Route 29: ｍｏｄｓ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
these_balls) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
route_10652016-05-27 01:10 pm
these_balls) wrote in route_10652016-05-27 01:10 pm
Your Love Keeps Lifting Me Higher
Who: EVERYONE
Where: THE ACTUAL MOON
When: Friday, May 27th through Sunday, May 29th!
Summary: THIS IS YOUR MOD-PROVIDED OPEN LOG FOR FOURTH WALL PROMAGEDDON!
Rating: May vary by thread, please mark accordingly!
Log:
~
☆ YOU ARE HERE ☆
LOCATIONS OF NOTE:
• REDUCED G MOON BALLROOM
Accessible only via the balcony that connects back through to the regular ballroom, this unusual section of the moon base is the only major room in which the gravity more closely reflects that of the actual moon, as opposed to being artificially enhanced to better simulate the conditions Earthside. The dance floor is situated approximately fifteen feet below the balcony, recessed into the moon's surface where the rest of the base sits at ground level, and overhead a massive domed ceiling lets in a magnificent view of outer space, the moon's surface, and all the surrounding stars. The acoustics are just as good as those of the standard ballroom, and this dance floor will feature the same music as the other; the only appreciable difference is that in the Reduced G Moon Ballroom, gravity is mostly optional and you're liable to find as many couples spinning through the open air as you are with solid ground beneath their feet. Try not to get trapped in the middle with no momentum, or you might just need a rescue from some considerate stranger!
• REGULAR BALLROOM
A more traditional ballroom for the more traditional partygoer on the moon base: hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and tasteful music. Of particular note are the balcony doors at the north end of the ballroom, which lead onto the observation balcony that overlooks the Reduced Gravity Moon Ballroom! Please don't block those doors; they're the only way in or out!
• DINING ROOM AND BUFFET
GOOD FOOD, GOOD MEAT, GOOD GRIEF, LET'S EAT! The dining room is an area accessible from both the ballroom and the hallway that leads between the reception area and the dorms, featuring scores upon scores of tables of varying sizes that might seat as little as two or as many as eight. On days when the party isn't in full swing, buffet-style meals will be served over a period of two hours at three times during the day — breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When the party is jumping, however, the table will remain perpetually stocked with entrees, sides, and of course a full complement of magnificent desserts for people to feast and snack upon as they so choose!
• DORMS AND SLEEPING AREAS
Your moon base home-away-from-home for the next three days! In the massive dorm wing of the base, you'll find vast corridors of hostel-style bunks available to be claimed. Unclaimed bunks will signal their availability by having their curtains open and empty bunk displayed; though the privacy curtains and beds themselves boast no particular security features, each bunk does come with a reasonably-sized trunk for storing a guest's belongings. Upon claiming the bunk, a guest will be prompted to register their trunk with a thumbprint, which thereafter will be used to lock and unlock their trunk. If you're worried about something happening to your belongings or valuables, feel free to lock them up for safekeeping!
• INDOOR GREENHOUSE AND FLOWER GARDEN
A secluded place where partygoers can retreat from the festivities for a little while, whether it be to catch their breath, for a tête-à-tête, or anything else that might involve the desire for a little more peace and quiet. Featuring small walking paths, real fresh flowers, and even a small inches-deep artificial burbling brook, the moon base garden looks to be a little slice of the planet Earth preserved here in outer space. Seems like all that's missing are the wild Pokemon!
• LIBRARY, MUSIC ROOM, SPA, AND ARCADE
An assortment of four general leisure rooms in the western wing of the Moon Base, most of which are fairly self-explanatory! So, if you feel so inclined, take some time to stop in, poke around, and enjoy yourself in:
▶ THE LIBRARY, which features muted lighting, plenty of hardwood paneling, and a quiet atmosphere for reading a book in one of the cozy armchairs or piling up a dozen to peruse at one of the available tables. You're welcome to find the usual Pokemon-ified standard fare of books here; unfortunately, research-inclined people digging for secrets about the moon base, Pokemon, or other such nonfiction topics aren't likely to unearth anything of any particular note this time. Alas!
▶ THE MUSIC ROOM, which boasts a wide array of instruments available for the guests to make use of, including a grand piano, a few guitars (both acoustic and electric), and a general assortment of other choices from the brass, string, wind, and percussion families.
▶ THE SPA FACILITIES, where guests are welcome to unwind and relax in the various pools, hot tubs, and mineral baths available. Swimsuits and towels are provided in the built-in changing rooms for anyone interested in making use of the spa!
