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And the universe said I love you
The Hatchling walks towards the north pole of the Quantum Moon, and tries not to be creeped out. The everchanging landscape, one way for a moment, another the next, the clouds above, the black shiny stone all around…
They check their radar, and breathe a sigh of relief when they see they have almost reached north pole.
They look up from their radar and-
See a Nomai. A Nomai? A living Nomai????
They say something, they honestly don’t even know what, and the Nomai tilts their head and points towards the glowing stones on the wall next to them, and Hatchling understands.
“I am Solanum, a Nomai. My clan arrived in this star system before my birth, and we now call it home.”
Solanum! The little Nomai from the Ember Twin. So she not only made it to the Quantum Moon, but she finished her journey to the north pole!
“I’ve never met one of your kind before. It’s an honor to speak with you! I particularly admire your four eyes.” Solanum tells them, and the Hatchling laughs. Solanum also makes a sound from behind her oxygen mask, and for a second, the Hatchling forgets the world will soon end, again.
They talk about the Eye, the Quantum Moon, the Nomai, and the Hatchling tries to learn as much as they can, limited as their conversations unfortunately is.
Solanum writes on the wall, one final combination. “We do not have much connection, you and I. Still, this encounter feels special. I hope you won’t mind if I think of you as a friend.“
Their heart leaps in their chest and the Hatchling finds themselves teary eyed. They are glad they are of the same mind as Solanum.
Then, time mercilessly takes them back to Timber Hearth.
And the universe said you have played the game well
The Hatchling wakes up and runs towards the elevator and only looks at Slate mournfully for a second and gets inside the ship and lifts off and lands on the Ash Twin and waves at Chert thought they can’t see it and wills the sand to fall to Ember Twin faster and they get inside the tower and wait for the sandfall to pass by and get on the teleport and disable the gravity inside the Ash Twin Project and-
They take out the warp core
-and step on the teleport again and run towards their ship and fly to Dark Bramble and will their ship to glide faster by the anglerfish and spare a look towards the long-dead, still-hugging Nomai and exit their ship, warp core firmly in hand, and enter the Vessel and-
They put in the new warp core
-and they start entering in the coordinates that might as well be burned into their retinas and still will themselves not to shake from nervousness what if they had forgotten and they enter in the last coordinate and slide the ball into its’ final slot and-
And the universe said everything you need is within you
The Hatchling cautiously steps towards the light of the Prisoner’s staff, still looking at the tall creature. They wonder how they lost their antler. It must have hurt.
Still, they slowly shuffle forward to be lit by the green coming from the staff, and brace for whatever is to come.
When the vision stops, it feels like the world, too has stopped. The Eye’s signal-
This person does not know it, does not know what their short rebellion set in motion-
The Hatchling takes the staff, and they point it towards themselves. The least they can do for the Prisoner is to show them their millennia-long sentence was not for naught.
And the universe said you are stronger than you know
The Hatchling wishes the Nomai had more answers. It seems all they manage to scrunch up is more and more questions.
Some loops, the Hatchling just spends lying on the ground, wishing the Sun were not messed up. Wishing it was not them who had to deal with this. But, eventually, they pick themselves up and move again.
They read.
“The pain of your absence is sharp and haunting, and I would give anything not to know it; anything but never knowing you at all (which would be worse). I can only hope that you are safe, Keek, wherever you are.“
“We can hear the other escape pods’ distress signals, which gives me hope. Foli, are you still here? I am unsure how to survive in this place without you. (I am unsure how to be me without you.)“
And the universe said you are the daylight
The Hatchling approaches the Prisoner cautiously. They still feel the lingering fear his dreamworld brethren had instilled in them, with their imposing statures and light-reflecting eyes.
But when the Prisoner sees them, they perk up, just slightly, and all the tension evaporates from the Hatchling’s system as quickly as the water in all of Timber Hearth’s bowels did every time the Sun exploded.
The Prisoner watches them, and the Hatchling realizes they don’t know their name. They do not ask now, at the campfire in the Eye of the universe, for the person before the Prisoner has long ceased to exist, grown into something new.
“I don’t want to repeat my kind’s mistakes. But if you’re willing to take the risk, then so am I. My role in this ended long ago, and now I’ve learned my efforts weren’t in vain. Thank you for facing what was hidden in the dark.“
The Hatchling smiles, and thinks, it was not just me. Had you not released the signal, we would not be standing here, now. Had the Nomai not been compelled by science to explode the Sun, we would not be standing here, now.
“Every decision is made in darkness,” they continue, sombre but determined, light of campfire reflecting in their eyes. “Only by making a choice can we learn whether it was right or not.”
The Hatchling knows what choice they will make. It almost feels like there isn’t one at all, how simple it is.
Choices are made in the darkness, but that doesn’t mean the darkness can’t be illuminated by a torch.
It is time to pass the torch on, and so, they beckon the Prisoner to come closer.
They hesitate. “I did what I could to set things right, yet I am still of my kind, and you know now what they did. I cannot promise our fear won’t stain your mind. And so, a choice: Are you certain you want to remember me?“
The Hatchling makes another choice and pulls the Prisoner closer by their hand. They stumble, a bit confused. Then their eyes land on the orange-not-green fire.
„This fire… what a warm and beautiful light it makes,” they gaze at it for some time, then remember themselves and turn towards the Hatchling. “Are you ready for the final step?”
The Hatchling nods, so enthusiastically their whole body bobs along with their head.
