 02:59 am (UTC)(link)
This is it. This is the final step he has to take in this bizarre, horrible journey. He's said what he had to, he's made the promises he needed to (forgive myself, find Phil, somehow ...) and now there's no time left. The portal is pulsating and surging wildly and it's dragging him closer with every second he hesitates. It's terrifying - that beam of light is probably going to vaporize him into dust before he could even think about being home. But even that feels like a better alternative.

And Jeremy can still hear them encouraging him to go, that it's okay. He's not meant for this world anymore - he never was in the first place. This way, if it works, he can finally go home. He can't hurt anyone anymore.

His heart feels like it's going to beat it's way out of his chest, but one more shout from the scientists that they have to go now before it's too late, and something snaps the roots that had dug into the soles of his feet and he runs. He can't control the tears in his eyes any more than he can control the pull from the portal, but none of it matters any more.

He doesn't care what awaits him on the other side. If it's nothingness, if it's an afterlife of wandering aimlessly through his homeworld's version of purgatory, if he wakes up in a hospital bed and remembers none of it, he doesn't care. Jeremy's left Panem behind, and it's a relief. He's safe from the Capitol's clutches and the brutalities of war. And, more importantly, the people he cared about the most, and everyone else in Panem, are safe from him.
pythianjudgment: ([d] scent of despair)

[personal profile] pythianjudgment 2016-06-15 03:29 pm (UTC)(link)
Terezi hears none of the underlying reasons, but in Shepard's words, she does hear the confidence. That's enough for her. Wherever the Commander ends up, she's certain that she'll be okay; and that is as much as Terezi can ask for. She doesn't have time to ask for anything else.

This is the place where Terezi would want to wish Shepard good luck, but they're both aware that in their line of work, luck doesn't really matter. Skill and determination were more important, and Shepard has that in spades. So Terezi offers a salute instead, lifting her chin and trying to keep her emotions in check.

"Knock 'em dead, Commander. I'll hold down the fort here."
futilecycle: (Resting on your heart)

[personal profile] futilecycle 2016-06-17 11:58 pm (UTC)(link)
When Shepard turns to him he wants to name the feeling that swells in his chest as nostalgia, but it isn't quite that. Saying goodbye lost its urgency when Sigma discovered he could start again, swim against the current of time and choose a history where things went differently. He cannot do that here. This is the last time he will ever see Commander Shepard.

He doubts Shepard will take I don't think I can go on without you well, though it's what he instinctively believes. Instead Sigma becomes smaller, pulling his arms to his sides anxiously. Here, of all places, he doesn't know what to say. There has never been a more permanent 'goodbye.' His voice and composure change completely as he looks Shepard in the eye - she has never met the person he hid behind the mask.

"I know." He'd try to make this quick. "Commander- I know how these alternate universes work. You're probably going to forget all about me the moment you walk through that portal. I knew people in my world who believed that if you had no memory of what you had lived... then it may as well be as though it never happened." It isn't Dr. Klim who is talking. It's a confused 22 year old boy who died too young. "But that's not true. Your being here made all the difference to us - to me. I won't forget that. I can't ask you to stay, but... I wanted you to know." What he has said isn't enough, will never be enough, but it's all that there is time for. He turns his head away, too fearful to admit to blasphemy here, but he may not have become a mole if she hadn't inspired him to make that speech. He would never have met the Initiate - he would never have set his sights on the Capitol. Perhaps he would not be alive.
earthborn: (Default)

[personal profile] earthborn 2016-06-20 04:16 am (UTC)(link)
Now that, that didn't sit right. It was a speech she'd gotten before, that even if she didn't remember, if she lost the fuzzy edges of her falliable human memory, wicked away into the scouring winds of life, and death, her effect was real. As if she needed to be told that-- but there wasn't time to work through it the way they both deserved. There wasn't time!

It was maddening, the cowardice of this man. For all she liked and respected him, it was only more maddening; she cared if he understood.

Shepard put out her hand, braced on his shoulder, a last moment then, to give him words, to carry him forward, stern and burning-sure, "Listen to me, Sigma Klim. None of that matters to me."

That's not how it works, she wants to shout, and shake him for it. Memories don't live in your head like a hard drive, there and then gone, dropped in or deleted like clean digital organization, file folders and discreet packets of data. What you did got into you, changed you, made you more or less, even if the resulting person wasn't aware of the change, it was as impossible to leave the past behind as it was to escape the future.

It comes for all of us.

"You do not die for this, got it? Not for some fucked-up legacy of mine. You've done good enough work here, but you've got more to do. And I can't be here to back you up; this isn't my world anymore."
ka_sera_sera: (old general listening intent stare)

[personal profile] ka_sera_sera 2016-06-21 05:20 pm (UTC)(link)
(ooc: and after about a million years I finally decide to give this thread a closing comment from Roland too, don't mind me.)


Roland remembers the words, and does not resent the burden of the quest she's laid on him, because to him, it isn't one. It is something which needs to be done, that is all, and an honor that she has chosen him to do it. There's no way to tell her that he knows, that he's heard a little of that ring in stories and so her quest isn't as new and strange a one to him as it might have been. No time to explain that, now. No time. No need, either. Understand it or not, she trusts him to do it. He sees that, and he sees her run for the portal, for her home, and feels a little envy, a stab of something surprising and jealous. He forces it back. One of the two of them gets to go home, anyway, and that is more than he thinks either of them really expected.

He watches her disappear, back to her home, and remembers her trust, and knows that he will honor it. He will honor her. But for the moment he puts that out of his mind, looking back toward Firo, moving to try and nudge him back to a more secure place in line. The time to honor Eowyn and her quest will come. For now, there is work to do.

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