Seele Vollerei: The end of reality, and what came after.
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Like -
I can physically go get a d20 and roll it, that's no problem; but I don't know how to do dice rolls in-post.
EDIT: Why does the throw dice option only show up when editing an existing post?
I can physically go get a d20 and roll it, that's no problem; but I don't know how to do dice rolls in-post.
EDIT: Why does the throw dice option only show up when editing an existing post?
Last edited:
- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
I am choosing to interpret this roll request as "Seele has stumbled upon a group of crewpeople playing ... Houses & Honkai Beasts, I guess? and decided to take a short break."
Presumably the d20 roll is for initiative.
Presumably the d20 roll is for initiative.
I read this as something suggesting that Honkai Beasts were taking care of the crew members.
Probably cause they felt that sorry for them.
- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This is a superior interpretation and I accept its authority.
In all seriousness though, a 'dungeon' is just a house for kobolds.
Or in this case, the little Honkai jellyfish or bird thingies.
In all seriousness though, a 'dungeon' is just a house for kobolds.
Or in this case, the little Honkai jellyfish or bird thingies.
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Seele Quest: 4.2
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Later, you decide.
There's a lot of reasons you don't want to open the sphere. The chance it's holding something dangerous. The possibility that time dilation will trap you for decades. The fear that, while you're playing around in here, more people will die elsewhere. They're all true, but..
To be honest?
You're just creeped out.
The two of you move around the sphere, looking for any button, lever, anything that could tell you what's going on.
There's nothing. Just the altar, and that's wood. Pure wood, nothing special about it. Simple, polished wood. Elegant in its simplicity, but it doesn't seem to be there for a *reason*. The sphere, you're pretty sure, would float on its own without it. The altar serves no purpose. It just is.
Which makes you wonder, of course. You know you'll be back. Just... not now.
"Let's go," you say. "There's nothing here."
Vel nods, and you walk out of the room. You pass through the entry chamber, walk up the short flight of stairs, and out of the sensor section. The massive steel door is still open from when you first came in; the sensors worked enough to open it up, but not enough to close it. Of course. You head back outside, without a word.
Part of you wonders if you should split up. You'd certainly cover more ground like that, but... ah... it would feel wrong, you think. Almost like tearing your personal timeline in half. Both things you can do, in theory, but neither... fit your personality. You and Vel are a team. Whether that's for safety, or because you've been stuck together so long, or fear of what will happen if the weather changes... or maybe it's just because you're used to her.
Maybe it's because she's Vel. You asked Theresa to pretend she's just your sister, and that's not... that's not exactly true, but...
Vel must have similar thoughts; she doesn't leave your side as you head onwards to the mess hall and dormitory. The mess hall is empty, and the dorm is... well, empty too. The beds are still neatly made, as if everyone had just gotten up and walked out of the room. A 'gone fishing' sign, except for real. Your heart sinks a bit at this sight.
Vel spends her time walking the perimeter, while you search the dormitory. Finally, you meet up back in the mess hall.
"This waypoint is pretty big," she says. "I'm betting most of the people here got evacuated."
"It's not the evacuation I'm worried about. It's what happens afterwords." You open a refrigerator, Vel right behind you. "Do you think...?"
"That we're too late?" Vel says. "It's possible. There's a few places we can check, but... we're in a time crunch here. They could all be dead already."
Someone's taken most of the food. Not all of it, but all of the perishables. You pick up a pack of juice, then think better of it and put it back. Best save the food for people who need it.
Vel shuts the refrigerator door. "We should try somewhere else."
"Yeah..." You sigh. "The dormitories, again? Section B?"
"If we're lucky, someone's hiding out." Vel pauses. "I... didn't think it'd feel this depressing. Everyone's gone. Well, not everyone, but..."
"Not everyone." You think about Kiana, and Theresa. About Siegfried, even though you hadn't met him before. He seems nice. About Otto, who is either the most dedicated or the most masochistic person you've ever known. That's the only explanation you can give for why he's sticking around this many people who hate him.
"Let's check the armory." Vel sounds dejected.
You go back to the dormitory, opening the door to a large weapons stockpile. Rows and rows of guns, grenades, rockets... everything you could ever need for a war. You frown.
"Why the hell do we have a stockpile this big, anyway?" You ask. Vel looks at you as if the answer should be obvious.
"For the apocalypse, of course."
You laugh. "Right. Well, I guess it's good that we have this for... fighting quantum beasts that can't be hurt by normal weapons." You try not to think about the amount of fear this stockpile inspires in you.
No people, of course. There's no people anywhere.
You head back to the cafeteria, Vel by your side. She looks at you, and smiles a little.
"I think I..." she pauses. "I'm glad we got to meet each other."
You smile back, and put your hand on hers. "Me too."
This is the way it should be. You and your sister, protecting each other. Keeping each other sane.
