#i just wanted to finish some details akjsfhkasjf i had this written some time ago

[farolero-posting]

Waiting

Summary: Rue stays by her tree, waiting for the right chance to set things right. Cedric makes company.

Words: 1,895

(full work under the cut)

The first time, the end was instant.

The tree Rue sat against was among the first things to corrupt. Its leaves lost their texture and collision, becoming flat oval disks that wouldn't react to her touch. Soon, the disks became simpler polygons, and in no more than a minute, the room she hid in was only a map of coordinates, with barely enough capacity to support her.

If it wasn’t because this outcome had been one of the possibilities that her creator had accounted for, she would likely have disappeared along with the rest of the world. Non-generated rooms were not easy to navigate, however. While the silhouettes of rooms were preserved, and lines were drawn to define each chunk of space, any of the landmarks that would have given her a sense of direction were gone. 

Perhaps all that was left was to wait. Wait for someone beyond the bounds of the world to find the clues. It was unwise to focus her motivation on events that may never take place, but perhaps the eventual full shutdown of the world would give her the mercy of not thinking at all. 

If she thought again, at some point in the future, then it would be a confirmation that a path may be possible. That a future for her exists, despite everything.

Maybe she —the one that she was before this world— felt this way when her time came.

She thought of the other two. Cedric was placed in one of the apartment buildings at the top. As eager as he was to set the plan in motion, it wasn’t safe to do so yet. She missed his presence. At the very least, they could keep each other company…

Prototype, meanwhile, was inside the deep mines, waiting for the messiah to find their way inside. He was placed with a back-up power cell that would keep him functional while the Barrens’ generator was empty. Most of his key memories were removed, as an extra layer of safety from corruption. She knew he would still recognize them if contacted, but she was unsure of how much of the situation he was aware of in that state.

She curled up by the tree, doing her best not to think.

She woke up in a world that was reconstructed as it was at the start. Her tree sat on its usual location, its leaves casting a slight shadow on her.

She… woke up! She stretched her legs, looking around her as if to make sure this was real… as real as anything could be, in this situation.

She felt her energy renewed, as if her body had forgotten the waiting and wandering around it had done before. Her mind remembered, however, as her memories persisted despite the system’s reset. It confirmed the realness of her self. The rough surface of the tree was also as real as it could be, just as she remembered it.

Father put a lot of attention on the details. He would make the plan work out, she could trust him.

When the messiah passed by, She was ready to get in motion. She spoke to the child and the one watching over them equally.

“So you found a way back after all.” 

The savior raised an eyebrow. “Eh? But I've never been here before…”

“That means..” Rue chose her next words carefully, not wanting to concern them with the implications that were running on her head. “Have you… met the others?”

“Others? You’re the only fox I’ve seen…” The child tried to make sense of her words.

They were not ready.

Rue looked down, the image of her brothers waiting without knowing what to do on the back of her mind. “It’s not time:” She sentenced, then added: “We will meet again,” directed at the one watching.

The messiah left soon after that, continuing on their journey.

Rue wouldn’t stay put this time, however.

She walked out of her spot, eyes looking for the crack on the walls that she used to find her position. She made a turn to the south, reaching the elevator in a few minutes. She tried reaching for the button, using boxes left by a delivery robot nearby.

Before she could reach the panel, the doors slid open, a familiar voice startling her.

“Rue? I wasn’t expecting you to be here!”

“Cedric! You’re here? Is everything alright?”

 “Uh… oh…” The boy placed his hand on his chest, taking a deep breath as he tried to form a sentence. “Well I… I wanted to check on you. Since…”

“I know, I was actually thinking of doing the same thing.” She sat on the top of the box pile, her eyes fixed on her brother. “I didn’t want you to be so exposed.”

“Rue, I’m fine. This area needs to stay anomaly-free. Besides, with the messiah here the rate is slower. You and Proto already make enough sacrifices to keep us all safe as it is. I can take responsibility.”

Rue sighed, “I know I can’t stop you,” she conceded. The fox leaped down, circling around Cedric. “We should go to my place, don’t you think?”

“I suppose that’s a good idea.”

“Follow my lead then.”

Rue walked around the simulated streets at a slow pace, her eyes taking a close look at the details of the neighboring buildings. The area didn’t have a lot of residential buildings, but it didn’t make them any less interesting to look at. The streets were mostly empty at the moment, with most of the residents inside the buildings. Rue wondered if they were generated at all or if the World Machine was saving on resources.

Maybe her father wanted to keep as many people safe as possible.

