Archive of Our Own

"Oh my gosh! Are you alright, Mr. Mason?!"

I looked to my side, as I saw Niko standing over me with a worried expression. I shook my head, trying to shake off any feelings of dizziness I had. "Yeah. Don't worry about it, buddy." I got to my feet and dusted myself off. Once I checked and made sure I hadn't broken anything, I looked down at Niko.

"And you can just call me Mason, kiddo. I'm not an old man," I said with a slight chuckle. Niko nodded with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry, Mama always told me to say 'Mr' or 'Ms' that when talking to grownups." As I finally adjusted my eyes, I saw that we were in an entirely new area. No longer a house, but someplace... industrial?

"Huh. Not what I was expecting. You all good, Niko?" 

"Yeah. It all went bright, and then I was just standing here, looking at you on the ground."

"Wonder why I had such a hard landing. Ugh." I rubbed my arm, as I felt a bit of lingering pain from my fall. Niko looked at my arm with a bit of worry.

"Are you sure you're OK, Mr- I mean, Mason?" I chuckled and gave Niko a pat on the head. "Don't worry about me, Niko. I've taken worse falls than that." I pat myself on the arm, showing that the pain I felt was negligible. They gave me a soft smile as I let my arm fall to my side.

After that brief conversation, I looked at the wall and gazed upon the machinery. All broken and out of use, but impressive none the less. "This looks like stuff that would be in a factory," I said as I idly pressed some buttons. No start up noise of any kind. I looked over to Niko, and I saw they had walked ahead of me, as they stood in front of a doorway.

"Hey Mason!," Niko shouted, as they pointed towards the exit. "I think this might be our way out." Niko then walked out through it, as I followed behind. As I walked through, I saw Niko just standing and looking up. 

"Niko? What are you..." I said before stopping, as I stared at the sight before us. A large tower going high into the night sky, farther than any building I had ever seen. I couldn't see the clouds, as the sky was too dark to see it clearly. I then took a moment to look around us, and was amazed even further. A dark blue landscape, with an ocean in front of us. Next to us was some sort of sparkling pool of dark blue liquid. As I looked closer, I could swear I saw tiny little fish swimming inside it. But above everything else that surprised me, was the metallic body that sat in front of us.

"Is... Is that a robot?" Niko said, as we both walked up to it. As we got close to it, I looked over and examined it. A square head with two antenna prods coming from the top like they were horns. Their eyes were dark, with no glint of light coming from them. But what struck me was the strange, or rather familiar symbol they had on their chest. Niko saw it too. "It looks just like that carving on the door."

I looked back at Niko, and looked at the lightbulb. "Probably best we keep that with us for now. Might be important," I said, giving it a curious look. Niko looked at the lightbulb and gave a nod. They then looked left and right, and asked, "Where should we go?" I looked to the north (or what I could only assume was north) and to the south. I couldn't see very far, but what I could see was what I could assume were rails and a minecart. Broken apart and not in use, but still heading south. 

"These rails seem to lead somewhere. Maybe we could follow them?" I said, unsure if my theory was correct. Niko nodded in agreement and followed me as I followed the rails. Even though the rails disconnected at some points, it was easy to tell where they led. We eventually made our way to a small building where we saw something. It appeared to be another robot. But this one... was moving.

"Wait... is that robot-" I didn't get to finish, as the robot spotted us. It gave us a look of surprise as it rushed over. Unsure of its intentions, I stood in front of Niko. Acting as a barrier to keep them safe. As it finally closed the distance, it let out what I could assume was a gasp.

"[That Lightbulb...! You Are Here!]" It exclaimed with joy. Niko stepped out from behind me and responded. "M-Me?" Seeing as how the robot wasn't being hostile towards us, I let my guard down. "[Yes! Welcome To Our World, Friend! I Am Most Humbled By Your Presence. Yes!]" It gave a bow to Niko as it finished its sentence. Me and Niko gave each other a look of confusion as it finished. "Uh, thanks..." 

