Thirtieth PSI

[a_gentle_boy]

[action, dated back a few days]
[He'd heard from Rin that both Roshian and Giriko had gone in a single night.  Though he wasn't very fond of them himself, he remembered how distraught Luke had been for those few weeks when his 'mother' had been droned, and how happy he'd been to have her back.  The two of them . . . They were obviously important to his friend.

He isn't surprised when he rings the doorbell to be greeted by Roshian's smiling face.  She pats him on the head.  'Luke was upstairs.'  Evidently, she still remembered that they were friends.  They were the same age, after all, in the same classes.  And if he thought about it . . . Luke was the first real friend he'd made here and still his closest.  He nods to the drone, quickly hurrying up, a jigsaw puzzle tucked underneath his arm, a small box of chocolate held in his hands.  If Luke felt even half as badly as he had when the Netherlands had gone, or Margot . . .

But the moment he walks through the bedroom door to be greeted, his face falls.  No cap.  Nothing blue.  No trace of that interesting way of speaking Luke had.  Around the room . . . No Gizmo.  No home pictures.  And now that he thinks about it . . . no funny robot on the front lawn.

It is suddenly very difficult to swallow.  He carefully walks to the desk, setting his presents down, barely capable of doing so without trembling.  His hands . . . Lucas shoves them into his pockets quickly.  As he backs away, a small box set atop the desk catches his attention out of the corner of his eye.  "For Lucas".  Turning to the drone boy to ask in a casual manner, he is greeted with mild surprise.  If it had his name on it, certainly, it was for him.  Once again, his shaking hands can hardly grasp ahold of the object, but he manages it in the end.  And when he turns to leave, he doesn't even apologize as he accidentally sweeps  a stack of books off the desk.

He stumbles down the steps and out the front door, clutching the box to his chest.  The heaving of his chest as he runs . . . He can pretend that it is because of the exertion that his chest has become so tight.  Not because it has become so hard to breathe.  Not because of the tears that flow, unwanted, from his eyes.

  . . . Goodbye, Luke.  May you solve every puzzle that arises to challenge you.]

1. Alone in the park, Lucas finds the most isolated bench he possibly can and eases into it, still holding the box to his chest.  He has an inkling of what's inside.  The same reason he had shown Luke where he kept his box . . . Now, though, he simply sits.  And allows himself, after a few futile moments, to cry softly.

2. He has calmed down enough to go through the things that had been left to him.  Just as with the Netherlands, just as he himself did, Luke had kept notes.  Lucas dries his tears, looking through each piece of information carefully.  It's hard for him to understand right now, but . . . He will go through everything again when he's in a less harried state of mind.  The Westport notes.

3. It had been too late for Luke.  But it didn't have to be that way for anyone else.  Not if he hurried up with this.  Lucas is too shy to take pictures of people, but late into the afternoon, he is in the park with an ancient, half-broken camera, practicing taking pictures of trees and squirrels and snowdrifts . . .

((A bit deliberately less accessible than the usual entry, so I'm going to ask that no more than 3-4 people respond to the first prompt.  Thanks.))  

Comments

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

...Okay. I can understand that. Don't worry, your secret's safe with me.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Thanks, Kay.

[Perhaps the eighteenth time he's said that today, but he's meant every one of them.]

She should be as happy as she can as long as she has the chance.

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

Does she know about it yet?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas nods, slowly.]

I . . . It was selfish of me, but I couldn't not tell her. I couldn't even look at her for a while . . .

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

Wow...

[Kay's silent for a few moments, processing that and how difficult it must have been to have that talk.]

How did she take it?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

. . . She was more concerned by some of the other things I said, I think. That's my mom.

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

She sounds really brave too. She must love you a lot.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Yeah. We . . . Our family was really close.

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

What was the rest of your family like?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Um . . .

My dad wasn't around too much, but he and Mom obviously loved each other a lot. He worked really hard as a farmer and to take care of the forest nearby, too. We helped him out more as we got older, and I always liked spending time with him.

My brother, Claus -- He was the older twin, so he tried to be the big brother. He was a lot more outgoing and energetic than I was. Mostly, I stuck by Mom and he went out exploring and that kind of thing.

We had a dog named Boney, too. I think he liked me the best but Claus would never admit it.

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

That sounds really nice. I always wanted to get a dog, but dad said it would be too hard to take care of.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

It was really nice. And it worked well for us since we lived on a farm. Boney was smart enough to look after the sheep, too.

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

It sounds so peaceful and nice! I grew up in the city, so I'm more used to the constant noise.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

We didn't even have any cities in my world. . . . Not until very recently.

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

Recently? Did something happen?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Um. Yes . . .

Do you remember when I asked about your dad and you said it was a long story?

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

...Time to settle in for your long story, huh?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

It's a really long story. I'm not sure I can get through it all without, um.

[Awkward pause as he trails off.]

You sure you want to hear?

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

Of course I do.

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

[Lucas pauses again. He isn't sure he wants to tell, even if she wants to hear. But . . . Well. He would tell as much as he was comfortable saying. He'll start from what has been made clear already.]

I . . . said she died protecting me, right? Four years ago now. Claus and I were almost ten.

What happened was an invasion. Don't laugh. An army from a different dimension invaded our world. They turned all the animals into monsters and set loose a lot of robots . . . Mom died because we were attacked by a chimerized Drago.

[Lucas's voice as he says this is curiously detached. He has to be.]

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

Whoa...! An army from another world? Like aliens?

[She's sympathetic, but also amazed.]

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

A little. They were unlike anything we'd ever seen before . . . They had flying ships and weird machines. And they were making all those chimeras. My world couldn't stand up to them.

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

Wow... they really do sound like aliens...

So why'd they invade, anyway?

[a-gentle-boy.livejournal.com]

Because the leader of the army was bored.

[Kay has likely never heard that tone of anger or disgust in Lucas's voice before. It is, perhaps, shocking.]

[thief-of-truth.livejournal.com]

Bored?! What kind of horrible person would invade and kill people just because they're bored? That's barely even a reason at all!