Descent.

[shimmermods]

CHAMBERS.

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You've been down here for such a long time.

It's difficult to tell, perhaps, exactly how long it's been; the lack of need to sleep or eat has become more and more prevalent as time goes by, and it's made it difficult to keep to any sort of schedule - and while the darkness remains unyielding and unchanging, the same can't be said for yourself, now, can it? The further you go, the more it feels like maybe you could belong here; the longer you're within this place, the less it seems to want to let go of you.

It begs the question, really: Is it the mine that's making you feel that way, or is it the Shimmer itself?

Something is different today.

There's a sudden feeling that you've found a chamber, that the shaft you've been wandering down has opened up in a way that's more noticeable than the occasional offshoot leading to an eventual dead end - this feels massive, open in a way that clears the air and spreads out far enough in front of you that it's difficult to tell how far out it actually goes. There are a few promising signs here, however, even if you can't see them very well - the sudden clearing of the air's stagnation is one, but the sound of running water trickling through here somewhere is also promising.

There's also a feeling that should be familiar by now; namely, it's the general sensation that you aren't alone, wherever you are.

You've found something, but perhaps more importantly, you get the feeling that you're coming far closer to your goal than you were on the outside; don't get too excited, though, as you still want to be careful - after all, this chamber opens downward as well as outward.

You can get down to the lower level if you pick your way down; it shouldn't be too challenging, and you'll probably have an easier time seeing once you're down there. Just don't fall.

code by vuvuzela

Comments

[shimmermods]

[Still not looking at any of you. Still keeping her eyes on the tree.]

Do you believe you have gained anything by being here?

[me_underfire]

Not really. Not now, anyway.

[shimmermods]

"Not now"...?

[me_underfire]

I thought there may have been someone down here we could've helped, but we can't do much for them as they are now.

[Aside from put them out of their misery.]

[shimmermods]

What are you trying to save people from, in the end?

[me_underfire]

[You, she wants to say, but she also doesn't want to antagonize the thing that shaped a bunch of people into a flesh tree.]

Suffering. Physical and mental alterations. Things they didn't ask to be a part of.

[So, uh, you.]

[shimmermods]

No one asks to be a part of anything, really. Existence is what it is. Sometimes suffering is involved; sometimes change isn't for the better. No one asks for or deserves these things more than others.

[blunders]

[In all honesty? Probably new nightmares, if she ever gets to sleep again. That's about it, at this point. And maybe mercy-killing a clearly suffering Shimmer-tree.

...Not that Felicia is going to say that much.]

...We've gained more knowledge about this place--about a different part of it that we had not explored prior.

[shimmermods]

Was it worth it?

[blunders]

...I believe so, yes.

[For all of Felicia's apprehension, she says that with certainty.]

[shimmermods]

What makes you say that?

[blunders]

[Felicia shifts a bit in her spot, but...]

We found a way to understand the people who were down here, if only through their eyes. We were able to see...that the water here wasn't going to harm us--that the crystals might have, and that perhaps the crystals themselves are the reason that...well, at least I've felt rather light-headed. I can't speak for the others if they've felt the same, because it isn't right to.

[She's not lying when she says that much, and she's not about to argue empathy with the Shimmer again, but she does believe in that much.]

...I believe that much is worth it. Even if the journey was tough.

[notjustawriter]

We learned these people are in pain.

[He's not really here for setting the tree on fire holy shit, but also it clearly hurts to be them.]

[shimmermods]

Perhaps so.

[That...doesn't seem to concern her any.]

[notjustawriter]

[He really doesn't expect it to.]

They told us as much.

[shimmermods]

That isn't surprising.

[Hell if she was going to do anything about it, though.]

[crestological]

We did end some entirely undue suffering, so there is that, I suppose.

[shimmermods]

It wasn't your concern to begin with, was it?

[crestological]

Actually, I believe it very much was our concern. We were on a rescue mission first and foremost, and if we cannot actually save these people by getting them out of here to safety, we can at least end their misery.

[shimmermods]

There is nothing to save people from. Not truly.

[crestological]

...

I am not nearly well equipped enough to explain basic empathy to you, so I presume someone else can handle that.

[bornandbread]

Haven't we?

[See, he can answer questions with questions too.]

[shimmermods]

That's more your decision than mine.

[bornandbread]

Your decision is that we shouldn’t have come here. Why?

[shimmermods]

Not my decision. Just a fact. You gain nothing by being here.