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far from nowhere
"the trees rustle in the evening when we stand uneasy before our own thoughts."
With the events of Del Pascia behind the Moira, things are only now beginning to settle—and not very well. Through the combined efforts of some of the crew, D-E-L and her permanent residents were incinerated into the dust of space. While it’s not the most peaceful end, it is one, and not many are going to be thinking back on how nice Del Pascia’s facilities were for quite some time. Repairing what they could of the ship’s interior and putting as much distance between the Moira and the prison as possible, those aboard are informed by Navigation that they are approaching another planet. This means, of course, the potential for better supplies, as some things are beginning to dwindle, and the Captains elect to dock so long as the crew follows protocol. WELCOME TO AMISSIS-RE
Amissis-Re is an unregistered planet with no documented histories or signs of life. The Moira’s Navigation crew have scanned the planet for any usable resources and have discovered a faint signal emitting from beneath the surface of Amissi-Re. Using the transporters and any other crafts located in the Cargo Bay, the crew are able to travel to the source of the signal. Upon arriving in its exact location, they’ll find a small series of lakes that lead to a tower-like structure that appears to be in use. Crew must cross a poorly assembled bridge system that sways and dips when weight is applied to it in order to gain access to the entrance. Once there, a woman comes out to greet them and explains, excitedly, that she is so very happy that they have come to Amissis-Re.
Everyone can go home.
Their host insists that she has done the impossible and has somewhat fixed the Ingress that’s been built on Amissis-Re a long time ago, and what’s more, she can send crew home for short bursts of time. Upon following this woman inside, crew will find that the planet is not, in fact, barren at all. Diving deep into the underbelly of Amissis-Re, it’s like an eternal factory of machines, and while vast, for whatever reason, it also seems incredibly welcoming...
☄ LEAP OF FAITH ( 05.01 and on ) The barren planet of Amissis-Re is devoid of vegetation and organic life except for a lone woman, and the planet itself is an intricate honeycomb of machines that go for miles below the surface. Yet, that seems insignificant and unimportant in comparison to the news that the crew has just received. After Thán has looked at the Ingress, he tells the crew that he cannot say for certain that it is properly functioning, but Emiri native, Ben Link, will volunteer to test it out.
An elevator takes crew down to a glass platform that overlooks an inverted Ingress portal. In order to return home, the Moirans will have to take a leap of faith and jump in. Ben, in order to show his commitment to the crew and willingness to help get them home, takes that jump with Captain Thán seconds behind him. Jumping feels like dropping through wind; lights swirl, it’s warm, and a soft buzzing encompasses you as you fall. You don’t feel the landing. One moment you’re falling, and the next, you’re in a new world.
A few hours pass before a similar elevator rises from below and to the left of the Ingress, stopping beside the platform. Ben and Thán step out unharmed.
It works, and everyone can temporarily go home. Will you jump? ☄ COMBINE THE EXTREMES ( 05.01 and on ) The woman that greeted the crew and led them to the platform will allow anyone that wants to go home the opportunity to go. There’s only one catch: it’s not permanent. She’s worked for years to fix the Ingress so that she can return to her own home but hasn’t been able to make the trip an everlasting one. Everyone always comes back. Always. They go for a few hours, at first, but that amount of time increases with each visit.
The one guideline, she says, is that you can’t go alone. Each trip requires a partner, or it becomes too much for the mind to bear. These rules are simple: the world takes shape depending on who jumps first, but if crew go hand-in-hand and leap at the same time, the worlds combine. This new world will be populated with people that existed in both and may appear to be a jarring combination of both worlds. It may seem unusual, but if the woman is asked, she’ll explain that the combined world does exist as there are more universes than can be imagined. The Ingress tries to take the person to their own home, their original home, but when jumping together, it finds the closest possible match and deposits them there instead.
From that point on, you can travel the world together or split up, but remember, this world is a living, functioning world. It doesn’t matter if it’s the home of one crew member or a combination. You meet other people. You can get hurt. You influence and are influenced by others.
Be cautious, and enjoy your visit “home”. ☄ LINGER ON ( 05.05 and on ) The more times the Amissis-Re Ingress is visited, the more it seems that your trips last longer and the experience becomes even more vivid. More real and harder to distinguish from the current reality that you know. It’s difficult to explain why, but you get the feeling that maybe if you went without the aid of the host, that perhaps you’d be able to stay. Forever. It takes some subterfuge, but in time, you see your chance: she’s nowhere in sight, and you take it.
The world you are in now is completely your own, whether another crew member accompanied you or not. The people you know are there, everything around you is exactly as you remember. A few hours pass, and you don’t feel that familiar tug, that invisible hook at the base of your spine that signals that your visit is over. Even more time goes by, and you’re still in that world, your home. When the first day has passed, you begin to question if you’ll ever go back, or if life on the Moira was all a dream. The person with you won’t be able to convince you otherwise, and they’ll start to feel less real, a stranger that you used to know.
There’s only one way to go back to the Moira. Someone from the other side has to come in and retrieve you both. Once in, contact with a third will jump-start a link through the Ingress, and it will pull all crew back to the platform.
