Chapitre 85: Phone
*yippe, alive somehow. Finally out and away from Penacony. Time to cook. Peace out and Deus Vult.*
Himeko's demeanor was strong, letting out no traces of vulnerability, especially with the negotiations coming in. It was the IPC's plan to offer 5% of Penacony's shares to the Astral Express, but their plan must be something deeper. Still, Himeko decided to play along, considering the offer a decent one. Thus, she followed Topaz into the room where Jade and Oti Alfalfa were discussing their agreements. It was a quick discussion, but soon the topic shifted to her current weak point.
"Miss Himeko," said Oti, a curious glint sparkling in his eyes. "May I ask if the young Nameless is alright? I've no information about his current state, but it's a shame that the Saviour of the Dream can't be here with us. I would have loved to discuss with him."
Himeko nodded, trying her best to hide the traces of regret and guilt that hid in her eyes, yet the worst serpent possible, Jade, happened to catch sight of the weak point. She said nothing, however, focusing instead on their bigger plan with Penacony at its center.
"I'm afraid he is in a delicate state, one where resting is of the utmost priority. We hope that he'll recover."
Jade nodded, taking upon herself a sad expression, showing compassion—which was clearly a trick, real as it felt.
"I'm sorry to hear that. He's a rather interesting character from what Aventurine told us. It's quite a shame, but please do tell us if the IPC can help in any way. Just say the word, and we'll have the best doctors in the universe at his side."
Himeko shook her head, aware of Mark's rather negative view of the IPC. In his eyes, he would probably choose death over their aid.
"You have my gratitude, Miss Jade, but I'm sure it's just a matter of time until he's back in full health."
Topaz, who was watching the exchange, spoke up.
"I'm really curious about him too, Miss Himeko. As far as I know, he's the main reason behind Jarilo-VI's current state, right? That's what I've managed to piece together. The missing Stellaron, the effects it had being reverted..."
Himeko didn't know exactly what to say, but the cat was out of the bag. Rather than attempting to lie and failing, she went along with a partial truth.
"He is a rather mysterious individual. He didn't say much, but he did take credit for the exploit. You'd have to discuss it with him in person, something I'm afraid is currently impossible."
Topaz nodded, and Jade simply bit back a smirk, a truly satisfied one, the information being of value in the grand scheme of things. There they had someone with enough knowledge on how to seal a Stellaron—little did they know about HOW he went about it. His secrets were his, with the others playing along, deciding to put their trust in him once and forever.
"I understand. Well, if possible, please tell him to contact us upon waking up. We wish him a quick recovery, and remember... the IPC is offering their aid should it be needed."
Himeko smiled softly, keeping up her strong persona to the best of her abilities while heading to the exit.
"Thank you once again, Miss Jade."
With that, she made her way outside, leaving the room behind. Thus, the rest of the events unfolded in the same manner, with a bitter aftertaste left in everyone's mouth—for those who had been by Mark's side in those moments that might be his last. However, he's not one to let go of life that easily.
On board of the Express, the cube was pulsing softly, with him inside of it, struggling to come out, unsure of what's going on. He was trapped, sleeping, but his mind was active, aware of the world outside and of the events taking place. Acheron's words did reach him, even if she didn't think they would. He struggled with them, feeling his heart die out as tears couldn't even flow out in the moment. In vain did he struggle to break out. He was imprisoned there. The thoughts of Acheron being there, at the graves of the past Nameless, were his only pointer. If he could break out of there, he'd rush to that place in a heartbeat, but he was too weak to. Slave to his own weakness, he simply cried internally, cursing himself in that moment.
The ice flowers he had made were there for all to see, including Acheron, who looked at them with bitterness and a crushing warmth in her heart. She kneeled down to touch them, feeling their smooth surface. Someone else had put flowers there before her, and all she could do was speak softly.
"You sure do know more than you ought to... it's like you knew that I wished to do this, and here they are... not melting thanks to the dream, so they're eternally there, flowers for the dead..."
The rest of the Nameless appeared as well to say their goodbyes, and she gave them space, taking a few steps back. Unlike the ending Mark knew, things were different. Gallagher's hound statue wasn't there, since he was very much alive, part of the Land of Dreams and now the real world too. It was a beautiful gift, one would say, to be freed from the bounds of a world.
Again, the cube pulsed and rattled inside the Express, the lonely Parlor having no witness. Pom-Pom was doing something else in a different place in the train, and thus Mark's futile struggles had no witness—except for a specific group who was watching from afar thanks to a skilled hacker. Thus, the images did reach a pair of tantalizing eyes, which simply waited for their time to strike and meet that self-proclaimed 'rival' of hers once more.
