TDM #2

[aionmods]

TDM #2

DREAMING (new characters)

At first, there is nothing. You are nothing. Whatever existed before ceases to be if for a moment. Then, bit by bit, you start to become aware. Where there was not even darkness now is a dim haze, gentle and almost mist-like. You have limbs again and beneath your feet lays a path of light reaching out like limbs of a great tree beneath you, twisting and climbing out into the horizon.

You take a step forward for what else is there to do? As you walk you begin to remember what it was you were doing before the nothingness; maybe something as simple as chatting with a loved one or close friend. Maybe you were just beginning a great journey or facing off against an old foe. Whatever it was, you get the distinct feeling that wherever and whenever that was, it is not here. Not now.

The path of light twists off into different directions. When you look up you can see that it is not a sky above you but the sky of everything, a grand cosmic tapestry littered with not mere stars but galaxies and clusters of galaxies that gleam like crystals against the velvety backdrop of space. Admire it for a moment, if you will. You don't know how long you will drift here, but you are not alone. Other wanderers will come and go as you bask together in the vastness of creation.

It seems to you that there are two paths to walk in this place, the light and dark beckoning in turn.

❖ THE LIGHT AT THE CENTER
One leads you to the center, splintered fragments folding together and colliding until only one thing remains: a light that speaks to you with the voice of all there is and has ever been. It greets you simultaneously as an old friend and as a lost child, both rejoicing in and mourning your arrival. You remember it too, somehow, with a feeling of complex nostalgia, as if returning to a place recalled from your distant childhood.

You’ll feel the same of the other wanderers that join you in the light; you know their faces, their voices, and as you reflect upon the world of your birth, you may witness fragments of theirs as well. You feel a comradery, then, a synchronicity of thought and emotion. Are the lives of others truly so different from your own? Or are you simply two hands of the same, greater being? Though some individualistic part of you may resist, the longer you spend in the light, the more you will find yourself becoming one with it.

Despite this welcoming call, no matter how eagerly your pursue its embrace, before you can fully submerge yourself in this oneness you will find yourself being torn away. As if seized by the impossibly long, cold arm of a creature unseen, you are plucked from the edge of fulfillment. The last thing you will remember is the sensation of your world, and all the others your experienced here, collapsing into nothingness.

❖ THE DARK OUTSIDE (CW: deep despair, ego death)
The other leads towards the outside, where the splintering becomes so great that the vestiges of reality can do nothing but collapse back into the abyss at the end of everything. As you wander to these barren outskirts, your thoughts will not be drawn to familiarity and oneness, but instead to memories of discontent and waste. The darker the path becomes, the more you find yourself dwelling on life’s disappointments and injustices, of the things about yourself and your world you find wanting.

If you see others here, at first they will feel frightening or contemptible, as if representing to you the worst experiences in your life. Even if they are someone you’re certain you know, that familiarity and affection will be stripped away in the face of the great emptiness before you. In the end, you were all the same. In the end, none of this was worth it. If you approach the end together, you may even form a kind of kinship around this acknowledgment, as the need for paranoia and hatred fades.

Slowly, the darkness encroaches, and you can see it devouring all the things you once knew. Memories of your home, of those you loved, dissolve into nothing, and you can only reflect on the barren emptiness in your heart as you see it happen. In your final moments, though, you feel peace with it all, knowing that there was no other way. You step from the edge of the last dwindling fragment of being and are greeted by silence.

❖ THE END
No matter which way you go, you are left with a single impression: you feel the world you came from die. It's a realization that transcends logic or sense; it weighs on your heart and leaves the vestiges of dark memories dancing in your thoughts like motes of ash. It's a memory of your home crumbling away into nothing as if consumed from within by rot. Returned to the void, all that's left to you is to be reborn.

REBIRTH (new characters)

In a new time and place, you awaken. Stirring within a capsule of warmth and isolation your senses will slowly return, only to observe that you are trapped. Your body, as it wakes, is tangled in close, yours eyes unable to open, as if still within the womb. You are held tight in the embrace of something unyielding, so smothering that at first you only have the strength to struggle for moments at a time. Yet, as you persist, the pressure begins to relent in turn; it may take hours, but eventually you will find the purchase to push, to claw, to fight, and it will all give way.

The chrysalis surrounding you bends like flesh and cracks like glass. It tears as you force your fingers through, finding liberation one inch at a time, until finally you have emerged. As if having undergone metamorphosis, you feel old and new all at once. You are weak, piteously so, but the markings and scars of your previous life remain. As you slump down upon the smooth cavern stone, you realize that you've just wrenched yourself free of gigantic crystal, though its hollow, shimmering form is now in pieces on account of your passing. Somewhere on your body, a shard of similar material remains embedded.

