Frontier Town Grand Station Construction Site

[Jackie Cat]

Laura winced, but, hey. It was explicitly a joke.

"Your delivery could use some work," she shot back, hoping this guy just favoured banter. "So, there is a Galar in your world? I'm kinda taking notes on all the multiverse stuff while I'm at it – what's the current date for you back home? Did you hear about the whole Darkest Day thing with Macro Cosmos...?"

She walked alongside the chimera, and idly wished for the hundredth time she had her phone. Or pockets to shove her paws into, at least.

 

[Ambyssin]

"Wouldn't know. I've been homeless for a long time." Nova continued forward. Saying that made him more aware of his lack of a cloak. Weapon, rebel, cultist... he always had some sort of cloak on him. Maybe he'd get one for Forlas eventually. "Besides, day and night have been artificial on Earth ever since Eternatus absorbed it into its collective."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura stumbled, and stopped walking for a second. There was a long pause.

"Bloody hell," she muttered, when her brain allowed her to say anything. "I, uh. I didn't think that was possible. Hugely destructive, terrifying extradimensional entity, sure. Capable of absorbing the entire howling planet? Fuck."

A trickle of sick, rancid fear tugged at her chest. Her hackles pricked up.

"How?" she asked. "And... when?

 

[Ambyssin]

"Sorry. There's probably a disconnect." Nova stopped. He traced a circle in the ground. "So, like, here's a planet."

He drew a hexagon next to the circle. It was easily twice the size. "This is Eternatus. In my universe. It's not from some other world. It's always been around. Since the beginning." Nova tried not to imaging Her face reciting similar words to him in the past. "It travelled around absorbing life-bearing planets." He traced an X over the circle, then made an arrow pointing the to the hexagon. "And it was my home, since my creator supervised it."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura crouched to study the lines in the dust.

"Okay, that's already several orders of magnitude larger than 'my' Eternatus. 'Since the beginning', you said? We talking birth of the universe, or what?"

She frowned, and hugged her chest.

"And who the hell was your creator, to 'supervise' something like this...?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Birth of the universe," Nova said. "My creator always said it was instrumental. Foundational. Which was why it had to be preserved." His fur bristled. "Why I was made to... keep the peace within it."

He didn't answer the second question at first. His talons just curled in the dirt. Nova felt like explaining these things always brought the mood down. The truth... could this world use it against him? Against the others, like he offhandedly mentioned to Koa? He hoped not. Because he couldn't say it. Nova wasn't strong enough.

"My creator was meticulous. A researcher obsessed with myths and legends. She was... the only person meant to oversee Eternatus."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura bit her lip. The chimera was being pretty forthcoming, but he seemed pretty on edge. Maybe he just felt he had to answer.

"Look, uh, Nova. I appreciate you telling me all this, but it's obviously a bit of a sore spot... We can talk about something else if you'd prefer."

Oh, but not knowing would kill her. Fuck.

"...Having said that, I have no idea what 'only person meant to oversee' is supposed to mean. By what authority and to what purpose?"

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova stiffened at first. But the gears in his mind turned fast enough to default to a hasty answer. One he'd already used before.

"In the world I'm from, fate is already decided." He had to speak with conviction to avoid casting lingering doubts. "There exists something... beyond humans and pokémon. Myths and legends included. Though we can make choices for ourselves, the outcomes of said choices were already decided by Him."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura eyed the chimera. This was... a very different conversation to the one she'd expected. Or the one she'd only recently had with Gladion.

"You have proof your universe is deterministic according to... what, a deity's will? Was that a capitalised 'Him' I heard just then?"

She frowned, not for the first time.

"And does that extend to this world, or do you have true free will here?"

 

[Ambyssin]

"Not a deity. Something greater," Nova mumbled. "Deities can shape the worlds they're responsible for. But they cannot shape fate itself. Not unless they make a world where there is no free will to begin with. And even then, they cannot sustain that forever." He trudged forward, shaking his head. "I've got free will, though. Because I'm His prophet back home. And that... was something forced on me by the Red Chain." He glanced skyward. "I've struggled against it to no avail. Certainly should've disqualified me from being summoned here, in my opinion.

"I'm skeptical... about who summoned us. They sound uncertain. Inexperienced." He tried to glance back, but the helmet was blocking his vision. "Knowing what this is... makes me wonder if they're divine. Either natural... or artificial."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried to keep up.

"Okay. Deities can't shape fate, but 'he' can. That sounds like semantics, but okay. And you're his prophet – weird thing to be for a non-deity, but okay – which gives you free will, by force. And which should've interfered with you being sent here. And the voice that summoned us could be divine, and that could be artificial. Okay. Okay."

She looked at Nova seriously, certain that he wasn't delusional or doing a bit, and so determined herself to see the conversation through.

"I take it you're still talking about Eternatus. Only, to me? That's just a space dragon 'mon someone caught in a ball, defeated two-nil by a pair of local legendaries. Low key kinda terrifying, but not... Not anything like the scale you're talking about. And yet your world has Galar, and RKSCs, and Eternatus-by-name, even if it's a completely different scale of... Well, 'threat' doesn't seem the right word. I can't help but wonder what piece I'm missing that makes this make sense."