“Then it’s time! Time to send our spark out into the darkness,” The Prisoner throws their hands up in badly concealed glee.
“Whatever happens next, I do not think it is to be feared,” they add after a moment, warming their hands by the fire.
And the universe said you are the night
The Hatchling floats inside the uninvited guest of their star system and does not look at the two dead Nomai floating alongside them. How cruel, for them to rest eternally inside the thing that doomed them, forever out of reach of the stars they so loved.
“A comet has newly arrived in this solar system, and we’re anxious to explore it. It’s been a very long time since we last explored somewhere new, so we’re excited to welcome this comet. Imagine what knowledge might be gained there!“ Yarrow had said.
How cruel. How endlessly cruel of the circumstance.
The ghost matter all around them, while not at dangerous levels, tingles on their skin even inside their spacesuit.
How cruel of the Interloper to have picked this star system, out of all of them.
The Nomai could have done nothing to prevent this.
The Hatchling realizes then, that sometimes, there is nothing to be done. Nothing but to pick up the pieces and go on.
They spare one last look towards Poke and Pye and turn to leave.
And the universe said the darkness you fight is within you
One loop, the Hatchling realizes there are no other mentions of Keek. There are no other mentions of Foli.
The Universe does not stop. It does not pause time so tragedy can be mourned. It does not help, it does not hinder.
The arrival of Nomai in this system was always bound to end this way. To not respond to the Eye’s signal would have been to betray their nature. To start wallowing in their misery would be to betray their nature.
So the Hatchling also does not betray their nature as a member of the Outer Wilds ventures and decides to stop by the radio tower. Word is, there are some irregularities.
And the universe said the light you seek is within you
The Hatchling recalls the Nomai shuttle from the Quantum moon and climbs inside. There, equipped with their trusty translator, they get to reading.
“I am here! After watching it wander the skies for so long, I am about to stand (for the first time) on the Quantum Moon. As expected, my shuttle has landed at the moon’s south pole. I will make the remainder of my journey on foot. We don’t know why the Quantum Moon always welcomes its visitors at the south pole, just that this is true. As a child, I considered such unknowns sinister. Now, though, I understand they bear no ill will. The universe is, and we are. I am ready.“
The Hatchling, strangely, feels proud of Solanum. They remember reading her writings from when she was a child, playing inside the caverns of the Ember Twin. How afraid she was of the Eye. How she thought it malicious.
But she stood on the Quantum Moon! Whatever fate met the Nomai in the end, Solanum completed her journey. For that, the Hatchling was glad.
Were they in another universe, the Hatchling thinks, they could have been friends.
And the universe said you are not alone
In the dream world, the Hatchling waits for the elevator that had so recently taken away the Prisoner. They already know what they will find once it takes them up.
As expected, there are the steps leading towards the water.
The vision staff lodged in front of the lake, glowing, was not expected. They come closer, bracing already for what they will find.
Afterwards, they sit down and stare at the beauty that is the cavern. They think of the painting in the burned down building in the dream world, of new flowering from old.
Yes, once all of this is over, rafting with the Prisoner sounds pretty nice.
And the universe said you are not separate from every other thing
They sit on a rock, listening to Chert playing their drum, and wait for the world to end. Chert gets nervous, towards the end.
“The stars! They're all dying! There’ve been too many supernovae for it to be anything else! We’re next, do you understand?! Our sun! By Hearth’s name, we’re next!“ they scream at them, frantically.
“Please, just... Leave me alone, won’t you?” they ask in a small voice.
But the Hatchling still remembers the first loop, the approaching burning blue of the Sun.
So they get up from their rock and hug Chert as their world ends, and as the temperature gets hotter and hotter, they stay intertwined like the Hourglass Twins, like the station that orbited the Sun for thousands of years, like the Dark Bramble and the planet it consumed, like the corpses of Nomai who have found their deaths inside it, like the Quantum Moon, watching six locations all at once.
They hug Chert and know they will soon see a probe be launched to its endless journey.
And the universe said you are the universe tasting itself, talking to itself, reading its own code
The Hatchling looks at Solanum and simply observes. They had seen the Nomai at the Quantum Moon, of course, but this was different. This Solanum was somewhat more whole. More wholly present, presently true, truth defying, defied awareness.
Solanum looks back at them.
„Hypothesis: Everyone must be here before we can begin,” she says, and the Hatchling does not question why they understand her, with no need for such bothersome inventions like writing or translators. They simply do.
Solanum does not question either. The time for questions has probably passed already. She looks around the campfire. “Once they arrive, I believe we’ll be ready for the next step.”
Then, she tilts her head, and the Hatchling imagines her smiling from beyond her oxygen mask. “I’m glad you remembered me.”
Remembrance is the least thing I could have done for you, the only thing I could have done for you, the Hatchling doesn’t say. They simply smile inside their helmet as Solanum turns her gaze up, towards the not-sky full of dead stars.
“A conscious observer has entered the Eye. I wonder what happens now,” she nigh whispers into the dark and stretches her hand toward the Hatchling.
“Is it time to find out?”
The Hatchling takes her hand and squeezes. Solanum squeezes back.
And the universe said I love you
The Hearthians reach towards the stars and see nothing but an invitation to be accepted.
The Nomai reach towards the stars and see nothing but a mystery waiting to be solved.
The Owlks reach towards the stars and see nothing but an opportunity not to be missed.
…because you are love
14.3 billion years later, the Eye observes. And it knows, there are conscious observers in this universe as well.