[text] ⚙ long way

[fuhgeddaboudit]

That was...strange. I don't have any other word to describe it. You guys don't think we'll really be stuck here that long, do you?

[private to zero lancer]

Can we talk? I'll be on the twenty-fifth floor.

Comments

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[true_noir]

I would say that it is almost a certainty

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[fuhgeddaboudit]

That's not very optimistic.

Text

[true_noir]

I am dead. I actually find it quite optimistic.

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[fuhgeddaboudit]

I guess if you put it like that, it would probably be better to stick around.

Text

[true_noir]

There are always other ways to look at a thing.

Text

[fuhgeddaboudit]

I hadn't really considered that.

[Action]The 25th Floor--Per her request.

[oathshackledbird]

[The Meadow.

Lancer wishes with all of his heart that Labrys had picked a different place to meet. Of course, meeting in a place like this makes sense since it's one of the few floors that has absolutely no danger to it--either mental or physical.

Except of course, it's also the floor where Lancer had just spent how long telling lies to the man he had dared to call his master. A man who didn't deserve to be lied to.

A man who had never known he was being lied to.

Lancer stops a moment before entering the floor and rubs at his eyes. He doesn't know if it's because this is the first experiment he's been through or what, but he's still having a very hard time shaking off the effects. He still finds himself thinking like over a thousand years has passed instead of just a week. And, yes, while a good deal of what he had first remembered upon waking is starting to fade, the events of the past week stubbornly refuse to be among those memories. It's as if the administrators want them to remember what they did that week, but not how they got there.

From all he's heard about them, that's probably the truth.

Lancer takes a deep breath and finally steps onto the floor. He might not realize it, but what little color that is in his face drains out as he does. Still, he continues forward until he's standing not far from Labrys. Once there he forces a hollow smile to his face and tries his best to greet her in a voice that says everything is okay.

He fails miserably.]

Hey, how are you doing? That was pretty rough, hu?

[Action]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

Mmhm.

[That mostly noncommittal sound being her only answer, Labrys stepped forward and put her arms around his shoulders. Most of what had happened was since in the same place she kept Hakuno's memories sealed, if not altogether deleted somehow. But she remembered enough, and enough was all it took to be worried about him.]

[oathshackledbird]

[Lancer returns the gesture letting his head rest against her shoulder for a moment. He can still remember them sitting in the music room, talking and her comforting him when he really needed it.

It might be weak, but he needs the comfort now too.]

I guess I understand now why they say the experiments in this place are so bad. I-I can hardly believe that person was really me. I'm so sorry if I did anything that upset you. I hurt so many people. I'm never going to be able to forgive myself...

[fuhgeddaboudit]

You didn't do nothin' wrong that I can remember. Even if ya did, I wouldn't be mad at ya. Just don't...don't...

[It was a stark contrast to her older self. That Labrys had been calm, certain of herself and all the words she spoke. She'd been an adult, when one got right down to it. The Labrys of the present had all of the confidence and nearly none of the rest--appearance aside she was still just a child with no real experience of the world around her.]

Don't turn into somethin' like that. Just...don't. You're too nice to end up like that.

[oathshackledbird]

[Lancer steps back from her and smiles. The smile is still pained, but it's better than his first one.]

I'm glad. I'm going to try very hard not to become like that. I don't want to ever be...that. I would rather be dead and back on the Throne than become that. And as long as the memories of that week and how it felt to be like that remain sharp, I don't think I will.

[Honestly, being selfish is the last thing that Lancer has to worry about. Now that he has seen where being selfish gets him, he has no intent on listening to those who had told him he needs to be more so.]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

[Labrys nodded in acknowledgement, hands fidgeting as she spoke.]

And, uh...listen, I'm sorry. If anythin' I said was weird, y'know?

perma-text;

[ashtoash]

It's a possibility.
How will you plan for it?

perma-text;

[fuhgeddaboudit]

I'm not going to make long-term plans until it becomes an inevitability.

[ashtoash]

And that wasn't a sign of it being inevitable?
What would it take to convince you otherwise?
Worlds destroyed and this is the only place for us.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

I think it was a sign they want us to assume it's inevitable. Besides, what evidence do you have that our worlds really have been destroyed?

[ashtoash]

Being unable to return, for one.
No one has arrived from my own world, for another.
Furthermore, I have no reason to believe I was abducted for no reason whatsoever.

[Text]

[warriorscribe]

Have faith, in the efforts to restore our worlds, or in our rescue, or in our strength, or in yourself. Wherever it is placed, have faith.

[Text]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

I think I've still got plenty of that.

[Text]

[warriorscribe]

That is how we will keep our strength. The months feel long here, for our suffering, but as long as we do not fall to despair, we will eventually persevere.

[Text - Anon]

[bloodyashes]

If we are, then there's nothing we can do about it now.

If not, we can celebrate then. But if you ask me, it's better to prepare for the worst.

[permatext]

[fuhgeddaboudit]

You're not very optimistic either, are you?

[Anon until otherwise noted]

[bloodyashes]

If you prepare for the worst, all your surprises are pleasant.

[fuhgeddaboudit]

It might not kill you to be a little hopeful.

[bloodyashes]

The two aren't mutually exclusive.

I'm just not going to ignore the likelihood of something bad happening on the chance that something good might happen instead.