Something occurs to you. "Waypoint?" You ask.
Vel blushes. "It's from a game Bronya was playing with Mei and Kiana. Something about a world where, instead of distance, places were separated by... how did she put it? Narration. You can move normally inside a waypoint, but not between them. It's not a great match, but different places on the ship aren't connected normally either, and I figured we need a term for it."
"That's... actually pretty clever."
BGM
Vel smiles. "Let's go."
"Yeah..." You nod, and your eyes catch something on the floor. Footprints, in the omnipresent dust. Fresh ones, going off to... "Wait. Tracks. Someone's over here."
You follow the tracks. They lead you out of the cafeteria, to a corridor that's chock-full of spatial faults.
"That's..." you say.
Weird. Strange. Impossible.
There are thousands of rifts here. The corridor is full of them, stretching as far as you can see -- but somehow, the tracks dance between them. That's not something a normal human should be able to do. You? You can go through them, but any normal person who did that would be torn to pieces.
Whoever left the tracks hasn't, though. Hasn't gone through them, and hasn't been torn apart. They've just... gone between them, dancing between rifts they shouldn't be able to see.
Weird.
"Come on, let's go!" you say to Vel, excitement in your voice. There's someone alive on this ship. There has to be. Vel nods, and you follow the tracks.
The footprints lead to another part of the ship. You go through more corridors, and then...
You hear voices in the distance. You slow down, and edge forward. You hear... Singing?
"Oh, I come from Alsace, a region of France," you hear someone sing in a heavy German accent.
"I lead a band of mercenaries, my name is Hans mein friend," the voice continues.
"I am a creature of legend, they call me the quantum Werewolf."
A younger, higher voice cuts in. "That's Herr Röt, and I am his faithful hound, Féval."
"We fight the creatures of darkness, so innocent souls are avenged!"
You run down the corridor, making a racket that could probably wake the dead.
"We search the land for monst..." the German voice stops suddenly.
"Hey! Don't stop singing," the girl says. You think you..
Yes. You recognize her. You'd recognize her anywhere. *Especially* singing.
"Roza!" You shout, sprinting down the corridor. You take the corner at a run, nearly overbalancing as you burst into another office section. It's... cubicles, except someone's torn down most of the cubicles and built a shelter from the dividers. In the middle, five adults in clerk uniforms, and--
There she is. Standing with a man, who looks to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He's tall and strong looking, with short blond hair and a bushy beard. He's wearing a red hoodie, with paw prints on the arm and chest.
The girl next to him is much shorter, dressed in a green and yellow jacket, and has long pink hair, a horn and a tail. It's Rozaliya.
It's really Roza.
She's alive.
You don't know whether to laugh or cry. You just sprint over to her, grabbing her in a hug as she lets out a little yelp of surprise.
"Seele! What are you doing here?" She asks.
You look up at her, grinning like an idiot, eyes shining with tears. Veliona is looking at the cubicle-shelter, where... oh... it's Liliya. She's just exiting, her eyes wide like saucers.
"Roza, who... Seele?" She asks. "Seele, is that really you? What are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you!" you say, beaming. You release Rozaliya, smiling as Lili hugs you. Veliona stands there awkwardly.
"Er... there's two of you?" Rozaliya says.
"I can explain," you say.
"We'd be here awhile," Veliona says, sighing.
Yeah, no time for that.
"...she's my evil twin," you claim.
"I'm her smart twin," Veliona says.
"She's also a voice in my head," you say. "Roza, Liliya, meet Veliona."
"Nice to meet you," Veliona deadpans.
"Are there any more of you?" Roza asks.
You look around. Everyone here is hanging on to your words, their eyes filled with hope.
"Yeah," you say. "Theresa made it, as did everyone else on the bridge. Tesla's working in engineering, and Kiana is trying to fix the corridors so we can get around. We're out searching for survivors, like you, to make sure you'll be okay until we can get you out of here. Things got pretty wonky, huh?"
"You could say that," she nods. "Have you found anyone else?"
You shake your head. "You're the first... but, we haven't been at this for long! This is the second place we checked, pretty much. There's tons of other places to search."
She nods, and you see her visibly relax. "That's good. I was worried... but if you're here, I know everything will be okay."
You smile. "Of course it will. We've got to keep going, but is there anything you need right now?"
"And how long have you been here?" Veliona interjects. "How long since the world ended?"
"The... five days, I think," she says. "I don't know, there was no way to tell time..."
Her voice trails off. She stares at you, and you realize she's on the edge of tears.
"We're getting you out of here," you say. "We just need to find everyone, and..."
Her eyes glisten as tears run down her cheek. "And what? Please, just tell me the truth... what's going on? What happened to us? What do you mean, 'end of the world'?"
Oh. Oh no.
= = =
I love these two. They're always fun, and the comedy always brightens the mood.
Except when it doesn't.
