thebastion | Event: Day 355 [OPEN]

[Could Colin's plan have worked?

Sure, if there weren't people with other plans in the crowd.

For a moment, the crowd not right by the stage (which can't hear anything, since Ibuki's music is hella loud) seem to at least be listening to Colin, even if they're still grumbling over it. But one look at Zahi, and that changes.

Zahi makes a quick gesture with his hands, directly at Colin. It's meaning should be pretty clear, it is a quick swipe with his hand, going from his chin to the side of is face. IE 'cut it out'.

The crowd between Colin and Zahi, it parts. Some move very deliberately, while others seem to notice that the crowd is parting and quickly step in line, lest they be in the way. But regardless, there is now a path between Zahi and Colin, and Zahi is standing there, waiting for Colin to walk to him.

Or anyone else, really. Zahi is focused on Colin at the moment, but if someone else wants to go over and speak to him that is fine too.]

Why Zahi, you wouldn't have a problem with us seeing to the needs of all these tired, hungry people, would you?

[He's smiling. Quite happily, as a matter of fact.]

[For as much as Colin doesn't people... his voice is loud. It carries. It is tuned to be noticed and listened to. He knows how to speak and be heard.]

[Everyone here, EVERYONE HERE, will be able to hear him.]

I mean, surely they've been through enough and they deserve some rest, some succor. Right?

[And Zahi? Yeah, he's not taking a step. You wanna have a talk... he's going to make you speak up, or you're going to come to him.]

[Zahi isn't going anywhere. Instead he will just cup his hand up to his mouth so he can shout back to Colin.]

We could do that. Or we could end it all now, put the final core in, and fix everything that's wrong. Both ways get the people the rest and food they need, except one way isn't delaying anything.

You mean the final core that we've never even agreed how it's going to be used in the first place?

The final core that can rewind time to before the calamity?

Make a whole new world?

Revive the dead?

You want to make a decision that will affect all these people without any of them being the wiser or having any say in their own future?

THAT final core?

That's a fair point. Let's let the people have their say.

[Now he is speaking to everyone in the area.]

Good people! We have a great ability within our grasp. With just a bit more effort, we have a chance to fix our mistakes. We can go back in time and prevent this Calamity from ever happening in the first place, saving countless lives and returning the universe to the way it should be.

Or, we could give up on that chance, and simply live out the rest of our lives here.

What say you? Do you want to change your past, to make a better future for everyone?

[The crowd of NPCs is cheering quite loudly at that point, while Zahi just gives Colin a smug grin. Your plan, it has backfired.]

Ah, so you are aware! We're all agreed then, you want to do everything all over again!

I'll go get the core then!

In the meantime, make sure you've all said your goodbyes, and make sure you're all prepared to live the past year over again! It won't be any easier this time around, but at least now you know that you're going to be thrown into a barren wasteland that wants to kill you! If any of you watched anyone you especially loved die, you might want to start planning how you're going to get over seeing it again!

[Colin turns and starts walking in the direction of his lab. At a sedate pace.]

[Throughout this event, Zulf has been on the tightrope balancing between amused and bemused- two very different states of mind. He hadn't understood why such a party had been going on, but that was the Bastion for you. It's full of strange but well intentioned people. Even Colin of all people.]

[However, when the crowd had started to part- when Zahi had taken the lead- he'd fallen off straight into confusion. He hadn't understood- perhaps hadn't wanted to- what was going on. And when it hits...]

[Hidden in the crowd, nearly indistinguishable from the numerous new faces they have, Zulf looks nothing short like he's been stabbed through the stomach. His face is pale as pure chalk, and he can feel his knees shake.]

[Everyone had known there was at least one suspicious person in the Bastion. A thief. Of course. But this...]

[This is worse than any thief.]

[The thought strikes him, pierces him to the bone, of Was Zayna in on this?

[Was I just being used?]

[Zulf can't stop shaking. It's like the last time around, all over again, only he thinks this is worse than feeling a pure crimson blade slice through his skin. Back then, he'd deserved it. He'd been so arrogant and angry and foolish, he'd deserved nothing less than the Mother's sweet embrace. Raile's back beneath his empty chest had been an offer contrary to everything else.]

