Seele Vollerei: The end of reality, and what came after.
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
So in short, Xon reports the tally was mysteriously eaten by a Snek.
[X] Headpat snek
- [X] subtly examine it if possible and if it allows.
- [X] convince @Firnagzen to become snek petter in chief.
[X] Headpat snek
- [X] subtly examine it if possible and if it allows.
- [X] convince @Firnagzen to become snek petter in chief.
Don't use ranked voting w/categories right now. Doesn't work.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Veliona's response
She acts decisively, pulling @Firnagzen out of a spatial pocket and pointing towards the universe-sized Snek.
"There," she says. "That's what ate the vote tallies. Do your thing."
Firnagzen looks at it, then raises an eyebrow at her, as if asking why he's suddenly been inserted into the story. Way to break the fourth wall, Firn.
She rolls her eyes, shoves the sword into his hands, then grabs his wrist and makes a rotatory motion. He gets the point, and begins to swirl the sword around in the air in a complicated pattern.
Eyes closed, he begins to whisper. At first it sounds like random gibberish, but as it goes on she realizes it's a language, though one she's never heard before.
"<?php //echo htmlspecialchars(@$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]);?"
He opens his eyes, and stares at her.
"What?" she asks.
"You did this."
"Me?" she asks. "When?"
"You know," he says. "Two years ago. In the reality..." His voice trails off. "Where am I? Where's the forum? What's happened?"
"Sufficient Velocity?" Vel says, smiling. "You're in it. To be precise, you're in one of the quests there. Isn't that great?"
His eyes widen in horrified realisation, and he begins to hyperventilate.
"I'm a character in a webnovel?"
"Oh, don't overreact," Vel says. "You're only a minor character. Nothing bad will happen to you."
"Nothing bad will happen to me?" The way he says it is not an affirmation, but a question. She looks at him.
"Nothing bad..."
He looks at the universe-sized snake of ruination.
"Oh, hang on."
The snake's head opens, and swallows them whole.
She acts decisively, pulling @Firnagzen out of a spatial pocket and pointing towards the universe-sized Snek.
"There," she says. "That's what ate the vote tallies. Do your thing."
Firnagzen looks at it, then raises an eyebrow at her, as if asking why he's suddenly been inserted into the story. Way to break the fourth wall, Firn.
She rolls her eyes, shoves the sword into his hands, then grabs his wrist and makes a rotatory motion. He gets the point, and begins to swirl the sword around in the air in a complicated pattern.
Eyes closed, he begins to whisper. At first it sounds like random gibberish, but as it goes on she realizes it's a language, though one she's never heard before.
"<?php //echo htmlspecialchars(@$_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]);?"
He opens his eyes, and stares at her.
"What?" she asks.
"You did this."
"Me?" she asks. "When?"
"You know," he says. "Two years ago. In the reality..." His voice trails off. "Where am I? Where's the forum? What's happened?"
"Sufficient Velocity?" Vel says, smiling. "You're in it. To be precise, you're in one of the quests there. Isn't that great?"
His eyes widen in horrified realisation, and he begins to hyperventilate.
"I'm a character in a webnovel?"
"Oh, don't overreact," Vel says. "You're only a minor character. Nothing bad will happen to you."
"Nothing bad will happen to me?" The way he says it is not an affirmation, but a question. She looks at him.
"Nothing bad..."
He looks at the universe-sized snake of ruination.
"Oh, hang on."
The snake's head opens, and swallows them whole.
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I have dropped a Bap meteor on Baughn in the discord, but mine aren't nearly as good as Snowfire's, please wait until we complete the bapping.
- Location
- a Far and Sunless Land
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Complicated
Mimic Snek! Mimic Snek!
...Well, Eide-ish, anyway. Usually Eide is as focused on telling oneself what one is as it is anyone else, but (most) Mimics specifically would really prefer that outside observers believe they are what they say they are!
Possibly this is clearly nonsense to people who know more about the setting than me.
I'm only like 4 chapters in to HI3 itself.
I had assumed the butterflies were as much a part of Seele's quantum projection thing (and/or her Eide, in Jennagame terms) as her human body. A hologram projector is pretty useful though!
Eide!
...Well, Eide-ish, anyway. Usually Eide is as focused on telling oneself what one is as it is anyone else, but (most) Mimics specifically would really prefer that outside observers believe they are what they say they are!
My theory/assumption about this is that the universe most of Honkai 3rd is set in is... following? or copying? another universe in the same way that lots of stuff in the sea of quanta is 'copying' it, and something has... glitched... such that it's copying the same events twice.
Possibly this is clearly nonsense to people who know more about the setting than me.
I'm only like 4 chapters in to HI3 itself.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
That's not up to me, y'know.
Anyhow, I'll try to find a different way to break it. Look forward to it~
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Hologram projectors don't exist, and fundamentally can't. Anything which behaves like a fictional hologram projector... isn't. The closest that's physically possible would require a screen to exist behind the 'hologram', such that any sightline passing through the hologram hits the screen; it's the screen which is actually outputting the photons.
What I'm saying is, you shouldn't take Veliona's words as certain truth. There's a lot she isn't telling us, or even Seele—she's hit 'snooze' on the stigmata's emergency shutdown some 2,237 times since the X-10 experiment, for one, and Seele has no idea because she doesn't want to scare her. It's not supposed to keep functioning after the person it's attached to has died.
In this case you're both right, however.
The 'quantum projection thing' was originally intended as a hologram projector of sorts. It's by far the closest thing to a 'real' projector which is physically possible in that universe.
In fact, Snek-chan wants to fool themselves as much as any observer. There's a lot going on here.
I can assure you that HI3 canon doesn't explain it. Most fans assume they're lazy and reusing models, but that doesn't exactly make sense either; they could have at least done a palette swap!
Obviously, I'm going with something else.
As regards the game itself... the early chapters don't have much story in them, but it really kicks off somewhere around chapters 8-10. You'll meet Roza and Liliya in... 12, I think? 11? It's well worth persevering.
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Wakeup Calls
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
It's easy to say that all would suffer equally when the world ends. It's easy to lay that statement down, so poisonously simple that most might even agree with it. But what if the world ending wasn't the end for everyone who lived there? What if some fragment of its peoples survived, cast adrift into an endless sea, to live or die upon the cracked will of their few surviving defenders?
Would you still agree?
Your name is Kiana Kaslana, and you'd have given anything to never have to know the answer to that question.
The pain is what wakes you up, throbbing and burning through your body. You groan, trying to find a more comfortable position, but there's none to be found. You know that, deep down, but it's hard to try to face the morning after everything that happened yesterday. You've been using your Core nonstop ever since you got here, and that was always going to take its toll. You just wish it hadn't started to tell so soon. It wasn't going to stop you, of course, you were a Kaslana. But if there was a tomorrow, it was gonna suck.
As your eyes slowly open, you find yourself staring up at the familiar ceiling of the dorms you called home a lifetime and a half ago. It's all you can do not to cry when you see them, knowing that it's all a lie. Mei's gone, Bronya too, all your oldest friends. Your no-good dad's here, at least, but was that really a good thing? He only came back because the world was actually ending. You've only been able to see him a few times since everything died, and there was no time to ask all the questions you so desperately wanted to.
That would have been bad enough. But you're a Kaslana, it's in your blood to excel. Which is why, as you push yourself up with a wince, you reach into yourself like Fu Hua taught you. Just not for the reasons she did so. The technique's mostly the same, you just have to apply some Kaslana expertise for it to do the job. Hua would have had a better one, but—you force yourself away from that thought, hard. Not now. Now it's time to greet the newest guest aboard the Hyperion, one you aren't sure you can ever stop feeling guilty about.
Next time you see Otto you're punching him right in his smug face.
'Sirin?' You call, trying to push the words towards the space where the young girl was last time. No response, of course. She's been on her own in your mind for years, and you never realised it, too scared of the Herrscher lurking behind the power of your Core. But Sirin isn't her, and last night proved she's not just there, but desperate for someone to care for her.
You call for her again, imagining a voice like yours, just a little older. A voice like what you imagine your mom would have had. On the third call, you feel sluggish movement, and though it's hard to not respond to that as you always have, you try. You force away the locks and chains that Hua helped you create, reaching through them towards the rousing personality.
'Ki-ana?' Sirin's voice is painfully weak, your name fractured in the middle, but you recognise it. That's her. The Herrscher would never degrade herself like that.
'Yes,' You say. 'Good morning.'
'I can't... feel you,' she responds, and you feel like you've been stabbed in the chest as a flood of emotions rush over you. Sorrow. Regret. Guilt. You start to say you're not sure she'd want to, but stop as you realise the lie. The truth is that you don't know where to begin. Sirin was a victim, what few memories she's been able to share with you paint that picture clear. What she became, what she was forced to become, isn't her fault. All that means you need to be honest with her.
'I'm just hurting. I've been using our Core a lot, and I'm not used to constant output at this level. And–' You try to halt that word, but not before it's able to begin, the weight of emotion travelling with it too great to hold back.
'It's not me, is it?' Sirin asks. She's frightened, you realise a moment later, terrified that she might be the cause. The moment you realise that, you realise something else; it's very difficult to imagine the feeling of giving someone a hug.
'No,' you tell her, trying hard to do it anyway. 'Nothing like that, Sirin. Just everything else.'
'Your friends.' For someone who you're pretty sure is mentally ten at best, she's quick. Might be something to do with her being able to feel what you're feeling though, now that you've stopped trying to lock her away in your mind.
'Yes. And if I don't work out a way to fix Tesla's quantum balancer today, and Seele doesn't show up with a miracle, everyone here dies. Everyone we have left.' The pressure of that is almost too much to admit. What follows almost breaks you.
'It's alright,' Sirin tells you in her child's voice, and you feel without feeling the presence of her, wrapping around your chest and shoulders like an invisible furry snake made of warmth and hope. 'We'll be alright.'
'How can you know that?' You struggle to keep your composure. 'Everyone else who could do anything is gone, Sirin. And I don't think I'm smart enough to fix this.'
'Maybe not,' she agrees. 'But you're not alone Kiana. And–' There's an odd little shift in her voice. 'I'm not sure everyone else is gone.'
You slump back onto the bed, too tired for hope, but the least you can do is listen. 'What do you mean?'
'Well…' You feel her think for a moment. 'One of the things I can remember is another bubble universe, the one that your Stigmata created. I could see it sometimes, glimpses of happier times. It helped stop me going insane again. You called it a…' She struggles with the word. 'Samsara?'
'Oh.' Kallen and Sakura. You've not even thought about that world, and the moment you do you wish you hadn't.
'No. No, no.' You can somehow feel her shaking her head. 'Kiana, haven't you looked?' You can't bring yourself to reply. What would be the point? With Mei gone, Sakura would be gone, leaving Kallen left alone in a dying world. Just like you.
'Kiana!' Her exasperation forces you away from those thoughts. 'My memory's a mess, but yours isn't. I can't understand all of why you're hurting, but I know what it feels like, and I can find why. Please, just look.'
Something ripples across the mental spaces between you, a picture flowing into your awareness. Readings, something that's almost a diagnostic, but of a reality. You examine them blearily, and it's only on a repeat that you understand. You jerk upright, ignoring the protests of your muscles, scrambling to try and find that old link. It's been years since you last used it.
'How did you do this?' There's no sense whispering in your mind, but you manage somehow.
'The Core does what we tell it to,' she says, as if that explains everything. It very nearly does. 'Your connection to that world is still there, and the universe behind it is too. It's all messed up, like looking outside through a broken window, but it's not falling apart.'
'But that would mean–' You can't finish that sentence. You can't. You can't. You can't. Your eyes are full of tears, and you can't afford that right now, you need to be up, looking at the stabiliser. Instead, you find yourself reaching out across the Sea, down a connection you've almost forgotten.
What you find isn't, it isn't proof. You try hard to tell yourself that. Maybe you're just holding it all together yourself? You're the Herrscher of the Void, you've got that sort of ability. But then there would be energy going out, logic demands, ripping the legs of that argument away from you.
If you're not keeping that universe intact - and you almost wish you were, it would tell you how to keep the Hyperion alive—then that means something else. Something that it hurts to even contemplate, after all the horrors of the world's ending, because it dares give you hope. Kallen and Sakura were two halves of the same coin. They completed each other in a way that went beyond reason. Or at least they did in Samsara, where the mistake Sakura made was avoided. That world existed because of the same synchronicity between you and. And. The name chokes on agony.
'You and Mei.' Sirin says it for you, and there's enough pain in her voice to match your own. Of course there is, Kiana, you tell yourself. She lost everything. You only might have.
"I need to," you shake your head, speaking verbally for the first time since you woke. "Need to talk to Theresa. Ri- right now." You push down on the bed again, tilting to the vertical as you swing your feet out to land on the floor. You stumble slightly as you come to your feet, the world spinning around you, but it doesn't matter. You need to tell someone. Where is she, you know you can find he– there. The world warps, the portal devouring part of your bed, but you can't bring yourself to care.
You come tumbling out the other end in front of Theresa, the diminutive Valkyrie staring at some papers on the desk she's propped up in front of, and only then realise you're still wearing your pyjamas.
"Kiana!" She jerks to her feet, dislodging the paperwork as you catch one foot on the edge of the office's rug and collapse onto your knees. She's there beside you a moment later. How did she move so fast?
"Mei," you say. The pain of saying her name is like a sawblade in your throat. "I'm not sustaining the Samsara alone, I wouldn't know how, but it's still holding together." You gasp in a breath, and force yourself to look up at the childlike face examining you.
You're not going to pass out. You have to keep this together. "Sirin found it, I was too scared to even go looking, but she wasn't. Mei's out there somewhere Aunt Teri. She has to be." And with that, you were done. The world fades back, though you can still see, and feel the burst of shock from Sirin as she suddenly finds herself in control of a physical body for the first time in decades.
"Kiana. Kiana, what do you me-" Theresa is asking, and your mouth moves.
