Meet-n-Greet

[cityship]

The rest of the crew assembled on the Observation Deck to meet the latest editions to their numbers. After the revelation that their worlds are gone, many of them are even more eager to see people they knew from home

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[hatesyourmom]

He reappeared a foot above the deck in a wide space filled with mingling people. He drifted gently to the ground, taking in the familiar vibrations of a large ship, the recycled air, the presence of so many people in one small bubble of life… He’d spent almost twenty years aboard an ark like this one, but there he’d known every voice that rang through his mind.

And all that had been before he had lain down to die…

He glanced around the room, but still, there was no presence that seemed identical to the voice that had spoken below. You have been Chosen. But he shouldn’t have been. That was Tony’s place now. And he could feel, like felt the absence of Physis and Seele and Keith, that Tony wasn’t here, wherever here was, which meant that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong

[thekohakuriver]

Haku was standing there, two-legged for once, and when the boy appeared he simply looked at him placidly, like a cat examining a particular mote of dust among hundreds.

"Stacy is everywhere," he reminded the boy quietly, "We're inside her body."

[hatesyourmom]

"I need to know what happened," he said firmly. "I shouldn't be here."

[thekohakuriver]

Well, that was a very popular attitude, these days. Haku tilted his head slightly, to look at the boy more closely before looking away again, scanning the crowd with an unhurried thoroughness.

"Why?"

[hatesyourmom]

"Because I should be dead."

[thekohakuriver]

Oh. He was one of those.

The river-god turned and took the two steps to put him in reach of the boy without speaking. He was barefooted, and made no sound except that of his hakama, and even that inaudible in the social hubbub of the obs deck.

"You aren't dead. Here," Haku gave him a slim smile, and held out a hand, flat parallel with the ground, palm-up. The intention was clear: go on, touch it, "You see? Stacy saved your life. You've been asleep down there for a long time."

[hatesyourmom]

Jomy took the outstretched hand lightly. It was warm, reassuringly so. "How long?"

[thekohakuriver]

"I don't know," and he didn't, nor was he concerned over that fact. After a moment of warm contact, he withdrew his hand gently, as if to take back something that had been borrowed, "It's probably been years. People don't age, in the pods."

[hatesyourmom]

That wasn't his main concern -- he hadn't aged a day in almost twenty years, and doubted he ever would. "And Terra?" he asked, brows knitting.

[thekohakuriver]

"I don't know," he replied, as if he knew who Terra was. He didn't, but the urgency was as familiar as the next breath, "Those who survive, sleep until they wake here, like you. Most are still down there."

[hatesyourmom]

"Not a person," he explained, "the planet Terra. Humanity's home."

[thekohakuriver]

"I see," And he felt on his palm still, the place where they'd touched. It was an odd resonance, yet familiar enough...Haku frowned.

"It's here as well. Parts of it, in the city."

[hatesyourmom]

"The whole thing," he said, more urgently. "If it's been years, I need to know about that planet."

[thekohakuriver]

"No," And that was very certain, "You don't understand.; it's gone. Stacy only managed to save a few pieces."

[hatesyourmom]

"Gone?" he echoed urgently.

[thekohakuriver]

"You don't know," not a question. He was new, "The Ohm. They destroyed everything- Stacy, and the Daligig, brought us here, to be safe. We're all that's left."