A small passing of awkward silence came, before Niko continued. "Sorry... I'm a little lost..." I chuckled as I said "You can say that again." The robot raised up from its bow. [Ah Right! Allow Me To Explain Some Things. May I Ask How You First Arrived Here?"] I cleared my throat as I began to talk. "Well, the last thing I remember was falling asleep in bed after a long night of work. After that, I woke up in a house on a couch." As I finished, I noticed that the robot was staring at me. Not like a stare of intent or anger. It was a blank stare. The kind of stare that people give when they space out during conversations. "Uh... You alright there, bud?" I got no response. I felt like something was going to happen, but Niko spoke up. 

"Well, I had the same thing happen to me. I woke up this... weird house. It was really dark!" The robots gaze then went to Niko. I was grateful, but still felt uneasy with how they were just looking through me. "[Oh! So You Woke Up In An Unfamiliar, Dark Location?]" Niko nodded with a simple 'Mhm!' coming from them. "[Just As My Prophecy Foretold. Yes! You Are The Savior We Have Been Waiting For! You Will Be The One To Save Our World From Eternal Darkness!]"

The robot gave a spin of joy, as me and Niko stared dumbfounded by what it had just said. "...Could... Could you repeat that?" The robot finished their spinning, and gave me that blank stare once again. If not for the fact that it was being friendly to Niko, I would've assumed it had a problem with me. "Um..." The robot then focused on Niko. [I Will Now Provide You With Vital Information! Please Ask Me Anything!"]

I decided to step aside and let Niko do the talking, seeing as how the robot didn't really seem to acknowledge me. Niko began to ask their questions, as the robot did his best to answer.

"Can you tell me about this lightbulb? We found it in the house we woke up in." Niko lifted the lightbulb towards the robot, letting them examine it. "[Within Your Hands Is Our New Sun.]" I stared down at the lightbulb as they said that. "Your... sun?" The robot nodded fervently in response. "[Yes! Our Previous Sun Sat Atop That Tower And Spilled Its Life Into The Land.]" The robot then lowered their head in, what I could assume was sadness. "[But One Day, The Light Went Out.]" 

Niko let out a somber 'Oh' before the robot continued. "[The World Is Still Hanging On By A Thread. The Surface Of This World Is Abundant With An Element Called Phosphor. Fortunately For Us, This Element Stored Light Energy From Our Previous Sun. It's Now Our Only Source Of Illumination, But Its Energy Is Finite. When The Last Of The Light Dies, Our World Will Too.]" 

I looked at Niko, who gave me a look of worry. "Well, that's... bleak." I said, unsure of how to really respond to that. "[But Now That You Are Here With The New Sun, All Is Well! You Will Need To Restore It To The Tower.]" Me and Niko looked at the Tower. Even with how big it was, we could tell that we were nowhere near close to it. "That looks pretty far off!" Niko said, as they let out a sigh. "[Yes. So Begins Your Pilgrimage. Also, The Sun is Fragile. So Be Careful.]" The robot then lowered its head solemnly. "[If The Sun Shatters, This World Will End In An Instant.]" 

Me and Niko looked at each other, a bit shaken by that revelation. A small part of me however, wondered if breaking the sun would end this dream. But I ignored that thought as Niko continued to ask their questions.

"Could you tell me about this world? I'm not sure where I am exactly. Neither of us do. I can't see too far off, everything's so dark..." As they talked I decided to look off in the distance. Niko was right. Even though I could see where we came from, beyond that was a bit of a dark haze. I could make out that something was past it, but what is was? Forget it. It was like looking down a street in a dense fog. You know there are buildings there, but they were too obscured to make out any of their finer details like words or how many windows there were. As they were cut off from how deep they were in the fog.

"Mason? Did you hear that?" I snap out of my thoughts and look to Niko. "The robot said we're somewhere called the 'Barrens.' And that we have to go through two more places before we reach the Tower." I nodded my head in understanding. "He also said there's a map somewhere we could use!" Niko said, with a happy expression. 

I smiled. Maybe this journey wouldn't be too difficult. Niko continued on with their questions. 

"In the house we came from, I found this computer. It kept saying stuff like 'Your actions here will affect Niko.' But... I'm Niko! Are those messages meant for someone else?" I froze as Niko finished their sentence. They saw the same computer as me? I remember that I didn't even look in that room. I stayed silent for now, waiting to see what the robot would say.

