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The cyclones tore through the ocean, warning those who came. Yet, Gabbro had set up camp in this unwelcoming place. They were supposed to be here for a few weeks, but the universe said otherwise when the time loops began.
They've lost count of the loops they've been here. Lost count of how long ago they've seen Rhyolie. Lost count of when they were still themselves, not a different person who's changed from going through the natural death of their own star every 220 minutes.
As the tornados moved closer, Gabbro noticed the large cyclone that never moved at the North. It was a rare event for the island to be this close, after all they've only seen it under five times with the loops.
The tornados have never followed the same path each loop, always changing. Just like everything else has, from their own life to the entire universe. A few months ago all was normal, with their life and the universe, now, it's all different, the loops, the solar system, and the universe dying.
Their island was pulled up out of the atmosphere. Gabbro, this time, was sitting up instead of laying and playing the flute, eyeing the North Pole.
It was a quick thinking decision when it happened, an implosive one. One that they would have never dared to do until Rhyolite told them about the tower sitting here. The one subject that's been the most interesting all their life, quantum, had a tower dealing with it, on their planet, and they've never known.
As the Island reached the highest point, Gabbro thrusted their jet pack up and forward to the direct center of the north.
Though, it was easier said than done. Being close to Giants Deep caused its gravity to pull down quicker as Gabbro flew forward. They barely made it over the giant cyclone, and were almost pulled back out.
Having committed to this, they made the jetpack go forward at full force, to escape the cyclone's pull. After escaping the pull, they swam to shore, taking note of all the details, from the building to the plants around it. They did notice there wasn't a clear path to the top, perhaps a gravity elevator elsewhere, as Rhyolie called them.
Pulling themselves up to the gravity platform they notice a path leading upwards and a pool of sorts. Gabbro automatically moved toward the entrance with the reminder of their limited time.
So the way to the entrance was with a gravity elevator. Huh, they didn't expect to be correct in their hypothesis. Partly to do with the fact that Rhy has mentioned that the Nomai loves to use these gravity beams to get places, but that's totally only part of the reason.
Rhyolie didn't get a chance to tell them anything about this place specifically. Once they mentioned quantum and it being on their planet, Gabbro shut them up immediately since they wanted to explore this place on their own, without spoilers. They already knew about the camera trick, since they tested it out on their home planet a while back.
Getting to the entrance, they saw Nomai writing, probably nothing important. The arch seemed to be the official entrance, and they had to jump down. Good thing Gabbro has their jet pack.
Right before they used their jet pack, another Nomai gravity beam lowered them.
“Huh, should have figured. I mean, it seems like others would come down here.”
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The first three puzzles were quite easy. Keep an eye on the hat for the first one. Take a picture for the second one, and the third but also keep an eye on the gravity crystal. However, this last one was giving them some problems.
Gabbro couldn't figure out how to get their scout just right to take the needed picture. First of all, when they took a picture of both, none would move, but they couldn't exactly just get a picture of the middle one. When they tried, the gravity of the planet would send their scout, which may or may not have hit them in the head a few times, would come back down since the distance between them and the area is at a weird angle. They've also fallen more times they like, and having to realign the crystals is kinda annoying.
After a few more attempts, their radio went off. Gabbro didn't want to answer since they were in the middle of this and it could wait next loop.
Right as they figured out what to do and how to get their scout in the right position, their radio went off again. Weird. It has never gone off twice in a row unless Rhyolite was…oh. How could they have forgotten there is someone else in the loop?
As they took out their radio, they mumbled to themselves, “It's probably something they found that they were excited about.” Trying to convince themselves it's nothing bad. Calling twice in a row normally would mean something bad, but it's Rhy, so probably not.
They answer their radio and hear the previous message. Ignoring how Rhyolie’s voice cracked a little, telling Gabbro to answer. “I read, but I'm kinda in the middle of something, can it wait til next loop?”
Expecting to get a simple agreement they turn back to the wall. Right as they were going to put their radio back, Rhyolie kept speaking with a more panic tone. “Gabs please, I messed- I messed up badly. I-I don't think there is waiting til the, the um, next loop.”
