1987, Plesetsk
2 months before the "Storm"
The name is Pointer. Researcher in the LSCC Plesetsk Branch.
The reason I joined? The same reason I quit.
Nothing matters more than people's lives. All the research I've done has been for one purpose: to make people's lives better.
Windsong: Pointer, there you are! How's everything going?
Windsong doesn't mind her quitting. Whenever she runs into Pointer at the branch office, she always stops for a few words, often with updates on the aerospace team.
Windsong: I heard you're busy with the evacuation. Seems many stores in Mirny have already closed up.
Pointer: As soon as I finish the handover here, I'm heading back into town to help with packing, coordinating, and explaining the situation to the locals. Same old, same old.
Windsong: "Same old, same old." You know, Hissabeth said that exact thing when I asked about the team's progress yesterday. They seem to be doing alright.
Pointer: Good.
Windsong takes a small bag out from her coat, nudging the conversation in a lighter direction.
Windsong: Oh, by the way, I've got some seeds left. Do you wanna take them off my hands?
Pointer: Do I look like a gardener to you?
Windsong: Well, it's just that I heard from a few people here in Mirny that a Laplace researcher was giving out sunflower seeds.
Windsong: And it wasn't me, so I've been wondering just who it could have been.
Windsong: Don't you want some? Seriously, everyone loves them.
Pointer: ...
On the day Pointer left the Plesetsk Cosmodrome, she handed out these seeds to everyone she passed.
What was she thinking? Maybe she just wanted to break all ties, to stop herself from turning back.
She keeps this bag, saving it for the right moment.
Pointer: Thanks.
Pointer: So, who ended up signing the application?
Windsong: Hissabeth will, when she goes to collect the monitor and report our research to Ludwig. She says it's more likely to get approval that way.
Pointer: They don't know when to stop, do they?
Windsong: They don't know the meaning.
Hissabeth: Stop.
Hissabeth: If the fish get startled, then they won't eat anything.
Kiperina: I see, Ms. Hissabeth.
She sprinkles the fish food carefully over the water's surface, hoping these fragile little creatures might cling to some instinct to survive.
Name Day: I finished a full inventory check. There's more runium left than we thought. Now, where should I put these useless old files? I was thinking we could use them for draft paper.
Hissabeth: Maybe you can turn them into a knife or something.
Hissabeth: A knife would be more useful at this point. You know, to cut fruit or whatever.
Name Day: Actually, that card there on the table would work better for that.
Hissabeth: Why is that?
Name Day: It's all about the material. Metal makes a better edge than paper. Never quite understood why you made them like that.
Hissabeth: Oh. I was testing out the new alloy. I used it to make Windsong's and Pointer's cards. It gets harder and sharper when heated. Give it a rub with your hands, and you can use it as a letter opener.
Their words trail off. They've been trying not to bring up Pointer's departure, to pretend like everything is still just as it was.
Hissabeth: The ritual still isn't stable enough. We need a specific location or area to set as a destination in advance.
Hissabeth: But first, we need a way to pinpoint a recognizable area.
Hissabeth: The formula should be ...
Name Day: Ms. Windsong sent me a message. She said: "Don't forget to collect the monitor."
Hissabeth: Oh, she sent it to you too? Tell her I said thanks.
Hissabeth: No, that number doesn't look right.
Han Zhang: I tried my best, but those arcane minerals you were asking for are scarce as all hell! I haven't been able to find a single supplier.
Hissabeth: Then, we'll carry on without them.
Hissabeth: That's it.
Hissabeth: Nope. Wrong again.
Hissabeth: Pointer was the master of numbers. With that brain of her, she'd have had this over and done by now.
A sound from the corner of the room draws her attention. Voyager is stacking pieces of mineral shards into a wobbly tower.
In the lamplight, the peak sparkles, strangely mesmerizing.
Hissabeth: Careful, don't hurt yourself. They're more powerful than they seem.