"[Hm... If I Had To Guess, They Might Be Trying To Pass The Message to Mason.]" My eyes widened at that. "Wait, what?" I said incredulously. "For Mason?" Niko said in a more calm tone. 

"[Ah, That Would Be Our God!]"

...

"...Wh-"

"I'm sorry, WHAT?!" I said loudly, Niko being a bit startled from my outburst. "[If You Are Here, That Means Mason Is Here Also. Mason Will Provide Guidance For Your Journey. In Fact, They Already Have.]" I let out a groan. I hoped this wasn't going to be a whole thing. "[Being The Bringer Of Our Sun, You Have The Sacred Ability To Communicate Directly With Mason... An Ability That No One Else Possesses. Certainly Not I.]" 

"Wait. Is that why you haven't said a word to me?" I asked questioningly. The robot simply stared up at me. Like he was looking off in the far distance passed me. I facepalmed and groaned, "Oh this is going to be a whole thing, isn't it?" Niko then spoke up. "But, Mason is right here. How is talking an ability?" The robot then gave Niko a confused look. "[Have You Not Used Your Ability Yet? Allow Me To Assist. Please Close Your Eyes And Focus.]"

Niko looked up at me, unsure of what to do. I sighed and said, "Let's just humor him. This whole conversation is giving me a headache." Niko shrugged and did so. As they did, I waited for a few seconds. Nothing was happening. And then I heard their voice... in my head.

"Hello? Mason? Are you... there?"

I was unsure of how to react... actually, I knew exactly how to react.

"HOLY-!"

I saw Niko flinch as I mentally shouted in surprise. I grimaced and calmed down.

"S-Sorry, bud. Didn't mean to scare you."

Niko opened their eyes, but was still talking to me in my mind.

"Mason. How... How am I able to do this?" I don't think I could do this back home."

I took a moment to think on what was happening. When I heard their voice, it was as if I was listening to an echo that was inside my head. It would linger for a few seconds but end quickly after.

"Kid... I think you have telepathy."

"What's tele... teel... telly..."

Niko looked towards me with their eyes still closed, but I could tell they were a bit frustrated they couldn't say the word. I gave a small chuckle. 

"It means we can talk with our brains and not just our mouths. It's like... a superpower."

Niko's mouth open wide in surprise from my statement. "I have a superpower?!" They opened their eyes and fidgeted in place happily. The scene was adorable as they looked up with me with a big smile. "This is so cool! I wonder if I have any other powers. Maybe I can fly!" Niko looked like they were ready to jump until I put a hand on their shoulder. "Maybe we should finish up here before you do anything silly, kid." I said, pointing at the lightbulb. They blushed. "Oh right. Sorry." I gave their head a pat as I smiled at them. 

Niko looked to robot and asked their final question. 

"So, could you tell me about getting home? I-I don't mean to be rude but... I'm not sure about this." I looked to Niko, as they started to look a bit sad. "I still don't know how I got here! And Mason doesn't know either. I was just with my mama a few hours ago.  It... It feels like I'm in a bad dream." I frowned a bit. Poor kid really got himself caught up in something he didn't ask for. "I... I just wanna go home." I kneeled down and put a hand on their shoulder. They looked to me with a sad expression.

"[...Your Mission Is To Save Our World. Just As My Mission Is To Tell You About Our World. I Am Unable To Help You Beyond My Programming. I Am Sorry.]" 

Niko gave small 'oh' before looking down in defeat. I then decided to put both my hands on his shoulders. "Hey. Don't worry, Niko. If it's my job to get you home, then I'm gonna get you home. Who knows, maybe we're both our tickets back home." Niko looked up at me with a small smile. I could tell they were still unsure about everything. "Hey, keep your chin up, bud. You won't be alone for this." Niko then gave me a real smile, as I gave a pat on the head. 

Niko then looked to the robot. "I think that's all I have to ask for now." The robot then gave a polite bow as we entered the house. While we didn't get as much info as we were hoping, we at least knew what was at stake now. The feeling of this being a dream had faded fast, especially after that small fall I had. But panicking wouldn't help anyone. 

We had taken the first steps of our journey together. And now we know where we need to go. Head to the tower, put the lightbulb in, and save the world apparently. Should be easy peasy...

Right?