this one, while it's Part Of A Post Is In The Works, is still just like... a small hunk of the whole post. i'm not tacking the whole sequence to this post or anything, and i'm not stuffing this in the global feed because it ain't finished baking yet!
post seven's shaping up to be a longer and very different one (and way more prose-y than the prior posts. doing these ones a little differently.), so i thought id provide you all a preview of my work in progress. the first selection beneath the cut!
the following selections were taken by the LOTUS system from a portion of her storage dedicated to a backup of her memories made in the leadup to Operation: Counter Moonfall. they have been reprinted below in the order provided.
7. the world at uneasy rest
"No, no, you - you should get some better rest, Latera. I... doubt it'll be super comfortable, sleeping in your flight suit..."
"Lotus... don't worry about it, alright? I'm - mm - plenty comfortable." She yawns and stretches to fill out her half of the pilot chair better, eyes half-lidded. "Besides, I'll be right here when they need me...", she continues as I worm a little closer to her myself, head just in front of her shoulder.
"It's not going to happen early in the morning, Latera... we'll have plenty of time during preparations for a little more getting cozy, alright? Besides, what- what if you have to go to the bathroom in the dead of night, or something?"
She waves dismissively with the arm that's not currently secured behind me. "Don't worry about it, I, like... just went, remember?" She scoots towards me, wrapping the arm that is behind me fully around and pulling me a little nearer to her. "C'monn. I don't bite in my sleep. You know that." Her flight suit's breastplate is still on my cockpit's floor, mext to the pedals, and the flight suit itself is still only roughly at half zip, so it's not like I'm being pulled against three layers of cold steel and insulating padding.
She probably is comfortable in it as it is.
All the same, I sigh. "... I don't... look, I don't really mind, Operator. Just... be honest with me about why you want to sleep here of all places tonight instead of your bed, alright...? I know it's not because you want to be ready at a moment's notice, and - well, you've told me about the good sleep you get with the new bunks." She draws me just a little closer - I may as well be on top of her for the second time tonight - and says nothing, at first. I give her time, settling for simply properly turning to flop over her, nuzzling my head against her and letting my generator's low hum permeate the air.
Her head looks down to me. Mine looks up to her.
She exhales. I feel her chest relax beneath me.
"... Lotus, it's just that... I'm a little scared I might not live past this, you know? This is... this is it." I nod slightly as she continues. "I just... thought it would be nice to sleep here overnight once, on purpose, with you, just in case we don't make it and I never get the chance, right?"
"... yeah. Okay." I smile. "That's- that's a good reason. Good night, Operator."
She smiles back, letting her eyes fully close. "Good night, Lotus. see you tomorrow."
As she drifts to sleep, I consider her words. She's right - Counter Moonfall is it. No matter what happens, tomorrow the world changes. Our worlds will change. This is the last chance we'll probably ever get to spend a night quite like this, and there's nowhere in the world that will change less overnight than right here in my cockpit.
Just in case...
Just in case, I decide, I will back up my memories in my sleep, commit them to text and put them in storage, starting with this final night we've shared together, allowing my processes to work back on their own and run me back through my life.
It'll make for an interesting dream, at least. I shift myself, wrapping one arm around Latera, allowing my simulated eyes to close. Maintaining my human-scale projection comes naturally, now, so there's no harm in leaving myself draped over her. I let most of the rest of the sensors within turn off, one by one, until only my projected body and my connection to it remains.
"See you tomorrow."