The cave itself looks almost like the inside of a geode, the walls and ceiling bedazzled with greyish crystal that shines with all the colors of the rainbow. While they vary wildly in size and shape, only a few have grown large enough to hold a form like yours, and you can see the one you just escaped isn't the only one bearing a passenger within. They may have already hatched, or they may still be lingering in stasis. Either way, there's enough time that you may have a chance to speak to yours unexpected peers, or to perhaps to struggle to find something to cover your naked body with. You feel the chill of the open air against your moisture laden skin, a distant light trickling in through the cavern's opening.

Make the most of this time. It won't be long before you're interrupted.

[Mod Note: If you don't want to deal with your character being naked in front of the others at that location, feel free to assume they emerge at a different time than the others of their legacy. Characters will be 'hatching' over a period of several hours.]

DREAMING (OLD CHARACTERS)

For those already in Horos, they will find themselves in the same dreamscape as the new arrivals, only, this time, it's familiar. You'll feel more cognizant of your surroundings as you reawaken in this psychedelic realm, more in control of your emotions. What's more, you recognize that light at the center and the darkness at the edge: it's the Pleroma and Kenoma respectively. The one you are attuned to will call our to your soul, and though you are technically free to wander as you please, the closer you get to the force of your opposite sect, the more it will grate against you spiritually. Pleroma attuned nearing the Kenoma will feel as if its presence is desperately trying to tear them apart, and Kenoma attuned nearing the Pleroma will feel as if its light is burning them from the inside out.

More importantly, you notice that entirely new souls are wandering here with faces you didn't see in the cavern. It gradually becomes clear that they are Aions in the same state you were prior to your rebirth, lost and wandering this stretch of the cosmos with no idea what's to come. Maybe this is your chance to ease the confusion of their arrival, or maybe you'd simply like to scope out what kind of people are on their way. It's also possible for you to run into Aions already in Horos, wandering just like you are. Unfortunately, things are a lot less neutral than they are the last time you shared this realm.

No matter what you do, eventually the cosmos above will begin to burn out, just as it did the first time you were here. As darkness swallows reality itself, you will wake with the visceral memory of your world corrupting and breaking apart.

SEARCHING (OLD CHARACTERS)

Soon after the dreams begin, it will become clear that the Aion NPCs of either sect are also aware of what's happening. For those in Achamoth and Greentruth, the imminent arrival of new Aions will become a matter of official discussion. All able Aions will be called upon for their aid, in whatever way they can offer. Getting to the shrines themselves will be easily accomplished via teleportation. What's would be more complicated is ferrying any new arrivals back to a secure location. Thankfully, it seems this is something both sects have already prepared for.

All characters will have the opportunity to acquire a 'returning stone'. In all cases, this will amount to an amulet made of the same shimmering material as the shrine monuments, though the stylization differs between the Pleroma and the Kenoma. While regular Aion teleportation can bring you to any of the shrines you know the sigil and location of, a returning stone is magically programmed to bring its wearer back to a specific destination to which it is attuned. Normally, these stones will only be able to store enough energy for one 'return' a month, but it turns out that the ambient power created by the shrines being active will temporarily super charge them. Though it's not guaranteed, this means they may generate enough energy to perform multiple returns for TDM purposes.

Spare returning stones will be issued to all Aions so that they can be used to bring back anyone they collect, as it's possible to bring someone alongside you if they are also wearing a returning stone. Where your stone leads will depend on your sect.

❖ PLEROMA
Tehri will be the one to supply returning stones, based out of Greentruth. She will not travel to Godsblood to deliver returning stones to those that have not visited Greentruth, but it can be assumed that Greentruth's visitors can pass them along to anyone who has been staying in the city. The returning stones are apparently set to bring them to a secure location beneath the water of Godsblood's coast. From there, new arrivals will have to be allowed to rest and then brought up into the city when they're ready.

Greentruth is limited in its resources, but it will attempt to send troops to the Innocent, Seeker, Wanderer, and Firebrand shrines, all of which are close to the forest. Meanwhile, while no formal affiliation with the new Aions has been made, bands of guerilla fighters, most likely from Godsblood, will turn up at the Artisan and Sovereign shrines. Whether they have any affiliation with Greentruth will not be clear, but they do seem to have a beef against the Achamites. These reinforcements will struggle against powered Aions, but they might be able to delay any troops sent by Achamoth.

❖ KENOMA
Xishen will be handing out returning stones to all Kenoma the day after the dreams begin. She'll explain how to use them, and state that the Regent expects for them to head to the shrines once they become fully active. The Kenoma will have whatever mundane weapons or supplies they need at their disposal for this mission, along with some modest Achamite reinforcements. She'll warn not to rely too heavily on them however; after all, only the Aions are able to quickly move between the shrines and at the Citadel. The Achamites will have to be deployed by river or by land, and mobilizing them will take time. They will feasible be able to reach all of the shrines to some degree or another, but will more easily populate the shrines of the Martyr, Celebrant, Lover, Champion, Visionary, Sovereign, and Firebrand.

