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[despitethenora]

What is it now?

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[nobetawedielike]

...I like that. Leaving a mark for someone else to find once I'm gone.

[despitethenora]

Even if we're going to be going for a long time yet.

[nobetawedielike]

We can worry about that part later.

[ otherwise she's going to start worrying right now and this is a Sister Experience

Beta hops back up and dusts the snow off of herself ]

It snowed in the Embrace while you were growing up, right? What did you do for fun?

[despitethenora]

Well - there was something I picked up from some data, after I found my Focus. The old ones would lie down in the snow. Sweep their arms and legs back and forth.

[nobetawedielike]

Like...digging a hole with their bodies?

[despitethenora]

Making a figure in the snow. I think it was supposed to look like wings.

[nobetawedielike]

A figure with wings... Show me?

[despitethenora]

Look, this isn’t something I’ve done since I was small. But -

[Keeps the faces to a minimum, and turns to thump on her back in the snow. And start wiggling her arms and legs.]

[nobetawedielike]

You look so serious.

[ she's not laughing at her, but she can't hide the grin quick enough as she's scurrying over to imitate Aloy, flopping into the snow ]

[despitethenora]

It's different these days.

[But Beta flopping does earn a little smile.]

[nobetawedielike]

[ WIGGLE WIGGLE she is making the best snow angel ]

It is! Now your figure has a sister too.

[despitethenora]

[Eventually Aloy stops, and just sits in the snow, staring up.]

I guess so. Are you having fun?

[nobetawedielike]

I am!

[ she follows the line of Aloy's gaze, setting back into the snow to admire the open sky. ]

I noticed it when we were heading to Gemini, but...the sky is so big.

[despitethenora]

No matter how high you climb, you can't make it any smaller.

...Hey, did you ever get to look outside the Odyssey?

[nobetawedielike]

A few times, when my servitor caretakers escorted me for developmental checks.

[despitethenora]

What was it like?

[nobetawedielike]

Dark, usually.

[ despite the cold, she turns to face Aloy, chin propped up in her hand. ]

Everything in space is so far apart, its mostly a bunch of emptiness...

But one time when I was 12, we passed through an entire plantary system. That was amazing.

It's so dark, but then you'll see these huge dust clouds in blues or purples among the lights of the stars. There's planet that comes in all sorts of colors from afar, and some them have rings around them. If you look closely, the rings are made of rock or ice.

[ with no warning, she bolts upright, looking excited ]

If this version of my Focus is the same as at the Base, I should still have the pictures I snuck on my implant! I got it from Varl to save them when I realized I could. Do you want to see? I hacked the Odyssey external recording devices for them.

[despitethenora]

Uh - yeah. Sure, let's take a look.

[nobetawedielike]

[ with just a few swipes, Aloy's focus gets a flurry of photos of the darkness of space, surrounded by the everything Beta's described ]

[despitethenora]

[She spends a while quietly looking at the images.]

It's all strange.

[nobetawedielike]

Would you ever want to see it? Space?

[despitethenora]

I don't think so. Not really.

It's interesting to see. I'll never see this from the planet. But - it's not just that there's so much to be done. I like the mountains and forests.

[nobetawedielike]

Even if I told you about zero gravity, where you can float around freely in the air?

[despitethenora]

Like when something throws me - that moment I've reached the height of the arc?

[nobetawedielike]

Yes. Except long term, where you're able to move around like that. You could let go of your bow, and it would stay there in the air. With some drifting, of course.