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thisavrou_log2016-05-01 09:04 pm
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[He's too excited to take a seat, so he paces a bit in front of Sans as he speaks.]
The new planet, Sans! They have an Ingress of their own, and it's set up to allow everyone on the ship to visit their home for just a bit!
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Huh? [His voice sounds hollowed out for a moment, like he barely heard Papyrus at all. It's fleeting though, and he recovers as best he can, blinking hard.] I mean, that's awesome, bro. Are you gonna go?
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[He rounds the table and reaches to pick Sans up.]
You haven't taken care of poor Rocky in months! He probably misses you! And I want to see if all my cool robot battle figurines are still there!
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Or what they might not find.]
Welp, guess we're going. [He manages, trying for cheerfully put upon.] Can I not finish my noodles first?
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[As in, no, brother, you're not weaseling out of this one. Papyrus takes off, knowing the path quite well by this point. The lakes, the rickety bridge leading to the tower itself, he passes through all of it easily even with Sans in tow.]
We won't be able to stay for more than a few hours, but that's long enough! Maybe we can see Undyne, and you can waste even more time at Grillby's if you want. Or even go with other people to see where they came from!
Did you know Kain is the captain of a flying ship??
[He's too excited to bother putting his thoughts into any sort of sensible order, but he knows Sans can follow the thread of logic here.]
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Ah, well. Everything must pass away. A notion uncomfortably close to the front of Sans' mind as he watches the scenery change from his new vantage point. The walk is long enough that Sans catches a few winks in between nodding along to Papyrus' running monologue.]
That's awesome, bro.
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[He heard Sans snoring gently under his arm, but he doesn't mind. Inappropriate timed naps -- that's just what brothers do. He hopes he never gets to be that boring!
He pulls up in front of the portal, so excited a subtle rattle makes its way from skull to toe bones.]
Here we are! I... actually haven't tried it for myself yet. But it'll be nice seeing home again, don't you think?
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It's not to different from the Ingress from the Moira, but the thrumming energy something is certainly new. Sans feels a distinct sense of unease, all the more prominent now that going home has been elevated from concept to reality.]
... Yeah. [He motions to be put down, wobbling a little before grabbing onto his brother's side for steadiness.] How's it work?
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Oh, it's very simple! From here, all we have to do is jump in! It's about like arriving places with you, actually.
[Maybe even gentler, if he's being honest. His last jump didn't make him sick to a stomach he doesn't have.]
Are you ready??
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[His apprehension is obvious, even naked in the few moments that Papyrus isn't looking his way.]
--Wait. [He says quickly, grabbing Papyrus's arm just as his brother is about to step through.] How does it decide whose world it picks from?
[... It takes him a moment to realize how silly that question must sound, considering he and his brother have lived together for as long as either of them can remember.]
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Even though maybe... nah.
Sans is obviously just tired.
Moving on!]
I think maybe... the first one in decides where we go, so follow me!
[Holding tight to Sans's hand, he jumps forward, into the portal.]
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Papyrus went first. Papyrus... he's sure his brother comes from a happier time than him. The moments of sadness in his eyes, the times when his light burns a little dimmer, he's sure it's just a byproduct of Chara's presence, or of being displaced away from home.
It has to be.
And when they both tumble into the snow, familiar trees stretching high around them, Sans is convinced that maybe he's right. Maybe they never made it to the surface, no, but they could be living happily enough all the same.
He gets up slowly, dusting snow off his damp uniform. When you lived somewhere as small as Snowdin, every twig and rock outcropping became familiar with rapidity. Right now, Sans knew exactly where they were -- right near the ice puzzle and gap.
It's dizzying.
It's all here.
And it's... empty.]
Pap? [He says reflexively, turning away from the landscape that's proving to be familiar in all the wrong ways.] You alright? That was kind of a big jump.
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[He looks like he fared slightly better with the jump, standing there with his hands on his hipbones and looking incredibly pleased with himself. Ahead of them, the puzzle had already been solved.
And behind them was the distinct lack of barking or chatter from wayward snow drakes, ice caps, or jerry.
not even jerry is bothering them.
If Papyrus is aware of this, it doesn't show on his face. He's still happy, doing a little stompy dance in the snow.]
Can you believe it, Sans? We're home! It feels like just yesterday we were down there, making snow skeletons and having fun...
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Maybe it's not what he thinks. Maybe it's just a quiet day.]
Great to see the snow again. Didn't think I'd miss it.
[Considering all he can think of when he looks at it is the horrible, dusty slurry he had to gather when--]
You wanted to hit the house, right? Lead on, dude.
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That's right! Come, Sans, there isn't a moment to lose!!
[He takes off, gliding across the ice field with the practiced ease of someone who's been doing this for years. There's no point waiting for Sans. He knows his bro can just get across anytime he likes.]
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Dogs must all be at Grillby's. [He comments, idly, observing the abandoned sentry station up ahead with an unreadable expression.] Guess their game ran long.
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[There's an unusual tone in his voice, a little too forceful, a little too eager to believe Sans's words despite what he knows is actually true.