The Hylicians will apparently not be helping this time around, as the capture and holding of the first batch of Aions was already a lengthy venture. Xishen herself says she will be travelling to the shrines, however, while another Aion named Dionys remains in Achamoth to 'keep watch'. All Kenoma Aions will be given a familiar vial of black sludge, and are instructed to feed it to any Aions they capture at the shrines. It will cause the same effects it did in the cavern, though it will resolve in a few days rather than a week.

RETURNED (ALL CHARACTERS)

New characters that are found a the shrines will be brought back to one of two lodestones, depending on which sect they are taken by. This will be accomplished by their escort putting a 'returning stone' around their neck that will enable them to be teleported to a secure area in their sect's territory. It is advised for your character to be taken by whichever sect you'd like them to end up in.

❖ TO THE PLEROMA
In a dazzling flash of psychedelic light, you will find yourself brought to the Pleroma's lodestone: a monolithic rock set in the center of temple-like ruins. The entire cavern is hidden away beneath the ocean waves, just outside of Godsblood, and the ceiling itself is comprised of nothing but a barrier of water, as if held back from filling the space by some unknown force. The waters surrounding the lodestone are exactly body temperature, with swarms of tiny, violently iridescent fish darting through it. Crabs that look as if they're made of pure, clear crystal wander the sparkling, sandy shores.

There isn't much here in the way of accommodations, but it's comfortable enough that the new arrivals brought in by the Pleroma can take a moment to catch their breath. Some relatively plain but assorted new clothing will have been brought to the cavern to make sure they are actually clothed, as well as blankets and basic food items. It's a good time to ask your questions, or if you are an established Pleroma, to help out your freshly arrived peers. After all, their welcome at the shrine may have been a confusing one.

New arrivals will be permitted to leave the lodestone's temple when they are ready. Unfortunately, the only ways out of these place are through your choice of either swimming through pockets of water that eventually lead to the surface, or by spelunking through a series of tunnels to make your way the cliff faces near the city of Godsblood. More information about the city itself can be found on the setting page, though it would be preferable to keep TDM interactions to the lodestone area. As characters emerging from the shrines will start our as Untouched (more info about attunements here) they will not be permitted entry into Greentruth until they have attuned to Pleroma.

❖ TO THE KENOMA
As your returning stone activates, you will feel yourself thrust into a suffocating void, only to emerge just as quickly somewhere else. The most pressing thing on the minds of anyone taken by the Kenoma will be the vial of pitch black sludge they are forced to drink, whether it is before or after their arrival. Maybe their 'escort' from the shrine gave it to them, or perhaps another Kenoma does soon after they arrive. If not, one of the Achamite cultists wandering around definitely will. Dedicated servants to the Regent's will as they are, they are not afraid to gang up on the vulnerable new arrivals and force it down their throats.

Once in your mouth, the potion will slither down your throat as if it's a living thing. The effect takes hold quickly: as this darkness creeps through your insides, it will embolden your darkest and most despair inducing emotions, plaguing your thoughts with the worst sorrows of your life. What's worst, it simultaneously seems to awaken some form of enhanced psychic empathy within you, both projecting your thoughts for others to hear, and allowing you to receive those of the others around you in kind. Black ooze will begin to seep from orifices, or the space around your shard. The effects of this contamination bring out your worst, and its recipients will be forced to live with these effects until they accept the force corrupting them into their souls.

This world is not good enough, a voice speaks to your through the Kenoma. This suffering you feel, the cruelty that has birthed this darkness in you... it is simply the rot that is consuming this existence. A better universe awaits, one forged by your own hand, and all you need do is first bring about this broken reality's end.

How long this goes on will depend on how long the characters is able to fight it. Acceptance of the Kenoma can come as quickly as immediately, if your character is inclined towards it, or it could be drawn out to take a few days. In the meantime, they will have to stay in the barren halls surrounding the Regent's lodestone, and will not be permitted to exit into the greater Citadel as the current Kenoma are. All that will immediately be offered to them down there are stone slabs that can be used as beds and formless white robes that reach down past their knees.

Of course, that doesn't mean the characters that are already of the Kenoma can't do something about that. If they desire it, they will be able to bring food or other supplies to those suffering with their Kenoma infections, and it will be equally within their power to try anything from bullying them into accepting to lovebombing them. Once a character accepts the Kenoma and attunes to it, they will be permitted to leave, but for the sake of the TDM interactions should be kept to the lodestone area.