"I think she went back to sleep, Theresa," Sirin says, sniffing. She shrinks away as Theresa's careful hands freeze in place. "I'm sorry, I just wanted her to be able to stop hurting."
Theresa pales, swallows hard. "Sirin?"
"That's me." She brings up one hand in a little wave, the movement all out of sorts for your proportions. "I think I remember you. You were nice. Sorry for, um." Your voice descends to nearly inaudible levels. "stabbing you so many times. Why aren't you older?"
Theresa blinks several times, opens her mouth, closes it, opens it again. Then she reaches out, and rests one hand on your shoulder. Sirin goes very still, but doesn't flinch away. "I don't think that was you at the time," Teri says, "but I'm fine now, so it's alright. Now, Kiana was going to be helping us with our stabiliser today, but–"
"I can help with that!" Sirin blurts out, and you reach forward in the mental space. Is she sure? "I can." She repeats, probably as much to you as to Theresa. "The Core is ours, not just Kiana's. I remember how she used it, and some of how She used it. More than Kiana does." She does?
'I do,' she says internally. 'Not everything, I know I'm still a mess. But some. More than you remember.'
That's something else to absorb. You're not sure how long that'll take. Fortunately, you're both distracted a moment later as your stomach voices its displeasure with the time since your last meal.
Theresa smiles. It's one of her headmistress smiles, but it reaches her eyes. How long has it been since she was able to deal with something this simple? "Let's get you something to eat first." She says kindly, and you feel your body all but vibrate in sudden excitement.
"Can we?" She asks. "I haven't eaten in years." Pure rage flashes across your aunt's face, but she buries it before Sirin can make sense of it, and she covers it with a kindly nod.
"There's a private mess down the hall," she says. "We can get you something there, and then go back to the dorms so you can get changed."
Sirin nods, and then tries to get to her feet. Emphasis on tries. The last time she had a body, she was a little girl. You're not one of those, and your centre of mass is considerably higher than hers was. She tries twice, pouting as she fails to balance properly. Before she can trip over her feet on the third she pulls on your Core, and a trickle of honkai energy lifts your body into a comfortable sitting position.
"Okay," she says, smiling slightly.
Theresa cocks her head, then appears to give up trying to make sense of it with a shrug. "This way."
Would you still agree?
Your name is Kiana Kaslana, and you'd have given anything to never have to know the answer to that question.
The pain is what wakes you up, throbbing and burning through your body. You groan, trying to find a more comfortable position, but there's none to be found. You know that, deep down, but it's hard to try to face the morning after everything that happened yesterday. You've been using your Core nonstop ever since you got here, and that was always going to take its toll. You just wish it hadn't started to tell so soon. It wasn't going to stop you, of course, you were a Kaslana. But if there was a tomorrow, it was gonna suck.
As your eyes slowly open, you find yourself staring up at the familiar ceiling of the dorms you called home a lifetime and a half ago. It's all you can do not to cry when you see them, knowing that it's all a lie. Mei's gone, Bronya too, all your oldest friends. Your no-good dad's here, at least, but was that really a good thing? He only came back because the world was actually ending. You've only been able to see him a few times since everything died, and there was no time to ask all the questions you so desperately wanted to.
That would have been bad enough. But you're a Kaslana, it's in your blood to excel. Which is why, as you push yourself up with a wince, you reach into yourself like Fu Hua taught you. Just not for the reasons she did so. The technique's mostly the same, you just have to apply some Kaslana expertise for it to do the job. Hua would have had a better one, but—you force yourself away from that thought, hard. Not now. Now it's time to greet the newest guest aboard the Hyperion, one you aren't sure you can ever stop feeling guilty about.
Next time you see Otto you're punching him right in his smug face.
'Sirin?' You call, trying to push the words towards the space where the young girl was last time. No response, of course. She's been on her own in your mind for years, and you never realised it, too scared of the Herrscher lurking behind the power of your Core. But Sirin isn't her, and last night proved she's not just there, but desperate for someone to care for her.
You call for her again, imagining a voice like yours, just a little older. A voice like what you imagine your mom would have had. On the third call, you feel sluggish movement, and though it's hard to not respond to that as you always have, you try. You force away the locks and chains that Hua helped you create, reaching through them towards the rousing personality.
'Ki-ana?' Sirin's voice is painfully weak, your name fractured in the middle, but you recognise it. That's her. The Herrscher would never degrade herself like that.
'Yes,' You say. 'Good morning.'
'I can't... feel you,' she responds, and you feel like you've been stabbed in the chest as a flood of emotions rush over you. Sorrow. Regret. Guilt. You start to say you're not sure she'd want to, but stop as you realise the lie. The truth is that you don't know where to begin. Sirin was a victim, what few memories she's been able to share with you paint that picture clear. What she became, what she was forced to become, isn't her fault. All that means you need to be honest with her.
'I'm just hurting. I've been using our Core a lot, and I'm not used to constant output at this level. And–' You try to halt that word, but not before it's able to begin, the weight of emotion travelling with it too great to hold back.
'It's not me, is it?' Sirin asks. She's frightened, you realise a moment later, terrified that she might be the cause. The moment you realise that, you realise something else; it's very difficult to imagine the feeling of giving someone a hug.
'No,' you tell her, trying hard to do it anyway. 'Nothing like that, Sirin. Just everything else.'
'Your friends.' For someone who you're pretty sure is mentally ten at best, she's quick. Might be something to do with her being able to feel what you're feeling though, now that you've stopped trying to lock her away in your mind.
'Yes. And if I don't work out a way to fix Tesla's quantum balancer today, and Seele doesn't show up with a miracle, everyone here dies. Everyone we have left.' The pressure of that is almost too much to admit. What follows almost breaks you.
'It's alright,' Sirin tells you in her child's voice, and you feel without feeling the presence of her, wrapping around your chest and shoulders like an invisible furry snake made of warmth and hope. 'We'll be alright.'
'How can you know that?' You struggle to keep your composure. 'Everyone else who could do anything is gone, Sirin. And I don't think I'm smart enough to fix this.'
'Maybe not,' she agrees. 'But you're not alone Kiana. And–' There's an odd little shift in her voice. 'I'm not sure everyone else is gone.'
You slump back onto the bed, too tired for hope, but the least you can do is listen. 'What do you mean?'
'Well…' You feel her think for a moment. 'One of the things I can remember is another bubble universe, the one that your Stigmata created. I could see it sometimes, glimpses of happier times. It helped stop me going insane again. You called it a…' She struggles with the word. 'Samsara?'
'Oh.' Kallen and Sakura. You've not even thought about that world, and the moment you do you wish you hadn't.
'No. No, no.' You can somehow feel her shaking her head. 'Kiana, haven't you looked?' You can't bring yourself to reply. What would be the point? With Mei gone, Sakura would be gone, leaving Kallen left alone in a dying world. Just like you.
'Kiana!' Her exasperation forces you away from those thoughts. 'My memory's a mess, but yours isn't. I can't understand all of why you're hurting, but I know what it feels like, and I can find why. Please, just look.'
Something ripples across the mental spaces between you, a picture flowing into your awareness. Readings, something that's almost a diagnostic, but of a reality. You examine them blearily, and it's only on a repeat that you understand. You jerk upright, ignoring the protests of your muscles, scrambling to try and find that old link. It's been years since you last used it.
'How did you do this?' There's no sense whispering in your mind, but you manage somehow.
'The Core does what we tell it to,' she says, as if that explains everything. It very nearly does. 'Your connection to that world is still there, and the universe behind it is too. It's all messed up, like looking outside through a broken window, but it's not falling apart.'
'But that would mean–' You can't finish that sentence. You can't. You can't. You can't. Your eyes are full of tears, and you can't afford that right now, you need to be up, looking at the stabiliser. Instead, you find yourself reaching out across the Sea, down a connection you've almost forgotten.
What you find isn't, it isn't proof. You try hard to tell yourself that. Maybe you're just holding it all together yourself? You're the Herrscher of the Void, you've got that sort of ability. But then there would be energy going out, logic demands, ripping the legs of that argument away from you.
If you're not keeping that universe intact - and you almost wish you were, it would tell you how to keep the Hyperion alive—then that means something else. Something that it hurts to even contemplate, after all the horrors of the world's ending, because it dares give you hope. Kallen and Sakura were two halves of the same coin. They completed each other in a way that went beyond reason. Or at least they did in Samsara, where the mistake Sakura made was avoided. That world existed because of the same synchronicity between you and. And. The name chokes on agony.
'You and Mei.' Sirin says it for you, and there's enough pain in her voice to match your own. Of course there is, Kiana, you tell yourself. She lost everything. You only might have.
"I need to," you shake your head, speaking verbally for the first time since you woke. "Need to talk to Theresa. Ri- right now." You push down on the bed again, tilting to the vertical as you swing your feet out to land on the floor. You stumble slightly as you come to your feet, the world spinning around you, but it doesn't matter. You need to tell someone. Where is she, you know you can find he– there. The world warps, the portal devouring part of your bed, but you can't bring yourself to care.
You come tumbling out the other end in front of Theresa, the diminutive Valkyrie staring at some papers on the desk she's propped up in front of, and only then realise you're still wearing your pyjamas.
"Kiana!" She jerks to her feet, dislodging the paperwork as you catch one foot on the edge of the office's rug and collapse onto your knees. She's there beside you a moment later. How did she move so fast?
"Mei," you say. The pain of saying her name is like a sawblade in your throat. "I'm not sustaining the Samsara alone, I wouldn't know how, but it's still holding together." You gasp in a breath, and force yourself to look up at the childlike face examining you.
You're not going to pass out. You have to keep this together. "Sirin found it, I was too scared to even go looking, but she wasn't. Mei's out there somewhere Aunt Teri. She has to be." And with that, you were done. The world fades back, though you can still see, and feel the burst of shock from Sirin as she suddenly finds herself in control of a physical body for the first time in decades.
"Kiana. Kiana, what do you me-" Theresa is asking, and your mouth moves.
"I think she went back to sleep, Theresa," Sirin says, sniffing. She shrinks away as Theresa's careful hands freeze in place. "I'm sorry, I just wanted her to be able to stop hurting."
Theresa pales, swallows hard. "Sirin?"
"That's me." She brings up one hand in a little wave, the movement all out of sorts for your proportions. "I think I remember you. You were nice. Sorry for, um." Your voice descends to nearly inaudible levels. "stabbing you so many times. Why aren't you older?"
Theresa blinks several times, opens her mouth, closes it, opens it again. Then she reaches out, and rests one hand on your shoulder. Sirin goes very still, but doesn't flinch away. "I don't think that was you at the time," Teri says, "but I'm fine now, so it's alright. Now, Kiana was going to be helping us with our stabiliser today, but–"
"I can help with that!" Sirin blurts out, and you reach forward in the mental space. Is she sure? "I can." She repeats, probably as much to you as to Theresa. "The Core is ours, not just Kiana's. I remember how she used it, and some of how She used it. More than Kiana does." She does?
'I do,' she says internally. 'Not everything, I know I'm still a mess. But some. More than you remember.'
That's something else to absorb. You're not sure how long that'll take. Fortunately, you're both distracted a moment later as your stomach voices its displeasure with the time since your last meal.
Theresa smiles. It's one of her headmistress smiles, but it reaches her eyes. How long has it been since she was able to deal with something this simple? "Let's get you something to eat first." She says kindly, and you feel your body all but vibrate in sudden excitement.
"Can we?" She asks. "I haven't eaten in years." Pure rage flashes across your aunt's face, but she buries it before Sirin can make sense of it, and she covers it with a kindly nod.
"There's a private mess down the hall," she says. "We can get you something there, and then go back to the dorms so you can get changed."
Sirin nods, and then tries to get to her feet. Emphasis on tries. The last time she had a body, she was a little girl. You're not one of those, and your centre of mass is considerably higher than hers was. She tries twice, pouting as she fails to balance properly. Before she can trip over her feet on the third she pulls on your Core, and a trickle of honkai energy lifts your body into a comfortable sitting position.
"Okay," she says, smiling slightly.
Theresa cocks her head, then appears to give up trying to make sense of it with a shrug. "This way."
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
This was written in pure stream-of-consciousness last night, then worked on a bunch through today to make it functional. Many thanks to ShadowAngelBeta for their thoughts and Baughn for checking through it with me. I am aware that this may not be the best example of describing an unconscious switch to an observational layer, but I hope it serves as a reasonable one. It's not meant to be disrespectful - my system just doesn't have switching as a thing we do. This is building into some later omakes that I'll probably do down the line, which I hope people will enjoy. Sirin is...very, very damaged right now, but she'll be getting better over time as she's actually able to interact with others and be recognised as a person.
A note on timelines: this takes place shortly after Seele left the Hyperion for the bubble universe she's currently in.
A note on timelines: this takes place shortly after Seele left the Hyperion for the bubble universe she's currently in.
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Oh right. I can confirm that large parts of this were written to the tune of HI3's latest animation soundtrack, which is a thing of pure beauty greater than anything they set an animation to so far. And that's before getting into how the animation made me cry, and I have no shame in saying that because it was gorgeous.
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- Location
- a Far and Sunless Land
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Complicated
Sirin and Kiana... 
I wanna give them hugs
if they would want hugs, I mean
I don't want to just hug them out of nowhere with no warning
that would be scary
Oh, and I did an event or sidestory or something about the Olenyevas auditioning to be the protagonists, but it seemed... kinda noncanonical.
Even the earlier chapters seem to have some interesting stuff going on, but I missed some of it cause I forgot to download the cutscene data, so I'm planning to replay them at some point.
I've mostly been focusing on the Eva event and farming Swallowtail Phantasm / Kometa Drive / Fervent Tempo Δ / Starlight Astrologos upgrade materials, recently, and saving gems for whenever Stygian Nymph is available again.
I have no idea what's actually good in this game yet lol.
I wanna give them hugs
if they would want hugs, I mean
I don't want to just hug them out of nowhere with no warning
that would be scary
I've kinda already met them! I have their battlesuits, anyway, and I've unlocked the lower... tiers(?) of Fervent Tempo Δ. I have Swallowtail Phantasm too, but the gacha has been mean and not given me Stygian Nymph...
