Chương 18: 18-Void Discussion

[01: 41: 08. 09] [VIDEO FEED SHOWS SHIFTING {John is waking up}] JOHN: > WAKES UP GROANING > OBSERVES {me} AND ONARIUS Did anything happen while I was asleep? ONARIUS: > SHAKES HEAD No, other than the fact me and Elna had a long discussion regarding… > GLARES AT {me} muttering … Manners. ELNA: > RETREATS ONARIUS: > HELPS JOHN UP CONCERNED gently Are you feeling alright? JOHN: > SCRATCHING HEAD WHILE GROANING weakly Yeah… > CLEARS THROAT How close are we to the bottom?

ONARIUS: Pretty close, about a few more minutes. JOHN: > TURNS TO ONARIUS CONFUSED How long was I out? ELNA: > SNICKERS An hour… JOHN: > CONTENTLY SIGHS It felt like 8 hours then… ELNA: > SURPRISED ONARIUS: > SMIRKS AND WAVES {me} OFF We are approaching the lowest levels of the Grand Prison. That would take days, if not weeks or months, without proper navigation and preparation. With the elevator, as I have said, it is only a few more minutes...

> NODS TO JOHN AND SNAPS FINGERS [VIDEO FEED SHOWS ELNA FREEZING IN PLACE] {AI TRANSCRIPT MODE ENABLED} ONARIUS: > FORMS DISRUPTOR CUBE AND PLACES IT ON ELNA'S HEAD JOHN: > OBSERVES ELNA SILENTLY Why didn't you do that before? ONARIUS: Ned would have noticed. JOHN: > POINTS TO DISRUPTOR CUBE Is that really necessary? ONARIUS: > ANNOYED SIGH WHILE POINTING UP Yes... JOHN: > SILENTLY NODS ONARIUS: > DEEP SIGH I have kept her away from that man for so long in the hope she does not see a monster like him.

JOHN: > TENSELY Which you have to. ONARIUS: softly Yes… > QUIETLY STARES AT JOHN It's safe to take the sunglasses off here. Though on the bottom and with Elna, you will need to put them back on. JOHN: > TAKES OFF SUNGLASSES AND ADJUSTS EYES Strange, why is my vision better? ONARIUS: softly Something to remedy a mistake I made. JOHN: > FROWNS That does not excuse how you treat the prisoners. ONARIUS: > NODS SLOWLY I know… > STARES AT ELNA, SADDENLY WITH JOHN JOHN: That kid, she is messed up.

The way she views people is not normal. ONARIUS: softly I know… > STARES SADDENED AT ELNA Despite my best efforts, Ned takes away those memories of the good of human kindness. JOHN: > STUDIES ELNA ANALYTICALLY How many lectures did you have with her regarding her behavior? ONARIUS: If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. Quite a few; this one was no different. And unfortunately, she has forgotten many of them.

> STARES AT JOHN BLANKLY It's tiring to know your efforts are for nothing when everything intended to help the one that sees you as a parent doesn't even remember your words. JOHN: And he'll do the same thing if we don't get Elna out? ONARIUS:"Ellie". That is her real name. Elna was the name given by, of course, Ned to strip her of her old identity. I do not like using something meant to enslave someone. JOHN: > CLENCHES FISTS muttering That goddamn bastard-!

ONARIUS: > TAPS JOHN ON THE SHOULDER Your rage is pointless against something far more powerful than you. JOHN: > RELAXES AND SIGHS If I remember correctly, Ned can enter the real world without a digital device, correct? ONARIUS: > NODS SLOWLY Yes, but I plan on making sure that he does not follow you or Elna. I want her to have a life of her own volition. > LOOSENS UP This tour, I know, has only affirmed your sentiments against me… JOHN: Justifiably so.

And I can probably guess the other prisoners have to deal with "you know who", correct? ONARIUS: Yes… JOHN: > STARES AT ONARIUS INTENSELY So, she'll know what you did then? ONARIUS: She will… she needs to know. > SITS DOWN AND DISCARD AXE AND SHIELD softly This whole game with Ned and Elna, I'm quite tired of it. Appeasing him to just let her live another day. JOHN: > KNEELS BEFORE ONARIUS This was never about my world, wasn't it?

ONARIUS: softly It was, as Ellie herself is an asset to Ned; something he needs for something I do not know of. You and I both know this. JOHN: > SIGHS So, you essentially want this to be over then? ONARIUS: > NODS AND SIGHS softly I have a lot of guilt over what I have done since I was granted self-awareness 25 years ago. I yearned to help people, something that Ellie did for me. I wanted to return the favor to her because her home life was terrible.