When they reached the tree, Cedric sat down by the roots, carefully setting a leather bag he carried on the ground. Rue sat in front of him, her tail curling up around her.

She spoke first:

“I always have faith in our father’s ideas, but I was still worried about not being able to return,” Rue confessed, looking down. “I still wish that this time would have been the successful run.” 

“Were you here when it… You know.” Cedric averted her gaze, tugging at the bag as he fidgeted,

“I was. I knew any of the two scenarios could happen, so I just focused on waiting for it.”

“I was reading when the choice was made”, Cedric commented. “It’s the only thing I could think of doing to pass the time.”

“Was it one of our father’s books?”

“Yes. One of his last travel logs. It was about the Barrens.” He pulled out a thin book with a clover on the cover, titled “Industrial zones and their interaction with nature”. 

“Is that the only one you brought?” Rue inched closer to get a better look on the boy’s bag.

“Not really. I have one for you too, if you wish. I thought you would like to have something to read for.. however long we have left in this iteration.” He took out a second book, titled “A hundred interviews, a hundred lives”. He set it on his legs. ”Here, give it a look.”

Rue chuckled, content. “You knew I would like that one, didn’t you? It’s very kind of you”

“I… thanks? It was just a quick idea.” He shrugged.

“Cedric?” Rue’s eyes were locked on his face.

“Y-yeah?”

“Did it… scare you? The corruption.”

“Umm… it’s nothing to worry about.”

“It’s fine, I won’t push it.” Rue’s ears moved down. “I wasn’t scared, personally. I guess I was just a little… disappointed, but resigned.”

“I can see why they did it… As far as we know, it could have been an effective way to let the messiah go home.”

“It’s true… but they’re back now, and the session was rebooted, so that doesn’t matter much anymore. The restriction is over.”

“Did you… already meet the messiah?” Cedric asked.

“I did, in both iterations. They didn’t know what I was talking about, so I assume that for now their guide is sticking to the protocol.”

“What are they… like?”

“They’re a child, Cedric. They may be around half your age.”

“O-oh. I wasn’t expecting that. I can understand the choice better now… I wouldn’t want to put someone like them at risk. Their world must be so much safer…”

“That’s a possibility, yeah.”

“Did you get their name?”

“I didn’t… they never stay for long.” Rue closed her eyes, as if taking a mental note. “I’ll make sure to know the next time.”

“Hopefully, that’s when we will set the plan in motion. As long as they manage to find Proph— Proto.” Cedric looked down, eyeing one of the pages on the book he had marked down.

“Has he contacted you?” Rue tilted her head to the right, curious.

Cedric made a fist with his hand and then extended two fingers. “He sent a short message about seeing a glimpse of them, during the first iteration. And a second one during this iteration. He didn’t comment on the blackout, however.”

“I’m not surprised he didn’t…” Rue shook her head.

“I still hope he’s okay.”

“You can contact him too, can’t you? He removed most of his memories, but according to father, he should still be able to remember us. At the very least, we can let him know we’re here.” 

“We shall attempt.”

Cedric took out a communication device, calibrated to connect to the mines. The signal wasn’t the clearest, and they had to be careful with what information they shared through it, but it was the only way to reach outside of the bounds of the map and avoid other signals disrupting them.

“Any message you would like to send?”

“That we saw the savior, and want to know if he is okay. That we are both doing well and we hope to meet again soon.”

“Huh, very concise.” He nodded as he wrote the message down. “I think that will have to do for now…”

They waited in silence for a minute, before Cedric’s device lit up with an answer. Cedric read it aloud: 

“I am fine, nothing new to report. For now, all we can do is wait. We will meet again.” Cedric paused, catching his breath. “We will see the Sun be returned.”

Cedric flinched, wishing to add more, but knowing there wasn’t much any of them could say in this scenario.

“Ah… that makes sense.”

“Doesn’t that hurt the savior?”

“Not really… It binds them to the world but… I don’t think the programming will allow harm.” Then, Rue tensed. “Though, it will probably put us into a stasis…”

“I guess it’s true that all we can do is wait and hope for the next time.” Cedric looked to the side, watching a leaf fall by the corner of the room. 

“Everything will work out, Cedric… We can do this.” Rue rested her head on his body, doing the closest approximation of a hug she knew of.

“If it doesn’t… at least we can still preserve these moments.” Cedric placed a hand on Rue’s head, looking up at the tree branches and the way they twisted above them.

“That we can.” Rue nodded, sitting by the boy’s side, returning to their books in a warm silence.

They could only wait, and hope.