Bastion: Bastion

Demiurge
It felt different, this time - the jump. Each time it was different. There was something about the way the darkness passed. It wasn't quite like being unconscious. It was more like... flying. And there were these bright flashes of light that came and went, and almost each time it woke them into consciousness. Almost, but not quite. And when Grace once more fell into her own body, she would remember the journey the way that one remembers a dream. She would remember that it felt warmer, somehow. That it seemed as though they'd traveled further.

She'd remember that there had been something there with them.

And then she opened her eyes and saw the stars. It was like standing in space, looking out into the dark, sparkling infinity of all that ever had or would exist.

She was standing in space. But not precisely. There was a hard floor beneath her feet. The air was climate controlled - warm and slightly humid from the press of living, moving bodies. She couldn't actually see the glass that lay between her and the frozen vacuum beyond, but surely it was there.

People. There were people around her. Maybe fifty of them, all told, dancing together to the beat of some music that only they could hear. After a few moments of silence, that same music began to flood into her senses. It wasn't any kind of music she had ever heard before, but underneath the unusual sounds and composition lay the same primordial heartbeat that had been driving human-kind since the dawn of existence.

She was in some kind of club. The people around her looked young and fit, their bodies decorated with intricate, unusual designs that might have been paint or tattoos or maybe something else entirely. (Some of them moved and changed before her eyes as she watched them.) The were dressed in minimal clothing that looked almost... painted on. Soft fabric in different shapes and patterns that clung to the skin. Thankfully her own clothes were a bit less revealing. She had on a pair of fitted navy-blue pants, white boots and a white fitted t-shirt of some impossibly velvety, touchable fabric. Patience had on a similar outfit, but she...

She was lying near Grace's feet, her eyes closed. Breathing, but unconscious. (Like there was some kind of lag in the system and her mind hadn't yet made it into her body.)

Beside Grace, a tall boy was staring at the two of them in confused awe. He looked like the boy in the arena back in Rome. Like the woman from Sulis who'd ridden a white dragon. This version of Atreyu was cleaner-cut, with short hair and agile muscles and... that same tattoo of a two-headed ouroboros emblazoned across his bare chest.

It was still glowing, though no one here seemed to be paying it much mind.

Grace Evans
Grace opens her eyes, and the feeling is so strange -- having eyes, losing them along with her body, having a new one again.

Space. There's a starfield out there. It's the first thing that registers, and after that -- the bodies.

There are people all around her, suddenly, like being dunked in water. If it had been her choice, she probably wouldn't have entered a place like this. But assuming she had, she could have prepared. As is, the tension rises inside. Alien music starts filtering into her mind, and she has the impression that this whole scenario is utterly wasted on her. Should have brought someone else.

Lena would have liked it here.

She looks around, notices Atreyu with his glowing tattoo, and even though she's fresh and new in this body, she reaches out for him. "Stay! Stay this time!"

She tries to reach him, but there's something near her feet, in her way. She looks down to see Patience, and that stops her. She crouches down next to her friend, to make very sure she's still alive.

This place eats people. It's already taken two of them. She can't afford to lose Patience too.

Demiurge
When Grace reached out to Atreyu, they music faded to a low murmur. The boy tilted his head as though trying to process what she was saying, but he didn't leave. And this time nobody came to take him away. He pushed out his hands toward the crowd and said "hey, we need some room..." and the nearby dancers stopped to look down at Patience, their eyes registering concern. They pulled back out of the immediate space, giving the newcomers room to breath, and Atreyu crouched down beside Grace on the floor.

The room around them was domed, with that transparent front wall that looked out into space. The lighting was dim and tinted with cool tones, though it seemed to brighten around them subtly as Grace inspected Patience for signs of life. (Maybe that was just her eyes playing tricks on her, or maybe Grace would be too distracted to notice at all.)

The glow of Atreyu's tattoo faded.

"Here, let me help..."

He made a motion to try and lift Patience from the ground, but would hold back if Grace asked him to stop.

Demiurge
[edit: the music faded]

Grace Evans
She looks a bit worried at Atreyu, but nods an assent at him. She couldn't lift Patience if she tried.

