[The path continues downward. Downward into an uncertain underground, but the few crystals that light the way here are brighter somehow. A warmer, inviting light, though the memories inside of the crystals are more jumbled. Overwriting so many memories with...memories of this place. Memories of waking up in space, in a place far beyond all she's ever known. The wariness, the guarded nature, the fake pleasantry she put up...
How it evolved over time into genuine care for others. For Viktor and the kindness he showed, again and again. For Vakama, for reaching for her hand and being so willing to care for her. For so many others, those small gestures of kindness mean the world to her, because they're not what she faced, outside of her commander and that one insipid commander of the modern times.
Yeager in particular can see a lot of the memories he and Dorothy have shared on display as he walks, written so hard into the memory that she'd never let go. That one drunken night an exception, of course.
The end of the cave is lined with pink crystals that play memories past and present, and covered in cobwebs at the end of that is Dorothy herself, though she seems...rusted. Rusted from disuse, from a lack of direction, After all, it isn't like she truly knows how useful she'll be, in a peaceful world, but...
Despite looking asleep, once he steps closer, her eyes open a bit and look up at Yeager. She's in the new outfit she picked for herself, and even that looks discolored from age and use now, but...]
cw: robot body horror (rust)
How it evolved over time into genuine care for others. For Viktor and the kindness he showed, again and again. For Vakama, for reaching for her hand and being so willing to care for her. For so many others, those small gestures of kindness mean the world to her, because they're not what she faced, outside of her commander and that one insipid commander of the modern times.
Yeager in particular can see a lot of the memories he and Dorothy have shared on display as he walks, written so hard into the memory that she'd never let go. That one drunken night an exception, of course.
The end of the cave is lined with pink crystals that play memories past and present, and covered in cobwebs at the end of that is Dorothy herself, though she seems...rusted. Rusted from disuse, from a lack of direction, After all, it isn't like she truly knows how useful she'll be, in a peaceful world, but...
Despite looking asleep, once he steps closer, her eyes open a bit and look up at Yeager. She's in the new outfit she picked for herself, and even that looks discolored from age and use now, but...]
...You really stayed. After all of that?