There's always a lighthouse

[wheremst]

And just like that, you wake up in the basement of a lighthouse in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. There's a circle of 25 pods in the middle of the room, and two more in a room off to the side, and you can imagine who is in which.

An elevator to the side of the room leads up to the ground floor (or to the first sub-basement, if you want to check out the machine that brought you here), where you can for the first time in weeks look out a window and see the sky. Its a beautiful sunny day, with a strong breeze on the grassy ground of the island where the lighthouse stands. Have you ever been this happy to hear seagulls?

You're free. Whatever comes next, you're free and you won. Take some time to relish your victory, won't you? Reunite with friends you thought you had lost, go forth and just... well, enjoy this.

Comments

[wheremst]

[ Carmen chuckles and nods. ]

Sure thing. We're actually working on a way you guys can get this thing working remotely, once we figure out how VILE was doing it.

[onefuture]

Remotely?

[...Wait--]

Do you mean that...we'll perhaps be able to visit other worlds? That this we will not have to say goodbye?

[wheremst]

Might take a little doing, but we're optimistic about your chances.

[onefuture]

...I'm sure many of the others will appreciate this much as well. You're doing many of us a great service, Carmen; thank you.

[Ah, but--]

I must be distracting you from your work; my apologies. Would it be too much trouble to speak with White Hat, now?

1/2

[wheremst]

No problem, fixing all this'll actually help me out too, in the long run. Gotta... you know, make sure VILE doesn't try to reform in you guys' worlds or anything.

[ She'll grab the phone and offer it. ]

Sure thing. I know he'll be happy to talk to you in person.

2/2

[wickedskills]

[And here's that kid again, with his face all lit up by like. Five computer screens.]

Hey! There's my Dance Dance Revolution buddy!

[onefuture]

[Lif nods at Carmen; all of that makes sense, and he is glad at the very least that someone's going to be working to attempt to keep this shit from happening again.

Of course, when the phone is handed to him, Lif's gaze softens from it's usual hardness and he seems pleased.]

So that was you. I had been hoping so, but I never got the time to ask. [Lif chuckles, though.] I do hope that we're able to have a rematch, one of these days. But I did want to ask after you; how are you faring?

[wickedskills]

Guilty! Sorry about being a tough opponent. That game is a lot easier when you're using keyboard arrows.

[Player chuckles as well.]

I'm doing fine, nice and secure in my little hacker cave. It's comfy in here. But... maybe I'll step out of it for a while to play against you for real.

[onefuture]

Keyboard arrows?

...Gah, never mind. I should have known you'd have some sort of advantage. But if nothing else, that did inspire me to work harder to master some of those songs.

[Lif laughs, not nearly as put out as his words imply.]

Should you ever do, do let me know. I would quite like to see just how well the both of us do, on an even playing field. I believe it will prove to be wonderful competition.

But as long as you're safe, that is what matters most.

[You're a good, White Hat, okay.]