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

[bogwife]

[Ema gets no warning aside from a long high-pitched whine before Zerinda crashes her full weight straight into her chest, throwing her arms around her and loudly sobbing with joy and relief.]

Emaaaaa!!! You're back and you're here and you're not eaten by sharks and- and- [Give her a second, she's crying too hard to talk properly.]

[snackooed]

[ Oh no, if Zerinda keeps crying like that, she's going to get all choked up, too...but she doesn't seem to mind the sudden tackle, and tries her best to catch her before she loses her footing too badly. ]

I-it's good to see you too, Zerinda!

[ She laughs to herself and holds her tight while she cries, but she's a couple of seconds away from letting a few tears slip, herself. ]

I missed you, too. Really, I did...

[bogwife]

Zaza. [She presses her face into Ema's shoulder, a slightly broken laugh breaking through her tears.] You've earned Zaza privileges.

[After a minute she pulls away enough to look her in the face, eyes wet but grinning.] We-we did our best, after we lost you. [She sniffs and wipes her eyes with her sleeve.] Therion and I. We used what you taught us and it made all the difference.

[snackooed]

[ Oh, that's such a cute nickname...she reaches out to help wipe tears away with the sleeve of her labcoat. She doesn't blame her for being in a state; she didn't ask too much about the whole "shark" thing, and at this point, she's absolutely ready to keep it that way, thank you very much-- ]

Zaza it is. [ She feels like she's part of a secret club now, and couldn't be happier about it. ] And I saw the whole thing, whenever you guys were in the trial room.

You did amazing every time, Zaza. Perfection. I couldn't be more proud if you tried.