vulpesvivus | ☮ 050; [voice/video] dated to saturday morning

[It had been a week since anyone heard this voice. Longer still since it was broadcast over the network.]

[For Hal Emmerich, it had been five years since he awoke from a dream calling itself Johto. Five long years of wandering as fugitives against the world, of unkind truths and harsh realities. Failed missions, broken hearts, and at last a hard-won victory at the end of it all. The Patriots' AIs were eliminated thanks in no small part to Naomi, and for the first time since 2005, Otacon felt that everything might just truly work out alright. But first there was Snake to worry about--he'd last been seen from the air, fighting Liquid Ocelot on top of Outer Haven.]

[And the very next second, Otacon was waking up in a room he only vaguely recognized. His voice was the only thing heard at first, sounding as if the Pokegear was a short distance away.]

Where--...? Oh, no. That's not good. I'm piloting a helicopter and I'm dreaming, that can't be a good thing. Wake up, I need to wake up or I'm going to crash right into Haven, it'd really be stupid to die now.

Phaaaa. [The concerned bleating of an Ampharos was much closer to the Gear than Otacon's voice--he was the one that had turned it on, most likely. The silence that followed was almost tangibly stunned.]

A...Asimov...? No way. This--that was just a dream. It still is, because this kind of thing doesn't just happen! Think of how many laws of physics a place like this would break, it's...it's not possible. I'm still in the Kasatka. I can't...

[Another pause. There was the shuffling sound of someone taking the Pokegear, and then a familiar yet somewhat older face in an unfamiliar turtleneck and trenchcoat appeared onscreen.]

...This really happened, didn't it? I thought--I thought it was just some dream I had. That I was going crazy or something. But it's too lucid to be anything like that, isn't it?

Is anyone else still here? How long has it been? And does anyone know if this place is even real?

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...I always heard about it, but I guess I never thought about how jarring it really was. Never mind how many laws of physics and logic you'd have to break to fit five years into a week.

... Is there a law in physics that says time in different dimensions have to flow at the same time?

You were asleep for about a week. Just... stay where you are. I'll be there in a few minutes.

[He shut the video off. A minute or two later, he was in the doorway of the Pokemon Center.]

_{[She nods quietly... taking his face in.]}

... How long ...?

_{[He looks so old...]}

I don't think so, but I'm not a physicist. I'd think any actual scientific theories about dimensions would be pretty far from anything I ever studied.

...five years. It's 2014 for me now.

[Another smile, this one meant to be an attempt to soften what was one hell of a shock for both of them.]

Still just a week here, isn't it?

I see... [ Thinkyface for a moment. ]

Well, no matter what the reason behind this phenomenon, I suppose you're back and stuck now.

[It was surreal, seeing Liquid again. He was their enemy on Shadow Moses and their enemy in a new incarnation now. Otacon knew on some level he should have been terrified, and knew on another that there was nothing to be afraid of.

[But what was he supposed to do now? Naomi--he'd loved and lost her since last they'd been together here. 'Liquid' as Otacon now knew him had nearly ended the world as he knew it. Things were different, and yet for this Liquid they had never changed.]

...I'm sorry. [For what, he didn't specify.]

I don't think I'd want it any other way.

How have you been?

As well as any eleven year old child who's been travelling for eleven months in an unknown world without parent, home, or education. [ He smiles. ] I've been well.

... And yourself?

[He actually laughed at that, a little quieter than he might have before.]

Actually...I've been pretty good, all things considered.

Hal.

[There were lines on Otacon's face that hadn't been there the last time he saw him; there was tiredness and pain and years that hadn't been there.]

[But it was Hal. Lines and years meant nothing to Liquid when it came to Hal.]

[In a moment, he had crossed the distance between them and had his arms full of engineer; he pressed his cheek against Otacon's hair.]

There's nothing for you to apologize for.

{What - no. No way}

Otacon?!

[That shouldn't have startled him, but it did. For a second time Otacon froze up for a moment, not sure what to do. He realized that much was the least he could have expected, all things considered, and a little hesitantly he wrapped his arms around Liquid's shoulders.]

...I didn't...want to leave. Now I've gone and screwed everything up...typical, huh?

[A small and almost bitter smile crossed Otacon's face--this really was difficult now. How could he even begin to explain how much had really changed? Should he have even tried?]

Oh? [ He remembers your stories Otacon. 8( ] I'm glad to hear that.

...yeah, it's still me.

I could say the same to you. I guess it's good that it hasn't been too long--I'd be kind of worried if this place changed too much while I was gone.

I don't think Johto would change much for a long time. Welcome back, Mr. Hal.

Yeah... I... didn't even know you'd gone unconscious...

Nothing's screwed up, Hal. And even if it was, it wouldn't be your fault.

It's definitely not a dream, though it sure as hell would make a lot more sense that way. [It takes him a second amidst a bit of grogginess to catch that last part.] "Still here?"

I don't think too many people did. From what I've already heard, I think my father was trying to make sure no one worried too much. Which I guess I appreciate, considering even I couldn't have guessed how long I'd be gone.

Yeah, he... told me that you were working on something...

_{[She actually laughs a little bit, because... what else can you do? When she speaks again, she's wearing a smile, but her voice is a little subdued.]}

You look so tired...

[You shouldn't be too quick to say that. Otacon couldn't bring himself to tell Liquid even that much...so obviously everything else would have to wait until he got the nerve to try. If he ever could. Things would change even more if Liquid ever found out everything--they'd be enemies again, definitely. Liquid would surely hate him for defying Outer Heaven and essentially helping to destroy everything the Liquid of 2014 had created. It was selfish of Otacon, maybe...but he just couldn't do it.]

It's...good to see you again, James.

[That felt remarkably strange to say. Even stranger realizing he still cared about Liquid this much--and that hurt in a way he couldn't quite describe for more reasons than Otacon wanted to admit.]

He wasn't really wrong about that, at least. [He laughed quietly, considerably more subdued than usual himself.]

I do? Well...I guess we've been pretty busy.

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☮ 050; [voice/video] dated to saturday morning

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