[PSL] time travel, time travel

[curriculum_fictae]

[ Martin had always known that Lukas would kill him in the end. If not along the way, then surely at the end, once he'd gotten what he wanted out of Martin, whatever that turned out to be. When the Lonely rose up to swallow him, he'd accepted his impending death with ... what?

What did he have left, really? Numbness, mostly. A hallucination of Jon in the Lonely, looking for him, but - but that was impossible, ridiculous. His mind playing cruel tricks. He settled himself down in the frigid surf, knees drawn up close to his chest, unshed tears frozen to his cheeks and lashes.

And then. A door. A door that shouldn't exist, that couldn't exist. That he shouldn't take at all. The Lonely was terrible, yes, but it was quiet, and it was peaceful. Martin was aligned enough with it by now to very nearly enjoy it, in a strange and terrible way. The Spiral would be infinitely worse than this quiet beach.

But ... it was hope, too. In a strange way. Hope enough that Martin found himself turning the door handle and stepping through, leaving the false comfort of the Lonely behind him.

The transition was unpleasant. Long. But Martin couldn't remember it after; he only remembered stumbling out through the door of a supply closet somewhere deep in the Archives, blinking up at the dim bulbs that pretended to be sufficient. What time was it? Had he escaped? Where were Lukas and Elias now?

And where was Jon? ]

Comments

[secreteary]

[SIGH. Tim, what are any of them going to do with you.]

I. Really don't know. I can't even begin to know how to process it.

What... What about you?

[kayakking]

I'm...

[He runs a thought over each of the highlights of the days worst hits. Sasha. Elias. Jon. ... his apparently upcoming death to save the world? And every one of them burns a bit too much to linger on.]

I'm not. Holding up, that is.

[He can say this here, to Martin. Not in the room with the faded out future Martin or Jon who's living with everything.]

Like, full on, utter, abject denial goin' on up here.

[secreteary]

[oh, Tim. Martin's face crumples into an expression of heartbroken empathy, but he doesn't reach for Tim again.]

I don't think anyone could blame you. It's...too much. And...and some of the things we learned--

[but he doesn't push his luck by being specific.]

It's one thing to learn the hard way that we're in over our heads, but to be told and have so much information dropped in our laps... It seems like a pretty natural reaction, to me.

[kayakking]

I'm going to admit, I said tomorrow in hopes that I'd have most of it unpacked and could be all suave and put together about it.

Course, at the time, I had no idea about how much of a shit iceberg was down there.

... Iiiii could have done a bit better job getting you in on it. But bandaid's off, at least. - Depending on how much is actually, you know, static. Given we could be dealing with alternate universes rather than time issues...

Or it not being some sinister plot entirely but I'm kind of leaning away from that.

[It's a casual delivery to all of that, hands motioning each segment and possibility as he goes over it.

It is, firmly, the lines of thought of denial, no matter how reasonable he sounds.]

[secreteary]

[Martin shifts in his seat, and leans his chin on one hand thoughtfully.]

I think...maybe, if nothing else, this will help us repair our relationship with Jon, and then...whatever comes, we won't be divided. That's a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

[kayakking]

Yeah? Yeah. It's nice to ... well not be snitty at each other by this point.

[As most discussions around Jon had gone that way.]

Good to all be running on the same side.

[secreteary]

"Snitty".

[a small scoff; not that Tim is wrong, but that it's unknown how much more tense things could have become before they broke entirely. thank Algric for little miracles, he begrudgingly admits to himself.[

I'd like to hope I'm not so stupid as to think friendship will get us through everything, but...yeah. I'd much rather be all together on this. Especially considering the...the scale, my god.

[kayakking]

[It does creak open a little bit of Tim's odd guard. At least enough for a wry sort of joke.]

I actually signed up knowing this bullshit exists, and I'm having a hell of a time with this. God. I bet we don't even get hazard pay.

[secreteary]

[Martin nearly chokes on a cynical, harsh laugh.]

Can you imagine trying to ask Elias for hazard pay, knowing what we know now?

[kayakking]

Okay. Look.

I'm going to hurt the man in every way I can. And the budget is no exception.

[secreteary]

We should completely empty the coffers and then show him the accounting. Really nail it home before we...I don't know. How do you even kill a monster like Elias?

[kayakking]

God. Fuck if I know. Maybe if he's this omniscient thing we just chuck him into that Unknowing and call it a day.

[secreteary]

You know? We should try that. It would be very clean, wouldn't it? To just...solve two problems with one action. And who knows? Maybe no evidence left behind!

[kayakking]

Hadn't thought of that. But good point.

Maybe it'll be like matter and antimatter.

[secreteary]

...But then would everyone explode or implode?

[kayakking]

Another good question.

And as we all know, since is founded on direct observation and study.

[Says the anthropology major.]

So there's only one way to be sure.

[secreteary]

[a shrug, but a sort of smile, too.]

I know we were joking, but honestly it might not be the worst idea, considering...Algric's time.

[kayakking]

[WAS TIM JOKING? There's a bit of a pause here.]

... I mean, that would solve a LOT of problems.

[secreteary]

[OKAY FAIR POINT]

Then why not jot it down as a serious option?