You can take it as given that Seele will do whatever is necessary to keep them safe and healthy until Kiana can get to them. If there's anything else you'd like to do before moving on, do a write-in.
[ ] Tell them the (brutal) truth.
[ ] Try to lighten the blow.
[ ] Write-in
There's a lot of reasons you don't want to open the sphere. The chance it's holding something dangerous. The possibility that time dilation will trap you for decades. The fear that, while you're playing around in here, more people will die elsewhere. They're all true, but..
To be honest?
You're just creeped out.
The two of you move around the sphere, looking for any button, lever, anything that could tell you what's going on.
There's nothing. Just the altar, and that's wood. Pure wood, nothing special about it. Simple, polished wood. Elegant in its simplicity, but it doesn't seem to be there for a *reason*. The sphere, you're pretty sure, would float on its own without it. The altar serves no purpose. It just is.
Which makes you wonder, of course. You know you'll be back. Just... not now.
"Let's go," you say. "There's nothing here."
Vel nods, and you walk out of the room. You pass through the entry chamber, walk up the short flight of stairs, and out of the sensor section. The massive steel door is still open from when you first came in; the sensors worked enough to open it up, but not enough to close it. Of course. You head back outside, without a word.
Part of you wonders if you should split up. You'd certainly cover more ground like that, but... ah... it would feel wrong, you think. Almost like tearing your personal timeline in half. Both things you can do, in theory, but neither... fit your personality. You and Vel are a team. Whether that's for safety, or because you've been stuck together so long, or fear of what will happen if the weather changes... or maybe it's just because you're used to her.
Maybe it's because she's Vel. You asked Theresa to pretend she's just your sister, and that's not... that's not exactly true, but...
Vel must have similar thoughts; she doesn't leave your side as you head onwards to the mess hall and dormitory. The mess hall is empty, and the dorm is... well, empty too. The beds are still neatly made, as if everyone had just gotten up and walked out of the room. A 'gone fishing' sign, except for real. Your heart sinks a bit at this sight.
Vel spends her time walking the perimeter, while you search the dormitory. Finally, you meet up back in the mess hall.
"This waypoint is pretty big," she says. "I'm betting most of the people here got evacuated."
"It's not the evacuation I'm worried about. It's what happens afterwords." You open a refrigerator, Vel right behind you. "Do you think...?"
"That we're too late?" Vel says. "It's possible. There's a few places we can check, but... we're in a time crunch here. They could all be dead already."
Someone's taken most of the food. Not all of it, but all of the perishables. You pick up a pack of juice, then think better of it and put it back. Best save the food for people who need it.
Vel shuts the refrigerator door. "We should try somewhere else."
"Yeah..." You sigh. "The dormitories, again? Section B?"
"If we're lucky, someone's hiding out." Vel pauses. "I... didn't think it'd feel this depressing. Everyone's gone. Well, not everyone, but..."
"Not everyone." You think about Kiana, and Theresa. About Siegfried, even though you hadn't met him before. He seems nice. About Otto, who is either the most dedicated or the most masochistic person you've ever known. That's the only explanation you can give for why he's sticking around this many people who hate him.
"Let's check the armory." Vel sounds dejected.
You go back to the dormitory, opening the door to a large weapons stockpile. Rows and rows of guns, grenades, rockets... everything you could ever need for a war. You frown.
"Why the hell do we have a stockpile this big, anyway?" You ask. Vel looks at you as if the answer should be obvious.
"For the apocalypse, of course."
You laugh. "Right. Well, I guess it's good that we have this for... fighting quantum beasts that can't be hurt by normal weapons." You try not to think about the amount of fear this stockpile inspires in you.
No people, of course. There's no people anywhere.
You head back to the cafeteria, Vel by your side. She looks at you, and smiles a little.
"I think I..." she pauses. "I'm glad we got to meet each other."
You smile back, and put your hand on hers. "Me too."
This is the way it should be. You and your sister, protecting each other. Keeping each other sane.
Something occurs to you. "Waypoint?" You ask.
Vel blushes. "It's from a game Bronya was playing with Mei and Kiana. Something about a world where, instead of distance, places were separated by... how did she put it? Narration. You can move normally inside a waypoint, but not between them. It's not a great match, but different places on the ship aren't connected normally either, and I figured we need a term for it."
"That's... actually pretty clever."
BGM
Vel smiles. "Let's go."
"Yeah..." You nod, and your eyes catch something on the floor. Footprints, in the omnipresent dust. Fresh ones, going off to... "Wait. Tracks. Someone's over here."
You follow the tracks. They lead you out of the cafeteria, to a corridor that's chock-full of spatial faults.
"That's..." you say.
Weird. Strange. Impossible.
There are thousands of rifts here. The corridor is full of them, stretching as far as you can see -- but somehow, the tracks dance between them. That's not something a normal human should be able to do. You? You can go through them, but any normal person who did that would be torn to pieces.