Oh, and I did an event or sidestory or something about the Olenyevas auditioning to be the protagonists, but it seemed... kinda noncanonical.
Even the earlier chapters seem to have some interesting stuff going on, but I missed some of it cause I forgot to download the cutscene data, so I'm planning to replay them at some point.
I've mostly been focusing on the Eva event and farming Swallowtail Phantasm / Kometa Drive / Fervent Tempo Δ / Starlight Astrologos upgrade materials, recently, and saving gems for whenever Stygian Nymph is available again.
I have no idea what's actually good in this game yet lol.
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Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Sirin and Kiana...
I wanna give them hugs
if they would want hugs, I mean
I don't want to just hug them out of nowhere with no warning
that would be scary
Kiana would literally fall to pieces emotionally if given a hug right now. Sirin desperately wants a hug but is also terrified of getting one because the last time she got one...well. Second Eruption spoilers below:
The very, very brave woman who was the last person to show Sirin any level of recognition as a horribly hurt child screaming out for love amid a world that had only given her pain died around ten seconds later in a nuclear fireball that Sirin still thinks was at least 40% her fault. Said woman was also Kiana's mom.
- Location
- indonesia
I blame it on god Kiana. Kiana is her self insert.
If you want advice, Snowfire's discord server and/or there's an HI3 game thread over on SB.
- Location
- a Far and Sunless Land
- Pronouns
- She/Her/Complicated
"Desperately wants a hug but is also terrified of getting one..." is more relatable than I would like, though I don't have a reason like that...
I hope they can find a good and safe way to get hugs soon. Hugs are important!
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
They will. What Sirin needs most right now is what Theresa gave her. Recognition, as a person, and the respect to make her own decisions. There's a lot more there needed, and a huge amount of pain that she's going to have to go through in the process because sadly trauma isn't something that you can just wave a wand at and make go away. But like Kiana has, she'll get there eventually. Consider that a promise, and one I know I can fulfil.
How much of this certainty is down to @Baughn knowing what I'll do to him if he tries to stop me is up to your imagination
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- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Always a good understanding to have between friends.
Anyway, since this is canon, we need to update our Lifeboat Operations statuses:
- Yvette: Confirmed dead; Seele has promised to retrieve her regardless
- Bronya: Confirmed dead; Core of Reason recovered
- Mei: Alive! Location unknown
- Einstein: Presumed Alive; Vollerei and Olvenya twins deployed to recover
- Durandal: FATE UNKNOWN - has survived comparatively brief exposure to the Sea before
- Fu Hua: FATE UNKNOWN - feathers?
- Schrödinger: Fate technically unknown but honestly she's fine.
- Welt: Fate technically unknown, past experience suggests he's likely to be alive somehow.
- Kevin: Who cares. But probably alive.
- Raven, assorted children: On the Hyperion somewhere. To be located.
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
- Carole Peppers: FATE UNKNOWN - last seen with Hua.
- Rubia: FATE UNKNOWN - ditto.
- <Kiana> I am not okay with this.
- Sora: FATE UNKOWN - but presumably Raven is looking after her?
- I said they're on the Hyperion somewhere, yes. Many other things are as well.
- Mei: Not completely dead! Probably! How much do you want to trust Sirin's understanding?
- Seele: Dead, twice over! Not letting it stop her.
- <Veliona> Just because the stupid operating system thinks so...
- Seals: Dead; unmoving; frozen in a block of ice.
- Suspicious.
- Giant world-ending snake: Alive! Enthusiastic!
- Corpses: Not dead! Stashed away for later study.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Or if you just want to chat about HI3, or the quest. There's a ton of lore, and as much as I'm trying to include some of it here, I don't want to overload you either.
The link is also in my signature.
The chapter's close to its final draft now, so I expect an update... Sunday probably? But we'll see.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
- Location
- Wingmaiden's Reach, the Near Roofs, Town
- Pronouns
- She/Her
kk!
Seele, in the Sea of Quanta, holding onto something, onto someone she recognizes and treasures:
Explaining recent haps to Roza and Lili:
Veliona, clarifying and synthesizing points A and B:
I suppose Veliona could be wrong? It's not inconceivable. But she does seem very certain.
Snowfire
Polyglot of Chimera
- Location
- Wordcats
Oh, um, no. You...missed my point. I wasn't asking for citations. I was addressing that part of your statement is...err...probably questionable. Welt continued existing because of his understanding of the Core of Reason. Manga goes into how he did this. Bronya now holds that core. You do the math
Seele Quest: 6.5
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Veliona sits down and closes her eyes, then fades out of existence. To all eyes except yours, she's vanished from the world. You can still feel her; she's part of you, in much the same way you're part of her, and she's paying as much attention to what she can see through your eyes as to what she's doing.
She keeps you focused on Roza and Lili, which is… a little odd. A little worrying, the way she's been behaving. You don't mind lending her your body, but you've been saying for days now that you ought to have a good talk with her, and you might as well admit it: It's not happening. Whatever's happening with your other half, you don't have the first idea of how to help her.
Maybe you don't need to be the one with all the answers. Maybe you can just–
Her lingering presence fades away, and you feel her take control of the stigmata.
Another day, Seele. You have to talk to her, and you want, more than anything, for that talk to come naturally. To chat, once every day or two, while you're all having fun and playing around. Getting to know each other, once again. With nothing too dramatic happening. Maybe while you're all on, dare you say it, a vacation.
She'd enjoy that; you know she would. Always has, for as few chances as you've given her, and right now is hardly an exception.
If you have to do it sooner, you will. Right now it's all you can do to watch her.
Usually you're not so focused on what she's doing, but usually you're not the stand-between for Roza, Liliya and Veliona. A hundred commands flow out of her, pushing into the stigmata and awakening it from… you can't call what it was in 'standby mode'. If it were on standby, you wouldn't exist. But it is, regardless, a great deal more active than it was a minute ago.
It's daunting. You're sure you couldn't do half of what she's doing, let alone so flawlessly. She's always been there, supporting you from the back of your mind. Ever since X-10, she's been the only thing standing between you and oblivion.
After a few more moments she snaps back into existence.
"Okay," she says to you, smiling. "Everything should be ready to go."
You nod, and neither of you see a need to mention the control channel she's pushing your way.
As always, it's been simplified. It takes a few quaternions, suitable for scaling and moving pieces of something three-dimensional around. This sort of thing always makes you curious what Veliona sees on her end. It's bound to be more complicated, but at least you're starting to make some sense of it. It's not raw mental noise anymore, and you're not stuck trying to work with just five senses.
You stopped using 'holograms' and other visual illusions a year ago—not at all the same as the genuine hologram you're guessing she wants you to move about—but you doubt she's ever used that sort of mental interface. Back when you escaped the Sea you couldn't have done even this much, so you'll take what you can get.
"Got it," you say, responding with a smile of your own. Then, just because she's there, you take the chance to clap a hand on her shoulder and give her a quick hug. She looks at you a little oddly, but you don't mind.
You stick some identity matrices in, and it materialises in the air in front of you, just like when you're playing with your butterflies. Just a single link, instead of hundreds of them. It's almost trivially easy. It's 3D. It's elegant. It's… flat.
Weird, that's what it is. The Sea never feels that open when you're flying through it, but now that you're seeing it in three dimensions, it's like someone crushed it with a steamroller. The bubble universe has turned into a simple sphere, the Hyperion is off to the side, and you have to stop yourself from twisting around to look at it from angles that don't exist. The Sea isn't three-dimensional, or four-dimensional; it's trillion-dimensional, though basically empty. Somehow you've gotten more used to it than you thought you had, and it's painfully hard trying to see with your eyes instead of… what you usually do.
Hard, and a little uncomfortable. There are colors, shapes, edges, but you can't make sense of them. You just wanted to see what Roza and Lili are seeing, but you can barely make out where they're standing. You can only understand the hologram because you're seeing it from both sides.
After a moment, you stop trying. It's easier to understand the stigmata's data feed.
"So this is us," Vel says to Roza and Lili, pointing at the aforementioned sphere. "And this is the Hyperion. You're seeing the same thing me and Seele would, pretty much. I'll have to look around a bit, and I'll have to stop projecting a body or we'd get exhausted in a hurry, but I'll still be right here. I'll hear everything you say next to this thing. I can even respond, if Seele's nearby and I'm not too busy. Got that, you two?"
Enough introspection, Seele.
Vel favours Liliya with a rare genuine smile, preening a little. As well she might, having set all that up in less than a minute. She's so smart it's like she's cheating.
"That's really cool Vel!" Roza says, while Lili nods, staring at the projection.
"Yup," you say. "Vel, anything I should look out for?"
Vel already knows what you're going to do before you do it most of the time, so it's more a formality than anything else.
"Nope," Vel says. "Get at it."
She nods towards the front door, and you wince. Oh, right. Yeah. The villagers.
Veliona grins at you.
"I definitely feel like you're escaping," you tell her, "but I think you're right. I think it's best if we get out of here for now."
You turn to the twins and nod.
"Liliya, do you want to stay here and keep an eye out?" you say. "I don't think it's a good idea to bring the hologram along. I don't need to see it to know what Vel's doing, so I can go along with Roza if she wants to come along and..." You sigh inwardly. You'd be nervous, but mostly you're too tired to be nervous. "Talk to the locals."
"I'll stay," she says, looking at Roza a bit defiantly.
The elder twin smiles.
"Good luck," she says. "We'll be back soon."
ooOOoo
You look in on Annie, Pip and their sister, but all three are fast asleep, Annie hugging Pip in her sleep. It's been an exhausting day for them, you bet. You'll have to wake Annie up a little later to feed Jane some more, but not right away. They'll be fine for an hour or so.
You also take a moment to check on Vel. So far she's just looking around, and hasn't found anything yet.
Well. Despite what Annie promised, you don't really want to take them along to see the village chief. This is going to suck, and it's time to pay the piper. You don't want to expose the children to that.
"Roza?" you say, taking her hand. "Are you…"
She squeezes back.
"I'll be fine," she says, smiling up at you. "Let's go."
You nod, and you walk to the front door together. Neither of you are exactly eager to face the people outside, but you have to. As expected, they're all standing around waiting for you, eyes wide and frightened. They back away as you step outside, and a few of them just stare at you.
Most of them, however, stare at Rozaliya. You bristle, and you're about to say something when she tugs at your hand. She still smiles, though her smile is the least genuine you think you've ever seen on her. You breathe out. Slowly.
An older man steps forward. He's dressed in furs and hides, and has a stone knife at his side. He's grizzled—grizzled is the word, though he's probably still in his fifties. But his eyes, they speak of a wariness that, aimed at you, makes you feel like you're being sized up for how best to kill you.
If that is what he has in mind, he'll find out how bad a choice that really is.
"I am Marco," he says, bowing his head. "This is the village of the rift. We mean you no harm, old one."
You and Roza glance at each other.
"I'm Seele, and this is Rozaliya," you say, gesturing at her. "We've come in search of my teacher. She's a girl, a little older than me. Have you seen any such person?"
He shakes his head.
"No. We have not seen your kind in decades. I am sorry."
Oh…
"We don't mean someone with horns, or the like!" Roza says, speaking up. Marco's eyes widen a little. "We mean someone looking like a regular person. Like you, except smaller."
"There are no dwarves here," Marco says.
You and Roza blink at each other. Dwarves?
"No, not dwarves. Er, regular people. She's just short. Have you seen any humans? Or anyone else from the... the rift? They would have come through recently... no, a few years back," you say, struggling for words. None of this what you expected. "H-have you found any… bodies?"
Marco shakes his head, but he's clearly taken aback.
"Her name is Einstein!" you say, louder than you meant to.
The villagers all shift back, murmuring. Not loud enough for you to make out, but Roza grows alarmed and leans towards you, about to whisper something when Marco speaks up.
"We've seen no friends of yours," he says in a low voice. "We do not know why you have come here, old ones, nor how you came to be here, and we do not wish to know. We want nothing of yours. But know this: You are not wanted here. Leave this place at once."
You immediately feel your heart sinking. This isn't what you expected at all. You were expecting… well, hoping really… but not this. Something other than this.
Roza tugs your arm until you bend towards her, then hisses into your ear. "They recognised her name. Let me talk."
"What?" you whisper back. Belatedly, "Go ahead."
She nods, and steps in front of you, into the light cast by a couple of torches. The villagers murmur a bit louder as they lay eyes on her full, inhuman appearance.
"Please understand," Roza says, her voice brittle. You look sharply up at her. "We didn't mean to come here. We were lost, and we're trying to find our friend—"
"Liar!" one of the villagers cries out. "Demons lie!"
"Shut up, Violetta!" Marco growls out. He catches Roza with a glare, and she flinches. "None of your friends are here. We have seen none of your kind in centuries. Let the children go free, and leave."
That last comment gives you pause.
"Annie and Pip?" you ask. "We haven't done anything to them. Except give them some food."
The man's face darkens, but a younger one, standing to his right, answers.
"We don't care what you've done. If you've harmed them, we'll..."
Marco hits the boy, sending him tumbling to the ground. You watch on with increasing alarm, unsure of what'll happen next. Marco quiets the lad down with a few words before returning to you.
"Whatever they have promised," he says, his voice heavy. "I will take all responsibility for their promises. Just let them go free, old ones."
This is wrong. It's all going wrong.
"Please," he continues. "Please, I beg you. Let them go free."
There's an agonizing pause. Then, you walk up to Roza, quietly collect her, and turn her around so her face is hidden from the crowd. A few people gasp, but most are silent. Roza almost falls against you, her entire body trembling. She doesn't start crying, but you almost wish she would.
"We didn't know," you tell Marco, trying your hardest not to get angry at the man who's hurt your little sister so badly. He's just scared. You're still not sure of what, but you're starting to work it out. "We're not these 'old ones' you're talking about. We came here from beyond the stars, searching for my teacher so we could ask for her help. She'll want to see us. When we saw Annie and Pip, we had to help—I swear, that's the literal truth."
