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A New Day (IC)


Dariusprime

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A secret laboratory

Deep underneath ArcheTech HQ

December 15th, 2011

Thursday, 8:35 am

The cliche goes that success is the culmination of blood, sweat and tears. That to truly succeed requires determination, sacrifice and a willingness to take risks, and most importantly, risk failure. Two heroes in particular embodied those qualities on September 28th, 2011. After weeks of struggle and toil, Silhouette and Dr. Archeville emerged victorious from adventures so perilous and wondrous that they would be forever changed. Even more so by the fact that before their journeys merged back together, they split into odysseys that tested the very nature of their beings. Against all odds and his own nature, one rose to be the warrior-hero of a dying world. The other stared unblinking into the mirror of her own mind. All the while lost in the silence of a dead reality.

Yet united they shared a common goal. Together they persevered to save a dear friend and loved one from the clutches of the darkest of realms: the Terminus. Still fresh in memories were those dark moments when the evil lurking within the blood of Viktor Archeville manifested as a vast monstrosity devoid of affection or morality. Reality itself warped and split, unable to hold the line against chaos incarnate. Fulcrum exiled It Which Should Not Be to the Tartarus of the Terminus, the reality of Entropy made real, at the cost of her own life. Yet her two companions were undaunted. Fulcrum lived, and they would see to it that she returned to where she belonged.

And returned her they did. Battered but unbroken, they emerged onto the Prime with a gigantic red crystal. Within the facets and refractions, a black silhouette stirred. For nearly three months something has incubated within the depths of the Terminus Crystal. All attempts to penetrate this chrysalis have failed. All to be done was wait patiently and listen to the call of the Terminus radiation drifting from the structure. The black figure changed, grew even, and all tests indicated something dramatic would happen. What, exactly, was unknown, as was Fulcrum's true fate.

At 6:30 am, December 15th, alarms sounded in the control room. The containment chamber registered a spike in radiation levels conforming to the EMS infrared bands and Terminus cosmic frequencies. The temperature of the Crystal rose steadily. Both Carrie and Viktor were confronted with the news that, finally, the Crystal had cracked. Now to wait and see what emerged...

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Carrie wasn't a morning person, before twelve o'clock was rare, before nine o'clock was unthinkable, but Carrie was up if not bleary as she pulled the cooper out of the underground garage. Carrie also wasn't one to speed, that was also something made for a special exception for that particular morning. She made it to Archetech at around 9:12 against all odds and rush hour traffic she was at the desk ringing the bell and getting confused looks. She herself wasn't the best of shape, her clothing was wrinkled, her hair was up and frizzed, and the slant and droop of her eyes showed the signs of the tiredness achieved through getting three hours sleep as opposed to her normal eight. But she was hectic and determined to get around gripping the package under her arm as she waited for someone to let her into the deeper parts of the facility.

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The silicone blonde that usually staffed the front desk was curiously absent this morning. In fact no one was on duty. After a few seconds however, a middle-aged woman in a lab coat rushed into the lobby. She carried a clipboard stacked with papers, and checked one before approaching Carrie.

"Caroline Wendle?" she asked in a clipped tone. "I'm Dr. Adeline Yang. Thank you for coming on such short notice. Here is your visitor's badge. If you will follow me please." Once the badge was offered, she turned on heels.

After a disorienting trek through the halls of ArcheTech, the polished, public face of the company gave way to the plain hallways of dedicated laboratories. Dr. Yang remained taciturn during the walk, answering no questions and simply referring to an elevator ride. Which turned out not to be a turbo-lift like contraption but a large freight elevator. As the elevator descended, she visibly relaxed.

"My apologies for the rush, but discretion is still in order. You see, we aren't exactly sure what is happening, or worse, what may be emerging from the crystal." She froze in mid stream, looked at Carrie, thought a moment, and said, "I'm getting ahead of myself. Dr. Archeville specifically requested your notification once the crystal opened. I assume you are Mona's friend?"

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Carrie kept in pace, only keeping from sprinting because of the simple fact that she had no idea where they were going. She know Victor had placed her under security deep underground, but every other detail was vague at best.

