Shades Of Forever

"Stove," the older woman leading the group calls out, knocking politely on a door at the end of a room that feels crowded with the six people currently occupying it. Violet doesn't notice the press of bodies, still adrift in her own thoughts. It feels like she's been transported to somewhere make-believe, a land that shouldn't exist. The sight of a village beneath skeletal trees of bone and blood, somehow thriving on the reality-poisoned ruins of Earth keeps short-circuiting her mind every time she tries to start a chain of thought. The dog in her arms looks up and pants.

Dark Mistress, give the word and I will fall on them like bootheels upon beetles.

hissss

A brilliant sapphire eye glares at the dog from inside the shadow of the most unassuming figure of the group, a slight form who never strayed from Violet's side during the entire surreal trip. The patch of darkness is unnaturally deep, but still, none of it can rouse her from her stupor.

What... is this place?

The door opens after a brief delay, a harried-looking woman adjusting the spectacles on her nose gazing out on the press of bodies. She sighs, looking past the older woman in front of her, until her gaze falls upon the unassuming form hovering nervously next to Violet.

"Sky Idiot. Why am I not surprised to see you at the center of this disturbance?"

"It's not my fault, Stove Mind!" The spectacles flash. "Okay, well, maybe it's partially my fault. But I didn't want to kill her!"

They are weak, Dark Mistress. Give the command! I will vaporize that pestilential beast first!

A set of claws gleams in the shadow, beneath the unblinking blue eye, but Violet doesn't respond, still trying to gather her thoughts.

"Not killing people is generally the preferred choice, so I'm glad for your sake that you didn't. It takes a piece that is not easily regained." The woman in spectacles regards Violet critically, then looks at the older woman. "Why, exactly, did you bring this new outsider here, Broom?"

"We need to ask her some questions. About where she's from, what she was planning on doing here. Who else might be coming."

"...I see. Very well. Bring her into my study. The rest of you, go find something else to do. It's too crowded."

The slight figure with the deadly shadow steps forward, mouth opening in protest. "I need to be in there too. It might not be safe to leave her alone with you and Broom."

Violet's mind finally starts working again, breaking out of the loop of incredulous disbelief that's occupied her the last five minutes.

"I'm not going to hurt anybody," she says quietly, drawing in on herself. If she can lower their defenses, then there might be a chance to escape. The woman in spectacles, Stove, gives her a long look.

"Very well. Sky, you may join us. Between you and Broom I assume things will remain under control?"

In the silence of her mind Violet swears. Getting away from the prototype's immediate reach has to be the first step of any plan. The blasted thing moves too quick to risk Corgia on an attack this close. The slight figure, Sky, nods, then turns to the mountainous woman nearly brushing the ceiling, the only one in the room with an integrator Violet can truly feel.

"MacWillie, why don't you get the forge set up while we talk with her?"

The woman snorts, chest muscles nearly bursting the too-tight clothing covering her scarred skin.

"Aye, was wanting to hear the words myself, but that's probably a better use of our time." She turns to the two remaining people, the man in the strange cloak that blended into the forest, and the tired-looking woman with the rifle. "One of you mind showing me where the lad might be?"

"I'll take you," the man volunteers. "Get some rest, Torchie. And take a bath. You look like you got into a staring contest with a Glowbeast."

"Thanks, Dirt," the woman whispers. Violet notices she's swaying on her feet, barely able to stay upright. Calculations start crawling through her mind. If she can use the large woman, MacWillie, to take out Dirt without raising an alarm, she might be able to fool the prototype into following her away. Then she can-

"And one more thing." MacWillie directs her words at Broom. "I'll want at least three people watching me and the lad at all times from here on out. If we start doing anything out of the ordinary, they all come and warn young Sky here to stick a blade through this one's throat. I'll not have her messing with my head again." She points a finger at Violet, then stomps outside, the other two trailing after. Violet swears silently again.

"I can see this is going to be an interesting conversation," Stove says drily. "In here, please."

She leads the three of them into a comfortably appointed room, two padded chairs bracketing a small ottoman positioned to look out the large windows filling up the curving wall, an overstuffed sofa placed against the white bole of the tree that makes up the opposite side. Another door leads out the far end, currently closed. Stove offers Violet one of the chairs, then takes the other, Broom and Sky sitting on the edge of the sofa like they're ready to spring up at the slightest movement, the grizzled woman's rifle resting across her lap. Violet hugs Corgia to her chest, trying not to let her fingers tremble inside the soft fur.

She won't be trapped in a box. Never again.

"Now then," Stove begins, pulling out a small notebook and a pencil from her pocket, "what is your name?"

"...Violet."

She's still angry she gave away her real first name. If she hadn't been so off-balance in those stupid trees she would have made something up. Stove makes a quick note.

"Do you have a surname? Or is it just Violet? My name is Stove Mind, but you can call me Stove."

"Violet Allgarden." Violet uses the name of one of her favorite entertainment characters, one of the many she was allowed to access in lieu of leaving her cage. But only for good behavior, of course. Stove makes another note.

"I see. What color is the footstool?"

Violet stares at the fabric-covered ottoman in confusion.

"It's red. Why?"

Stove's pencil scratches across the paper again.

"Because it's difficult to talk to someone if you don't know how to see out of their eyes. For instance, if you had said 'orange' or 'brown,' I would know you see the world through a slightly different filter than me. If you were blind, I would ask you how it felt. Understanding all the things that go into making you 'you' is important."

