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“You’re doing great, sweetie!” Shelby calls to Avid as he crawls through the flames. He grins, and goes to look back at her, but pauses as he feels a sudden wave of deja vu.
He remembers a woman with pink hair and a green flannel, a bright smile and a brighter laugh. He remembers her placing down block after block, raising up buildings and villages in a world that he swears he recognizes and swears he doesn’t.
He remembers her wearing a blue shirt and a red tie to match his own, remembers stashing books in barrels and working to make a server a safer place.
He remembers her in a formal suit, standing in a courtroom, defending him from…someone. Something. He can’t remember the details, but he remembers that she was protecting him, helping him, freeing him.
“Avid, you good buddy?” Drift calls out to him. He shakes it off, shakes off the memory of the cheerful woman he remembers and that he has never met. “Yeah, on it!”
He spends the rest of the dungeon trying to focus on explaining the tricks and secrets, and trying to ignore the sense that something is missing.
Avid is chatting with Jojo as she shows him to her newest build. The village she is building is coming along well, and she guides him up the pathway to the centerpiece: the clocktower that overlooks the village. He looks up at the building, and Jojo pulls out a clock of her own, and he is hit by a wave of deja vu.
He remembers a person with bright orange hair and kind brown eyes. He remembers laughing with them, joking and smiling amongst a larger group. He remembers the clock that they wore around their neck.
He remembers another clocktower, overlooking a vibrant, colorful city. He remembers bridge building and fence posts and trying to work to keep everyone from falling.
He remembers a blue shirt and a red tie and eyes that aren’t quite right. He remembers her floating in a tube, he remembers her being safe. He remembers guilt, and secrecy, and a message: Don’t let them see. Keep them safe. Escape Limbo.
He snaps back into focus as Jojo guides him into the clocktower to show him something. He follows her, tries not to think of the person he knew and has never known, the person he betrayed.
Taneesha is cheerfully explaining yet another one of her scams to Avid, and he laughs, playing along with this newest scheme. The joke books were fun, what would be up next? “Now, if you’ll just sign this contract, no need to read the terms and conditions, I can get you a subscription that’ll come once a week-”
Avid listens, and stops listening, and he feels deja vu wash over him.
He remembers a man with a glorious moustache and a variety of outfits. He remembers the smell of birch logs, a tree twisting and spiraling through nether and overworld alike.
He remembers safety videos, a mantra repeated in his mind, another effort to keep everyone safe. He remembers another betrayal, another body floating in a tube. He remembers hearing about another clone, gone forever.
He remembers a business, a book of terms and conditions. He remembers a boot camp, a threat to shave his fur. He remembers a court case, a pair of men in birch-patterned suits arguing to keep him to his contract, to keep a piece of his soul. He remembers feeling like an eighth of a soul isn’t that much, compared to…
“So, you agree then? Just sign the dotted line, and you’ll be good to go.” Tan looks at him expectantly.
Avid hears himself utter the words “I think I’ll pass on this one,” as he walks out the door. He tries not to think of another quick-witted con artist that he was scammed by and that he has never spoken with.
Avid is gathering resources when he passes through a swamp. It’s muddy, and humid, and he wonders if he should just roll a new location, but he needed mangrove anyway and maybe some is nearby. He wades through the water, and spots a blue orchid, sitting alone on a patch of dark ground. He feels drawn to it, stepping over.
There is something just in the back of his mind, something that he can almost remember. But Avid doesn’t remember this time.
He just feels the void in his heart. Someone is missing there. Someone important to him. Someone he can’t replace. Someone tied to this orchid somehow.
He plucks the flower and tucks it behind his ear before continuing on his way. Somehow, that feels familiar too.