corrinesbell | 146. Cube

146. Cube

It's been six years.

Maybe I should just stop counting after this. Is it worth it? All that stuff about seven years...

[Sheena remembers her last 'anniversary' with neutrality, but the fallout with a hard grimace and clenched fists.]

There'd better not be some stupid statue anywhere this time.

[locked to Albert Silverberg]

Hey. Up for a talk?

[[ooc: Six long years ago I joined this silly game. I can't wrap my head around this and I have lived it. You guys are amazing.]]

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Sheena.

[He doesn't even blink as he stares hard at her.]

You do not get to react like that and not explain yourself.

It was a long time ago and if I say it you might freak out because you just said you're scared of...stuff.

I will not "freak out." At worst, it will be somewhat uncomfortable while you explain.

[Though he makes a dismissive gesture, he knows he's partially lying; he doesn't know what Sheena could possibly say at this point.]

Well I...I was gonna tell you not to worry that you were getting old before your time. That's all.

It's already happened before, courtesy of Shifts.

Yeah. I know. Don't scowl like that just because I didn't want to scare you, geez.

If I feel like "scowling" over unnecessary caution, that's exactly what I will do, Sheena.

[His expression is calm as he makes his declaration, and he takes a moment to drink more of his beer.]

Three more years of "possibilities" in this village.

Wait, are you toasting to three more years? Because if they're like this last one I dunno if I'll make it.

[He pauses at the comment, looking at Sheena over the rim of his glass.]

Because of the invasion?

[Suddenly her hands are very busy trying to figure out how to fold in her lap.]

Yeah. That's one reason.

[He notes the way she seems to fidget, quietly waiting for a moment before prompting her.]

What are the others?

That's the really big one, can't we just stick with it?

[As uncomfortable as it makes her to talk about it, at least he was there, at least he gets it and won't sit there mocking her admitted weakness. There are worse things.]

[How long would it be before they ran into something that would trump that invasion?]

If you wish. But if you won't talk to me about it, you should still tell someone else.

[In a way, it's the same dismissive tactic that he's used on others in the past. But it was easy to provide an out, when it came to Sheena.]

There isn't anybody else who'd get it. Not about- about that.

[Sheena puts her hands back on the table, visibly shaking.]

Sometimes I...I guess I- think about giving up on going home. But if I do that then what's it all for?

[More so than a moment ago, he watches Sheena; it's easy to not focus on his own issues with handling this fear shift when he has someone else to focus on.]

Knowing that there's an "end" to our time in Luceti makes it easier for that idea to take root, doesn't it?

What do you mean, knowing there's an end? The only end I want is to go back to Tethe'alla.

[It's amazing, kind of, how she can insist that to herself so stubbornly after all this time.]

Of course that's the end you want. But, to the Organization, our time in Luceti ends in three years.

[He sets down his glass and folds his hands along the edge of the table.]

I'll continue with the belief that, even if we have to leave Luceti in three years, that isn't conclusive proof that we can leave this world.

[It was a method of buying time, hopeful and likely to be spurned as misguided.]

Did they tell us that? Or is this one of those secret dark-hallway conversations you had with one of them?

[Conversations that she, in all fairness, completely fabricates and just attributes to the sort of person Albert is like.]

[He gives Sheena a wry look at her question, but answers anyway.]

Carol did. Her purpose as liaison is to assist those who wish to find jobs with the Organization, and prepare the enclosure for the transition.

When did she- did she really say that? That we're...

Yes. [Does he need to elaborate more than that?

Well, he'll at least reach for his beer again and take another drink before setting the glass down.]

An enclosure's experiment cycle ends after ten years. The remaining residents are transitioned out so that the enclosure can be prepared for the next cycle.

Then we've gotta do something bigger about it before that happens.

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146. Cube

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