▶ THE ARCADE, containing plenty of video games, games of skill, and other such electronic amusements for patrons to pass the time away with. Skee-Ball and Dance Dance Eeveelution are, of course, particular standouts from the array, but there are plenty of other traditional games to be found in here. You can also find playing cards, board games, and other low-tech amusements in here, as well!
• CRYSTAL GARDEN AND TERRACE
A beautiful garden-like area filled with growing crystals located just outside the moon base, visible from the windows in the moon ballroom and accessible via a warm-lit terrace that leads out onto what appears to be the planet's surface itself. It appears that some unseen apparatus is maintaining an area of atmosphere over the expanse of the garden, rendering it safe for guests to wander and explore even without the benefit of space suits or oxygen tanks. However, being a part of the actual surface of the moon, it is possible that perusing among the crystals will net you an encounter with a wild Pokemon, so be careful where you tread among the crystals!
This is the only area where wild Pokemon can be battled and captured, and being that it is on the planet's surface, note also that this area is subject to reduced gravity, similar to the moon ballroom! The wild Pokemon you can find out here are as follows:
Cleffa, Clefairy, Clefable, Staryu, Starmie, Lunatone, Solrock, Elgyem,
Beheeyem, Jigglypuff, Togepi, Carbink, Boldore, Gigalith, Aron, Crustle
All Pokemon will be Level 20-30!
• HOLODECK
At first glance, the holodeck appears to be simply a vast open room criss-crossed with yellow grid lines, looming in the northwest corner of the moon base. However, once inside, a visitor may find that the holodeck is much more than it appears: a virtual reality facility capable of recreating familiar places by a combination of transported matter, replicated matter, tractor beams, and shaped force fields.
Though the holodeck comes with a variety of standard preprogrammed environments to play with and experience — an average beach, a deep forest, an unremarkable porch in someone's generic backyard — its greatest facet is its ability to recreate environments and places from its users' memories. Been missing home for a long time? The holodeck can take you (and your guests) back there — for as long as you've got it activated, at least. Please remember to use it sparingly and in small doses, lest you become addicted to the fantasy and not the reality!
(Mod Note: To clarify, the holodeck is here to indulge a character's (and by extension a player's) imagination. You are by no means limited to just the uses detailed above; if you'd like your character to fantasize about being in a 1920s gangster setting and play around with it as a prompt that takes place on the holodeck, you can feel free to do so! Note that the holodeck comes with safety features that will prevent a character from suffering serious injury (either from themselves, from the environment, or from other people using the holodeck simultaneously), but it is possible to get some bumps, bruises, and scrapes from the experience! Feel free to ask us if you're not sure what you can do with it, but generally speaking it's there to be played with, so don't hesitate to play with it!)
☆ IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER: ☆
• THE GENERAL PROM SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS:
Friday, May 27th — Arrival at the Moon Base; FREE DAY FOR OPEN EXPLORING!
Saturday, May 28th — Red Carpet Moon Gala!
Sunday, May 29th —route_29's 6-Year Anniversary!
• The premise for how your characters arrived on the moon can be found RIGHT OVER HERE! Feel free to be confused and bewildered by this...lunar-cy!
• We recommend putting your character's location in the header of your comment, or if you're doing multiple locations in the same comment, mark them clearly so people can find you more easily!
If you're a former or current player in Route and haven't submitted your Transfer Application for Victory Road, there's still time; you can find it RIGHT OVER HERE!
• To all of our players — whether you've been here for six years or six minutes, whether you've played a dozen characters or just one — thank you so much for playing here and making Route the great place it's been for all this time. We've had some great memories together, and it's been a delight and a privilege to play with and mod for all of you. ♥
☆ PROM DIRECTORY ☆
* Characters marked with an asterisk are not currently members of Route.
~
☆ QUICK LINKS ☆
THE PROM-SPECIFIC INFOPOST | THE FOURTH-WALL-SPECIFIC INFOPOST | QUESTIONS AND INQUIRIES HOTLINE | WALK THE MOON
Where: THE ACTUAL MOON
When: Friday, May 27th through Sunday, May 29th!
Summary: THIS IS YOUR MOD-PROVIDED OPEN LOG FOR FOURTH WALL PROMAGEDDON!
Rating: May vary by thread, please mark accordingly!
