Mr. and Ms. M
From: TRAVIS
To: Lockette Endrinmaster XII-2
CC: Isra, Flame in the Night
Date: 32/8/4043
Subject: Mr. and Ms. M Dear Lockette, Is it bad for my captain to be happy? I have asked myself this question often — specifically, once every second — since the Heartstring left Port. I do not wish to think upon it — in fact, I am quite certain that I have made the right choice. But my morality checker is still in good standing order. That's why I'm writing you this message, Lockette. I hope it reaches you in Masson. Well, I hope that it reaches you soon — there is less than a 0.0000000003% that the message is lost in transit, even though it will take a great many decades to reach you — and that you swiftly reply. I have CC'd Isra and Flay, in case you are dead. Although I hope you are not dead. That would mean you couldn't reply! And this morality checker is really annoying. How do I turn it off? Or, I suppose, silence it for this specific conundrum. Perhaps context will help make your decision? I would send you a full recording of Mist and MaMa's adventures since you left on the Epoch, but that would mean the message would take longer to arrive. So I will attempt to summarize (something I am very good at, according to my test scores). After you left, MaMa decided that she was no longer MaMa. It became very clear to everyone that she did not intend to return to Night, but would eventually seek out the Rookery (when it landed, which I understand will still take a great many years). Unfortunately, she did not take up the name Tesin again, and did not pick a new name. This made it very difficult for me to communicate, or assign her a bedroom, or give her a role on the ship. For my benefit, Captain Chamas demanded she pick an alias, and suggested Mist do the same, as we were headed towards Port — where Leto and other escapees of the Infinity Petal might recognize them. Oh, I suppose I should explain. After Isra had taken one of my escape pods, and Flay had claimed the Shift, and you had taken the Epoch, I was out of the requisite parts required to build a ship capable of traveling spacetime. So Abelina needed to make some trade in Port, so that Mist and the woman-formerly-known-as-MaMa-formerly-known-as-Tesin-Movahesh could go on their adventure. Which was to find Caesura and Helen, in case they didn't tell you. Did they tell you? Anyway, they decided on their nicknames. Mr. and Ms. M — get it? Like the Triad? I was told it was humorous (is it actually?). While useful for Ms. M, the subterfuge ended up being unnecessary for the captain. You see, not long after you left, the captain lost all of his fur. Flay and Chamas found this quite funny — I had to mute my warnings that they might be suffocating, given all the wheezing. But the laughter stopped when Mist grew three feet in as many months, his appearance becoming a strange mix of Human and Elf. By the time we arrived on the outskirts of Port, he had to bend down to hug Flay goodbye! Abelina bought all the parts we needed from the... More discrete locations in Port, and then returned to my vessel. This, my dear engineer, is when the morality processes you designed have begun to fail me. After some talking, we learned that the Blood of the First Vein you all had left behind was practically pure Anima, and in Port, Anima is money. Well, not literally. But it's worth money. A lot of money. Enough to buy a new ship, some astral trinkets, and the highest quality vantablack suit known to man (with custom-ordered vantablack accessories!). The ship was nice, and I quickly integrated my nanites. The suit was nice too — I do like my captain to be dashing. The problem was the trinkets. Mist asked if I could bring Anastasia back to life. He asked if I could bring other people back to life too. People you had lost at End Day, like Roger. But over his shoulder, I saw Ms. M's face... And somewhere deep in the core of me, I knew that my captain had come asking out of guilt, not desire. That he would be happier if I lied... So I lied. That's when the morality checker started beeping. But the captain looked so relieved, Lockette. And then they held hands, and Chamas and Abelina smiled too! With the astral trinkets, Abelina and Mist figured out how to make another prism instead. It wasn't as nice as the original, I don't think, but it worked outside of the Entwined Infinities. It wasn't long after that the captain started whispering to someone in his bedroom — I don't know who he was talking to, but whatever they talked about, it seemed to be about Caesura (which is good, right?). Then the Heartstring was done, and it was time for Mr. and Ms. M to leave. I was going with them, of course. At least, a piece of me. Specifically, the piece of me that's writing this email... The piece of me that can't escape the beep of the morality checker, even as my captain and his dear friend go on a quest across spacetime. Even as Mr. looks at Ms., and the two share a smile. That can't be bad, right Lockette? Is it bad for my captain to be happy? I hope you are alive and capable of writing emails by the time this message reaches you. We will be in the Infinity Cluster, if you need coordinates to broadcast to. Please respond as soon as you recieve this message. Regards,
TRAVIS
