Somehow, Dahlia's become used to this routine, waking up and living the same day over again, meeting up with Lillly's friends every evening, then watching as Lillly kills herself and then arriving in this dark place. She's even learned to ignore Lillly as she's curled up on the floor, gasping for breath. She just steps over the pink girl to get to her new friend.
Is it bad that Viking's kind of sad that VikingPilot doesn't die more often? For Dahlia, who dies every night, it's just a day between when they see each other. For Viking, it can be weeks between deaths. But those weeks are filled with fun and laughter and teaching Josh how the world works. It would be best if he could introduce Dahlia to all his friends in Dominion. She keeps referring to Lillly's friends as if they're not hers, too. He doesn't want to think about the fact that he's probably her closest friend.
Pilot approaches the girl who's dripping a puddle onto the darkness beneath their feet. Kneels, like she's talking to Fixxitt. "You must be getting tired of this," she says. "I certainly am."
Lillly would stand up and agree with Pilot if she could, but right nows she's fighting for breath and can't do that. It seems like every time she ends up here, it gets worse. And yet she can never resist the pull of the water, the allure of the promise of everything finally ending. Why does she end up here, night after night? Why can't she just die when she kills herself, like a normal person?
"It feels like we're the only ones who understand how important it is that we do what's best for our real-world selves," Pilot says, and lets her hips fall backwards until she's sitting beside Lillly. "Those two are ridiculous. Insisting we stay longer than necessary every night so they can gossip, or whatever it is they do together. I don't really pay attention. Let's get away from them."
"Nice to see Pilot's making an effort," Dahlia says, leaning against Viking even though they're done their greeting hug. Without furniture in the place between lives, it's awkward to spend time together. What do you do with your body? There's nothing to sit on.
"I guess," he replies. "But it makes me wonder what she's up to. She's usually not this nice to people. She's so reluctant to let VikingPilot spend any time with our friends unless they're right there. She's up to something."
"Have a little more faith in her. She must be lonely," Dahlia says, and slinks to the ground to sit. "Join me. I think she's just so worried about getting VikingPilot's memories back that she doesn't think you have time for socializing. Here, she can relax. There's nothing she can do if you don't want to leave."
"I guess. I love hanging out with our friends, though. We don't have to be in a rush to get our memories back. And I don't want to hurt anyone along the way." Viking joins her on the floor, curling his legs beneath him. It really would be nice if there were chairs or something in this place.
"Tell me about your friends," Dahlia says, shifting on the floor until she's face-to-face with Viking. "What are they like?"
"They're the best people ever," Viking says. It seems like every night, she changes just a little bit more. Becomes less like Lillly and more like an entirely new person. Who is she becoming? Dahlia, he supposes. "Except when they're mad at me. But that's usually Pilot's fault. I don't think we existed when we got Legundo's IOU, but I think she's the part of VikingPilot that was in control then."
"Hey. Let's focus on the good stuff. What's Legundo like when he's not mad at you?" Dahlia grabs Viking's shoulders. "He's a friend, right?"
"We're more like frenemies," Viking says. "We have a lot of fun together. But I think he wants to kill me at least sixty percent of the time."
"But you come back, right?" Dahlia asks. "So he doesn't hate you that much."
"No, I suppose he doesn't. And we do help each other out when we can. We just have different goals, I think."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. VikingPilot - well, Pilot in particular - is really focused on getting back our memories. But Legundo just wants to get rich. It's because he's a piglin. All they care about is gold."
"Piglin?"
"A sort of halfway point between a pig and a human," Viking says. "They're from the Nether."
"The Nether? I'm assuming you don't mean the Netherlands?" Dahlia smiles a bit, at the thought that whatever place Viking is from would have Dutch people. Maybe they're the true multiversal constant. Not gravity, not light. Dutch people.
"It's an alternate dimension," Viking explains. So Dahlia's world doesn't have the Nether. It's amazing, what you assume people will know. "Full of fire and basalt and monsters. It's pretty cool."
"Sounds pretty warm to me," Dahlia jokes. "You know? Because of the fire?"
"I get it," Viking says, looking past Dahlia to try and see what Pilot's doing. She's got Lillly upright now, and they're walking away. Strange. What are they doing?
"Hey," Dahlia says, trying to pull Viking's attention back to her. "We don't need to worry about them. They're not us. Tell me more about your friends. Are they all from the Nether?"
What Viking wishes he wanted to do is shake Dahlia off and go confront Pilot, ask her what on earth she's doing with Lillly, demand that she leave the poor girl alone. But all he honestly wants to do is sit here on this floor of darkness with Dahlia and talk about the people he loves back home. And at least he doesn't have to deal with the constant distraction of Pilot trying to resurrect them.