Log:
☆ YOU ARE HERE ☆
LOCATIONS OF NOTE:
Accessible only via the balcony that connects back through to the regular ballroom, this unusual section of the moon base is the only major room in which the gravity more closely reflects that of the actual moon, as opposed to being artificially enhanced to better simulate the conditions Earthside. The dance floor is situated approximately fifteen feet below the balcony, recessed into the moon's surface where the rest of the base sits at ground level, and overhead a massive domed ceiling lets in a magnificent view of outer space, the moon's surface, and all the surrounding stars. The acoustics are just as good as those of the standard ballroom, and this dance floor will feature the same music as the other; the only appreciable difference is that in the Reduced G Moon Ballroom, gravity is mostly optional and you're liable to find as many couples spinning through the open air as you are with solid ground beneath their feet. Try not to get trapped in the middle with no momentum, or you might just need a rescue from some considerate stranger!
• REGULAR BALLROOM
A more traditional ballroom for the more traditional partygoer on the moon base: hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, crystal chandeliers, and tasteful music. Of particular note are the balcony doors at the north end of the ballroom, which lead onto the observation balcony that overlooks the Reduced Gravity Moon Ballroom! Please don't block those doors; they're the only way in or out!
• DINING ROOM AND BUFFET
GOOD FOOD, GOOD MEAT, GOOD GRIEF, LET'S EAT! The dining room is an area accessible from both the ballroom and the hallway that leads between the reception area and the dorms, featuring scores upon scores of tables of varying sizes that might seat as little as two or as many as eight. On days when the party isn't in full swing, buffet-style meals will be served over a period of two hours at three times during the day — breakfast, lunch, and dinner. When the party is jumping, however, the table will remain perpetually stocked with entrees, sides, and of course a full complement of magnificent desserts for people to feast and snack upon as they so choose!
• DORMS AND SLEEPING AREAS
Your moon base home-away-from-home for the next three days! In the massive dorm wing of the base, you'll find vast corridors of hostel-style bunks available to be claimed. Unclaimed bunks will signal their availability by having their curtains open and empty bunk displayed; though the privacy curtains and beds themselves boast no particular security features, each bunk does come with a reasonably-sized trunk for storing a guest's belongings. Upon claiming the bunk, a guest will be prompted to register their trunk with a thumbprint, which thereafter will be used to lock and unlock their trunk. If you're worried about something happening to your belongings or valuables, feel free to lock them up for safekeeping!
• INDOOR GREENHOUSE AND FLOWER GARDEN
A secluded place where partygoers can retreat from the festivities for a little while, whether it be to catch their breath, for a tête-à-tête, or anything else that might involve the desire for a little more peace and quiet. Featuring small walking paths, real fresh flowers, and even a small inches-deep artificial burbling brook, the moon base garden looks to be a little slice of the planet Earth preserved here in outer space. Seems like all that's missing are the wild Pokemon!
• LIBRARY, MUSIC ROOM, SPA, AND ARCADE
An assortment of four general leisure rooms in the western wing of the Moon Base, most of which are fairly self-explanatory! So, if you feel so inclined, take some time to stop in, poke around, and enjoy yourself in:
▶ THE LIBRARY, which features muted lighting, plenty of hardwood paneling, and a quiet atmosphere for reading a book in one of the cozy armchairs or piling up a dozen to peruse at one of the available tables. You're welcome to find the usual Pokemon-ified standard fare of books here; unfortunately, research-inclined people digging for secrets about the moon base, Pokemon, or other such nonfiction topics aren't likely to unearth anything of any particular note this time. Alas!
▶ THE MUSIC ROOM, which boasts a wide array of instruments available for the guests to make use of, including a grand piano, a few guitars (both acoustic and electric), and a general assortment of other choices from the brass, string, wind, and percussion families.
▶ THE SPA FACILITIES, where guests are welcome to unwind and relax in the various pools, hot tubs, and mineral baths available. Swimsuits and towels are provided in the built-in changing rooms for anyone interested in making use of the spa!
▶ THE ARCADE, containing plenty of video games, games of skill, and other such electronic amusements for patrons to pass the time away with. Skee-Ball and Dance Dance Eeveelution are, of course, particular standouts from the array, but there are plenty of other traditional games to be found in here. You can also find playing cards, board games, and other low-tech amusements in here, as well!
