Falling Through Time

I'll change the ending for all of us. // AU RP blog for Over-1 and his Cyber-Elf friend Alexis // ran by Caff // currently pre-canon

[siberianprototype]

aeniqmata​:

“ I highly doubt it’s us using different names. Something tells me that I’m a lot further away from home than I’d like to be. “ He really didn’t want to think about how hard it would be for him to make it back to his friends. But for the time being he had this person to guide him around, and if the floating piece of metal that he had was any indication, they might have a way to get him back.

Therion couldn’t control his snort at the other’s insistence that he have good balance, hiding his mouth behind his scarf. “ I’ve sailed, I’m a master thief. My balance might be better than yours “ 

He didn’t wait for a retort, hopping up behind the other, placing a gentle hand on his back until he was standing steady. The moment he was balanced, his hand quickly retreated back under his shawl. 

“ Whenever you’re ready, I guess. Therion’s the name by the way, I don’t remember if I told you. “

A theif, huh...? Over wasn’t going to judge. He still had next to no information on how society was doing after the Cataclysm asides from largely-inaccessible data, after all- and needs must, as the saying went.

(Sailing, though- that was a curious bit of information. He either meant modern ships or a sail ship, and something told him that it was the latter. Given that they’d been outdated for several centuries... hm.)

“Nice to meet you, Therion. My name’s Over, short for Overture. If you’re sure, then- let’s go.”

He leaned forward on the Chaser, prompting it to start gliding forward. Slowly, at first, and then faster when he was assured that Therion wouldn’t fall off. They wouldn’t have to stop to recharge for a good few hours; 80% would get them a long way.

[siberianprototype]

willdcard​:

Fantastic. Not even the person who had strength in spades enough to pull him from the rubble knew where he was. Or rather, he knew where he was, just not enough to point Therion in the direction of his companions. And given that he asked what continent the continent was on…

He was fucked.

“ Orsterra is the continent. Which means I have no idea where I am or how to get home. Aflyn is going to skin me alive. “ He couldn’t dwell on it for long though, breathing out his frustrations and leveling his single-eye’d gaze on the stranger.

“ I don’t suppose I’m hanging onto you while you ride your… thing, am I? Because I’m not big on that touching thing and you may as well bury me under another building if so. “

... Eh? This Orsterra place was a continent? But that couldn’t be possible, could it? Unless the Cataclysm did so much damage as to- no, that wasn’t possible. His database didn’t speak of any water-submerged landmasses that could have been exposed.

This was... very confusing. Or maybe information had just been lost to this extent? Over hoped not.

“... I see. Then I don’t know where it is; as far as I know, it doesn’t exist. Maybe we’re using two different names for it...”

“And no, that’s not necessary. See?”

He stepped onto the Chaser, which dipped a bit from his weight before leveling out again, and quickly made some adjustments to its sensitivity and controls. He moved to the front, leaving the bottom half empty for his passenger.

“So long as you have good balance, you’ll be fine.”

[siberianprototype]

willdcard​:

He really didn’t make it too far, already tiring and just wishing that he could just go to sleep and suddenly end up at home. And like it or not, his only source of information in this world was the person who was about to just leave him behind. So it was with an audible sigh that he dropped the rock he’d been moving and turned to face the stranger again.

“ If the offer is still open… I need help getting to a place called Orsterra. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of it or can at least point me in the direction of someone who might? “ His pride was already well and truly squashed, having been rescued by a stranger. Might as well just swallow it while he’s at it.

Otherwise, he might not live long enough to make it home. Who knew if another building will fall on top of him.

Huh? Well, alright then... he supposed pride was a second priority to survival, and he didn’t seem to have a means of transportation other than simply walking. “Yes, the offer’s still open. I don’t mind.”

Though, Orsterra? He didn’t know of any place called Orsterra, and he wasn’t getting any matches in his data. [Alexis?]

{That’s a no from me, too. It’s possible that the ‘Orsterra’ he’s talking about is a settlement that was established while you were in stasis.}

That was a problem. “Unfortunately, I don’t know of a ‘Orsterra’. Is it on this continent or in the general area?”