Memories of March's words, of the bitter feelings shared, of everything flowed in his mind, firing off in his dreams. He was nothing but a spectator to the show, the voices in his mind gone, or rather, slumbering. It was the dawn of a new age for him, from many different points of view. The future held something known and unknown, mingling his knowledge with things that he himself had added by existing there.
Such was the conversation between Stelle and Acheron that carried a touch more words now that he was there.
"Before you go, I would like to request something of you," said Acheron, her voice soft and a bit hesitant.
Stelle nodded, trying to figure out what she wished to ask.
"Sure, Acheron. I'll do my best to help if possible."
She took a deep breath, preparing herself to speak, the words heavy on her lips.
"Please watch over Mark."
A moment of silence followed, during which none said a thing. Stelle tried to understand the situation, combining it with her tiny observations—the things she's seen and heard. Deep down, the idea that maybe those two had something develop between them didn't seem so strange, and yet she didn't think much of it before.
"I will," she answered, determined and understanding. "Is there something you wish to tell him?"
Acheron pursed her lips. Most of the words that she had desired to speak had been used; alas, it wouldn't hurt to leave him a message that would be sure to get to him.
"Tell him that... I'm sorry for leaving like this, but I don't wish to see him destroy himself for me. That's all..."
Strong words, and they did leave Stelle baffled for a good few moments. What exactly had formed between those two? She did know of Acheron's Nihility, so the logical answer was that Mark, in his classic fashion, wished to help her get rid of it, to save her from that Path of a Self-Annihilator.
"I will make sure to tell him that, but... won't he be sad?"
"I think he will, but it's better than seeing him suffer at his own hand."
Thus, the farewells have ended, and they boarded the Express once more, discussing future plans. They would sit around for a few more days, most probably, but then they'd have to depart and see it to their next destination.
In the parlor, Pom-Pom was crying his tiny heart out as the news of the Nameless' fate was brought to him. The white cube simply sat idly by them all, its movements long since ceased. The sounds of the heavy, pained wails filled the room, and no one but Himeko could calm him down. Thus, the Crew, aside from Himeko, walked out of the room, discussing their next stop.
March put a hand in her pocket and remembered having Mark's phone on her person. She looked at it, fiddling with it as she contemplated something.
"Is that Mark's phone?" asked Dan Heng, a touch of curiosity hitting him too.
"Yeah, he gave it to me before... you know. I'm just thinking about it, since... I'm tempted to try and open it. I know his password since I caught sight of him typing it in, but... I know I shouldn't..."
Black Swan appeared out of nowhere, this time lured out by the words about Mark's phone. It was, in itself, home to many memories of his.
"Well, I think it would be a shame not to look inside of it, you know?"
Everyone took a step back, and Stelle nearly pulled her bat out.
"What are you doing here?"
March was even more revolted, crossing her arms.
"In my room of all places?"
Black Swan mused, smiling to herself.
"It's a cute room, March, just like you."
Dan Heng looked at her seriously, his gaze unwavering.
"I suggest you tell us your true motive for being here, since we could easily have you disembark in this moment."
She smiled, moving her fingers along her chin.
"Well, I watch over Mark, and I also happen to have overheard the way the Express gets fuel, and my suggestion would also happen to be of help to you. It's about reaching a world not even Akivili had reached, where you could set down silver rails yourself. It can also help with fuel, but first... let's have a look in that phone, all of us. It might hold many answers to things unknown to us."
Welt fixed his glasses, the idea tempting. It was a breach of privacy, but the sweet allure of unknown knowledge being a possibility was too much. After Himeko managed to calm down Pom-Pom, everyone gathered in the parlor, with Mark's phone placed on a table before them all.
Chapitre 86: 4th Wall Falls
*Yeppa, here we are, moving fast at mach 5. Shit goes down indeed. Thus, here we are. Enjoy and let me know what you think. Peace out and Deus Vult*
The Express still lingered in Penacony, and yet they were all on board, gathered together in the parlor, sitting round with Mark's phone placed on the coffee table before them. The light-green device waited, feeling the weight of their gazes linger on it. Judgement was about to fall, and it could do nothing but await the cruel fate. The white cube simply stood there, silent, any motion having long since ceased from it. They didn't know of those moments—almost no one knew except the Stellaron Hunters, who had kept an eye over the Express.
"We shouldn't do this," said Himeko, clinging to the rational voice in her mind. Mark was in a predicament they hadn't seen before, captured within a cube that they couldn't understand.
"I know we shouldn't; that's the rational choice; however... what about the information it might hide? We've all wondered about his origins, what turned him into the man we're working with," added Welt, fixing his glasses up his nose. March felt her fingers ache to just reach out for the phone and type in the password that she had caught sight of a few times—Mark didn't shy from hiding it.
