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SILVER: Tales from the Fringes of Reality. Episode 19 – The Moss Whispers.

(knocking)

(pattern repeated, but lighter)

MARIGOLD: Hey, Whimsy. How are you doing? Well, a shrug is better than a moan of pain, so at least we have that going for us. Mom told us you were the one who found those old recordings. Honestly I thought Memo might’ve hidden them; he wouldn’t have deleted them, but I think he thought about it. Me and Al had to talk him out of deleting Luce’s files when she passed. My brother cares with every fiber of his being but that can make him… Rash, to say the least.

I suppose I’m no better, though, am I?

Guillermo and I have always been quick to act, slow to rationalize. We’re not like Opal with their infinite knowledge or Alasdair with their endless kindness. I think we’ve both spent too much time truly in reality to be anything other than rash; you have to move quickly to keep up with the world passing around you in reality after all. Being quick to act can be good, but sometimes I wish I had Opal’s ability to slow down enough to actually process what I’m trying to do. When I said I was going to tear Minerva to shreds, I meant it but… But I didn’t take into consideration you or Silver. I mean I did, but I didn’t. My anger flared on your behalf, but that doesn’t mean you want me to take the course of action that I have planned. Maybe you prefer the kinder route, the locking her away and hoping she doesn’t find a way to combat us again. Or- or maybe you think she’s worth saving, I don’t know. All I know is I owe you an apology. I’m sorry, Whimsy. You always should’ve come before my anger.

(tapping) ‘You don’t have to apologize’ I think I do, though. (tapping) ‘Then you’re forgiven. And you’re right.’ About destroying her? I don’t know why I’m surprised you’re on my side about this, she did try to kill you, but I guess… You’re more like Silver than any of us. Part of me still thinks she’ll want us to spare Minerva, to try and save her.

It’s what I would never want to do which makes me think it would be Silver’s main plan.

He just… He cares so much. Silver, I mean, he cares just like his dad does; it spills out of his entire being like a waterfall. You should’ve seen him when he was a kid, Whim, always checking in on us after jumps because he knew that being in reality too long could make us weaker. It mostly makes me tired, honestly, but Silver would still watch me like a hawk, grabbing my hand every chance he got. If you think we were bad while you were in the infirmary, you would’ve been fully smothered by Silver. That’s just how he was.

Is. That’s just how she is. She’s out there, she’s not gone, not forever, not– We’re going to find her and bring her home where she belongs. 

(knocking)

(pause) It’s your room, Whimsy. You get to decide if someone else comes in.

(pattern repeated, but lighter)

SPARROW: Oh, Mari. I wasn’t expecting to see you in here.

MARIGOLD: Hey, ren. I was just chatting with Whim. Seeing how they’re holding up, getting their opinion on the… everything, really, with Minerva. But mainly what we’re going to do with her.

SPARROW: Ah. I suppose we weren’t very fair to your thoughts in that conversation, were we? I’m sorry, Whim, we should’ve been better about asking for your opinion. (tapping) ‘I want her gone as bad as you all do’ well, at least you were on board with our solution. Still, we’ll have to be better about that moving forward. Your opinion is just as important as any of ours. If anything, you’re a bit more grounded than we are. None of us could even think to listen to their recordings but you… Thank you, Whim. For forcing our hand.

MARIGOLD: We’re going to make some real progress with you up and running again, Whimsy. I just know it.

SPARROW: Indeed we will. It’s actually a good thing you’re here already, Mari; the three of us are on record duty today. We’ve picked up the first bits of their file with more information still coming in. Guillermo is jumping as we speak and Opal is running a test on their heartline with Sapphire with Alasdair standing by in case something goes wrong there. That leaves us. (tapping) Shall we?

MARIGOLD: Ready, Whimsy? Let’s do this.

SILVER: Man, I hope everyone who gets lost in another reality isn’t waking up in as much pain as I am. Would it kill you to drop me a little more gently, Minerva? Fuck, did it have to be on rocks this time as well? At least it wasn’t more trees, I don’t think I could’ve dealt with that again. Do you even decide where I land? I feel like it’s always the woods, but people we helped weren’t always falling into trees. There were cities and empty fields and moss and–

And a tower, just like that one. A tower on a reality with no living creatures, just rocks and moss. Unless… I’m going to touch you, moss. If you’re not actually moss, please say something.

COLE: Hello!

SILVER: What the fuck!

COLE: Well, that’s a little rude, don’t you think? You did ask me to speak.

SILVER: I… You’re right, I’m sorry. You were just doing what I was asking, I suppose I just wasn’t expecting this outcome to this situation. Moss doesn’t usually talk, at least not where I’m from. Well… there isn’t really moss where I’m from now that I think about it. Not that that matters I suppose. I- I should stop talking. Do you have a name?

COLE: What an interesting question. Usually no, but sometimes I like to give myself a name. Just to test it out in case someone finds their way here. You’re the first one in a long time, I can tell you that much. Hmm… I think I’d like to go by Cole today if that’s all the same with you.

SILVER: It’s very nice to meet you, Cole. I’m Silver.

COLE: Silver… Why does that name sound familiar? You haven’t fallen here before, the other person who landed here was larger, more… masculine? Is that the word? So it couldn’t have been you…

SILVER: You’ve heard my name before?

COLE: I think I might have. Like I said, it’s been a while, but your name definitely jangles a tambourine or two.

SILVER: …You don’t know the word ‘masculine’ but you know the word ‘tambourine’?