[siberianprototype]

willdcard​:

“ Fantastic. “ He’d said there was no debt, so Therion was in the clear to wander away and forget this man and whatever it was he was wearing. He needed to find a way back to his group. Alfyn was sure to be having a heart attack with the thief missing, and he really didn’t want to be missing any longer than necessary.

“ If you aren’t expecting me to pay you back, then I’ll be leaving here. I have to figure out how to get home. “ He didn’t wait for a response, turning on his heel and heading back towards the pile of rubble he’d been extricated from. 

If this was where he’d appeared, then there had to be a clue on how to get back under the pile. He wasn’t Olberic so this would take ages, but he’d have to start digging.

Over blinked as the human started shifting pieces of the rubble aside, a bit taken aback by the curt words. Al...right then, he supposed that was a no. Made sense, considering what he'd seen so far.

Did he lose something in there, though? He couldn’t think of a different explanation for him going back to the rubble he’d been trapped under.

[Should I-?]

{I don’t think he wants help, Over. It’s better if we leave him be.}

He frowned, but he could see the logic behind Alexis’s words. The man had been prickly when he’d thought he owed Over, and he got the feeling it would be worse if he interfered more. It was better to let this lie.

“I’ll leave you to it, then.” He clicked his hand for the Chaser, and the previously charging hoverboard glided over to him. 80%? He’d take it.

[siberianprototype]

On The Road, For Real This Time pt. 2

Knowing there was an irradiated wasteland countless kilometers wide somewhere to his southwest didn’t do his nerves any favors, but as Over neared Dalnegorsk, he had to admit that Russia was strangely untouched– the parts of it he'd traveled through, at least. The average radiation was markedly higher than ‘pre-Cataclysm', as Alexis called it, but other than that, the areas he went through were practically pristine.

Then again, he had been in ‘the ass end of nowhere.' The silent peace of the snow probably didn’t exist anywhere else, not when there'd been so many nuclear weapons. 

There’d been no trace of the century-old roads Over was following for all this time, but a few kilometers from Dalnegorsk, time-weathered concrete started to litter the sides of the too-level to be natural ground. Covered by snow though they were, it was enough to confirm that the map hadn’t led him wrong.

When he crested the final hill, Alexis let out a low whistle. Over silently agreed.

The town was a ruin. The snow covered any visible damage there might have been, but you didn’t have to see the details to know what happened. It looked more like a pile of matchsticks than a former place of civilization.

But the Highway?

There were clear signs of disrepair even from this far away, but the concrete gleamed in the late afternoon sun. A testament to the ingenuity of a century past reached over the icy waters and past the horizon.

They were here. This was the path to North America.

{Given how the highway was built, it should be intact enough for you to ride the whole way through. Now we just need several dozen Wily Numbers here to put us and several hostages in mortal peril!}

Huh? That made no sense. “You say a lot of weird stuff, Alexis.”

{Nah, you’re just not that worldly yet.}

“Because you’re the one with all the memories.” He didn’t have immediate access to the ones Alexis was referencing.

{Hey, cut me some slack!}

[siberianprototype]

willdcard​:

“ Very. “ His tone was curt, not at all pleased to be on the receiving end of a favor from someone. He’d rather if the other had just buried some more rubble on top of him and let him suffocate. But now he owed the other a debt.

He wasn’t someone who wandered away when he owed something.

“ I guess you are taking me with you until you figure out how I can pay you back. Tea leaves don’t bail on a debt. “

Tea leaves...? Over didn’t understand that metaphor, but this human seemed really annoyed over the idea of owing someone else.

Then again, that had been an awful lot of rubble he’d been buried under. Over had only noticed though sheer chance.

“There’s no debt, I helped you because I was here... but if you want, you can travel with me. There’s enough space on the Chaser for two.”

The human might have a bit of time balancing, though. The hoverboard wasn’t... really suited for more than one passenger.