Going on, you lower your voice a little.
"I can't look at starving children, and not help," you say, looking Marco directly in the eyes. Although his cheeks are sunken as well, he has the decency to look ashamed. "That's all. They said, in return, they'd introduce us—but I don't really care about that. If there was a promise, consider it fulfilled. They're inside, sleeping."
"I…" he starts, then stops. The desperation in his voice is palpable. Then, he sets his jaw. "Very well. I will talk to them first. If they say you have done no wrong, then we will let you go, and forgive this trespass."
You nod quickly, and lead them back inside, turning off Veliona's holographic display before anyone can see it.
Roza almost sprints over to a startled Liliya, then hugs her tightly. Lili gives you a dark look, but it softens after Roza whispers something. You wish you could help her right now, but you're not out of trouble on your own end.
You give them a small wave, and a weak smile, then step inside the bedroom with Marco. Annie and Pip sit up slowly as you enter. They look groggy, and a little scared
You doubt this will be a lot of fun.
"Children," the old man says sternly.
"Grand-uncle?" Annie says, her voice trembling.
"Marco?" says Pip, his voice a little less shaky.
He walks forward, and wraps his arms around them both. The children embrace him back, sniffling a bit. The tension is palpable. The old man looks up at you, and the frown lines in his face deepen.
"These outsiders gave you food?" he asks, looking back at Lili, who's now standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. His eyes linger on her horn and tail, like they did on Roza's, and you wonder what he's thinking. Nothing good, to judge from his expression.
"They saved my sister's life, uncle," Pip says, his voice quavering.
"Is this true?" the man asks.
"...Yes," Annie says, going red in the face. "And Pip's. He was going to leave to search for help."
The old man sighs, rubbing a wrinkled hand over his face wearily.
"You shouldn't have done that, children..." he mutters darkly. "...Bringing strangers into our village... Not just any strangers... You brought the old ones' spawn amongst us. They'll kill us all. They'll enslave us. They'll..."
"No, grand-uncle," Annie says quickly. "They're good. Not like the stories at all."
The old man's eyes narrow.
"You think because they gave you food, they can do no wrong? What else did they give you? They must have given you something."
"Just... Just the food, sir," she says softly.
The man's eyes narrow, and he grabs Annie's wrist. You're about to step forward to stop him, but Lili stops you with a hand on your shoulder. You glance back at her, and she shakes her head 'no'. You do a half-step towards Annie, frowning. Lili shakes her head again.
"What have they done to you?" he demands, the wildness in his eyes making him blind to your movement.. "Tell me what they did. They must have cast a spell on you!"
He begins to raise his hand and suddenly you're there, grabbing his arm. Enough is enough.
"Let her go," you say softly, letting the Cherenkov radiation in your hair blossom to full brightness.
The man's eyes widen, and he lets Annie go, futilely trying to pull away from what you know must look like an apparition. You don't really care anymore. You're not a very capable valkyrie, but against anyone merely mortal you're far more than their match; if he wants to move, it'll be when you allow him to.
"You wish to stop them coming to harm?" he asks, his voice trembling.
You wish to slap him. That's what you wish.
"Enough of this," you say, letting him go. He stumbles backwards. "We came here to find my teacher. Not to pick a fight. I have no interest in Pip and Annie, save that they were there, and I couldn't ignore them. The food I gave them, I gave them freely. If you'd prefer, we can leave, and you can starve in your fear..."
"...No," the man says, looking down. "I am sorry, whoever you are. I was... Overcome by fear. Please, you and your servants are welcome to shelter from the cold here."
You bow shallowly.
"I thank you for your hospitality," you say, meaning not a single word of it. "Roza and Lili are my sisters, however. Not my servants."
He nods, and you hope it's given him something to think about. At least he seems satisfied you don't mean them harm, for now, and he leads you back out of the house, Annie and Pip in tow. Annie holds his hand firmly, so it doesn't seem you need to worry they might be harmed. Really, that's what Marco was worried about.
It's enough to make you think that perhaps he isn't quite as mean as he seemed, but it'll take a while before you'd forgive him for hurting Rozaliya.
You have a quiet word with Lili before the three of you follow him, enough to at least make sure there's no real damage done. Roza didn't like being treated that way—obviously, you're not enjoying it either—but she was expecting something like this. "She'll be okay," Lili thinks.
You'll wait and see.
The village is... Well, it's poor, but the houses are solid and well built, becoming more so as Marco leads you towards the centre. Building them from stone, with apparently only stone-age tools, is no small feat. There's a large pit-fire in the exact centre of the village, with people sitting around it. It's only now flaring to life. All of them watch you as you enter.
"We have visitors," Marco says loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Travellers from far away."
You make sure to keep an eye on Roza and Lili as the introductions continue, although they seem content to stand still and watch the proceedings. You're still a little worried about them.
"They came here to look for–"
He cuts off. There's a commotion at the edge of the crowd, one that grows louder by the second. Marco closes his eyes, looking tired.
"Excuse me! Coming through. I'm coming through. Excuse me. Alberto, hi, see you later. Let me through!"
A young voice pushes its way through the crowd. For a moment, you see nothing but a mass of people. Then, the villagers part, and three people walk through: an old woman in a colourful robe, a girl about fifteen years old dressed in white leather armour wearing colourful gloves, and a young man with curly brown hair. The girl wears an expression of surprise and joy as she sees Roza and Lili.
"Rozaliya! Liliya!" she yells, dashing towards your sisters. "I heard something about 'demons', but I didn't think it'd be you!"
The girl stops a few meters from your sisters, a wide smile on her face. Your sisters look back at her, Roza with a look of confusion and Lili with... no, it's still confusion. The girl notices this, frowning.
"It's me, Carole," she says. "Fu... no, Carole Peppers. Remember me? It's been a few years, but I played hide and seek with you in the cargo bay once."
Rozaliya scratches her head.
You let out a short, incredulous laugh. Carole? You do remember, but–
"I'm sorry, I..." Roza says. "I don't..." She narrows her eyes. "You can't be Carole, right? The little girl who was following Hua around?"
"Yes!" Carole says. "I was little back then! Now, I'm..." She looks at herself, and seems surprised. "I grew up! Time flies. I'm even older than you!"
Well, no kidding. The game she's thinking of was three weeks ago. You remember Carole as half the height, getting into everything and grabbing at Rozaliya's tail every chance she got. Not Liliya's, not after the first time she got picked up by Roza's. Carole is… not scared of heights, and Rozaliya's gambit backfired.
She was an orphan, one of thousands, but Fu Hua took a special interest in her for some reason. She used to idolise the twins, and followed them everywhere. She also used to be eight. Just a week ago. Now she's somehow turned into a teenager.
You're not an idiot. There was plenty of evidence that time isn't running normally in this place, but it still weirds you out a little.
"Carole, what are you doing here?" Liliya asks.
"I live here," she says, shrugging. "Although I haven't been here for long. I've been running around, exploring the world." She squints, and says, "Rozaliya, Liliya. Are you the same age you were when I left the Hyperion?"
"We haven't aged at all," Lili says, matter of factly.
Carole nods. "That means I'm older than you now," she says. "I'm fourteen!"
"I'm sixteen." Rozaliya grins. "And Seele is eighteen."
Carole bites her lip, looking at you. "...and who are you?" she asks.
"I'm Seele Vollerei," you say. "Their sister. Who are you?"
You look around. Marco looks flabbergasted by the exchange; flabbergasted, but finally less panicked. Roza is watching Carole, grinning widely. Lili looks amused, and the villagers are... you don't even know. The boy Carole was dragging along is just staring at Carole, as if in shock.
She sighs. "Carole Peppers, I guess." She seems to think for a moment, then frowns. "You look younger than me. Are you sure you're eighteen?"
"Quite sure," you say, laughing. You can't help it. A question like that would usually put you on edge, but Carole seems so young herself you can't help but be compassionate. She's changed less than you'd have expected. "I'm glad to see you, Carole. It's been too long."
"I think I know who you are," Carole says. "You're that girl who came from the quantum sea with superhuman powers and no memory, right? I heard about you. I think my mom took an interest in you. Einstein's really worried about you."
"...oh." Carole got adopted? And… and you don't really know how to respond to that, so you focus on the safe part. "Is she here?"
Carole shakes her head.
"Mom left to figure out why there's so many trolls lately," she says, while your heart sinks. "She left me here to keep the kids safe, along with Isaac and Tomoyo. Ruby and Einstein went with her too. I'm... a little worried about them," she says, biting her lip. "They haven't been back in half a year. The trolls are dangerous. I hope they're alright."
"Fu Hua's your mother?" you ask, making a guess. The words tumble out a little fast.
"Yeah, mom," Carole says. She pauses. "It was awful back on the Hyperion. So cramped, and I couldn't even leave the room because of all the rifts. How'd you get here? Einstein said it was impossible for anyone to leave the ship."
"We're starting to get it fixed," you say, looking over at Roza and Lili. Carole's adoption… no, you'll leave that headache to her mother. At least you'll have some good news for Kiana later on. "That's actually why I'm here. We're looking for Einstein."
Thinking about her makes you feel a little sad. You can only hope she's doing better than you are right now. You miss her.
"Oh. Well, she's not here," Carole says. "There's plenty of trolls, though! She'll be back sooner or later, so why don't you stay here in the village with me until she gets back? I could use the help. It's gotten really..." She looks downcast. "Trolls have been attacking more and more lately. It gets worse at night, so I have to stay awake to keep everyone safe. But that means I can't hunt as much, or at all, so we're running out of food."
"You can't go outside during the day?" Roza asks.
"There are too many of them! And they're really dangerous, and..." Carole pauses, then continues in a much smaller voice "...and they scare me."
You look at Roza, who nods. "We'll help you," you say.
Carole looks up, her eyes tearing up. "You will?"
"Yes," you say, nodding. "But can we go somewhere else to talk? I feel like I'm getting stared at."
Carole looks around, as if just noticing the crowd for the first time. "Oh. Yeah, sure. Hey, Marco! These are my friends. I'll take responsibility for them, okay?"
Marco just groans in response.
ooOOoo
Carole's house is as rustic on the inside as it is on the outside, but notably more modern than the rest of the village. The walls are made of wood, and the floor is wooden planks. There is a large counter in the kitchen, and several cupboards lining the walls. In the middle of the room is a large, round table with several chairs around it. There are three doors leading out of the room, one directly ahead of you, and two on either side.
"Make yourself at home," Carole says, gesturing widely.
You sit down at the table and look around. Much to your shock, Carole brings out a gas lamp; the room is quickly lit by a flickering green glow, casting long shadows through the room. You examine the walls; they're lined with shelves, all of which have some form of technology on them. Mechanical gears, wiring, and strange, unrecognizable machines cover the shelves. You've never seen anything like it. In the middle of the room is another table, this one with several different mechanical devices on it; you recognize a telescope and a microscope, but the others are completely foreign to you.
There's nothing that looks modern, but the rest of the village is stone-age. It's a jarring experience.
Carole sits down on a chair next to you, and you look over at the younger girl. Now that she's out from under the eyes of the village, you can see the strain she's under. It reminds you of how Tesla looked when you left the Hyperion. Like the world was falling apart, but she couldn't admit it. How are you meant to approach that?
She sets the lantern down on the table and leans back. Her eyes are closed, and she's taking deep breaths. Carole looks tired, more tired than you've ever seen her look. It's a deep-seated tiredness, as if her body is exhausted to the core. The girl has gone through a lot in her life, you think.
There's an awkward pause, and you clear your throat.
"So," you begin, clutching your hands nervously. "Your village, it's... interesting. They really don't like visitors."
Carole chuckles. "You're telling me. The first time they saw us, they were ready to stone us. It was mom who saved us."
You nod, having no trouble imagining Fu Hua leading a charge against a bunch of angry villagers. She wouldn't hurt them; it wouldn't be that sort of charge. Fu Hua is one of the most amicable people you know, but if you saw her as an enemy... You shudder at the thought. You doubt you could stand against her.
"When was that?" you ask.
"Oh, when we first got here," Carole replies. "When I was eight. We found the village pretty quickly, and... well, mom would be okay living in the wild, but we needed a permanent home. So she offered to help them with their... monster problem in exchange for letting us stay."
"That was years ago," you say. "Why are you still living here?"
Carole shrugs. "I like it here. The people are nice, once you get to know them. Plus, it's pretty here. It's the first place I can remember where I felt at home. Why wouldn't I stay?"
"Well, I..." you struggle to find the words. "I just thought you'd want to go out and explore the world or something."
"I did go out exploring the world," Carole says, smiling. "I've seen so many different places and people, even if it's not safe moving about lately. Besides, this is where my friends are. You met two of them already, right? Annie and Pip? And you've seen Stefan. I don't think he likes you, but you do look a bit like demons from the stories. Don't worry, they'll warm up to you eventually."
You smile nervously. It's obvious Carole means well, but she's being optimistic. Whichever way, it isn't likely that the villagers will warm up to you anytime soon. You're also not planning to stay long enough for that.
"Well, we'll see," you say. "And... Isaac and Tomoyo?"
"Oh, they're techs from the Hyperion," Carole says casually. "Well... former techs. Can't say I know what it means, but they do woodcrafting now. They're both here, but they're asleep right now."
"Can you wake them up?" you ask.
"Yeah, sure," Carole says. "Why?"
"I want to talk to them about what's happening here," you say. "The trolls, and everything."
"About the..." Carole pauses, looking guilty. "... oh."
You stare at Carole, waiting for an answer.
"... Look, I'll wake them up and send them to you," Carole says. "... But I think you should just leave it alone. There's nothing they can tell you that I can't. I'm the one who's been fighting them."