QUESTIONS

Is this TDM canon?
Mostly! It's part of an in-game event. However, only threads with new players that app and are accepted will be considered game canon. Threads between old characters will all be canon, but threads involving new characters that don't apply or aren't accepted will either need to be tweaked to remove their involvement or made non-canon. New characters will also be able to decide TDM threads aren't canon if they end up changing directions.

Who can toplevel on this post?
Anyone, whether they are a new character or a current one. However, we do ask for current players to do their best to tag new characters. If you are bringing in a new character and want a current character to bring them into your sect of choice, post your request here! ICly, current characters are fighting to claim new arrivals, but it's up to the player of new characters where they ultimately end up going.

When is this TDM taking place chronologically?
The last few days of April. The shrines will be active and forming Aions during that time. The dreams will start around the 24th. All current Aions will be able to sense when it's time for the new arrivals to start emerging.

What are the shrines like?
Every shrine is comprised of the crystal-filled cavern character emerge inside and then the massive statue symbolizing the relevant Legacy built on top. More information about each shrine can be found in the "Aion Shrine" section of the setting page.

Are everyone's homeworlds really gone?
That's a complicated issue, and while the fate of their world is not without hope, they may certainly get the impression its been destroyed from the dream they had. Alternatively, they may refuse to believe what they felt and attempt to dismiss it as only a vision. More about this situation will be revealed as the game goes on.

Can I only experience one end of the dream sequence prompt?
New characters may experience one ending, both endings, or neither. If they experience both they will struggle to recall which came first or which feels the most 'true' to them, as both will simultaneously be the thought they are reborn with. If your character refuses to pursue either path they can simply linger in the middle until the infinite worlds above them start being extinguished one by one, eventually expelling them into darkness in a similar style to the light prompt. Which dreams they experience will not dictate their initial sect affiliation.

Is it possible to pull another character back from the end of the light or darkness dreams?
Yes! If your character is able to resist the pull of either end, they will have the chance to try to pull another character back from the edge of the abyss or the edge of oneness. Whether or not they succeed is entirely up to the other character, though.

Do you come out of the chrysalis wet?
For most intents and purposes it's the same experience as hatching out of a real butterfly chrysalis, so yes, a bit.

How does attunement to the Pleroma or Kenoma work for new characters?
More information about sect attunements can be read on their dedicated info page, but in summary: when new characters are brought to Horos, they will be in the state of being "Untouched" meaning they are not attuned to either sect. By the end of their first month in game it is expected they will either attune to Pleroma or Kenoma, though for those taken by the Kenoma's forces, the transition will be forced within the first few days. If taken in by the Pleroma, it may take then some time to attune to Pleroma, depending on the strength of their spirit, but it could also happen almost instantly if they are allowed to. How quickly it happens will depend on how strongly they align with the Pleroma's traits. Characters who have been taken by the Pleroma but that remain Untouched will not be allowed into Greentruth until their attunement to Pleroma is complete.

Can a character taken by one side end up attuning to the sect of the opposite one?
This is theoretically possible, yes: a person taken by the Kenoma could potentially resist the Kenoma's call, and someone taken by the Pleroma could end up falling to the Kenoma while staying with them. Generally, though, we recommend that you have your character be taken by whichever sect you want to end up in, as doing a switcheroo will cause narrative complications that might bog their introduction down in plotting that will need to be done with the mods. It can happen, but it is not to be done lightly!

Comments

[sterngaze]

[All this stranger has to do is speak a few words, and all that Liem had seen and felt during that strange dream, pushed to the back of his mind to make room for the strange circumstance in which he now finds himself, surges forward to paint itself desolately over his face. The awareness of his world and everything in it that he loves; the yawning emptiness of it and countless worlds like it evaporating utterly, becoming nothing but memories and shadows. The place where he was born, where he’s lived for over a century, where he fully intended to die is gone.

He’s meant to accept this as truth based on—what? A dream? A feeling? The word of a stranger? He can’t; not yet. He can’t, because if he does, he knows he’ll sink down right here onto the cavern floor, and he’ll never be able to pick himself back up. Liem sways where he stands, steadying himself numbly against a crystalline wall, and looks away from the stranger’s grief-stricken eyes.]

And what way is that? How does one fix the ruin of entire realities?

[semicharmed]

[ Luckily, Matt has an answer to this one that isn't wall-to-wall depressing. ]

With energy, [ he says. ]

The right kind of energy, leveraged in the right way--it's already started since I got here, I've seen it. [ Abel's teleportation spell was pretty hard to miss. ] There's a reason that we were called here, and that it's us--all of us.

[sterngaze]

[When the stranger says energy, leveraged in the right way, Liem interprets that as magic—but what a magic it must be, to encompass the powers of creation. Surely no mortal hand could wield such a power, even if they could summon such energy to begin with. And at the moment, sapped as he feels, Liem doubts he could cast so much as a cantrip.