Voyager nods with a vague but accepting gesture, and Hissabeth turns back, ready to refocus on the data.
But the fragile silence is broken, and other words spill out.
Kiperina: Ms. Hissabeth.
The little would-be astronaut walks over and stands beside Hissabeth. It's rare for her to approach so closely.
Kiperina: I have a question for you. Sorry if it's not a good time, but it's important to me.
Kiperina: And it's something I hope you'll answer honestly.
Startled by the coming topic, Name Day broke the fish tank accidentally. He scrambles to scoop up the spilling fish from the floor.
Name Day: Sorry, ladies. Please ignore me. I'm not here, and I didn't hear a thing.
Name Day: But if I pay, Ms. Kiperina is a smart young lady. It's hardly surprising that she'd be quick to figure things out, don't you agree?
Hissabeth: ...
Hissabeth looks down at her. The upturned face is young, but so very determined.
Hissabeth: So, what's your question?
Kiperina: Ms. Pointer said something before she left about places and people disappearing into the "Storm."
Kiperina: It's hard to believe that she would ever give up on our mission, unless she knew the price of failing was truly horrible.
Kiperina: Then the "Storm" can't just be some normal kind of natural disaster.
Kiperina: This "Storm" will destroy everything, won't it?
She doesn't even know how long that question has sat in the pit of her chest. In her glass-marble eyes, Hissabeth sees a brightness welling up.
She doesn't know how to respond. But silence can be an answer, too, and the girl understands.
Kiperina: All the people we know? All the bears, birds, these fish, everything?
Kiperina: The lost future that you talk about, was it the first to disappear? Or are there more that have been lost? Will the same thing happen to our time?
Kiperina: Things are much worse than you let on.
Kiperina: What else has changed in the future?
The light in her eyes never fades—not completely. Kiperina has long understood that tears won't change anything.
Hissabeth: Many, many things changed. Some things won't last nearly as long as people think they will.
Hissabeth: For you, the world might seem to have turned upside down, but life will go on.
Pointer is gone. Windsong has her own geological surveys. Now everyone that's left seems to be looking to Hissabeth for answers.
She tries to choose her words deliberately, but she has hardly ever been comforted, so she doesn't know how to comfort others.
Hissabeth: So, now that you know what's at stake, are you ready to officially join Laplace?
Hissabeth: I'm afraid there is still a great deal I cannot tell you until then. Many of the answers you're seeking are classified, for employees only.
Name Day: Pardon me, Ms. Hissabeth.
Name Day: But given the danger of the mission we are expecting Kiperina to perform, I think she has the right to know what the "Storm" really is.
Kiperina: I understand that you don't want to go against Laplace's rules.
Kiperina: But I'll bet there aren't any rules against me figuring it out and you simply nodding, am I right?
Hissabeth nods. So Kiperina goes on.
Kiperina: I won't get to see Mr. Kozlov or get that gift in the future.
Kiperina: So, if I join Laplace, I won't see anyone from Utrennyaya ever again.
Hissabeth: ...
She hesitates but at last nods again.
Hissabeth: The choice is yours. I won't force you to do anything.
Hissabeth: Remember the day we first met in the restaurant? I said I would write you a recommendation. I was serious. I still am.
Hissabeth: In fact, it's already done. Windsong has signed on to it too, and our Foundation friend behind you is prepared to offer another guarantee just in case.
Hissabeth: We will make a recommendation for your friend Voyager as well, but that's all we can do. I'm afraid we can't protect everyone, nor can we make this decision for you.
Kiperina: ...
Hissabeth: Do you want to keep going?
The question isn't just for Kiperina.
If they recover the data—if that data is any good—maybe someday no one will have to worry about the "Storm" ever again.
But what if they put their lives in jeopardy and gain nothing from it?
Hissabeth: If you don't, you'll be allowed to return and accept what's to come, but if you join us, there is a chance to change things.
That is her answer—the only answer she needs to keep going.
Kiperina: I ...