That's true. You consider Carole; she's a fourteen year old girl. The gauntlets she's wearing are, now that you can get a closer look at them, a pair of Fu Hua's spares. Nothing too impressive, you think, the type that can shoot a fireball just by pressing a hidden button. For an otherwise normal girl—and you suspect that's what Carole is, you'd have noticed a stigmata, artificial or otherwise—they must be the only thing letting her keep fighting.
They'd be the next best thing to invulnerable, and judging from the trolls it'd only take a single punch to blow them up. The armour she's wearing is, by contrast, far less advanced. It's plain leather. Enough to save her from scrapes and bruises, but a single straight-on claw strike and Carole would be skewered.
That she's fighting them, and still alive, means she's skilled beyond her years. You aren't surprised. She's Fu Hua's daughter; she's bound to have become the most recent disciple her mother has taken. The one-on-one attention of an immortal will turn anyone into a capable warrior, and Carole's birth mother was a valkyrie as well.
Of course, it would still only take a moment's inattention...
"You might be right," you tell her. "But I'd still like to talk to them. Who knows what they may have noticed that you haven't? And anyway, if it's about the trolls–"
You grin at Roza, and she catches your drift. "Oh! Yeah, we... already killed lots of 'em."
Roza pulls a few trophies out of her backpack, to make the point. They're grisly things; you'd thought they'd come in handy talking to the villagers, but you doubt making them even more scared of you would've helped.
Carole looks approving, as she pulls out the first few claws. Then stunned, as the number grows and grows.
"You must've killed dozens," she breathes.
"A lot more than that," you say with a shrug. "They attacked us at the river. Downstream from here."
"I don't believe it! These things are everywhere, and there were three of you! How did you do it?"
You shrug. Instead of answering, you ask a question. "Like you said. There were three of us. Four, actually—Veliona was there as well. Do you think Fu Hua would've had trouble with a few trolls?"
Carole's eyes narrow. She opens her mouth to say something, but closes it. Then she gets your point.
"Mom always said there's a difference between me and a valkyrie," she says, sighing. "I thought maybe I'd caught up. But then, you've got the horned twins on your side."
She doesn't sound bitter. Just resigned, and perhaps a little jealous.
"I'll wake up Isaac and Tomoyo," she says.
She walks through a door, and you hear her waking them up. The sound of groaning and protesting follows, and then Carole comes back and sits down at the table while you wait.
You had some thoughts about chatting—what's her life here like, that sort of thing—but she doesn't look like she's in the mood, so you just wait in silence.
Isaac and Tomoyo arrive, looking groggy. They turn out to be a forty-something man and woman, one Asian and the other European. Like most of the village, they look like they've seen better days. Carole is the only one who hasn't looked at least a little starved, but this is still far from the dangerous level that Annie had reached.
They only look groggy at first. When he spots you, Isaac stops dead; after a moment, and with a nudge, so does Tomoyo. His eyes flit from you, to Roza, to Liliya, and you know he's recognised you. You hold his gaze, nodding, and he does likewise. He knows who you all are. He's seen you all while working, after all.
These two are probably the missing sensor techs, though practically everyone on the Hyperion would recognise you. Valkyries are locally celebrities, after all. Even fake ones like you.
"Seele Vollerei. As I live and breathe," he says, his voice a little hoarse from sleep. "And the Olenyeva twins. My, you look like you haven't aged a day."
He says it quietly, likely only meaning to talk to Tomoyo, but you answer him anyway.
"Six, more or less," you say. "It's been about a week on the Hyperion. We came here to find Einstein, but... things got complicated, though."
You don't need to explain how, exactly. This entire situation is a weird one, even ignoring the radio tree and whatever Vel is dealing with.
That thought is enough to make you check on her, but apparently she's still scanning for traces of anything notable. That's fair, at least. The quantum sea is huge, and there's a huge number of places to look even if you don't move at all.
"A week. Einstein said so, but..." He shakes his head. "I wasn't sure if I could make myself believe. I thought, at least halfway, that everyone still there must have long since died. But if you're here, then..."
"They're mostly all right," you say, smiling. "There's been a few deaths, but most people we've found have been healthy. Between Kiana and me, we've fixed a lot of the damage. Theresa and everyone else on the bridge crew are in good shape as well, and they're making sure that no new damage gets into the ship."
"You came here to find us?" he says. "Really?"
You nod.
"I won't lie to you," you say. "We came here to find Einstein. We need her, to keep things from getting worse. But since I'm here–" You lean forward. "Theresa put me on search and rescue. This counts. You can come back, if you want."
"If we want?" His eyes widen. "Of course we want! But..."
His eyes tell you everything you need to know. They're looking into the distance, towards the centre of the village.
"I'm going to save them," you say. "Since we're here. We already have a pretty good idea of what's causing the troll outbreak. It's not a great plan, but I do have a plan. It'll be over in a couple hours, probably."
"Hours?" He looks at you. "...I see. There's been almost a dozen zombies in the last two weeks, so I thought it might be something like that."
You're glad you don't have to say it out loud.
"Well, I don't!" Carole says. "What are you talking about, Seele?"
"It's… complicated," you say, avoiding her gaze. Then, you shake your head. "No, I'm not going to fob you off, but it's… We don't have a lot of time. Is there any way you can reach your mother or Einstein, Carole? Any way at all?"
Carole looks at you. She looks like she's struggling with herself, but then she sighs.
"Mom gave me one of her feathers," she says. "But she told me not to use it unless I really have to. Because it's got a limited amount of power."
That–
You want to stare at her. A feather of the Fenghuang Down? Of course. It would let Carole contact her from anywhere. Of course Phoenix would give her own daughter one of her feathers, and of course she'd give that warning. But–
"She can't have meant for you not to call her when the village is starving!" you say. You're incredulous. "Or when there's trolls swarming over you! That's... that's..."
You can't even find a word for how wrong that is.
You take a deep breath. You shouldn't yell at her. That's not going to help.
"Mom said she liked how independent I am," Carole says. "She told me that I should only use the feather if it's vital to the survival of the village, or if I'm in danger. She didn't say anything about being attacked by trolls being 'vital to the survival of the village'..."
What? You stare at her. You shake your head. She can't be serious.
"That... that's incredibly selfish and short-sighted!" you say, losing your temper a bit. "How many people have to starve to death before it's 'vital to the survival of the village'? Do you really want to wait that long?"
"No," Carole says stubbornly. "But so long as I'm able to hunt, then..."
Her voice is unsteady. You stare at her, baffled. She's not making any sense.
"And Annie and Pip?" you ask, trying a different tactic. "You said they're your friends. What about them? When we ran into Pip he was about to leave the village, to search for help. If we hadn't been there, he might have been killed by the trolls. And little Jane... she was dying. She could have been dead by tomorrow!"
"I... I don't know..." Carole says quietly. "I don't... I'm sorry, Seele. I have to think about this. Can we talk about this later?"
"Carole," you say, only to stop. You… don't know how to deal with this. The girl's knuckles are white around the gauntlets she's holding, the ones Hua gave her to help her protect this place. It's nothing compared to your own weaponry, yet potent enough for a fourteen year old. But Fu Hua can't have meant Carole to defend her home from even what's here now, let alone what you know is coming.
You know all of this, but you've never been good with words. Looking around, you see the two former techs watching with the same quiet despair. They must have tried, but to Carole, they're adults trying to get in her way. How do you get past that?
"So you know that there's more than trolls out there, right?" Roza asks, your younger sister sitting down on the table beside Carole. She must have come over whilst you were struggling with what to say next. Carole looks up with widening eyes, and one hand squeezes tighter on her gauntlet.
"There is?" She asks.
"Honkai, lots of 'em." Roza nods. You won't say she does it sagely, you can't imagine a universe where that would make sense. "Lili and I can smell them coming. Now the Vodka Girls are pretty strong, and with Seele and Vel and you I'm sure we'd kick their butts! But," her tail droops.
"But? What but? Vodka girls are the strongest, right?" Carole, ugh, carols the catchphrase, and Roza smiles down at her.
"Of course we are," Roza agrees. "But if we're the strongest, then we might wreck the whole village if we have to go all out. And that wouldn't be good for anyone living here, Carole."
"Oh." Carole's face fell, then broke out into a huge smile. Why was she smiling? "Oh! That's why you want me to call mom and Ruby back?"
"A protagonist should never be afraid to call for the supporting cast!" Roza announces, sweeping one hand round in a way she thinks is airy, but makes you struggle not to laugh. "It makes the finale even better."
Carole makes an excited noise, no doubt already imagining the scene. "Alright. I'll go call them now, then!" She leaps up from her seat and vanishes out of the room, leaving you staring after her. A moment later, your gaze swaps to Roza.
"How?" You ask, very slowly. You think you can see a little of it, but how did Roza hit on? The pinkette sighs, her tail dropping down until it's just shy of the floor.
"She needed a story where she could still be the hero, Seele," she says softly. "Like when we were kids. Lili and I always used an excuse like that for why we couldn't just smash the Honkai right then."
"I," you try to say, several times. Rozaliya's right, and if she's not, she's close enough. You needed Carole to send this message now. She's doing so. "Roza, you know that-"
"That she should have called for help sooner? Of course I do." Roza scoots up on the table and pats you on the head. You respond by slumping down to rest your face on the rough wood. "But she's just a kid, Seele. She's trying to do what she thinks her mom would do, but try to tell her that and you'll get nowhere. Lili would know."
You let out a groan that has nothing to do with physical pain, and Roza runs her hand over your hair again, the motion gentle.
"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Roza asks. A moment later you hear the familiar sound of a hand smacking against Honkai-beast horn. "Lili!"
"Roza idiotka." There's a well-worn familiarity to the phrase, but it has nothing to do with the affection in your other little sister's voice.
"We'd better check on Vel," you say, into the wood.
ooOOoo
The void-snake doesn't seem interested in attacking her, or harming Seele. It seems much more interested in her than it did Seele, the last time she saw it, which feels odd. Out here, with no physical bodies, to most senses she and her sister would appear identical; two expressions of the same being. It would be strange for a mindless creature to discriminate, if it's on some kind of mindless rampage.
The snake brushes against her in a fashion that almost tickles, putting an end to that line of thought. Laughing, she strokes its head, then goes back to examining it. It's definitely not mindless. It feels like a cat, almost; an immense, world-ending winged snake-cat. Touching it is like touching a beating heart while standing in a thunderstorm. It vibrates under her hands in a slow rhythm, and she can feel it reverberating through her body, into her chest. It's oddly relaxing.
She was scared when she first saw it, but now that she's touched and inspected it, she feels almost calm around it. It isn't a threat, at least not to her. She doesn't know what it's doing, or why it's here, but as far as she's concerned, as long as it isn't actively trying to harm her or Seele, then that's fine by her. Or the twins, or...
It's no good. She has too many connections now, too many people who could be in danger if this goes bad.
"Who are you?" she asks.
It doesn't respond in words, but the feeling in her mind intensifies. She can feel affection there, what seems to be an outpouring of love, or a need for it. The void-snake is happy that she's here. It likes her. It misses her. It...
It what? What does it want? She feels fear, too, fear and the certainty she'll disappear again. There's a bizarre doubling-up of sensations, like she isn't talking to one mind, but to two that are so close they might as well be the same being. It's bizarre enough that she can tell what it's thinking in the first place.
The void-snake wants to stay with her. It wants a connection, just like Seele has with her sisters. And it's afraid that she'll disappear if it gives her a chance.
"Disappear?" she asks again. She stares at it, trying to read its alien mind. "What do you mean?"
It shows her. Images flash through her mind, almost faster than she can comprehend them. A city in ruins, a dying world, two twinned minds, dying and in pain. A creature half-formed. It's like a dream, but one she's dreamt before. The creature's memories... Are they the snake's memories? Is it using hers? The scale feels wrong, too close to human.
It's so hard to tell, to understand. The void-snake's memories are so different to hers. The way it thinks is different to hers.
Then it all changes. More images, more incomprehensible sensations. Lights turning off, angry shouts, the sound of screams and distant explosions. A city dying. A dark star rising, devouring all life in its path and extinguishing the sun. Seele's face, twisted by incomparable anguish.
And then... Nothing. Blackness. Oblivion. Death.
She opens her mouth to ask another question, but no sound comes out. Her throat's too tight, and a strange feeling's welling up inside her, a mixture of terror and longing. The void-snake is lonely, desperately so. It wants nothing more than for her to stay with it, to finally belong somewhere. To not be sent away again. Again, and again.
She feels something crack in her mind. Like a dam breaking. Emotions flood into her, so many and so intense that she can't even begin to describe them.
She feels herself falling, falling into an endless void. An eternity passes in the blink of an eye.
But then she wakes up.
"Vel?"
A concerned voice breaks through the darkness.
"Are you alright?"
Seele's face swims into view, looking oddly worried for once.
"Yeah… Just have a bit of a headache," she mutters.
"You fell unconscious," Seele explains. "Rozaliya was beside herself. Liliya convinced her to stick with Carole, but… what happened?"
She twiddles her fingers.
"I talked to the snake. And I… remembered something," she says. "It was a little overwhelming. But it's... strange. I think..." She shakes her head. "I don't know what's going on. I'm a little scared. You said Liliya's—"
She catches herself mid sentence. For whatever reason, all she wants to do is check on Roz and Lils, double-check one more time that they're still there, they're still okay, and everything's normal.
"I'm sure they're fine," Seele says, as if reading her mind. "Just go on, I'll lead the way. I think we found them," she says, nearly smiling. "Both Fu Hua and Einstein. At least I hope so."
Seele reaches out a hand. She takes a deep breath and takes it, pulling herself to her feet. She nods at her sister, and looks around. They're in a house, but not the same one from earlier. There's a lot more… stuff, for one. Machinery, most of it made from wood.
It'll be fine. It'll all be fine.
"You'll tell me what happened, right?" Seele says, looking worriedly at her. "I mean, what I saw was… I don't really…" She shakes her head. "I couldn't catch most of that. That wasn't a Honkai beast, was it?"
"I'll tell you," she says, already knowing she'll give in to her sister. There's no keeping secrets from Seele. Not right now, when her emotions are still so raw and uncontrollable.
