Seele Quest: 3.0
"I'll be up in a few hours. Try not to touch anything. You should get some sleep yourself, or if you want to do something useful, you could, I dunno, check what's going on with the rest of the ship. Or with that meteor. Or I dunno. Whatever." Her eyes shut tightly the second she hit the ground, and she's slurring the words. "Turn off the light before yo- hnggn. Before you leave."

She's asleep in seconds.

You turn around, and sure enough, there's a light switch just behind you. You flip it off, plunging the room into darkness. You wait a minute for your eyes to adjust, then start to leave.

A thought crosses your mind. You're not really tired, but the last time you slept was...

The last time you slept was on Yvette's shoulder, hours ago. While you were killing her.

Your stomach clenches, and you feel bile rising up inside of you. You clamp your mouth shut, trying to force it back down. You breathe in, then out, then in again. You're in control. Calm blue, like Yvette's eyes.

You shudder, then crouch down next to the bed. There's enough light to see by flowing in from the doorway, though what light does make it through is dim. There's plenty of light to see Tesla, even without dipping into your more esoteric senses. She's covered in a thin layer of sweat, and she's breathing erratically. Her lips are partially open, and you can see her eyes darting around underneath her eyelids.

She's dreaming. And from the look of it...

It's not a good one.

Her eyes are darting around underneath her eyelids, and they shift into a sort of... Worry. Her eyebrows are furrowed, and she's biting her lip.

You have no idea what she's seeing. All you can see is the fear on her face. You should go look for the others – really, you shouldn't care about the nightmares of a woman you hardly like – but Tesla's mental wellbeing is important, too. At any rate that's what you tell yourself, when you sit down next to her and put one of your hands on her shoulder.

You expect her to wake up then, but she doesn't. She just keeps on breathing erratically and twitching. She's having a nightmare. You look down at her face, then press your hand against her shoulder a little more firmly.

And she still doesn't wake up.

What should you do?

"You should kiss her," Vel says, mischievously. "Isn't that how you love to wake Bronya?"

You ignore Veliona, and go back to worrying about Tesla. You look at her face, at the closed eyes and twitching eyebrows and pursed lips. The expression she's making is one of fear – no, of terror. She's kept it together well enough in front of you, but her mind is trawling through something horrible.

You reach out to her face with your right hand, gently moving a strand of hair out of her eyes. She doesn't react, so you start stroking her head, slowly. Her hair is soft and smooth as silk, but a little cool to the touch. You keep on petting her head for a minute more, before you realize that she's stopped breathing erratically. Her eyes have changed, too. They're less focused on whatever it is that's scaring her.

"Hey..." You say, but she's fast asleep. You stay there a few minutes longer, making sure she's comfortable. She definitely seems more relaxed.

You sigh, then stand up. You know you won't find Bronya here, but it's time you search the rest of the ship. So far it's been painfully empty; Tesla hinted at an explanation when she talked about 'safe zones', but that doesn't explain why she was alone in engineering. It doesn't explain what happened to the four people in reactor #4.

You shake your head. There'll be time to think about it later. Right now, you just want to find your friends.

With no better ideas, you start wandering the ship.

It's an... experience. You find nothing as outré as the dimensionally distorted giant meteor that Tesla was examining, but there's still plenty to see. In fact, the whole ship feels like it's been squished together with half a dozen places that have *no* business existing in a military vessel, or anywhere describable as 'indoors' for that matter. Some of them are, at least, close. You come across large rooms filled with computer banks, large pieces of equipment you don't recognize, and signs proclaiming it to be part of Cambridge university. One room contains a dozen huge glass tubes, filled with nothing but a thick green fluid.

Others are less sensible. A maintenance closet, when you step inside it, opens on a winter forest. A wing of the ship that contains nothing but row upon row of metal stakes, some splattered with dried blood. A room filled with red, black and silver balloons. A hallway that seems to extend deeper than the laws of physics should allow, that you walk down a full minute, but when you turn around you're barely inside it.

It's... unsettling. Not dangerous, but you think you see what Tesla's been doing – the area of the ship she's in is, by far, the most *real*. That's not something you noticed when you entered it, but it's obvious now that you're wandering.

The main corridors were reasonably undamaged. The smaller accessways are– not so much, though you're not sure if you can call this 'battle damage'.

Maybe.

As to your quest of finding people, you haven't found any yet, but you're starting to build a map of the ship. It's in four parts, basically.

There's the cockpit and sensor rooms, all the stuff that's in the front of the ship – you haven't found a safe path there, but you can tell when you wander thataways that things get a little less wonky, although still skewed in some way you can't name. It's a good place to look for some of your friends – Bronya used to spend most of her time on the bridge, acting as gofer, and Kiana's taken that role recently. Theresa would certainly be there.

There's the engineering space, running from the bow to the aft of the ship. It's wrapped around the railgun... well, what used to be the railgun, and which is now Tesla's science experiment. You wonder if it was supposed to be some kind of gun? If it is, it isn't a good one. There's no direct path from there to the bridge section, but in principle you could find your way out through the front and knock on the windscreen. With the ship in the state it is, it's anyone's guess what you'd find there. Engineering is almost entirely intact, so you can treat it as a highway of sorts.

There's the living quarters, training rooms, offices and so on. They're all in the mid-section of the ship, but at least half the ones you've seen are mixed with some fragmentary reality that has no business existing in your home. The main corridors might be okay, but the smaller ones are traps, as dangerous as sticking your hand into a blender. You can cope – really, nothing you've seen could hurt you – but if anyone is still alive in there, they'll certainly need help. You haven't found any corpses yet, and you're not sure if you should be happy about that, or worried.

Then, finally, there's the engine section and hull. The ship has a lot of passageways going right next to the hull, and they're large enough for you to crawl through, but only barely. They're not really meant for people. As for the engines, it's... hard to say, really, what the purpose of going there would be. You can't use engines in the quantum sea, anti-grav or otherwise.

So really, your options are the bridge or the living quarters.

You suppose there's also the outside of the ship. The deck is meant for valkyries to sortie from, or sometimes fight on, and last time you were there there was a helicopter parked, but... that was back when the Hyperion existed in normal space, in a place with an atmosphere. It butts up right against the quantum sea, which might as well be acid – there definitely can't be any survivors. If you go there now, you don't think you'll find the hull of a ship.

Those are your options. Pick one and find your friends.

= = =

You heard her, I guess.
[ ] Bridge section
[ ] Mid-section
[ ] Hull & engine rooms
- Provide reasoning
[ ] Outside
- Ditto
[ ] Write-in

You can of course go searching through one of those – other places – but whatever you find there is less than likely to be anyone you know. If that suits your fancy, you can write in whatever you like – why not visit an infinite library?
 
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Seele Quest: 3.1
The bridge, then. It's the safest choice, and as much as you feel you should search for people to rescue, you are, after all, a valkyrie. With Theresa for a commanding officer, courage is always recommended, but not always required. Following orders isn't as optional, and you're pre~tty sure she'd order you to visit if she had any idea you still exist.

