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SILVER: Tales from the Fringes of Reality. Episode 15 – Talking to No One.

GUILLERMO: (distantly) she did WHAT?

(door, footsteps)

ALEXANDRIA: (whispered) Whim? Are you awake darling? (shuffling) Oh, good. I’m going to perform your checks today while my children have a little chat. Alasdair and Guillermo will want to talk to you but Mari needs to calm them down a bit first. Wouldn’t want you getting overly riled, now, would we? (shuffling) Easy there, darling, we don’t want you accidentally tugging on that heartline of yours while it’s still… Fractured. Move carefully for me, alright? I know you want out of the bed and honestly I can’t blame you, but–

SPARROW: Dria? Are you in here?

ALEXANDRIA: Yes, my love, I’m over here with Whim. 

SPARROW: Ah, good morning Whim. It’s good to see you up and about. You know Opal will have your head for letting them get out of that bed, Dria.

ALEXANDRIA: They’ve been in recovery for weeks now, Row, and wanted to get up. If they over-exert themself, we’ll be here to help, but for now… They deserve to stand and to feel like part of their own story, don’t you think? 

SPARROW: …I suppose you’re right. How are you feeling, Whim? Opal says you’re making good progress, but we were still–

(flame flickering)

Magic is back to a castable level I see. Don’t push it too far but… But it’s good to see you looking a bit like your former self. Opal tells me that you were here when we found out about the heartline? …Guillermo is in a bit of a state as you might imagine. That’s his child, after all. And Alasdair… Silver is bleeding at the hands of something he and Opal created; it’s been rough on both of them, but this has really broken something in Al. No, no, Whim, don’t– It’s not your fault or their faults. It’s all Minerva. She’s made choices that we all have to learn to live with.

ALEXANDRIA: We’re going to get him back, Row. He’s not going to be lost forever. I promised that to Guillermo, and I promise that to all of you; I won’t rest until he’s home. It’s been a while since you were here with us, Whim, but you should know that Minerva’s cloaking extended to me as well. Typically if I focus hard enough I can feel at least some part of every living thing out in reality, but my searches for her have been… Stymied. There is a block, both in front of Minerva and in front of Silver. I can feel the faintest pull, but with reality being as vast as it is, there’s no way for me to narrow it down. There should be, but I just can’t seem to do it. I’m not sure what Minerva is drawing her power from that is making her this strong, but whatever it is…

SPARROW: I still think it’s just the plane of magic, Dria. Minerva isn’t confined by physicality, she can be more… Direct with the magic. You gave yourself a body, an essence. She doesn’t have that luxury.

ALEXANDRIA: I hope you’re right, Row.

GUILLERMO: (distant, angry) Mari, I know what I’m doing. I can handle myself–

(door)

Whim I’m– You’re standing.

ALEXANDRIA: They wanted to get up and stretch their legs. How was Greenwood, darling? Was Alasdair alright given… Everything?

GUILLERMO: As fine as could be expected, all things considered. But don’t think I don’t see you trying to change the subject. You know exactly why I’m in here–

SPARROW: And we know it’s not a good idea for you to be coming in here angry and upset. What Minerva did is unforgivable, but you need to process your emotions before you snap, Memo. 

ALEXANDRIA: You’ve been going and going and going and we understand why, darling, we do. But a revelation such as this needs to be processed and not in front of a person who is still healing and reeling from that same loss.

GUILLERMO: (sighs) I… You’re right. I know you are. Whim… It’s good to see you up and about, kiddo. Op and Al are talking about next steps now and Mari… I should go apologize to her. Let me know if you need anything, Whim. You’re still my kid by proxy, alright?

(door) 

ALEXANDRIA: …The position he’s been put in is a rough one, Whim. I’m sure you understand that. But he loves you; all of us do. Not just because of what you are to Silver but because of who you are. It’s difficult to have you here without them, but that doesn’t mean we don’t love you and want to protect you. And you may think that you don’t need protecting from things like a heavy conversation with my son, but…

SPARROW: But the fact that you might makes us want to step in nonetheless. Alexandria and I have been parents for as long as there’s been a multiverse– give or take a few timeless years. We want what’s best for all of our kids and our grandchildren and that includes you. Guillermo will talk to his siblings and will work through his emotions and then that heavy conversation can happen, but not while we’re all so on edge. Although…

(tapping)

I’m afraid I may need to put us more on edge than we already are.

ALEXANDRIA: Is that from today? We found her again so quickly?

SPARROW: I happened to be looking when a trace of him was picked up. I managed to get the log synced, but couldn’t snag him in time. I know I just said that our goal is to protect you, Whim, but… But I think you may want to hear this anyway. Hear it and process it and, when the others calm down in a few days, talk about it. Are you okay with that?

You’re just as determined as every other person on the Council, aren’t you? Come on, let’s listen.

SILVER: Minerva, I know you can hear me. I know someone can hear me and you’re the only one I can remember and I–

Why are you the only one I can remember, Minerva?

Why do I keep waking up in these unfamiliar places with static in my head and your name on my lips like a curse? Why do I keep wandering through woods searching for signs of magic as if they could get me to a home I don’t even remember? Why don’t I know what or where home is?

I feel like I can’t differentiate dreams and reality anymore. There’s something there, someone calling to me, for me, with me, and I can’t picture them. I can’t even tell if it’s one person or many, I just know that I’m missing and they’re missing and we’re all missing together. Except not together because I’m alone.

I’m alone, talking to no one.

Maybe the trees can hear me here or maybe you’re listening to me right now, Min. Maybe whoever I’m looking for is listening too. I’m sorry I don’t remember you. I don’t know what happened, all I know is that I needed to leave. I needed to leave Minerva and that meant forgetting. Or maybe being with Minerva meant forgetting? Stars, what did you do to my head, Min? And why am I so certain it was you?