Whoever left the tracks hasn't, though. Hasn't gone through them, and hasn't been torn apart. They've just... gone between them, dancing between rifts they shouldn't be able to see.
Weird.
"Come on, let's go!" you say to Vel, excitement in your voice. There's someone alive on this ship. There has to be. Vel nods, and you follow the tracks.
The footprints lead to another part of the ship. You go through more corridors, and then...
You hear voices in the distance. You slow down, and edge forward. You hear... Singing?
"Oh, I come from Alsace, a region of France," you hear someone sing in a heavy German accent.
"I lead a band of mercenaries, my name is Hans mein friend," the voice continues.
"I am a creature of legend, they call me the quantum Werewolf."
A younger, higher voice cuts in. "That's Herr Röt, and I am his faithful hound, Féval."
"We fight the creatures of darkness, so innocent souls are avenged!"
You run down the corridor, making a racket that could probably wake the dead.
"We search the land for monst..." the German voice stops suddenly.
"Hey! Don't stop singing," the girl says. You think you..
Yes. You recognize her. You'd recognize her anywhere. *Especially* singing.
"Roza!" You shout, sprinting down the corridor. You take the corner at a run, nearly overbalancing as you burst into another office section. It's... cubicles, except someone's torn down most of the cubicles and built a shelter from the dividers. In the middle, five adults in clerk uniforms, and--
There she is. Standing with a man, who looks to be in his late twenties or early thirties. He's tall and strong looking, with short blond hair and a bushy beard. He's wearing a red hoodie, with paw prints on the arm and chest.
The girl next to him is much shorter, dressed in a green and yellow jacket, and has long pink hair, a horn and a tail. It's Rozaliya.
It's really Roza.
She's alive.
You don't know whether to laugh or cry. You just sprint over to her, grabbing her in a hug as she lets out a little yelp of surprise.
"Seele! What are you doing here?" She asks.
You look up at her, grinning like an idiot, eyes shining with tears. Veliona is looking at the cubicle-shelter, where... oh... it's Liliya. She's just exiting, her eyes wide like saucers.
"Roza, who... Seele?" She asks. "Seele, is that really you? What are you doing here?"
"Rescuing you!" you say, beaming. You release Rozaliya, smiling as Lili hugs you. Veliona stands there awkwardly.
"Er... there's two of you?" Rozaliya says.
"I can explain," you say.
"We'd be here awhile," Veliona says, sighing.
Yeah, no time for that.
"...she's my evil twin," you claim.
"I'm her smart twin," Veliona says.
"She's also a voice in my head," you say. "Roza, Liliya, meet Veliona."
"Nice to meet you," Veliona deadpans.
"Are there any more of you?" Roza asks.
You look around. Everyone here is hanging on to your words, their eyes filled with hope.
"Yeah," you say. "Theresa made it, as did everyone else on the bridge. Tesla's working in engineering, and Kiana is trying to fix the corridors so we can get around. We're out searching for survivors, like you, to make sure you'll be okay until we can get you out of here. Things got pretty wonky, huh?"
"You could say that," she nods. "Have you found anyone else?"
You shake your head. "You're the first... but, we haven't been at this for long! This is the second place we checked, pretty much. There's tons of other places to search."
She nods, and you see her visibly relax. "That's good. I was worried... but if you're here, I know everything will be okay."
You smile. "Of course it will. We've got to keep going, but is there anything you need right now?"
"And how long have you been here?" Veliona interjects. "How long since the world ended?"
"The... five days, I think," she says. "I don't know, there was no way to tell time..."
Her voice trails off. She stares at you, and you realize she's on the edge of tears.
"We're getting you out of here," you say. "We just need to find everyone, and..."
Her eyes glisten as tears run down her cheek. "And what? Please, just tell me the truth... what's going on? What happened to us? What do you mean, 'end of the world'?"
Oh. Oh no.
= = =
I love these two. They're always fun, and the comedy always brightens the mood.
Except when it doesn't.
You can take it as given that Seele will do whatever is necessary to keep them safe and healthy until Kiana can get to them. If there's anything else you'd like to do before moving on, do a write-in.
[ ] Tell them the (brutal) truth.
[ ] Try to lighten the blow.
[ ] Write-in
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Rolling.
LOL this made me laugh for some reason. Seele needs to make this a running gag as (hopefully) we find more people.
My natural inclination here is towards lightening the blow. What's happened is bad, yes, and I don't think Seele should avoid that... but at the same time Seele herself doesn't have a lot of answers here. We literally just woke up after the apocalypse and have been trying to piece things together ourselves.
idk something like...
[ ] Try to lighten the blow.
- [ ] Explain that you woke up after whatever happened happened and while what you've seen looks bad you're still looking for answers so you can do the most good. That's part of the reason you're trying to find everyone you can so we can all put our heads together.