“It’s going to be mostly travel, though. Especially when we get to the Pacific Highway.”

[siberianprototype]

“Nobody asked you to save me.” ( from therion, because he's my resident grump )

“Well, I wasn’t about to leave you trapped in that rubble... though, I suppose there’s not much safe ground or shelter nearby.”

The Cataclysm had done a lot of damage... though, Over wasn’t sure what a human was doing here, in a ruined town not that far off from the start of the Highway. Maybe he was a traveler of sorts, like himself.

“Are you lost?”

[orbitalyear-deactivated20230513]

old gods are waking

[meatgirlfriendmoved]

[brookreader]

Pleistocene-Era Plant Revived from Siberian Permafrost

[lannasroleplaymemes]

Ask me (or my muse/s) anything! My inbox is open to any and all questions, comments, etc.

[siberianprototype]

On The Road, For Real This Time pt. 1

Being on the Chaser was exhilarating. 

The environment rushed past him as he made his way out of the tundra and into the rest of Siberia, the solar core beneath him humming with energy. The winds felt alive, and they even tasted nice.

Alexis forced him to take mandatory breaks every 16 hours or so to rest and let the Chaser recharge, so Over took the time to get used to the feeling of snow and permafrost beneath him. 

Mountains, rivers, forests of pine trees. The weather became warmer as they went further south, rising from the -15° Celsius average to around -6°. Slowly, more variety started to appear in his surroundings.

It was strange how different everything was from the lab. Strange, but… nice.

The nice feelings didn’t last very long, though. 

{Over, pull over for a second,} Alexis said on day 8, when they were about to temporarily cross the border from Russia to what was once a part of China. The former city of Dalnegorsk wasn’t much farther at this point, which was where the beginning of the Highway was.

Over obligingly came to a halt. “Is something wrong?”

{There will be. Do a radiation scan.}

A radiation scan? Why–?

–?!

Oh. Oh, no.

“This is…”

Knowing that the world had undergone a nuclear apocalypse was one thing. 

Having his radiation sensors shriek at him to skirt around large swathes of the world around him was another.

“Why… why didn’t you tell me earlier?”

From their current location, if Over had kept going forward, his scanners wouldn’t have picked up the irradiated areas until he’d cornered himself into an effective dead end, which would have cost them several days worth of time.

{Because we were, pardon my French, in the ass end of Russia. It wasn’t relevant at the time. That, and you already knew.}

“…”

Oh.

He had, hadn’t he?

Between the ‘him’ of the past-future and the current him… Over had already known about the nuclear apocalypse happening. He just hadn’t registered anything about it, not even the ‘my creators are dead’ part because there were more important things to worry about and focus on.

Why hadn’t he connected the dots? It wasn’t even a leap in logic, just simple cause and effect– 

A hand landed on top of his helmet.

{Because this scale of destruction and harm is beyond logic, and none of it makes any sense. It’s literally too stupid for you to comprehend, so don’t bother! Toss it all out.}

Over rapidly blinked at that non sequitur. His mind was still trying to grasp the fact that he hadn’t processed anything he’d learned in the lab, not really.

“… tonal whiplash, Alexis.”

{You shouldn’t dwell on it. Things happened, and you weren’t even activated back then. It's not possible to go back to stop it– you've tried before, and never succeeded. The only thing we can do is look towards the future.}

Alexis's words weren't reassuring. Knowing that 'he' failed to stop this… that it was his fault the world was like this in the first place…

That didn't put him in the greatest of moods, considering what they were trying to do might not even be possible.

He wasn’t even able to remember the specifics… Or even that Robot Master’s name.

{Man, I really dropped the ball on this one, huh? Now you're all gloomy. Look, the Cataclysm was the result of cascading actions from several factors, including several world leaders being complete idiots. You can't change that. You once tried to cause a paradox by timeline-cloning a dozen of yourself to stop the nuclear warheads from ever launching, and that didn't work.}

Wait, he tried to what?