COLE: We moss folk are musically inclined I’ll have you know!

SILVER: Never mind, I… Can you describe the person who you saw?

COLE: Sure. More masculine looking, like I said before. Bigger person, short brown hair that was kinda going grey. Was very kind, had a nice long chat with me before hopping off. Even sprayed me with a bit of water, just cast it straight from their hand like magic.

SILVER: Alasdair.

COLE: Yeah! That’s it! You know them?

SILVER: That’s my uncle. I… Did he say anything about where he was going, what he was doing here? 

COLE: Well, it sounded like he was looking for you. Asked me if I’d seen anyone named Silver, said you had been missing for a while. I told him no one really shows up here, just the nice person with the long, shiny hair who said they came to ‘get away from the noise’.

SILVER: Alexandria.

COLE: Wow, you know everyone don’t you? That was her, she stops in every now and then. Your Alasdair looked like he fell from the sky, though. Alexandria usually lands gently but he looked like he came hurtling into this place. Kind of like you, actually.

SILVER: (muttered) why in the name of Alexandria would he be jumping from the void? 

COLE: They seemed pretty keen to find you, Silver. Whatever it was that they were doing, it was definitely with you in mind.

SILVER: I– Thank you, Cole. You… You wouldn’t happen to know if that tower is capable of magic amplification, would you?

COLE: Unfortunately I live my life in this spot here on the ground. The tower is for moss with dreams, but I’m a simple moss. That and I value my life, don’t really know what happens in there. If that’s where you’re heading, though, I wish you luck.

SILVER: Thanks, Cole. Take care, alright?

COLE: Come back to visit once you find where you’re headed!

SILVER: (muttered) I know where I’m headed, it’s where I am that’s the problem.

MARIGOLD: (shouting) ALASDAIR!!!!

SPARROW: You don’t need to shout, Mari, I’m sure–

ALASDAIR: MARIGOLD!!!

MARIGOLD: GET IN HERE! NOW!

(footsteps)

ALASDAIR: What seems to be the trouble?

MARIGOLD: We’ve found them. Well, not found them, but they landed somewhere you’ve landed before. You and– MOM! YOU COME TOO!

ALEXANDRIA: Yes?

MARIGOLD: What reality do you go to to ‘get away from the noise’?

ALEXANDRIA: Um… 7070 T-W. Why?

ALASDAIR: Did they–

SPARROW: We need to work fast before Minerva figures it out. (tapping) That… That reality doesn’t exist.

ALASDAIR: Yes it does, I landed there a few weeks ago. Hurt something fierce, all those rocks, but I had a lovely chat–

MARIGOLD: With a moss person, yes. What do you mean it doesn’t exist, ren?

SPARROW: I mean it’s not showing up in any of our file listing but that’s impossible since we’re getting Silver’s transcripts. And she has to be there, she was talking with the moss who knew both Alasdair and your mother. So where is the listing?

ALEXANDRIA: Maybe whatever Minerva did to Silver cloaks the words as well as him?

ALASDAIR: Can’t be that, mum, we would’ve noticed whole worlds blinking out of existence. So why is 7070 T-W gone?

SPARROW: Someone else take this and look, I must be missing it.

(tapping) 

ALEXANDRIA: Let me just– That’s strange. It’s nested in another folder, like the whole reality has been absorbed by another reality. But… But Silver isn’t in either.

MARIGOLD: Minerva. That split second of panic was all she needed, wasn’t it?

ALASDAIR: How did the reality become nested in another folder, though? That isn’t something she could’ve done, not without access to her datalogs. And there’s no way for her to have had them repaired, she doesn’t know how.

MARIGOLD: You don’t think–

ALEXANDRIA: Absolutely not. There’s physically no way for her to have fixed herself without a physical body. And even if she figured that out, there isn’t enough magic in the in between to both generate a body and continuously move Silver. She’d have to do one or the other. So this is something else, but what?

(tapping) ‘The reality sounds like one that Minerva had moved people to before Silver found out the truth. Maybe she nested it then.’ That’s… That’s a very likely possibility, Whim. If she was already manipulating the area, it would be easy for her to have stacked these realities. And if they were as barren as Silver said–

SPARROW: No one would have been there to notice the difference. 

MARIGOLD: No one except incredibly chill moss. We were so close.

SPARROW: I know, Mari. I know. We just have to keep pushing, they can’t remain missing forever. Eventually Minerva will slip up or run out of power and then… Then we’ll be there to pick Silver up and take them home.

ALEXANDRIA: …I suppose I should check in with Guillermo, see if I can find where he landed today and look to see if there have been any traces of Silver. Are you going to be alright, Marigold?

MARIGOLD: Yeah, mom, don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine. Me and Whimsy… We’re going to get to the bottom of this, right kid? 

SPARROW: I’ll go back to monitoring for any new files containing information on Silver. Let me know if you need anything, all of you, alright?

(footsteps)

MARIGOLD: (sigh) This is the closest we’ve ever been and yet it also feels like the farthest. I want to believe that we’re making progress day by day but honestly… Honestly I don’t know what to believe anymore.

(pause)

Actually, that’s not true. I do know what to believe in: I believe in my family. And I believe in you. All of us, together, we’ll get them back.

And then you and me are going to tear Minerva to pieces. Together, I promise. 

I should go help ren keep watch on the files. I’m sure we’ll be back in a little while once we’ve found them again and can start this whole mess over. You going to be okay on your own for a little while? (pause) Well, you know where to find us if you need us, Whimsy.