Chapter Text
<< engineering pals ^o^ >>
12:35 PM
[Sol has gone online.]
Nomi: oh!!! sol! you’re back online!
Sol: hey
Sol: yeah instance gave me my holopad back
Tangent: Are you feeling alright?
Sol: yeah
Sol: i mean not really
Sol: but physically im okay now
Nomi: thats good! i was really worried you were hurt last night
Tangent: Can you tell us what happened? By the time I realized anything was going on, the Security Team was already swarming the place. And Instance didn’t want to violate your privacy by telling me what went on.
Nomi: and i was in my room when the alert went off so i dont know anything they didnt announce on the alert channel thing!!
Tangent: I believe some of it is technically classified information, too, but we won’t tell anyone else what you say. We just want to know the situation.
Sol: youre not gonna snitch on me again?
Tangent: …No, I’m not. And we can talk about that later, but right now, there’s bigger things going on.
Sol: yeah youre right, im sorry
Sol: so right after i messaged you i got freaked out and decided it was a great idea to try and break out of the medbay
Sol: took a chair and smashed a window open
Tangent: Sol…
Sol: instance already lectured me enough about it for the both of you
Sol: i know it was stupid i was just exhausted and terrified
Sol: anyway.
Sol: i ran off towards the wall because i know thats where dys goes to hide
Sol: hes got a secret hiding spot in there an everything
Nomi: ohhhh,,, so THATS where hes always disappearing to
Tangent: Suddenly things make a lot more sense, in that department.
Sol: yeah he showed it to me a while ago
Sol: so i thought thats where he probably was
Sol: and sure enough he was in there
Sol: with this cobbled together homemade bomb
Tangent: …Oh.
Nomi: !!!
Sol: and we yelled and i tried to grab it away from him
Sol: and he freaked out probably because it was like, a dangerous explosive and we were jostling it around
Sol: not my best decision in hindsight.
Sol: but the guards on duty at the time heard the yelling
Sol: and this was also about the time that instance had been woken up by the alarm that my window breaking had set off so she was running over there too
Sol: i fell back with the bomb and dys just ran
Sol: the thing wasnt active so it probably wasnt a real threat at the time but the guards saw it and panicked and it was a whole deal
Sol: and now im on an even longer bedrest because i bumped my head and got glass all over and was also deemed not mentally well for the aforementioned window destruction.
Nomi: oh sol,,, im so sorry,,,
Sol: its ok
Tangent: But it’s clearly not okay.
Tangent: I knew that Dys had probably run off, but I had no idea he was trying to make an explosive…
Nomi: when i asked the security people they just kept saying he was “missing” but i knew smth else had to be going on!! esp with a whole security alert and everything!!!
Tangent: Sol, how did you know this was going on? You said you were terrified, but you broke the window before you saw Dys with the explosive.
Sol: he told me he had it
Tangent: What?
Sol: yeah, not that much earlier
Sol: he said he wanted to talk and he snuck into the medbay and told me
Sol: but then i got scared and he got scared and he ran off
Sol: hence the window situation
Tangent: I’m honestly surprised he would tell anyone about that…
Tangent: Especially since it is, I’m assuming, the secret project he’s been working on for the past season that he’s been so cagey about.
Sol: i dunno
Tangent: Hm.
Sol: what does “hm” mean
Tangent: It’s not important. What is important right now is finding Dys.
Nomi: we could ask the expedition team if theyve seen any sign of him??
Tangent: We could, but I’m not sure that’s our best shot.
Tangent: We all know how Dys is.
Nomi: nervous??
Sol: flighty
Tangent: Both of those things, yes.
Tangent: I imagine the expedition team is already on the lookout for him. But if he doesn’t want to be found, he likely won’t be. So they’ll only be so much help.
Tangent: We might have to find him on our own.
Sol: and how are we supposed to do that?
Sol: im stuck in bed, you’ve never left the colony, and nomi- wait actually nomi could work
Nomi: !!!
Sol: do u not want to go out and look?
Sol: i totally get it if not, honestly the outside of the colony is scary sometimes
Nomi: no no, im fine with it!! just,,,
Nomi: nervous? i guess??
Nomi: i dont want you to trust me to do this and then i mess it up,,,
Sol: hey
Sol: you wont mess it up
Sol: and even if something happens, we’ll understand
Sol: this whole situation is so fucked and complicated, i think we’re all just doin what we can rn
Nomi: thats true,,, well, ill try my best!! i promise!!
Nomi: but uhm. what is. The actual plan??,,,
Sol: huh
Sol: ?
Sol: i thought this was the plan?
Tangent: Just deciding to send Nomi out as a singular-person search party isn’t exactly a plan, Sol.
Nomi: ,,,yeah,,,,,,
Sol: oh. yeah ur probably right
Sol: ok so a plan. uhhmmm……
Nomi: do you know where he usually hangs out??
Sol: oh thats easy
Sol: the ridges
Nomi: ,,,and those are?,,,,,
Tangent: An extremely dangerous place that he has no business running off to by himself.
Tangent: Sol, how long have you known that he likes to spend his time there?
Sol: …would u kill me if i said ive known since like. forever
Tangent: I honestly don’t know what I was expecting.
Sol: i promise hes being safe when hes there, if that helps
Tangent: It doesn’t matter how safe he’s being, it only takes one mistake to fall into a cavern and never be seen again.