 

[Ambyssin]

Nova was silent at first, trying to figure out how to come up with an explanation that would make sense. "I'm not sure... how to make it fit for you. There's a whole galaxy inside Eternatus. Lotta life-bearing planets. Earth's just one of 'em. It used to be that my creator was tasked with keeping it all in order. She built me... and all the others to keep order. I turned against her because I couldn't reconcile what I was doing for her as protecting anyone or anything.

"It turned out there was a lot of stuff behind the scenes I never understood. But I guess... the summoner figured thinking I did what was best makes me heroic enough."

 

[Jackie Cat]

"I dunno, mate, I really don't. It sure didn't sound like the cloud was doing the picking and choosing, but I don't know who the fuck was in either of our cases if not them. Don't much like the idea of your fucked-up demiurge sending you himself."

Laura blew air in a long huff. "Howls, that stuff's heavy, though. The scale..." She blinked, still fighting off the background dread she refused to entertain. "I'll be direct with you, I guess. If my Eternatus is in someone's pokéball, is my world safe? Or are you gonna tell me your timeline had some kind of Eternatus tendril that was but a cell of the true vast entity and a couple years after Macro Cosmos imploded, the real thing turned up and ate the whole fucking planet? 'Cause I'd love to not stay up at night thinking about that particular horror if I don't have to."

 

[Ambyssin]

There was that name again. Was that implying something? "I'm... guessing that's some sort of corporation? I don't really think... you have anything to worry about," Nova said. "My Galar is... mostly weapons factories, mines, and oil fields. If your Eternatus is a pokémon, then they can perceive their surroundings. What people think of them. The behaviors they display toward and around them. As long as they're treated with respect... I think they can reciprocate."

He looked down. "Pokémon are... like humans in that regard. Some of us are social. Others prefer to stay on our own. But even the latter still needs some socialization. We are a product of how we're raised... and our environments."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura nodded, cautiously. "Gotcha. I guess I'll just... I don't know. I'll just assume that if our universes are related in a pop science 'many worlds' type of way, that they're different enough that my Eternatus really is just... a creature. And if they're related in some other way, causal or not, that it's beyond me to look into."

She swallowed, and scratched her neck a little. "I... I already do get that, about pokémon. They're not like humans, but they're not unlike humans, in some ways. Living things tend to make some kind of sense. I like to think I get that. I like to think most people do, where I'm from. No weapons factories or oil fields – more, sports stadiums and wind farms. Mostly. It's not a utopia, but I think I got the lucky draw on which dimension to be born into. Your world sounds... hard to live in. I really am sorry."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Thanks." Nova nudged her side. "Not like you have to apologize, but I appreciate it anyway." He stretched his hind legs out. "I want... to think none of it's relevant here. Unless the mystery dungeons end up pulling from my memories. I'll just, y'know, hope that's not the case here."

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura laughed nervously. Nova seemed pretty well-adjusted for someone going through the shit he'd described. She hoped that held up – she doubted the pokémon-only old west had many good therapists. But that last thing he'd said...

"Don't be too eager to go in any, then. Apparently some dungeons do have psychological components to their weirdness. Not, like, routinely. But I've read about rangers having to train to identify when a dungeon is messing with their heads." She shook her head. "It's not like I can look up really solid research or anything, but you should be fine if you stick to 'natural' ones, apparently. Uh. Good luck, I guess."

And if you wanna talk about it, you can always talk to me.

Nah. She didn't know him that well, yet – she'd sound insincere. And besides – what the hell could some dumbass girl offer a traumatised living weapon, anyway?

Well. Basic human kindness, at least.

"I hope it doesn't come up, and if it does come up, then... I hope you'll be alright. I'll keep an eye out just in case."

 

[Ambyssin]

"Thank you." Nova nodded politely. "And I'll... do what I can to try and help you guys. Which is, uh, probably a lot of standing there and taking hits from jackasses." He paused. "Or something like that." The null added a nervous laugh for good measure.

 

[Jackie Cat]

Laura grinned. She'd only caught a glimpse of Nova in battle the day before, but she could imagine him taking plenty of hits. He was built pretty damn solid, which all the construction work would only help with.

"Hey, walls are an important role on a battle team," she quipped. "I'm, uh, still figuring out what I ought to be contributing, but I have some experience as a trainer, so. Y'know. I can recognise the importance of taking hits from jackasses."

She sighed, and wished for a wristwatch. Those might actually exist here, but they probably cost an arm and a leg.

"Not sure what the time is, Nova, but I gotta dash. Got a lot of work to do and not much time to do it in. It was nice talking to you."

For all that the chimera's esoteric ramblings about his nightmare reality had disturbed her, she meant it.

<><><><><>​

 

[Namohysip]

By pure luck, Aige had followed the shadowy trails that spread and sprawled all throughout town. But amid all the paths and general directions, as Aige continued to float over the rapidly evaporating land, it was clear... that something had come this way.

A once sprawling landscape was merely a fog that covered still-disappearing tracks. A single set of tracks, curiously enough... What could that mean? But it was better than nothing.

Something was ahead, just past the buildings. There was ample cover to go unnoticed. The sun was rising. Natural shadows were long. And because the sun was behind Aige, that meant getting too close might alert whoever was there...

To Aige's left and right were buildings and construction stations. Whatever was moving away was going against the early riser Pokemon, certainly against the grain of typical movement. How would Aige approach?