Colin's posts

"....something tells me that's what we'd call 'extenuating circumstances'." Jake responded.

"Navigating a black hole is... well... up until now, I'd always assumed it impossible." he said. "To do it at all would be impressive and disorienting." he went on.

"Under such stress and conditions, I'd say you did very well." he continued.

"...look, what happened is unfortunate, to massively understate it." he then told her.

"But if your brother has any kind of understanding of this, I'm sure he won't blame you." he said, trying his best to console her.

"That's the spirit." Jake replied.

He then paused for a moment, thinking about something.

"What about your brother? How's HE faring?" he asked.

"I don't see him around much." he told her. "...and by that, I mean he doesn't really come and go like you do." he then clarified.

"How's he adjusting?" he asked further.

"Anything we need to look out for?"

"From what you've told me, yeah, I'd imagine so." Jake replied.

"Mana being all but gone is a scary thought." he went on.

"For everyone, it's essential, but to those like us, and the people that work and live here, it's a way of life." he mused, looking around the room.

"So many wouldn't even be around without it..." he mumbled further.

"Is there anything I can do to help you adjust to it?" he then asked.

"Even if I, personally, can't do anything, I may know someone that CAN." he reasoned.

"I hope I don't get sick, either." Jake replied.

"I have responsibilities." he said.

"Both here, AND at home." he went on.

"And Anya doesn't need to get sick, either." he then added, shaking his head.

"Regardless, how have you been adjusting?" he asked.

"To the Unit, and this world overall." he clarified.

"I would imagine there's a degree of... culture shock, shall we say?"

"Well, you have plenty of time to decide." Jake responded.

"I'm sure we'd be able to get you into NASA." he told her.

"But you'll need to decide for yourself what you want to do, and where." he said further.

"You're brilliant. You have options." he added with a smile.

"You could work here." Jake offered.

"Programs like ours tend to be ahead of the rest of the world." he said.

"Mostly because we use mana to augment our tech." he continued.

"That might be worth your time." he posited.

"Maybe. Might not be, either." he then shrugged.

"Just a suggestion."

Ryker responded by bringing his own necklace close, and locking the two together.

"Eke." he said.

"No matter what happens, remember... we didn't come this far without each other." he told him.

"Now, we've enjoyed MY part of this together." he went on.

"Let's enjoy YOUR part together as well."

"......I see." Jake responded.

"Well. That's concerning." he said.

"Hopefully you didn't." he went on, taking another drink of his coffee, finishing it.

"So what are you going to do now?" he asked.

"Short term AND long term?"

"....fair enough." Jake replied.

"It seemed to be fairly urgent. Glad things are okay..." he went on.

"At any rate." he then said, clearing his throat a little.

"I was asking what happened back in your home dimension." he told her.

"And you panicked."

When she stepped into the cafeteria, she saw that Jake was still, indeed, there.

He looked over and saw her, before waving slightly.

She got closer to him, and he sighed.

"Welcome back." he said.

"Did you get done what you needed to get done?" he asked.

Sharp nodded in response.

"There's nothing more." he said.

"Thank you for the information." he told her.

"And let me know your decisions regarding what I mentioned." he went on.

"Again, thank you." he finished.

"If you need to talk again, I'm usually here."

"Ah, yes." Sharp replied.

"We have your ship, and all the remnants we found, currently in storage." he told her.

"You and your brother are free to examine it if you like." he said.

"And also... your other friend." he continued.

"He's been kept preserved, but I do not know how you pay respects, and lay the dead to rest in your world." he went on.

"Is there anything we can do to help?" he asked.

"I know." Ryker replied.

"Hence why I could never forget it, either." he said.

He then placed the bag on the table, and took the paper bag out of it. He then withdrew two small jewelry boxes out of the paper bag, and handed one to Eke.

Inside it was a necklace with a small golden puzzle piece on the end of it. It had a draconic symbol on it. Ryker opened the other one, and it was a necklace of a golden puzzle piece, with a demonic symbol on it.

And the two pieces looked like they'd interlock perfectly.

"Draconic, demonic, we are what we are." Ryker then said.

"But we filled the gaps in the others life that we didn't even know we had." he chuckled lightly.

"It's all right." Sharp responded.

"This info is more than enough right now." he told her.

"I'll be on the lookout, keeping a discerning eye on things, looking for any of these symptoms." he then assured her.

"Thank you for telling me this." he continued.

"This would be nasty for us, to say the very least."