But probably worded better or tailored to Roza better or something.
[X] Try to lighten the blow.
- [X] Explain that you woke up after whatever happened happened and while what you've seen looks bad you're still looking for answers so you can do the most good. That's part of the reason you're trying to find everyone you can so we can all put our heads together.
- [X] Explain that you woke up after whatever happened happened and while what you've seen looks bad you're still looking for answers so you can do the most good. That's part of the reason you're trying to find everyone you can so we can all put our heads together.
Roza and Lili did a good job. Keeping everyone safe and sane, they'd be total mvps if Seele wasn't Seele and Kiana wasn't Kiana right now.
Though it is only a holding action, but then a lot of things are right now.
Though it is only a holding action, but then a lot of things are right now.
Rolling for another d20.
- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Huh.
...who was Storyteller, though?
I'm thinking Mei. Kiana would be too disorganized; and I think Bronya would be happier playing a PC. That is just a sourceless impression I have though.
Oh my goodness! It's the twins!
We're getting the band back together.
I suppose the next - and probably last - Valkyrie on our list is Fu Hua. If Durandal wasn't with Rita and Otto, then she was deployed out in the world; and. Well.
But anyway. Fu Hua might have made it. She's resourceful, prone to just showing up places, and lived through a previous (admittedly somewhat less comprehensive) end of the world.
Be on the lookout for feathers! Maybe, at some point, hold Kiana upside down and shake her to see if there are any still stuck in her head?
Solarstream
It's all in the cards
- Location
- Zombie World
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Tell them the (brutal) truth.
[X] Try to lighten the blow.
- [X] Explain that you woke up after whatever happened happened and while what you've seen looks bad you're still looking for answers so you can do the most good. That's part of the reason you're trying to find everyone you can so we can all put our heads together.
- [X] Explain that you woke up after whatever happened happened and while what you've seen looks bad you're still looking for answers so you can do the most good. That's part of the reason you're trying to find everyone you can so we can all put our heads together.
Seele Quest: 4.3
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Where do you even start?
You take a deep breath. "I..." You pause, trying to start again. Your voice cracks as you continue. "Vel and I... We tried to save the world."
You choke up. Roza and Lili stare at you blankly.
"What... what happened?" She asks.
You take a deep breath, trying to collect your thoughts. You don't... remember. Theresa should know, or Kiana, but you didn't ask and they didn't volunteer. Kiana's reaction was enough to kill any thought of doing so.
That was a mistake. It means you've never confronted reality.
"Bronya and Mei were there as well," you say, "I, she... they... I'm..." You squeeze your eyes shut, and try to force out the words, but they won't come. They're stuck somewhere in your throat, refusing to move.
"Seele?"
Rozaliya's voice seems to come from far away. The world is blurry. Your chest hurts.
"I'm sorry," you say, "I thought I could... I'm so sorry."
You don't remember collapsing, but you must have. Rozaliya catches you, and you can't stop crying long enough to figure out the situation. You just cry and cry, clutching at her.
"Seele?" She asks again. You sense Liliya holding you as well, but it's a distant feeling.
You shake your head, as if that could get rid of the thoughts. You've spent all your time trying to ignore it, but Bronya is... Bronya...
"Bronya is dead," Vel says, her voice cold. "We failed. We lost. The world ended. I nearly died. Seele came a lot closer."
You manage to open your eyes, looking appealingly at her. She stares blankly at the three of you. No tears, no emotion. She doesn't know what to do or say. Slowly, she turns her gaze away from you, leaning against the wall and staring forward.
"Vel?" you say.
She twitches in response to your voice, but keeps looking away.
"Vel?" you ask, a little louder this time.
She stands there, completely motionless, staring forward. Then, she shudders.
"I... I can't..." she says, her voice breaking. "I can't."
She sinks down into the ground, curling up. Her eyes are open, but they're glazed over, staring into the distance. She's shaking all over. You reach out to touch her shoulder, and she twitches again, recoiling.
"Vel, it's me..." you whisper.
She says nothing. You lean in further, pressing your hand against her shoulder.
"Vel?" you ask again. You grip her shoulder firmly, trying to shake her from her trance.
She snarls, batting your arm away. Then, she gasps. Her eyes grow wide and she stares directly at you.
"Seele?" she asks.
You hear a sigh of relief from Liliya, but pay it no heed. You wrap your arms around Veliona, and her arms close around you as well. The two of you embrace, tears streaming from your eyes. You hold each other for a long time, not daring to let go.
"Seele... I wasn't supposed to miss her this much," she sobs.
"I know, Vel. I know."
It's some time before you recover from the ordeal.
Liliya stares at the two of you, her lips quivering as she fights back tears of her own. Rozaliya isn't much better. This is... this is probably not the best way you could have broken the news to them. Still, you have to continue.