"Friend, tailor, fellow artist, pick and choose, I really don't care. Besides, it's Mona in there, nothing more, nothing less. We didn't go trekking around through hell to pick up the wrong crystal."

She stretched as she watched the walls go up as the shaft went down. She used to have a weird feeling about elevators going down like they were suddenly going to go faster then usual and crash. Weird how fears get replaced when such a thing happening would be a prefered method.

"Ohh wow, it's gonna be a hell of a time explaining this to her folks. She's been gone for ages, from what I've heard her mom's a fiesty little thing, might actually find a way to nag poor Mona to death once she comes around."

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Archeville had not left the bowels of ArcheTech since he and Carrie had returned with the crystal. He had initially thought to bring it to his home to work on, to keep it all under wraps until Mona either burst out and he managed to crack it open and extract her, and because his personal gear was slightly better than what he'd introduced at ArcheTech. No, no, I have done too much on my own, not trusted enough in others... that is part of what got us all in this situation in the first place. Fortunately, Miss Americana did not show as extreme a reaction to Archeville as Jack of all Blades had, allowed him to talk and explain what the giant crimson crystal was, and gave him the space and resources he'd need to free her.

The fact doing so meant he was kept close and could be monitored was also a factor.

While doing so he'd been in full "(Mad) Scientist mode," so had neglected to pay as much attention to his grooming and hygiene as usual. In three months his hair, shaved off during his stay in the dying world, had grown back in, though was still short of the luxurious lengths it had been. He also sported three months worth of beard, reaching almost to the bottom of his neck. He had taken minimal breaks for food or sleep, so he still retained the lean look he'd developed in his time on that hellish world, and he had not used any of the advanced medical tech there on himself, so his body was still crisscrossed with scars from the numerous injuries he'd received; his nails were slightly long and ragged, since his cyberkinetic abilities precluded the need to actually touch devices to operate them. Must free Mona... must free Mona... must free Mona...

The crystal had, of course, proven impossible to break, meeting all forces with an equal and opposite reaction; it was almost like an echo of the perfect realm that was the pre-Omega Terminus. Even scanning inside it had proven a monumental challenge, and required 'skipping' the scanning beam through another dimension to get inside it. The only real way he even knew she was in there was the brief telepathic contact the psions on that other world had established, and brief flashes Scarab detected when she had been called in to verify what Archeville had perceived and to consult on attempts to free her without undue damage or strain. But now, inexplicably, it had cracked, and once his assistant/guard had woken him from his brief nap, he rushed in to see what was happening.

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"Ah, Dr. Archeville!" called Dr. Yang as she stepped hurriedly off the elevator. "I still do no understand how you developed the Chrysalis Hypothesis, but your calculations appear to be right on the money. A Terminus radiation spike was detected followed by an exothermic exchange with the surrounding atmosphere. The crack opened approximately two hours ago, and has been widening by 2.56 centimeters an hour. A temperature inversion followed. The Chamber is -100 C and dropping."

Before them sprawled a facility big enough to house a jetliner. Stacks of prefabricated laboratories and clean rooms dotted the walls, all connected by bundles of pipes and cables. A large control room hung suspended in the far corner. Crates and tables lined with equipment filled up much of the remaining outer periphery of the enclosure. A small cadre of hand-picked technicians in white coats, or more ominously, positive-pressure containment suits, rushed about hurriedly.

The real star was the Containment Chamber. Ducts and cables partially obscured the structure, but the sheer size of it was undeniable. A transparent tube, some 30 feet across and 50 feet high, sat within matching layers of shielding. All of that was window dressing for the pulsating crystal sitting upright within the inner chamber. A red haze clung to its surface, and white wisps of gas drifted about lazily. Sure enough, a crack some two feet long but only perceptively wide, started near the top of the irregularly shaped object.

Spotlights descended from the ceiling and illuminated the Chamber.

"I hope you are right, Ms. Wendle. I hope you are both right," said Dr. Yang anxiously.