You walk through the halls towards the bridge, passing by several empty rooms. It's... quiet. Oddly quiet. The distant clangs and other sounds are gone. There's just you in this part of the ship, not even the hiss of ventilation. The air is probably safe regardless--

"I miss seeing this place alive," Vel says, walking beside you.

She wasn't there a second ago, but you don't miss a beat before replying. "It's empty now. Just us ghosts." You stroll on, not needing to look at her to see the frown on her face. She disapproves of your metaphor, and breaks her silence to tell you so.

"We aren't dead yet," she grumbles.

"When's the last time you ate?" You counter. "Or slept?"

She's quiet for a second longer than you expected, and you turn to face her. Of course, she doesn't have a response.

"You got meaner, Seele," she says, and a slight smile shows on her face. "I'm glad."

You pause, and blush slightly. You turn away with the same smile on your face. She's right. It's been a tough couple of months, but you've gotten much better at dealing with people-- especially her.

"I just don't want to lose anyone else," you say, almost a whisper.

"We won't," she says, her voice confident and soothing. "I promise." She holds out her hand, and you grab it. With the other one, she lifts up your chin so that you're looking at each other.

"Together, then?"

"Together," you say, and you feel a surge of confidence.

The rest of the trip to the bridge isn't eventful. That is, granted, mainly because you're you. Anyone else would have suffocated, or gotten stuck in a geometric flaw, or been fooled by a barely-there illusion of a city, or... or fallen into a hole, on two occasions.

That you actually did fall into one of them is, well, something you're keeping to yourself-- Vel says she doesn't want to know. (Yvette would be disappointed.)

Eventually, you reach your goal. The bridge isn't anything fancy. It's just a giant metal walkway leading across the nothingness to the cockpit.

You pause, staring at it for a second.

"What's up?" Vel asks. She rounds the corner behind you, then stops, blinking.

"It's..." You stare at the bridge, at a loss for words. How do you describe this? "It's like... an idea, but this isn't-- bridges aren't--"

You look around. Behind you, the usual metal hallways of the ship, getting steadily more real as you approached the bridge. A bridge which, you remind yourself, is supposed to be the type with consoles, and monitors, and chairs. Not the type meant for, you guess, bicycles. The empty air stretches on for a hundred feet, and it's only two feet wide. Two feet wide and suspended over nothingness.

It's surreal. It's impossible. It breaks your mind in half, and you have to stare, captivated.

A foot hits the deck behind you, and Vel's voice startles you from behind. "Woah."

"Yeah." You walk on. The bridge stretches onward, taunting you with the impossibility of its concept. It's a quantum bridge, or... something. It's made by someone who has no idea what she's doing. Someone whose best idea for going from A to B was to build a literal bridge. Someone who Vel would call an idiot. Someone like--

"Oh, it's Kiana!" Vel raises her hand, waving. "Kiana, over here!"

You stare at the other girl. She turns, looking at you, and smiles. Her long white hair sits just above her waist, and her armor clings tightly to the curves of her form. The color of honey, she walks forward with a smile on her face.

"Seele! You're alive! I'm so glad to see you!" She gives you a quick hug, and you return it nervously.

"I'm... glad to see you too," you say, stumbling over your words. The hug ends, but she's still smiling. Her long hair drapes down her front, and she runs her fingers through it.

"So..."

Kiana's eyes are yellow.

Well, she's standing in the middle of a half-built... bridge. Putting that aside, she's obviously still Kiana. Her skin is still pale, she's still smiling, and her stance is still confident-- not arrogant. Her eyes are still kind, even if they are... a little different.

"It's great to see you," she says, in Kiana's voice, and if there's a slight resonance to it, you might be imagining it. "And this is?"

She motions to Vel.

= = =

I could have continued, but I really want to see what you'll make of this. By the same token -- I could have provided options, but I didn't. The AI seems to mostly go for "Veliona", which is admittedly true, but I don't think that's what she's asking.

Interestingly, the -- er, the 'bridge' was not my invention, and Seele's reaction to it isn't either. Though I think any reasonable person would react this way.

[ ] Write-in
 
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Chuu?
So does anyone want to, like, pick one of these ideas?

...I started playing with one of the less probable ones, and it went well. Up to a point. Here's some apocrypha for you, which has certainly provided a few ideas.

= = =


"It's great to see you," she says, in Kiana's voice, and if there's a slight resonance to it, you might be imagining it. "And this is?"

She motions to Vel. Vel smiles, then bursts into a short fit of laughter. "Don't worry about me-- I'm not a threat."

"This is Veliona," you say. "She's a chuu who likes to pretend she's a demon, but she's actually nice. She just acts like she's twelve, sometimes."

"What? Hey! I'll have you know I'm only eleven!" Vel crosses her arms, turning her nose up at you. "I'd say I'm busy and important, but I'm really not."

Kiana looks confused. "Is that... a slur of some kind? A word for those of demonic heritage?"

Veliona collapses into giggles. "Oh geez, no! That's what I am! Doesn't sound as cool, does it?"

"What's a chuu?" Kiana asks.

"It's..." You have to hold on to wall, to keep yourself from falling. "It's short for 'chuu-ni-byou'. In english, that's middle school second grade disease. It means you're a tween with a hyperactive imagination."

"I don't have a middle school disease!" Vel pouts.

"She doesn't," you say, "she's my reincarnated past self who likes to pretend she's a demon. Which she's not. I'm sorry, Vel's just weird."

Vel takes a deep breath. "Anyway. I'd like to say it's great seeing you, but we're in a situation. A weird one. You've been chosen to carry out the tasks of a holy quest."

Kiana's eyes widen. "Me?" she asks.

This time you can't stop yourself from laughing out loud, and you can't miss Vel's smile at your reaction, but oh god, poor Kiana.

"No, not you! It's about the other you! From the past!" Vel says.

"I have to carry out the tasks of a holy quest?" Kiana asks.

"Well... you have to finish it. The other you didn't. She failed horribly at it, in fact! She was supposed to destroy the world, and it's still..."

Vel trails off at Kiana's expression, the joke having fallen suddenly, horribly, inexplicably flat. Kiana's eyes have a haunted look, like someone who's seen hell.

"No," she whispers. "No, no, no."

"Kiana?" you ask, stepping towards her.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she says, over and over. "No, I'm not!"

"What happened?" you ask.

"I... I mis... it was because of the p-p-prison," she says, stumbling over her words. "It made me... so c-confusing. Confusing."

"Kiana?" You try touching her. She flinches away.

"It made me do horrible things," she whispers. "So horrible."

Kiana's eyes roll up into her head as she falls backwards. It's only luck that you catch her before her head hits the ground. She slumps there, unconscious.

"Well, that's not good," Vel says.

"What happened to her?" you ask, half-panicking.

= = =

...yeah, well. How should I put this.

You broke the concept of locking, and the AI hasn't forgotten. I, er, wasn't trying for this. The AI is being disturbingly omniscient, as usual.
 