Which way is North in space? She almost wants to grab hold of him and speak the magic words, if it wasn't for the sense that they could be headed in the wrong direction.

"Do you know where we can take her to rest?"

Demiurge
"We should take her to the med-bay," he offered, frowning softly as he pulled Patience's unconscious body into his arms. Atreyu wasn't especially bulky, and though he had an easier time than Grace would have, it still took a bit of effort for him to lift Patience and push himself back to a standing position. The boy had on a similar pair of navy blue pants, and unlike the rest of the dancers his body had no elaborate markings aside from the tattoo.

He was sweating a little. Everyone here was.

When Atreyu had Patience settled safely in his arms, he nodded toward a door that must have been the exit and began to move through the crowd. By the time they got to the door, the low hum of the music had silenced entirely - at least for Grace. The other dancers appeared to still be listening to... something.

The door slid open of its own accord when they drew near, and Atreyu led them out into a tall corridor. Here the left wall was transparent (just as it had been inside the club) and looked out into space. If Grace happened to peer out the glass, she'd be able to spot the edges of different parts of the space station.

Once the door closed behind them, they were alone. For now.

"You're... Grace, right?" Atreyu asked uncertainly as they walked. "I don't... I mean, I swear you just... appeared. Out of nowhere. And then... was I somewhere else? I can remember your face."

Grace Evans
Grace pushes her way through the throng of people, mostly because they make way for Atreyu but don't seem to notice her nearly as much. She runs into people as they dance, and it's a singularly discomfiting experience. She mumbles out 'excuse me' and 'sorry' along the way, if they can even hear her over the music.

Once they're out of that, the tension she's been carrying in her shoulders seems to slacken a bit.

"Yeah, Grace. And you're Atreyu. And that's Patience. We do have a tendency to drop in like that," Grace says, her speech quick, as if she's just getting through this minor bit of annoying chatter in order to move on to the real topic at hand.

"Which way is North? It's very important."

Demiurge
"I... what?"

Atreyu shifted Patience's weight in his arms and shot Grace an odd look. They were coming up on what looked to be some kind of glass elevator.

"We're not... I mean I guess if you want to define 'North' as up?" He glanced toward the ceiling. "But that's all really just a matter of perception. Shift the station's gravitational field and up would be down. Why are you..."

He didn't finish the question, because a moment later he blinked and said, "Oh, that's how you got here."

Then suddenly he stopped and looked at her. "You're not from here. Not... anywhere here. Where did you come from?"

Grace Evans
Grace walks next to Atreyu-in-a-new-body, taking in the sights of a space station. It would choose to dump them in a place that has no North, right?

"It sounds like you're remembering. That's good... I think," she says, and stops along with him. She shifts on her feet back and forth, though, as if anxious to get moving again.

"We're from Denver, Colorado. United States of America. Earth. 2014."

She doesn't add that they're from another universe too.

Demiurge
He ought not to have believed her. Not even the people of Sulis had believed Grace's story, and they'd lived on a planet with telepathic dragons. But what registered in Atreyu's eyes was not disbelief. It was... dawning wonder.

(Perhaps it might remind Grace of her own experiences once. Of the first time she'd really opened herself up to the vast possibilities of the universe.)

"You know, I keep thinking lately. About time and space. How everything is connected. How..." He cut himself short when he realized that they were standing there in the corridor with Patience's unconscious body hanging in his arms, and then he began walking again, picking up the pace to a purposeful stride.

"I'm sorry."

When the neared the elevator, it opened for them just as the door had. Once they were standing inside, the glass door slid shut and they began to move upwards. Atreyu hadn't pressed any buttons to indicate where he wanted to go, and none seemed readily available, but evidently the elevator knew where it was heading.

"I hope your friend's alright."

Grace Evans
Can someone like Atreyu Awaken? The way he talks about the connectedness of all things, the way he himself is a living portal, it makes Grace wonder if that's what he's doing every time -- opening his eyes and connecting. "Don't be sorry. That kind of thought is perhaps the most important."

She waits until they're in the elevator to start saying anything more, because what she's about to say might very well sound quite off to anyone else.

