>>6152551“There is a way to get back. It's a bit of a gamble, but you just have to trust me.” you say, emphasizing the last two words so she'll get it. You can't make any more here, but with all of your notes you'd taken, both to design and build the time machine originally but also the fuel, how it all functions and how to make more, you're confident in yourself even when you were far younger. Thankfully that you never suffered at the hands of the androids, still has her friends and a world not ripped apart by two separate apocalypses. With all the resources at her disposal, recreating what you had to scavenge and scrap together should be a breeze. “Got it?”
“Sure.” she replies, you not entirely certain she knows what you mean. But before you can clarify, she speaks up. “Hey, you've been working yourself to the bone this entire time, haven't you? Why don't you take a little break?”
“Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. We don't have a second to waste.” you tell her, turning back to the machine. As it takes its last gasps you run through the closing procedure, locking the capsule then powering down the lab. The generator sighs out, you hearing another clunk coming from it. Knowing that this will be the last time you have power in here in months, as from the noise you have a feeling you'll finally have to go replace that cracked crankshaft. “We've got to get this to Capsule Corp as soon as we can. We can't take any chances.”
“I can take it from here. You should lay down, and get some rest. Seriously, when's the last time you got any proper sleep?” Marron asks, you turning from the final hope of your timeline to face her.
“Heh, nice try but I'm coming with you. What if something happens on the way?” you ask, Marron's expression turning dark. “If she attacks, we can't run the risk of you running into her alone. Two of us going means two chances to keep this safe. If this gets destroyed, all we've worked for in the past year will have been destroyed.”
“Haah, I got it. You've made your point.” Marron relents, not going to fight you on this anymore. A moment of silence hangs between you, before you speak into that void.
“I need to make sure you understand this, Marron. You can't forget how many people gave their lives to give us the chance to even make this energy. We have to honor that debt.” you tell her, Marron nodding seriously, eyes hardening. You know she's going to be dedicated to the cause, she always was a serious kid. Even before losing her mother to the heart virus, then her father to the androids. “That means seeing this through, no matter what happens. Even if we have to sacrifice everything to succeed. You're the last hope we've got, Marron. It's all up to you.”
