[ Thancred has little warning, having only just recovered from what had taken place between himself and Yennefer (an Echo vision — that's the only thing he can call it) when Stephen comes over with concern to question them and investigate. Does this have to do with the fact that their final device had been set up relatively close to the Singularity? Not so close, but close enough? The summit had been close to it as well, but in that case they'd been protected by some manner of magical barrier. Not so, this time, so mayhap it's had some manner of side effect on them that's similar to the Echo.
No doubt Stephen has all the same questions, and so Thancred can't blame him for wanting to examine them, to learn more. The hand at his shoulder seems harmless enough, until yet again he's afflicted by a mind-numbing headache.
Where he finds himself next he cannot begin to explain, a single rocky platform surrounded by swirls of distorted color. The giant face is perhaps no different in size or scope from being faced with a primal, and yet there's something immense and unknowable about it.
Stephen appears, to "bargain," but this is not the Stephen of the present moment. Thancred is instead here alone, leaving him to only watch as the past version of Stephen continues to play out the same few seconds over and over and over, wearing down this cosmic presence with his stubborn determination. It doesn't matter how many times he "dies" (and does he feel it, each time?); he is always back, somehow, to try again. The memory fades away before Thancred can see the full resolution, but the massive being does seem to be relenting by the end.
In the meantime, Stephen is treated to a memory of his own—
It starts on the bridge of some manner of spacecraft. A group of people that includes both Thancred and Himeka stand while a number of small, rabbit-like creatures sit at the control panels. Warning sirens go off and then what looks to be a young girl with bird-like feet and tail feathers appears. Her hair, her feathers, and even her clothing are black, and her eyes are gray voids. Himeka identifies her as "Meteion."
Meteion cannot understand why the group has come to find her, when all life is suffering and she has offered to deliver them an end to that. She views life as an anomaly, and entreats the group to understand that her desire to end all of the despair is the correct course of action. Y'shtola, Thancred, and Alphinaud respond to the nihilistic words in turn, countering that while life may be full of sorrow, it is still their right to live.
Their pleas fall on deaf ears, as Meteion insists that she has seen this same passion in the people of other worlds, and they have all eventually died out. She strips the oxygen out of the air, and everyone falls to the ground, passing out from suffocation one by one. Save for Thancred, who somehow manages to keep his balance and staggers toward Meteion, gunblade in hand. He lunges toward her to take a swing, and then all fades to black.
The memory ceases, leaving both of them doubled over as they recover from the disorienting side effects of the exchange. ]
no subject
No doubt Stephen has all the same questions, and so Thancred can't blame him for wanting to examine them, to learn more. The hand at his shoulder seems harmless enough, until yet again he's afflicted by a mind-numbing headache.
Where he finds himself next he cannot begin to explain, a single rocky platform surrounded by swirls of distorted color. The giant face is perhaps no different in size or scope from being faced with a primal, and yet there's something immense and unknowable about it.
Stephen appears, to "bargain," but this is not the Stephen of the present moment. Thancred is instead here alone, leaving him to only watch as the past version of Stephen continues to play out the same few seconds over and over and over, wearing down this cosmic presence with his stubborn determination. It doesn't matter how many times he "dies" (and does he feel it, each time?); he is always back, somehow, to try again. The memory fades away before Thancred can see the full resolution, but the massive being does seem to be relenting by the end.
In the meantime, Stephen is treated to a memory of his own—
The memory ceases, leaving both of them doubled over as they recover from the disorienting side effects of the exchange. ]