• CRYSTAL GARDEN AND TERRACE
A beautiful garden-like area filled with growing crystals located just outside the moon base, visible from the windows in the moon ballroom and accessible via a warm-lit terrace that leads out onto what appears to be the planet's surface itself. It appears that some unseen apparatus is maintaining an area of atmosphere over the expanse of the garden, rendering it safe for guests to wander and explore even without the benefit of space suits or oxygen tanks. However, being a part of the actual surface of the moon, it is possible that perusing among the crystals will net you an encounter with a wild Pokemon, so be careful where you tread among the crystals!
This is the only area where wild Pokemon can be battled and captured, and being that it is on the planet's surface, note also that this area is subject to reduced gravity, similar to the moon ballroom! The wild Pokemon you can find out here are as follows:
Beheeyem, Jigglypuff, Togepi, Carbink, Boldore, Gigalith, Aron, Crustle
All Pokemon will be Level 20-30!
• HOLODECK
At first glance, the holodeck appears to be simply a vast open room criss-crossed with yellow grid lines, looming in the northwest corner of the moon base. However, once inside, a visitor may find that the holodeck is much more than it appears: a virtual reality facility capable of recreating familiar places by a combination of transported matter, replicated matter, tractor beams, and shaped force fields.
Though the holodeck comes with a variety of standard preprogrammed environments to play with and experience — an average beach, a deep forest, an unremarkable porch in someone's generic backyard — its greatest facet is its ability to recreate environments and places from its users' memories. Been missing home for a long time? The holodeck can take you (and your guests) back there — for as long as you've got it activated, at least. Please remember to use it sparingly and in small doses, lest you become addicted to the fantasy and not the reality!
(Mod Note: To clarify, the holodeck is here to indulge a character's (and by extension a player's) imagination. You are by no means limited to just the uses detailed above; if you'd like your character to fantasize about being in a 1920s gangster setting and play around with it as a prompt that takes place on the holodeck, you can feel free to do so! Note that the holodeck comes with safety features that will prevent a character from suffering serious injury (either from themselves, from the environment, or from other people using the holodeck simultaneously), but it is possible to get some bumps, bruises, and scrapes from the experience! Feel free to ask us if you're not sure what you can do with it, but generally speaking it's there to be played with, so don't hesitate to play with it!)
• THE GENERAL PROM SCHEDULE IS AS FOLLOWS:
Saturday, May 28th — Red Carpet Moon Gala!
Sunday, May 29th —
route_29's 6-Year Anniversary!• The premise for how your characters arrived on the moon can be found RIGHT OVER HERE! Feel free to be confused and bewildered by this...lunar-cy!
• We recommend putting your character's location in the header of your comment, or if you're doing multiple locations in the same comment, mark them clearly so people can find you more easily!
If you're a former or current player in Route and haven't submitted your Transfer Application for Victory Road, there's still time; you can find it RIGHT OVER HERE!
• To all of our players — whether you've been here for six years or six minutes, whether you've played a dozen characters or just one — thank you so much for playing here and making Route the great place it's been for all this time. We've had some great memories together, and it's been a delight and a privilege to play with and mod for all of you. ♥
* Characters marked with an asterisk are not currently members of Route.
THE PROM-SPECIFIC INFOPOST | THE FOURTH-WALL-SPECIFIC INFOPOST | QUESTIONS AND INQUIRIES HOTLINE | WALK THE MOON
no subject
They're not even his memories.
But then, memory was the key.]
That was how they thought of each other. Theta talked about his brothers and sisters, when he wasn't asking me questions. He...
[North looks away from the image of Theta, but only to glance at the other man.]
He and the others talked about an Alpha, always quietly and with a little bit of awe. Like they were talking about some kind of legend.
no subject
Church quietly moves back down the line, beside Tex. Forms one more out of the air. Doesn't suggest that it's him, a blue-white armored form with a sniper rifle in its hands. Just makes it. Settles it beside Tex.
They're all dead. He can never go home. It's just Epsilon now. And knowing that makes it so much harder. Knowing that Epsilon is the memory (and memory is the key), the memory that gets made into him, into a better him, a more settled him, a him that understands his own history and can better fill in the gaping holes in his head. Knows that they're even there in the first place and why and how. Why even bother having the rest if the important one who was going to bring the Project to justice got out safely?
He has to clear his throat feeling tight and raw before he can speak.]
Did they think it didn't, y'know, exist? They didn't know where they came from. They didn't have those memories. Was it like...like something was missing, and they gave it a name collectively that made sense? [He can hear their voices calling out to him, excited, overjoyed. Sense obsession like a crawl over his skin. Searching for each other. Searching for him. He didn't understand it all before--finding himself here.
