ota;

[baltimores]

[ This isn't exactly something he does. Not on this scale, at least.

This communion's presence is akin to stepping off into the vacuum of space, cold and dark and empty. A void without feeling, submersed into nothingness — but deep enough there's also the faint pulse of a drowned, hurting heart. And even though it's coming from Amos, there's the sense of him curiously poking at it like an open wound.

It has been a couple of weeks since he killed Cyrus, a fact he has not bothered to hide. A couple of weeks since he has been forced to contend with the responsibility he bears for the deaths of innocents in Springstar, and so — ]

Hey.

[ When he speaks his voice is soft, and gentle, and something that could maybe even be called repentant. Or at least trying to be, the concept being a very, very, very new one for him. ]

So, I've been doing some thinking. There was this time I got caught up in a mass casualty event. Lady I knew then was a nurse, so she was doing what she could, because it had to be done. She also took the time to spend time with the dead. All of them, I think. I didn't really get it then, but I think maybe now...

[ He trails off, fumbling with his words. That pulse maybe grows a little stronger, and then he's back. ]

I dunno how feasible it is, but we should be collecting the names of everyone who died during all of this. When we make the new world — [ because there is no doubt in his mind that Zenith is going to succeed, and their new world will be made — ] we can build some kind of monument. Put everyone's names on it. Give people a space to take their moments with them, even if they ain't here anymore.

I know this don't exactly fix anything, but it's a start. I can keep track of the names. [ There's another pause, and when Amos speaks again, he's much more sure of himself. ] I won't forget them.

Comments

[clockpunk]

I know who you are.

[ okay, that was definitely intended to be a bit rude, but why shouldn't it be? it's followed by a half-laugh of a huff, like chrono's disappointed in himself for it anyway. amos seemed... genuine, which is much less surprising and much more difficult to be mad at than he'd hoped for. ]

There are so many people resisting, who've got all their own reasons. I've got mine.

[ he stretches out his hand, and the shard in the back of it seems to glow. not the whole thing, but the pointed shape distorted within it. chrono's form, so solid despite the communion setting until now, wavers momentarily - like he'd become transient, incorporeal. just for a moment. ]

I know you've got yours, too. But it's sort of insulting to be told it'll all be good, y'know?

[ his hand closes into a fist, and drops. ]

[baltimores]

[ He doesn't really react to the rudeness, at least; just a blink of surprise, as if it's only just occurred to him that people are going to know who he is. There's the recognition in Highstorm, and that's... something he mostly ignores, content to go about his business at his shop and with aid efforts. But if he's going to have a reputation in Springstar now, too...

That really is something he should have foresaw.

Amos watches as Chrono shows his hand, as something seems to happen to him — and then it's back to normal, and he tilts his head slightly in curiosity. Sure, other people have their reasons, but—

But he hadn't really been thinking about that before, too focused on the greater good. And now that he is... ]

I'm sure your reasons are good ones too. Not a lot of people out there with the wrong ones, you know? [ Those are... a problem. Different from the simplicity of being on the opposing side. For a second it grows colder, and then the calm impassivity is back once again. ] It's just that this is something bigger than all of us, so it's important to get it right.

[ And right is obviously Zenith. ]

[clockpunk]

Mm. Yeah, it's bigger than all of us, that's for sure.

[ that had been obvious from the first sight of the cosmos at the edge of the tree of life, the day he'd been uprooted, that he was in way over his head with whatever was in store. everything since then only confirmed it, even as chrono had come to terms with it.

but that was just them. there were still few, a bunch of lucky(? that might not be true) souls that were whisked out of the aether.

the momentary chill has chrono blinking up at amos from where he was still crouched down. ...huh. ]

Why're you so convinced that this is right, then? You can't say it's just a job to go kill someone and start all this 'n then claim that in the same breath.

[baltimores]

I can't?

[ The question is one of genuine surprise, as though it honestly hasn't occurred to Amos that killing Cyrus hadn't been a mere stepping stone en route to what's right, a greater good for everyone. He blinks, baffled. And has to take a moment to think it over, because Chrono's words had not occurred to him. ]

I mean... people die all the time. It's not like it means anything. I cut one guy's life short, yeah, but it's not like it was personal. Just something that had to be done. What else are you supposed to do when you got an obstacle in your way?

[ Because obviously you remove it, even when it is a living, breathing person. But for as callous as his words are — as his communion space is — he is asking. Chrono, what would you do when faced with that kind of situation? ]

[clockpunk]

If people's lives are just obstacles for what you want, what's the point in even tryin' to make a new world? If you can say with all your belief that things'll be better, but see any kind of challenge as some barrier to be broken, then you're really just wanting...

[ he falters, the words feeling heavy in his throat. ]

A future of "happiness" without freedom. [ the phrase feels like deja vu, but chrono doesn't take time to try and place it. ] That's just nothingness, if death has no meaning. It's void.

[ he stretches, and rises to his feet, looking out at the dark blank slate of the communion space. ]

I can't answer you properly, or anythin'. I'm kinda stupid, y'know? [ a small, genuine laugh. ] If you're following your actual beliefs, that's fine. But they don't make any sense at all, just sayin'.

[baltimores]

... I know I'm on the outside when it comes to this kind of stuff.

[ If Chrono is stupid, then Amos is moreso. The train of thought is so clear to him: kill Cyrus -> help Zenith -> create new world. Nothing about happiness or freedom is compromised within that narrow approach, but here he's being told to expand it, and he... can't. There's nothing outside of those narrow parameters that he can see. A void.

Which makes him inclined to think that Chrono is on to something here, if he can't really see how. ]

It'll just... I'm not saying death has no meaning. That's the whole point of having something to remember the lives lost here. I can... When there's the new world I can sequester myself away from it. Focus on those who're gone only, so I'm not interfering with the living. So that they don't get stuck in a void.

[ Because he lives in one, and it's very clear that that's a problem. And something he wouldn't recommend. ]

... There'll be people more suited than me to build the new world, anyway. I'm just helping it get built. Getting my hands dirty so others don't have to. It'll work out after that.