[Has he deserved this, too?]

[He thought Zahi was...]

[It's hard to breathe. He wants very much to fall apart and just give up, because this is simply too much and he has had enough. His people are everything, and twice now they've turned on him. First, united. Second, now, so much more personal.]

[He wants to be done.]

[A burning in his chest murmurs Not yet.]

[Zulf isn't sure where he gets any strength from, to pull the shattered shards of his self together, but before he knows it, he's shoving through the crowd to get to the side.]

How do you know!?

[The newcomers to the Bastion haven't gotten a chance to be introduced to Zulf properly, or the depths of his lung capacity. They have that chance now, as his voice cuts through the cheering. He's pushed his way in front of the crowd and come to stand right in the middle of the path between Colin and Zahi. He's still pale, but he's forced his shaking to stop. With his shoulders pushed back and his hands folded neatly in front of himself, one over the other, he looks every bit the proper Ura diplomat he was once upon a time. There's a fury in his dark eyes, but it's not at Zahi. It's at himself.]

[What a fool he is. This must have been obvious to everyone besides himself.]

You speak so confidently on how easy this must be to fix, sir. You speak of time itself, of the most disastrous event to ever strike our world and many others, as though both are merely a wheel to be replaced on a wagon. You talk of it so easily even though you have never done such a thing before in your life!

Everyone! [He addresses the crowd, now.] Instead of a man giving you promises with nothing to back them as truth, listen to someone who has: myself!

This is not the first time a Calamity of this nature has ravaged at least one world. The first, it was Caelondia and the Tazal Terminals, and only four ever made it to this Bastion. Back then, with struggle, the Monument was brought to full power and we were given that choice! Restoring all that had been lost was a temptation no one could resist. Who wouldn't want to bring back so many lives lost? Lovers, family, friends, so many more- just like all of you now, we had lost so much and wanted to see it again. We would have given anything to stop another Calamity! We tried! Yet look around you. What do you think happened?

Some of you are Caels, others Ura. You know what Caelondia was like before this all happened: an enormous city guarded by walls which could not be pierced, with a military force so large it had to be divided into nine different groups. Trying to do something upfront would just create another Point Lemaign War, would cause just as much suffering and start another Calamity all over again. For you others, think on that information, and think of how useless you would be in your home away from doing any sort of help!

Perhaps you think, in contrast, something more subtle and long term could be te solution. Consider this: the Mancers who started the Calamity both times were such a paranoid and panicked lot that they only needed the slightest provocation to press the button that's twice now destroyed the lives of so many! The first Calamity happened because of a teenage girl sneaking out with a boyfriend. Anything at all could have them push that button, whether it is based in fact or not!

Would any of you attempt to fight an earthquake? Go hand to hand with a tsunami? No!

Sometimes, nothing can be fixed. Sometimes all we can do is move forward. There is nothing wrong with that!

None of us need to play as though we are better than Gods, messing with a past that may only become worse with our meddling, in order to make a better future! You can do that here, with the Bastion as it is! We can do it together, and only then when will we be able to move past the wounds that the Calamity bore onto us.

[She doesn't have the most complete grasp of what's going on, but she can smell the emotion in the air - the tension. Something's going to break soon.]

[And she's subtly moving closer to Ibuki, her senses and all the rest of her going on higher alert. If anything's set to go foul, her friend isn't going to be a part of it.]

[What are you all doing?]

[There's a quiet presence, moving through the crowd. He's aware that being a talking hawk won't endear him to a lot of people, but he has to say something. He can't just give up on his planet, on every planet. He pushes his way through the crowd, but when he speaks to Zulf it's with a soft voice, not an angry one.]

I understand that you went back. That you tried and it happened again. But... will it happen again? Changing a tiny thing can change a lot. And you're asking all of us to give up on all of our worlds.

... I'm not saying you're wrong. But I... I don't know if you realize what you're asking of everyone...

