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The obsidian contrasted the white glass above and around it. Activator rails and redstone torches let out a gentle glow. A dark blackstone button gleamed next to the red text on the sign: Start Firing Sequence.
“Machine is all ready to go,” Spoke said, vision sweeping the stained glass, the Nether portals, the various redstone components.
He observed the two levers, each on a redstone lamp. Only one of them emitted light, the lever flicked down. Spoke reread the sign, “Autofiring is active.”
Just as he finished speaking, muted footsteps sounded from the right; along with the sound of breaking blocks.
Spoke turned to the noise, staring at the netherrack around him, and called out, “What do I hear?”
Moments later, a nametag illuminated through the red wall, right before a hole formed and a player dropped onto the stained glass floor. The redstone torches lit up Jamato’s white mask beneath his netherite helmet.
“Why are you here?” Spoke questioned as Jamato dusted himself off and stood straight.
“Hey,” he said, turning to face Spoke.
“How—” Spoke blurted, “okay, I’m a million blocks out. How did you find me?”
Jamato took a small step back. “Squiddo told me where to find you.”
“Makes sense,” Spoke whispered, shrugging.
“I’m just here for one last time though,” Jamato said, shifting from one foot to the other.
Spoke strode toward him and said, “Jamato, I’m not…”—he raised an arm and gestured over the cannon—“Jamato, I’m not gonna stop this.” He looked out at the machine in its full glory; gray pistons and stone brick stairs peeked out from behind the lime and white glass. Jamato viewed it in silence. “I’ve already— I’ve already built it.
“When I press this button,” Spoke continued, walking up to it, “the first Wonder is set to be destroyed…” At Jamato’s lack of response, Spoke repeated, “Once I press this button.”
He turned to face Jamato again. Jamato stepped back then met his gaze, face unreadable. Spoke drew in a long breath before he said, “This is the solution I’ve come to.” He glanced at the black button once more. “I… I don’t see any other way.”
Jamato remained mute, and Spoke watched him adjust his helmet. Spoke kept speaking, “And I don’t know if you’re here to convince me to drop my items and burn them, but I’ve already— I’ve already, like—” The sentence died in his throat.
Still not talking, Jamato simply continued blinking at Spoke; who let out an uneven exhale as he broke eye-contact to walk up to one of the glowing purple portals. Spoke then said, “I don’t know if you’ve seen what’s on the other side of this portal,”—he watched Jamato inch closer but immediately stumble back—“but the largest vault in Minecraft history is on the other side of this, containing the items.”
Spoke turned and attempted to tread nearer to his friend. Jamato, however, kept his vision on the floor, fingers tightening around the hilt of his sword as he took yet another recessive step. Netherite clanked against glass as Spoke drew closer, fists clenched to steady his quivering fingers. Jamato finally looked Spoke in the eyes again.
“And,” Spoke continued, “there’s no chance that I’m going to destroy what I’ve worked so hard for.” Jamato’s pitch black eyes remained fixed ahead, and he didn’t make a noise at Spoke’s words. “So, I— I don’t know why you’re here…”
Jamato looked away, scraping his boot against the white glass floor as he blew out a breath.
He said, “That’s… that’s what I expected.” He met Spoke’s eyes again. “I’m not here to stop you.” Jamato’s voice sounded slow, gentle. “I know I can’t change your mind.
“I just… I just want you to know that…” Jamato said, stepping back yet again to stare at the ground. When Spoke tried walking forward, his heart sank as Jamato only retracted further. “This isn’t creating an ending,” he stated, and Spoke followed his gaze to the orbital strike cannon, before they looked into each other’s eyes once more. “This isn’t going to stop things. You’ve just— You’ve made another”—he chuckled through the sentence, dry—“weapon of mass destruction that… starts a new chapter. A chapter that I don’t know if you want to be a part of.”
Spoke blinked at the floor, pushing down the lump that had formed in his throat. He mumbled, “Jamato, like… where else do we go, though?” Spoke couldn’t look at Jamato as he said the words, too quiet and too unsure, “Like… after I use this, like… what happens then?” He finally lifted his head.
“I don’t know what happens to you,” Jamato said, eyes still locked onto Spoke’s as he took a couple steps away, “but I know what happens to me, and it doesn’t involve this place.” He retreated a few more blocks.
Spoke’s heart pounded. “What are you talking about?” he muttered, scrambling toward his friend.
“I came here to say goodbye,” Jamato’s voice sounded firm despite the way the fabric of his black gloves taughtened around the grip of his sword. “What ever you do from here on out,” he said, moving even further back, “I can’t control it. I’ve come to peace with that.”
“What are you… no— Jamato, you’re… what’s it called— you’re part of this,” Spoke spluttered out, head spinning. “You’re part of this with me. Like, we’re— we’re together in this. We’re gonna go back, like,”—he threw his arm out over the machine once more, rainbow wristband catching the dim torchlight—“I’m gonna blow up the monuments, and then we’re gonna travel back together.” He looked again into Jamato’s unflinching eyes. “We’re gonna… that’s how it’s gonna go.”
“I was part of this when we were still in control,” Jamato said, “but this is…”
“Jamato— I can… what’s it called—” His vision shifted from left to right, his breathing too fast as he stumbled backward. “I can destroy the items! I can—”
The sword gave the slightest shiver in Jamato’s right hand. “Look, you’ve worked so hard, and come so far,” he said, followed by another withdrawing pace, “but it’s time to let go.”
Spoke ducked his head, shutting his eyes as he tried piecing together his scattering thoughts. “ I started this to try to learn, like, why the— the server’s the way it is.
“I started this to try to…” he said as he wrung his icy hands, “find the answers to all these questions and I feel like…” He watched Jamato shuffle his feet. “I’ve lost more than what I’ve gained.” Spoke paused, attempting to blink back the sting forming behind his eyes. “I don’t know what else to say, but…” He looked up, into Jamato’s inscrutable expression, voice breaking as he uttered, “I guess that this is goodbye.”
As Spoke finished speaking, Jamato took a single step forward. “If this is it, we’ve got… one thing left to do before I go,” he said, and Spoke turned alongside him to the lone purple-black block surrounded by glass, “and you’ve built it right here.”
Jamato then nodded toward the orbital strike cannon. Spoke held his breath as he stared at the blackstone on the obsidian. Jamato’s presence radiated a gentle warmth beside him, solid and secure, but the moment he finished the job it would leave.
Despite all the duping and the exploits and all the unfathomable power he’d ever held over the world, Spoke had no capacity to stop Jamato from going—not when he sounded so certain. So, when he raised his arm toward the machine, he did it with a careful slowness; grasping onto every millisecond that Jamato still stood by his side.
His fingers finally brushed against the cold button, and a soft ‘click’ signaled the activation.
The machine remained stationary, emitting no noise but the hum of the redstone lamps and the warping of the Nether portals. It looked like nothing changed.
Spoke stared at his dark gray fingers as his hand fell to his side. He watched the shifting purple glow over Jamato’s echanted netherite armor next to him.
He blinked, and lonely white stained glass replaced the sight.
Spoke lifted his head. Jamato’s gentle footfalls clinked against the floor, back turned and shoulders high as he walked to the hole he’d entered from.
“Jamato,” he called, reaching out toward him, voice cracking on the last syllable. The figure paused. “Please… let me go—” He struggled to form the words. “Let me go with you.”
Breath trembling, he watched Jamato pull out an ender pearl in silence and throw it into the opening in the netherrack; never once glancing back.