Not much point in trying.
She ignores the part of herself that wants, desperately so, to return to the snake. It's scary. It's abnormal. It's also the same part that wants her to hug the twins, and never let go. Neither action would be at all Veliona-esque. They'd think she was weird, and…
That thought isn't Veliona-esque either.
She shakes her head, throwing an arm around Seele as she walks. Seele squeaks in surprise, but accepts the affection without comment. Not that she ever was one to complain.
"So… what happened?" Seele asks as they leave the room.
She shakes her head. "Should I be freaking out right now?" she says instead of answering. "I mean, I feel like I should be, but…"
She finds herself unconsciously leaning into Seele as they walk, taking comfort in the companionship.
She might be okay with not being Veliona-esque.
= = =
No matter where she goes, or what she learns, Seele is Seele. It would not work, however, to stuff her back into a human body. She hadn't finished growing up when Veliona saved her from the X-10 experiment; that's something Vel had to deal with, or else she'd have been mentally twelve forever.
However, Veliona doesn't know when it'd be appropriate for her simulated brain to stop growing. It isn't (quite) done at twelve. So she didn't program in a stop. It's fine, probably.
...what's that? A snek?
The AI didn't feel like pulling punches, and I guess I, on my side, am okay with that. That said, there might be a small problem. It's probably okay, though. I'm sure Veliona will work it out. Um.
As much as the next step is obvious, Seele's first instinct may not be the best possible one. She's not in possession of all the facts, for one, so feel free to provide some minor guidance to her. I'm sure she'd appreciate it.
Or, y'know, guide the story in the direction you like. Anything goes.
[ ] [Veliona] Send her back to snek.
- Leaving them to their own devices is not clever. Never was.
[ ] [Veliona] Write-in
[ ] [Annie] Offer to look at her mother.
- It should be obvious that this is fraught with peril, though you'd have Carole vouching for you. Try having some sort of plan.
[ ] [Annie] Wait.
- It should be obvious that this is fraught with a different sort of peril.
[ ] [Annie] Write-in
[ ] [Einstein] Keep the conversation to work-related matters.
- It seems very likely that this won't work perfectly. You're setting her intent, not the results.
Note that Einstein can't get back quickly at all. The conversation will be relayed through Carole (or Rubia) and Fu Hua.
[ ] [Einstein] Mention something else.
- [ ] What?
[ ] [Einstein] Write-in
She keeps you focused on Roza and Lili, which is… a little odd. A little worrying, the way she's been behaving. You don't mind lending her your body, but you've been saying for days now that you ought to have a good talk with her, and you might as well admit it: It's not happening. Whatever's happening with your other half, you don't have the first idea of how to help her.
Maybe you don't need to be the one with all the answers. Maybe you can just–
Her lingering presence fades away, and you feel her take control of the stigmata.
Another day, Seele. You have to talk to her, and you want, more than anything, for that talk to come naturally. To chat, once every day or two, while you're all having fun and playing around. Getting to know each other, once again. With nothing too dramatic happening. Maybe while you're all on, dare you say it, a vacation.
She'd enjoy that; you know she would. Always has, for as few chances as you've given her, and right now is hardly an exception.
If you have to do it sooner, you will. Right now it's all you can do to watch her.
Usually you're not so focused on what she's doing, but usually you're not the stand-between for Roza, Liliya and Veliona. A hundred commands flow out of her, pushing into the stigmata and awakening it from… you can't call what it was in 'standby mode'. If it were on standby, you wouldn't exist. But it is, regardless, a great deal more active than it was a minute ago.
It's daunting. You're sure you couldn't do half of what she's doing, let alone so flawlessly. She's always been there, supporting you from the back of your mind. Ever since X-10, she's been the only thing standing between you and oblivion.
After a few more moments she snaps back into existence.
"Okay," she says to you, smiling. "Everything should be ready to go."
You nod, and neither of you see a need to mention the control channel she's pushing your way.
As always, it's been simplified. It takes a few quaternions, suitable for scaling and moving pieces of something three-dimensional around. This sort of thing always makes you curious what Veliona sees on her end. It's bound to be more complicated, but at least you're starting to make some sense of it. It's not raw mental noise anymore, and you're not stuck trying to work with just five senses.
You stopped using 'holograms' and other visual illusions a year ago—not at all the same as the genuine hologram you're guessing she wants you to move about—but you doubt she's ever used that sort of mental interface. Back when you escaped the Sea you couldn't have done even this much, so you'll take what you can get.
"Got it," you say, responding with a smile of your own. Then, just because she's there, you take the chance to clap a hand on her shoulder and give her a quick hug. She looks at you a little oddly, but you don't mind.
You stick some identity matrices in, and it materialises in the air in front of you, just like when you're playing with your butterflies. Just a single link, instead of hundreds of them. It's almost trivially easy. It's 3D. It's elegant. It's… flat.
Weird, that's what it is. The Sea never feels that open when you're flying through it, but now that you're seeing it in three dimensions, it's like someone crushed it with a steamroller. The bubble universe has turned into a simple sphere, the Hyperion is off to the side, and you have to stop yourself from twisting around to look at it from angles that don't exist. The Sea isn't three-dimensional, or four-dimensional; it's trillion-dimensional, though basically empty. Somehow you've gotten more used to it than you thought you had, and it's painfully hard trying to see with your eyes instead of… what you usually do.
Hard, and a little uncomfortable. There are colors, shapes, edges, but you can't make sense of them. You just wanted to see what Roza and Lili are seeing, but you can barely make out where they're standing. You can only understand the hologram because you're seeing it from both sides.
After a moment, you stop trying. It's easier to understand the stigmata's data feed.
"So this is us," Vel says to Roza and Lili, pointing at the aforementioned sphere. "And this is the Hyperion. You're seeing the same thing me and Seele would, pretty much. I'll have to look around a bit, and I'll have to stop projecting a body or we'd get exhausted in a hurry, but I'll still be right here. I'll hear everything you say next to this thing. I can even respond, if Seele's nearby and I'm not too busy. Got that, you two?"
Enough introspection, Seele.
Vel favours Liliya with a rare genuine smile, preening a little. As well she might, having set all that up in less than a minute. She's so smart it's like she's cheating.
"That's really cool Vel!" Roza says, while Lili nods, staring at the projection.
"Yup," you say. "Vel, anything I should look out for?"
Vel already knows what you're going to do before you do it most of the time, so it's more a formality than anything else.
"Nope," Vel says. "Get at it."
She nods towards the front door, and you wince. Oh, right. Yeah. The villagers.
Veliona grins at you.
"I definitely feel like you're escaping," you tell her, "but I think you're right. I think it's best if we get out of here for now."
You turn to the twins and nod.
"Liliya, do you want to stay here and keep an eye out?" you say. "I don't think it's a good idea to bring the hologram along. I don't need to see it to know what Vel's doing, so I can go along with Roza if she wants to come along and..." You sigh inwardly. You'd be nervous, but mostly you're too tired to be nervous. "Talk to the locals."
"I'll stay," she says, looking at Roza a bit defiantly.
The elder twin smiles.
"Good luck," she says. "We'll be back soon."
ooOOoo
You look in on Annie, Pip and their sister, but all three are fast asleep, Annie hugging Pip in her sleep. It's been an exhausting day for them, you bet. You'll have to wake Annie up a little later to feed Jane some more, but not right away. They'll be fine for an hour or so.
You also take a moment to check on Vel. So far she's just looking around, and hasn't found anything yet.
Well. Despite what Annie promised, you don't really want to take them along to see the village chief. This is going to suck, and it's time to pay the piper. You don't want to expose the children to that.
"Roza?" you say, taking her hand. "Are you…"
She squeezes back.
"I'll be fine," she says, smiling up at you. "Let's go."
You nod, and you walk to the front door together. Neither of you are exactly eager to face the people outside, but you have to. As expected, they're all standing around waiting for you, eyes wide and frightened. They back away as you step outside, and a few of them just stare at you.
Most of them, however, stare at Rozaliya. You bristle, and you're about to say something when she tugs at your hand. She still smiles, though her smile is the least genuine you think you've ever seen on her. You breathe out. Slowly.
An older man steps forward. He's dressed in furs and hides, and has a stone knife at his side. He's grizzled—grizzled is the word, though he's probably still in his fifties. But his eyes, they speak of a wariness that, aimed at you, makes you feel like you're being sized up for how best to kill you.
If that is what he has in mind, he'll find out how bad a choice that really is.
"I am Marco," he says, bowing his head. "This is the village of the rift. We mean you no harm, old one."
You and Roza glance at each other.
"I'm Seele, and this is Rozaliya," you say, gesturing at her. "We've come in search of my teacher. She's a girl, a little older than me. Have you seen any such person?"
He shakes his head.
"No. We have not seen your kind in decades. I am sorry."
Oh…
"We don't mean someone with horns, or the like!" Roza says, speaking up. Marco's eyes widen a little. "We mean someone looking like a regular person. Like you, except smaller."
"There are no dwarves here," Marco says.
You and Roza blink at each other. Dwarves?
"No, not dwarves. Er, regular people. She's just short. Have you seen any humans? Or anyone else from the... the rift? They would have come through recently... no, a few years back," you say, struggling for words. None of this what you expected. "H-have you found any… bodies?"
Marco shakes his head, but he's clearly taken aback.
"Her name is Einstein!" you say, louder than you meant to.
The villagers all shift back, murmuring. Not loud enough for you to make out, but Roza grows alarmed and leans towards you, about to whisper something when Marco speaks up.
"We've seen no friends of yours," he says in a low voice. "We do not know why you have come here, old ones, nor how you came to be here, and we do not wish to know. We want nothing of yours. But know this: You are not wanted here. Leave this place at once."
You immediately feel your heart sinking. This isn't what you expected at all. You were expecting… well, hoping really… but not this. Something other than this.
Roza tugs your arm until you bend towards her, then hisses into your ear. "They recognised her name. Let me talk."
"What?" you whisper back. Belatedly, "Go ahead."
She nods, and steps in front of you, into the light cast by a couple of torches. The villagers murmur a bit louder as they lay eyes on her full, inhuman appearance.
"Please understand," Roza says, her voice brittle. You look sharply up at her. "We didn't mean to come here. We were lost, and we're trying to find our friend—"
"Liar!" one of the villagers cries out. "Demons lie!"
"Shut up, Violetta!" Marco growls out. He catches Roza with a glare, and she flinches. "None of your friends are here. We have seen none of your kind in centuries. Let the children go free, and leave."
That last comment gives you pause.
"Annie and Pip?" you ask. "We haven't done anything to them. Except give them some food."
The man's face darkens, but a younger one, standing to his right, answers.
"We don't care what you've done. If you've harmed them, we'll..."
Marco hits the boy, sending him tumbling to the ground. You watch on with increasing alarm, unsure of what'll happen next. Marco quiets the lad down with a few words before returning to you.
"Whatever they have promised," he says, his voice heavy. "I will take all responsibility for their promises. Just let them go free, old ones."
This is wrong. It's all going wrong.
"Please," he continues. "Please, I beg you. Let them go free."
There's an agonizing pause. Then, you walk up to Roza, quietly collect her, and turn her around so her face is hidden from the crowd. A few people gasp, but most are silent. Roza almost falls against you, her entire body trembling. She doesn't start crying, but you almost wish she would.
"We didn't know," you tell Marco, trying your hardest not to get angry at the man who's hurt your little sister so badly. He's just scared. You're still not sure of what, but you're starting to work it out. "We're not these 'old ones' you're talking about. We came here from beyond the stars, searching for my teacher so we could ask for her help. She'll want to see us. When we saw Annie and Pip, we had to help—I swear, that's the literal truth."
Going on, you lower your voice a little.
"I can't look at starving children, and not help," you say, looking Marco directly in the eyes. Although his cheeks are sunken as well, he has the decency to look ashamed. "That's all. They said, in return, they'd introduce us—but I don't really care about that. If there was a promise, consider it fulfilled. They're inside, sleeping."
"I…" he starts, then stops. The desperation in his voice is palpable. Then, he sets his jaw. "Very well. I will talk to them first. If they say you have done no wrong, then we will let you go, and forgive this trespass."
You nod quickly, and lead them back inside, turning off Veliona's holographic display before anyone can see it.
Roza almost sprints over to a startled Liliya, then hugs her tightly. Lili gives you a dark look, but it softens after Roza whispers something. You wish you could help her right now, but you're not out of trouble on your own end.
You give them a small wave, and a weak smile, then step inside the bedroom with Marco. Annie and Pip sit up slowly as you enter. They look groggy, and a little scared
You doubt this will be a lot of fun.
"Children," the old man says sternly.
"Grand-uncle?" Annie says, her voice trembling.
"Marco?" says Pip, his voice a little less shaky.
He walks forward, and wraps his arms around them both. The children embrace him back, sniffling a bit. The tension is palpable. The old man looks up at you, and the frown lines in his face deepen.
"These outsiders gave you food?" he asks, looking back at Lili, who's now standing in the doorway with her arms crossed. His eyes linger on her horn and tail, like they did on Roza's, and you wonder what he's thinking. Nothing good, to judge from his expression.
"They saved my sister's life, uncle," Pip says, his voice quavering.
"Is this true?" the man asks.
"...Yes," Annie says, going red in the face. "And Pip's. He was going to leave to search for help."
The old man sighs, rubbing a wrinkled hand over his face wearily.
"You shouldn't have done that, children..." he mutters darkly. "...Bringing strangers into our village... Not just any strangers... You brought the old ones' spawn amongst us. They'll kill us all. They'll enslave us. They'll..."
"No, grand-uncle," Annie says quickly. "They're good. Not like the stories at all."
The old man's eyes narrow.
"You think because they gave you food, they can do no wrong? What else did they give you? They must have given you something."
"Just... Just the food, sir," she says softly.
The man's eyes narrow, and he grabs Annie's wrist. You're about to step forward to stop him, but Lili stops you with a hand on your shoulder. You glance back at her, and she shakes her head 'no'. You do a half-step towards Annie, frowning. Lili shakes her head again.
