etraya | un: localflorist

( ooc ; likely spoilers for rebirth endgame chapters within )

[ One moment she's there, in her apartment, and the next...back on Gaia. With no memories of the city, the other world, where she'd been for months, fighting to save the planet she'd been unceremoniously returned to. And then...after so much on the home front, she'd found herself right back in Etraya: her memories of the time before in tact, as well as the memories of the things she'd been through in the interim. The things Cloud had already known about, but kept from her.

After she reappears and processes all the memories, she has to recuperate a bit. Without anyone around, the usually-cheery Aerith doesn't have to mask her expression, and sits in her apartment, letting it all break over her like unceasing waves onto someone whose feet are thoroughly stuck in the sand. (It's not unlike when her plushie was destroyed, honestly, which feels like ages ago.) When that's...more or less done, she reaches for her phone.

She doesn't leave the unit, doesn't go down the hall. Yet.

In crafting a message to the network, she opts for text because, this time, she doesn't trust herself to keep a straight enough face. To keep all of what's happened - disappearing from this world, returning to her own with no memories of Etraya, and...the weight of their journey at home - from her voice. So, she takes a deep breath and begins typing, eventually sending out: ]

long time no see, etraya! or, maybe it hasn't been that long, considering all of the plant life at my place is still in good shape.

so...has anybody been back home? that is: was brought here, then went back somehow with no memories of ever having been here, then got pulled back again? consider me curious about the details.

i know i can't be the only one. right?

also...if there're any kind souls out there who don't mind giving me a little refresher on our current mission, it'd be much appreciated. thanks!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It's unlikely she'll have answers that will satisfy you, but I don't think it's because she doesn't want to give you the information. From my conversation with her, it's more like she can't.

She's been told that the disappearances are because they return home, so she isn't actively involved in them. Maybe you have unfinished business here, according to her or Echo.

[.005 seconds later:]

Did you really have no memory of Etraya once you were in your own universe?

huh...okay.
i'm not sure if that's better or worse, but it is good to know.

"because they return home" though...
makes it sound like they have a choice.

[ "Unfinished business," he writes. Something - grief, maybe - presses against the inside of her throat like a wild animal: trapped. ]

maybe.
and yeah: no memory at all. like i'd never been here.
makes me seriously sad to think about...i don't want to forget everyone.
there's gotta be a way to hold onto these memories. right?

Does it? I wouldn't be so sure. They only returned after completing Echo's assessment. You didn't choose to leave, did you?

I'm not sure if it's possible. The data I do have on multiverses doesn't cover this, but I think on a more simpler level, your mind wouldn't be able to comprehend the existence of other worlds. It could drive you insane.

[smooth.]

no.
here one second, back the next.
but i was gone for longer.
i definitely didn't ask anyone to go. didn't even secretly wish it.

how much "data on multiverses" do you have?

[ ... Wait. This...could be of more interest than just her curiosity about how Etraya functions. ]

could we chat in person?

Do you mean you've had no yearning for your home at all?

[that's different.]

I have enough that comprehending this wasn't too difficult. I'd be happy to meet you somewhere.

no, that's not it.
i do miss home. definitely.
but it's kinda nice being here, too. in some ways.

okay.
do you know where the church is?
if not, i can meet you somewhere else.

I see.

Yes, I know where the church is. Are you there now?

yeah.
door's open if you want to come on in.

Expect me in 10 minutes.

[he questions why the door to a church wouldn't be open, but if it's from her universe, maybe she likes to keep it locked if she's not there.

he arrives 10 minutes on the dot, stalls for half a second to determine if he should knock or not - it's a church. he knocks before entering anyway. he strolls in, head tilting up immediately to look at the gap in the ceiling, then back down, gaze settling on Aerith. his focus is on her, but he's able to take in everything else, too: the flowers, the altar.]

Hello? Aerith, right? [he's memorized anyone who's made their identity known on the network, especially if they've only kept one username.] I'm Connor.

[once he's close enough, he holds out his hand for a shake, accompanied by a small smile.]

It's nice to meet you.

[ Aerith's not sure anyone's ever knocked before. This occurs to her as Connor enters, drawing out a little smile as she rises to look his way. ]

That's me! Nice to meet you, Connor. [ In this moment, she realizes, idly, that there are a handful of people she's 'met' via the network, but never spoken to in person. Never heard their voice, even. Weird. It's nice not adding to that list this time. ] Appreciate you coming over.

[ To meet her where she is, anyway. The church is...a comfort place, to put it mildly, and with the recent chaos of having gone back home out of nowhere (and all the experiences she'd had there), it'd been nice to not have to leave.

Aerith folds her hands in front of her where she stands, tilting her head in question. ]

So...multiverses?

Not a problem.

[his tone is pleasant; everything about him is pleasant. he has questions of his own about the church, why it's here and what significance it has for her, but those saved for another time.]

Yes. [his next words might sound like they're being pulled directly from a source, which is exactly what he's doing.] It's called the quantum multiverse theory - a hypothetical set of all universes. You live in yours, while other observable universes exist. I've found that while staying on Etraya, anything that could exist, can. I've met someone here that exists in my world, but not in the same way.

[he stops, looking at her curiously as if to ask: are you following?]

"Not in the same way?" [ She's following - even more than he might guess - but has to clarify a few things first. ] So...when one of my friends came to the city, his memories went past mine. Like he'd experienced more of our time together than I had, or...he'd been brought here from further ahead in time than me. Like that?

[ Not to mention all the-...everything...from home. Not yet, anyway. ]

Is Etraya different from your home in that way?

That is one of the possibilities, yes. [then, more hesitantly, he shifts his tone to something more soft. he's breaking into some uncomfortable news.] But it can mean other things, too. For example, reading a story in your world and encountering someone from that story here.

[he wants to avoid digging too deeply into existentialism, so he leaves that information as is. usually he doesn't know when to stop providing information, but he's holding back for once, for this human's sake.]

Yes. My home, Earth, didn't have access to anything similar to what I've seen here. It wasn't possible.

Something from a story? [ That's a new one. Her brows furrow slightly as she considers. ] ...So, a character from a book back home...might be someone real, in another world.

[ Not hard to understand, but...with some concerning implications. ]

Same with mine. I'm not sure I've heard from anyone here that where they come from's like Etraya. Which is weird, right? With so many people brought into the city to save their worlds, you'd think at least somebody would come from someplace similar.

[ Maybe Etraya just...exists in a way that's truly unique.

(Except, then, what does that mean for Moorecroft?) ]

If the realities are endless, having someone arrive with a similar background of Etraya would be like [he calculates the best terminology for her-] finding a needle in a haystack.

[he's taking the time to idly walk around, keeping close but analyzing all of the details the church has to offer. he's only been inside a church once, and somehow this one is in better shape.]

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