sparkstrikes | empatheias IC contact. (archive)

Apple has a theory. Since people from here from different points in time, maybe it's possible to return to a different time. If we can figure out how to do that, we can change the past. I can stop Izana from being deployed and killed. Maybe I can even warn my country that an attack is coming and prevent the war totally.

We could stop Lady Serah from dying.

[Her stomach makes an uncomfortable turn again, and she grimaces, letting the silence between them linger a little bit longer. With a very audible and loud sigh, her face appears in the connection, and she looks very unamused.]

I don't think that's a good idea.

Why not?

[It's a genuine question. Not a hint of his typical belligerence. Not argumentative. Not even a touch of surly grump. He appears earnest enough but his tone is edging towards calm. At least he's not afraid that disagreeing or having a different opinion will inevitably end with a broken friendship anymore.]

[She thought the whole "don't play with time" warning was a universal thing... Not even the gods gave Lightning the power to bend time that much at will and even her own ability to do so is limited...]

There's nothing good waiting at the end for anyone who tries to mess with time. Trust me.

I do trust you. But, if there's a chance, I have to try. I can't sit back and do nothing at all.

[If there's any kind of hard evidence about this, he'll respect Light's judgment call. Otherwise, it's full steam ahead, consequences be damned.]

Then don't.

[She's not sitting back and doing absolutely nothing either. Lightning hasn't exactly made it public knowledge that she's been looking into the hows and whys of people coming and going the way they do, but this? This isn't the answer she would ever seek.]

But you know what'll happen if you mess with time, Machina. We all do.

[Machina would most likely feel 100% differently about this whole conversation if he knew he's had his life reset over six million times. Or if anyone had told him outright what killed Lady Serah. But no, he doesn't know what happens if you mess with time and...]

...why do people keep saying that? Isn't changing a bad past a good thing?

[If there was a way for Machina to feel a long, debilitated sigh over a connection, this is it.]

Sure. You can change the past, but then what? You've got no control over the consequences it'll have on the future. It's a ripple, all across the timeline. Change one small thing, and thousands of other things change, too.

[Oh yeah, he can feel the sigh. It's still strange to get emotions and not just voices or words but there we have it. Not that he understands fully why this is a bad thing. After all, the point is to change things. How could that go wrong? ~~Other than Machina's historical knack for Bad Life Decisions.~~

He lapses silent, genuinely listening and thinking about what she's saying. Not diving in on his emotions and stopping to think things through before acting isn't something Machina does often. But he's trying. But his frustration and feelings of helplessness are probably leaking through anyway.]

[If they are, Lightning makes no comment on them. She realizes she might have sounded a little harsh, especially with the accompanying sigh, but this isn't something she takes lightly, nor should he.]

Machina.

[It's firm, to try and grab his attention back from the silence he's fallen into.]

Do you think that if I could change everything that's happened, I'd be sitting here talking to you right now?

[Well when she puts it like that...]

Not a chance.

[He sighs in frustration, hands pressed into the sides of his head.]

Great. So it's back to square one.

Right.

[Well, she's glad he's at least listening to her... maybe there's still some hope for you after all, Machina. Her tone and features soften.]

What made you think you could do something like that, in a place like this?

Because there's something weird about people coming and going. Izana died almost a year before I got here. But Apple is from her mom's future. Something or someone is pulling us in and out of time. Whatever or whoever it is... if they can do it, shouldn't we be able to?

[Lightning falls silent for a moment. These are the exact questions she's been asking since Prompto and Gladio left, and even more now with Serah gone.]

I've been looking for answers. Checked history books, newspapers, anything that might have had some information about the past, but I came up with nothing.

... Almost like whoever, or whatever, is doing it doesn't want us to know.

I noticed that too when I was looking. Someone said the Arehtei don't know anything, but I don't believe that.

They're not gods. They aren't all-knowing like people think they are.

[Though they certainly seem like they are sometimes, which is why talking about them still leaves a sour taste in her mouth. Not that she's had the chance to speak with any one of them face to face yet.]

You hear stories about Simpathis?

I saw a couple of references, but nothing more. Something I should know?

Mm, no. Thought that maybe you'd know more than I do.

[She lets out an exhausted breath.]

Trying to find answers to anything here is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Sorry I can't be more help.

It's okay. I'll keep at it as long as it takes to turn up something.

[Anything.]

You turn anything up, you let me know.

[And she'll do the same for him. She's not all that hopeful, though. Not anymore.]

empatheias IC contact. (archive)

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