"The world ended seven days ago," you say, in a defeated tone. You're not fighting back tears anymore, you just feel numb. Vel's touch helps, but it'll be awhile before you're yourself again. "The sky tore open..."
You're not sure why you say that. It's just an impression you have. Infinite honkai beasts pouring in, all under the command of the final Herrscher.
"There's nothing outside the Hyperion," Vel says, taking over. "Just... nothingness. We're right where we were, but it's part of the quantum sea now. Tesla's invention broke, I think, but it kept some of us alive."
She struggles for words. Liliya just shakes her head in dismay.
"No... there's no way... Everyone..." Liliya shakes her head. "The... the world?"
You can't think of anything to say, so you hug her. Rozaliya joins in, tears streaming down her face. Vel hugs all three of you. Her eyes are wild, like something's broken inside her. You can't really say you blame her.
You… you definitely need to have that talk with her.
You don't have much time to dwell on it or anything else, because a voice suddenly cuts through the silence. It's so sudden that you jump, almost letting go of each other.
It's the german-sounding guy who was singing with Rozaliya.
"I can't say I'm surprised," he says. "I'd like to introduce myself. I am Hans Hirsch. I am... an accountant," he says, dramatically. "The twins have been keeping us sane and fed, but I think we were all expecting bad news. At least you're here now. I guess there's some hope."
What a strange guy, you think.
"Hope for what?" you ask, before Vel or Rozaliya can say anything.
"Hope that we'll see the sky again. Hope that we can defend this ship from whatever might attack us. Hope that this hellish nightmare will end," Hans says, spitting on the floor. "None of us signed up because we were quitters, and I assume neither are you. If the world is gone, let's find another. If the ship is broken, let's repair it. If there's an enemy, let's kill them. We're survivors. So let's survive."
"Easier said than done," Rozaliya says weakly. "The world... it's not just dead, anymore. It's gone."
The mood is dampened once again. You look at each other, thinking the same thing. What are you going to do?
You could try Hans' plan...
"It might be possible," you say cautiously. "I mean, there are other worlds. I've seen them. And I think Hans has a point. No-one here is a quitter. I... I think we should try."
Veliona grins.
"But how?" Roza asks. "Please tell me you know how."
"I don't have a plan, but..." You collect your thoughts, trying to explain. "This isn't the first time I've been stuck here. You know I was trapped in the quantum sea after the X-10 experiment, right? I never told you much about it, but I'm sure I mentioned that much. Didn't want to think about it, to be honest."
"How could I forget," Liliya says, looking away. "Bronya cried for days. So did Rozaliya."
"So did you! I remember you crying in your sleep," Roza says accusingly.
"Shut up, I did not!" Liliya protests.
"Girls..." Hans says.
You take a deep breath. "Right. It was awful. There's no stars here. No light. I wasn't floating in a void; there isn't a void. Nothing but my own thoughts... and Veliona. If it hadn't been for her..."
You're shivering. All these thoughts... you'd written them down, yes. You even told Bronya, at least implicitly. You've never told anyone else before, and you didn't ever want to. But you have to be strong. You can cry later.
Rozaliya is on the edge of tears again, so you smile at her.
"The point is, we got out of there," you say. "We made it back to reality. I had help from Mr. Welt and Bronya, but we have so much more now. Theresa is here, and Kiana. So is Tesla, and the entire Hyperion, and maybe hundreds of other people. And when Bronya rescued me, that was after I'd already learned to get around, a little. I've seen a lot, even some small worlds that got stuck here, same as me. None of them were stable, but..."
You look into all of their faces.
"We have a chance. We're going to get out of here. Maybe we'll find a little world to settle down on together. Maybe we'll even make one. Kiana's already built an entire island! It's far too early to give up, I mean." You sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm not myself right now. It's been an emotional couple of days."
"You're doing great," Hans says.
He said he's an accountant, right? Somehow, when you picture accountants, you don't picture...
No. Focus, Seele. Fucking focus.
"Just, first we need to fix the ship. Hans was right, and that's why I'm here. I mean, that's why Tesla and Kiana are here. I'm on search and rescue. Looking for people like you. Which reminds me, are any of you engineers?"
You get two nods. One of them, a young woman in a hoodie and with a notebook in her hand raises her hand.
"Um, 'engineer' isn't a profession. I'm a nuclear physicist."
"Oh. Um, OK. Sorry."
"No, it's fine. I'm an engineer. Why?" she asks.
You look at her.
A nuclear... physicist. Well, that's...
"Do you know how honkai reactors work?" you ask.
She nods.
"Yeah, I designed a few workarounds for the, uh, ship. The reactors are all supposed to be identical, but they're really not."
"I'm an electrical engineer," the man standing next to her volunteers.
You smile and turn to him.
"Perfect! Can you do basic maintenance? There was a big fire in one of the reactors."