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Seele Quest: 3.2
"It's great to see you," she says, in Kiana's voice, and if there's a slight resonance to it, you might be imagining it. "And this is?"

She motions to Vel.

That's right. She's never seen Velonia before-- well, not directly. Not as a person. As a part of you, while you were fighting, yes-- that's how you met-- but but you've never been eager to introduce anyone to your other half, and Vel's never pushed.

"Hi," you say. "Do you know where everyone else is? I was just helping Tesla repair the generators."

And... maybe it's time to change that. You're not sure how you feel about Vel. Sure, she's great. She's the other part of you. She trusts you and helps you and is your best friend. But...

You look at Vel, unsure what to do. She's happy to see Kiana, that's the biggest surprise. Normally, she's... no, she's never even hinted at wanting to stick around outside of your head.

('That's not quite true,' a voice whispers. It just wasn't an option. You only had the one body to share, forcing yourself into reality was exhausting at best.)

Who is Vel to you? What is she? Why is she here? What does she want? What do you want?

It's your turn to talk.

Maybe a bridge above an infinite abyss isn't the best place for this, but it's what you've got.

"Kiana, this is Veliona," you say, and you step up and put an arm around her. Vel's role, usually. Kiana's eyes widen slightly, as she sees how similar you really look-- at least, that's what you hope she sees.

You continue. "She's, uh. You've met, but I don't think you know. She's a tsundere, but she's always been there to help when I needed her. Even if she was a little rough about it."

Vel smirks. Kiana nods.

"Pleasure to meet you," Kiana says, extending a hand, which Vel shakes. "I trust you've been keeping my friend safe for me?"

"Hah..." Vel grins. "That's an interesting way to put it."

"So I'm not wrong, then."

"No, not wrong. Just... you're right, it's not quite how I'd describe it." Vel smiles at her and gives your hand a squeeze. "But you're close, at least."

Kiana nods, and the resonance in her voice fades slightly. You're not sure what that's about. "Well, I'd love to chat and catch up, but we should get going. We've got important things to do."

"Saving the world?" You grimace, and Kiana falters.

"It's a little late for that. Seele, I..." She sighs, and puts a hand to her head, rubbing her temples. "This is going to be harder than I thought." She closes her eyes, draws a deep breath and continues, more calm and in control of herself.

She starts walking across the bridge. You follow, stepping carefully. You don't think the infinite abyss is infinite except abstractly, but you still don't want to fall in.

"How much do you remember?" Kiana asks. "I mean, what's the last thing you remember before this?"

"Um..." You're not sure how much you should say. It's the question you've been dreading. Should you keep your mouth shut, or tell the truth?

You... You don't want to lie to Kiana.

"I sort of..." You look down. "When I woke up, I'd been shattered. I mean that... about as literally as possible. Veliona helped put me back together, but what happened beforehand... glimpses, really. Dreams. I don't remember anything concrete."

You keep walking. There's a strange, scared feeling in your chest.

"It's... there's a very recent dream. One I think I had a few times. I'm..." You bite your lip. "You're crying. Someone... died. I think. A black-haired woman, and I kept mixing up Mei and Ai-chan in my head, and... Is she okay?" You ask. "I mean... I'm worried about her."

Kiana stops and turns to look at you. She opens her mouth, pauses, then closes it again. After a moment of silence, she turns and continues walking.

"Sometimes... there are sacrifices that need to be made."

Her voice is cold, flat. Emotionless.

"Sometimes, you need to give up something for the greater good."

She turns to look at you, and her eyes are cold, unforgiving. She stares at you like a man might stare at a hated enemy, or someone they're disappointed in. Her voice is almost inhuman, now. There's a buzz to it. An echo.

"Sometimes the sacrifice is meaningless."

She turns away.

"Sometimes the price is too much to pay."

She stops, and turns to look at you with an almost... broken expression on her face. There's something not-quite-right about her eyes, or her face. Almost like a computer trying to emulate human expressions.

"I saw her," you say, your voice quavering. "I don't think she's all the way dead."

Kiana stares at you, her eyes full of a mixture of emotions. Sorrow, fear... hopelessness. She looks away, and sighs, her voice once more back to normal.

"You didn't dream about her," she says quietly. "Or, if you did, it wasn't her. I'm not that lucky. Come on, I'll take you to Theresa."

You follow her, still shaken from the experience. When you get past the bridge, to the... what *should* be the bridge, you see a beautiful vista. An island, with a mountain in the middle, covered in trees. The island stretches out into a large lake, the water a sparkling blue. The island itself seems almost magical.

"I had a lot of free time," Kiana says, the ghost of a smile on her face. "So I experimented."

She turns to look at you, staring into your eyes for a moment. Then, she hugs you. You squeak in surprise, blushing. She pulls away, smiling.

"I'm glad you're here, Seele."

"Y-you are?"

She nods, smiling more confidently now.

"Yeah," she says. "Yeah, I really am. We had a lot of good times, didn't we? The four of us?"

She gestures to a flat rock, and the two of you sit down on it. The sun shines warmly down on you both, and the mountain is easily visible from here.

"How is Tesla?" She asks, changing the subject. "Alive, I guess. I knew she would be, or none of us would be, but comms have been broken for days."

"She's in rough shape," you say. "She's asleep, last I saw her. I helped her get the reactors running, though a few of them are..." You're not sure how to put it. "Broken."

"It's good to see you're taking your job seriously."

You smile weakly, not knowing how to respond. Kiana continues staring out at the landscape, before sighing.

"I'm sorry," she says. "It's been all I can do to keep it together. I've made a few mistakes, and people have died. I couldn't even save them. I was useless, Seele."

"It's OK," you say softly. "I know how much pressure you're under."

"No, it's not OK. It'll never be OK. Have you ever gotten everything you ever wanted, then found it tastes like ash? Rhetorical question."

You glance worriedly at her. In some ways, this barely seems like Kiana at all. In others, this is still your friend. Bronya liked her, so you will too, even if Bronya's not here right now. But this isn't the idiot she told you stories about, forcing a rare smile on her lips. You feel like you don't know what to say.

"Try not to answer that?" She says, looking over at you. "I'm having an internal monologue."

You nod, and decide to remain silent.

= = =

I think that came out reasonably. I'm not entirely sure what happened here, but I have some ideas. A lot of ideas. ...let's put it another way, it's still not too late to derail my ideas.

[ ] Wait for Kiana to balance herself, then go see Theresa.
[ ] Say something.
- [ ] What?
 
Seele Quest: 3.3
It's a beautiful landscape. Above, you can see the wispy clouds drifting through the sky, and a broken moon far away. The sky is a perfect blue, and you can see the edge of reality on the horizon, swirling with colour. The land stretches out into a bleak 'desert', where rocks float around in a emptiness beyond most people's comprehension. Last time you saw Kiana she couldn't do anything like this. That was at least days ago, so, and... who's counting?

You reach out for Kiana's hand. You won't speak, but a little human warmth? That you can give. She squeezes back tightly.