And he's a little afraid, to understand. Epsilon understood, and Epsilon fucked up Washington's head. There's a reason Alpha doesn't remember. But if Epsilon can...if Epsilon can, then maybe he can, too.]
no subject
He can hear Sigma calling for Theta.
He can hear Theta crying when he fell.
"North, get up! You promised!"
He closes his eyes and shakes his head, taking a deep breath to steady himself.]
They didn't remember being part of the Alpha, but they knew that they were all born from that same source.
[He glances appraisingly at Church, steps a little closer, in front of Tex (Tex, who had told him that the Alpha was being tortured, who had told him that the Alpha was still alive and needed their help).]
They wanted to meet him more than anything.
no subject
[And isn't that the damnedest thing, that even though he's got a full range of emotions, has a personality, felt like a person even though he was lied to to achieve that, he never realized how broken he was until he had most of them with him. Even as twisted by fire and corrupted by desire as they had been, they were still parts of him that made him feel whole, or damn near close to it. Filling in spaces he didn't know needed filled.
In a moment before getting erased by a bright wave of energy, with the mind of the Meta buckling and writhing beneath and around him, he felt things he couldn't describe, still can't, doesn't try to think about it so he doesn't have to find words. There's context for it now, even if he doesn't have the memories to truly fit it all into place, to give it meaning. It was love, even if it was a darkened love, and home, even if a broken home, and he stood with Tex while the others clamored for his attention and though they were apart they also were not and were one, together, one.
The whole fucking thing was almost worth it just for that.
And it's overwhelming to know how much he was missing all along and how much he's missing now, if he lets himself accept it, accept being The Alpha AI, being something pitiful and lost and embroiled in so much stupid bullshit that cost so many lives he'll never be fully aware of.
Once upon a time in a memory far away, he must have known this man, but now he's nothing more than a vaguely remembered name, a few even vaguer details, and a stranger. His emotions have always been volatile and close to the surface, but these are not things he wants to show to someone like that. Or anyone, if he can help it. Sure, maybe that's stupid and petty, but he tries to reel it back in before the dam breaks completely. Maybe channel some of that into anger. Anger's always been an easy go-to.
Honestly he just wants to scream. Instead, he makes a slicing motion through a few of the AI, through Alpha, Tex, fingertips clipping into Theta before he storms through the flickering figures who reassert themselves behind him. But there's fucking nothing here to hit. He could make something, but his feet keep going until he finds that he's pacing around, hands and arms motioning quick and wild with his thoughts.]
Why couldn't they just be satisfied with what they were?! They were just fine the fucking way they fucking were! If those stupid sons of bitches didn't have that god damn urge, maybe things would've turned out differently! They should've been fine with who they were, with their partners. No! They had to keep picking at it and fucking picking at it until they start getting nabbed by a hulking white juggernaut death machine! Am I close? Am I getting fucking warm, Agent North? Cuz it sounds to me like if they just, just, just fucking let it go and stopped chasing after it, you'd all still be alive!
no subject
"I think he would be crazy not to be."
"Are you proud of me?"
"Of course I am, Theta."
North takes a step back when Church swings his arm out through the holograms, and something like a sick, cold anger hits him when he sees the Theta hologram flicker.
But he can't bring himself to be angry. Not at Church. Not at the Alpha. The Alpha was as much a victim of the Project as any of them, possibly even more. The AI had talked about the Alpha for a while, but none of them knew what had been done to him until it was too late to stop it.
So he lets Alpha yell and scream, storm around and rage. He walks around the holograms to cross over to Alpha. He takes the man's shoulders, stops him in his tracks. Looking at him, he hesitates for only a second. There wasn't much of Theta in the yelling and screaming. But nonetheless he acts, doing what he always wished he could have done when Theta stayed awake whimpering in the middle of the night, scared and alone and attached to North only through their neural link.
He wraps his arms around Church's shoulders and pulls him into a tight, strong hug. His voice is barely above a whisper.]
He was worth chasing. He was worth rescuing. We all deserved better, but especially him.
[If Church was going to keep calling the Alpha "it," then North would honor the distance he wanted to keep. Even if it was purely lip service at this point.]
no subject
But his voice and the anger--real anger at the situation, but fueled by ignoring everything else whirling inside him--die in his throat on being held firmly by North. Despite the barbed words and despite the loudly declared blame set at the feet of the other AI, North isn't angry. As a Freelancer, and one who's dead, one who lost his partner, he's as hurt as the rest.