JOHN: > STARES AT ONARIUS, BLANKLY Ned though murdered her parents, right? ONARIUS: mumbling Indirectly... JOHN: > RAISES EYEBROW What do you-? ONARIUS: > SADDENED softly I do not wish to discuss it. But before she came here, Ellie was bullied mainly because of her odd hair color. JOHN: > EYES WIDEN So… the Eldrigital Void did not give her that hair color? ONARIUS: > SMIRKS A rare mutation indicating something Ned wants.

Her parents hid Ellie from much of the world, making the excuse that her hair was dyed just so she could go to school. > LOWERS HEAD softly It worked until I became self-aware… JOHN: Which drew Ned's attention? ONARIUS: > LOOKS AT ELNA IN SILENCE Yes. I was the reason he learned of her. > TEARS DROP DOWN trembling I was given a choice as to her future by Ned: bring her into the Eldrigital Void where she would be spared, or see her and your world destroyed.

I chose the former, as he showed me what he did to worlds that did not comply with his demands… JOHN: > STARES AT ONARIUS SILENTLY And you still tried to raise her? ONARIUS: > STOPS CRYING AND SIGHS softly Failed to. Given my work, it was never going to be so… JOHN: > OBSERVES ELNA softly You did keep her safe, though, from him. That's some form of success, right? ONARIUS: > NODS softly John, Ned most likely knows about this little act of disobedience, and he will do anything to keep Ellie here for his own desires.

I do not want that; I want her to be with you and your significant other. I know you two will raise her better than I did. > SHAKING trembling I carry the weight of millions of sins on my back, and the death of her family was one of them. I do not want to squander a chance to give something that was absent from her for so long. JOHN: > STARES AT ONARIUS INTENSELY I'm not doing theatrics; I'm not like the bastard down here, but I will say this: I cannot forgive you for what you have done.

The memories of what happened haunted me for years. And what I've seen, and what you say, I can never forgive you. > DEEP SIGH … But I can forgive you for protecting a child and doing everything to ensure she gets a second chance. > PLACES HAND ON ONARIUS'S SHOULDER gently I'll make sure she will be safe, and I'll get her far away from that bastard. ONARIUS: > SMILES AND STANDS UP WITH JOHN gently Thank you. > GOES TO ELNA AND REMOVES DISRUPTOR CUBE, DIGITIZING IT Put your sunglasses on.

JOHN: > DOES AS TOLD ONARIUS: > SNAPS FINGERS [VIDEO FEED SHOWS ELNA MOVING] {AI TRANSCRIPT MODE DISABLED} ONARIUS: > CLASPS JOHN'S SHOULDERS AS HE INTENSELY STARES AT HIM, PUSHING HIS FINGER AGAINST THE SUNGLASSES Keep these on. The light here is filled with so much data that it can and will corrupt you. Understood? JOHN: > NODS {oddly?} ONARIUS: > LETS GO OF JOHN AND NODS Good… good. ELNA: > FEVERENTLY LOOKING BACK AND FORTH BETWEEN JOHN AND ONARIUS Were you two talking or-?

JOHN: > ADJUSTS SUNGLASSES AND CLEARS THROAT {loudly} Sorry to question, but I never really got a chance to ask what Elna does besides this? 250 years is a long time. ELNA: > SOMEWHAT SURPRISED WHILE INTENSELY STARING AT JOHN Work. ONARIUS: > RAISES EYEBROW Elna… ELNA: > GROANS A few video games and nature hikes in my realm… when Ned does not have a job for me to do. JOHN: > SHAKES HEAD ELNA: > PAUSES WHILE BECOMING SADDENED I really haven't had that much time to rest, to be honest… > STARES AT ONARIUS …

Neither has he. Ned always wants something, and we constantly have a lot of work to do that takes years to do one thing. This is sort of of a rest for us, something we don't get. And to speak to another human, that only happens every few years for me, while Onarius gets to talk to a lot of people. [ELEVATOR ROOM FREEZES IN SILENCE] JOHN: So, he's a lot like- > FREEZES AND SMIRKS Wait, haven't I already broken the rules? We were talking about Ned and Onarius's jobs, right?

ONARIUS: > SMIRKS AND SILENTLY NODS ELNA: > BREAKS OUT LAUGHING Holy shit! We did break the rules! > CONTINUES LAUGHING WITH JOHN ONARIUS: > SHAKES HEAD AND POINTS TO SUNGLASSES JOHN: > CLEARS THROAT timidly Except for taking the sunglasses off, which I was serious about. ONARIUS: > CHIMES IN The rest are not important… [VIDEO FEED SHOWS A "BUMP" IN MOVEMENT. JOHN AND ELNA BECOME MORE ALERT AS THE ELEVATOR "DOOR" OPENS TO A VERY BRIGHT, WHITE LIGHT {censored again for your protection}] ONARIUS: > DEEP SIGH …

We're here. Where the worst of the worst are held. > BECKONS DUO TO FOLLOW, WHO FOLLOW IN SUIT {SKIPPING FOOTAGE… DONE}