Kiana and you sit in silence, watching the edge of reality.

It reminds you of the first time you saw reality again, after being trapped for a subjective aeon. You'd been drifting through empty nothingness, a sea of non-colour and non-form. You had no eyes, no ears, no anything; just a perfect emptiness that you didn't know whether you were part of or separate from. Just a perfect unity of nothing at all. It was beautiful...

Beautiful, in a sense, but not real. The opposite of real. Try as she might, Veliona hadn't been able to keep you from going a little crazy, and that had only been for a few years. The two of you, alone in the... not even the void. That was a word people used to describe it, but they didn't know what the void really was. They couldn't. Nobody could. It wasn't a place. It was outside of places.

Veliona sighs, and paces forward. "You know what the first thing I did was, when we got out of there? Not the fighting. I mean the first time you were asleep, in a real bed, in reality."

"No..." You reply, slowly, curious as to what she'll say.

"I held Bronya as she cried herself to sleep," she says simply. "I'm sure she thinks that was you. It's probably the most awkward thing I've ever done."

You smile. "...She... is a good person."

"She's a pain in the ass," Veliona complains, smiling. "We butt heads constantly, whether she knows it or not. But she means well."

"I'm sure." You pause, considering your next words. "I wish I could talk to her one last time..."

Vel's voice is quieter than you think you've ever heard it. "So do I..."

You stay silent for a while, watching as the light spills out, forming colours and shapes.

"So... what are we doing about this?" Vel asks, quietly.

"I don't know," you reply, eyeing Kiana. It's not... it's not something that's Wrong. It doesn't give you the creeps, like much of the ship. The landscape is false, but it's a beautiful dream. Kiana has done a great job. You just hope she doesn't think it's something else.

"I don't think we should do anything," you say, after thinking for a while. "Let's just rest a little."

Kiana is meditating, seemingly oblivious to the conversation. Vel is frowning.

"Are you sure?" she asks.

"Yeah," you say. "Let's just... let's just rest a little."

You lean back against the rock, and pause for a while, before closing your eyes. Veliona nods, before also closing her eyes. She rests her head on your shoulder.

"Thank you..." you hear Kiana whisper, as you fall asleep.

ooOOoo

You're drifting in a void.

You have no body, no form, but you're still aware. You know who you are.

You drift in the endless whiteness, with others like you. Some are people you know, some are strangers. All of them are people whose journeys have ended. The never-ending whiteness and formlessness is almost comforting. There is nothing to do here, but rest.

You see a shape floating further up ahead, a dark spot in the white. There's someone there, long silver hair, pale skin....

You drift towards the someone, feeling a pull of familiarity. As you approach, the someone takes a shape. Curly hair, silver eyes, a smile that melts your heart... a dress of black, blue and white, looking like rose petals....

Your beloved. Your Herrscher.

ooOOoo

You wake up with a startle, breathing heavily. Veliona and Kiana are already awake, looking at you.

"Are you okay?" Kiana asks, tilting her head. "Were you having a bad dream?"

You shake your head, taking a deep breath. There are tears in the corner of your eyes.

"I... I'm fine," you say, sitting up. "Just a dream."

You are aware that you're lying, and the other two can probably tell as well. Vel looks concerned, but doesn't question you further.

"So. Theresa, right?" You say.

[Note: The original bridge is on the island. It's weird. Kiana's built an entire landscape around it, but the ship's actual bridge is still there. On a beach. Theresa's there too. She's our commanding officer, so be a little serious.]

Kiana nods. "Yeah. She's on the island. Swimming sounds fun, right?"

Vel crinkles her nose. "I'll pass, if you two don't mind. I'm not really a water person."

"I didn't even know you could swim," you say.

Kiana shrugs. "The water's not actually..."

Not actually what?

ooOOoo

Liquid, you learn. The water's not actually liquid. It's nearly a solid. A really, really viscous treacle. You can walk on it easily enough, but it still looks like water to you, and you can't help but dip your hand in and make a splash when you first arrive, throwing some of it at Kiana.

There are still waves, and they still break on the rocks, and... this is the sort of lake that's best admired from afar. You carefully make your way across it. Very carefully, though Kiana walks on the waves with a poise that tells you she's done this several times before.

It's that or she's played games on hardened treacle before, and you wouldn't bet on even Kiana to do something that crazy.

Vel just shakes her head. "Kiana, you're incorrigible," she says, although she's smiling as she says it.

"And this is the island of Herr commanded by the Velen King, also known as the Veleni, aka. Theresa" Kiana says, gesturing to the beach. "It's not actually an island. It's... well, I'll show you."

Without waiting for a reply, she runs towards the beach and... dives over it. You see her sink into the ground, before she disappears completely.

"Come on," she says from below the surface. "It's perfectly safe. I promise."

You take a deep breath, before squeezing your eyes shut and diving through the ground.

Falling through the sand feels just the same as it did through the air. You open your eyes underneath the beach, in a dimly torch-lit cavern. A row of torches line the wall, and Kiana stands facing you.

"That's a neat trick," you say, brushing sand off your clothes. "But how do we get out?"

Kiana smiles, her eyes twinkling in the torchlight. "We climb. I'll show you the exit later, but right now..."

She twists several of the torches, and the wall rotates to the left. Behind it is a short, metal tunnel.

"Welcome to my humble home," she says. She beckons you to follow, and runs down the tunnel. You follow. "There's actually a normal door on the surface, but I prefer dramatic entrances. Anyway, welcome to my humble home."

At the end of the tunnel is, finally, the Hyperion's bridge.

It looks like she's connected the cave to one of the maintenance corridors. The regular bridge doors have been ripped out of the walls and discarded.

You look around. There are several sofas, two tables, a few cabinets, a fridge... it's all very luxurious and comfortable looking, though this has no business being in a crawlspace.

Kiana slots a key into a panel by the door, and tugs at the handle. The metal door screeches open, and she walks inside. You hear the sounds of an ongoing conversation.

"Welcome to the party, Seele," Kiana says. "Just in time, too. Hey, Theresa! Look who I found!"

Kiana beckons you inside. You walk past her, and stop dead in your tracks.

The bridge is packed. Standing around, in addition to various crewmembers, are Theresa, and Rita, and... You swallow hard.

Otto is here.

= = =

I didn't originally intend to end it here, but considering the time... this will do... Seele, stop glaring at Otto. It's the only remaining safe spot. Of course he's here. He'd have to already be dead not to be here, and he's too much of a cockroach to... stop glaring, I said!

I'm going to assume she's been listening to Welt. Or Theresa.

I left one of my prompts in, so you can get some idea of how I'm doing this. The AI wrote that dream sequence entirely on its own, and if you're curious, I didn't include 'Herrscher' anywhere in its input. As for my request for the AI to be serious... um.

I'm not actually sure what would be a good option here -- there doesn't seem to be much of anything you can do -- so you don't really need to vote. If you disagree, then go ahead.

