there is a purpose to this all (part XXXIV)

(Roleplay entry. Continued from part XXXIII.)

The voice in the box said "Christian Rosenkreuz..."

STAN: AUTHENTICATED
STAN: SYSTEM CONTROLS ONLINE

Justine turned and hugged her close. "You did it! You did it!"

Emilly just shook. "That could have gone better, but...yay," she whispered.

The voice came from the box again. "Em...I'm sleepy...but I need to tell you something."

Justine looked at the box. "You did it, Hiro. It's all going to be okay now. We're going to get you ba...heal you up...and you'll have a home to come to. And it's going to be okay."

Emilly looked at the box. "Yes, love?"

"I keep having a dream...It doesn't make sense."

Justine turned. "Wait, what?"

Emilly said, as calmly as she could, "What dream? The marble pomegranate again?"

"I am in an old ship," Hiro in the box said. "A galley..."

Emilly nodded. "Go on."

"We're off the shore of an island..."

Justine looked up, expression concerned. "Emilly, the quantum entanglement levels between our...between here and...the long-ago...I'm seeing spikes." Her eyes widened, trying to parse the data as it came in. "There's too much!" She looked worriedly at the box.

Emilly grew more worried. "Will it affect the...containment?"

Justine mouthed at Emilly, "Reassure him, keep him calm. I don't know..."

"Wait," Hiro whispered. Then, louder: "WAIT--"

"Just breathe, you want to stay relaxed," Emilly said. "If the dream worries you that much, we'll break it down later, okay?"



Justine muttered under her breath, "it's ok it's ok it's ok it's ok--"

An urgent whisper from the box. "I remember--THIS ISN'T A DREAM..."

Emilly thought. "Are you on the Gray Area?" she asked.

"Not anymore. We stripped it."

Emilly blinked. Who stripped it? Why? "Oh, good," she said blandly. "That will help."

"I needed some of the cavorite to build the chamber," came the voice. "We had to hide."

Emilly tilted her head, whiskers twitching. "The chamber needed to float? Or just needed to be powered by something long-lasting?"

"I had to hide after Hiram's...attack. Em..."

Emilly nodded. "Truly a tragedy...Yes?"

"The sea people...the Balearic islands...Em, I can't see..."

Emilly walked over, touching the box. "What about the Balearics?"

"How did you get me here? Em...Where are they? You need the where."

"We think that's part of why the accident happened," she said reassuringly. "Quantum interference. We'll find the where."

"I just told you..."

"We have maps," Emilly said, nodding. "We'll look."

"I need to sleep..."

She closed her eyes tight for a few moments. "Yes, love. Rest. You'll be better soon."

"Don't let him find me...he'll treat me like a pig..."
Emilly wanted very badly, suddenly, to ask about the ringmaster, but let it go. "We won't."

"Em...who was Armada's sister city?"

She thought. "Wasn't it Gearhaven? Or are we talking Mieville?"

"Before, Em. Compare maps...other direction."



"Oh, dear. That's going to be...tricky."

"Em?" said the voice. "I'm confused..."

"I know, love. It's okay. Everything will make sense soon."

"There's more than one island..."

She nodded. "You sleep, the medical bay is in solid shape."

"I picked the right one...but he's still looking for me...

"We'll find you first." She hoped she sounded as sure of that as she needed to.

Justine listened with one ear, accessing STAN.

"STAN, discontinue Gearhaven asset destruction sequence, return all deployed armaments to station storage. Repeat: do not continue to Phase 4 of asset shut down sequence. Confirm?"

STAN: CONFIRM. SYSTEM STANDING DOWN.

"Wonderful," Emilly breathed.

PAYLOAD DELIVERED.

Justine breathed an audible sigh of relief and turned to Emilly. "I didn't understand a lot of that. What was Armada's sister city?" Emilly didn't answer her, turning to the screen.

"Wait, payload? STAN, what payload?"

Justine blinked. "Payload? Delivered WHERE?"

STAN: REPLICA OF BETA-EL.

There was a shimmer, a spiral of light, towards the back of the terminal bay. "Ah," Emilly was saying, "So, to...where..." She trailed off.



"I am Beta-El/Astorah. Replicant," the newcomer said. She--at least, Emilly assumed feminine, from the dimensions and the vocal tones--was pale, with touches of red here and there. Her movements were fluid. Her eyes were blank.

"Oh, boy," she muttered. She looked at Justine.

Justine stared at the replicant. "Whaaaat..."

"I bet this is part of what we found yesterday in the books," Emilly mused.

"I was transmitted and used the replicators," Beta-El added. "I am one of five."



"Good," Emilly said, after a long pause. "You can...help."

The replicant blinked. "Correction: I could help."

Emilly arched an eyebrow. "Yes..."

The voice changed, became markedly less feminine, overlaid with another...almost recognizeable...voice. "I am tired of keeping the secrets..." It shifted back to the lighter, feminine tone. "I prefer my current programming. Would you like a drink?"

Emilly looked at Justine.

Justine shrugged. She approached the replicant.



"You will help. That's why you're here," Justine said. "You're going to help us find the tomb."

Emilly nodded. "And you don't have to keep the secrets anymore. You're here. This is where you need to be."

Justine nodded, looking from Emilly, back to Beta-El. "In fact...you're going to help us identify the true priestess, and find the words of power we need to return the sleeper."

(Continued in part XXXV.)