Gabbro froze. Gabs. They've never called them that unless it was an emergency, and their tone didn't help with their worries
Grabbing out their radio to answer, they needed to calm them down, but also talk to them in person. Talking on the radio can be complicated if someone else switched to their channel.
“Hey, hey, calm down, I'm sure there is a way to fix it. Why don't you come by Giants Deep, we have some time til the end of the loop.” Gabbro said in a soft tone, trying to not show their concern rising.
They barely heard the acknowledgement before turning off their radio and finishing the tower trials to head outside and wait.
Only passing when Gabbro realized they didn't tell Rhyolie where they were, and mentally smacked themselves. Now they needed to hurry to get outside and start playing their flute so Rhyolite could find them.
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They saw Rhy’s ship break through the atmosphere and land on the gravity pad. The way they landed Gabbro knew this was bad, they've known Rhyolite long enough to tell how bad a situation is based on their flying. Right now, from an outside perspective, it would look like they barely knew how to operate a ship.
Once they landed, Gabbro booked it. Being inside the ship would be better than outside. There was oxygen for starters, and they could read their time buddie’s expression better, if they took their helmet off.
Once inside, they took their helmet off as their eyes looked on Rhyolite’s body, curled in on itself, shaking slightly.
Gabbro decided to give them some space and sat down in front of them. Even if it felt wrong.
“Hey buddy, do you want to talk about it?” Gabbro said as gently as they could. They knew Rhyolie was not in a good state, so being as gentle as they could and not getting straight to the point was the only way they knew how to help.
Rhyolite seemed to snap out of their trance and acknowledge their presence. As they pulled their knees closer to themselves, Rhyolite explained, “I- I messed up, like big time. I don't think- There's no way to reverse what I did. The time loop won't help with anything, I don't- don't know what will happen when we wake up again…I found how to get to the eye. The vessel, the coordinates, and the project all work together, but now– I think that all my progress will restart once the sun explodes.”
Gabbro took in every word. Out of everything they expected, that was the last. There was no way that Rhyolite was going to forget, maybe they were wrong, and the damages didn't extend that far, right?
Not sure how to comfort them, they gave them a sideways hug and said, “I'm sure there's a way to fix this, and if not I'll be here still. You don't have to figure it out alone.” They refused to believe what was going to happen.
Their words didn't offer comfort. “No Gabbro, you don't understand! There's no fixing this, it's-its permanent! The connection to the statue has to restart. All my memories would be gone, I won't remember anything!” Rhyolite said with their voice louder, and they broke.
Gabbro shifted their buddy to be able to give them a full hug and took off their helmet. Unsure what to say, they stayed there and provided comfort with actions instead of words.
“I’m sorry.” Rhyolite said, breaking the silence “I didn't mean for this.”
Gabbro knew this wasn't their fault, none of this was. Taking a deep breath in, they decided to say something. “Rhy, none of this was your fault, you can't avoid what the universe wanted. I'll still be here like before whether you remember or not.” That was perhaps not the best way to word things, Gabbro was not the best at comforting people with words.
After a few more minutes of silence, Gabbro knew their time was almost up. “Can you promise me something?” Rhyolite said as they stared off into the distance. “Can you come with me and explore? It would be nice to have help and a second pair of eyes of someone who would remember.”
Without hesitation, “Of course, I'm sorry I didn't before.” They felt guilty for not helping, they should have known company would have been nice when exploring. Yet, Gabbro assumed Rhyolite didn't want any, how selfish of them.
A moment later, they heard the supernova as Rhyolite turned up to look at them and opened their mouth. But, before they could say anything, the flames engulfed them.
The mask called to Gabbro, but they knew it would for Rhy, no matter how hard they tried to deny it. How unlucky for both of them. From that moment on, Gabbro promised to look over Rhyolite instead of just accompanying them. They never want something like this to happen again. Maybe they could help avoid some of the traumatic deaths and be there during the hard times.