"No, there are lots of us from each dimension. Shadow and Sneve are from the Nether, too, but Shadow's possessed right now and Sneve never takes anything seriously, so Legundo's sort of their ringleader."
"Shadow's possessed?" Dahlia asks. "That doesn't sound good. Is he going to be okay?"
"He'll be fine, once we get him un-possessed. I think someone's figuring out a plan for that. I've been pretty distracted by our plans to get our memories back, so I don't really know." As soon as it's out of his mouth, Viking realizes how selfish that makes him sound. Too distracted by trying to recover something he's been doing just fine without to care about whether or not there's a plan to free his friend from the violent influence of the moon. What a Pilot-esque thing to say.
"That's fair," Dahlia says. "You've got your own stuff going on. It makes sense."
"I guess," Viking replies, sighing. "Legundo's also the only one of the three who keeps his recordings handy. Shadow hid his somewhere, and then forgot, and Sneve barely ever remembers to record anything, so Legundo's sort of the default Nether point-of-view for the ghosts."
"The ghosts?" Dahlia asks.
"They watch us," Viking says, "And sometimes they whisper in our ears. Usually it's pretty nonsensical, just what they think of what we're doing, but sometimes they tell jokes. They really like watching everything we record, so some of us try to keep the cameras running as much as possible."
"That sounds kind of scary," Dahlia says. "They just talk to you? Nobody else? Can they interact with the world?"
"They come and go," Viking explains. "They sort of attach themselves to one of us for a little while, and most of them just stay with one of us, but some of them visit other people. Most of us get them, so we don't really worry about it. They're just part of the world. They can give us suggestions of what to do, but usually we don't follow them unless it's really harmless. Like when I played Clair de Lune on the piano for them. I think it was also them who named the Infrastructural Oversight Union. A lot of them prefer to watch the recordings and talk to us about things that happened in the past."
"Recordings?" Dahlia asks.
"Yeah," Viking nods. "Most of us have recording equipment, just as part of us. We keep it when we die, unlike the rest of our stuff. Except our clothes, I guess. But yeah, we try to keep a good record of what goes on in Dominion. I don't really know why. It's just what we do."
"Huh." Dahlia says. "Can I borrow a camera? Not one you'll need, maybe an old one?"
Viking reaches over his shoulder and pulls out a full-sized VHS recorder. It should be impossible, because he's got no bag, and he didn't have anything strapped to his back when she hugged him earlier, but it's already been well established that his world doesn't work the same way hers does.
"For you!" he says, and it's amazing how cheerful the simple act of giving a friend a gift makes him. Dahlia takes the camera, turning it around in her hands.
"Do you have any tapes?" Dahlia asks.
"It refills itself," Viking says, as if it's obvious. Why isn't he asking what she wants with it? People usually want to know why you're borrowing a camera, don't they? That's how people work, right? But what does Dahlia know? She's probably not even a real person.
"It'll go into your," Viking snaps his fingers, trying to remember the word. "I don't remember what it's called. Not inventory. Something else. Whatever. You can just sort of put it out of view and if you don't think about it too much, it'll vanish but be accessible when you need it."
"Like a cartoon character," Dahlia says, sliding it behind her back. She was clearly thinking about it too much the first time, because she can feel it thud against the ground, but the second try works as Viking promised. What strange rules of physics his world must follow. It's like dream logic.
Viking cranes his neck, peering past Dahlia. Pilot and Lillly are only just visible as tiny smears of colour against the darkness. He needs to know what they're doing. Figure out if Pilot's scheming something he needs to stop.
Viking stands, holds his hand out to help Dahlia up, and then starts walking towards the girls who are disappearing into the distance. He's careful not to run, but he's definitely moving quickly. Dahlia should catch up to him while she still can. Viking should just let them go. They don't need them, anymore. They're not the same people, anymore. But he's going, and she doesn't want to be left alone in the dark, so she follows.
"I think I do love my friends," Lillly says, wishing she had something to do with her hands. This dress doesn't have pockets. If she'd known she would be stuck in it every day for the foreseeable future, she would have picked out something better, but she was only dressing for the night. "I spend the whole morning missing them, you know. And I always have a lot of fun meeting them."
"I find VikingPilot's friends exhausting," Pilot says. "There are so many of them. And so many of them are just focused on stupid things. Mongo and Grady have started a Home-Owner's Association as an excuse to sell beets. And beets suck."
"I don't mind beets," Lillly says. "They're pink, like me."
"They're disgusting," Pilot says, a laugh at the edge of her voice. As much as she complains about VikingPilot's friends, it's nice having someone whose company she's chosen. Sure, Lillly's a bit of a mess, but it's not like Viking's giving her much choice. There's nothing else she can do until Viking's done hanging out with Dahlia every night, so she may as well get to know Lillly. Maybe Lillly's situation will help her recover VikingPilot's memories.