But then, he is very aware that the stranger is not in the same condition that he is. He is naked, trembling, and grasping blindly for answers that, when provided, only raise even more questions. To begin with, the stranger is at least wearing pants.]

Let’s say that I believe you.

[His even tone belies no hint one way or the other toward whether this supposition is true. Liem is making a concerted effort to beat the dreadful certainty of his world’s demise back into the recesses of his mind, focusing instead on the man’s words and on the rainbow sheen of the stone over which he now trails his fingers. Us, Liem assumes, would be the other travellers in his dream. The other residents of this cavern’s strange crystal pods.]

What is it that I’m meant to do? Why have you come for me?

[semicharmed]

[ Matt nods slowly as the questions land, pondering their weight. Then, as if seeing Liem--truly seeing him--for the first time, Matt's eyes widen. ]

Oh holy shit, I'm sorry.

[ Who can say why it took Matt this long to clock that Liem is naked and he has the means to do something about it. The intensity of these first few moments of their acquaintance? Gloom crowding in like heavy clouds around the senses. Regardless, Matt's on it now: he tugs impatiently at the buttons of his jacket, shucking it from his shoulders as soon as they come free.

Matt takes a step forward, holding the jacket out to Liem. It only came down to about Matt's mid-thigh, so it doesn't offer perfect coverage, but at least it's something. ]

Sorry. I got caught up in the ... bigger picture, for a second.

[sterngaze]

[What Liem wants most right now is to have his questions answered, so he can orient himself and try to get his feet back under him. He’s gone from thinking he was dead to thinking his world was dead to trying to figure out if worlds even can die (and subsequently be brought back to life) in the span of about twenty minutes, tops, and what he’d really like is some decent information about his current situation, followed by some time to put it all together.

But a desire to not be naked is coming in at a pretty strong second place. Despite his hesitation at the prospect of literally taking the clothes off this man’s back, he takes the offered jacket fairly promptly and shoves his arms gratefully into it. It’s slightly more snug through the shoulders than it was on Matt, and the sleeves are just a little long, but he’s in no mood to be picky.]

Thank you.

[He gives Matt a look of profound gratitude and clutches the jacket together, hesitating only briefly as he seems to notice the star-shaped crystal in his chest for the first time. He hadn’t thought to read any particular significance to the crystal in Matt’s neck until just this moment, but he can puzzle and work at the same time; covering up the embedded shard, he buttons the coat as adroitly as he can with his trembling, newborn fingers.]

[semicharmed]

[ Matt notes the fit of the coat with some chagrin. One of the retainers who's fallen in with him is great at tailoring, and he's been really lucky to have them as a resource, but ... the better something fits him, the worse it's going to fit virtually everyone else. Next time he does this, Matt resolves, he's bringing extra clothes.

His eyes follow Liem's fingers as they move. He has a faint urge to soothe their tremors with his own hands, to do up the buttons himself, but he resists. He can probably be more useful to him in other ways; he's relieved to be able to offer Liem something that isn't just harsh truths, but he hasn't forgotten the questions he asked a moment ago.

Matt pauses long enough to let Liem get his bearings (or as much of them as he can reasonably gather under the conditions). Then, quietly, he says: ]

I'm here to help guide the rest of the universe to the end, so new life can start. I think you are too. [ Matt's fingertips brush the shard at his neck. ] I don't know exactly what that's going to look like yet. But the potential energy ... it's already inside us.

[sterngaze]

[Liem has never had to focus this diligently on just buttoning up a simple jacket before, but he does manage it, and he feels a little better for it—both for the warmth the garment provides to his damp-chilled skin, and for the quiet relief of not being completely nude in this unfamiliar place, in front of this stranger.

But when Matt speaks next, the words are as discomfiting as anything else he’s said thus far. Liem’s own very recent and very violent experience with one of Pharasma’s deathly ushers makes the stranger’s declaration raise unpleasant associations in his mind; the last time he defied such a guide, their scythe managed to find its way to Liem’s neck. Or it would have, had he not been brought here instead.

But what disturbs him most is not the memory of his own last moments on his world, but the acknowledgement from his would-be guide that although creation hasn’t yet entirely been ended, he intends to finish the job. And he wants Liem’s help.

He doesn’t speak the automatic rejection that he feels for such an idea. Yet. His fingers brush over one of the buttons of his borrowed coat: the one placed where his god’s symbol would normally hang. The one over the crystal embedded in his chest.]

And if we linger here long enough, while you explain this. Who else is going to get here?

[semicharmed]

[ As much of a relief as it would be if Liem just jumped in with both feet, said wow, yes, what a great idea, and came back with Matt to Achamoth on the spot ... on a spiritual-slash-moral level, Matt approves of this reaction more. The resolution they've made is a heavy thing, the heaviest he can imagine. It shouldn't feel easy. ]

Uhh, some nice people, [ Matt allows, thinking of Hiccup's refusal to leave anyone behind. Abel's gentleness. Slowly, his even expression slumps into a frown. He hopes the prodigal Aions are doing okay--that they're still the same people he met on the road, and in the cavern.