"That is the situation, and yet there's a moral duty here that we're about to break. It's secrets at the price of his privacy. What if there's actually nothing there and we're simply on a wild chase? We might do this for naught then have to face consequences."
Dan Heng's words were calm and thought out, yet even he felt the powerful allure of a possible explanation.
"The only thing he's told me at some point is that he had been an Observer once, or something along those lines. I'm yet to understand what he meant."
Black Swan tried to find something, anything, in her own mind, looking through the memories she's gathered across many years. Some mentions came up about such people, but nothing that could be tied to the present era, to his knowledge that went beyond normal, to actually understanding the depths of people around him.
"I'm afraid the only course of action that would reveal the actual truth is to hopefully find information in his phone or to have him confess by his own volition."
Stelle sighed, rubbing her chin in thought for a moment. She gave up, simply resting on the couch, lounging while grumbling.
"I'm so annoyed by this mess. March, just open it."
All eyes dashed to the phone as March picked it up with trembling hands. It's like the damn phone was a bomb, waiting to explode at the smallest wrong move. Her pink-blue eyes darted left and right, awaiting confirmation from others. Himeko's lips pursed, her palms glued together as sweat began forming on them, the tension palpable. Welt has his fingers laced together as his elbows rested right above his knees.
"Should we do this?" asked Himeko once more, feeling conflicted to her core. The situation between her and Mark was already delicate, and one wrong move might make it crumble fully.
"No risk, no gain."
Black Swan's words were short, but they cut to the heart of the matter. March took a deep breath as she finally typed in the password, her thumb gliding over the numbers 6 and 9 a few times.
"Is that his password?" asked Stelle, scratching the side of her head as she sat up on the couch, feeling the soft material mold under her weight.
"What a... Mark thing," sighed out Himeko, somehow not surprised. Black Swan simply chuckled, her soft gloves sliding over her lips as she looked over to the cube in the room.
"What a dirty-minded individual. He sure has a lot of interesting sides to him."
Dan Heng's eyes were glued to the screen as he sat by March's side, looking over her shoulder at the phone. Everyone was squished together to get a better look at the screen. The wallpaper was a black and white image of two unknown characters, one with short black hair and another with longer strands hidden that cascaded beneath a crown of thorns.
"That's a strange image. What does it even mean?" asked March, narrowing her eyes at it.
No one said a thing about it after simply looking around at the apps present. None of them made sense for any of them, since the OS was something different from what they knew. Herta made sure to add a new version and some upgrades to his device, and yet the older part of it was preserved in the way it was back in his home world.
"Well, the interface seems similar, but the applications it has sure are different. How about we check them one by one?"
And thus they followed Himeko's suggestion, accessing each and every one of them. Some needed internet access, despite him being connected to the Astral Express' network. That was the first strange thing about it. The usual apps were nothing out of the ordinary besides their foreign appearance.
"Let's see what else he has. I believe the photos should be the last thing we check, right? That's where the most information might come in from, but first we should look at what we have available just in case some security measures might kick in later."
Welt's advice was good, so they simply went along with their exploration. No one made a noise; they all just listened to each noise that came from his phone. The notes app had a single entry that was blocked by a password, while the others were just meaningless words thrown in there. Of course, the phone's password didn't work.
"I guess he locked up the neat stuff," puffed out Stelle, a bit annoyed.
Next, with March being March, she checked the games on his phone. All was nice and normal, some weird game called 'Minecraft' that they checked, with cubes and more things no one could figure out quickly, but then came the strange part. Two faces for two different games, one a girl with dark hair and a blue ribbon, looking to the side, and the other one partially glitching out, but they could make out the image decently.
"Is that... ME?!" cried out March, eyes glued to the screen. She didn't know when her finger tapped the icon, opening it in a blitz. They were all watching with big eyes, gazes fixed on the tiny screen, drinking the sight. A weird name, 'Hoyoverse', followed by the game's presumed logo, a wide title saying 'Honkai Star Rail' and a representation of a train. Their hearts stopped when the image of a train, one eerily similar to the Astral Express, appeared on the screen. It was floating in space, with a large planet in the background. The rest was hidden as the 'No Internet' warning appeared, prompting them to restart.
Silence, eerie, and heavy, unlike ever before, settled in, with a weird feeling of paranoia following. Their eyes looked out the Express windows, staring with uncertainty to catch a glimpse of whoever might be watching, if anyone was doing so.
"Now that went from 0 to 100 really quick," said Stelle, her voice a little shaky as she tried to humor the situation. The one worried most was March, who kept staring at the tiny image of her face.
"Just what is that? Is it a game with the Express? Did someone in the universe make such a thing? Are we somehow being watched?" she cried out as she put the phone down, putting both arms around her head as if to hide away from the world. She clung on to Stelle, who tried to comfort the poor girl.
