ENDGAME/EPILOG

[pandatreasure]

[In the control room, the raccoons float quietly in their pods; none of the wild cackling from before, no raucous mocking—Where did those pesky animatronics go, anyway? Maybe not every question has been answered, but...how much does it matter? The lost souls are back, tangible and whole, though marked still by whatever's done them in. Maybe those scars and aches won't fade, either.

A metric fuckton of experimenting has gotten us to the answer of how to get back to where we belong: the first control room console makes it easy to find the thumbnail of your world, and, when selected, it automatically brings you to twenty two days from moment you were kidnapped from. It's easy to see an image where you should be there and aren't, and simply select it. The program confirms that you'd like to initiate the transport process, and directs you to stand on the glowing platform; have someone hit the button to shut the process down, or it will time itself out in five minutes.

Is the moment you were brought from not good enough? What about the rewards you were promised? It seems as though specifying those offers or threads isn't quite possible, but the console has two options, each manipulable independently of each other: you can control the date and time, allowing yourself to return as though you hadn't been kidnapped at all. You can also use a slider at the bottom to control the quality of the universe you're brought back to, sliding from the carrot to the stick side: A world where everything that possibly could have gone right for you and those you'd want it for does, where every choice and chance resolves in your favor...or one where there isn't a single moment that isn't conspiring to work against you.

It should be that simple, but...none of those are your universes. Trying to go to any universe but the one marked for you, and/or at any point but that three-week span you've been gone, prompts a warning message about a duplicate version of anyone belonging to that world. It asks if you'd like to proceed, and warns you once more by giving names of potential "doppelgangers"—but will not stop you from stepping onto the platform as it twinkles blue light, regardless. Is improvement worth interfering, maybe destroying, the life of another you?

That choice is up to you. For the first time in a long time, these choices are yours.

It's over. Happy graduation day.]

Comments

[worldcup]

It's fine, I don't mind. I can protect myself, after all.

[ Under most circumstances, anyway, when she actually has her abilities back unlike this shitty hellhole. ]

And, [ she points at her chest ] onii-chan will be with me, too-- ah, I should grab the garments back from my room before we go!

[suppressthedark]

Right - maybe you should also grab that book you were looking at - the one that talked about your world.

[He's happy to bring her with him - to give her the happiness that she deserves.]

And, uh - don't worry about the whole 'slow aging' thing. That's pretty common in the Soul Society, and even if you decide to live in the living world with my family, Dad's a doctor - so he could just...I don't know, give you a fancy diagnosis explaining why you age slowly.

[HE'S NOT A DOCTOR AND HE DOESN'T WANT TO BE, SO.]

Want me to come with you?

[worldcup]

I was planning to.

[...] And don't worry, Ichigo; I already know why I age slowly. Just like how I know that my body won't last past a year.

[ If she were any other Illya, she probably wouldn't know at all, but as she is now, she knows pretty much everything about herself and other things. Even if she doesn't want to. ]

[suppressthedark]

I know - I was talking about if you grow slowly when Urahara manages to put you in a new body.

[Because if there's anyone who would know how to make a body that can handle everything Illya is, well...It's old hat-n-clogs.]

[worldcup]

Hmm, well, in my world the soul is what forms the body. So I doubt that would change my appearance in any way. I don't really mind it at all, so it's okay. You'll probably have to make sure to destroy my heart if you do, though.

[ Just as a warning. ]

[suppressthedark]

It's the same in my world, too. And don't worry - I'll keep that in mind, but...what's wrong with your body's heart? Is it because of that holy grail thing?

[worldcup]

Well, specifically... my heart is the container of the Holy Grail. The Lesser Grail, anyway.

[ Don't ask her to explain the rest. ]

[suppressthedark]

...Got it. So destroy it as soon as possible.

[Morbid to talk about? Maybe, but it's not like she wouldn't be getting a new body that would be completely normal if not for the fact that it'll be a fake one created by a shady shopkeeper.]

[worldcup]

Yeah.

[ Her voice is quiet, and she smiles just a little bit. ]

Hey, are you going to miss this place?