Memory Shares

[voidtreckermods]

An archive of the memories used in the Healing Waters Event.

Please note the content warnings at the top of each set of memories!

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Senku Ishigami | Nat

[voidtreckermods]

Warnings: suspended animation
Themes: Science, hope of a better world, parents

Memory One The sun had not even begun to rise on the horizon, the stars still lit up in the sky, and you find yourself standing on a beach. You aren't in some modern clothes like those wore on the train, but a robe of sorts made of deerskin, the same kind of self-made leather that make up your boots, you look entirely too primitive. The beach itself is unremarkable, save for a large tree you are staring at, the branches which have been twisted and warped around something that was no longer there, leaving a hole in the impromptu structure. You stare at it, nostalgic and wistful and though you hear the sound of footsteps behind you, you don't even turn to look.

Very few people would consider following you, after all, and with the quiet it was highly unlikely to be an enemy - not that you had any lurking at the moment. The girl who arrives steps forward until she is standing next to you, but she doesn't say anything. You glance at her in your periphery.

"What's got you out here?" You ask softly.

"Just an early morning stroll." Kohaku answers, her arms crossing as she contemplates the situation. "You too, right Senku?"

You both stand in silence a moment, surveying the tree and Kohaku lets you have your quiet contemplation. You are the one to break the silence. "A few thousand years back...Byakuya and his astronaut pals flew down to this empty world, right here, to start over." You press your lips together a moment. "It's all gone, of course, nothing left but a few scraps of stone."

"Ha!" Kohaku says with amusement, and in a flash, she is already climbing the twisted tree. "You couldn't be more wrong."

You regard her with an impassive quirk of an eyebrow, it isn't often people tell you that.

"You, me, everyone...we're all destined to die and turn to dust. But our hopes and dreams get passed down, and connect us to the future. That's what humanity calls science, right?" Kohaku is peeking out from behind a branch to look at you.

You are speechless for a moment before chuckling lightly. "You're right. Because we're going to fly even farther than they ever did. All the way to the moon."

Kohaku smiles at you. "You say there's nothing left here from Byakuya and his friends, but they left us the world to inherit."

You smile and glance out at the rising sun, and Kohaku leaps from the tree to land back beside you as you quietly watch the sunrise together.

Memory Two This memory does not take place in a desolate, dystopian future stone world. In fact, this memory takes place in modern-day Tokyo, sometime in the mid-2000s, to be specific. You can't be more than four or five years old, dressed in shorts and a t-shirt, it is a fairly warm night.

You are stood in the middle of a playground, staring up at the moon. "Why do you keep following me, Moon?" You ask aloud, wonder in your voice.

You huff in annoyance, put your hands in your pockets and try to walk away before feinting and diving on the ground nearby, before looking up to see if you've shaken it, to no avail. "Even if I try and trick it, it ten billion percent keeps following me!"

Behind you, there is a tall man in slacks and a button down, just watching you. Ishigami Byakuya looks like he is mildly amused by your questions and antics. He chuckled. "I don't know, maybe the moon has a crush on you, Senku."

You shoot him the dirtiest look a kid his age could muster. "I don't need that crap right now! I'm talking serious science here!"

Byakuya relents, still amused, but with his son glaring at him how could he not explain? "The reason it looks like the moon is following you, it's really, really far away." He sighs, dramatically. "Especially for me since I failed the astronaut entry exam!"

You groan a little. "I don't care about your wistful poetry either."

"My leg cramped up during the clothed swimming exam and I was never a strong swimmer either." Byakuya tells you anyway.

You sigh and walk over to the swings, dropping onto one of them. You kick off a few times. "When's the next time they're recruiting astronauts?"

"Hard to say, it only happens every decade or so."

The light swinging you are doing lets you consider that. Ten years, huh? So you have ten years to come up with a plan to get your dad better at swimming, or something along those lines. You kick off a bit firmer, swinging with a bit of a resolve. You won't forget, and when the time comes, science woill definitely have the answer for you.

Memory Three The contraption in the room looked like a basic box, big enough to fit a man who was bundled on a stretcher inside. It was attached to several mechanical components made of metal and wood, and there was cool air streaming out over Senku's bare arms. It was labelled Senku Refrigerator, and there were other villagers milling about at the moment.

An elderly man started shoving a young man. "Get going, we've gotta clear out of here."

"What's the hurry?"

"If you ever had to take a friend's life, would you want people standing around gawking?" The old man answered.

Kohaku turned to Ginrou and pointed out something important. "Those two are the chiefs of their tribes. We shouldn't interfere with their final heart to heart."

The villagers cleared out then, leaving Senku who was messing with the machine alone with Tsukasa, the man on the stretcher. The silence seemed to stretch on for a few moments, Senku looked incredibly worried and perturbed, but at the same time resolute.

Tsukasa spoke up first. "Cold sleep huh? You only hear about things like that on spaceships in science fiction."

Senku took a breath and glanced at him. "Speaking of spaceships, the Soyuz rocket seats three. Out of everyone here, who would you want riding into space with you?"

"Let me think..." Tsukasa mused before giving Senku a bit of a pointed look. "Wait. For my final act, you want me to tell you the most competent people here?"

"Huh?" Senku had the grace to sound at least, confused. "I'm just making conversation, sheesh."

"Now?" Tsukasa was the one truly confused in that moment. "At the bitter end, a pointless conversation?"

Every muscle in Senku's body language indicated that he was uncomfortable, he couldn't turn to face Tsukasa for a moment. His fingers gripped the edge of the box, turning white from the grip. "What's wrong with a little pointless conversation?"

The words spoken, the conversation itself seemed to blend together because they weren't important, as much as the act itself of laying Tsukasa to rest. Senku paused finally in his present hypothesis about how Mario was always hallucinating to listen for a response. "You think I'm right, right?"

He didn't get one and he dropped his face into his hands, taking a long, slow breath, before he transferred his fingers to carding through his hair before he turned around, walked over to the other man and used his fingers to feel for a pulse. Satisfied there no longer was one, he made for the exit to get help to bundle him up in the box and then he had to face the rest of his day.