"Time and space are figments of our imagination. Everything is connected, because everything is all at once, everywhere at once. You can take two particles of matter and 'separate' them by millions of miles, and they'll still act like they're right next to each other. That's because they are. Location is just a thing brains made up because it made sense to at the time. It's easier, not having to process everything."

She looks to Patience, and what self-assuredness she had vaporizes. "I hope she's alright too. I need her."

Demiurge
"Patience Mason's vital signs are healthy. She is in good physical condition and health, but mental activity is limited to lower functionality. She is not conscious."

The voice was female - not Atreyu's. And Grace would not be able to accurately pin-point its source. It seemed to speak within the walls of her mind (everywhere all at once) like a telepathic link. Atreyu uttered a little sigh.

"That's not very useful, Bastion."

"You wish to know if she is alright. Unfortunately that is the only answer I can give with certainty. I'm sorry."

The elevator stopped and opened its doors, and Atreyu stepped out into another long corridor. This one had a handful of people walking through, most of whom were dressed more conservatively than the young dancers downstairs. When the nearest people saw them coming, a couple of them jogged over to see if they could offer assistance.

"Do you need any help?" A middle-aged man asked, and Atreyu shook his head. "She fell. We're just trying to get her to the med-bay."

After some hesitation, the man nodded, and he and the others stepped out of the way so they could pass.

Grace Evans
Grace starts, looks left and right for a speaker, but there is no source other than inside.

"Bastion? You're talking to Bastion?"

Have they reached their destination then? Is this where they needed to go? Is this the center? Maybe that's why there is no North.

The elevator stops, and Atreyu steps out with Patience in his arms. Grace follows behind, a little skittering thing in Atreyu's wake. "Hello? Bastion?"

She doesn't know yet whether the mental link goes both ways, but it would make sense. How else would the elevator just know where to go? How else would Bastion know the medical status of her friend?

She lets Atreyu, with his knowledge of the place, deal with the people in the hallway. She's not going to open her mouth and say something strange to them.

Demiurge
"I'm here." The voice registered again in Grace's mind. This time Atreyu didn't appear to be listening in. His focus was on a door up ahead marked with a white symbol shaped like the rod of aslecpius.

"That's the station we're on," he said. "Bastion. You don't have to speak out loud to talk to her. I just didn't want to exclude you."

"My name is Bastion, but I don't believe that I am precisely what you seek. You are imagining... God? I am certainly not that, though it is... flattering."

They reached the med-bay and the door opened. Inside was a white domed receiving area with a desk and a row of soft, ergonomic seats. Hallways led out in three directions to various rooms for treatment and care. A young blond man behind the desk nodded in their direction and said, "a doctor will be right with you."

And soon enough a group of nurses came out with what looked to be some kind of hovering cot. They pushed the cot toward Atreyu, and he laid Patience out on it carefully while the doctor (an Asian woman in her fifties with short hair and an interesting tattoo by her eye) ran some kind of device carefully over Patience's skull.

"There's no sign of trauma here. Can you tell me what happened?"

Grace Evans
If you are not what I seek, you're at least an echo of her, Grace thinks, hoping that the focus with which she does so is enough to 'speak' to Bastion silently. Can you read my mind?

They walk, and reach a place that looks much like a med-bay. It seems that even in the far future, the creator of this place decided to array it with ancient symbols. Snakes wrapped around a staff, like snakes wrapped around each other, eating their tails.

The doctor wants to know what happened, and Grace has to fight back the knowing smirk. She wants to explain how they were dumped here from another universe, really. But that wouldn't advance their cause.

"I don't know, she just fell."

[Manipulation + Subterfuge, because that's a total lie]

Dice: 4 d10 TN6 (2, 3, 3, 4) ( fail )

Demiurge
The doctor looked at Grace, then at Atreyu. There was a kind of tired skepticism in her eyes, like maybe she'd heard these kinds of lies enough times now to almost expect it. Especially when the patient came in with a nineteen year old boy who'd obviously just been clubbing (and still wasn't wearing a shirt.)

"I need to know if she consumed any drugs or alcohol recently."

Atreyu shook his head. "Not that we saw."