Sol: pls just trust me on this one tang
Sol: hes perfectly safe
Nomi: ???
Sol: right, the Plan.
Tangent: It’s not exactly safe to send Nomi out there on their own…
Nomi: right,,, and i wouldnt really want to be?? on my own that is
Nomi: ive done expeditions a few times but never very far
Tangent: But if we send you there with other people, that might scare Dys off…
Sol: a real conundrum weve got for ourselves here
Sol: wait
Sol: we can send nomi with a buddy maybe
Sol: the buddy system never fails
Tangent: What buddy?
Sol: i know someone in expeditions
Tangent: Oh. Well, that works. As long as you think they won’t make Dys run away again.
Sol: naw theyre chill with dys
Tangent: I find this highly unlikely but I don’t really have the energy to question you further.
Tangent: We need to do this sooner rather than later, before he gets into more trouble… how does two days from now sound? Is that enough time for you to prepare, Nomi?
Nomi: uhhmm,, i think so!!
Tangent: Good. Now we have a plan.
Sol: yippee yay
Sol >>> Nomi
Sol: hey so
Sol: wanted to tell u more about my “expedition friend”
Nomi: oki!!!
Nomi: wait why is it in quotations,,,
Sol: first of all
Sol: you wont snitch on me right
Nomi: no?,,, about what??
Sol: youve gotta promise
Nomi: oki oki i promise
Sol: great
Sol: so you know how this whole “me being on bedrest” thing started bcs instance found out i was having “hallucinations” or “delusions” or wtvr?
Nomi: yeah?
Sol: well theyre not that
Sol: they never were delusions
Nomi: oh…
Sol: u PROMISED you wouldnt snitch
Nomi: i wont!!
Nomi: i believe u!!
Sol: wait what
Nomi: i mean,,, prophetic visions are kinda out of the ordinary but,,,
Nomi: theres so much weird stuff in the colony right now!!
Nomi: i mean people here have weird powers an stuff!!
Nomi: so who am i 2 say youre lying
Sol: ohhhhh nomi thank u so much u dont realize how much of a relief this is
Sol: but i am now about to say something thats also strange and u gotta bear with me
Nomi: ???
Sol: u know that alien that we drew dys with like. a while ago
Sol: hes not fictional. hes real
Nomi: huh
Nomi: i was confused why u wouldnt tell me what series he was from,,,
Sol: yeah hes my friend
Sol: and dys’s
Sol: and i would bet like a million kudos that thats who hes with rn
Nomi: so u want me to,,, meet up with an alien to find dys??
Sol: yeah basically
Sol: i still havent talked to sym about this… so i dunno if he’ll be on board…
Sol: but if he isnt we can just divert our plan
Sol: improvise adapt overcome
Nomi: hehe
Nomi: uhm
Nomi: is it,,, ok if i come over soon? just to say hi? or will instance not let u have visitors
Sol: hmmm. not sure.
Sol: but ill ask
Nomi: oki!! thank u!!
Sol: yeah of course <3
Sol >>> Sym
Sol: hey
Sol: u there?
Sym: I am, yes!
Sol: is dys with you?
Sym: Hm…
Sol: “hm”???
Sym: Ah, I was just asking him if it was alright to fill you in. He said yes!
Sol: never change sym
Sol: is he… ok?
Sym: He appears to be doing well! He has always thrived well outside the colony walls.
Sol: do u… know what happened before he left?
Sym: Hm… he told me about the explosive he set off, and the deal he made with the Gardeners.
Sol: did you know?
Sym: No, I did not. He told me nothing of his plan until after it was already through.
Sym: For the record, I do not agree with his methods. But he believed it was the only way he could achieve what he wanted.
Sol: becoming a gardener… what would that even mean for him??
Sym: It would mean… transcending his human body. He would leave everything for the chance to be everything.
Sym: It would be an immense change, though not nessecarily a bad one.
Sol: sym
Sol: i know u have a different view of this for a lot of reasons but
Sol: hes my best friend
Sol: i dont know what im going to do if he just
Sol: dissapears
Sym: He would still be able to visit, in his own way, if that helps.
Sol: not really!!
Sol: sym, everyone here already thinks im insane
Sol: how am i supposed to explain that i need to leave the colony to visit my friend who turned into a species of shapeshifting aliens??
Sol: no ones going to believe that!!
Sol: i know ur really trying
Sol: but no one else understands how frustrating this is
Sol: to be stuck here and not be able to do shit to help ur friends
Sol: i couldnt even talk dys down from blowing up the fucking wall
Sol: and i know its selfish, i know
Sol: but i cant lose him
Sym: Sol… I understand.
Sym: Not all of what you’re going through, of course, but I do understand.
Sym: I will talk to him. But he might need to hear from you.
Sol: he blocked me right after he ran off
Sym: Hm. Well that was not very nice of him! Do you want me to ask him to un-”block” you?
Sol: no its. hnrgh. hes going to be frustrating about this i can just tell
Sol: can u work with me on a plan?
Sym: I will do my best.
Sol: thank u
Sol: and sorry for like. blowing up a bit
Sym: Do not worry about it.
Sym: Honestly, it seemed like you needed to blow off a bit of steam.
Sol: haha yeah u have no idea