Though if they are, that means there's still no reasoning with them. ]

I know at least some of them mean well, [ he says after a moment. His voice is a bit softer now, a little duller. ] But they're in denial.

We can't undo what's been done. I wish we could, I really do wish there was some big "undo" button we could hit. [ He shakes his head, slight. ] But all we can do is move forward.

[sterngaze]

[He respects, at least, that the man doesn’t try to lie to him. There would certainly be some people who would be inclined to discount and discredit this other group, to encourage Liem to agree to what is being asked of him before they arrive. Bare-legged and wobbly as he is, there is no reason for anyone to suspect him of being especially sharp when it comes to spotting lies and half-truths.

But he sees how it costs the stranger to think of those people, to speak of them. To contemplate what he must see as the futility of their mission, and the grim necessity of his own.]

What makes you so sure that they are wrong? [he asks, in the gentle voice he used to use during the peaceful stretches when he worked not as an inquisitor, but as a priest. Those few, cherished times when he got to use his knowledge to foster harmony instead of to hunt discord.] That this miraculous power that you say can build a new creation could not revive a dead one? Is one so much more impossible than the other?

[semicharmed]

[ Matt's head tilts thoughtfully. The question seems to have surprised him out of his grim mood, at least for a moment. Some of the sadness lifts from the set of his brow, as he focuses on trying to articulate an answer. ]

Maybe the difference between those two is more semantic than anything. Like, in a sense, I think this power could reset everything to a pre-apocalypse state ... but it'd still have to end first. Like on a thermodynamic level, energy out can only equal the energy you put in. And as long as you're coming to the end of one cycle--

[ His voice drops, as if he's afraid to jinx the possibility. He speaks near a holy whisper. ]

Shouldn't you try to create something better than what came before?

[sterngaze]

[Liem doesn’t quite understand the theory behind everything Matt says to him, and his lips press together as he receives this puzzling ideology. The idea that an existence couldn’t be revived until it’s fully ended seems strange to him; wouldn’t it take less energy—to use the stranger’s terms—to bring back what isn’t fully dead? He’s not sure he follows the logic behind it, but he’s not especially interested in debating it, given how impossible the idea of calculating the energy needed to create a universe would be in the first place. Besides which, he’s far more interested in Matt’s last question.]

Since you are asking me, I would say that such a responsibility would be the province of gods, not men. It seems like arrogance to believe that you could outdo them.

[Can this man say with certainty that there would be no discord between those who seek to create this new existence? That there would be no oversights, no disagreements, no flaws in what they create? Liem is prepared to debate this topic until the rumoured nice people do actually arrive; in fact, on some level he’s counting on it.]

What is given unto man is responsibility to those around him, to the efforts of those who came before and the futures of those who will come after. Do you feel no such duty toward the world that birthed you? Or is it that you truly feel there is nothing you could give it other than the mercy of a swift end?

[semicharmed]

Maybe it is arrogance, [ Matt allows. ] Or ... maybe our relationship to the act of creation is supposed to evolve. Like maybe the gods, or the germ of creation, or the universe in general--whatever you want to call it--maybe we were given a template so that we could iterate on it.

[ He has no idea Liem is stalling him. All he knows is that Liem doesn't seem in a receptive state of mind about Kenoma's whole project, and he's now miserably starting to wonder if he should've brought a teammate--somebody like Paul, who can articulate these spiritual concepts with such perfect certainty. ]

Anyway, I kind of reject your premise a little bit--no offense. [ A very faint smile, a quirk of the lips more than anything else. ] Like, a temporary "ending" can pave the way for new growth and new life. A forest fire is devastating for the tree it consumes, but for the forest as a whole, it's essential. If I said there could never be any forest fires because I couldn't stand to see an old tree die, I think that might be dereliction of my duty. It'd be ... my sentimentality against the forest's whole future.

[sterngaze]

[Liem is beginning to see how this man could be convinced to believe in a cause that at first blush sounds so impossibly nihilistic. He’s not persuaded, but the logic that Matt is following and the values that guide him to follow it do make their own kind of sense. Mortal beings cannot know the true extent of their purpose, or the purpose of creation; therefore, how can anyone say with certainty whether it would be more right to save what once existed rather than create something new? Perhaps something better, based on what came before? This is an unknowable quandary, one that they simply happen to fall on different sides of.]

You must be very certain of the promise at the end of your mission, then, to gamble so much on it. New does not always mean better, and too much change at once can invite chaos.