There's a moment of silence. The woman pales somewhat.
"I can try."
"Great!" You clap your hands. "That's just what we need. I need to get you to Tesla, and then... hmm."
Then she'll have some help, but...
"Sounds great," Rozaliya says, somewhat dubiously. "But can you do that? Get us out of here, I mean?"
Actually, you don't know if you can.
You hesitate for a moment, then take a deep breath.
= = =
This one's partially beta'd by @ShadowAngelBeta. Oh, and I found a reasonably approachable article about GPT-3. I'd read it before, but I don't think I ever mentioned it here.
At this point I think it's about 75% me, 25% AI, but that's the exact 25% that otherwise stalls me out. It's well worth it.
Originally those dice rolls were for what will happen in the next update, but I decided they'd do better picking the results for this one. Which means I'll need another, please. Anyway, you had decent rolls. So:
[ ] Leave them be for now
[ ] Fetch Kiana
[ ] Attempt to build a path yourself, even if it isn't pretty
[ ] Write-in
You take a deep breath. "I..." You pause, trying to start again. Your voice cracks as you continue. "Vel and I... We tried to save the world."
You choke up. Roza and Lili stare at you blankly.
"What... what happened?" She asks.
You take a deep breath, trying to collect your thoughts. You don't... remember. Theresa should know, or Kiana, but you didn't ask and they didn't volunteer. Kiana's reaction was enough to kill any thought of doing so.
That was a mistake. It means you've never confronted reality.
"Bronya and Mei were there as well," you say, "I, she... they... I'm..." You squeeze your eyes shut, and try to force out the words, but they won't come. They're stuck somewhere in your throat, refusing to move.
"Seele?"
Rozaliya's voice seems to come from far away. The world is blurry. Your chest hurts.
"I'm sorry," you say, "I thought I could... I'm so sorry."
You don't remember collapsing, but you must have. Rozaliya catches you, and you can't stop crying long enough to figure out the situation. You just cry and cry, clutching at her.
"Seele?" She asks again. You sense Liliya holding you as well, but it's a distant feeling.
You shake your head, as if that could get rid of the thoughts. You've spent all your time trying to ignore it, but Bronya is... Bronya...
"Bronya is dead," Vel says, her voice cold. "We failed. We lost. The world ended. I nearly died. Seele came a lot closer."
You manage to open your eyes, looking appealingly at her. She stares blankly at the three of you. No tears, no emotion. She doesn't know what to do or say. Slowly, she turns her gaze away from you, leaning against the wall and staring forward.
"Vel?" you say.
She twitches in response to your voice, but keeps looking away.
"Vel?" you ask, a little louder this time.
She stands there, completely motionless, staring forward. Then, she shudders.
"I... I can't..." she says, her voice breaking. "I can't."
She sinks down into the ground, curling up. Her eyes are open, but they're glazed over, staring into the distance. She's shaking all over. You reach out to touch her shoulder, and she twitches again, recoiling.
"Vel, it's me..." you whisper.
She says nothing. You lean in further, pressing your hand against her shoulder.
"Vel?" you ask again. You grip her shoulder firmly, trying to shake her from her trance.
She snarls, batting your arm away. Then, she gasps. Her eyes grow wide and she stares directly at you.
"Seele?" she asks.
You hear a sigh of relief from Liliya, but pay it no heed. You wrap your arms around Veliona, and her arms close around you as well. The two of you embrace, tears streaming from your eyes. You hold each other for a long time, not daring to let go.
"Seele... I wasn't supposed to miss her this much," she sobs.
"I know, Vel. I know."
It's some time before you recover from the ordeal.
Liliya stares at the two of you, her lips quivering as she fights back tears of her own. Rozaliya isn't much better. This is... this is probably not the best way you could have broken the news to them. Still, you have to continue.
"The world ended seven days ago," you say, in a defeated tone. You're not fighting back tears anymore, you just feel numb. Vel's touch helps, but it'll be awhile before you're yourself again. "The sky tore open..."
You're not sure why you say that. It's just an impression you have. Infinite honkai beasts pouring in, all under the command of the final Herrscher.
"There's nothing outside the Hyperion," Vel says, taking over. "Just... nothingness. We're right where we were, but it's part of the quantum sea now. Tesla's invention broke, I think, but it kept some of us alive."
She struggles for words. Liliya just shakes her head in dismay.
"No... there's no way... Everyone..." Liliya shakes her head. "The... the world?"
You can't think of anything to say, so you hug her. Rozaliya joins in, tears streaming down her face. Vel hugs all three of you. Her eyes are wild, like something's broken inside her. You can't really say you blame her.
You… you definitely need to have that talk with her.
You don't have much time to dwell on it or anything else, because a voice suddenly cuts through the silence. It's so sudden that you jump, almost letting go of each other.