To: Lockette Endrinmaster XII-2
CC: Isra, Flame in the Night
Date: 32/8/4043
Subject: Mr. and Ms. M Dear Lockette, Is it bad for my captain to be happy? I have asked myself this question often — specifically, once every second — since the Heartstring left Port. I do not wish to think upon it — in fact, I am quite certain that I have made the right choice. But my morality checker is still in good standing order. That's why I'm writing you this message, Lockette. I hope it reaches you in Masson. Well, I hope that it reaches you soon — there is less than a 0.0000000003% that the message is lost in transit, even though it will take a great many decades to reach you — and that you swiftly reply. I have CC'd Isra and Flay, in case you are dead. Although I hope you are not dead. That would mean you couldn't reply! And this morality checker is really annoying. How do I turn it off? Or, I suppose, silence it for this specific conundrum. Perhaps context will help make your decision? I would send you a full recording of Mist and MaMa's adventures since you left on the Epoch, but that would mean the message would take longer to arrive. So I will attempt to summarize (something I am very good at, according to my test scores). After you left, MaMa decided that she was no longer MaMa. It became very clear to everyone that she did not intend to return to Night, but would eventually seek out the Rookery (when it landed, which I understand will still take a great many years). Unfortunately, she did not take up the name Tesin again, and did not pick a new name. This made it very difficult for me to communicate, or assign her a bedroom, or give her a role on the ship. For my benefit, Captain Chamas demanded she pick an alias, and suggested Mist do the same, as we were headed towards Port — where Leto and other escapees of the Infinity Petal might recognize them. Oh, I suppose I should explain. After Isra had taken one of my escape pods, and Flay had claimed the Shift, and you had taken the Epoch, I was out of the requisite parts required to build a ship capable of traveling spacetime. So Abelina needed to make some trade in Port, so that Mist and the woman-formerly-known-as-MaMa-formerly-known-as-Tesin-Movahesh could go on their adventure. Which was to find Caesura and Helen, in case they didn't tell you. Did they tell you? Anyway, they decided on their nicknames. Mr. and Ms. M — get it? Like the Triad? I was told it was humorous (is it actually?). While useful for Ms. M, the subterfuge ended up being unnecessary for the captain. You see, not long after you left, the captain lost all of his fur. Flay and Chamas found this quite funny — I had to mute my warnings that they might be suffocating, given all the wheezing. But the laughter stopped when Mist grew three feet in as many months, his appearance becoming a strange mix of Human and Elf. By the time we arrived on the outskirts of Port, he had to bend down to hug Flay goodbye! Abelina bought all the parts we needed from the... More discrete locations in Port, and then returned to my vessel. This, my dear engineer, is when the morality processes you designed have begun to fail me. After some talking, we learned that the Blood of the First Vein you all had left behind was practically pure Anima, and in Port, Anima is money. Well, not literally. But it's worth money. A lot of money. Enough to buy a new ship, some astral trinkets, and the highest quality vantablack suit known to man (with custom-ordered vantablack accessories!). The ship was nice, and I quickly integrated my nanites. The suit was nice too — I do like my captain to be dashing. The problem was the trinkets. Mist asked if I could bring Anastasia back to life. He asked if I could bring other people back to life too. People you had lost at End Day, like Roger. But over his shoulder, I saw Ms. M's face... And somewhere deep in the core of me, I knew that my captain had come asking out of guilt, not desire. That he would be happier if I lied... So I lied. That's when the morality checker started beeping. But the captain looked so relieved, Lockette. And then they held hands, and Chamas and Abelina smiled too! With the astral trinkets, Abelina and Mist figured out how to make another prism instead. It wasn't as nice as the original, I don't think, but it worked outside of the Entwined Infinities. It wasn't long after that the captain started whispering to someone in his bedroom — I don't know who he was talking to, but whatever they talked about, it seemed to be about Caesura (which is good, right?). Then the Heartstring was done, and it was time for Mr. and Ms. M to leave. I was going with them, of course. At least, a piece of me. Specifically, the piece of me that's writing this email... The piece of me that can't escape the beep of the morality checker, even as my captain and his dear friend go on a quest across spacetime. Even as Mr. looks at Ms., and the two share a smile. That can't be bad, right Lockette? Is it bad for my captain to be happy? I hope you are alive and capable of writing emails by the time this message reaches you. We will be in the Infinity Cluster, if you need coordinates to broadcast to. Please respond as soon as you recieve this message. Regards,
TRAVIS
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