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

[a_noble_flame]

[... Frankly Alice isn't sure what to make of the Zenith side. She lacks the context that she had with the Anti-Area, the Pelion princess, District Zero and all the rest of the stories from her own world. She knew that land, those people, the histories -- her grandfather had told her the stories after all. He had spoken of his triumphs in the field and his failures, the things he mourned doing and those that he didn't do.

It's clear though that Amos takes his position in Zenith with some burden. His voice is confident as he says he'll do better and her own communion pulses like a heartbeat with his declaration and his want for it. The tone of her voice is warm as well, accepting.]

Then I believe in you.

[She doesn't believe in what he did, no. Some might view it a 'necessary evil' but there was no necessity to it much like the broken bodies left behind in the wake of terrorist attacks in her own world. There was nothing necessary about those deaths.]

[baltimores]

[ He feels relief.

He doesn't know Alice at all; never knew of her presence here until this moment, and therefore hasn't so much as even looked at her in person. But there is a part of him that is intrinsically drawn to people like her, and for her to believe him even after all of the pain he's caused is relieving.

He needs to help win this war for Zenith; he also needs to be better in the future. He can do both. Amos isn't sure how yet, but knows he can do both.

So, once again, ] Thank you.

[ And, almost as if it were an afterthought: ] I know I ain't exactly going to come across as reliable right now. But if there's anything you need help with? I'll try to do what I can.

[ Because Alice strikes him as the kind of person that he can trust with that. No, he wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize Zenith — but anything else? If she thought it needed to be done? Then yeah, it'd probably be the kind of thing he should help out with, so he would. ]