[His hand drifts down from the buttons over his chest to fold over the other, and he shakes his head slightly, his expression troubled. Is it really sentimentality for him to still believe in the world he came from? What is he, without his home and its laws to define him? The stranger suggested that perhaps they were meant to use the existing world as a template, to iterate and improve upon it, but Liem has always known life to be just the opposite: a search for enlightenment, striving toward some unknown perfection patterned by the gods millennia ago, something briefly glimpsed and endlessly sought thereafter. If the gods are dead, then where does that leave him?]

I am hardly one to let sentimentality get in the way of duty. But I have never been a betting man.

[semicharmed]

New definitely doesn't always mean better, [ Matt sighs.

Curiosity flickers over his face at Liem's remark about sentimentality and duty. It's not something Matt has actual firsthand experience with--not before now. His activities in the name of safer, healthier cities have always been a soft-handed and privileged variety, even with the requirement of secrecy. All the thrill of doing good, none of the cruel choices.

He wants to ask Liem what these words mean to him. But he figures they'll (hopefully) have time for that later. ]

I think every choice we make now is a kind of bet, though, [ he adds. ] Choosing the old status quo is one too. I mean, I don't know about you, but I've never been through an apocalypse before, and none of my world's history, or religions, or traditions of thought predicted anything like what's happening now. [ His fingers brush the shard in the side of his neck, feeling it out facet by facet. ] Like it or not, we have this potential power in us. Even deciding not to use it is a choice--the weight is the same, it's just the direction that's different.

[sterngaze]

No, [Liem disagrees, and then frowns, clasped hands shifting slightly in front of him as he rubs the palm of one with the fingers of the other. He moderates his tone; firm, but not forceful.]

A bet and a choice are not the same. You may trade two things of known value, even if the exchange does not favour you. That is your choice. You may seek one opportunity at a crossroads, forsaking the others. That is your choice. When you risk what you already possess on an unknown outcome, that is a bet.

[It’s true that no-one can know the future with absolute certainty, but neither is the world so random, so chaotic that every choice is completely uncertain. That is the purpose of law in this world, and in every world. It enables people to make choices, to base their decisions on known factors and trust that certain outcomes will follow. That is the harmony that he serves, so that not every choice need be a gamble.]

When you sacrifice the world to say, “Perhaps the next one will be better, will grow taller and stronger,” to me, that is a bet. Because where do we stand now, if not in part of creation? And by your own admission, you do not expect to even begin to complete your new world until after this one has been destroyed. But the world is not a forest, and you cannot plot its growth. You can only strive blindly into the unknown, letting your hope guide you.

[semicharmed]

[ Everything about their circumstances is upsetting, so in that sense, it's no surprise they should get emotional. But something about the way Liem's talking--perhaps it's that single, innocuous phrase, what you already possess, or maybe it's the word "hope"--gets the set of Matt's shoulders stiffening. His jaw sets stubbornly, even as his heart pitapats with anxiety.

When he speaks, his voice is soft but taut: ]

What do I possess, exactly?

[ God. Okay. He's gotta stop here, he has to keep his emotions from getting the best of him. Matt swallows, forcing down there ISN'T any hope and the world is a lot like a forest actually. He makes himself breathe.

It's a moment before he trusts himself to talk. ]

I have lost everything. [ The words fall with deadly precision. ] Everything but my life. And honestly, my own individual life feels so totally stupid and pointless compared to everything that's gone, so just--know that I'm not telling you any of this because I'm cavalier and leapt at the chance to experiment with the cosmos.

[sterngaze]

I don’t think that you’re cavalier.

[The words settle quietly, but heavily. Speaking them is wearying like wading through deep snow. But his eyes don’t flinch from Matt’s face, despite the barely contained emotion he sees there.

Since this stranger has come upon him, he has seemed to Liem to be thoughtful, and honest, and grieved—none of which makes it clear to Liem why he would be so committed to pursuing the death of the current existence and the birth of a new one. It seems a cruel thing to expect of anyone, to gift them with the power to give life only to tell them it mustn’t be used to revive the world that birthed them. Who impressed that belief so deeply into this man, that he can only grieve for what he has lost despite professing to have the key to his world’s salvation?

He knows that it isn’t only thrill-seekers who gamble away what they have, or what they’ve yet been promised. Sometimes it’s the desperate, the people who are perched on the very precipice of disaster and will take any chance, no matter how uncertain, to fling themselves away from it. Sometimes, they are even successful—but that path is not one that Liem can take. He shakes his head, slowly.]

I don’t believe your choice is one you came to lightly. But it is not one that I can make. If I have died, and this is the next world, then so be it. But if I yet live—and somehow it seems that I do—then I have oaths to keep, and I will not abandon them. I cannot.

