Butterflies of the Dark Star

21 (REVISED)

Alarms rang throughout the central facilities as she followed Neo's tail to the lift into the communications towers. Guards pointed them through the security checkpoint and onto the lift, where Neo slipped in his access card before inputting the codes. Nova swayed on her knees, slipping on unseen blood from a false nightmare when it closed with the slightest flash of dark and agony. Thuni's last scream. Ulin's disappearance. No escape from the black hole. Her fingers shook, but she tightened them into fists and tried to ignore the depressurization in the cubicle.

"Nova?"

Him. Her last mistake as he sat in his own blood with his heart torn apart, all alone. On her knees, she longed for a different reality, and the chance remained. He's still alive. He's still alive. Stardsdamnit, as long as he's still alive... as long he still lives... it doesn't have to be real. It doesn't have to be real. It won't be real. I won't let it be real. Just avoid the nightmare.

Neo knelt down beside her with a curious, concerned frown and a gentle hand on her elbow. "Nova."

I won't let it.

"I'm okay," she whispered and straightened herself out.

"Nova, you fainted from emotional shock," Neo said, incredulous, and she wanted to laugh at his matter-of-fact words when he squished her cheeks with steadying insistence. "You're not okay. Look." He placed both hands on her shoulders. "You can talk to me. I know there's a lot going on." Released, Nova chewed on her tongue as he leaned on the lift railing. "I'm just going up to find out if and how they're tracking the anomaly."

It's going to be in the north sector by now, by the bridge... Nova choked on the shattered realisation, but it was a nightmare, she didn't know. "Neo, I have to tell you something."

He took out his datapad into his hands with a small hum of affirmation, writing something down.

But how do I start? How do I begin to say, 'hey, I had a false awakening that is scene for scene playing out right now?' On top of... telling him he... Calculations made flimsy explanations, and she shifted on her feet when the lights flickered, though Neo kept his attention trained on her. "Your thesis," she managed out. "Chaos Theory. You know the general idea of what the D.S Butterfly's original directive was?"

"Temporal oscillations within the space-time continuity," he said with a slow nod. "It was Mx. Orili's which saw the invention of stasis chambers for deep penetration of space and medical fields. That is what the D.S Butterfly focused on within its facilities, though very few knew the details and cusp of their research, which would've been hidden in their black box."

A false awakening.

"And how much can change from one little action?" she asked and tried not to show her tears.

"Everything and nothing."

Everything — and nothing all at once. It made sense though the words were alien on her lips, she eyed him, but he frowned and shook.

"I should reiterate," he stammered. "There are actions which make ripples in the theoretical sea of space and time, where the entire life of the universe spreads out. This, I am certain, was the original mission statement of the D.S Butterfly. They wanted data on it. And there are actions that are barely a pebble in the ocean, but down the line, those same ripples become waves, does that make sense?" He clasped his datascroll close to his chest. "All that research done, the I.A.R doesn't want to lose it. So... what do you want to tell me?"

Would my words make a difference? If it's only a nightmare, what does it matter? I'd sound like I've lost my mind. Nova hung on her knees and refused the urge to collapse again. "I... I wanted to tell you that..." It dragged on heavy, rolling stones down the slope of her tongue. "I don't like where this is going. I think this was a bad idea from the start. Something doesn't make sense and it's—Something strange is happening and... I just..."