Kalin Teser - When it all makes sense

[Sal Taybrim]

you know, I was going to keep quoting this in the quotes thread, but the entire sim was engaging with a difficult character to portray and I wanted to share the whole thing!

Quote

((Commercial District – StarBase 118)) 

From the very first moment than Kalin had found himself jumped to a Stardate only a few years after his ‘passing’, he had felt a curious undercurrent to the joy he felt. He had, before coming to Starbase 118 and finding Alora, taken time to sort through his feelings - because despite being known for being ‘a cactus’ as his wife called it, he felt emotions just as strongly as everyone else, and, as it is often the case with emotions, he knew very well that they were not always reasonable. And so, when neither being able to name, nor justify them, he had decided to ignore them. 

Back then - and atonishingly only a few days ago - everything had seemed easy and straightforward. He and Alora were going to leave together, find a way to cure Kalin of his time-jumping eventually, and … continued life. 

It had felt like a dream, and Kalin had wanted to believe in it so badly. 

Teser: ~ Maybe if I hide.... or force the next jump... 

Their eyes met and Alora’s widened. She understood what he meant - due to Alora’s condition, they would not be able to go together. Eventually, Kalin would end up in her timeline again, but that could take anywhere from months over years to decades. 

DeVeau: ~No.  I have an idea. I’ll lock you into a secure science lab.  Forget everything that’s going on here.  Work on making sure we can go 
together.  I’ll finish up here and then join you as soon as I can. We’ll find a solution.  I know we will!~ 

Reaching out, Alora took Kalin’s hand, then turned, setting a quick pace toward the closest turbolift. 

Teser: ~ I… if you think that’s the right thing to do. ~

DeVeau: ~I could be wrong.~ 

It felt wrong. It felt logical and reasonable, and yet it felt wrong. Still, Kalin too wasn’t ready to give up on what he had hoped for for the past ten years. 

Teser: ~I trust you. ~ 

Distance spread between them and the embassy.  A few heads turned, wondering why their acting CO was leaving, but no one assumed any ill intent. After a few minutes, the two arrived at a non-functional turbolift. Of course, Kalin thought, the lockdown. Before he could ask, Alora issued a command, the the doors parted - and revealed a man. 

The same man who had suddenly appeared in Trauma Eight and hunted Kalin down. He shared his thoughts with Alora, who gripped Kalin’s hand tightly.  
DeVeau: ~Kalin….~ 

She mentally spoke his name even as she backed away. 

DeVeau: ~Run!~ 

Nniol: I found you… 

Kalin knew what the assassin had done to the young woman in front of Mason’s office, and he wanted to step in front of Alora and protect her, but before either Alora or Kalin could act, several security officers began to advanced. Alora turned, her hand twisting in his. This was their chance to escape… 
And then the chest of the officer closest to them exploded in a mist of warm blood, and his body that thumped to the ground. 

DeVeau: No… 

Kalin once more turned to the assassin, who was… holding a knife. So there was someone else who had shot the security officer. 

Nniol: I know what you are.  ::He smiled – an expression with no pleasure in it.  It was a deranged smile, a twisted smile.:: You are the key to this. 

Unwilling to keep her back to the crazed man, Alora whirled back around. 

DeVeau: What do you mean? 

Nniol: I kill you, I travel through time.  Worlds will burn. 

Alora once more backed away, another officer attempted to approach the assassin. The clap of thunder rang out, and a second body fell to the floor. Than a third. 
Teser: I will not allow it! Kill me, and you miss your chance! 

Nniol: Oh it gets better.  I kill you, she travels through time. ::He pointed at Alora with his knife:: And this all ends when I slit her hroat in the far-far future. 

Kalin didn’t understand. What did he mean?

And was it really important what he meant? Perhaps there was something about Alora’s condition they had not yet discovered, but which the assassin knew of - perhaps from a future self. 

DeVeau: Why?  Why are you doing this? 

Nniol: response 

DeVeau: I know the Tal Shiar has always sought power, but this will only bring about their destruction as well! 

Nniol: response 

Not Tal Shiar? Kalin was sure that, after the Praetors assassination, everyone was assuming a Tal Shiar connection. 
DeVeau: Then why?  Why are you doing this?  Who would want to start such a horrible cataclysm? 

Nniol: response

And suddenly, Kalin understood. This wasn’t politically motivated, at least not primarily. The hatred he could read of the assassin was almost unnatural - amplified in a manner that was beyond his understanding. 
But at its core? Loss. 

And it was something Kalin could relate to. After this first time-jump, he had found himself a century or so in the past. Without his wife. Without friends, without family, without an occupation or a place he could call home. What had kept him from going insane had been the chance that he could get all of it back. 

But the assassin… didn’t have this hope. Or perhaps, beyond all this hatred, Kalin was that hope. 
Teser: ~ It’s no use, Alora… ~

Because there was no way to fix it. None that didn’t include Kalin or Alora, and the ability to travel through time.
DeVeau: ~ response

Kalin shook his head. 

Teser: I can… I help you find who needs finding. We can rescue people. Isn’t *that* what you want? 

It wasn’t really a question. There was something so profoundly broken about the assassin that it was doubtful his hatred would subside. Changing the past wouldn’t change the way the past had changed him.

Nniol: response




Kalin Teser
Time Traveler
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