[semicharmed]

[ Matt can't help how his face falls. The sting of failing is just too acute. Maybe Misa was right--Silco too--and Matt's talk about convincing people was naive. Or maybe someone else could have convinced this man, someone like Paul. Is it better or worse if success by his methods is theoretically possible, just that Matt lacks the tools to make it happen? ]

I can't leave you here, [ Matt says, faint. ] And I ... really don't wanna fight whoever shows up for you from the other team.

[ He drags a hand through his hair, the scar on his palm flashing its diamond and eye. ]

[sterngaze]

[Liem’s brows knit together at the mention of fighting and the other team. What kind of place is this, to have spit him naked into this cave as though born from the womb of the earth, only for strangers to hasten there to… claim him? He is frustratingly aware of how little he still knows about his present circumstances—the world he’s in, the power this man claims he has, what conflict he’s being dragged into the midst of. Most saliently, he still doesn’t know what danger actually threatens his world or how he can return to where his duty lies.]

What other option do you have? If I refuse to go with you, will you take me by force?

[He ventures the question quietly. Weak as he is now, it probably wouldn’t even be a challenge. Still, Liem takes in the crumpled expression, the restless motion of his hand, and he has to try not to betray his own pity for the stranger—this earnest young man who has lost everything, who has only his grim mission left to him, and whose purpose Liem absolutely cannot share.]

Is that how you were taken, when you found yourself in this place?

[semicharmed]

[ Matt's eyes widen. ]

No, [ he protests. ] I mean ... no, I'm not going to--force you to do anything. [ Soldiers did come and get them when they first arrived, technically. And Matt didn't love that! As ineffectual a welcome wagon as he makes, sending Aions out to fetch Aions strikes him as the right direction. ]

I meant they might try to fight me.

So my other option is ... not leave you alone, and hope whoever shows up is feeling reasonable today.

[sterngaze]

Then… why stay?

[Liem continues to regard the man keenly, as though by looking long and carefully enough, he might be able to glean the meaning behind any of the choices he makes. He takes a wobbly step closer, using the remains of his chrysalis as support.]

If it might prove dangerous for you, why stay at all? I’ve already told you that my loyalties are spoken for.

[He can’t possibly expect to still convert him, not in whatever short amount of time they might have before this fabled other group arrives.]

There must be others who have been brought here from the dream. You needn’t pin all your hopes on me. Why not seek one of them?

[semicharmed]

[ Matt frowns. Liem makes a good point, though it feels foreign to him; his pause before he answers is largely made up of rerouting his brain through (what he perceives to be) Liem's lens. ]

Because ... I don't think you should be alone.

I was, when I came here. [ Not for long, in a strictly chronological sense, before the Hylician soldiers whisked him down the mountainside. But emotionally, he was profoundly alone the whole time. In some ways, he still is. ] I don't want anyone else to be.

[sterngaze]

[The searching look that Liem aims at the stranger furrows, tightens with an emotion that edges dangerously close to dismay.]

I’m not—

[The murmur trails off, leaving the thought unfinished. How can he explain to this man that he is not “anyone,” that he is a pariah, and that in some ways he has always been alone, and will continue to be whether he has this man’s company or not? How can he make this stranger understand that his kindness in this circumstance is priceless beyond measure, and that he is throwing it away by offering it to him?]

You can’t. Not for me.

[It’s such a simple statement. His eyes, pale on sombre black, beg him to understand. He can’t stay here, waiting for his enemies, for someone like Liem.]

You don’t even know my name.

[semicharmed]

[ Matt doesn't understand at all what the stranger means. That is, while the words are clear enough, he doesn't understand why he'd be saying them. Unless they're coming out of the highly relatable feeling that he, of all the sentient beings left scattered among the stars, is uniquely undeserving of affection. ]

--Oh, well.

I'm Matt, if that helps.

[ Despite how shamed he is by his failure, Matt musters a faint smile. A ghost of winsome energy haunts the corners of his mouth. ]

And I'm sorry to let you know, I'm pretty stubborn. I think it comes from a privileged upbringing.

[sterngaze]

[Liem can’t find it in him to return even the slight suggestion of a smile that Matt offers along with his name. He doesn’t want to be more real to this man than he already is. He doesn’t want to tell him his name, or where he’s from, what his own upbringing was like, what kind of dreams he had for the future. Nothing good can come from Matt knowing anything about him or about the world he came from—not when his goal is to see the world that Liem would return to burnt to ash for his cosmic forest.

He closes his eyes and takes a breath. When he opens them again to look entreatingly back at Matt, his gaze is shadowed with exhaustion that goes beyond the weakness of his body.]

Please. Just forget you saw me here.

[Isn’t the weight of an entire existence enough to bear? He doesn’t need to take Liem’s fate into his hands as well, not for an hour, not even for a moment.]

I know you mean well, but I can’t do this right now. I haven’t had a moment to myself since I was brought to this place. Can’t you grant me that, at least until someone else finds me?