Violet tries to stifle a groan. Great. This was going to be like the time her parents limited her access to everything but self-help modules for an entire week in retaliation for her replacing their morning news briefing with an entire entertainment node about a talking bee. That was back when they still deigned to connect to the fake infonet she was trapped in, of course.

"One last question, Violet. Are you happy? With who you are?"

"Yeah, absolutely. Couldn't be better. I love being here. Why do you care?"

"Mmm." Stove twists in her chair slightly. "Broom, Sky, these questions are important?"

"It's about the safety of the village," the one called Sky responds in a serious tone. Broom nods for emphasis, and Stove's mouth tilts down.

"Unfortunate. I do not like this, but you may begin."

"Wait, why don't you not like this-" Violet starts, but Sky overrides her.

"Why did you come to the village?"

"...I told you, I'm an advance scout from the Voidmarch. My ship's the Blackbeard, we're here investigating reports of another ship that might have disappeared in the area. We think it might have been carrying a valuable prototype integrator that would be worth a lot to the right people."

Good. Just enough truth to confuse them. You're doing excellent, Dark Mistress.

Thanks, Corgia.

Sky looks at Stove, who is frowning. She adjusts her spectacles slowly.

"Truth about the ship and investigating what it was carrying, lying about who she is."

An icicle spikes through Violet's gut. How can she possibly know that? Outwardly she tries to remain calm.

"You can't lie to a Mind," Sky says softly, fixing her with eyes like steel. "I hope you'll tell us the truth. I don't want to have to kill you. Why are you after the prototype?"

"Look, I was sent by my corpo bosses, and I thought I could get away with snagging the loot for myself. Greed isn't a crime, right? That's why I was willing to go halfsies with you. It really is worth a lot."

"Lies, for everything but the value."

The icicle expands, frozen ropes of dread piercing Violet's chest. How?! How does she know?!

Dark Mistress, if I position myself properly, I can significantly slow the prototype in exchange for my processing unit. We can escape on the shuttle to one of the spaceports.

I can't lose you, Corgia! If the Blackbeard discovers Pen being on board was a lie, they'll blockade the entire planet and tell the family something is wrong!

"Are you a danger to my village?"

The words are flat, leached of any emotion. Violet stares into a face like an executioner's blade. She gulps.

"Not if I get what I want. I'll leave."

"Truth."

"And you want the prototype. Me. Why?"

Violet feels herself shutting down, the anger so normally easy to grab hold of wilting beneath the shivering reality of the situation. They're going to kill her. They're going to send her back to the box. She'll never be free.

"You wouldn't understand."

Before Sky can respond, Stove clears her throat.

"Normally I would ask Sky and Broom to leave at this point. Ethically, they should not be here for what I would like to talk to you about. It is your story, and no one else's." She sighs. "Unfortunately, Sky was also speaking truth describing you as a potential danger, so they must both stay."

"What are you talking about?" Violet asks numbly. "What's even the point? You're going to kill me or sell me back."

"I know you believe that, but I would like you to imagine a world where that isn't the case." Stove's voice draws Violet's attention, filled with a compassion she's never heard before. "I also know you don't think Sky would understand, and that may be true, but I would like to try. Can you tell me why the prototype is so important?"

"I need it for the money." Violet can't help herself. That dreadful cold has settled into her very bones. "To buy my way into another corpo."

"And why do you need to do that?"

She clutches Corgia tighter, almost burying the words in her fur.

"To escape. To get stronger. So they can't put me back in the box."

"Who put you there, Violet?"

"My family!" she screams, a furnace flaring momentarily back to life. "They locked me in there because they said it was the best way I could help them and all I wanted..." the fire sputters and dies, "...was to leave. And I tried and tried and never could."

"Violet," Stove asks very carefully, as if she's handling spun glass, "do you have someone who loves you? As you, not for what you can do?"

"...Corgia." Drops of moisture dampen the dog's fur. "She's always been there with me."

"Can you see a world where someone else might love you? Might care about who you are?"

"...how?"

Stove sighs.

"Violet, Sky wasn't lying earlier. We don't want to hurt or kill you. This village, it is our sanctuary. Has been our sanctuary against a world that has tried to kill us for a very long time. You have every right to be in pain, and I wish I could have talked to you and those around you much earlier in your life. We love each other here, because we are all we had. All we thought was left. I would offer that sanctuary to you as well, to help you heal, if you can accept it."

"...how? They're already searching for the prototype. My family's going to figure out I'm gone soon, and then they'll come looking for me. You can't stop them from taking me back."

"We can." Violet slowly turns to look at Sky, seeing a face filled with that same strange kindness. "We're going to build an incognito field. One big enough to hide the village. Your family won't be able to find you in here."

"...why? Why would you help me?" An ember sputters into life. "Why would you care? I tried to kidnap you!"

"Because you don't want to hurt me. You just want somewhere to be safe. The same as us." Longing wistfulness. "I want to see everything that's out there too."

Violet can't help it, the tears rolling hot down her cheeks, matching the bonfire in her veins.

"But I hate them! They stole my life!" A shuddering breath. "They made me a monster."

"You're not a monster, Violet," Stove replies calmly. "You're a person. Just like everyone else. Can I give you a hug?"

...Dark Mistress?

The dog whines in her lap uncertainly as the tears turn into racking sobs, Violet looking at Stove through a watery sheen. The barest up and down motion of her head, almost indistinguishable from the tremors shaking her body, and then Stove is crouched next to her chair, extending an arm across her shoulders and gently pulling her close.

After that, there's no room left for anything other than grief.