Le Epilogue~

                                    

                                          
That winter, the Olympics were not a good enough reason to celebrate for most of the nations. Though the national event was a wonderful medium for creating Philadelphia, or "brotherly love," between countries, no one really had their hearts in it.
                          
America continued to remain blissfully unaware of how close he had been to igniting a war that would have taken millions and millions of lives. Had he learned what he had almost done, it would have put all of Alice's efforts in the sewer and ruined them. He chose to spend plenty of time with his family, both close and distant, to try and bring a smile to everyone's faces. 
                          
The notion was pure in its intentions but much more difficult to carry out.
                          
Vale, because it was her job as the Scribe, took care of Alice as she slept on in her coma. She worked rapidly to complete the prosthetic arm for her, and managed to finish within three months. As Alice slept on for another month afterward, she deeply contemplated what was going to happen next.
                          
There were whole universes of information and knowledge and wisdom stored in her brain, which caused for a lot of sleepless nights. However, she was finding she needed very little sleep. It was one more "perk" of being the sentry for all the dimensions that existed in her new, complicated house.
                          
"Tatiana just turned six," Matthew said as softly as ever while he sat next to Alice's bed and talked to her, hoping that she would awaken to the sound of his voice. "She was sad you couldn't be there, but she had fun nonetheless. And the kids are fine, I promise. I'm taking good care of them by myself. It's not really that hard, since we have to leave a lot of the country work to our bosses. I mean, that's what they're there for, eh?" He chuckled half-heartedly.
                          
"But we all miss you, Alice. We really want you to wake up and come home with us. It's dimmer at home, without your smile to brighten the room." Matthew took her hand in his and slowly caressed the back with his thumb. "But I'm so proud of you, Alice, I really am. We all are. You saved the world. You deserve some rest."
                          
Meanwhile, Vale worked tirelessly at her desk to come up with something she had thought Alice would appreciate. She just knew that the young state and mother wouldn't want to look like a Terminator-- though she would initially think that would be cool-- because it would be frightening to others and would distance her from the people in her life. Therefore, there had to be a way to make the arm look less synthetic, even if it was just a disguise.
                          
"What are you working on?" Matthew asked one day as he glanced over her shoulder. The thick tome with the swimming writing lay open in front of her, but he made no attempt to read it. He'd tried in the past with no success.
                          
"It's just a rough cover for the arm," Vale replied smoothly, picking up the limp, skin-colored sleeve to show him. "Just made out of plastic at the moment, because I can't think of what else to make it with. Any ideas?"
                          
Matthew shuddered at an idea he got after taking the odd flap of plastic. "Real skin would be gross."
                          
Vale shook her head. "Not that. Definitely not. It wouldn't work, I already tried. Without a real flesh and bone arm underneath, skin is a bit too weak. It tore easily."
                          
He raised an eyebrow at her. "You already tried to make a real skin cover?"
                          
"It was with her own skin, I promise," Vale said like he had nothing to worry. "I cultured it from a few of her cells, don't freak out."
                          
Matthew let out a relieved breath. "You scared me for a minute there."
                          
There was a pause between them, but just as Matthew was opening his mouth to ask another question Vale answered it for him. "She won't appreciate being so different from everyone else. That's why I'm trying to make this for her."