Moebius 2157 | ONC2019 Short List [Complete]

X.2 | Clouds | Bonus Scenes

(This timeline was born from a crazy comment thread with @floranocturna somewhere in chapter 5.)

2. The one in which the device breaks during the second jump, but for a different reason.

His room was only dimly lit, but as he sat up fully, he noticed a scrap of paper on the bed next to him. It was a sheet from one of his notebooks. He furrowed his brow as he picked it up. Why was it here?

That was when he noticed that the other side had been scribbled on. He turned it over and read:

Meet me at the jump spot.

A furrow appeared on Leon's brow. Why would she leave him a message and not wake him up? His heart sank and a dreadful anxiety took hold of him. She couldn't possibly be thinking of jumping once more?

He hurried to find her, and arrived at the jump spot a mere minute later. When he entered the room, she sat there, cross legged and with her back to him, staring at something beneath the edge of the platform. As she heard his footsteps, she got up to her feet and turned to face him.

He climbed up to her and looked at her, confused.

"What are you doing? Don't you want to come back to bed?"

"Couldn't sleep..." she mumbled. "But I had an idea."

The expression on her face was full of conflict as she took his hand in hers. She didn't look at him as she spoke, but down at their interlaced fingers.

"I don't want to die, Leon. Not any longer. I thought I was ready, but I am not. I... I cannot bear staying here and waiting for my death, but I also cannot stand the thought of losing you. So I thought... We jump together. You and me. We go back to 2107 and save the world together."

She raised her head to look at him, and the bittersweet but hopeful smile that washed over her face broke his heart. Because what she suggested was impossible.

"I can't do it alone..." she whispered, "I... I need you, Leon. Please..."

"I- I'm sorry, Ally. We can't jump together," he said. Her face fell and a shadow of pain and doubt flickered over her features.

"Not because I wouldn't want to. But the device won't have enough power to do that," he explained, "It creates a sort of field around you through the nodes that have been implanted into your body, so it can only transport matter that's very close to you, like your clothes and your weapons..."

"Close to me..." she mumbled. "How close?"

His breath caught as she fixed him with her gaze. The desperation following her plea and that momentary doubt had disappeared completely, replaced by pure determination.

"I can't stay here, Leon, but I also won't leave without you. We're going to die in the next weeks anyway. So even if this goes wrong... It's worth a try, don't you think?"

Her voice dipped down and reached a low pitch that caused her words to sound like a raspy whisper. She had talked to him in that voice the night before, and the memory of what had followed her words sent his blood rushing.

He gulped. "We... we'd have to be very, very close."

"Like this?"

She brought her arms around his back and locked him in an embrace so tight that it squeezed the air out of his lungs in a quiet gasp. She nestled against his chest, leaning her head on his shoulder. He could feel her breath fan over the side of his neck, and it caused a shudder to course through his body. Almost reflexively, with the natural ease of a gesture that felt as if they had been doing this their entire lives, and not just for the past twenty-four hours, he returned the embrace and rested his head against hers.