{Point is– you tried, Over. You did your best. Sometimes, the effort is what matters despite the outcome, and that version of you decided to come back here to change the future in a different way. Like I said, don’t think about it too hard– that wasn’t the ‘current’ you. Got that?}

Not really. But…

“... yeah.”

He was going to have to adjust their route as they went, now that he knew about the heavily irradiated areas… 

[lannasroleplaymemes]

Rescue Sentence Starters

“You saved me!” “I was fine, you know. I didn’t need to be rescued.” “I don’t know what I would’ve done if you didn’t show up.” “You didn’t wait until I was in peril to sweep in, did you?” “I didn’t need your help!” “You’ve saved my life more times than I can count.” “I owe you one!” “You should have left me behind!” “You risked your life for mine…” “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” “I just froze up. I don’t know what happened. If you hadn’t been there –” “I’m not used to being the one that needs saving.” “Just in the nick of time!” “You didn’t need to come back for me, but you did.” “Get out of here! Save yourself!” “You – you came back?”! “But I’m not worth saving!” “After all I did to you, you still came back for me.” “Why did you risk yourself for me?” “Okay, we get it, you saved us.” “I’m getting so tired of being saved by you.” “How am I going to learn anything if you keep saving me?!” “I could’ve handled that myself, you know.” “Nobody asked you to save me.” “Why do you always feel the need to play hero?” “You’re only helping people for the glory.” “You don’t care about who you save, as long as it makes you feel/look good.” “If I had a choice between death and being saved by you, you know what I’d choose.” “Don’t you remember? You saved my life!” “I’ll never forget what you did for us.” “You saved me in more ways than one.” “I’m so tired of being a damsel in distress!” “You can’t save me.” “Saving others will not erase your past.” “Saveing others will not save you.” “I never asked to be a part of your path to atonement.” “You saved me, so one day I’ll repay the favor!” “I thought I was the one who was supposed to save you!”

[siberianprototype]

First Ventures pt. 4 - end

The Chaser’s weight in Over’s arms felt heavier with each step he made towards the entrance.

He’d done his level best to ignore the hallway leading up to the surface over the past week, but his mind had always come back to it eventually. It was hard not to, when there were signs on the walls pointing towards the only way out of the lab.

What was outside? Snow, ice, cold winds– this was the Siberian tundra. How navigable would the surrounding area be? Was the Chaser good enough to get him through it, much less the transcontinental trip he was about to take? Hell, would he even be able to change anything for the better?

Uncertainty… no, he didn’t like this feeling at all.

{Nervous?}

“…”

{Yeah, that’s fair. Not much farther now, though.}

The sound of his boots echoing through the hallway lasted until the stretch of concrete abruptly ended, replaced by an extremely heavy-duty blast door that his scanners placed at at least 30 centimeters thick. It was actually warmer here than in the rest of the lab; around -13° Celsius.

The control panel didn’t seem to be online until Over rapped against it a couple of times (maybe a bit too hard, actually), upon which it flickered to life. He punched in the passcode, a seemingly arbitrary string of numbers he would likely never know the meaning of, and flinched back a bit when the vents alongside the walls started to hiss.

The decompression system took… an uncomfortably long amount of time to complete. 

… Actually, it took so long that Alexis had stuck his head through the door at some point to check if something had gone wrong.

Eventually, though, the door started to rumble, shaking Over out of his thoughts as air started to rush through the bottom– truly fresh air, not the slightly dusty air fed in from meters of vents. Light spilled into the hallway; harsh and white and brilliant.

The blast door shuddered to a halt, and Over stared at the world beyond it.

“…!”

The lab had been built into the side of a mountain, a rolling yet flat white expanse stretching out below it for kilometers and kilometers. Snow covered everything in sight, glowing in the sun encompassed by a harsh blue sky.

It was massive. All of it. The outside world was… 

{Well, what are you waiting for? The door’ll close behind you, y’know, it’ll still be here when you go.}

He startled as Alexis’s manifestation dissolved into data particles, the words ringing in his ears. Then he shook his head furiously.