Being hugged by big strong arms isn't unfamiliar, but Caboose, as in all things, has no finesse about it, and is selfish about it, and usually just makes Church angrier, and he kind of wishes Tucker was here instead of North so that they could just talk around it, understand each other, and then move along. This, this is direct, and kindly and caring, and it's scary in its sincerity.
He wants to rip himself apart until there's nothing left to give. He remembers being the Alpha, just a couple weeks back--not the memories the Alpha had, but remembers the panicked desperation, the relief at talking to a Freelancer, how the others walked on eggshells save for Tucker. Now he's just back to being...this, and what's worth saving about this?]
I...
[There is something small inside of him. A place that perhaps used to be bigger, once upon a time. Like a child, he craves this, accepts and appreciates the hug, feels warmth and safety and protection even in this stranger-not-a-stranger. Church brings up his arms to cling around North's back, fingers digging into fabric. His breath shakes and hitches, and he buries his face into North's shoulder.]
How can you be sure?
no subject
There are so many answers to the question that they all trip over each other trying to come out, leaving North in silence for a moment. His arms are still safe and steady around Church, and for a brief second he squeezes tighter.
Because Theta was. Because Theta believed he was. Because literally no one deserves to be tortured. Because North had spent a long time opening his memories, his mind, his heart to a little piece of the Alpha who trusted him with everything he had. Because everyone deserves a second chance, and if this place could be that second chance for him and York then it could be a second chance for the Alpha, too.
Because Tex was willing to tear the Project down around them to keep him safe.]
Because there was someone who loved him. Who could have just run away but cared enough about protecting him that she decided to go in guns blazing to save him.
[He still doesn't know how Tex's rampage ended, if she emerged victorious or not. He and South had left the Mother of Invention behind shortly after their fight and he'd never looked back. But if neither does Alpha, then, well, that answers that for him, doesn't it.]
no subject
He laughs into North's shoulder wetly once he gets enough air in him to do so.] She never does anything half-assed.
[And he had tried. And tried, and tried, and maybe he was never even a fraction as good as her because he was missing what made him succeed. The odds had been stacked against him since before he could remember. No matter what he did, things just happened all the same, coming out worse than before. After so many fragments, why did the Director bother keeping him? Why hide him away? What more did he have to give up?
He was worth it just because he had simply been loved. He's not sure how much he truly believes that, but it's...something to consider.]
Maybe...maybe she was wrong. Maybe if she had run, instead of wasting time on someone who couldn't even remember that they needed rescuing, you wouldn't be dead, and neither would York, or Wyoming, or South, or anyone else. You'd still have Theta. Maybe she was wrong.
no subject
Definitely not.
[Even though it's half-mumbled into his shoulder, he still hears what the man says. And it hurts, that someone who was just as much a victim of the Project as the rest of them was made to think that he was so worthless.
His hold tightens a little at the mention of his sister, but only a little. He knew she was dead, though Carolina had never told him how (to be fair, he'd never asked, he didn't need to know. He was dead, his sister was dead. At that point, the "how" didn't matter as much). But the thought that there might have been something he could have done to save her, to save Theta. It still hurts.]
We were all soldiers. We knew the risks. She knew the risks, but she did it anyway.
[He draws a deep breath, lets it out in a sigh.]
By the time she acted, the Project was already going off the rails, anyway. We were pitted against each other and torn apart. It wouldn't have saved us, to not try to save y- him.
[...Good catch, North.
His eyes go over to the image of Sigma, but he doesn't say what he thinks: they were all doomed from the moment that Sigma was "born".]
In fact, it gave us a chance to run. It gave me a few more months with Theta, that I wouldn't have had otherwise. So I don't regret helping her, at least.
no subject
For all the good it did, still ending up in some backwater bullshit canyon surrounded by idiots as part of a Project Freelancer fake war ploy. Maybe something went wrong? She didn't find him? Didn't find him and kept looking, Sidewinder, Blood Gulch... Cared enough to find him, didn't care enough to stay?
He's reluctant to end the hug, and god, doesn't that sound pathetic, but once he feels like he's got his face mostly under control, he at least pulls it from the comfort of North's admittedly now damp shoulder. He looks like a mess, but at least it's a mess that isn't, currently, sobbing like a kid.
His breath is still a little shaky, though.] W-what happened? You and Tex and...whoever else. You tried to save...him, but something happened, or the Meta wouldn't have...all the AI wouldn't still have been trying to find m--the Alpha.