Tom Mason [Falling Skies] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
historicizing) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
makingthisupasigo2018-07-05 08:15 pm
historicizing) wrote in makingthisupasigo2018-07-05 08:15 pm
And the Deeds of the Desperate - for Jacob Stone
cw: ptsd, mentions of war and war atrocities, violence, gore, death, torture, paranoia, abuse
He'd just been scouting for enemy patrols and food when he came across the cave.
Tom would have ignored it, too, but then something inside had started glowing and despite having to make recon, he went inside to check it out. They were symbols, all over the place, the walls marked in carvings, old, human.
And... glowing.
"What the..." He stares, in disbelief, trying to decipher them but to no avail. But something still triggers his memory and after a moment he remembers reading about it, a lifetime ago, in a book on American legends. This place, supposedly once a gateway to another world, far away. A different world, not unlike his, but one that still had its magic and a sanctuary keeping it safe. A place of unspeakable power.
Tom does not want to know what it would to to his reputation if anyone could read his thoughts right now. It's unlike him even considering it but there is the writing, glowing on the wall and as he follows it he reaches an old stony archway, that, as soon as he approaches, lights up into a glowing portal.
He stops, staring.
It could be them. It could be a trap. It probably is and he never wants to set foot on one of these ships again, the memory of the interrogation and torture too vivid still. But... desperate times, desperate measures.
A place of magic and great power. Tom had never been in the camp of believing that aliens built the pyramids and Mayan temples but then again, aliens had just overrun the planet and killed millions, harnessed kids with mind-controlling biotech devices, so... maybe it's time to believe. Just a little.
Rifle readied he steps through...
... and suddenly finds himself in another world.
Suddenly he's dreaming.
Suddenly everything is unreal.
It's a library and the most beautiful one he has ever seen. After all the destruction, all the wisdom and books lost, infrastructures crumbled and civilization shattered, the golden halls are breathtaking and he turns in circles, wide-eyed, speechless, breathless. He's panting, tears springing to his eyes because such a place doesn't exist. It can't exist.
It's insane. He's insane. He's lost it.
He walks the room, crying quietly to himself and reads the labels on the display cases which cause him to burst into hysterical gigglefits.
The Spear of Destiny. Pandora's Box. The Golden Goose!?
Artifacts of humanity's history, lined up, like a museum of... of magic.
Another label reads Zeus' lightning bolt and he stares at the handle before reaching out and picking it up. It comes alive in his hand, crackling white static and oh God.
Suddenly all this becomes very real very quickly.
This thing here against a mech or one of their warships... He figures how to deactivate it and quickly stuffs it into his backpack.
And then there's nothing more holding him back, he's quickly running down these aisles, checking the labels, putting everything that looks like it can be weaponized into his bag and pockets.
He'd just been scouting for enemy patrols and food when he came across the cave.
Tom would have ignored it, too, but then something inside had started glowing and despite having to make recon, he went inside to check it out. They were symbols, all over the place, the walls marked in carvings, old, human.
And... glowing.
"What the..." He stares, in disbelief, trying to decipher them but to no avail. But something still triggers his memory and after a moment he remembers reading about it, a lifetime ago, in a book on American legends. This place, supposedly once a gateway to another world, far away. A different world, not unlike his, but one that still had its magic and a sanctuary keeping it safe. A place of unspeakable power.
Tom does not want to know what it would to to his reputation if anyone could read his thoughts right now. It's unlike him even considering it but there is the writing, glowing on the wall and as he follows it he reaches an old stony archway, that, as soon as he approaches, lights up into a glowing portal.
He stops, staring.
It could be them. It could be a trap. It probably is and he never wants to set foot on one of these ships again, the memory of the interrogation and torture too vivid still. But... desperate times, desperate measures.
A place of magic and great power. Tom had never been in the camp of believing that aliens built the pyramids and Mayan temples but then again, aliens had just overrun the planet and killed millions, harnessed kids with mind-controlling biotech devices, so... maybe it's time to believe. Just a little.
Rifle readied he steps through...
... and suddenly finds himself in another world.
Suddenly he's dreaming.
Suddenly everything is unreal.
It's a library and the most beautiful one he has ever seen. After all the destruction, all the wisdom and books lost, infrastructures crumbled and civilization shattered, the golden halls are breathtaking and he turns in circles, wide-eyed, speechless, breathless. He's panting, tears springing to his eyes because such a place doesn't exist. It can't exist.
It's insane. He's insane. He's lost it.
He walks the room, crying quietly to himself and reads the labels on the display cases which cause him to burst into hysterical gigglefits.
The Spear of Destiny. Pandora's Box. The Golden Goose!?
Artifacts of humanity's history, lined up, like a museum of... of magic.
Another label reads Zeus' lightning bolt and he stares at the handle before reaching out and picking it up. It comes alive in his hand, crackling white static and oh God.
Suddenly all this becomes very real very quickly.
This thing here against a mech or one of their warships... He figures how to deactivate it and quickly stuffs it into his backpack.
And then there's nothing more holding him back, he's quickly running down these aisles, checking the labels, putting everything that looks like it can be weaponized into his bag and pockets.
no subject
Tom studies him, trying to gauge what to make of his offer.
"Now I don't know about magical portals but they usually don't last forever, do they?"
no subject
"Then they'll get another Librarian."
