[The relaxed resignation is honestly a blessing, and Skulduggery noticeably relaxes at his response. Even for a skeleton, he manages to look as if a weight has been taken off his shoulders, which -- well, yes, it has. One less person he has to prepare for fallout with over the news about home.]
As far as he could tell me, returning back to the moment we left would be functionally the same as ceasing to exist, and returning to our timeline in general runs the risk of unmaking that reality. Possibly all of them. It... isn't something that would be very sensible to test.
[Something about considering one version of him to be original and the other simply copied rubs him the wrong way. It's probably his ego talking, but he nonetheless has to bring it up for consideration.]
It's more constructive to think of it as if we split at a fork in the road. The version of ourself back home is no more or less real than we are; we're just on two different paths. Honestly, though, I think Ava might be a better person to ask about timeline theoreticals. She seems to get that sort of thing. [He's the magic guy, she's the science guy.]
[The way the tension ends up easing out of Skulduggery's skeletal shoulders assuredly doesn't go unmissed; Jade can't really blame him for the apprehension, all things considered. Rita had tried to check whether Jade was actually prepared for the news at least three times, and it wouldn't surprise him if Skulduggery was worried about the same. He wonders how many people have had this broken to them already. Doubtless, in time, the information will have to be spread to many others too...
If they expect to have any sort of collective plan by the time they actually free themselves from this ship, anyway.]
Mm...I didn't mean to imply that a replica would be any lesser than an original. --Though the connotation does tend to sound that way, doesn't it? [Here, for the briefest moment--an odd and faint sort of smile, wry but also...almost sad. Of course, Skulduggery wouldn't know the context--the weight of that term, in Auldrant. The peace Jade has made, with that particular debate, where the value of a copy versus an original might be concerned.....but that's not what they're talking about here, not really. The smile fades almost as soon as it formed, and Jade's nodding slightly soon after.] 'A split at a fork'...I could see that. It's surely more fitting. Ties in better, with the idea that returning to the exact same point in time from here may very well be destructive. ...But timeline theoreticals certainly aren't my field either, so that makes two of us. I'll have to take Ava aside sometime, in that case...perhaps over a cup of tea. If she'd be amenable to that sort of thing, you think?
[Probably not exactly a sort if thing to just bring up in casual conversation out if the blue. He really would like to learn more about this sort if thing, though...really, if only there were even one book in the library vaguely brushing upon the topic--]
Either way...if we cannot go back, forward certainly becomes the only option. You now say with certainty, that we may be able to exist beyond this space--did the captain confirm that?
I think she would be, yes. Once she's had time to process the whole affair, she'll probably be very amenable to tea.
[Sooner or later, they're going to need to tell people the truth. There won't be any way forward until they can all put the idea of going home to rest. He'd done it himself some time ago, but others will have more trouble adjusting. They'll need time to think about it, space to process, and something to motivate them to move forward. He hopes that the second half of the news will do that bit for him.]
He confirmed that it's theoretically possible. He's never tried it before, obviously, and he isn't currently inclined... but I think he can be convinced. But it will take time, and it will take a great deal more patience than I think most of us are willing to expend.
[Most of them, but not all. Every crack in the Captain's emotionless, egotistical facade increases the depths of his own patience. If he could get others to see it, too...]
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come_sailaway
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As far as he could tell me, returning back to the moment we left would be functionally the same as ceasing to exist, and returning to our timeline in general runs the risk of unmaking that reality. Possibly all of them. It... isn't something that would be very sensible to test.
[Something about considering one version of him to be original and the other simply copied rubs him the wrong way. It's probably his ego talking, but he nonetheless has to bring it up for consideration.]
It's more constructive to think of it as if we split at a fork in the road. The version of ourself back home is no more or less real than we are; we're just on two different paths. Honestly, though, I think Ava might be a better person to ask about timeline theoreticals. She seems to get that sort of thing. [He's the magic guy, she's the science guy.]
no subject
If they expect to have any sort of collective plan by the time they actually free themselves from this ship, anyway.]
Mm...I didn't mean to imply that a replica would be any lesser than an original. --Though the connotation does tend to sound that way, doesn't it? [Here, for the briefest moment--an odd and faint sort of smile, wry but also...almost sad. Of course, Skulduggery wouldn't know the context--the weight of that term, in Auldrant. The peace Jade has made, with that particular debate, where the value of a copy versus an original might be concerned.....but that's not what they're talking about here, not really. The smile fades almost as soon as it formed, and Jade's nodding slightly soon after.] 'A split at a fork'...I could see that. It's surely more fitting. Ties in better, with the idea that returning to the exact same point in time from here may very well be destructive. ...But timeline theoreticals certainly aren't my field either, so that makes two of us. I'll have to take Ava aside sometime, in that case...perhaps over a cup of tea. If she'd be amenable to that sort of thing, you think?
[Probably not exactly a sort if thing to just bring up in casual conversation out if the blue. He really would like to learn more about this sort if thing, though...really, if only there were even one book in the library vaguely brushing upon the topic--]
Either way...if we cannot go back, forward certainly becomes the only option. You now say with certainty, that we may be able to exist beyond this space--did the captain confirm that?
no subject
[Sooner or later, they're going to need to tell people the truth. There won't be any way forward until they can all put the idea of going home to rest. He'd done it himself some time ago, but others will have more trouble adjusting. They'll need time to think about it, space to process, and something to motivate them to move forward. He hopes that the second half of the news will do that bit for him.]
He confirmed that it's theoretically possible. He's never tried it before, obviously, and he isn't currently inclined... but I think he can be convinced. But it will take time, and it will take a great deal more patience than I think most of us are willing to expend.
[Most of them, but not all. Every crack in the Captain's emotionless, egotistical facade increases the depths of his own patience. If he could get others to see it, too...]