"What have they done to you?" he demands, the wildness in his eyes making him blind to your movement.. "Tell me what they did. They must have cast a spell on you!"
He begins to raise his hand and suddenly you're there, grabbing his arm. Enough is enough.
"Let her go," you say softly, letting the Cherenkov radiation in your hair blossom to full brightness.
The man's eyes widen, and he lets Annie go, futilely trying to pull away from what you know must look like an apparition. You don't really care anymore. You're not a very capable valkyrie, but against anyone merely mortal you're far more than their match; if he wants to move, it'll be when you allow him to.
"You wish to stop them coming to harm?" he asks, his voice trembling.
You wish to slap him. That's what you wish.
"Enough of this," you say, letting him go. He stumbles backwards. "We came here to find my teacher. Not to pick a fight. I have no interest in Pip and Annie, save that they were there, and I couldn't ignore them. The food I gave them, I gave them freely. If you'd prefer, we can leave, and you can starve in your fear..."
"...No," the man says, looking down. "I am sorry, whoever you are. I was... Overcome by fear. Please, you and your servants are welcome to shelter from the cold here."
You bow shallowly.
"I thank you for your hospitality," you say, meaning not a single word of it. "Roza and Lili are my sisters, however. Not my servants."
He nods, and you hope it's given him something to think about. At least he seems satisfied you don't mean them harm, for now, and he leads you back out of the house, Annie and Pip in tow. Annie holds his hand firmly, so it doesn't seem you need to worry they might be harmed. Really, that's what Marco was worried about.
It's enough to make you think that perhaps he isn't quite as mean as he seemed, but it'll take a while before you'd forgive him for hurting Rozaliya.
You have a quiet word with Lili before the three of you follow him, enough to at least make sure there's no real damage done. Roza didn't like being treated that way—obviously, you're not enjoying it either—but she was expecting something like this. "She'll be okay," Lili thinks.
You'll wait and see.
The village is... Well, it's poor, but the houses are solid and well built, becoming more so as Marco leads you towards the centre. Building them from stone, with apparently only stone-age tools, is no small feat. There's a large pit-fire in the exact centre of the village, with people sitting around it. It's only now flaring to life. All of them watch you as you enter.
"We have visitors," Marco says loudly enough for everyone to hear. "Travellers from far away."
You make sure to keep an eye on Roza and Lili as the introductions continue, although they seem content to stand still and watch the proceedings. You're still a little worried about them.
"They came here to look for–"
He cuts off. There's a commotion at the edge of the crowd, one that grows louder by the second. Marco closes his eyes, looking tired.
"Excuse me! Coming through. I'm coming through. Excuse me. Alberto, hi, see you later. Let me through!"
A young voice pushes its way through the crowd. For a moment, you see nothing but a mass of people. Then, the villagers part, and three people walk through: an old woman in a colourful robe, a girl about fifteen years old dressed in white leather armour wearing colourful gloves, and a young man with curly brown hair. The girl wears an expression of surprise and joy as she sees Roza and Lili.
"Rozaliya! Liliya!" she yells, dashing towards your sisters. "I heard something about 'demons', but I didn't think it'd be you!"
The girl stops a few meters from your sisters, a wide smile on her face. Your sisters look back at her, Roza with a look of confusion and Lili with... no, it's still confusion. The girl notices this, frowning.
"It's me, Carole," she says. "Fu... no, Carole Peppers. Remember me? It's been a few years, but I played hide and seek with you in the cargo bay once."
Rozaliya scratches her head.
You let out a short, incredulous laugh. Carole? You do remember, but–
"I'm sorry, I..." Roza says. "I don't..." She narrows her eyes. "You can't be Carole, right? The little girl who was following Hua around?"
"Yes!" Carole says. "I was little back then! Now, I'm..." She looks at herself, and seems surprised. "I grew up! Time flies. I'm even older than you!"
Well, no kidding. The game she's thinking of was three weeks ago. You remember Carole as half the height, getting into everything and grabbing at Rozaliya's tail every chance she got. Not Liliya's, not after the first time she got picked up by Roza's. Carole is… not scared of heights, and Rozaliya's gambit backfired.
She was an orphan, one of thousands, but Fu Hua took a special interest in her for some reason. She used to idolise the twins, and followed them everywhere. She also used to be eight. Just a week ago. Now she's somehow turned into a teenager.
You're not an idiot. There was plenty of evidence that time isn't running normally in this place, but it still weirds you out a little.
"Carole, what are you doing here?" Liliya asks.
"I live here," she says, shrugging. "Although I haven't been here for long. I've been running around, exploring the world." She squints, and says, "Rozaliya, Liliya. Are you the same age you were when I left the Hyperion?"
"We haven't aged at all," Lili says, matter of factly.
Carole nods. "That means I'm older than you now," she says. "I'm fourteen!"
"I'm sixteen." Rozaliya grins. "And Seele is eighteen."
Carole bites her lip, looking at you. "...and who are you?" she asks.
"I'm Seele Vollerei," you say. "Their sister. Who are you?"
You look around. Marco looks flabbergasted by the exchange; flabbergasted, but finally less panicked. Roza is watching Carole, grinning widely. Lili looks amused, and the villagers are... you don't even know. The boy Carole was dragging along is just staring at Carole, as if in shock.
She sighs. "Carole Peppers, I guess." She seems to think for a moment, then frowns. "You look younger than me. Are you sure you're eighteen?"
"Quite sure," you say, laughing. You can't help it. A question like that would usually put you on edge, but Carole seems so young herself you can't help but be compassionate. She's changed less than you'd have expected. "I'm glad to see you, Carole. It's been too long."
"I think I know who you are," Carole says. "You're that girl who came from the quantum sea with superhuman powers and no memory, right? I heard about you. I think my mom took an interest in you. Einstein's really worried about you."
"...oh." Carole got adopted? And… and you don't really know how to respond to that, so you focus on the safe part. "Is she here?"
Carole shakes her head.
"Mom left to figure out why there's so many trolls lately," she says, while your heart sinks. "She left me here to keep the kids safe, along with Isaac and Tomoyo. Ruby and Einstein went with her too. I'm... a little worried about them," she says, biting her lip. "They haven't been back in half a year. The trolls are dangerous. I hope they're alright."
"Fu Hua's your mother?" you ask, making a guess. The words tumble out a little fast.
"Yeah, mom," Carole says. She pauses. "It was awful back on the Hyperion. So cramped, and I couldn't even leave the room because of all the rifts. How'd you get here? Einstein said it was impossible for anyone to leave the ship."
"We're starting to get it fixed," you say, looking over at Roza and Lili. Carole's adoption… no, you'll leave that headache to her mother. At least you'll have some good news for Kiana later on. "That's actually why I'm here. We're looking for Einstein."
Thinking about her makes you feel a little sad. You can only hope she's doing better than you are right now. You miss her.
"Oh. Well, she's not here," Carole says. "There's plenty of trolls, though! She'll be back sooner or later, so why don't you stay here in the village with me until she gets back? I could use the help. It's gotten really..." She looks downcast. "Trolls have been attacking more and more lately. It gets worse at night, so I have to stay awake to keep everyone safe. But that means I can't hunt as much, or at all, so we're running out of food."
"You can't go outside during the day?" Roza asks.
"There are too many of them! And they're really dangerous, and..." Carole pauses, then continues in a much smaller voice "...and they scare me."
You look at Roza, who nods. "We'll help you," you say.
Carole looks up, her eyes tearing up. "You will?"
"Yes," you say, nodding. "But can we go somewhere else to talk? I feel like I'm getting stared at."
Carole looks around, as if just noticing the crowd for the first time. "Oh. Yeah, sure. Hey, Marco! These are my friends. I'll take responsibility for them, okay?"
Marco just groans in response.
ooOOoo
Carole's house is as rustic on the inside as it is on the outside, but notably more modern than the rest of the village. The walls are made of wood, and the floor is wooden planks. There is a large counter in the kitchen, and several cupboards lining the walls. In the middle of the room is a large, round table with several chairs around it. There are three doors leading out of the room, one directly ahead of you, and two on either side.
"Make yourself at home," Carole says, gesturing widely.
You sit down at the table and look around. Much to your shock, Carole brings out a gas lamp; the room is quickly lit by a flickering green glow, casting long shadows through the room. You examine the walls; they're lined with shelves, all of which have some form of technology on them. Mechanical gears, wiring, and strange, unrecognizable machines cover the shelves. You've never seen anything like it. In the middle of the room is another table, this one with several different mechanical devices on it; you recognize a telescope and a microscope, but the others are completely foreign to you.
There's nothing that looks modern, but the rest of the village is stone-age. It's a jarring experience.
Carole sits down on a chair next to you, and you look over at the younger girl. Now that she's out from under the eyes of the village, you can see the strain she's under. It reminds you of how Tesla looked when you left the Hyperion. Like the world was falling apart, but she couldn't admit it. How are you meant to approach that?
She sets the lantern down on the table and leans back. Her eyes are closed, and she's taking deep breaths. Carole looks tired, more tired than you've ever seen her look. It's a deep-seated tiredness, as if her body is exhausted to the core. The girl has gone through a lot in her life, you think.
There's an awkward pause, and you clear your throat.
"So," you begin, clutching your hands nervously. "Your village, it's... interesting. They really don't like visitors."
Carole chuckles. "You're telling me. The first time they saw us, they were ready to stone us. It was mom who saved us."
You nod, having no trouble imagining Fu Hua leading a charge against a bunch of angry villagers. She wouldn't hurt them; it wouldn't be that sort of charge. Fu Hua is one of the most amicable people you know, but if you saw her as an enemy... You shudder at the thought. You doubt you could stand against her.
"When was that?" you ask.
"Oh, when we first got here," Carole replies. "When I was eight. We found the village pretty quickly, and... well, mom would be okay living in the wild, but we needed a permanent home. So she offered to help them with their... monster problem in exchange for letting us stay."
"That was years ago," you say. "Why are you still living here?"
Carole shrugs. "I like it here. The people are nice, once you get to know them. Plus, it's pretty here. It's the first place I can remember where I felt at home. Why wouldn't I stay?"
"Well, I..." you struggle to find the words. "I just thought you'd want to go out and explore the world or something."
"I did go out exploring the world," Carole says, smiling. "I've seen so many different places and people, even if it's not safe moving about lately. Besides, this is where my friends are. You met two of them already, right? Annie and Pip? And you've seen Stefan. I don't think he likes you, but you do look a bit like demons from the stories. Don't worry, they'll warm up to you eventually."
You smile nervously. It's obvious Carole means well, but she's being optimistic. Whichever way, it isn't likely that the villagers will warm up to you anytime soon. You're also not planning to stay long enough for that.
"Well, we'll see," you say. "And... Isaac and Tomoyo?"
"Oh, they're techs from the Hyperion," Carole says casually. "Well... former techs. Can't say I know what it means, but they do woodcrafting now. They're both here, but they're asleep right now."
"Can you wake them up?" you ask.
"Yeah, sure," Carole says. "Why?"
"I want to talk to them about what's happening here," you say. "The trolls, and everything."
"About the..." Carole pauses, looking guilty. "... oh."
You stare at Carole, waiting for an answer.
"... Look, I'll wake them up and send them to you," Carole says. "... But I think you should just leave it alone. There's nothing they can tell you that I can't. I'm the one who's been fighting them."
That's true. You consider Carole; she's a fourteen year old girl. The gauntlets she's wearing are, now that you can get a closer look at them, a pair of Fu Hua's spares. Nothing too impressive, you think, the type that can shoot a fireball just by pressing a hidden button. For an otherwise normal girl—and you suspect that's what Carole is, you'd have noticed a stigmata, artificial or otherwise—they must be the only thing letting her keep fighting.
They'd be the next best thing to invulnerable, and judging from the trolls it'd only take a single punch to blow them up. The armour she's wearing is, by contrast, far less advanced. It's plain leather. Enough to save her from scrapes and bruises, but a single straight-on claw strike and Carole would be skewered.
That she's fighting them, and still alive, means she's skilled beyond her years. You aren't surprised. She's Fu Hua's daughter; she's bound to have become the most recent disciple her mother has taken. The one-on-one attention of an immortal will turn anyone into a capable warrior, and Carole's birth mother was a valkyrie as well.
Of course, it would still only take a moment's inattention...
"You might be right," you tell her. "But I'd still like to talk to them. Who knows what they may have noticed that you haven't? And anyway, if it's about the trolls–"
You grin at Roza, and she catches your drift. "Oh! Yeah, we... already killed lots of 'em."
Roza pulls a few trophies out of her backpack, to make the point. They're grisly things; you'd thought they'd come in handy talking to the villagers, but you doubt making them even more scared of you would've helped.
Carole looks approving, as she pulls out the first few claws. Then stunned, as the number grows and grows.
"You must've killed dozens," she breathes.
"A lot more than that," you say with a shrug. "They attacked us at the river. Downstream from here."
"I don't believe it! These things are everywhere, and there were three of you! How did you do it?"
You shrug. Instead of answering, you ask a question. "Like you said. There were three of us. Four, actually—Veliona was there as well. Do you think Fu Hua would've had trouble with a few trolls?"
Carole's eyes narrow. She opens her mouth to say something, but closes it. Then she gets your point.
"Mom always said there's a difference between me and a valkyrie," she says, sighing. "I thought maybe I'd caught up. But then, you've got the horned twins on your side."
She doesn't sound bitter. Just resigned, and perhaps a little jealous.
"I'll wake up Isaac and Tomoyo," she says.
She walks through a door, and you hear her waking them up. The sound of groaning and protesting follows, and then Carole comes back and sits down at the table while you wait.
You had some thoughts about chatting—what's her life here like, that sort of thing—but she doesn't look like she's in the mood, so you just wait in silence.