No, Alexis was right. He couldn’t stay behind in a ruined remnant of a previous era.

The Chaser’s core roared to life, and Over raced down the slope to the sound of the blast door lowering shut.

[siberianprototype]

First Ventures pt. 3

4 days, 3 hours, and 27 minutes later, Over thunked his helmet against the table with a groan.

… fixing, completing, and then modifying a prototype hoverboard was more complicated than he thought, even with the blueprints and all the tools in the workshop part of the lab. At least he was done now.

{Great work, Over! You wouldn’t be able to tell that it was nothing but a pile of spare parts a few days ago!}

“You didn’t help at all…”

That wasn’t actually true; Alexis did the schematic editing while he did the actual work. They both knew what he meant, though, so Alexis just laughed.

The hoverboard was something Alexis had found buried deep in the prototype section of Cossack’s notes, the parts tucked away in a metal container. According to the simulations Alexis ran, the original design was good… just not good enough for as long a trip they were going to take. Hence the few days of modification.

A sleek blue-white hoverboard lay on the table, black streaks sweeping across its sides. Alexis was right; you’d never be able to tell that it took a scant few days to go from a pile of parts to this.

{Does it have a name?}

“A name? Is that important?”

{Yeah, you gotta name your gear, y’know. What’re you gonna call it?}

Hm… 

“… Chaser.”

{Chaser?}

“Yeah, just Chaser.” It just felt right.

{That’s a good name! Now, we just need to do one more thing before we can head out.}

Over blinked. He was pretty sure this was called ‘tonal whiplash.’ “... just like that?”

{Just like that. This way!}

The thought of leaving the lab was, admittedly, quite daunting despite his resolve to change the future (and when he put it that way, no wonder he was nervous), but he followed Alexis with the Chaser in his hands anyways. 

They reentered the room with his capsule, and Alexis walked towards the machine that Over had initially thought was a coverless capsule until he downloaded the lab’s data– the Teleporter.

“... Alexis, there’s no way it’s going to work.”

It didn’t take a genius to realize that the pre-nuclear apocalypse satellites were probably all destroyed, from radiation or otherwise, and Dr. Cossack’s lab was only wired to pre-apocalypse stuff. The chances of the Teleporter being able to access a satellite were laughable, much less one that would be in range of him when he needed it.

{Just link yourself to it anyways. Worst comes to worst, I’ll find a way to jumpstart it and force the teleport.}

“Doesn’t that come with the risk of–?”

{Shhh shh sh, just trust me on this.}

Over was skeptical, but set down the Chaser to boot up the Teleporter anyways. It didn’t take long to link his energy signature; just a few minutes of tapping away at the keyboard beside it.

“Alright. Now what?”

{Now… well, you already know.}

“… Right.”

It was time to leave the remains of Dr. Cossack’s lab.

[siberianprototype]

First Ventures pt. 2

It turned out that there was an all-terrain vehicle in the lab. Several, actually. There were even a few motorcycles and cargo trucks too.

The problem was that all the rubber had rotted off the tires. 

Every. 

Single. 

One.

Not even the multiple spares scattered around the lab's garage had survived the century of unuse.

{... damn, I forgot about that. Of course the tire rubber would be rotten by now. Guess we can't use these.}

Great. Now what were they going to do? Walking to North America wasn't exactly feasible, given that they had to get out of Siberia to even start the trek to the eponymous Highway.

{Well, this is Dr. Cossack's lab– one of them, at any rate. There's good odds of there being an unfinished project here that we can fix up for transport; I’ll start sifting through the data now. We won't have to walk, one way or another.}

Huh. Yeah, that worked.

… wait, he hadn't said that bit about walking out loud.

{Yeah, you accidentally sent your thoughts to me. We're merged, remember? There's a perpetual comm link between us.}

That was… 

Yes, there it was, he'd located it. It was active by default, which was how he never noticed until now. That would come in handy in the long run.

[So you can hear this, right?]

{Yep, loud and clear! It'll be better to use this form of communication when we're around people and I can't manifest. Wouldn't want people thinking you're bugged or something.}

"Why wouldn't you? Manifest, I mean."