It's the german-sounding guy who was singing with Rozaliya.
"I can't say I'm surprised," he says. "I'd like to introduce myself. I am Hans Hirsch. I am... an accountant," he says, dramatically. "The twins have been keeping us sane and fed, but I think we were all expecting bad news. At least you're here now. I guess there's some hope."
What a strange guy, you think.
"Hope for what?" you ask, before Vel or Rozaliya can say anything.
"Hope that we'll see the sky again. Hope that we can defend this ship from whatever might attack us. Hope that this hellish nightmare will end," Hans says, spitting on the floor. "None of us signed up because we were quitters, and I assume neither are you. If the world is gone, let's find another. If the ship is broken, let's repair it. If there's an enemy, let's kill them. We're survivors. So let's survive."
"Easier said than done," Rozaliya says weakly. "The world... it's not just dead, anymore. It's gone."
The mood is dampened once again. You look at each other, thinking the same thing. What are you going to do?
You could try Hans' plan...
"It might be possible," you say cautiously. "I mean, there are other worlds. I've seen them. And I think Hans has a point. No-one here is a quitter. I... I think we should try."
Veliona grins.
"But how?" Roza asks. "Please tell me you know how."
"I don't have a plan, but..." You collect your thoughts, trying to explain. "This isn't the first time I've been stuck here. You know I was trapped in the quantum sea after the X-10 experiment, right? I never told you much about it, but I'm sure I mentioned that much. Didn't want to think about it, to be honest."
"How could I forget," Liliya says, looking away. "Bronya cried for days. So did Rozaliya."
"So did you! I remember you crying in your sleep," Roza says accusingly.
"Shut up, I did not!" Liliya protests.
"Girls..." Hans says.
You take a deep breath. "Right. It was awful. There's no stars here. No light. I wasn't floating in a void; there isn't a void. Nothing but my own thoughts... and Veliona. If it hadn't been for her..."
You're shivering. All these thoughts... you'd written them down, yes. You even told Bronya, at least implicitly. You've never told anyone else before, and you didn't ever want to. But you have to be strong. You can cry later.
Rozaliya is on the edge of tears again, so you smile at her.
"The point is, we got out of there," you say. "We made it back to reality. I had help from Mr. Welt and Bronya, but we have so much more now. Theresa is here, and Kiana. So is Tesla, and the entire Hyperion, and maybe hundreds of other people. And when Bronya rescued me, that was after I'd already learned to get around, a little. I've seen a lot, even some small worlds that got stuck here, same as me. None of them were stable, but..."
You look into all of their faces.
"We have a chance. We're going to get out of here. Maybe we'll find a little world to settle down on together. Maybe we'll even make one. Kiana's already built an entire island! It's far too early to give up, I mean." You sigh. "I'm sorry, I'm not myself right now. It's been an emotional couple of days."
"You're doing great," Hans says.
He said he's an accountant, right? Somehow, when you picture accountants, you don't picture...
No. Focus, Seele. Fucking focus.
"Just, first we need to fix the ship. Hans was right, and that's why I'm here. I mean, that's why Tesla and Kiana are here. I'm on search and rescue. Looking for people like you. Which reminds me, are any of you engineers?"
You get two nods. One of them, a young woman in a hoodie and with a notebook in her hand raises her hand.
"Um, 'engineer' isn't a profession. I'm a nuclear physicist."
"Oh. Um, OK. Sorry."
"No, it's fine. I'm an engineer. Why?" she asks.
You look at her.
A nuclear... physicist. Well, that's...
"Do you know how honkai reactors work?" you ask.
She nods.
"Yeah, I designed a few workarounds for the, uh, ship. The reactors are all supposed to be identical, but they're really not."
"I'm an electrical engineer," the man standing next to her volunteers.
You smile and turn to him.
"Perfect! Can you do basic maintenance? There was a big fire in one of the reactors."
There's a moment of silence. The woman pales somewhat.
"I can try."
"Great!" You clap your hands. "That's just what we need. I need to get you to Tesla, and then... hmm."
Then she'll have some help, but...
"Sounds great," Rozaliya says, somewhat dubiously. "But can you do that? Get us out of here, I mean?"
Actually, you don't know if you can.
You hesitate for a moment, then take a deep breath.
= = =
This one's partially beta'd by @ShadowAngelBeta. Oh, and I found a reasonably approachable article about GPT-3. I'd read it before, but I don't think I ever mentioned it here.
At this point I think it's about 75% me, 25% AI, but that's the exact 25% that otherwise stalls me out. It's well worth it.
Originally those dice rolls were for what will happen in the next update, but I decided they'd do better picking the results for this one. Which means I'll need another, please. Anyway, you had decent rolls. So:
[ ] Leave them be for now
[ ] Fetch Kiana
[ ] Attempt to build a path yourself, even if it isn't pretty
[ ] Write-in