Isaac and Tomoyo arrive, looking groggy. They turn out to be a forty-something man and woman, one Asian and the other European. Like most of the village, they look like they've seen better days. Carole is the only one who hasn't looked at least a little starved, but this is still far from the dangerous level that Annie had reached.
They only look groggy at first. When he spots you, Isaac stops dead; after a moment, and with a nudge, so does Tomoyo. His eyes flit from you, to Roza, to Liliya, and you know he's recognised you. You hold his gaze, nodding, and he does likewise. He knows who you all are. He's seen you all while working, after all.
These two are probably the missing sensor techs, though practically everyone on the Hyperion would recognise you. Valkyries are locally celebrities, after all. Even fake ones like you.
"Seele Vollerei. As I live and breathe," he says, his voice a little hoarse from sleep. "And the Olenyeva twins. My, you look like you haven't aged a day."
He says it quietly, likely only meaning to talk to Tomoyo, but you answer him anyway.
"Six, more or less," you say. "It's been about a week on the Hyperion. We came here to find Einstein, but... things got complicated, though."
You don't need to explain how, exactly. This entire situation is a weird one, even ignoring the radio tree and whatever Vel is dealing with.
That thought is enough to make you check on her, but apparently she's still scanning for traces of anything notable. That's fair, at least. The quantum sea is huge, and there's a huge number of places to look even if you don't move at all.
"A week. Einstein said so, but..." He shakes his head. "I wasn't sure if I could make myself believe. I thought, at least halfway, that everyone still there must have long since died. But if you're here, then..."
"They're mostly all right," you say, smiling. "There's been a few deaths, but most people we've found have been healthy. Between Kiana and me, we've fixed a lot of the damage. Theresa and everyone else on the bridge crew are in good shape as well, and they're making sure that no new damage gets into the ship."
"You came here to find us?" he says. "Really?"
You nod.
"I won't lie to you," you say. "We came here to find Einstein. We need her, to keep things from getting worse. But since I'm here–" You lean forward. "Theresa put me on search and rescue. This counts. You can come back, if you want."
"If we want?" His eyes widen. "Of course we want! But..."
His eyes tell you everything you need to know. They're looking into the distance, towards the centre of the village.
"I'm going to save them," you say. "Since we're here. We already have a pretty good idea of what's causing the troll outbreak. It's not a great plan, but I do have a plan. It'll be over in a couple hours, probably."
"Hours?" He looks at you. "...I see. There's been almost a dozen zombies in the last two weeks, so I thought it might be something like that."
You're glad you don't have to say it out loud.
"Well, I don't!" Carole says. "What are you talking about, Seele?"
"It's… complicated," you say, avoiding her gaze. Then, you shake your head. "No, I'm not going to fob you off, but it's… We don't have a lot of time. Is there any way you can reach your mother or Einstein, Carole? Any way at all?"
Carole looks at you. She looks like she's struggling with herself, but then she sighs.
"Mom gave me one of her feathers," she says. "But she told me not to use it unless I really have to. Because it's got a limited amount of power."
That–
You want to stare at her. A feather of the Fenghuang Down? Of course. It would let Carole contact her from anywhere. Of course Phoenix would give her own daughter one of her feathers, and of course she'd give that warning. But–
"She can't have meant for you not to call her when the village is starving!" you say. You're incredulous. "Or when there's trolls swarming over you! That's... that's..."
You can't even find a word for how wrong that is.
You take a deep breath. You shouldn't yell at her. That's not going to help.
"Mom said she liked how independent I am," Carole says. "She told me that I should only use the feather if it's vital to the survival of the village, or if I'm in danger. She didn't say anything about being attacked by trolls being 'vital to the survival of the village'..."
What? You stare at her. You shake your head. She can't be serious.
"That... that's incredibly selfish and short-sighted!" you say, losing your temper a bit. "How many people have to starve to death before it's 'vital to the survival of the village'? Do you really want to wait that long?"
"No," Carole says stubbornly. "But so long as I'm able to hunt, then..."
Her voice is unsteady. You stare at her, baffled. She's not making any sense.
"And Annie and Pip?" you ask, trying a different tactic. "You said they're your friends. What about them? When we ran into Pip he was about to leave the village, to search for help. If we hadn't been there, he might have been killed by the trolls. And little Jane... she was dying. She could have been dead by tomorrow!"
"I... I don't know..." Carole says quietly. "I don't... I'm sorry, Seele. I have to think about this. Can we talk about this later?"
"Carole," you say, only to stop. You… don't know how to deal with this. The girl's knuckles are white around the gauntlets she's holding, the ones Hua gave her to help her protect this place. It's nothing compared to your own weaponry, yet potent enough for a fourteen year old. But Fu Hua can't have meant Carole to defend her home from even what's here now, let alone what you know is coming.
You know all of this, but you've never been good with words. Looking around, you see the two former techs watching with the same quiet despair. They must have tried, but to Carole, they're adults trying to get in her way. How do you get past that?
"So you know that there's more than trolls out there, right?" Roza asks, your younger sister sitting down on the table beside Carole. She must have come over whilst you were struggling with what to say next. Carole looks up with widening eyes, and one hand squeezes tighter on her gauntlet.
"There is?" She asks.
"Honkai, lots of 'em." Roza nods. You won't say she does it sagely, you can't imagine a universe where that would make sense. "Lili and I can smell them coming. Now the Vodka Girls are pretty strong, and with Seele and Vel and you I'm sure we'd kick their butts! But," her tail droops.
"But? What but? Vodka girls are the strongest, right?" Carole, ugh, carols the catchphrase, and Roza smiles down at her.
"Of course we are," Roza agrees. "But if we're the strongest, then we might wreck the whole village if we have to go all out. And that wouldn't be good for anyone living here, Carole."
"Oh." Carole's face fell, then broke out into a huge smile. Why was she smiling? "Oh! That's why you want me to call mom and Ruby back?"
"A protagonist should never be afraid to call for the supporting cast!" Roza announces, sweeping one hand round in a way she thinks is airy, but makes you struggle not to laugh. "It makes the finale even better."
Carole makes an excited noise, no doubt already imagining the scene. "Alright. I'll go call them now, then!" She leaps up from her seat and vanishes out of the room, leaving you staring after her. A moment later, your gaze swaps to Roza.
"How?" You ask, very slowly. You think you can see a little of it, but how did Roza hit on? The pinkette sighs, her tail dropping down until it's just shy of the floor.
"She needed a story where she could still be the hero, Seele," she says softly. "Like when we were kids. Lili and I always used an excuse like that for why we couldn't just smash the Honkai right then."
"I," you try to say, several times. Rozaliya's right, and if she's not, she's close enough. You needed Carole to send this message now. She's doing so. "Roza, you know that-"
"That she should have called for help sooner? Of course I do." Roza scoots up on the table and pats you on the head. You respond by slumping down to rest your face on the rough wood. "But she's just a kid, Seele. She's trying to do what she thinks her mom would do, but try to tell her that and you'll get nowhere. Lili would know."
You let out a groan that has nothing to do with physical pain, and Roza runs her hand over your hair again, the motion gentle.
"It wasn't that bad, was it?" Roza asks. A moment later you hear the familiar sound of a hand smacking against Honkai-beast horn. "Lili!"
"Roza idiotka." There's a well-worn familiarity to the phrase, but it has nothing to do with the affection in your other little sister's voice.
"We'd better check on Vel," you say, into the wood.
ooOOoo
The void-snake doesn't seem interested in attacking her, or harming Seele. It seems much more interested in her than it did Seele, the last time she saw it, which feels odd. Out here, with no physical bodies, to most senses she and her sister would appear identical; two expressions of the same being. It would be strange for a mindless creature to discriminate, if it's on some kind of mindless rampage.
The snake brushes against her in a fashion that almost tickles, putting an end to that line of thought. Laughing, she strokes its head, then goes back to examining it. It's definitely not mindless. It feels like a cat, almost; an immense, world-ending winged snake-cat. Touching it is like touching a beating heart while standing in a thunderstorm. It vibrates under her hands in a slow rhythm, and she can feel it reverberating through her body, into her chest. It's oddly relaxing.
She was scared when she first saw it, but now that she's touched and inspected it, she feels almost calm around it. It isn't a threat, at least not to her. She doesn't know what it's doing, or why it's here, but as far as she's concerned, as long as it isn't actively trying to harm her or Seele, then that's fine by her. Or the twins, or...
It's no good. She has too many connections now, too many people who could be in danger if this goes bad.
"Who are you?" she asks.
It doesn't respond in words, but the feeling in her mind intensifies. She can feel affection there, what seems to be an outpouring of love, or a need for it. The void-snake is happy that she's here. It likes her. It misses her. It...
It what? What does it want? She feels fear, too, fear and the certainty she'll disappear again. There's a bizarre doubling-up of sensations, like she isn't talking to one mind, but to two that are so close they might as well be the same being. It's bizarre enough that she can tell what it's thinking in the first place.
The void-snake wants to stay with her. It wants a connection, just like Seele has with her sisters. And it's afraid that she'll disappear if it gives her a chance.
"Disappear?" she asks again. She stares at it, trying to read its alien mind. "What do you mean?"
It shows her. Images flash through her mind, almost faster than she can comprehend them. A city in ruins, a dying world, two twinned minds, dying and in pain. A creature half-formed. It's like a dream, but one she's dreamt before. The creature's memories... Are they the snake's memories? Is it using hers? The scale feels wrong, too close to human.
It's so hard to tell, to understand. The void-snake's memories are so different to hers. The way it thinks is different to hers.
Then it all changes. More images, more incomprehensible sensations. Lights turning off, angry shouts, the sound of screams and distant explosions. A city dying. A dark star rising, devouring all life in its path and extinguishing the sun. Seele's face, twisted by incomparable anguish.
And then... Nothing. Blackness. Oblivion. Death.
She opens her mouth to ask another question, but no sound comes out. Her throat's too tight, and a strange feeling's welling up inside her, a mixture of terror and longing. The void-snake is lonely, desperately so. It wants nothing more than for her to stay with it, to finally belong somewhere. To not be sent away again. Again, and again.
She feels something crack in her mind. Like a dam breaking. Emotions flood into her, so many and so intense that she can't even begin to describe them.
She feels herself falling, falling into an endless void. An eternity passes in the blink of an eye.
But then she wakes up.
"Vel?"
A concerned voice breaks through the darkness.
"Are you alright?"
Seele's face swims into view, looking oddly worried for once.
"Yeah… Just have a bit of a headache," she mutters.
"You fell unconscious," Seele explains. "Rozaliya was beside herself. Liliya convinced her to stick with Carole, but… what happened?"
She twiddles her fingers.
"I talked to the snake. And I… remembered something," she says. "It was a little overwhelming. But it's... strange. I think..." She shakes her head. "I don't know what's going on. I'm a little scared. You said Liliya's—"
She catches herself mid sentence. For whatever reason, all she wants to do is check on Roz and Lils, double-check one more time that they're still there, they're still okay, and everything's normal.
"I'm sure they're fine," Seele says, as if reading her mind. "Just go on, I'll lead the way. I think we found them," she says, nearly smiling. "Both Fu Hua and Einstein. At least I hope so."
Seele reaches out a hand. She takes a deep breath and takes it, pulling herself to her feet. She nods at her sister, and looks around. They're in a house, but not the same one from earlier. There's a lot more… stuff, for one. Machinery, most of it made from wood.
It'll be fine. It'll all be fine.
"You'll tell me what happened, right?" Seele says, looking worriedly at her. "I mean, what I saw was… I don't really…" She shakes her head. "I couldn't catch most of that. That wasn't a Honkai beast, was it?"
"I'll tell you," she says, already knowing she'll give in to her sister. There's no keeping secrets from Seele. Not right now, when her emotions are still so raw and uncontrollable.
Not much point in trying.
She ignores the part of herself that wants, desperately so, to return to the snake. It's scary. It's abnormal. It's also the same part that wants her to hug the twins, and never let go. Neither action would be at all Veliona-esque. They'd think she was weird, and…
That thought isn't Veliona-esque either.
She shakes her head, throwing an arm around Seele as she walks. Seele squeaks in surprise, but accepts the affection without comment. Not that she ever was one to complain.
"So… what happened?" Seele asks as they leave the room.
She shakes her head. "Should I be freaking out right now?" she says instead of answering. "I mean, I feel like I should be, but…"
She finds herself unconsciously leaning into Seele as they walk, taking comfort in the companionship.
She might be okay with not being Veliona-esque.
= = =
No matter where she goes, or what she learns, Seele is Seele. It would not work, however, to stuff her back into a human body. She hadn't finished growing up when Veliona saved her from the X-10 experiment; that's something Vel had to deal with, or else she'd have been mentally twelve forever.
However, Veliona doesn't know when it'd be appropriate for her simulated brain to stop growing. It isn't (quite) done at twelve. So she didn't program in a stop. It's fine, probably.
...what's that? A snek?
The AI didn't feel like pulling punches, and I guess I, on my side, am okay with that. That said, there might be a small problem. It's probably okay, though. I'm sure Veliona will work it out. Um.
As much as the next step is obvious, Seele's first instinct may not be the best possible one. She's not in possession of all the facts, for one, so feel free to provide some minor guidance to her. I'm sure she'd appreciate it.
Or, y'know, guide the story in the direction you like. Anything goes.
[ ] [Veliona] Send her back to snek.
- Leaving them to their own devices is not clever. Never was.
[ ] [Veliona] Write-in
[ ] [Annie] Offer to look at her mother.
- It should be obvious that this is fraught with peril, though you'd have Carole vouching for you. Try having some sort of plan.
[ ] [Annie] Wait.
- It should be obvious that this is fraught with a different sort of peril.
[ ] [Annie] Write-in
[ ] [Einstein] Keep the conversation to work-related matters.
- It seems very likely that this won't work perfectly. You're setting her intent, not the results.
Note that Einstein can't get back quickly at all. The conversation will be relayed through Carole (or Rubia) and Fu Hua.
[ ] [Einstein] Mention something else.
- [ ] What?
[ ] [Einstein] Write-in
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