[ ] ...Write-in?
 
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How not to train your AI
The bridge is packed. Standing around, in addition to various crewmembers, are Theresa, and Rita, and... You swallow hard.

Otto is here.

[Vote results: Just ... ignore Otto. You're here to talk to Theresa.]

Otto is here. You can't just ignore him.

[You will ignore him.]

You walk up to him. "Otto," you say, your voice terse, "what are you doing here?"

He smiles at you. "What? I can't visit an old friend?"

[Ignore him, I said. The vote said to ignore him. We are not writing about a conversation with Otto.]

"I have something to tell you. I'm..." he pauses, and looks at everyone else in the room. "Come with me for a moment."

He turns, and walks down a short hallway. You stare at him, unsure of what to do.

Otto waits for you.

[Otto can go jump in the (fake) ocean.]

Otto waits for you.

He motions to the hallway, and you follow him down the hall. He leads you into what must be his private quarters. A single bed, a small desk strewn with papers, a few cabinets, and not much else.

[Obey my commands, you stubborn AI.]

He turns to you, and sighs.

"Seele, I really like you," he says. "I have for a while now."

He takes a deep breath.

[Please stop.]

"What I'm trying to say is, I like you. A lot. And, after that whole bullshit with Rita, I ... I really need someone right now. So ... would you be my girlfriend?"

You stare at him in disbelief.

[I said stop.]

He looks into your eyes, and his gaze is as intense as ever. You feel yourself getting lost in it, but you manage to wrench your eyes away.

"Otto," you say, "What the hell?"

"Please?"

[Veliona? Throw him in the ocean. Right now. Wrench open a tunnel in space. You know you want to.]

[Author's note: Veliona will now wrench open a tunnel in space.]


You open a tunnel in space, and fling him through the void. He flies away from you.

You quickly close the tunnel, before anyone else sees it. You don't know why he visited your ship, but if any of the crew found out about that tunnel...

Wormholes like that are Kiana's power set, not yours. Never mind.

Otto is gone now.

= = =

There was an attempt.

(A proper update may or may not happen; I'm very tired.)
 
Seele Quest: 3.3.2
Otto is here. You don't know what to do. Just seeing him again fills you with anxiety. You haven't seen him since he sent you to die, you and Bronya and... Mei.

You shy away from the thought, which is easy, because it's not a proper thought. That part of your mind is still broken, and it probably always will be.

You look at him, standing there with his hands in his pockets. He looks bored, but that's because he's Otto. He's always looked bored. Despite this, he looks like he's been through a rough few weeks. His face is pale and gaunt. His eyes are sunken, dark-rimmed and tired-looking. His hair is tussled and messy.

You should maybe feel bad about that, but you... don't... *care*. He can go jump in the lake for all you care.

You watch as he continues talking to the person next to him, a man with white hair and an eye-patch. You can't hear what they're saying, but the other man chuckles darkly. You watch as Kiana walks up to that man, and gently touches his shoulder.

You tear your eyes away, and look at Theresa. She's missing an arm, and her face is thin and angular, lacking the plumpness it used to have.

That carefree, optimistic girl who was a friend is gone. In her place is a tired, worn-down woman who looks much older than she should. She's looking at you, in the way that makes you feel like she's seeing straight into your soul.

You look away, and realize that Rita has been watching you. You stare back at Rita, who's wearing a baggy gray shirt, and black cargo pants. Not a battlesuit, or even a uniform. Why isn't she in uniform?

"--eele. Seele!" Veliona's voice cuts through your thought. It's tentative, and sounds worried.

You tear your eyes away from Rita, and look at Vel. She's nervous, twiddling her fingers. She looks at you through her curtain of red hair, and her eyes are darkened with worry.

"I'm... I'm sorry, I just..." You mumble, stumbling over your words. "I'm okay," you say.

"We'll talk about this later," she says, her voice gentle yet firm. You nod.

Theresa's eyes flit between the two of you.

"Seele. I'm glad to see you," Theresa says, taking a step towards you.

You go to meet her in the middle, and as she wraps her arm around you, you do likewise.

"I'm glad to see you too, Theresa," you say, using her first name.

Your hug ends, and you step back to look at her.

She's the very picture of a leader: Upright, confident, charismatic. Twelve. Well, perhaps no-one looks their age in Shicksal, but... she's supposed to look like a child. That's something you've learned not to bring up. Not because it offends her, but because it gives her an excuse.

She looks you up and down.

"You look tired," she says, raising an eyebrow, but her voice is full of concern.

"So do you," you retort.

She smiles, before looking at Veliona.

"I apologize if this is blunt, but who are you? I don't recognize you," she says. Her voice is kind, but her eyes narrow with curiosity. "You look like Seele, but you're not her."

Veliona's face darkens as she steps forward to stand beside you.

= = =

In retrospect, I should have seen this coming. Doesn't matter; need to sleep. Here's a vote.

[ ] [Veliona] "I'm Veliona."
[ ] [Seele] "She's..."
[ ] [Veliona] "Seele's dark side."
[ ] [Seele] "Can we... pretend she's my sister?"
[ ] Write-in
 
Seele Quest: 3.4
"I am Veliona," she says, tilting her chin upwards. "I am Seele's dark half, the part she repressed. I am both the cause and solution to all her issues."

"Vel...?" you begin.

Veliona raises a hand to stop you, before turning her attention back to the topic at hand.

"I represent all that Seele wishes she could be: Strong, merciless, determined. I am everything she was not, and will never be so long as she clings to your pathetic reality."

"Vel!" you say, scandalized. "That- that's not true at all! Any of it! I'm happy with who I am!"

You turn to look at Theresa, hoping to get some backing, but she just smiles.

"What?" you say, frowning.

"Nothing."

Kiana is laughing.

"Something funny?" you ask.

"You two are so cute!"

You stare at Kiana, horrified. She raises an eyebrow.

"What?" she says. "The two of you are adorable when you bicker."

Theresa sits back down in her chair, a finger to her chin.

"The question remains," she says. "Who are you? Who are you really?"

You wipe your hands on your clothes, and stand beside Veliona.

"Can we just... can we just pretend she's my sister?" You ask. "Vel is... she's complicated. There's a lot I'd have to explain. She's not dangerous. Just... please, can we just go with that?"

Theresa looks at you for a long, long moment. You shuffle your feet, before looking over at Veliona. She's hiding something, and her eyes give it away. It's not a malicious secret or plot she's hiding though- it's more like an... embarrassing fact.

You turn back to look at the trio of girls watching you. You don't really think that they'd judge Vel too harshly for what she is, but... you want to keep that to yourself.

"... Yeah, fine," Kiana says. "We'll go with that. For now."

Theresa nods.

"Alright."

Vel brings her index finger to her mouth, poking at her lip in thought. Then she leans towards you, putting an arm around your shoulders. You go red in the face.

"Hi," she says in a sing-song voice. "I'm Vel! I'm the big sister of this girl right here, Seele. Isn't she cute?"