Oh well. If Sans prefers to believe it, then he'll just do the same!]
We'd better hurry then, before Grillby runs out of terrible, greasy food!
...Don't actually go to Grillby's. We should go check on your pet first!
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[The walk is quiet. No sounds of squabbling teens, no lilting cries of parents calling for their children. Snowdin was always a warm, friendly town, befitting the fuzzy people who inhabited it. Sans and Papyrus, while short in the fuzz department, fit in well there.
It's a place Sans felt like he'd always belonged to, even if it didn't start that way.
And now, it was dead. Dust mixed with snow seemed to cover everything, unsettling him while the nearly-filled in tracks of fleeing civilians ran frantically eastward.
Followed by a deeper, more solitary set of footprints in the same direction.]
... Papyrus?
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[Startled out of his own thoughts, Papyrus's answer comes out much louder than he probably intended. The shout echoes off the walls of empty buildings. impossibly loud in contrast to the absolute silence.]
That is to say! What are you waiting for, brother? We should get going!
[Without meeting Sans's eyes, Papyrus marches ahead. A part of him is disappointed -- he'd hoped that maybe the human turning out to be nice after all might have fixed everything and brought their people back, but now that they're here any everyone's still gone, well... there's nothing else for it.
Time to go home.]
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Not because his town is in shambles. No, that much he was more than accustomed to. He was cursed with remembering the evacuation as clear as day, watching Papyrus usher families and their children towards Hotland, where Undyne and Dr. Alphys could protect them.
He remembers urging Papyrus to go with them.
He remembers Papyrus brushing off the sentiment with his usual bravado, proclaiming that a (potential) member of the Royal Guard never runs away from a fight.
He remembers going along with it, surmising that whatever happens is going to happen no matter what he tries to do. Rationalizing that, maybe, in this timeline, Papyrus will do exactly what he sets out to do and save them all from the scourge of the human that wanted them dead armed with nothing except his impossible, bottomless kindness.
And he remembers watching him die.
Since his time on the Moira, Sans thought he mostly escaped the numbness that came with that moment. He had Papyrus back, right next to him in fact, and yet staring past their house towards the small valley, Sans can't help feeling a little short of breath.
That's where it happened. That spot, where Snowdin melts into Waterfall.
Hah... Papyrus would hate that one.
If his brother is talking to him, Sans does't seem to hear him for the moment.]
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His sentences bounce off Sans unheeded, but Papyrus keeps it up until they're within sight of their house. It looks the same, fairy lights and wreath and one overstuffed mailbox and all, and yet...]
Well, here we are!
[Deeper footprints in the snow illustrate where the human marched onward, all the way up to where Papyrus waited for them, and then... presumably onwards.
Not that he'd know.
He only hopes that what he said got through to them. That they were moved by his belief and tried harder ever after to be a good person and do fewer violences against his friends and people.
Not wanting to think about this anymore, he taps on Sans's skull.]
Wake up, lazybones! We're here!
1/2
Looking up at Papyrus, that tension might as well be gone. That is, unless you know exactly what to look for. Slight creases under the sockets, a a forced placidity, and a faraway look in his eye that couldn't quite seem to refocus.]
Right, awesome. [His grin grows a bit.] Sorry, it's just a trip being back.
2/2
In truth, Sans doesn't really remember that part too well.
He knows it hurt. That's one constant, the one thing that aches no matter how familiar the sight feels. In darker times, Sans was almost grateful for that -- a sign that he wasn't completely numb to caring about his brother's death, even if he'd long since given up ever actually intervening in fate's plan.
There was a lot of silence, a gathering of dust, of aborted funeral rites Sans didn't have the stomach to carry out. Picking one thing Papyrus loved most was impossible. He loved everything so much, with an intensity that staggered him to meditate on very long. The presumption of sprinkling some of Papyrus's dust over himself felt too selfish. Papyrus's love was never just his.
But ultimately, the specifics of that time are lost to him -- made foggy by the intensity of his numb grief at the time. So really, opening the door to the sight of their house in shambles comes as something of a shock.
Bones spears were still stuck out of their lumpy green couch, the TV cracked, the fridge/food museum open with its contents strewn over the floor. The staircase looks as if someone... blasted it.
Sans blinks, suddenly feeling very, very small. A feat, considering.]
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[The moment he throws open the door and sees the destruction in the house, the rest of that sentence dies in his mouth.
For a moment he looks outraged -- looting! Ransacking! And in his very own home!! -- but then the nature of the damage sinks in. He can rationalize away a lot of things, but he'd recognize those bone attacks and scorch marks anywhere.
He looks down at Sans as if asking for a explanation, then decides one isn't needed. He can imagine it -- his brother finding his empty armor, being alone in the house at an absolute loss, emotions and magic firing up within his soul until...
Bending down, he scoops Sans up into a tight, wordless hug.]
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Sans doesn't speak for a few minutes, bones rattling loudly at first until dying down to a low creaking. His voice, when he finally uses it, isn't much different.]
Why didn't you say anything?
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I'M SORRY YOUR BROTHER IS A SHITBASKET PAPYRUS, YOU DESERVE BETTER