It would be devastating if he couldn't come back, couldn't see his home again.
"And your world will still have powerful artifacts, unprotected, with unknown properties." He bites his lip, rubbing his face. "I don't know. I can't let you take them. But if what you're saying is true and your world is that bad off...I can't just stand by..."
no subject
That ups you in the respect scale considerably, Jake. Tom lowers the weapon and after another moment's hesitation, puts the safety back on.
"... I'm not a thief. I wouldn't do this if it wasn't... that bad off."
no subject
"I get it." He glances as Tom puts the safety back on.
"Listen, this--nobody's ever done this before, and if we don't get back at least the artifacts are...technically still safe and protected, and won't be a threat to this world. So I'm still doing my job."
He pauses. "I gotta write a note for Jenkins. Maybe he can...can find me a way back if that portal closes."
no subject
Tom doesn't know who Jenkins is but there's not really time to argue. He needs to get back soon. What happens one way could happen the other – he really doesn't want to get trapped in this dreamlike dimension, no matter how nice it may be.
no subject
He shuts the doors, the glow disappearing and the mechanism next to the doors falling quiet. Jacob runs over to the work table, grabbing a paper and a pen and quickly scribbling something down. He puts a paperweight on the note and hopes that Jenkins will, in fact, see it in time, but it was just the chance he was going to have to take. For all of this.
He digs in a corner and pulls out a messenger bag, filled with all the things he needed for a quick mission. He hopes this will be quick. Get in, get out. That's it.
"Okay, show me where you came in from. The portal should still be open. And I gotta take inventory of what you got as soon as we arrive, okay?"
no subject
Tom starts walking, slowly, but he feels bad, bringing this guy into the hell that awaits them. He shouldn't. He should leave the artifacts, too, because deep down he knows he has no right.
If he leaves, he will drag an innocent person into this war. It's an impossible choice. It's wrong. He can't be responsible for it.
"Why are you doing this?"
Tom studies Jake as he leads him back to the portal.
"You have no reason to believe me. I could be lying to you."
no subject
"You didn't come after me. I mean, initially."
It's a simple statement, and he shrugs a shoulder.
"If you were one of the many, many factions in this world that somehow figured out a way into the Library, you would have taken me out. Or you would have taken me with you."
He rolls up the sleeve of his plaid shirt, and points to a tattoo on his forearm. It looks like an ordinary tattoo, with circles that line his wrist and near the crook of his elbow, with the Chinese word hún, or soul, displayed prominently in the center.
"This is a gift I got from a friend in Shangri-La. Soul magic is one of the the most dangerous there is, and one of the most powerful. Up to and including turning an immortal being mortal. Possibly could do the opposite, not that I ever tried." He speaks clinically, almost tiredly. "Needless to say I gotta watch my back at all times because to certain...Serpent Brotherhoods and the like here? I'm nothin' more than one of those things you got in your backpack."
A pause.
"Now you could just have bad intel and you're gonna attack me now...which I'd admit would be a pretty bad move on my part tellin' you about all this, but I don't think you will. I think you're a good guy."
no subject
"I like to think I am." The bag suddenly feels a big heavier on his shoulders. "I'm not going to attack you. Or force you to come with me."
Except...
"... Serpent Brotherhood, really?"
Come on now.
no subject
A wan smile. It's a terribly heavy decision, but right now it hardly feels like a decision at all. How could he have any choice when there were people that needed help this bad?
Except...
"...yeah, I know, I know. They have ninjas, too. It's...a thing."
no subject
Maybe he shouldn't. Maybe it's wrong, pulling in someone from another world but Tom recognizes the need to fight, to set things right when he sees them. And he already has a feeling he won't be able to talk the guy out of it.
"Thank you."
Except.
"A Brotherhood of Ninjas?"
It's not that much weirder than a worldwide alien invasion but it's still pretty weird.
no subject
Except...
"Yeah." It sounds fairly defeated. This is just what his life is like, Tom. "Ninjas. They even found me when I was in Oklahoma."
no subject
Except...
"Ninjas in Oklahoma?"
no subject
He shrugs. "I ain't so bad. I shoot maybe once or twice a year. Not really my style, though."
A beat. "That's what I said!"
no subject
But at least he's familiar around a firearm, that's worth a lot. Tom remembers his first few weeks, completely out of his depth, holding a gun for the first time. How much he had hated it. How much it had scared him.
How he can't imagine his life without one anymore.
"Ninjas. Well, now I've heard everything."
no subject
"You kinda get used to it?"
no subject
He walks quietly with Jake for a while, heading back to show him where he came through. There's a dull, uncomfortable feeling sitting on his chest and he recognizes the guilt for what it is. "... I'm sorry. I shouldn't put you through this."
no subject
Jake takes a look behind him, wondering if he's going to see the Library itself again. Or if he's just going to die in some otherworldly battlefield. Maybe he's making the worst mistake of his life right here, right now. He has a chance to say no, he has a chance to back away.
"But I have a job to do." A wan smile. "I'm lookin' after those artifacts you got on loan, and then I'm takin' them back when you're done."
no subject
"Then I'll do whatever I can to make sure you and them get back here. That's a promise."
What's that, Jake? Looks like you got yourself some kind of Guardian here.