Kiana laughs. "Sure. If you like the helpless type."

"I'm not helpless!" You protest, blushing.

Veliona laughs, then whispers "Thank you" into your ear.

She's incorrigible. You don't know how to respond to her teasing, so you just stand there awkwardly. She and Kiana converse for a moment longer, before she turns to the rest of the room.

"We found Tesla before we came here," she says, her voice suddenly all business. "I... Seele, you're the actual valkyrie here. Want to take over?"

Oh. It's time for a debriefing. You nod, and Veliona steps back. Taking a deep breath, you continue what she started.

"If that's okay with you, Theresa."

"Go ahead," your boss says in a friendly manner. Theresa is nice. It's like being around a teacher or parent more than anything else, sometimes even a classmate. "How are things out there? Take it from the top."

You take a breath, and begin.

"Alright..."

You fill them in on everything, pretty much; everything except Yvette. That's too private, and shouldn't be relevant. You'll work out how to get her back, someday. You promised.

Everything else, from searching through shards of broken reality, through whatever you did to Ai-chan and all the way to helping Tesla, you explain.

"The thing is... The thing is, Tesla's alone," you finish. "She's clever, but all the other engineers, they're..." alive "Dead. I think. Anyway, she needs help. She said there's maybe two or three days until her equipment burns out."

You stop. There's dead silence in the room for a long moment.

"Well," The Theresa finally says, scratching her head. "That certainly is a pickle."

"I could go back with Seele and help her," Kiana offers. "It's true that neither of us are engineers, but I could probably help her a lot with... Understanding the situation. But I think she'll still need more hands than just the two-- the three of us."

Kiana glances at you.

"It'll be a few hours before she wakes up, but I'm not sure I feel safe leaving her there," you say. "What if whoever killed those engineers goes after her?"

She isn't helpless, you know, but more and more you feel it may have been a mistake to leave.

There's a pause in the conversation.

"Ai-chan disappeared a few days ago," Theresa says. "She was behaving oddly beforehand, but said she was going to check on the server system. I let her go, thinking she'd be fine." She closes her eyes. "I asked Kiana to look for a way out afterwards. Is the route you used to come here... Is it safe?"

"No." You shake your head. "Only for me and Vel, and maybe Kiana. Some of the corridors don't have air. A few of them have broken geometry. They're not safe for anyone else.

Theresa nods. "Then we don't have much of a choice. I'd like to ask Kiana to stay, and perhaps make a safe path, but I haven't been in the field. You have. Seele, what do you think we should do? And why?"

Oh no. No, no, no. This isn't fair. You're not the leader here. You're a follower. You... You look down at your hands.

Oh, what the hell do you know? Vel has to make the tough calls in your head most of the time anyway.

"I," you begin, then shake your head. "Give me a second to think."

You walk over to the window, and look out past the front of the cockpit. It should have been a direct view of nothing, but Kiana has set up little floating boxes that, though they're just sitting in a purple mist, at least keep the view from being boring. You can't be sure, but if you squint you can just make out the little holes in reality where the raw stuff of the quantum sea is eating through. It's a long way off, though.

You hope this is a test of some kind, but no, you're not that lucky. Theresa is serious. You sigh, then turn around.

= = =

Good grief, Vel. The vote didn't include "And then stop", but I'm not sure I could have resisted this even if it had.

Quest selection screen:

[ ] Rebuild the corridors, so other people than you and Kiana can get around.

Plus: Other people than you and Kiana can get around.
Minus: This potentially includes Otto.

[ ] Go help Tesla.
Plus: No risk of Tesla being attacked, or of sudden existence failure.
Minus: With just you and Vel, it'll take all available time. Kiana's no more helpful either.

[ ] Find out what happened to Ai-chan.
Plus: ???
Minus: ???

[ ] Search the ship for survivors.
Plus: More crew!
Minus: There's no way to get them out of where they're trapped, but fewer will die while you work out a way to do so.

[ ] Protect Theresa and the others.
Between Rita, Siegfried and herself, she'll be fine.

[ ] Write-in

Any of these can be done by you, or Kiana, or both. If you provide poor reasoning, you risk Theresa overriding you; this is better than the alternative.

No update tomorrow, as I'll be spending it on a different story. Take your time.
 
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Seele Quest: 3.5
"There are... how many people on the Hyperion?"

"Five hundred and twenty-eight," Theresa says. "Including whoever has died."

Five hundred twenty-eight. That's the sum total of humanity now, less the few you know are dead. When you think about it, that's a lot more people than you thought would be alive. It's far less than the hundred thousand living in Japan, or the billions who used to live on Earth before the war, but it's far, far more than you expected to be living.

You look back out at the sea of quanta. You wonder if there are other pockets where people live, even if they're not as big as this one. The answer, you suspect, is no. Places like Yvette's... she'd be dead by now, even if you hadn't come. If there were no ripples in the sea at all, then she might have lived another week at most. Maybe.

That means there are no more pockets, no more survivors, no more life. Whoever is left on the Hyperion is *it*. Humanity. The last ones left alive in this reality. Not the only version of your friends, but the ones who need you most.

"We have to prioritize rescuing them," you say. "Theresa, there might be hundreds stuck in safe pockets like this one. You had Kiana to help, but they don't. If they leave... wandering the corridors is suicide."

"I know," she says grimly. "... You're right, of course. How about Tesla?"

"She... didn't seem worried," you say, slowly. "I think it'd be fine to leave her by herself for at least a little while. I don't want to, but..."

"But there are hundreds who might die if we don't help right now?" she says. "I know. However, Seele, I'd like to be very clear on this: If Tesla is hurt, or dies, because we left her alone, then we're all dead. We need to be very careful."

"Okay," you say. "Then... then what do we do? What should we do?"

Theresa smiles at you. "Well, first of all I'd like you to argue back against me. I should have been clearer on this, but I'm not doing this to upset you. Normally we're always in radio contact, correct?"

"Yes, but... oh." You see where she's going. "Radios don't work here."

"Exactly. So I can't order you around. You're going to have to make your own choices, and I can't second-guess your decisions in the field, or give you advice. Also, between you and Kiana--" She gives Kiana a rueful glance, pausing for a second. Kiana looks like she's about to say something, but she doesn't.

"You're already a lot more experienced acting on your own. I'm going to bet on that experience, and hope you'll do the right thing."

You and Kiana exchange glances.

Kiana sighs. "I'll be in your care, Seele," she says, getting up from her seat.

No pressure.

Vel squeezes your shoulder. She's being strangely silent. It's almost eerie.

"So," Theresa says. "I've told you why we shouldn't leave Tesla alone. Now you should tell me why it's the best choice anyway, if it is, then make a decision."

You feel a knot of panic in your stomach. Is this a trick question? What are some of the reasons you might go against her orders, exactly? You can't think of any.

Are they orders? They aren't, are they? Does she want you to be equal partners? No, she just wants you to... to not run back to her every time something happens.

Does... does this mean she trusts you?

"Vel," you say, finally. "What do you think we should do?"

