chroma | catchall for vin

[countermeasures]

i haven't had coffee yet so this won't be pretty yet

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week four, monday

[countermeasures]

[and here they are... near the simulation room! not in it, just yet. jiuqing is lingering in the entrance, peering in at the blank white walls with a bit of apprehension.]

...surely it wouldn't be anything unsafe...

[allomantic]

[frowning a little as she enters and looks around. upon hearing jiuqing:]

Would you like me to stay, just in case?

[countermeasures]

[ ! ]

...well, I'd certainly feel a little better about it.

[fully in they go. the door vanishes behind them. there's a panel there now.]

Um.

[allomantic]

[hm.

that's probably fine, despite the spike of alarm.]

...Maybe we need to use that to get out?

[she gestures to the panel.]

[countermeasures]

Perhaps...

[she eyes the panel a little warily, putting a finger on it. she doesn't use a splash of color at first, just waiting to see if it will react - but it doesn't. so there's a spark of metallic at her fingertips, and -

the room changes around them.

suddenly, they find themselves out in a field near a chinese manor house. they're under the shade of a peach tree. there's a spring breeze on the air, carrying with it the scents of flowers from the manor's gardens.

jiuqing draws her hand back, startled.]

[allomantic]

[oh...

she looks around as the scene changes, transfixed by the sight for a few moments.]

How...?

[countermeasures]

...I'm not sure. I...

[...]

It's Suzhou... I must have had it on my mind.

[allomantic]

Suzhou... Is that the name of the place you lived before?

[countermeasures]

[she nods]

It's where I grew up, before my aunt and cousin came to live with us, and before we moved to the capital...

[allomantic]

...Does it carry good memories, for you?

[countermeasures]

...it was very nice here, before... well. Before they showed up.

[allomantic]

[she's getting some sympathetic vibes.]

I hope your home will become that way again.

[countermeasures]

Where I'm living now - or was, before the war - is much nicer. It's a house that belongs to just my mother and me.

[allomantic]

...Might I see it?

[countermeasures]

Let's see...

[she reaches out to touch the panel again.

their surroundings shift. the architecture of the buildings surrounding the courtyard is sturdy and elegant. it's all encased by walls, with chrysanthemum flowers in the corners in the courtyard and in a garden a ways away. sturdy, clean.

her imagination - memory, really - fills the space with the housemanager, the housekeper, a maid, and... her mother.

jiuqing smiles. her vibes are fond but a little homesick.]

[allomantic]

[she seems thoughtful.]

...I like it. It's nice.

[calming, even.]

[countermeasures]

It's our home.

[she smiles.]

Once we're out of this... I assume there would be some pathway connecting the places we come from, even if it's by going through here. You could come for a visit. I'm sure my mother would love to have you over.

[allomantic]

[there's surprise and interest at first, a little spark of hope, and then a tide of uncomfortable feelings as she tries to push that away.]

...Has anything indicated that to you? Our worlds don't work the same way the Prism does.

[countermeasures]

Just the fact that we're here at all. There was a way to get us here from our own worlds, so it's sort of... let's think of the Prism as a hallway. Your world must be like a room at one end of it, and mine must be like a room at the other end, mustn't it?

[allomantic]

[her emotion is just hesitant disbelief.]

...I imagine if the door opened when we came here, then it will close when we leave.

[countermeasures]

So we'll push it back open. I like you too much to just say goodbye when we're done here.

[allomantic]

[uncomfortable vibes]

I like you as well, but... That does not mean we can make impossible things happen.

[countermeasures]

We don't know for sure that it's impossible... I want to at least try.

[allomantic]

Right, but... If you assume it is assured, you will become even more disappointed later.

[either that, or she doesn't want to get her own hopes up for that reason.]

[countermeasures]

Well, yes, but...

[...]

If it is possible. I would prefer not to say goodbye to you.