Welt reached out and picked up the phone, fueled by the desire for knowledge to look through it more and more, to fully comprehend what's going on. Black Swan floated around, looking intrigued—almost too much.
"Let's keep looking," he said, his voice composed despite the strange discovery. Himeko stood by his side, stealing a glance over to the cube, watching it silently rest on the floor before her eyes returned to the phone. His gallery was the last place to check.
"Should we actually open it? What if we find... you know... things we shouldn't see?" she asked, her cheeks slightly flushed at the idea.
Welt's finger paused as it hovered over the icon, waiting as the gears turned in his mind.
"We should assume this risk," he said, then faked a cough as he opened it. Folders with various images stood out, but the one that was the most glitched out was called 'Honkai,' and inside, images of a drawn, red-haired woman were gathered, together with those of a purple-haired one. Their faces dropped, while Black Swan looked like she was having a field day.
"That... that has to be me... and that is most probably Acheron... but when, and how?"
Himeko was speechless, but Welt kept looking around for more, nearly choking when the image of his past popped in, with him wearing an idol outfit, being all pampered. That sealed the deal. He quickly switched to another picture, this one a meme with the crew, each one saying imaginary, then a specific Path, while Himeko's only said Imaginary and had a skull emoji after it.
"Just what is all this?" asked Dan Heng, and Stelle came to look while March still clung to her side, as if a little scared.
Himeko's cheeks were flushed red, thousands of ideas swarming her mind, be they normal thoughts, worried thoughts, or perhaps the kind of thoughts she shouldn't have with him using those images in the wrong manners.
"Welt... what was that image with you?" she asked, trying to shift her focus. He was dumbfounded, understanding that some of the images he held there depicted real moments, and yet the question of 'how' remained.
"It is nothing important," he spat out, but Stelle snatched the phone and found it. She was grinning from ear to ear while everyone stared at it, and Welt was close to simply destroying the phone.
"Mister Yang, I didn't know you liked crossdressing. Maybe it's you we should take shopping, not Mark," chuckled March, teasing the old man.
Still, Stelle had to check the rest of the phone. All of the images were laid bare before their eyes, from random memes with cats to images of other characters, to photos of people, and him as well. They checked them, only to realize that he seemed very... normal. What else did they expect?
"He did say he wound up in this situation without his knowledge," said Himeko, her voice soft and somewhat composed. "I guess his life before was normal, filled with the mundane."
They kept looking, finding images of him posing, laughing, being with friends, making funny faces, photos of him and his family, where he was smiling so earnestly. It was a far cry from the Mark they knew, who seemed to force some emotions from time to time, who kept focusing on getting stronger, on fighting, and on clinging to his sanity. Their faces dropped slightly, and even Black Swan said nothing, despite keeping track of all the memories she could extract from those images.
"I can feel the joy in all of them," she whispered, gaining everyone's attention. "He was happy, so happy that I can't describe it. It was just a pure sense of contentment, filled with lingering moments of worry, just like the life of a normal person. The things I felt in him when I tried to check during our dance were nothing but pain and a strong sense of duty that nearly swallowed him whole. It was brief, but I felt it."
Silence as they just looked along, searching the photos. Graduation ceremony after high school, again a photo of him together with his family, the dark robe covering him slightly. Beautiful memories that made them all remain silent. Unlike most of them, he was the only one to have a normal life before being thrown into chaos. March has no memories; Dan Heng's past is a mess, while Himeko and Welt have their own lives that went in specific directions. Stelle herself had no idea of who she was before, but Mark... Mark had known all of it and lost it all in the blink of an eye.
"That's... not fair..." whispered March, wiping her eyes. "It's not fair that he just... lost all of it. Why...?"
Of course, the answer was foreign to him too. Thus, they just looked at the pictures in silence, watching all of it. Images of them as characters drawn on paper appeared too, but they didn't matter that much anymore despite the eerie feeling they carried. Thus, the photos simply moved until they were done.
With a trembling hand, Stelle put the phone back down on the table, and everyone could swear that the cube behind them was making a soft sad noise. Still, it stopped as their gazes moved over to it.
"Just... this is some heavy stuff," sighed Stelle, trying to calm down. No one said a thing until Welt broke the silence.
"Whatever happens, we have to discuss this with Mark. Perhaps the time will come when he's freed from that weird substance."
Yet, days went by, and he was still inside, even as the Luofu sent an invitation to the Astral Express. While Himeko and Welt were on their way to deal with the Leviathan fossils, the cube was left on the Luofu, where Bailu and Lingsha were trying to check up on him. Thus, the disasters began unfolding without Mark to meddle with them. Inside the cube, he knew, he felt, and most importantly... he was done.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
200+ Classement
Power Stone 
12 Power
stone 
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