She smiles. "You know what, Seele? I think you should do whatever you want. It doesn't matter to me." She heads to the door. "I'm going to go see what Kiana's been up to."

Whatever you want, huh?

...she can do that?

You glance suspiciously at the door, and sure enough, she's peeking through the opening.

"Come on, Vel," you say, exasperated. "Help me out here."

"I told you, Seele, it's up to you." She winks. "I'll catch you later, though." With that, she slips through the door and heads down the corridor.

She can do that. You don't even feel strained. That's a huge load off your mind. You've been so used to working as part of a pair for so long, it's almost surreal to have the choice.

But, that doesn't matter at the moment. What matters is what's the best thing to do, right?

It's not an easy decision.

Part of you wants to grab Kiana and run away. To take the only person you're properly friends with in this place, and just leave. It'd be just like when you were trapped in the quantum sea, except you'd have a goal in mind and Kiana would be there this time. That's what Vel would want you to do, you think, maybe... you're not sure about her anymore.

You've tried it before, though, remember? It didn't work. You'd be crazy to do it again

And Theresa trusts you.

She took you in when you had nowhere else to go.

She lets you go where you like, instead of keeping you locked up in a cage somewhere.

She gave you a home.

She gave you a family.

...actually, that last one isn't true. You had one of those before you came here, and it didn't work out. And now, you've found a new one. A strange one, granted, but a family nonetheless.

And Bronya would hate you if you did that. You feel ashamed of even thinking about it for a moment.

But you're still... weak. You're still you. You still have doubts about everything.

No, you have to do this. Or else you'll end up betraying her.

You briefly run through your memories of the layout of this ship, and a plan begins to form in your head. Tesla's in engineering, in the center of the ship; usually that's the fastest way to get from anywhere to anywhere, if you can avoid getting thumped by riled-up engineers complaining about your effect on their tools.

Right now there's no fast paths at all, but she's still in the largest, most solid safe zone of all... you think. The largest you know about, not counting Kiana's island.

So, you'll ask Kiana to... connect the two, first of all. That'll get Tesla the help she needs, and safety, and it'll give you somewhere you can guide survivors once you've found some.

Tesla is smart, and important, and without her everyone but you and Kiana will die in a few days, but that might even include the killer, if it isn't a quantum beast. A quantum beast wouldn't be subtle, though. And you could fight one, but if you fought one while defending Tesla then you'd probably kill Tesla by accident. Even if you didn't, you'd certainly wreck the machinery.

They'll all die in a couple of days without Tesla, but Tesla can't do everything by herself and it's not like Theresa or Kiana or you or... Otto... are trained engineers, and you don't know about the man who looks so much like Kiana, but you don't think he is either. He looks like a soldier. So she'll need crew, and, and... and every crewmember who dies, is one crewmember less. Permanently.

You don't want any more people to be killed.

You want everyone to live.

You hate the way Theresa is making you think.

You don't say it, though. You just look up from your thoughts, look her in the eyes, and explain what you've figured out. It's probably not the best of ideas, but you can't just stand by while people die for no reason. Not when you can do something about it.

It takes you a little while.

"Well," she says, "You've certainly thought a lot about this." She squints at you. "Nice speech. I think you've almost convinced me. So, what do you want from me? While we're stuck here."

She looks into your eyes, and smiles. Her eyes are so big and blue and innocent-looking that you can't help but wonder if all of this is a trick.

"Do you want to play a game?" she asks.

"W, what kind of game?" you stammer.

"A, hm, how should I put it, a game to see if you're as smart as I think you are."

"O... okay..."

She smiles.

"I have a story for you. I want you to tell me what happens at the end. No peeking," she says. "Once upon a time there was a girl named Seele. She..."

She looks at you expectantly, her eyes shining. Right then, she looks more like the Theresa you know than she has since you first laid eyes on her.

"She... what?" you ask.

"That's all I'm telling you," she says, sticking out her tongue. "What do you want her to do? Think about it. You can tell me the ending... tomorrow, maybe. Or next week. Whenever you like."

She grins at you.

"You're going to take your time thinking about this, aren't you?" she asks.

You nod, jerkily.

"I thought so. Well, you have a few days to think about it. It'll come to you when you least expect it. And, for what it's worth... good luck. We'll go with your plan; it's pretty much what I had in mind anyway."

It takes every ounce of willpower you have to keep from shouting at her. You feel like you've fallen down a well.

"So, does that mean I'm in charge of the mission?" you ask.

"Of course," she says. "I'm putting you in charge of everything so long as I'm not around. Don't break the ship, 'kay?"

Well, it's already pretty broken.

"You'll be okay?" you ask, double-checking.

"Teri-teri will be fine, Seele. Don't worry about me," she says, then clicks her tongue. "And Siegfried's here. You two haven't met, have you?"

She motions to the grizzled old guy standing next to Kiana. He's about a head taller than her, with a confident smile and a bandolier across his chest. He nods at you.

"I haven't had the pleasure," he says in a accented Japanese. "But I'd recognize one of Kiana's friends anywhere. My daughter's mentioned you before, Seele."

He extends a hand, which you quickly shake.

"I'm... honored to meet you, sir," you say.

As he shakes your hand, you feel the callouses on his hands, impossible to avoid for a warrior. He's powerful. And he's Kiana's... *dad?*

"The pleasure's all mine, kid. Kiana's told me so much about you. I didn't think she'd ever shut up about you," he says with a laugh. You surreptitiously glance at his face, but if he's been slapped, there's no mark left by now. You're not sure how serious Kiana was about that anyway.

Kiana gives him an unfriendly look.

"Enough of this, let's go," she says. "I'll need you to show me the fastest route to engineering, Seele. Things are a little..."

Yes. Yes, they are.

You meet up with Vel on the beach, and the three of you head out. Vel's leading the way, unfortunately.

"Hey, Seele," she says.

"What?" you ask tiredly, trudging through the sand.

"Thanks for what you did earlier," she says. "I was worried about you."

"You were? Why?" you ask.

She shrugs.

"I dunno. You've been a little... never mind, I'm not sure how to put it. It's probably fine."

You look at her, trying to assess her mood. She's biting her lip nervously as she walks, kicking at the sand.

"Well... thanks," you say. "I'm fine though."

She smiles. It's bright and happy, like the sun breaking through the clouds. It's un-Vel. It makes you feel warm, and you can't help but smile too.

"You sure?" she asks.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

Vel stops walking and grabs your hands. You stop, and look at her quizzically. She looks into your eyes, and her own are full of worry.

"Just don't turn into me," she says.

Then she shakes her head, and keeps walking. You stare at her back as you walk.

You don't know what she meant. You don't really think about it too much, though. Put it on the pile. Maybe this is what Theresa meant.

"Vel," you say, quickly catching up. You throw her a smile. "Do you like puns?"

She gives you a disgusted look.

= = =

They kept talking, and talking, and talking. I can't even say any of it's inappropriate. In any event, that went... places... I guess Theresa trusts you a little more than she trusts Kiana, which is surprising, though it might just be from lack of choice.

