Work Text:
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ Traveller – }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ What has become of my other half? }}
✦
ART-kzzt-EM1S
From the whims of the Atlas, a Traveller.
APOL?L0
They touch upon their first world as two, intertwined.
ART-kzzt-EM1S
They have never known loneliness; their reality is singular; they both, truly, exist.
APOL?L0
They share everything: their curiosity, their flight path, their discoveries.
ART-kzzt-EM1S
But they are not the same –
APOL?L0
– it is not enough.
✦
ARTEMIS
I scour the surface of each and every planet, my rifle raised only to search out new life from its scope. Our hunger is always sated. I excavate fossils, artifacts, logs of other travellers, turning over the earth for the tangles of history I long to unravel.
APOLLO
I learn the language of the locals, the ways of trade, brushing shoulders with the Guilds and their underbelly. Our ships are outfitted well. I collect plants, materials, weave them together from the blueprints I traded for, salvage data an easy find.
ARTEMIS
From system to system, things shift and change.
APOLLO
There are always units to be made, people to talk to, discoveries to be made.
ARTEMIS
At their heart, they’re all the same.
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Is there really nothing like us? }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Aren’t we enough? }}
✦
APOLLO
Artemis wants to study the portals. “Leylines”.
APOLLO
Stupid.
APOLLO
Don’t they understand? The risks I take are concrete, measurable. Managed. Dangerous wildlife falls easily. Pirates come in small clusters, never more than ten, a dreadnought always escapable with a little maneuvering. Sentinels can be dodged, disabled. Dead.
APOLLO
What they want, the desire they won’t let up on, is a risk so unknown that none of my connections will even speak of it. A risk they call “God”. It’ll eat them alive.
APOLLO
Where will we be, then?
APOLLO
Where will I be?
✦
ARTEMIS
The graves, the glyphs, the monoliths and the portals...
ARTEMIS
There are other Travellers out there, I know, and there has to be a way to make it work - there have to be answers, out there. Other galaxies. Worlds that are different from these.
ARTEMIS
In my dreams, I hear –
ARTEMIS
Apollo does not.
ARTEMIS
I know it’s a matter of worry, not of trust, but they don’t understand that this isn’t a matter of want but of need.
ARTEMIS
I thought that they might. We were cut from the same cloth. All my memories, theirs. But they think that they can be satisfied with units alone.
ARTEMIS
And maybe they can.
ARTEMIS
Maybe we were never meant to walk the same path forever.
✦
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ I’ve found a series of glyphs. Sixteen, coordinates to somewhere new. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ ... And? }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Are you coming? You’ve been doing near-constant maintenance on my ship. I thought you knew. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Of course I knew. And now your sails won’t be shredded when you go. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Apollo. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ This is going to kill you. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ You don’t know that. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ I don’t need to. Even if I did, you would still go. It doesn’t matter to you. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Of course it matters. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Then don’t go. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Don’t you understand how unfair that is to ask? To have me stay here for the rest of my life, dreaming, knowing I could find out what’s out there, gutted by the fact that I can’t. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Gutted by living a life the same as the rest of us? }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ I thought we were us. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ We are. I don’t understand – }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Clearly! }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ This isn’t a bad life. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Are you happy? }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Enough. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ I don’t think you are. I’m not. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ ... }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Come with me, Apollo. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ I’m not following you to your death. There is no life beyond those portals. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Your dreams are lies. I followed those Travellers to their graves with you, I heard their words, saw the realities behind them, and there is nothing, Artemis, nothing worth anything at the end of your road – }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Just because it can’t be sold doesn’t mean it’s a lie. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Is it any truth worth finding? }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ I believe in it. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ So you do. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ Apollo – }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Will you be able to come back? }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ ... I don’t know. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Then this is farewell. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ I’ll see you at your grave, Artemis. }}
ARTEMIS, to APOLLO
{{ We’ll meet again. I promise. }}
APOLLO, to ARTEMIS
{{ Don’t. }}
✦
TRANSMISSION: ARTEMIS
{{ Traveller? }}
TRANSMISSION: ARTEMIS
{{ Where are you? }}
ART-kzzt-EM1S
Their coordinates lead to a place that does not exist. Their distress signal leads to a ship with torn sails. Their desperate link to another reveals a Traveller in denial, running from their grief. You know who they are grieving.
ART-kzzt-EM1S
They died alone.
ART-kzzt-EM1S, to THE LAST TRAVELLER
I always die alone.
✦
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ I received your transmission. I -kzzt- }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ Nobody wants to die. When I saw the Atlas, I recognized myself. Isn’t that strange to say? I recognized myself in God. Something enough like God. }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ I wanted to play it safe. Everyone is scared of death. After death, there’s nothing – }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ -kzzt- }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ I wish there was nothing, after. }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ I wanted to be happy. I wanted them to be happy. But I wanted them to be safe, more. I wanted them to stay. They wanted me to go. If we were together, maybe it would’ve worked. They were the better part of us. I – }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ Artemis was afraid to die, and they sought happiness anyways. }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ If the world is ending anyways, shouldn’t I do the same? }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ I’m going to see it for them, Traveller. I’m going to see it for myself. }}
TRANSMISSION: APOLLO
{{ Maybe I’ll see you there. We’ll meet again. }}
APOL?L0
This is a promise.
✦
TRANSMISSION: ARTEMIS
{{ Apollo, I’m sorry – }}
TRANSMISSION: ARTEMIS
{{ I should be happy you’re alive, somewhere, but I wish you were here with me. Is that selfish? }}
APOL?L0
They don’t recognize you.
ART-kzzt-EM1S
They see too many ghosts, in the cracks of their reality.
TRANSMISSION: ARTEMIS
{{ I’m sorry. }}
THE LAST TRAVELLER
I tell them I’m going to meet Apollo, one day. I ask them if there’s anything they want me to say.
TRANSMISSION: ARTEMIS
{{ -kzzt- I wish you were here with me. -kzzt- I’m sorry. }}
THE LAST TRAVELLER
I –
THE LAST TRAVELLER
I nod. The transmission ends.