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Carrie was led down through the underground lab, a bit brighter and whiter then the dungeon like interior she expected so deep underground. It certainly had enough people down there. Around the crystal were several people in labcoats managing devices, looking at scenes, most of them were examining the crack in a little group which Viktor looked like he was going to plow through to see. Carrie didn't bother to let the guide take her any further as she took a better lance at him. He looked better then before, at least his hair had grown back. But he still looked like he desperately needed a sandwich, and a nap even more, his bags were worse then her's. He was also ungodly pale, whatever tan and burn he gained during the year on the otherworld he'd lost in the three months he had spent literately underground. Still whatever his actual physical appearance he looked estatic at the new development, and she let him go forward with it.

The mist coming off the crystal was a bit creepy, Carrie looked towards Viktor,

"Well you look like you haven't been getting out, at all. Once this egg cracks, how about we pop over to the IHOP, you look like you could use something fat filled and artery clogging."

It was a half joke created through nervous energy, and the tendancy to eat that followed such. Nothing was ever so comforting as a full stomach, and she doubted that as good as it would be that Mona comes out that the tension wouldn't fade just like that.

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"Light and sounds levels in chamber dropping, too, yes?" he asked Dr. Yang as they walked briskly down the aisles. The first several times he'd been called in to see to something, he either flew of teleported directly there, seeing no reason to not move as fast as he could. But when he realized doing so actually took longer, because he had to wait for the other technicians and scientists to catch up, and try to explain things to him while short of breath, he took the slower track of running with them, letting them explain and give feedback as they went. "Complete absorption of all energy spectra?"

When he reached the room, his eyes went first to the crystal, and the growing splotch of darkness at the crack, then to the myriad monitors arrayed around the room. Eventually he noticed Carrie, or, more accurately, the words he'd heard from her reached through the vast calculations his mind was working on. "Have not left since arrival. Prefer Waffle Haus; IHOP incorrectly named, despite protests and suggestions." He turned just enough to take the briefest of looks at her, "you seem well."

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Carrie knew his mind was elsewhere, given, it was more accurate to say she had to actively search for when he was here and when he was submerged into the mumble of scientific theory he'd likely been slaving away with to try and get through the crystal to Mona and all the precautions and safeguards that went with it. When she found him in the mess after some delay, she gave him a shrug and a half smile,

"You don't, given that's likely because I'm much better at faking it then you are. Also, chocolate, at least twice a day because chocolate makes everything better, or at least suck a lot less for a little while."

She walked as close as what was likely deemed safe. She wanted to touch it but resisted, it's not like she could crack the crystal or help the process. Heavens knows she tried before didn't do any good. She held the wrapped package of brown paper in her hands pressing it against her leg as she looked at the read outs. All of it was over her head, probably over the head of anybody who hadn't gone to college for at least twelve years focusing on the exact sciences that went into this or Viktor. Still it wasn't blinking red, or alarms blaring so she assumed it was going well. Tapping the package again she turned towards Viktor,

"So, when this happens, what are we telling her folks then? I mean how many people actually know what have happened, I sort of left that to you since I fly under the radar with just about everything I do, but when this is over it's gonna be a hell of a pill to swallow everything that happened."

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"Yes, Doctor," Dr. Yang replied as she followed him. She offered a tablet computer with readouts to Viktor. "The phenomenon is subtle at the moment, but yes, complete spectral absorbance has been documented. We are even noticing what may be a slight red shift. Incredible." While Viktor and Carrie chatted, she coordinated the technicians still busying around the Chamber.

As if on cue to Carrie's approach, a deep rubble, like some great beast waking, echoed from the crystal. The crack doubled in size as squeals of stressed metal joined the chorus. Just as quickly as it came, the sounds died off and only the sounds of machinery remained. The holding frame, from which the sound emanated, looked pitted and dull from whatever just happened. This new development combined with the data suggested the process was accelerating. The crystal would split open in minutes.

Stepping up beside Viktor, Dr. Yang asked, "Your orders, Doctor Archeville?"

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The Doktor gave no indication he head anything Carrie had said, directing much of his focus on the great crystals and the monitors scanning it, and a smidgen of attention to what the technicians around him were saying (which wasn't anything he hadn't already figured out).