The doctor fixed him with another skeptical look and said, "I'm not the police. It's important that you don't keep anything from me."

"We're not. I promise. Truth is we don't really know what happened. We just found her like that."

That much at least was not exactly a lie, and the doctor seemed to accept it, despite her suspicions. She nodded and let the nurses take Patience back into one of the rooms. "I'll take a look at her and see what I can do. We'll keep you updated."

Then she followed the nurses, and Atreyu turned to look at Grace. "I hate being in here. There's a garden on the next level if you want to wait somewhere nice."

Demiurge
In answer to Grace's question, Bastion replied: I can feel the surface of what you think, yes. Emotions and questions. Needs. As I can everyone.

Grace Evans
"No. I should be here. For her. Just in case something happens, you know?" Grace just keeps looking in the direction they took Patience, like she's family -- not just some random person who happened to fall into the world with her.

Bastion speaking in her head will never not be creepy. She closes her eyes, and instead of words, what comes next is focused impressions -- pain that won't be silenced. She thinks of Sid, Kalen, Ian, Lena, even Maddoc. She sees the latter two's deaths in her mind's eye. She envisions home. She wants to go back. She wants to know how. And though Maddoc said that turning this into a fight was a sure way to lose, there is blame, isn't there? Why did you do this?

Even if the space station's Bastion isn't the real one, the fact that she can read their minds means the AI in charge -- the one which is not an echo -- can as well.

She opens her eyes then, and looks to Atreyu. "Thanks for dealing with the doctor. Do you know where I could... might find a computer interface? Or is it all just Bastion?"

Demiurge
Atreyu looked tense. Fidgety, even. He rubbed his thumb against the dip in his palm and looked for a moment as though he might leave her there to wait for Patience alone. But instead he just nodded and moved to sit down on one of the chairs in the waiting area.

He didn't know about the conversation that Grace was having with Bastion. About the flurry of memories and emotions she was offering up to the ship's computer, desperately in search of some kind of answer.

Something. Anything. Why?

And for a long moment Bastion was silent. Perhaps Grace had tripped up its algorithms somehow. But then she spoke again, softly.

"There are many stories in this world, Grace Evans. Some are heart-breaking. Some are beautiful. Many are both. You came to this place without an invitation, but now you are as much a part of it as I am. Perhaps when you reach the end, you will find the answers that you seek. Many people call this place 'the edge of the universe.' If there is a place where God can be found, you must be very close."

Atreyu glanced at Grace when she asked her question, but he seemed to know that Bastion herself would provide an answer, because he didn't reply, and a moment later a visual layout of some kind of computer display appeared in the air before Grace's eyes. Not unlike the holographic interface back on Sulis.

"I can provide a visual display if that is preferred."

Grace Evans
"Thanks for staying with me. I don't want to lose you either," she says to Atreyu, and goes to sit. "Every other time, we've lost you somehow."

For a moment, Grace wonders what the station computer would think to be used as a focus, to funnel the raw Data of this place into answers. She wants to know if a map of the station might include Atreyu-the-portal outlined the way he truly is. Or whether she might be able to ask the simulation itself how those portals are arranged -- how to get to the center. There's only one way to do that that she knows -- magic.

But first, she needs to know the computer she's using. It looks similar to Sulisian tech, but similarities can be deceiving. She starts using it in an attempt to familiarize herself with the programming in a way that doesn't echo inside her head.

If there is a place where God can be found, they must be very close. But, like she was explaining to Atreyu, distance is illusory. God is in the machine, and the machine is everywhere. It's not a matter of close or far, but how to reach her.

Demiurge
God is in the machine, and the machine... is everywhere.

Perhaps then, she has been with them all along. But if so, what was the point of the journey?

Grace began to teach herself to speak to the ship - this space station named for the very universe itself. And meanwhile Patience lay unconscious in an examining room while they all waited for something like an answer. Grace and a boy who was also a gateway (who understood about the connections between things because he himself was a connection.) Grace and a boy named after a person in a story that was itself about... stories.

And meanwhile, outside the walls of the station, the stars and the blackness of space marked the end of the man-made world and the beginning of something deeper.