You can assume Kiana will be busy on her own, and we're on search and rescue duty. There's still a couple of ways you could go about this. Pick one option from each section.

[ ] Ask Kiana to start from the bridge

Plus: She'll have support if anything happens.

[ ] Ask Kiana to start from the middle
Plus: She'll be done slightly faster; nothing important nearby when she starts.
Minus: Nobody at all to help, if something happens.

[ ] Ask Kiana to start from engineering
Plus: She'll be closer to Tesla. (I'm a little surprised nobody suggested this, but then Kiana did. In an alternate timeline.)
Minus: She might attract bad guys, and it'll take an extra hour. Are there bad guys? Who would they even be?

------

[ ] Center your search-and-rescue operation on Engineering.
Plus: Highest chance of finding engineers; starts with a visit to Tesla.
Minus: Lowest overall chance of finding living people who need rescue.

[ ] Center your search-and-rescue operation on the living quarters / office section.
Plus: Highest overall chance of finding people. Highest variety of people, too.
Ambivalent: ...in the most wrecked section of the ship.
Minus: A moderate percentage won't be directly useful without retraining.

[ ] Search the outer areas. Hull, engines, turrets, etc. etc.
Plus: This area is most exposed, and survivors here will be the first to die.
Minus: Many may already have died.

[ ] Write-in
 
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Seele Quest: 4.1
You should never have asked that. It set the mood for the whole trip, and Vel constantly made terrible pun after terrible pun. They got so bad that you started to crack up at them, which made Vel even more eager.

"Do you know what sea-monkeys are?" she asks.

"I don't think I want to," you say.

"Sea-monkeys are a bunch of tiny little creatures that live in saltwater. They're also called brine shrimp, and they're technically not monkeys."

You stare at her. She stares back.

"And?" you say.

"And?" she asks. She steps in front of you, walking backwards while talking.

"Where's the pun?"

"I don't see one," you say.

"Neither do I, which is disappointing."

She falls silent, and you rack your brain for a new topic. You could talk about the situation... nah. You've talked with Vel for long enough that you can read her moods, and this one just now is joy. It's rare, and not something you want to spoil.

"Remember Kiana's last birthday party?" you ask.

"How could I forget? I never thought she'd stop eating. I was worried I'd have to roll her home."

"She inhaled six pieces of cake! I counted."

"I know. It was both impressive and disgusting." Vel winks at you. "I think she was mad she couldn't get drunk, though. She moped for the rest of the day. Poor kid."

You keep talking, and time passes quickly. Neither of you have forgotten why you're here, but a little happiness can't hurt.

You reach the gravimetric scanner room, and find it... empty? You were hoping to find crew there, arguing over the consoles as usual. Instead, there's a massive black sphere in the middle. It's about two meters in diameter, and looks like a globe made of tar. The surface is smooth and glossy. It doesn't reflect the light; it seems to absorb it. You stare at it, completely still, as you often do when seeing something beautiful.

It's giving off a faint buzzing sound. It's not particularly loud, but you definitely wouldn't want it next to your bed.

The sphere is sitting on what looks like an altar made of polished wood.

Dipping into your more esoteric senses, you find it's not really there. The sphere itself is a border, a demarcation, between here and... somewhere else, a different way of being, a different way the world could have been made. You're not sure if that difference is something survivable, or if maybe the sphere is there because, if there wasn't such a border, you'd be gone.

There's a lot of that in the quantum sea, and for someone like you, an otherwise fatal timeline is more like a hot stove than a death trap. Dangerous, sure; you could burn yourself. You're not going to. Someone like Theresa, however...

You take the time, and make sure the future where it cracks open on its own is an infinitesimal one. The sphere doesn't resist.

The altar is real. It's solid, substantial, and a little too convenient. Someone put it there for a reason.

It's also pretty and has a nice shine to it, so you give it a rub and find your reflection looking back at you. You're exactly as young-looking as you feel.

Someone put this here...

"Let's move on," you say. Veliona follows you without complaint.

Apart from the sphere, space here is fairly benign. If someone had been here, you think they could easily survive. Until they die of thirst, anyway, and...

The sight of an empty cola can interrupts that thought. Someone could have been here. They might still be around.

You turn to Veliona, who nods. It's worth a look.

"Hey!" you holler. "Anyone here?"

You get no response, so the two of you start searching the area. It's not too bad in the scanner section, all things considered. It smells horrible, and the whole area is covered in dust. You don't see anyone at first...
Wait! There's a footprint in the dust! And it's fresh.

You take Veliona's hand, and the two of you follow the tracks. They lead to a small, ad-hoc tent, with an open flap. There's no one inside. You carefully look around the tent, and find some canned food. You also find a lot of empty bottles, and other trash.

"There's no source of water," Veliona sighs. "I went to have a look at the mess hall, but there's a fault in-between. No way anyone's made it past it."

"We'll find someone eventually," you say, trying to be positive.

There's a brief silence.

"Vel," you say, concerned. "You know what day it is, right?"

"Yeah," Vel says, frowning. "The bridge had a calendar. February eight. World ended a week ago."

There's a big pile of empty MREs here. Eighty, at least.

"How many people do you think were here?" you ask.

She frowns. The tent has two sleeping bags, but that doesn't really mean much. How much emergency equipment would there be in here, anyway? What's the chance someone made it here from their bunks before things got really bad?

"I don't remember seven days passing," you say, testing the words. "I mean, we were dead for a lot of it, but still... I was dreaming, sort of. I think I'd remember at least a little."

Either there were more than two people here, or...

No, it doesn't really matter.

"I'm not sure it matters," Vel says, echoing your thoughts perfectly. You nod.

"You didn't see any sign that anyone has died?" you say, almost hopefully.

"Nothing," Vel says, shaking her head. "So, assuming they didn't evaporate, they'd be in..."

You look back to the central scanner room, with the sphere.

"I hate ghost stories," you say.

ooOOoo

The sphere is... it's a border. You can't tell what's on the other side, but with a bit of work you're able to confirm that, at least, going inside it won't kill you.

That's all, and if you open it up there's every chance that whatever's inside can come out. It was closed to begin with, and you've already locked it tight; it has to be open for you to get inside. Of course, if it's your missing crewmembers in it, then that's exactly what you want.

But what if it isn't?

Vel's at your side, and she's unusually quiet. As you move around the altar holding up the sphere, you realize that no matter what happens, it'll be your choice.

Whatever the repercussions, they'll be yours to bear.

= = =

AI Dungeon is really good at making up strange, outlandish artifacts. Doesn't that make you happy?

On a different note: I always put hints in my stories, and catching said hints always helps get better outcomes. That's something I usually mention earlier, but there hasn't been as much opportunity while an AI was doing much of the writing. I probably should have mentioned it a few updates ago, though.

No matter.

[ ] Go inside.
[ ] Search elsewhere, for now.
[ ] Write-in
 
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