"Drawing in energy," he muttered, "to fuel something? Kickstart the next stage of her... metamorphosis? Or... or is she expelling her Terminus energies, purging all her superpowers and returning to her non-powered self, but those energies interact with everything here in matter/antimatter-like fashion? No, no, that cannot be it, not nearly explosive enough... unless the process snuffed any explosions... a great field of Nothing, with Mona Teymourian at the center..." His eyes went wide, unfocused, then snapped back to one monitor, "psi-scanners showing increased activity... psi-scanners showing increased activity!," he repeated more forcefully, excitement dawning upon his face, "consciousness is returning! It must be her, working to get out!"

He ran his hands through his unwashed hair, "how to help how to help how to help... cannot help: pull the butterfly free from the cocoon, its wings will not be strong enough to fly. Not that we have anything that can break that cocoon..." He froze, and began to hyperventilate a bit.

No no no get a hold of yourself Viktor she needs you

Cannot pull her out, but maybe put something in-

He suddenly clapped his hands sharply, "yes! Doctor Yang," he faced the scientist with intense eyes and a manic grin, "we need more power, pumped in to the crystal, to help Fulcrum out. Power transfer beams, at the facet intersections there, there, there, there, and there," he pointed out a lopsided pentagon shape around the crack, "so the crystal can act as a buffer to help regulate power flow. The Mk. VII fuel cells should do; we probably will not have to tap into the building's power supply directly."

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"At once, Dr. Archeville," responded Dr. Yang, who quickly disappeared into the sea of equipment while barking orders.

The technicians rushed about, and around, the two heroes as the plan was thrown into action. Joining the spotlights were ceiling-mounted laser systems were quickly reconfigured. As they moved into position above the crystal, the air of the room buzzed with electricity as the Mk. VII cells fired up. Within two minutes, transfer beams pulsed energy into the crack.

Dr. Yang approached Carrie and put a hand gently on her shoulder. "Ms. Wendle, please back up. This next step could be messy." Although her face was serious, her tone of voice had air of anticipation.

As for the crystal itself? Perhaps five minutes after the beams initiated, the crack slowly but surely began increasing in size. The accompanying sounds, were, well, not. The entire room quieted down as if a metaphysical volume control were being lowered. Dr. Yang and others in the room could still hear each other, yes, but yelling didn't amount to much more than a normal conversational tone.

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Carrie backed away as the hussle and bustle went up by a factor of five. The energy pouring into the crack was very carefully monitored and the noise couldn't hide how much people were trying. She was just standing there herself, no touching anything. What could she do, this was so far over her head it was touching the edge of the universe. Still she kept her eye on the crack watching it like the sheer force of will would help it open. There was probably some voice that said watching wouldn't do anything, but what did it matter, it was something. Hopefully whatever happened didn't blind her before she got to see Mona again.

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The crystalline matrix greedily absorbed the quintet of power beams, rapidly draining the Mk VII cells. "First one's almost drained!" a technician cried out, her voice barely carrying over the growing silence.

"Pull in a-," Dr. Yang started to shout back, but stopped when he saw Archeville waving towards one section of the far wall.

"Power cells are not enough! Tie the transfer beams directly into the building's power grid!" He shouted as he flew over to the wall and tore open the panels. He thrust his hands into the rainbow of cables and pipes, pulling out lines to hand off to workers who ran them back to the transfer beams.

A nearby computer monitor switched to the ArcheTech intranet instant messenger. Words appeared on the message box, as if typed by an invisible operator (or by a nearby German cyberkinetic): EMERGENCY POWER DIVERSION TO SUB-BASEMENT 3 -- LIFE IN BALANCE

Lights throughout ArcheTech dimmed as power was sucked down into the basement laboratory and funneled into the crystalline cocoon. Come on, Mona... give us a sign... please be okay...

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For a moment, hope slipped away. Despite the energy input, the dark fissure slowed and stopped. Yet the crystal continued absorbing the energy as fast as the beams emitted. In the silence, a strange stillness came over the laboratory. The steady pulse of the power beams and monitors counted out the seconds.