The former human (and Over still wasn't sure how that worked) was fond of draping himself across furniture, convenient seats, and hanging off of Over's shoulders. He was very touchy-feely.

{Humans can't see Cyber-Elves, but you robots can. No one knows we exist at this point in time, so it's better for me to hide if we run into X.}

That made sense. And…

X. His youngest brother. According to the lab data, Dr. Cossack had set his capsule to open when X's did, and his memories said that Dr. Cain was the one that found him. He hoped he was doing well.

The future that 'he' and Alexis went back in time to prevent was one that Over would happily derail, if only for his sake.

{Come on, I found the blueprints for a project we can use. Over here!}

Alexis dipped straight through a wall.

"Ah– Alexis, I can't phase through matter–!"

[siberianprototype]

First Ventures pt. 1

“There, that’s the last of the data… isn’t this a bit much, though?”

Over unplugged the cord from the base of his neck and coiled it on top of a table.

“There was a full yottabyte of data in the lab, and I had to copy it over from the separate servers it was stored on.”

It was only 5 days, 18 hours, and 49 minutes since Over had activated, but Alexis had insisted that they get started right away– starting with loading all the information in Dr. Cossack’s lab into his memory banks.

{Trust me, you'd rather have it with you than for it to not be there when you need it. And you can’t say that you don’t need the information.}

That was true. The countless yottabytes of ‘his’ memory data weren’t actually in his systems; Alexis was storing it. He could only access it because they were merged together, and even then the memory data came back… not quite corrupted, but not whole, either. 

Fuzzy, that was the word. It was all very fuzzy. He was somewhat aware of some of the contents, but unless Alexis clarified it for him, he had nothing but faint recollections.

{Anyways, you got it, right?}

“I did.”

An extremely detailed world map had been in the lab’s servers. According to Alexis, it was the best bet to guide their way to the North American continent, where their goal lay.

‘Defend the future from the past’– and Over was pretty sure from the memories and words from Dr. Cossack that the red Robot Master was who  they were heading for.

{Alright, then we’re almost done on the preparation side of things. Just a few more things left.} 

The Cyber-Elf stood up from where he was sitting on top of the table. 

{You know how this place is all the way up in Russia?}

“Ah… yes?”

That was part of the data he copied– Dr. Cossack had been Russian, and all his labs were buried deep in the Siberian tundra. The euphemism was most likely true at this point, too– 100 years was a long time.

He was concerned about how they would exit the lab, but Alexis didn’t seem worried about that part.

{You’re going to have to find a vehicle that can weather that kind of terrain and cold– not to mention function outside of it as well. There’s a garage a few rooms down from here, but we need to preserve the lab’s power, so… you’re going to have to manually drag it up to the main entrance.}

What?!

“You have to be kidding.”

{I wish I was, dude, why do you think I said it in the first place?}

[siberianprototype]

xfactxr​:

The next swear that X let out was unprintable before he finally responded, face bright pink.

“I’m fine, that just happens sometimes.”

“This way.”

He just really wanted to get to the nature reserve before he ended up embarrassing himself further in front of his possible family or in-law.

Over was... pretty sure that X usually wasn’t this clumsy, but then again he’d never properly met any version of him.

“If you say so.”

{Ah... haven’t had a good laugh like that in ages. Nah, a lot of X’s are exactly that clumsy. Yours will be, too.}

... good to know...?

[siberianprototype]

xfactxr​:

X closed his eyes for a moment to look up which was closest before nodding with a smile.

“Alright then, follow me. The Wildflower Reserve is the closest.”

He spun on one foot before walking down the sidewalk. Then he tripped on a rock he didn’t see right onto his face with a loud swear. He got up quickly, his face pink from embarrassment as he brushed himself off.

Over couldn’t help but startle a bit when X abruptly faceplanted the ground and a loud swear echoed through the air.

“Are you okay?” He asked over the sound of Alexis wheezing with laughter in his mind.