You were my only friend for a long time, Minnie. Fuck, I shouldn’t even call you that, shouldn’t feel anything for you except hatred and yet… At least when I was with you in our little space, I was with someone. Someone would hear me talk and communicate back and I wasn’t just alone. Alone in the woods walking without direction and a sharp pain in my chest like broken glass in my skin. 

I’m scared, Minerva. I’m scared because I hate you and know you did something but you’re also the only person that I remember well enough to call out to. 

There was someone else before you, there was a before you. I thought you were all I had ever known but you weren’t. There was a before Minerva and an after Minerva and those before pieces are dancing in my brain just out of reach. Just a touch too much static to make sense of anything, but I can feel it. I can feel a smile on my face and arms around me and a family that I know exists, I just have to remember.

Remembering is the hardest part and I hate you for that. I hate that I know you messed with my head and my memories to the point where I’m no longer feeling like myself or even a person at all. Silver, the person from the Fringes, lost and alone.

The Fringes.

That’s– The Fringes! That’s home! We weren’t on the Fringes, we were in the space between which means home is the Fringes and I can find my way back there.

Home is the Fringes… with the Council. The Council is my family. The Council is on the Fringes and they’re my family. There’s still so much static, but I know these names. I know these places. I know the soft spots to look for and how to get home. You weren’t my home, you took me from it and I can–

ALEXANDRIA: Fuck.

SPARROW: Minerva is still erasing their memories. But how?

ALEXANDRIA: She might not even need to erase them anymore. Silver was gone for ages, Sparrow. Well over a year on the Fringes, who knows how much time that was in the in between? Guillermo got his story through to Silver, got notes of override codes being used, it was enough to bring us back to him but not enough to fully plant the truth in his mind. There’s a seed growing, but being jumped through reality again and again and again would mess with anyone’s head. Having that someone go through stars only knows how much memory manipulation beforehand…

SPARROW: She made them forget us in general, though. From what Whim has communicated, they knew about the Council before the jump. How could she just… make them forget us at all?

ALEXANDRIA: …I hadn’t thought about that. Opal will need to know about this. They all will. If Minerva can still mess with Silver’s memories…

SPARROW: Hopefully you’re right and it’s just the stress of multiple reality jumps. They did fall from the void to reality, there’s every likelihood they didn’t make that fall unscathed. The kids should still be made aware, though. Maybe give them a day to cool off…

ALEXANDRIA: Or is it better to rip off the bandaid and let them process all of this at once?

SPARROW: (sigh) I don’t know. The heartline fracturing was already so intense, and now the fact that they’ve clearly forgotten about us and the Fringes all together… Minerva being the only thing that remained is alarming.

ALEXANDRIA: Minerva and magic. She knows that she’s a caster. And knows her name is Silver. On instinct alone she was following for traces of magic bleeding between worlds. Whatever Minerva is doing can be undone, especially if things are already slipping through the crack. Every time she remembers–

SPARROW: We find her. And so does Minerva. The memories aren’t gone, just hidden.

ALEXANDRIA: Static and dreams hiding the truth. But static can clear and he can wake up. He has woken up, has remembered us. It just makes it easier for Minerva to spot him too… How do we get around that, Row? It feels impossible.

SPARROW: You built the world, Dria. And you did that on your own. There are six of us actively looking and one more waiting to join the fray for our search. If you could build the world alone, imagine what seven of us could do with the magic flowing into reality.

ALEXANDRIA: I appreciate you so much, beloved, but this… Even with the seven of us, can we truly stop an AI whose power seems to be growing ever stronger? I want to believe we can, I really, truly do but I’m afraid, Row. I’m afraid that… That we won’t be enough.

(shuffling)

Whim? Oh, stars, you look like you’re about to pass out. Come on, darling, lay back down. Opal would have my head for allowing you to tax yourself for so long. 

…I hope you know that my fear isn’t going to stand in the way of my resolve, Whim. It never has, never before in my life. I will keep looking for Silver and we will find them again. What happens after we find them is the true thing I fear; hopped from reality to reality, Minerva filling their brain with static… What if we can’t fix that?

SPARROW: We can. She remembers a little more each time we find her, Dria. Those memories aren’t so easily shaken, even with Minerva’s growing power. It may take time, yes, time that we don’t want to have to spend with Silver lost and confused, but we will get her back. And she will remember and be home and Minerva– 

Mari wants to destroy her. I’m certain Guillermo feels the same. I… I’m not so sure where I fall in that camp yet.

ALEXANDRIA: I’m not even sure it will be possible to destroy her. I know Opal and Alasdair built out some sort of kill code, but that was before she became… Whatever it is she is now. 

SPARROW: Silver wouldn’t want us to kill Minerva.

ALEXANDRIA: …I know. And I want to respect his wishes but Minerva… She’s dangerous.

SPARROW: She is.

ALEXANDRIA: Either way, we need to focus on one thing at a time. Finding Silver comes first. From there, we can find Minerva and- and do whatever it is we need to to stop her from harming others.

Whim… You’ve spent more time with Minerva recently than any of us. Was there anything off about her to you? Anything we might be overlooking? (tapping) ‘She’s just as afraid as we are’, that’s… Good insight to have. (tapping) ‘I’m not sure if there is anything she wouldn’t do to keep Silver near’. We feared as such. Row–

SPARROW: One thing at a time, love. One thing at a time. We should go and talk to the kids, see if they’ve calmed down some. Get some more rest, Whim; it’s a long road ahead of it, one that will be easier to walk with you fully recovered. 

(steps)

ALEXANDRIA: (growing distant) We’re going to have to kill her, Row. There’s no way around it.

SPARROW: (also distant) I know, Dria. I know.