"The emitters are overheating, Doctor!" Dr. Yang brought into the silence, "Emergency shutdown in 30 seconds at current capacity!"

Then something moved. The silhouette within the crystal twitched violently and began moving toward the crack. Its shape pooled toward the fissure, as if the being were raising both arms. A jet-black hand as large as Mona's burst forth from the fissure and gripped the side of the crystal.

Although barely audible, the small band of technicians, so intent on reviving Fulcrum, gasped.

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Archeville's eyes widened at the scene before him; the sight afflicted him with a temporary logorrhea. "Black hand, schwarze Hand, La Mano Nera, Crna ruka, death or unification, unify, unity, absorb, absorbing all energy, light is energy... ahhhhhh! Too much, too much, have I doomed her?, have I doomed us?, is it even really her? No, no, of course it is, Scarab said so; Scarab would not lie, would she? All a dream, an illusion, to keep me away? Still on Nede? Still in Providence? How would I-"

Stop it, Viktor! Pull yourself together! This is no dream, no hallucination, this! is! real! The people are scared, and look to your for guidance and answers, but more importantly, Mona needs you, now more than ever!

And you know what that might entail. And you know she is worth it.

Archeville fell silent; an assured calm settled over him. Jaw set, eyes steeled, he sprinted down to the great crystal. "Mona!," he yelled, barely audible over the energy siphoning effects, "Mona, I am here! We are here! We brought your cocoon back, and have worked so hard to free you! You are almost through, almost free -- just a bit more!"

But you might need something more. Something to stabilize you. A very specific type of energy. Energy only a living being can provide, ideally a living human.

Without hesitation, he reached out with both hands to the black hand that had burst forth, and grabbed on.

If so, take what you need from me. You can do more good with it than I.

He braced himself, not knowing if Mona was going to pull herself out of the cocoon, or pull away some -- or all -- of his life essence. Either way, he'd be there for her.

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There was doubt in the words that came out of Viktors mouth. About the Scarab, about the possibility it wasn't her. Carrie just straight up ignored that. No way his was a false alarm or someone else. Running forward past the scientists (it wasn't hard, they barely even remembered she was there with all the panic) she went up to Viktor and grabbed the black hand next to him, pulling slightly even if she wasn't that strong, she was not weak in any sense of the word,

"Come on, we're almost there. You've got way too many people waiting for you to keep oversleeping like this."

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The hand tensed and tightened its grip on the edge of the crystal. Hairs stood up on the back of their necks as a sensation washed over them. A feeling not unlike being observed by some unknown entity. As quickly as it came it was gone, and the hand relaxed. The other hand emerged and gripped the crystal.

Touching the (her?) hand felt like touching ice. The normal give to skin and bone simply wasn't there, as if the appendage was a living obsidian sculpture. The longer her friends held on, the colder the sensation, and likewise up their arms it spread and the more numbing the effect. Still, whether by their presence or lifeforce, they were having an impact.

A reverberating crackle echoed from the crystal. Fine cracks burst across the facets. The temperature of the room, which had equilibrated during the energy bombardment, dropped precipitously. Frost flash froze on nearly objects. Slowly but surely the crystal compressed down upon itself.

Consumed from the inside, the Chrysalis collapsed and drew toward the silhouette within. The light-consuming appendages gave way to arms, which in turn slowly blended with wisps of crystalline red. Only a matter of time now. Mona, or whatever rested within, was waking up.

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"More power!," Archeville yelled behind him, though his voice did not carry far. Even if they cannot hear me, they can at least see my lips moving. And it should be obvious that more energy should be funneled in. I just hope any disruptions we cause, to the building's or the city's power grid, are not too serious!

"Come on, Mona, you can do it!," he yelled back into the crack in the weird crystal. He raised one foot and planted it against what remained of the cocoon, giving him a better anchor on which Fulcrum could pull herself out. "I know you are in there... you have to be in there... Fatima and Afareen are waiting to see you!"

Have to fight the urge to pull her out, have to let her do this on her own. Just have to stay conscious enough to be here for her...