[Zulf just looks exhausted when Tobias speaks up.]

I'm well aware of what I'm asking. What tiny thing do you think could change that would stop this from happening all over again? From making this just another loop of tragedy and disaster?

[He understands that feeling, but...]

... I think you would know that better than I would. The last time I was in a time loop, I had to sabotage something so that a bomb wouldn't go off. I know how things can come down to the wire. If someone doesn't act in just the right way, it's all for nothing.

I just... I have a war to fight. I have my planet and a lot of other planets hanging in the balance. I don't know if I can just... walk away from that.

[It's surprising, to see Zulf's outburst like this. Surprising, but not unexpected. Zulf has always been the emotional one.

With Zulf, Zahi adopts a much more friendly tone. He is also speaking a lot more genuinely than he did with Colin, because Zahi actually does like Zulf.]

Come now, I do not mean to say that we shall simply go back and hope for the best. We shall all be working together, for the benefit of everyone.

[He steps towards Zulf, his hands extended outward in a friendly gesture.]

You had only four the first time, and you came so close to preventing it. Imagine what we could do with four thousand, or even more! I have armies at my disposal, all of whom will do whatever I ask of them. I have a plan, a solid plan that will get us to the observatory and to the weapon itself.

I am truly sorry, that you had to live through the Calamity twice. But you have my word, you won't have to again. And I would be honored, if you would come with us and help.

[For all his lies he has been saying, he honestly believes the words he is speaking now.]

Yeah, that'll work well. Thousands of Ura marching on Caelondia's walls or better yet, through her streets. Nothing will get them to NOT fire a super weapon like that. Brilliant deduction.

[Colin's still walking for his workshop, he's actually walking backwards now, watching Zahi, grinning.]

[Zahi, why do you have to be right in the middle of an enormous crowd, she needs to get your hair or something and that's more difficult to do with an audience.

For now she'll settle for joining the argument, her voice particularly spiteful. She can't believe she told you you were sweet.]

You're not just a liar, you're an idiot. You really think one mortal can flawlessly mastermind some way to turn back time and prevent a disaster that's affected this many dimensions? You aren't even considering the price. There is always a price, and it isn't just great shards of rock.

And please, tell us more about how you're interested in working together and how you've kept us all so well informed about your activities these past eight months.

[Maybe people have seen him. It'd be hard to miss him, the giant figure hanging near the back of the crowd. But now he steps forward, Golurk, Torkoal, Sigilyph, Umbreon, and Floette all around him. He stands behind Colin, large face somewhat scowling down at Zahi.]

Colin is correct. Take it from someone experienced - those who have weapons like that will find excuses to fire them, or build more and more destructive weapons. What you suggest will only lead to cycles of violence. Violence, bloodshed, and the repetition of history, literally or figuratively.

[His voice starts off quiet, but as he sweeps an arm to indicate the crowd around him, it grows louder, and he straightens up even taller. Even beneath his shabby clothing, there's a regal bearing there, a confidence that seems to firm up his movements and keep his speech clear and precise. He turns as he speaks, addressing the crowd as a whole.]

People of this world, of other worlds, we are at a crossroads. We can continue cycles of violence, of despair, of bloodshed and death for yourselves and your fellows, even beyond simple war - cycles of pain and loss, of losing people again and again and again. Of eventually dishonoring your bonds with the ones you care about most, with the ones that would be ashamed to see you spill the blood they so dearly cherish!

Or... we can build a new society together. Where we are not just Cael and Ura, natives and newcomers, where we work together and prove to every universe that our differences do not make us separate. Where we honor those who have fallen not with blood, not with anger, but with compassion and caring for each and every creature we can find.

Maybe you would call me an old fool for saying so. Maybe you think I've gone a bit crazy. But this is what I believe in my heart - that the bonds we share are best served with love and not hatred, with looking to the future and not the past. We can learn from the past, but if we ignore the lessons we have learned, we will repeat it over and over again.

[He falls silent, and hunches over a bit again. It's been a while since he's spoken like that.]

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1/2

2/2 tl;dr you stop that

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