"Not as gross as oatmeal with ketchup," Lillly says, and then her face falls. She shouldn't have reminded herself about Hunter. What she's doing to him. He doesn't deserve whatever it is that she's been doing to him for the last week.
"Oatmeal with ketchup?" Pilot repeats. "I don't think we have that in my world."
"Trust me, it's bad," she says, and the laugh returns. "Oatmeal's this creamy mixture of milk and like, heated grains? It's really bland, so a lot of people add a sweetener. Ketchup's a paste made from tomatoes, and it's sweet but also sour, and I just can't understand why anyone would mix them."
"Sour?" Pilot asks. "Like, the attitude?"
"Do you not have sour as like, a flavour?" Lillly asks, stopping in her tracks. Finding the edge of the darkness can wait. Pilot's world doesn't have sour foods?
"I don't think so," Pilot says, stopping so she doesn't get too far ahead of Lillly. "We have sweet food, savoury food, salty food, and bitter food. And of course there's foods that are two of those things, or a general combination, or are just sort of bland. But we don't call any foods sour."
"That's so weird," Lillly says. "What about spicy? Do you have spicy foods?"
"Not that I know of. What's it like?"
"It's like, angry at you. Tastes like fire. I really like it, but a lot of people can't handle it if it's too strong." How strange to think that two of the core flavours of food in Lillly's world don't exist in the place Pilot's from. It must really limit the cooking options. "How do you balance a meal's taste, if you don't have sour or spicy?"
"Most people don't worry about balance," Pilot says. "We mostly just eat on the go. For survival, not recreation, you know? But VikingPilot's extra good at cooking, so we just try to balance the four basic flavours."
"My world is so different," Lillly laughs, and starts walking again. The surprise is over. They still have a goal to fulfill. "We eat so often. Sometimes when we're bored. Food just tastes so good, you know?"
"I know," Pilot says. "Most people back in Dominion don't really think about it, but the taste of a meal is so important."
"It's so important," Lillly agrees.
"You know what else is important?" Viking says, grabbing Pilot's arm. Where did he come from? What is he doing? "Communication. You can't just run off without talking to us."
"Viking, we don't have to worry about them," Dahlia says, making sure to stay far away from Lillly. They don't have the best relationship, but at least she gets along with her pink self better than the other two. "We're different people now. They can go off wherever they want and do whatever they want. We don't need to care, anymore."
"Listen to your new bestie," Pilot hisses, pulling her arm out of Viking's grip. Seriously. The boy needs to lighten up. He's been telling her to be less focused on VikingPilot and spend more time talking to people. She's following his instructions, and now he gets mad? What's she supposed to do?
"What are you doing here?" Lillly asks. "Leave us alone. You've already made it clear you don't like us very much."
"I'm so sorry, Lillly," Dahlia says, and for a moment, Lillly believes her. "I tried to get him to leave you alone. Please believe me."
But she can't. It's too much of a betrayal. Lillly closes her eyes and drags Dahlia away from the VikingPilots.
"You need to get ahold of yourself," Pilot says, turning to face her other half. "What the hell are you doing? How does scaring away the only two people who can relate to being one person help us in any way?"
"It's not all about helping us," Viking replies, crossing his arms. "Sometimes, it's about leaving people alone when they don't need to be bothered by someone who's only interested in helping herself."
"Viking! Did she look like I was bothering her? Dahlia's right. I'm not you. Maybe I never was. You can stop worrying about me."
"No, I can't," Viking says. "Maybe you're not me, but we're both VikingPilot. He has to live with the consequences of our actions. And that means you can't be running off with someone who needs help."
"I don't see you helping her," Pilot mirrors his stance, and for a moment she thinks about how they would look to an outsider, fraternal twins in monochromatic clothes, a weaponless standoff in a dimension of darkness. "In case you didn't notice, VikingPilot's not here. We are. You can live with the consequences of your actions, and I'll live with mine. At least I'm not trying to control you."
"I'm not trying to control you," Viking says, taking a step closer. "I just want to make sure you don't do anything you'll regret. And I want to make sure you're not making Lillly's situation worse."
"Sounds a lot like control to me." She takes a step closer, too, and they're almost too close for comfort, foreheads just centimetres apart.
What is he doing? He's not acting like himself. "Let's just go home. We can forget tonight ever happened."
"No, we can't," Pilot says, and it's strange for her to be the one resisting the pull back to their bed. "You need to understand that I deserve friends just as much as you do."
"If you want friends, why don't you ever want to spend time with the friends we already have?" Viking knows he's doing the voice again, but Pilot won't be freaked out like Legundo was, right? She used to be the one doing the voice.
"Fine. Let's go home." Curse her contrary nature. She doesn't want to spend time with those friends. Lillly - and Dahlia, to some extent - are so much better than everyone in Dominion.