Dear Kid (The Kid)
| Dear Kid (The Kid) | |
|---|---|
| Date of Cutscene: | 24 October 2017 |
| Location: | The Bastion |
| Synopsis: | Kid reads Rucks' final letter to him. |
| Cast of Characters: | The Kid |
| Tinyplot: | In Case of Trouble |
Kid tosses the final Ura body from the Bastion, sending it hurtling to the ground below. The others he had removed long before the dark of night hung over Caelondia, but Sapling the Anklegator had opted to take some bites from its meat before falling asleep. If Rucks were here, he would lecture Kid on not letting that thing get a taste for human flesh.
But he's not here. He never would be again.
The young man with white hair had lost track of how many times he had to choke back tears today, but that's another one to the tally. Wiping at his face while taking a deep, shuddering breath, he confronts Rucks' collapsed tent, damaged during the attack. He yanks up the stakes and pulls away the canvas, revealing the old man's bedroll, piles of books, and a table bearing a half-assembled device, next to a sealed letter. The wax is broken, and the letter within reveals all.
Kid,
Should have told you this from the start. Don't know why I didn't. When you spend so long seeped in secrets, you can't just shrug them off I guess. If you're reading this, I'm probably gone. Hopefully peaceably. Here's where I tell you everything.
The Calamity? Caelondia was behind that. A weapon devised to seal the Ura in their tunnels, keep war from ever breaking out again. Zia's father, he was one of the heads on the project, alongside myself. Yeah, I was a Mancer. Devised the Bastion too, and the Rippling Walls too. Guess you could say I was always your boss, even before all this.
Zia told you what happened to her before the Calamity right? Tried to sneak out of the City with some boy who took fancy to her. When she was caught, the Mancers used it as leverage on her father. Made him finish the project, and fire it himself. They never knew-I never knew that he had altered the firing calibrations. Made it target Caelondia instead. We were so eager to secure peace, I guess the thought of betrayal never entered our minds.
He detailed it all in that journal Zulf decoded. Now you know for sure why he was so torn up that day. You probably figured it out for yourself though. You're brighter than you give yourself credit for.
Now, even if I'm gone, you can make all of this not matter. I'm going to tell you exactly what the Bastion was made for.
Kid finishes the last few paragraphs of the letter, finally letting those tears roll down his face. It seems impossible, ludicrous... but if the old man says it in his tell-all letter, it must be true. Besides... what else has he got to lose?
And so, in the dead of night, he takes Rucks' place, unfurling the blueprint of the half-assembled device on the table, and slowly piecing it together by candle light.