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Carrie wanted to back away but instead pushed forward. Putting both feet on the crystal she pulling back on the arm now with all her weight arched back at a weird angle. She'd likely fall if the figure was put suddenly upright, but she really didn't care,

"Everyones waiting for you not just your family, but everyone. Now hurry the hell up, there's work to do, cause this isn't the worse case scenario but this world needs work and we need all the help we can get."

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The crunching of the crystal continued. At about half mass, the contraction halted and the sound rushed back into the room. The rhythmic thrum thrum of energy beams beat loud enough to rattle their chests. A sudden tingle shot through their bodies.

The crystal pulsed once, a shock wave rushing from the mass. Papers, loose items and tarps went flying as the air past. As the objects drifted back to earth, a familiar voice rumbled from all directions, "Viktor? Carrie?"

The crystal contracted violently. The silhouette began to stand and straighten. The red facets absorbed themselves into the figure. Within a few seconds, the silhouette stood free, tendrils of red slowly replacing the inky blackness. It reached out, grabbing a loose tarp across itself.

Slowly, flesh and skin covered the silhouette, revealing their old friend, Mona. Her face looked neutral. No, not neutral, peaceful, even regale. Confident. And even more powerful than her previous incarnation. Though her eyes glowed red, she smiled warmly.

"I knew you would come for me."

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"Mona?," the Doktor whispered, trembling slightly, tears welling up in his eyes. "Mona, is it really you?"

She is back she is here she is back hallelujah she is here!

As Mona's eyes adjusted, she saw Viktor was quite changed from the man she'd last seen, more Howard Hughes-like. Thinner, paler (not that he was very tanned on his best days), with long ragged nails and an unkempt scraggly beard. As she looked into his eyes, they at first seemed hollow, empty, but as he continued to look upon her they brightened again with hope, hope for her, hope for him, hope for them. Gravity warped around him as his belt pushed him up so he could fling his arms around her neck pulled himself in for a kiss he'd been missing for six months.

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Carrie more or less sidestepped Viktor as he flew forward. Between the two of them was pretty much the worse place in the room to be. She waited and watched, and smiled. Not a wry or snarky one usually accompanying any commentary she had, a bright one, as she started to unwrap the bundle she had at her side. Not as flashy she jumped from the side platform to her side and waited a minute before coughing,

"Hey Mona, don't mean to interupt but as we aren't the only ones in the room, think you might want to get properly dressed,"

Holding up the package revealing an costume of blue, gold and white with a familiar looking cape tucked underneath. It was of custom materials and unless the giantess had grown should fit her just fine.

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One arm wrapped around him, she returned the kiss. Holding him tight, she eventually relented and said, "Yes, it is me."

As her vision cleared, she noticed his condition, and for that matter, Carrie's condition as well. Viktor obviously was the worse for wear, but the time away had not been gentle on either of them. Her face fell into a concerned frown.

"What happened to you?" she asked Viktor softly, before turning her attention to Carrie, "What...happened to both of you?"

Still holding the tarp against herself, she sat Viktor down and cupped one hand against his face. A pained expression came over her face, "I'm well, Viktor, but you aren't."

She looked to say more, but Carrie coughed and drew her attention. Her smile returned when her new costume was revealed. "It's...beautiful, Carrie. Thank you!"

At which point Carrie too was pulled into an one-handed hug.

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"Me? No... no, no," he murmured as he was seated. "I am fine... just... working. Working to free you. We went to the Terminus!," he exclaimed, then his voice dipped back down, "but then we got separated. Carrie...." He glanced over at her, then back to Mona, "well... she did not tell me much of what she went through. I was on a desert! I was a gladiator! I saw a slave revolt, then helped rebuild a city's infrastructure, and fought an army, and saved an angel, and helped a Shadow King fight a Forest Goddess, and almost got eaten by hobbits, and saw a bug go insane, and, and, and then I broke The Order to stop them from using a piece of you to dominate the world!" He grabbed her hand tight with both of his, "and I used that piece to track the rest of you, and we brought you back!"

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